Almost A Wife

“I hate doing this to you,” he had said when he handed her the pink slip that terminated her employment. “Research and development was gaining momentum under your management, and it’s not your fault that we’ve dropped in the market.”

“But that’s only temporary,” she protested, at the moment more concerned with the potential of CTI’s software than with her personal problem. “Of course we show a slump in the market when a large share of funds is going into development. But when the new programs are on the market, our stock will go up.”

“Yeah,” Sam agreed. “But the merger hangs on the current rating. Tray Kingsley, the man who’s negotiating the deal, is looking at the market and if our stock doesn’t go up, a sell-off will begin. We’ve got to cut overhead to raise profit. Middle management is the first to go. Sorry.”

So her job had vanished. Just like that. Just because some big shot sat in his New York office, studying the stock market. A big shot named Tray Kingsley. She hadn’t known she could hate a man she’d never seen.

What could he tell about the real worth of CTI, sitting on his backside three thousand miles away?

More to the point…why the dickens did CTI decide to merge with Lawson Enterprises just at this time! She had been with them only one year, hardly eligible for the golden handshake!

She straightened again as a man entered the building. Any other time she might have noticed that he was tall, dark and quite handsome. But this morning she only noticed that he headed straight for the 21 to 40 block of elevators. She sprang into action.

Tray Kingsley smiled as he pushed the button. He was on the way up in more ways than one. After only one year with Lawson, he had been chosen to negotiate the takeover of CTI, for which he had received a sizable bonus. Now he had been selected as the new CEO to head the new San Francisco subsidiary. His tenure here was only temporary, an opportunity to study the facility and decide the best economic shifts. But the bonus included a substantial increase in salary, and a brief taste of sunny California. You couldn’t beat that with a stick.

Actually he had suggested the California stint himself. It provided a diplomatic breather from his indecisive involvement with a very persistent lady who just happened to be the boss’s daughter.

Not much of a breather. He still maintained his position at the New York headquarters and would be there often. And, to be fair, he enjoyed his association with Chase Lawson. She was beautiful, and charmingly acquainted with all the right people, a companionable asset in any social gathering. Personally? He tried to think beyond the social swirls to the little dinners and their intimate times alone. Well…Perhaps the fact that she was a Lawson was the put off. He liked to think his advancement was due to his capabilities…not as a future son-in-law.

So, back to the job, he thought as the elevator door slid open. This would be his first look at the physical site, but he was already immersed in plans for improvement and expansion. The first thing to do was—

“Pardon,” he said, a little startled and not sure who had brushed against whom, for they seemed to enter the elevator simultaneously. He didn’t look at her, and hardly noticed that there was no response.

The key man here was Sam Fraser, he thought. Perhaps he could arrange to take him to lunch. Talking was better than looking when it came to sizing things up. He meant to get a good grip on things right off. Wouldn’t bother about an apartment. The hotel was convenient and…

“Oh, my God!” The heartrending wail commanded his full attention.

What the hell!

He turned to see the woman crouching in terror, the wail escalating into a crescendo of uncontrollable sobs.

He bent toward her. “What…what is it?”

“We’re stuck. We’re stuck. Oh, my God! I knew it. I knew this would happen! Oh, God, oh God, oh God!”

Her hysteria was so unnerving, it was a moment before he realized she was right. The elevator had stopped somewhere between floors. He was about to sound the alarm, but she blocked his way.

“I shouldn’t have got in…I wish I hadn’t. I wish I hadn’t.”

He wished so, too. She was losing it. He tried to reassure her. “Hey, it’s okay. I’ll alert somebody.” Whoever’s in charge of the damn thing…if she’ll shut up!

He shook her gently, and tried to cut into the now incoherent babble. “Hush. It will be all right.”

The mass of black hair swung around her face as she violently shook her head. He couldn’t tell whether she was laughing or crying.

Clearly hysterical. He didn’t want to slap her. If he kissed her?

His mouth closed on hers, shutting off the screams. Or shocked her into silence. For…Good Lord! The kiss was more potent than a slap. Her soft yielding surprised him, evoking an exciting erotic spasm of…What on earth was he doing!

He tried to release her, but he couldn’t.

She clung to the feeling. His arms around her, secure and warm. Safe.

The pressure of his lips against hers…demanding, teasing, pleading. Her whole body responded, awakening to a strange exhilarating sensation of desire that pleased and held her.

Each time he tried to pull away, her grip tightened. Her head was buried on his shoulder and an alluring scent of fresh shampoo mixed with an exotic perfume wafted from the hair covering his chest. Her arms held him close. Too close. A hell of a time for the way she was making him feel!

With an effort, he took control. At least he had shut her up.

Over her shoulder he reached for the phone connected to the alarm.

She heard him on the phone. “Hello, hello…Is anybody there?”

Her head jerked up as the panic returned. She still held him tight, but she vehemently declared, “No! Nobody. They won’t come…Oh, God! Oh, God!”

Hell, she was off again and whoever was supposed to answer the alarm was out to lunch! “Shut up!” he shouted. He felt tears dampening his shirt and softened his tone, “I can’t hear if you’re not quiet. Just be patient. They’ll have us out of here in a jiffy.”

“They won’t. We were stuck for almost two hours!”

“Oh? It happened before?” This elevator must be a jinx. But it should have been fixed. “When?” he asked.

“Two years ago. At my old apartment. But there were only seven stories,” she said. “We were stuck halfway to third and we had to climb out.”

“Oh.” Her apartment. It wasn’t this elevator. The woman was the jinx. The thought made him laugh.

That seemed to make her mad. Not mad enough to turn him loose, but she flared up at him. “Why are you laughing? It’s not funny. Do you realize we’re stuck between no telling how many stories of solid wall? This elevator doesn’t stop until the twenty-first floor. No way to climb out like we did…That is, if something doesn’t break loose and we go crashing to the ground. That time at my apartment, we decided that if that happened, we would jump up and down so when it hit, we—”

“Hey! That’s enough.” Hysteria was better than her crazy predictions. She was making him nervous. Still…best to keep her talking.. “You may be an old hand at this, but you’re not an expert. Elevators have springs on the bottom, so if they hit bottom, it’s not with a crash.”

“Oh?” She looked up at him, eyes wide. “Is that true?”

He nodded, though he wasn’t sure. He also wondered about all that solid wall between openings. He pushed the alarm, and spoke again into the phone. “Hello. Anybody there?”

“They weren’t when we called,” she said. “We’d probably have been there all night if it hadn’t been for the pizza.”

“Pizza?”

“A girl on the elevator was delivering a pizza, and this guy on four came to see why she hadn’t gotten there, and found out the elevator was stuck. If he hadn’t, we might have been…” She stopped, struck by another alarming thought. “Maybe it’s an earthquake.”

“Earthquake?”

“They told us never to use the elevator during an earthquake. They cut off the electricity you know, and—”

“If there was an earthquake, you’d damn well feel it,” he snapped. “And if the electricity was off this phone wouldn’t be—” A voice on the other end stopped him. A reassuring voice. He smiled. “Oh. Sure. Okay.” He looked down at her. “It’s okay. Be calm. Help is on the way.”

She didn’t release him until the elevator started its ascent. Then she moved, turning away from him, mopping at her tear stained face.

“Sorry I was such a nuisance. Thank you,” she said, and bolted as soon as the elevator came to a smooth stop at the thirty-fourth floor.