Unlucky in Love ( Lucky #1) (13 page)

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Aiden didn’t want to let go of her. When he’d first seen her sitting on the floor of the elevator, she had been so pale and looked utterly scared. Instantly his heart had broken.

Now, as he held her and kissed the top of her head, he could feel her shake and her knees give out on her. The firemen who’d helped him pry open the doors and secure the car stood around him, trying to look busy.

“Miss, do you need any medical help?” one of them finally said.

She shook her head between sobs. Aiden answered for her since she hadn’t been able to speak. “I think she’s just shaken up,” he said, then leaned back and took her face in his hands. “Are you okay to head downstairs?”

“Maybe”—she shook a little more—“if I had a moment . . .” She nodded to the left where the bathrooms were.

He smiled. “I’ll be right here.”

She moved slowly. “My stuff . . .” She pointed toward the elevator.

“They’ll get it out for you by the time you’re done in there.” He could see a fireman and an electrician had already jumped into the elevator car and were working on the electrical console.

When Kristen disappeared into the bathroom, he walked over and gathered her laptop bag, her design case, and her small purse. Her cell phone was tucked in the side pocket of her purse, and the second he walked toward the stairs, it started ringing.

Looking down, he saw a picture of a pretty blonde smiling back at him with Amy written across the screen.

He punched the button. “Hello?”

“Who is this? Is Kristen okay? I got a bunch of text messages . . .”

“This is Aiden Scott. Yes, she’s okay. She’s out of the elevator,” he said. “She’s just in the restroom.” He turned and looked toward the closed door.

“What happened?” He could hear the concern in her friend’s voice.

“It appears that one of the cables in the elevator snapped, causing the brakes to lock.”

“Oh my God! It didn’t fall with her in it, did it?”

“No. They tell me it would have only gone a few feet before the locks engaged.”

He heard the woman sigh. “She didn’t get hurt?”

“No, just shaken. I’ll bring her back to her place since we were supposed to meet you there.” He turned when he heard Kristen walk out of the bathroom. She’d splashed some water on her face and had pushed her hair back. He could see her eyes were wet and red, but she was looking a lot more together than she had before. “Here she is now.” He held out the phone for her. “Amy.”

She reached for the phone and he noticed that her hands still shook.

“I’m okay.” She walked back into his arms, which he held open for her. “I’m with Aiden now,” she said with her face pressed against his chest.

He listened halfheartedly as she answered more of Amy’s questions.

“We should be there in about half an hour.” She sighed. “Okay, thanks.”

She hung up and looked up at him. “I’d better call my folks since Amy called them panicking when she couldn’t get ahold of me.” He nodded and she stepped away from him to make the call.

After Kristen had assured her parents that she was alive and well, and after she and Aiden had talked to the firemen and the building manager, they took the stairs to the parking garage where his car was.

“I guess I’ll add stairs to my workout,” she said, after climbing in and leaning back in the seat.

“You can’t run and hide from everything.” He reached across the seat and brushed her hair behind her ear, then ran a finger down her cheek.

Her green eyes opened and zeroed in on him. “That’s easy for you to say. You didn’t spend an hour trapped ten floors up, dangling by a thread.”

He laughed. “A little exaggeration never hurt anyone.” His eyebrows went up.

“Well, okay, maybe not by a thread.” She smiled.

He leaned over and took her lips once more in a kiss that assured him she was alive and well. By the time he pulled back, he felt a little unsteady and shaky.

“I’m in the mood for pizza,” she blurted out. He could tell she was trying to lighten the mood, so he just nodded in agreement.

“I know just the place.” He pulled out of the parking garage and headed toward her apartment.

“I’ll want a quick shower. I’m sure Amy can keep you entertained until I’m done.” She glanced over at him and his nerves jumped with her warm look.

When they pulled into her apartment complex, the pretty blonde from Kristen’s phone was leaning against a Jeep right next to the parking spot he used.

Before he could turn off the engine, she was yanking Kristen’s side door open. By the time he walked around the car, the two friends were in an unbreakable hug, crying in each other’s arms.

Finally, Amy pulled back and glanced over at him. “Hi.”

“Oh!” Kristen wiped away a few tears. “Amy, this is Aiden. Aiden, Amy Walker.”

He reached out and shook her hand as her eyes ran up and down him several times.

“I’m going to hit the shower,” Kristen said, tugging Amy along with her as they started to take the stairs toward her apartment. “Amy, can you keep Aiden company?”

“Sure.” Amy glanced over her shoulder at him and he got the impression that he was going to be grilled the entire time.

When Kristen disappeared into the back, Amy sat on the new cream-colored sofa and looked up at him.

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but I like you.” She twisted her watch around her wrist as she smiled at him.

He almost tripped on the new rug Kristen had put down under a new coffee table. He wondered where and when she’d gotten it.

“You . . . do?” he asked, walking over and taking a seat next to her.

“I’ve seen the kind of guys Krissy attracts.” She leaned back and turned toward him.

He liked the nickname and decided he might use it himself. “And?” He leaned back along with her.

“You’re nothing like them. Dark hair, broody eyes, strong chin.” Her eyes ran over him. “Expensive suit.”

He looked down and frowned. “I didn’t have time to change after my last meeting.”

She bit her lip. “The only thing I can’t figure out is . . .”

He waited as she squinted her eyes and ran them over him again. “What you’re doing at R&S.”

He felt his pulse kick. “Helping a friend out.”

Her eyes scanned his. “Krissy told me about your connection with Paul and Steven. But something just isn’t adding up.”

He tilted his head. “What is it, exactly, that you do?”

She blinked a few times. “Real estate.”

He remembered now. “If Kristen asked you to drop everything and help her with a job, would you?”

She nodded without hesitation. “You bet your tight little butt I would.”

“My stepfather and Steven are as close as you and Kristen. So, when he called me, I jumped.”

“Yes, but what exactly are you doing for them?” He was saved from answering when Kristen walked out, freshly showered and dressed in a long flowing cream skirt and a purple sweater.

“How are you feeling?” Amy jumped up from the sofa.

“Better.” Her hair was still a little wet. Half of it was piled up on the top of her head, while the other half fell around her face in tight little curls. She had applied some makeup, and as far as he could tell, all the paleness was gone.

He got up, walked over to her, and wrapped her in his arms again. “You look lovely.” He leaned down and kissed her, right in front of Amy.

“Jeez, get a room,” she joked behind Kristen’s back.

Kristen laughed. “You know, if you weren’t here, I have a perfectly good one with a brand-new bed just a few feet away.”

“Oh no.” Amy walked over and pulled her from his arms. “I’m starving and I want to hear all about your ordeal in the elevator.” She tugged Kristen toward the door. “Were there any cute firemen?” he heard her ask as they stepped outside.

Kristen filled Amy in all the way through dinner. It wasn’t as if she could avoid it, since Amy was asking so many questions. Aiden even got into it and answered every question she asked about what had taken place.

By the time their two pizzas were finished, Amy had finally run out of questions and the two friends had moved on to talking about the trip to Vail. By the time they had climbed back into the car, Amy had even moved on beyond that conversation. Kristen could tell her friend was trying to get as much information from Aiden as possible.

“So, who’s this friend that owns Albert’s?” She leaned forward in the backseat of Aiden’s car as they drove back to her place.

“He’s just my type,” Kristen said, looking over at Aiden as he drove. When he smiled and looked over at her, she winked at their joke.

“Oh.” Amy puckered up her lips. “Then never mind. So, Aiden, you don’t happen to have any brothers?”

“Nope, two sisters.” He glanced at her in the rearview mirror. “Sorry.”

“I suppose it was too much to ask.” She tapped Kristen on the shoulder. “If you decide it’s not going to work out . . .”

“Jeez.” She looked back at her friend. “You’re being a little forward, aren’t you?”

“Oh, Aiden knows I’m just having fun.” She smiled at him, showing off the small dimples by her mouth. Kristen had always been jealous of her friend’s dimples. Most girlfriends would want Amy’s long blonde hair or her silver eyes or her perfect little body, but no, Kristen had always wanted her dimples.

“Sure I do.” He winked at her in the mirror. “But I don’t think I’ll be done with Kristen for a very long time.” He reached over to take her hand. She sighed and heard a matching sigh from the backseat.

Okay, so he’d won over her best friend, a feat that no other man she’d ever dated had accomplished. Next up, her parents. She cringed when she thought of that meeting.

“Before I forget . . .” He turned to her. “Mom and Eric want to have us over this weekend. They want to thank you for going with me to Vail.”

She almost chuckled. He must have been reading her mind. “Um, sure. What day?”

He glanced at her. “Are you sure?”

She nodded.

“Um, tomorrow . . . Saturday night.”

She added, “As long as we can have Sunday brunch at my folks.”

“Sounds like a plan.”

When they drove up to her apartment, Amy instantly made an excuse to leave. Kristen really loved her friend.

“Would you like some coffee?” she asked as she stepped up the first stair.

“There was nothing you could say or do to stop me from coming upstairs,” he whispered and pulled her close. She loved that she was almost as tall as him, standing this way. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and kissed him.

“Good, because I’d hate to have to hit you over the head and drag you up these stairs,” she said as he laughed.

She took his hand in hers and walked up the rest of the stairs quickly. Once inside, she was pleased when he pushed her back against the closed door. His mouth fused to hers as his hands roamed over her.

When he started tugging her clothes off, she pulled at his. Clothes hit the ground, and hands moved against skin as they fought to get each other naked.

When his hands roamed over her body, she winced at the pain. He jumped back like he’d been shot, his eyes moving over her entire body. She was leaning against the front door, gasping for breath as he looked at her.

“What the . . .” He frowned. “Damn it.” He reached over and flipped on the overhead light. Then he was leaning down in front of her as he pulled up one of her legs and looked at the scrapes and large bruises that had formed when she had fallen in the elevator.

“You should have gotten medical attention.” He glanced up at her.

“For some bruises?” She looked down and held back a gasp when she noticed how dark both of her knees were.

“You could have broken your kneecaps,” he said as he reached up and looked at her elbows and hands. They weren’t as bad as her knees and she was thankful that his eyes went back downward as he dropped her arms.

“I’m okay.” She pushed her hands through his hair. “Really.”

He looked up at her, and his frown softened a little. “You should put some ice on these.”

She tugged on his hair until he stood up, his arms wrapping around her. “What I need right now is to finish what we started.” She pulled him back to her.

When his mouth fell back on hers, she felt his hesitation, but then she nibbled on his lower lip until he moaned. She felt him harden again against her hip and pushed on his shoulders until he was up against the wall.

She finished tugging his boxer shorts down and then ran her hands slowly toward the sexy dark V that led her downward.

Her mouth trailed along the pathway her hands had just taken as his hands buried into her hair.

“Krissy,” he moaned. She smiled at his use of her nickname.

“Yes?” she teased.

“Don’t torture me.” His dark eyes found hers and she could see the heat in them.

“Why not?” she asked before running her tongue over the length of him. His cock jumped toward her so she did it again.

“You’re going to get it,” he warned.

“Promises, promises.” She took him all the way into her mouth. As her lips moved up and down on him, his fingers dug into her hair, holding, pushing. She didn’t care.

He was beautiful and felt like silk in her mouth. She couldn’t get enough of him. His soft moans and pleas were only exciting her further.