“Uhm, I guess. But that’s really in a gray area, isn’t it?”
He shrugged. “I work in that gray area all the time. Nothing is really ever black and white to me. Things can be bent and maneuvered. It just depends on how much you want things to work in your favor.”
“Seems like a personal problem,” I huffed. “And a little manipulative.”
He stood up, stepped back from me and adjusted himself.
I laid there for a moment in a pool of lust. I was such a pushover. And a hussy.
My eyes narrowed at him as I sat up and shook it off.
“So,” he said while eyeing me carefully, “want to help me? Or do you want to go to my room and cut to the chase?”
I straightened my tangled ponytail while trying not to make eye contact. “I’m never going to your room, Brock, so forget about it. Why me anyway?”
“Because you’re smart and you have fight.”
I shook my head. “That’s ridiculous and sounds like another pick-up line. Don’t make me slap you again.”
He chuckled and his eyes sparkled. “The next time you slap me, I’m going to fuck some manners into you and I’m betting we’ll both enjoy it. Don’t test me Andi, or do, but you’ve been warned.”
My body went still. Kinky. I briefly wondered what that would be like then shook my head to clear my deviant thoughts.
“Uhm.”
He considered me for a moment with a slight head tilt. “Do you want to help me catch a criminal?”
I stood up but didn’t get any closer to him. Physical distance was a must at this point. I needed to remember that this man was clever and could ruin my life.
For the sake of keeping him occupied and thinking of anything other than me, I agreed with a nod of my head.
He let out a deep sigh. “Good. We’ll work together and I’ll let you know what I need. Were you in here doing something specific?”
I turned my nose up slightly. “Well, before I was so rudely accosted and manhandled I was on my way to check my schedule. I was busy spending some time with Drew this morning before he went to camp.”
He grinned. “You like being manhandled.”
I put my hand on my hip and gave him an annoyed look. “Contrary to what you might think, some women actually like a soft touch. They like being treated gently. Not so rough and handsy.”
“Well, when you get soft, I’ll give you my gentle touch,” he chuckled and shook his head.
“That’s not what I meant.”
His lips twitched like he wanted to laugh again. “So, you weren’t referring to you? You like it rough? You’re a little young to know what you like already.”
Grr. He was infuriating.
“No, I mean, yes, I guess. I was trying to say, for future interactions with other women, you might want to try being soft. Not in reference to me. I don’t want anything from you. In fact, I think this is a bad idea and you should get someone else to help you. And you should possibly seek counseling from a very patient therapist.”
I swept the end of my ponytail off my shoulder and made an attempt to escape through the cubicle door. I could both hear and see people that were starting to come into the office area.
One of his hands slid around my waist and he moved us deeper into the small space away from the door. The walls were high enough that unless someone purposely peeked in, we wouldn’t be seen.
His hold was like a vise grip and the more I struggled the tighter it got. My hands went to his chest and I scowled at him.
“Let go,” I said in a hushed growl.
His other arm slid around me so that I was effectively caged against him. “No. Remember what I said about that slapping business too. Please give it a try. I would love to show you what you’re going to get for it.”
I huffed. Why me? Didn’t he have other women to play with?
His mouth was beside my ear when he spoke again. It caused me to stiffen and let out a small gasp.
“I would like your help. It’s not like I’m asking too much. Since you were privy to that little conversation earlier you know a little bit of what’s going on and I’ll explain the rest later. Now as for touching you or manhandling you, get over it. I like touching you and frankly given your reaction today, I can tell that you like it too.”
He ended his statement by placing a small kiss beside my ear. There were spots on people that were buttons. The ones that could drive you wild with lust and have you forgetting your own name. That particular one, right beside my ear, nearly made my knees buckle.
It was like a jolt of electricity that went through me straight to my naughty bits and they responded by pulsing.
“Stop, Brock,” I whispered far too softly to sound committed to the request.
He chuckled.
My eyes blinked up at his mischievous smile. He probably did this to countless women on a regular basis and I was just another challenge to his ego. I had to get out of his arms.
Struggling against him again, I gave him another push. He finally leaned back to look at me and his eyes drifted down to my mouth.
Oh, no. No, no.
I could tell by the look in his eyes he was getting more creative ideas.
Trying to divert his attention I asked, “Why do you have me on one of your monitors at work? How is that even possible?”
His eyes quickly snapped up to mine.
“You work at the clinic. There are cameras. When you’re not at the clinic there are,” he paused, “other resources.”
Confused I asked, “Why? Wait—what? What does that mean?”
His eyes slid back to my lips again. “I’ve answered a question honestly, now you answer one of mine.”
“Okay,” I said cautiously.
He dipped his head and gave me a look with those sexy eyes of his that seemed to bore into the back of my mind.
“Why is it that Andi Leigh Jones and Drew Peter Jones only exist on paper? And it’s a very, very short list of papers. No baptisms, no accolades, no school records. Not a single doctor’s record. Parents on the birth certificate were so old when they died, it’s questionable whether they were fit enough to have children. I have the clinic as a job reference but nowhere else. Answer me that, Andi, and I’ll tell you why.”
I was rigid suddenly. My mouth wouldn’t work, much less my limbs.
My body started shivering slightly out of fear that he might actually discover the answer to that question. The fact that he had looked it up in the first place, and had the information that he did was alarming enough.
“No,” I whispered.
He frowned at me. “Andi, you’re shivering, what’s wrong? Your heart is beating like crazy.”
I felt it. The fact that it hadn’t burst from my chest yet was a small miracle. This man made me afraid for Drew and me. We would need to leave.
“Leave me alone, Brock. Just leave Drew and I alone and we’ll be out of here when he gets back. Stop digging. Let go, please.”
He released me but continued to frown. “Andi, tell me.”
I swallowed and my mouth trembled when I looked at him. “No.”
His jaw clenched like he was angry. I could see a red flush creep up his neck.
“Just leave it be, Brock. Please,” I begged.
“Never,” he growled. “I’m not built that way.”
I shot around him before he could reach out and grab me again. In a half jog, half walk I stumbled out of the room and then ran to the elevators.
We should go now but Drew was at camp and the last thing I wanted to do was ruin his chance at a semi-normal piece of childhood.
Pressing the button of the elevator several times, it finally opened and I slipped inside. I pressed in my floor’s code just as Brock rounded the corner.
He narrowed his eyes at me. Assessing.
I narrowed mine back. Warning.
Chapter Three
I wasn’t quite sure what I intended when I got on the elevator. Hiding in my room for the remainder o
f the day wasn’t going to solve anything. I just wanted to get away from the immediate situation with Brock more than anything.
I couldn’t even process what had just happened with him. We weren’t friends, I hadn’t seen him in months and he had just felt me up in a cubicle.
He was like a barbarian in some ways. All gruff and grabby like he was going to carry me off into the woods. And that office fantasy of his? Wow.
My body’s reaction to him was alarming. He was definitely hot but he was trouble and I didn’t need any more of that in my life.
I had dated in high school quite a bit. I was a fairly popular girl with a lot of friends and male attention. I wasn’t a blushing virgin or anything.
But I got the feeling that Brock was a pro in the sex department compared to my fumbling encounters with the guys I had dated. It wasn’t all that great and the only thing I had really liked about it was the foreplay. It all seemed so useless after that. Hell, I got better orgasms from my fingers than those experiences.
There had been a few dates since moving here but nothing particularly interesting. The fact that I couldn’t get close to anyone anymore killed the intimacy factor. Life without sex wasn’t killing me though and I had other things on my plate.
Hmm. Brock.
I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. Forget it. Forget him. I was in deep shit if he kept digging around into my past. He needed to give it a rest.
The one thing I worried about the most was that Drew would be taken away from me and I would be in trouble for taking him in the first place. What would happen to him if I wasn’t there?
My composure had slipped and that had been a costly mistake. I should have just blown it off and told him we were living abroad or something else. It might have thrown him off for a while until Drew and I had a different plan.
What was my plan? That was the question.
When we finally ended up here things had gone so great that I hadn’t thought about an alternate situation. My plan had been to stay here for a while, not move around every year.
I glanced up at the floor numbers as they changed on the digital screen. Nearly there.
My reflection in the mirrored walls stared back at me. Drew was right, I needed a haircut. My long hair was getting out of control. When I didn’t have it up, it hung nearly to the top of my hips. Last month’s blonde highlights had faded into a color that looked more like dirty brown. Heavy on the dirty.
I was pretty, I could admit that. Pert nose, big eyes, high cheek bones. I was curvy but tall. It was surprising that people actually bought the age that was listed on my ID.
Pretty, but my ego wasn’t so inflated that I would imagine calling myself beautiful. There were times I would really put on the glam and slip into that womanly sexy mode that I saw my peers exhibiting but I always felt like that was just another role to play. I played it well but it was mostly false bravado where sexuality was concerned.
I wasn’t sure what that actually meant at this point in my life and figured it was something I would grow into or embrace at some point. Without any “motherly” influence, it wasn’t something I could even ask about. So I watched my friends and learned.
Brock. Why was he interested?
My tired blue eyes looked back at me. It felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders suddenly but I was the only one that could carry it.
The elevator lurched suddenly then slowed down to a stop.
My hands grabbed the railing out of instinct. What the hell?
It would be just my luck to get stuck on an elevator. It was stopped somewhere near floor twenty by the count on the screen.
Looking around I saw a call button and pressed it.
“Hello?” I said. “I’m stuck on the elevator can someone help? It stopped moving.”
There was a static sound on the other end.
“Give me a break,” I mumbled.
This was a new hotel. Surely stuff worked better than this. The next time I talked to Liv I would have to tell her about it. IF I ever got out of here.
I pressed the call button insistently a couple more times. There was still nothing but static coming from the speaker.
There was a tiny camera set into the wall panel above the button and I eyed it.
Damn. I had just run from the one person who could have potentially been watching me and now I needed to get his attention. Who was I kidding? He was on vacation or a retreat or whatever. He probably didn’t even have time for that.
Uhg. I slammed my palm on the call button again and started waiving at the camera.
Nothing.
I ran my hand over my face. What do I do now?
My eyes lifted to the ceiling. Even if I was in shape enough to haul my ass through a hatch, which I wasn’t, I would have to reach it first. I couldn’t even tell if there was a hatch because everything looked seamless.
I lifted my knee up to the handrail and tried maneuvering myself to possibly stand on it.
There were two clicking sounds on the speaker.
“Hello?!” I yelled.
“Andi,” Brock said, in a growl.
I slid off and tripped over my own feet when the elevator lurched again. I felt my ankle twist a little as I landed on my hip.
“Ouch,” I muttered and tried to stand back up. “Brock, it’s moving again. I’m fine.”
“Uh huh. Want to tell me why you’re running?”
I put some pressure on my right ankle but it stung a lot. I flexed it back and forth to stretch it as I ignored Brock’s question.
The elevator came to a lurching stop again.
My eyes flew to the screen. I hadn’t gone more than a few floors.
“Brock? It stopped again. Is it broken?”
“Answer the question,” he ordered.
I took a couple of hesitant steps to the other side of the elevator. My ankle was sore but I could still walk.
“Brock, I’m not running, I just have stuff to do. Can you get me out of here?”
The speaker clicked again. “I can if you answer the question.”
I frowned at the camera and tested my ankle again. “I answered the question! I’m a private person and I don’t want to talk about some things. I have stuff to do and I can’t just sit around in cubicles with you all day. Stop being an asshole and get me out of here!”
There was a clicking sound again on the speaker.
My foot came down wrong just as the elevator lurched again and I landed on the floor once more. This time I hit it with my ass and elbow. Both of which were going to be sore in the morning.
“For fuck’s sake Brock! Easy going there!”
The elevator kept moving thankfully but there was no response from him. I didn’t even bother trying to stand up again. I would just limp my way out when I got to my floor.
Or crawl. Whatever.
I looked at the screen on the elevator and it passed my floor. What the fuck was going on with this damn thing? At this rate, I was going to end up on the top floor. If I ever got out of here I was going to limp down the stairs because I wasn’t ever going to take the stupid elevator again. I could get in some exercise while I was at it.
The numbers kept climbing until it started reaching the top and then gently slowed down and stopped at the highest floor.
The elevator doors jerked, then slid open.
Brock was standing on the other side with his arms crossed and a scowl on his face. His jaw was flexing and he looked really angry.
I scooted back into the elevator instead of forward.
He tilted his head and confusion slid across his face. “Andi? What are you doing?”
I opened my mouth then clamped it closed again.
Brock stepped into the cab, stabbed a button on the panel and looked down at me. His hand reached up to tap on what looked like a Bluetooth earpiece he had on. “Hold the door, please.”
He came closer and I retreated until my back hit the wall. “What’s going on? How the hell did yo
u get up here?”
He stopped in front of me and I had the crane my neck up to look at him.
“Brock?” I said impatiently.
He smirked then dropped down to my level in a squat.
“Well, while your elevator was stopped, mine was on its way up here. Magic.”
I frowned at him. His twinkling eyes and slight lift to his mouth gave him a deviant look.
“Did you stop my elevator?”
“Yes. Why are you on the floor?”
I bit my lip. He was trouble. “Why did you do that?”
Brock gave me a flashy smile. “Because I wanted to talk to you and thought we might do that in a more private setting. Since you were already on your way up, I thought I might just meet you here.”
I laid my hand on his knee and pushed, trying to topple him over but he didn’t move.
“I was not on my way here! I was headed to my apartment, jerk. You can’t just hijack people’s elevators!”
He gave me a wild look like I was crazy. “Yes, I can.”
I smacked him on the leg, “Well you shouldn’t! It’s not nice and I have stuff to do. Don’t you have things to take care of for your party? People to mingle with and employees to terrorize?”
His eyes moved to my hand on his knee and I jerked it back quickly.
He chuckled, “Wow, that hand of yours. Do you want to slap me yet? Remember my warning, spitfire.”
I crossed my hands over my chest and fumed at him.
He narrowed his eyes at me. “Hmm, too bad. What are you doing on the floor?”
Rolling my eyes, I let out a deep sigh. “I fell. My ankle hurts and the elevator kept lurching, thanks to you. So just send me back down to my floor and I can figure out what’s wrong from there. If you had any restraint at all it wouldn’t have happened. Didn’t you see me on camera?”
“No, and my apologies. I didn’t realize you had fallen. What were you doing?”
I looked away briefly. “Trying to stand up on the rail so I could get to a hatch or something.”
He lifted his head up and glanced toward the rail. “Ahh, well. Sounds like it wasn’t all my fault then.”
“Whatever.”
He looked down at the foot I had crossed in front of me and pointed. “That ankle?”
Chase (Lakefield Book 4) Page 3