Page 141 of An Inconvenient Marriage
The thumping in my chest grew louder with every word he spoke.Maybe it’s not a bad thing?
“… there seems to be a problem with yours.”
I only caught the last bit of his sentence, but that was all I needed.
Holding on to the door with a white-knuckled grip, I spoke as calmly as I could. “What kind of problem?”
Mr. Driscoll threw his hands in the air, a frustrated noise leaving his mouth. “I don’t know. The suit used big words I can’t understand. But whatever it is, I suggest you take it up with him.”
“Do you know where I can find… the suit?”
Nodding, he pointed toward the ceiling. A look of disdain curled his lips as his gaze followed his finger upward. “He’s lounging in the penthouse.” His attention drifted back to me, and with a quick shake of his head, he pulled something from his pocket.
“This will take you straight up,” he said, handing me a keycard. “Good luck withthat one.”
Then he turned and stalked off. I stared at the spot where he’d been just a moment ago, then looked at the keycard nestled in my palm.
Guess I was heading to the penthouse.
Not even bothering to check my appearance—not the smartest idea since I’d been straightening the apartment before Everlee arrived—I locked my door, then headed for the elevators.
Once inside, I swiped the keycard, and the button with the P immediately turned green. I slipped the card into my pocket and then, to my utter shock and horror, saw my reflection in the shiny doors.
I was a mess, to put it mildly. The knot on top of my head looked more like a bird’s nest than the messy bun it was supposed to be. And if that wasn’t bad enough, I must have been colorblind when I got dressed this morning since my white blouse did nothing to hide my lacy black bra underneath.
At least my jeans looked good. And my… oh no! How did I not realize I wasn’t wearing shoes? This was terrible. I was about to face my new landlord looking like… I didn’t even know what.
Ugh.
This man was going to take one look at me and decide whatever was wrong with my lease needed to stay wrong so he could get the weirdo out of his building.
Okay. Deep breaths. When the elevator stops, I’ll just head back down and make myself decent, then come back up.
Unfortunately for me, things didn’t always go according to plan. The first mishap was when the elevator doors opened directly into the penthouse.
Not a big deal, I thought, as I immediately pushed the fourth-floor button. Problem number two? The doors wouldn’t close, and the button refused to light up.
So naturally, I had to try again. Swiping the card, I stabbed the button over and over and over. And yet all that got me was a sharp pain that shot down straight into my hand.
I didn’t know if it was desperation or something else, but I reached for that damn button again. Before I could touch it, though, long fingers curled around mine.
“You’re hurting yourself.”
My skin prickled. My belly flipped over on itself. And my poor heart didn’t know if it should go fast or stop beating altogether.
Chewing on the corner of my mouth, I let my gaze slowly drift to the man in front of me. The one touching me.
And when our eyes finally locked, time stopped.
My entire world went quiet.
I parted my lips to catch my breath, but a whispered word escaped. “Zach.”
The instant I said his name, he closed his eyes and tightened his hold on me. It was a small reprieve, definitely not long enough for me to make sense of anything. And when his lids parted and those dark eyes were back on me, the little stability I’d found over the months dissolved into nothingness.
I couldn’t move. Couldn’t think. I couldn’t take a breath without dragging a lungful of Zach into my system.
Space. I needed space.
