by Jill Sanders
“Okay, I won’t be doing that again.” She prayed silently that someone would come soon. The loud alarm was giving her a headache, but since there was no way of turning it off herself, she had to listen to the buzzing until someone rescued her. She’d tried her cell phone, but with zero bars, she doubted it would be any help. She was able, however, to send out a few text messages. The first one was to Amy, telling her quickly of her situation. The second had been to Aiden, asking if he was in the building. She didn’t want to tell him what was going on. It all seemed too embarrassing to admit to him just yet, at least until she could control her panicked state.
She rested her head on the cool, mirrored wall and tried to count the rapid heartbeats pounding in her head to steady herself. When that didn’t help, she let her mind drift to last weekend. How wonderful it had been being with Aiden in Vail. He’d been a perfect dream guy. Was he too perfect?
After everything she’d been through in the past few months, could she really trust someone like him? Did she want to put her heart on the line? Could she afford to?
Just then she heard someone calling her name. Looking up, she heard it again. A cry of relief escaped her lips.
“Here! I’m here!” she called out over and over again. Her knees shook so she gripped the handle harder.
“I’m calling security again.” Aiden’s muffled call was music to her ears. She waited, but the shaking in her knees grew with every passing minute. Her ears were ringing loudly. She couldn’t hear him anymore.
Finally, she heard him yell down, “Kristen, help is on the way. Are you okay?”
“Yes,” she called back. “Just scared out of my mind.” She whispered the last part under her breath as she looked around her mirror-walled prison. Seeing her own scared face staring back at her, she moaned and shook her head clear. “You haven’t done anything to deserve this. Aiden’s right. You make your own luck.” She promised her reflection she’d make better judgments in the future. She’d known this elevator sometimes had issues. She should have waited for the next one instead of hopping on it because she’d been too focused on rushing upstairs.
“Can you tell me how far away you are from our floor?” he called out again.
She closed her eyes, trying to remember how many floors she’d gone up before the digital display had shut off. “I think I’m on six,” she called out.
“Okay, I’m going to run down the stairs toward you. I’ll be right back.”
She leaned against the wall. With every movement she made, the cart jiggled and swayed. She hated elevators.
“Kristen?” Aiden’s voice was much closer now.
“Yes.” She took a deep breath, praying that this would all be over soon.
“I’m here,” he said through the door.
She took a small step toward the mirrored exit.
“I think something’s wrong. I mean, the elevator shakes really bad every time I move. When it stopped”—she took another small step toward the doors—“it jolted and I thought I heard something snap.” She looked down at her hands and knees, thinking about the pain she’d felt when she’d fallen on them as the elevator jolted to a stop the first time. Now, everything was dull since her heartbeat was going nuts.
“Damn.” She heard him moving around. He did something that caused the whole box to shake.
“Aiden! Stop!” she screamed and felt tears sliding down her face. She’d fallen to her knees again. When she opened her eyes, she was looking down at her hands, which were spread out on the floor. “Please,” she said under her breath.
“Kristen?” She could hear him screaming her name over again. “I’m sorry, baby. I’m just trying to get the doors open.” She could hear the strain in his voice. “I need to make a call. Don’t move, okay?”
“I’m not going anywhere.” She added I hope in her mind.
She could hear him cussing and yelling at someone, most likely security on another elevator’s phone. This one hadn’t worked. She looked up and glared at the silver box that had a black phone hanging out of it.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you have it out for me.” She blinked and tried to focus on Aiden’s voice. She could hear him arguing with someone else. Then he came back to her and she focused on how great his voice sounded.
“Kristen, the fire department is on their way up here. Just hold on.” She could hear the worry in his voice.
“Kristen?” he called out again.
“Yes, I’m all right.” She kept her eyes closed and continued to pray. Her fingernails dug into her skin as she fisted her hands tightly. Images of a thin wire holding up the elevator car flashed through her mind.
Aiden continued to talk to her until she heard other voices, then there was a bunch of noise and the car bumped around even more. She thought she had screamed, but she couldn’t be sure since all she could hear was the blood pounding in her ears.
She stayed on her hands and knees, she could hear her breath whooshing out quickly, then she heard Aiden’s voice just above her. When she looked up, she could see his face poking through the doors, which were being held open by two large firemen.
“Babe, you have to come to me,” he was saying. “Crawl over to the door and then stand up and reach for my hand.”
“Can’t.” It came out as a whisper.
“Sure you can. They’ve secured the car, it’s not going anywhere.”
Even this knowledge didn’t comfort her. Her mind was too preoccupied with images of it and her speeding down flight after flight and crashing at the bottom.
“Kristen.” He held out his hand. “Come here. You can do it.”
She took a deep breath and then looked back down at her hands. Two of her nails were chipped. The bright pink nail polish she’d let Amy put on her the other night was no longer pretty and perfect. She could just imagine how she’d look after falling almost a dozen floors to the bottom floor in the parking garage.
“I can’t move,” she said softly.
“Hang on! I’m coming down to you,” he said and she could hear him moving around.
“No!” She looked up quickly. She didn’t want him to put himself in danger because of her. “I’ll . . . I’m coming to you.”
She forced herself to move. It was slow going, but she crawled her way toward the doors, braced herself up against the mirrored wall, and pulled herself up until she felt her knees almost give out.
Her hand touched Aiden’s warmer one and she felt her breath whoosh out of her as she was grabbed under her arms and hoisted up into midair. She kept her eyes shut until she felt Aiden’s arms around her, holding her tight.
Instantly she felt safe. All the darkness and fear dissipated as he held her against his chest. She had never felt like this with a man before and wondered if she’d gone a little mad locked in the elevator.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Aiden didn’t want to let go of her. When he’d first seen her sitting on the floor of the elevator, she had been so pale and looked utterly scared. Instantly his heart had broken.
Now, as he held her and kissed the top of her head, he could feel her shake and her knees give out on her. The firemen who’d helped him pry open the doors and secure the car stood around him, trying to look busy.
“Miss, do you need any medical help?” one of them finally said.
She shook her head between sobs. Aiden answered for her since she hadn’t been able to speak. “I think she’s just shaken up,” he said, then leaned back and took her face in his hands. “Are you okay to head downstairs?”
“Maybe”—she shook a little more—“if I had a moment . . .” She nodded to the left where the bathrooms were.
He smiled. “I’ll be right here.”
She moved slowly. “My stuff . . .” She pointed toward the elevator.
“They’ll get it out for you by the time you’re done in t
here.” He could see a fireman and an electrician had already jumped into the elevator car and were working on the electrical console.
When Kristen disappeared into the bathroom, he walked over and gathered her laptop bag, her design case, and her small purse. Her cell phone was tucked in the side pocket of her purse, and the second he walked toward the stairs, it started ringing.
Looking down, he saw a picture of a pretty blonde smiling back at him with Amy written across the screen.
He punched the button. “Hello?”
“Who is this? Is Kristen okay? I got a bunch of text messages . . .”
“This is Aiden Scott. Yes, she’s okay. She’s out of the elevator,” he said. “She’s just in the restroom.” He turned and looked toward the closed door.
“What happened?” He could hear the concern in her friend’s voice.
“It appears that one of the cables in the elevator snapped, causing the brakes to lock.”
“Oh my God! It didn’t fall with her in it, did it?”
“No. They tell me it would have only gone a few feet before the locks engaged.”
He heard the woman sigh. “She didn’t get hurt?”
“No, just shaken. I’ll bring her back to her place since we were supposed to meet you there.” He turned when he heard Kristen walk out of the bathroom. She’d splashed some water on her face and had pushed her hair back. He could see her eyes were wet and red, but she was looking a lot more together than she had before. “Here she is now.” He held out the phone for her. “Amy.”
She reached for the phone and he noticed that her hands still shook.
“I’m okay.” She walked back into his arms, which he held open for her. “I’m with Aiden now,” she said with her face pressed against his chest.
He listened halfheartedly as she answered more of Amy’s questions.
“We should be there in about half an hour.” She sighed. “Okay, thanks.”
She hung up and looked up at him. “I’d better call my folks since Amy called them panicking when she couldn’t get ahold of me.” He nodded and she stepped away from him to make the call.
After Kristen had assured her parents that she was alive and well, and after she and Aiden had talked to the firemen and the building manager, they took the stairs to the parking garage where his car was.
“I guess I’ll add stairs to my workout,” she said, after climbing in and leaning back in the seat.
“You can’t run and hide from everything.” He reached across the seat and brushed her hair behind her ear, then ran a finger down her cheek.
Her green eyes opened and zeroed in on him. “That’s easy for you to say. You didn’t spend an hour trapped ten floors up, dangling by a thread.”
He laughed. “A little exaggeration never hurt anyone.” His eyebrows went up.
“Well, okay, maybe not by a thread.” She smiled.
He leaned over and took her lips once more in a kiss that assured him she was alive and well. By the time he pulled back, he felt a little unsteady and shaky.
“I’m in the mood for pizza,” she blurted out. He could tell she was trying to lighten the mood, so he just nodded in agreement.
“I know just the place.” He pulled out of the parking garage and headed toward her apartment.
“I’ll want a quick shower. I’m sure Amy can keep you entertained until I’m done.” She glanced over at him and his nerves jumped with her warm look.
When they pulled into her apartment complex, the pretty blonde from Kristen’s phone was leaning against a Jeep right next to the parking spot he used.
Before he could turn off the engine, she was yanking Kristen’s side door open. By the time he walked around the car, the two friends were in an unbreakable hug, crying in each other’s arms.
Finally, Amy pulled back and glanced over at him. “Hi.”
“Oh!” Kristen wiped away a few tears. “Amy, this is Aiden. Aiden, Amy Walker.”
He reached out and shook her hand as her eyes ran up and down him several times.
“I’m going to hit the shower,” Kristen said, tugging Amy along with her as they started to take the stairs toward her apartment. “Amy, can you keep Aiden company?”
“Sure.” Amy glanced over her shoulder at him and he got the impression that he was going to be grilled the entire time.
When Kristen disappeared into the back, Amy sat on the new cream-colored sofa and looked up at him.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I like you.” She twisted her watch around her wrist as she smiled at him.
He almost tripped on the new rug Kristen had put down under a new coffee table. He wondered where and when she’d gotten it.
“You . . . do?” he asked, walking over and taking a seat next to her.
“I’ve seen the kind of guys Krissy attracts.” She leaned back and turned toward him.
He liked the nickname and decided he might use it himself. “And?” He leaned back along with her.
“You’re nothing like them. Dark hair, broody eyes, strong chin.” Her eyes ran over him. “Expensive suit.”
He looked down and frowned. “I didn’t have time to change after my last meeting.”
She bit her lip. “The only thing I can’t figure out is . . .”
He waited as she squinted her eyes and ran them over him again. “What you’re doing at R&S.”
He felt his pulse kick. “Helping a friend out.”
Her eyes scanned his. “Krissy told me about your connection with Paul and Steven. But something just isn’t adding up.”
He tilted his head. “What is it, exactly, that you do?”
She blinked a few times. “Real estate.”
He remembered now. “If Kristen asked you to drop everything and help her with a job, would you?”
She nodded without hesitation. “You bet your tight little butt I would.”
“My stepfather and Steven are as close as you and Kristen. So, when he called me, I jumped.”
“Yes, but what exactly are you doing for them?” He was saved from answering when Kristen walked out, freshly showered and dressed in a long flowing cream skirt and a purple sweater.
“How are you feeling?” Amy jumped up from the sofa.
“Better.” Her hair was still a little wet. Half of it was piled up on the top of her head, while the other half fell around her face in tight little curls. She had applied some makeup, and as far as he could tell, all the paleness was gone.
He got up, walked over to her, and wrapped her in his arms again. “You look lovely.” He leaned down and kissed her, right in front of Amy.
“Jeez, get a room,” she joked behind Kristen’s back.
Kristen laughed. “You know, if you weren’t here, I have a perfectly good one with a brand-new bed just a few feet away.”
“Oh no.” Amy walked over and pulled her from his arms. “I’m starving and I want to hear all about your ordeal in the elevator.” She tugged Kristen toward the door. “Were there any cute firemen?” he heard her ask as they stepped outside.
Kristen filled Amy in all the way through dinner. It wasn’t as if she could avoid it, since Amy was asking so many questions. Aiden even got into it and answered every question she asked about what had taken place.
By the time their two pizzas were finished, Amy had finally run out of questions and the two friends had moved on to talking about the trip to Vail. By the time they had climbed back into the car, Amy had even moved on beyond that conversation. Kristen could tell her friend was trying to get as much information from Aiden as possible.
“So, who’s this friend that owns Albert’s?” She leaned forward in the backseat of Aiden’s car as they drove back to her place.
“He’s just my type,” Kristen said, looking over at Aiden as he drove. When he smiled and looked over at her,
she winked at their joke.
“Oh.” Amy puckered up her lips. “Then never mind. So, Aiden, you don’t happen to have any brothers?”
“Nope, two sisters.” He glanced at her in the rearview mirror. “Sorry.”
“I suppose it was too much to ask.” She tapped Kristen on the shoulder. “If you decide it’s not going to work out . . .”
“Jeez.” She looked back at her friend. “You’re being a little forward, aren’t you?”
“Oh, Aiden knows I’m just having fun.” She smiled at him, showing off the small dimples by her mouth. Kristen had always been jealous of her friend’s dimples. Most girlfriends would want Amy’s long blonde hair or her silver eyes or her perfect little body, but no, Kristen had always wanted her dimples.
“Sure I do.” He winked at her in the mirror. “But I don’t think I’ll be done with Kristen for a very long time.” He reached over to take her hand. She sighed and heard a matching sigh from the backseat.
Okay, so he’d won over her best friend, a feat that no other man she’d ever dated had accomplished. Next up, her parents. She cringed when she thought of that meeting.
“Before I forget . . .” He turned to her. “Mom and Eric want to have us over this weekend. They want to thank you for going with me to Vail.”
She almost chuckled. He must have been reading her mind. “Um, sure. What day?”
He glanced at her. “Are you sure?”
She nodded.
“Um, tomorrow . . . Saturday night.”
She added, “As long as we can have Sunday brunch at my folks.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
When they drove up to her apartment, Amy instantly made an excuse to leave. Kristen really loved her friend.
“Would you like some coffee?” she asked as she stepped up the first stair.
“There was nothing you could say or do to stop me from coming upstairs,” he whispered and pulled her close. She loved that she was almost as tall as him, standing this way. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed him.
“Good, because I’d hate to have to hit you over the head and drag you up these stairs,” she said as he laughed.
