moved in.
They didn’t look at her. Didn’t speak. But the way their combined bodies blocked any chance she might need of a quick exit had her nerves jumping around in her stomach.
She counted the seconds until the car moved again and stopped on the fourth floor. In her head she reached a thousand, but she guessed that was some sort of sick mind trick. Still, when the bell dinged, she shot between them, her hands shoving them apart.
“Excuse me,” she said over their surprised grunts.
Then she walked as fast as she could without breaking into an all-out run. A few fast steps and she turned the corner. With her back pressed against the wall, she listened for the two hulks to make sure they didn’t follow.
When silence echoed back at her, she inhaled. The sharp smell of paint assailed her nose. A quick glance told her she was alone on a newly constructed floor. Protective paper and painter’s tape still covered some of the doors.
“Great.” She sucked in as much of the tainted air as she could take in an effort to slow her hammering heart.
Only then did she feel the tiny jabs against her skin. She opened her palms, peeling her fingers away from the tight clench on the leather binder between her shaking hands.
She wasn’t the spook-easy type, having learned long ago that some of the most dangerous men in the world didn’t lead with their hands or fit into the Neanderthal body type. But she wasn’t stupid. Any smart woman would experience a choke of vulnerable panic being trapped alone with those two bruisers on an enclosed elevator.
She walked toward the restroom sign but stopped when she saw the note on the door. Out of Order. Use 5th Floor.
Her residual panic skittered away. Frustration took its place, shaking through her with the force of a runaway truck. It was bad enough the conference manager got stuck on a call and sent her up ahead. Now she had to wander around looking for a restroom.
She glanced at the elevator, then at the emergency stairwell to the left of the bathroom. She’d take her chances on the stairs this time. With terror fueling her steps and wearing a pantsuit and low heels, she could run if she had to. In an elevator, she’d have nowhere to go.
She hit the stairwell and let her pumps click against the cement steps as she traveled up a floor. A quick peek through the small slit where she opened the door showed nothing but a carpeted hallway with an abandoned industrial carpet shampooer against the wall. Most of the doors weren’t even on their hinges yet on this floor.
She waited for any sign of life, any noise. When the floor remained quiet, she snuck into the ladies’ restroom and let the door softly shut behind her on a swish.
With her palms flat against the fancy quartz sink, she stood still and let her breathing and heart rate dip back into normal range. As she pivoted for the stalls, the main door flew open. A blur dressed in black raced toward her. Before she could scream, hands clamped down on her arms and the figure shoved her hard against a stall door and back into the enclosed area. She only stopped when the back of her legs hit the toilet.
When her brain kicked back into gear, her arms and legs started moving. Her attacker’s hand settled over her mouth even as she shook her head to avoid him.
“Stop. I’m here to help.” The harsh whisper bounced off the tiles as the man crowded around her, though his focus was centered on the restroom door.
One more step and her back hit the far stall wall and her head came up. If the guy wanted to hurt her, he’d have to watch her as he did it … and be on the receiving end of the battle of a lifetime.
The air gathered in her lungs and then rushed out in a raging scream as she decided to go for his face. When he turned back to her, her next breath stalled and her brain cells sputtered to a halt. “Aaron?”
“Risa?” His fingers clenched against her skin one last time then his arms dropped to his sides. “What are you doing here?”
“It’s a ladies’ restroom.”
“No, I mean … the building. This area. Why are you here?”
“You told me about this place when I said I needed a party venue. Why are you here?”
“This is unbelievable.” His mouth stayed open even after he stopped talking.
His shock was nothing compared to hers. No matter how hard she tried to blink, she couldn’t. She took in the same sexy eyes. Same dark brown hair he liked to smooth his hand through. A dark suit and a firm jaw.
But not everything about him looked familiar. She focused on the gun tucked into the holster at his waist. “Since when does a tax attorney carry a gun?”
He held up his hands. “Keep your voice down.”
“Are you kidding me?”
“Not at all.” His voice barely carried over the soft hum from the heating vent above her head. “I can explain all of this.”
Fury blew over her with the force of a hurricane. “While you’re at it, maybe you can make up an excuse for why you didn’t call after our last date.”
“What?”
“You know, the dinner we had. The call you never made.” Her head buzzed with red-hot rage at the memory.
He finally clamped his jaw shut. “This isn’t the right time.”
“Oh, really?”
He winced the second before he glanced behind him again. “Look, I know this is awkward.”
“No kidding.” This time she did keep her voice down, but only because she was muttering.
“In my defense, I’ve been a little busy.” His mouth hovered over her ear as he spoke.
“Lying takes up a lot of your time, does it?” Now he had her whispering. And arguing in a bathroom stall on an empty floor of a not-yet-opened building.
The day just kept getting better and better.
“We can fight about this later, which I’m not looking forward to at all, by the way, but right now we have to—” He reached for her again.
“Since when are you so grabby?” She shrugged out of his grasp and then stopped when she spied the tiny lines of tension around his mouth. “What is it?”
“I need you to stay calm.”
“I’m not thirteen. I can take bad news.” She fought the urge to ruin her point by rolling her eyes.
“Then you won’t lose it when I tell you we have to hide.”
She tried to stop her eyes from blinking so fast. “I didn’t say that.”
ANGIE TROUTMAN STOOD up from the empty table without bothering to scan the room. People were staring and whispering because that’s what these losers did. So much jealousy packed into one small room. The room pulsed with it. She was almost sorry she’d talked Lowell into wasting money on them. Their lack of gratitude choked out any chance
