Hearts in Darkness (3 page)

Makenna shifted up onto her knees and shrugged out of her suit jacket. She folded it as neatly as she could and tossed it gently in the general direction of her bags.

"What are you doing?” Caden asked.

"Oh, just taking off my jacket. I'm getting a little warm. I wonder how long it's been.” She untucked her blouse and shook the hem to fan air onto her abdomen.

"I don't know. Maybe an hour, hour and a half?"

"Yeah,” Makenna agreed, figuring it was somewhere around 8 p.m.

She settled back into her corner, but turned on her hip a little. Even though it was carpeted, the floor was hard. Her behind was falling asleep.

"So, whose turn is it?” she asked.

Caden chuckled. “No idea. You can go, though."

"What big plans did you have for tonight?"

"No big plans, really. I was just going to meet some buddies to play pool. I work a lot of night shifts, so I don't get to hang out with them as much as I'd like."

Makenna thought that sounded nice. Except for her college friends, only one of whom was in the D.C. area with her, she didn't have many girl friends to hang out with. For some reason, she'd always had an easier time making guy friends. She blamed being surrounded by her brothers and all their friends growing up.

"How ‘bout you?"

"Oh, I had a very important date with my couch and a bottle of wine."

"Well, I'm sure they'll reschedule."

"Yeah.” Makenna chuckled, then sighed. “They're pretty much always available. Okay...moving on from that depressing topic..."

"Are you seeing anyone?” Caden asked,
not
getting off the depressing topic at all.

"Obviously not. You?"

"No."

Makenna took more pleasure in his answer than she thought she should. Maybe she was just happy she wasn't the only single person left out there. All her friends seemed to either be getting married or engaged. It was like a line of dominos falling, only she didn't seem to be in line.

"Okay,” Caden said with a clapping sound that rang loud in the small space, “favorite color."

"Seriously?"

"Down to basics, Red."

She smiled widely at the nickname so many others had called her but she'd never really liked until now.

"Blue. Yours?"

"Black."

She smirked. “How very boy of you."

He chuckled. And launched into at least another twenty questions of the kind of minutiae you learned about a person after a couple months of dating: favorite band, favorite movie, favorite food, favorite place, favorite everything-else-he-could-think-of, most embarrassing moment, and best day ever, though he skipped asking about worst day ever. Makenna was glad—she didn't think she could resist touching him if he talked about his brother again.

Makenna enjoyed the conversation. Some time in the middle of discussing favorites, she stretched out on the floor and propped herself up on her elbow. Despite being trapped in a pitch-black elevator for a couple hours with a stranger, she felt surprisingly relaxed. The smallest niggling thought snuck into the back of her mind—she was kind of not looking forward to when the power came back on and they'd go their separate ways.

And, even more than that, they had a surprising amount in common. They both loved Italian and Thai food. She could even overlook his love of sushi since he was such a huge fan of Kings of Leon, her absolute favorite band. They both enjoyed going to baseball games, more to sit out in the sun and drink beer with friends, and neither understood the point of golf at all. And they shared a love for stupid humor movies, even though they couldn't agree on ranking them.

It was the most entertaining conversation Makenna had had in a very long time. Caden seemed genuinely interested in her answers. And he debated and argued every little point in a way that made her want to kiss him to shut him up. She liked the way she felt around this man, despite the fact she'd never laid eyes on him.

Caden couldn't remember the last time he'd had such an easy conversation or the last time he'd laughed or even smiled so much. It felt...good—which was remarkable. He tended to operate somewhere between “fine” and “pretty good” most days. And he'd long ago made peace with that. It was worlds better from where he'd spent most of his teenage years.

"I gotta stand up and stretch,” he said out of nowhere.

"Yeah, I know. This floor leaves a little to be desired."

"At least it's carpeted and not marble or tile. Your legs would be cold if it was.” Caden reached his arms over his head and twisted his torso back and forth while he remembered the way her little gray suit skirt hugged her shapely bottom. His spine cracked when he turned to the left.

"Cold might feel good right now."

Makenna was right. It had gone from that over-air-conditioned feeling most office buildings had in the summer to comfortable to warm. It wasn't hot yet, but it was heading in that direction.

As Caden settled back on the floor and tried to find a position that didn't aggravate the tingles in his ass and hips, Makenna reopened the questions. “So, I work in this building, but what landed you in this fine elevator today?"

"Settling my father's estate. His law partner's office is on the seventh floor."

"Oh, I'm sor—"

"Don't be. My father was a very unhappy man for a very long time. And we didn't get along. He's gotta be in a better place now. Anyway, I just had to sign some paperwork."

He just barely heard Makenna's soft, “Oh."

"So,” he said, wanting to move away from yet another depressing topic, “first times—who, when, where, how good."

"What?” Makenna choked out an incredulous laugh. “Uh, I think not."

"Why not? We've talked about just about everything else. I'll even go first."

Makenna was quiet for a minute and then started moving around. She sounded closer than she'd been.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm not entertaining the idea of talking about this until I've at least broken bread with you. And I'm starving over here."

He'd been trying to ignore his stomach for the past...hell, he didn't even know how long. But her mention of food had him salivating.

Makenna was muttering, “Come on, come on, where is it. Not that bag.” She nearly startled him with her triumphant, “Ha! All right, Mr. Grayson, would you prefer a granola bar or a little bag of trail mix?"

He grinned, not expecting her to share with him, and he certainly had no intention of asking her to. “No, no. All yours."

"Come on, you have to eat something. I've got two, so there's one for each of us. Since this is my building, it's kind of like you're my guest. So you get to pick—granola bar or trail mix.” Caden could hear her shaking the bags as she continued to say in a sing-song voice, “Granola bar or trail mix, granola bar or trail mix."

He smiled. “Okay, I'll take the trail mix."

"Done. Um, here?"

The package crinkled against the carpet as Makenna slid it in his direction. He reached his hand out in search of it. When they finally met somewhere in the darkened middle, Caden dragged his hand over hers. It was small and soft. He surprised himself by thinking he wanted to keep holding her hand more than he wanted the food. She didn't pull away. They both laughed nervously.

"We'll have to share the water, though. I only have one bottle."

"How much stuff do you have in there?"

"Hey, don't be knocking my bags. Without them, we wouldn't be sharing this gourmet meal right now."

"Agreed. Sorry,” he said as he threw back the first handful of nuts and raisins.

They ate in silence, and the salt from the trail mix made him thirsty. He felt awkward asking, but the idea of the water tortured him. “Can I have a drink now?"

"Of course. Let me make sure the cap's on tight so it doesn't spill.” They executed the mid-elevator hand-off. Caden smiled as they once again paused with their fingers touching before pulling away.

He unscrewed the lid and tilted the bottle to his lips. “Oh, God. That's good."

"I know. I didn't realize how thirsty I was until I took a sip."

"Thanks for sharing your stuff with me."

"Of course. What was I going to do? Sit here and eat in front of you? Come on, you know me better than that. I think."

Caden agreed. Every story she'd shared with him revealed some part of her character—and everything he'd learned told of a person who was friendly and compassionate and giving. “You're right,” he finally said. “I do."

The trail mix was gone too soon, but at least it took the edge off. They passed the water back and forth until it was almost gone, then Caden insisted Makenna take the last drink.

They sat in the heat of the dark elevator for several minutes before Caden finally gazed in her direction and said, “Don't think your little ploy with the snacks distracted me from the current question on the table."

"Not at all. But you said you'd go first."

[Back to Table of Contents]

Makenna shifted onto her back and stared at the invisible ceiling. She had a big goofy grin on her face because Caden was about to tell her about his first time, while she had absolutely no intention of sharing hers.

"Okay. I'll start then. I am, after all, a man of my word. My first time was with Mandy Marsden—"

"Mandy?” Makenna wrinkled her nose and smirked.

"Hey, telling a story over here. Keep the editorial comments to a minimum."

"Oh, right, sorry. Please continue.” Her smile grew wider.

"As I was saying...my first time was with Mandy Marsden, on her parents’ living room couch while they were asleep upstairs. I was sixteen and had no idea what the hell I was doing. I remember it as being nice, but I imagine Mandy might have been...underwhelmed."

Makenna found the chuckle in his voice at the end there so endearing. She liked a guy who could laugh at himself.
He must be pretty confident in bed now to share a story like that
—the thought made her even hotter than she already was. “Sounds very romantic,” she managed.

"Who knows from romance when you're sixteen?"

"Well, that's true, I suppose. Did you at least buy her dinner beforehand?"

"Does pizza count?"

She couldn't help but laugh. Caden was adorable. “For a sixteen-year-old, sure. I'll give you a pass."

"How big of you. Okay, then, your turn, Red."

She didn't answer.

"Red?"

"Next question."

She heard him roll over. His voice sounded closer. “No way. We had a deal."

"Could the court reporter please read back the transcript to ascertain Miss James never agreed to tell this story?"

He scoffed. “Okay, I realize we've been in here for a while, but please tell me you're not losing your mind already."

"Not at all, just getting the facts straight."

"Come on. What's the big deal?"

She was almost glad she couldn't see him—if his eyes were anywhere near as persuasive as his voice, she'd be a goner. “Just...no,” she said through a laugh at his pleading.

"It couldn't be any worse than mine."

"Nope."

"Red."

"No."

"M.J."

"Hey, that's Makenna to you, mister. And the answer's still no.” Even though her initials didn't bother her in the rest of her life, there was something about the way her name fell off his tongue she really liked. She didn't want him to treat her just like everybody else did, just like one of the guys.

"This must be some story. You realize you're building expectations here."

She groaned. “No, no, no, no."

"Tell me and I'll take you out for pizza. You can even pick the toppings.” They were just joking around, but Caden found himself hoping she'd agree to the pizza, even if it didn't get the story out of her. He wanted the hell out of this box, but he wasn't at all looking forward to walking away from Makenna. Or her walking away from him.

Makenna didn't respond right away. Caden wished he could see the look on her face, the set of her eyes. “What color are your eyes?” he whispered, once again losing the filter between his brain and mouth.

"Blue,” she whispered back. “And, yes."

"Yes, what?” Caden asked, distracted by the desire to reach out and touch her face. The whispering made their conversation feel intense, intimate. And all of a sudden his body roared to life. This time, though, his racing pulse and pounding heart were a result of arousal rather than panic.

"Yes, I'll have pizza with you. If you'll see a movie with me."

Caden imagined her words slipping over his body. He wished it was her small, soft hands instead. But he was happy she'd agreed to go out with him, and that she'd turned it into a full-on date. “Yeah. Pizza and a movie, then.” He rubbed his hand over his hair as the dark concealed the smile brightening his face.

"My first time was with Shane Cafferty,” Makenna started, still whispering. “I was eighteen. It was two weeks after prom. We sorta dated all summer before we went off to different colleges. But, that night, we took a blanket out and laid it in front of the pitcher's mound on the high school baseball diamond. Oh, God, this is so embarrassing,” she groaned.

"It is not, out with it.” He was surprised she'd finally relented, but her opening up made him feel hopeful.

"He'd been on the high school baseball team. He was good—at baseball, I mean,
God
—anyway, taking a blanket out there at night was kind of our thing. The first time was sweet. Short"—she laughed—"but sweet. It got better, though."

"That's a good story. Much better than mine. Thanks for sharing. See, that wasn't hard."

She sighed. “No, I guess it wasn't.” She paused for a few moments and then said, “You know, you have an unfair advantage over me. You saw me when I came into the elevator, but I was too distracted to see you."

"Yes.” He smirked at her through the darkness. “I remember. But I didn't see your face, either, because your hair was in the way."

"What color are your hair and eyes?” She shifted while she spoke and her voice got a little closer.

Caden itched to reach a hand out and measure just how close she was. His senses told him she was within reach. The thought made his arm ache for the feel of her. “Both brown, although I don't have much hair to speak of."