Free That Guy (An Indecent Proposal Book 1) by J.C. Reed, Jackie Steele Page A

was up. I looked up from the floor, only to see we had stopped at the
twenty-ninth floor, and the doors had remained closed.
    Seriously? Did we have to stop one floor below my destination?
    I raised my eyebrows when the guy behind me began to press
the buttons on the control panel in an impatient manner. The music was gone,
plunging us into eerie silence.
    Frowning, I turned to face him, wondering what the heck was
going on, but all I caught were blue eyes just before the bulbs started to
flicker. The lights flashed once more, then switched off, bathing us in
complete darkness.
    “What the—” I heard him cussing, his deep voice filled
with annoyance.
    For a moment, I held my breath, my heart pounding in my
chest as I waited for the lights to switch on again. A few seconds passed,
which turned into minutes. And still there was no light, no
movement—nothing to indicate we even were in an elevator.
    I blinked in succession, blind in the pitch-black.
    As my brain tried to make sense of the situation, countless
thoughts began to race through my mind. How long would it take until people
noticed there was a technical glitch and sent repairmen? How long were the
interviews scheduled to take, and if I appeared late, would I get a second
chance? And finally, how long would the oxygen last in such a confined space?
    Just theoretically asking.
    Not that we were going to be stuck for much longer. Or suffocate
anytime soon, because that would be a worst-case scenario. But it would only be
natural to know…just in case.
    I wasn’t claustrophobic—actually, far from it. But
dark, enclosed spaces weren’t exactly my favorite place to be. And particularly
not those with no clear exit sign. The minutes continued to fly until I was
sure we had been in there for at least twenty minutes. Or maybe it just felt
that way.
    I sighed impatiently.
    “There must be an assistance button,” I said as I let my
fingers brush over the cold steel wall. My hand touched his, and an electric
jolt ran through me. I pulled back nervously.
    “Sorry,” I whispered.
    “No problem.”
    In the silence around us, I could hear his finger pressing
buttons every other second, as if that would make someone hurry faster. At
last, the stranger let out a frustrated sigh. Something rustled, followed by
shuffling.
    I narrowed my gaze to focus in the pitch darkness, but my
vision didn’t sharpen to allow me to see contours.
    Nothing stood out.
    I groaned and braced myself against the feeling of
helplessness growing inside me. Not seeing anything while knowing there was no
window or door I could open was already scary. Combine that with the fact that
I had no idea if help was on its way, and the entire situation was turning into
a nightmare scenario.
    The guy was probably just as frustrated as I was, because I
heard him shifting.
    “What are you doing?” I asked as more rustling sounds
carried over from the floor.
    “Trying to find my cell.” His voice came from beneath me,
which made me figure at some point he must have kneeled down—or assumed a
sitting position.
    I wet my lips nervously.
    A stranger was doing God only knew what at my feet. Now that
made it hard to ignore him.
    For a moment, I considered joining him, and then the word “cell”
registered in my mind. Of course! A phone was the answer to my prayers.
    “Shit. It’s not here. I must have left it in the car.” He
exhaled another frustrated sigh. “Do you have yours?”
    “Not on me.” Which was kind of the truth. The day before, my
handbag, together with my purse and cell phone, had been stolen. Lucky for me,
my credit cards were maxed out to the limit, and my pre-paid cell had both a
lock and no minutes, so the loss was minimal.
    “Okay.” His tone was surprisingly calm as he drew out the
word. “Let’s see if the emergency phone’s working.”
    I jumped back as his hand reached over my chest, almost
touching the thin fabric of my top.
    “Hello?” he asked. Silence fell. Holding my