“Okay.”
“I’m sure it’s fine.” Jackson was completely unsure of this. He examined the panel of buttons on the wall. “Close the door again.”
Jenna stepped away slightly and his hand fell from her back. She slammed the accordion door closed and Jackson waited a few seconds, then pushed the button for the first floor. Nothing. Jenna shuddered and leaned into him. Having her stand so close to him was something he wanted to welcome, but he could feel her starting to shake from terror. He needed to get her out of here before she totally lost it.
He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her in more closely, then studied the panel on the wall. It had a button for each floor, a yellow button that said Reset, and a switch that said On/Off. He had honestly only used this half a dozen times and tried to think about what the man who installed it had said about these. Or maybe he hadn’t said anything at all. Because people typically don’t open elevator doors while it’s in motion. Later, when she wasn’t shaking and afraid, Jackson hoped he could tease her and they could laugh about this.
“Let’s try this bad boy,” he said, and flicked the On/Off switch. Two times, three. Nothing. He pushed the yellow Reset button quickly, then held it down for a few seconds. No response. He pushed the button for the first floor. The elevator did not move and the motor stayed quiet. “I don’t actually know why these buttons are here, as none of them actually seem to do anything.”
“I am so sorry,” Jenna said. Her voice was now edged with panic, her words tumbling out like she couldn’t control them. “I don’t know what I was thinking—I wasn’t thinking. I just wondered where we were and then I was opening the door. I’ve done nothing but mess up your life since I came back this week. I don’t know how you’re still talking to me after everything. I’ll pay to fix it. Whatever it takes. Just—I need to get out of here.”
Her breathing was rapid and shallow. He felt the fear coming off her in waves. Jackson had never experienced a panic attack, but if he had to guess, that’s what this felt like. He needed to help her calm down.
With a gentle tug, Jackson pulled her to his chest, wrapping his arms around her shoulders. Her head tucked neatly underneath his chin and she sighed against his chest.
“Hey,” he said softly. “I know I’m the last person you probably want to be stuck in here with. But I’m right here and I’ve got you. We’re safe and we will get out of here, okay?”
She nodded against him and her arms linked around his back. If only this were happening in some other moment, one where she really wanted to be near him rather than being forced into closeness because of the situation.
“Jackson? You’re not the last person I’d want to be stuck with.”
With her cheek pressed into his chest, could she feel the way his heart sped up? “Oh?”
“More like the second to last.”
Jackson groaned and then a laugh rumbled through him. He knew she could feel that because she began giggling and the vibrations thrummed against his torso. “I guess I’ll take it.”
“Jenna? Jackson? Are you guys okay?” Rachel’s voice drifted up to them. It sounded like she was down on the first floor, but it was hard to tell.
“I’m going to let you go for just a second. But I’m still here.” Jackson lifted his arms from around her shoulders, but Jenna made a small sound and clung to him. He chuckled. “Okay, that works too.”
He shuffled to the doors with her hanging onto him and pulled open the sliding door again. Above their heads, Jackson could just touch the bottom of the outer door with his fingertips and see a crack of light underneath it. If the outer door were open, he might be able to lift Jenna up enough so that she could wiggle out. But the magnet locks wouldn’t open unless the elevator was stopped at the floor itself. They were well and truly stuck.
“Rachel? The elevator got stuck. I think up in the kitchen I’ve got the number for the elevator guy in a drawer. Can you go call him?”
“You’re stuck?!” Rachel’s voice was more of a screech. Jenna’s fingers curled into his back. Her fingernails were going to leave marks, even through his shirt. Jackson heard Rachel’s feet pounding on the stairs next to the elevator shaft. Then her voice came through more clearly. She must have stopped on the second floor. “Jenns, are you okay?”
“We’re fine,” Jackson said. “Just give him a call and let him know that we’re between floors and the thing won’t reset.”
“I’m on it. Hang in there, Jenns.” Again he heard footsteps on the stairs as Rachel ran up to the top level.
Jackson put one hand on Jenna’s shoulders and tipped her chin up with the other. She still clung to his waist to the point it was painful.
“Hey, Monroe. You’re going to be okay. We’ll be out of here soon. Rachel will get the elevator guy. He lives close and can get us out of here no problem. But I need you to retract your talons. I think that you’re about to do some permanent damage on my back.”
Jenna’s eyes went wide. She loosened her grip on his back, but didn’t let go of him. “I’m sorry! I didn’t even realize I was doing that. You called me Monroe.”
“I did?” Jackson hadn’t even realized. “I guess I did. Is that okay?”
Jenna smiled. It wasn’t quite at full strength, but she had definitely calmed down. “Does this mean we’re regressing? We’ve gone from first-name to last-name basis.” She made a face. “I don’t think I can call you Wells.”
“My friends call me Jax.”
He wanted to pull the words back in as soon as he said them. They held too much pressure. Jenna didn’t want to be friends. The only reason they were currently inches apart was because they were stuck in the elevator and she was scared. He had no doubt that she would bolt as soon as they got the thing moving again.
Jenna opened her mouth to answer. Before a sound escaped her lips, the elevator light went out and they were plunged into darkness.
Chapter Ten
Jenna screamed in the darkness and Jackson’s hands pulled her close. She felt his lips on her hair as he murmured comforting words, words she couldn’t hear because she was still screaming. His hand cupped the back of her head and this grounded her enough to close her mouth, her scream becoming more of a dull whimper against Jackson’s chest.
“Hey, I’ve got you. Just a little bit of darkness. We’re still fine, Monroe. Look—can you see the light from up there? That’s the second floor right there. It’s going to be okay.”
Jackson’s words shouldn’t have calmed her so much, but she didn’t question the effect they had on her, or how she was basically clinging to his body. Or the fact that she got a thrill every time he called her by her last name. They could deal with what all that meant later. Or not.
After the humiliation of how she had attached herself to him in this tiny, hot space, she might run from his house and not look back. Especially considering this whole thing was her own, stupid fault. Who opens the door of an elevator while it’s moving?
No matter what happened after they got off the elevator, right now Jackson was the only thing standing between her and sheer panic. She wasn’t going to question it. Instead, she pulled even closer to him, despite the fact that she could feel sweat dampening her shirt. Her eyes sought out the tiny sliver of light from the floor above. After a moment or two, her eyes adjusted. It was still almost pitch-black, but with the little light from under the door above their heads, she could just see the slope of Jackson’s shoulders and his head.
Jackson moved one of his hands from her shoulders and brushed it lightly over her lower back. “You okay, Monroe? Talk to me.”
“I think so.” It hurt a little to speak after the screaming. She really liked the feeling of his hands on her back. Not that she would say that to him. And she liked how he called her by her last name. No one had ever called her that. It felt right.
As much as the darkness had startled her, she felt more comfortable with all the touching now that she didn’t have to face the intensity of Jac
kson’s face. It also kept her mind off the size of the elevator. It was more than small. It was tiny. Did the darkness make it feel like it was getting smaller?
It wasn’t getting smaller, was it?
Her breathing hitched and she felt the panic welling up again.
Breathe.
“Jackson? Can you talk to me? About anything. I don’t even care. I need something else to focus on so I don’t lose it.”
“Sure,” he said. “So, I’ve never been stuck in an elevator before. Have you?”
She groaned and pressed her forehead into his chest. “Not about elevators. Anything but elevators. Something else.”
“Sorry. Any favorite topics?”
“Bears. Gardening. Politics. Celebrity gossip. Books. I don’t care. I just need a distraction.”
“Bears, politics—hm. Not sure I can speak to either of those. Don’t keep up with celebrity gossip and haven’t read a book in a while. Other than the Bible and The Field Guide to Birds.” He was quiet for a minute and Jenna almost groaned again. “How about a confession?”
That got her mind off the elevator. “You’re not a murderer, are you?”
“Interesting that your mind went there first. We might need to have a conversation later about the way you see me. No, I am not a murderer.” He cleared his throat. “You ready?”
“Jackson, just keep talking.”
“Sorry—I’m pretty bad at this. Drumroll please! Here’s my confession: I had the biggest crush on you in high school. Like, embarrassingly huge.”
Jenna was already sweating and hot in the small, almost airless space, but heat still rose to her face. Something fluttered in her stomach. She was suddenly very aware of every place that they were touching and the soothing way his hand moved over her lower back. It still felt comforting, but also now seemed to wake up every nerve ending in her body.
“You did not. You dated like half the school, but never showed any interest in me.”
“It’s true. Cross my heart. I had this picture of you I cut out of the school paper and I kept it in a book on my bedside table for years. It’s probably still in the book, packed in a box somewhere.”
If the lights were on, he would see the blush that she could feel on her cheeks. She was having trouble wrapping her head around this. “Wow. I was not expecting that. I mean, again—you never even flirted with me or asked me out. We hardly talked in high school. Did we ever talk?”
“I asked you about English homework once. And you didn’t know because I was so smooth, obviously. Like a ninja. Or a kid with absolutely zero game.”
Jenna snorted, thinking of the long list of girls Jackson did date. “Oh, you had plenty of game. Game was not your problem.”
For a moment, Jenna had reverted right back to the snappy remarks she had been tossing at Jackson all week. She mentally chastised herself. This was the guy currently holding her close in a sweltering, dark elevator. He had given her plenty of reasons this week to let go of her anger. She was about to apologize when he spoke again.
“Ouch. You’re right, though. I did date a lot of people. But I didn’t like any of them the way I liked you. I really did like you and it made me afraid to ask you out. I wasn’t used to that.”
That sounded like such an excuse. Then again, it wasn’t like people were mature in high school. This reasoning sounded like the next evolution of a boy pulling a girl’s braids on the playground when he liked her.
“What book did you keep the picture in?”
He did not answer right away as though surprised or embarrassed by the question. Hopefully it wasn’t the kind of book he might be embarrassed about. That would take all of this in a totally different direction. “You don’t have to tell me,” she said quickly.
“War and Peace,” he said after a long pause. She could hear a smile in his voice.
“You’re joking. You read War and Peace back in high school?”
“Nope. It was just my cover to hide your picture. Very effective.”
She giggled. When he laughed along with her, the vibrations warmed her chest. It reminded her of a purring cat. Tension started to slip from her shoulders. When she wasn’t fighting against Jackson—or was it fighting her feelings for Jackson?—he had a calming effect on her. She felt safe, even here.
“That was definitely not the confession I was expecting. I mean, not that I expected a confession at all. I didn’t think you knew who I was back then. Except for the whole trying to date my sister thing. Wait—if you liked me, why did you try to date Rachel?”
Jackson groaned. “If I could go back and kick some sense into myself, I would. Don’t hate me. I thought maybe if I dated Rachel, you’d notice me.”
“You were using my sister to get to me?”
Though she and Rachel looked similar, something in her sister’s bubbly personality had always made her outshine Jenna. It shouldn’t have been flattering that Jackson tried to use Rachel to get to Jenna. That was messed up. And yet, it made some small part of her happy. He had wanted her.
The idea that Jackson had liked her made Jenna’s heart start racing, but not like it had when the elevator stopped or when the lights went out. This was a pleasant rush of emotion that made the corners of her mouth tug up.
“I know. That makes me a terrible person. And it didn’t even work, obviously. Just left you with years of pent-up anger toward me.”
“I wasn’t mad that you tried to date her, but about the rumors. Which, until a few days ago, I thought you started.”
Jackson groaned. “We have your buddy Steve to thank for that. Though I should have done more to stop them than punching him. Sure did feel satisfying, though. What did you see in that guy? That was something I never understood.”
Jenna realized that she was clutching his back again. She loosened her fingers, searching for an answer. When she thought back to Steve, there were warring emotions. She could see the boy who’d been missing a front tooth and was always up for an adventure. She thought of her first kiss, Steve’s lips on hers while they sat in the dunes, sea oats brushing against her shoulders as they waved in the breeze. Then there was the Steve who had showed up at her house this week, the one with something dark in his eyes and a new scar on his face. And of course, the Steve who didn’t even see her in the hallways because his arm was around Anna.
“He was my friend,” Jenna said. The words sounded defensive. Was she defending Steve? Should she? She didn’t know how else to wrap up all their history, which she still felt conflicted about.
Jackson made a noise in the back of his throat. Just like with his laugh, she could feel the sound in her body. It gave her a thrill, being so close that his sounds moved against her.
“He never deserved you.” Jackson’s voice sounded tight, like it was wrapped around a passion that he barely contained. For reasons she couldn’t quite explain, Jenna felt hot tears in her eyes. She didn’t disagree with Jackson, but it also made her angry to hear him say it.
It reminded her of Mark and the pain of finding text messages from another woman on his phone. Not that she had been looking. Nope, she’d been clueless up until that moment. Jenna had been trying to update something on his calendar while he was in the shower. He had even given her the passcode to do it. She wondered later if he had wanted her to find out. A text came through while she was adding in a dentist appointment. The contact name was Andrew. But the words and then the image that came through were definitely not an Andrew.
“And you think you did deserve me?” she whispered.
Jenna sniffed, wishing that she could suck back the tears that were threatening to fall. Jackson tensed up. The words cut her to say, but it was like she couldn’t help herself. The heaviness of the moment started to crush her and she lashed out. Not that it made this right.
His hand on her back stilled. She hadn’t realized that he was still making circles over her shirt until he stopped. A single tear squeezed out and ran down her cheek. She didn’t want to move her hands from w
here they clutched his shirt to wipe it away.
“I know that I didn’t,” Jackson whispered. “Still don’t.”
His words turned something over in her heart. As though his acknowledgment of not being good enough somehow assured her that, in fact, he was.
“Jenns?” A shadow moved in front of the light as Rachel called down. It sounded like she had put her mouth to the crack under the door.
“I’m here.” Not that she could have been anywhere else.
“I got the guy on the phone. He’s Off Island today so he recommended I call the fire department. They’re on the way.”
“Perfect,” Jackson muttered. One of his hands left her back and she could see the movement in the dark as he ran a hand through his hair.
“I hate to bring this up now,” Rachel said. “But the meeting with the realtor is right now. I almost forgot. Should I call and cancel?”
“I totally forgot too. Just go,” Jenna said. “I don’t need to be there. I just want to get it over with. I’m sure it will be a while before they finish getting us out.”
“Okay! I can come back and pick you up after.”
“I can drive her home,” Jackson called out. “Is Megan okay?”
“She’s fine,” Rachel said. “Hungry and still, um, saucy, but fine. She said she’ll let the firemen in. Call me when you get out. I want to know that you’re okay.”
“Okay,” Jenna said. She was suddenly aware of the heat again. The temperature felt like it was still rising. There was no circulation in the space. Her shirt was damp and her forehead slick. Jackson’s body heat on hers was almost unbearable, but she couldn’t pull away. Or didn’t want to.
Guilt felt just as cloying as the heat in the small space. It had been too easy to turn her hurt outward to him yet again. And why? She hadn’t been rude to Steve even once the other night in her kitchen. He cheated on her. He had started the rumor about Rachel. Yet she let him inside her house and had a perfectly normal conversation with him.
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