“Ugh…” Standing, she stretched and knew she’d have to fix herself up a bit if she was going to be forced to see someone. After the disastrous morning, she’d stripped off her nice outfit and practically ripped her bra in two in her haste to get it off before slipping her pajamas back on.
And there was no way she could go down to the lobby in a pair of flannel pajama pants covered in the characters from A Charlie Brown Christmas, an oversized hoodie, and a pair of fuzzy slippers.
Although…why not? Hannah already felt like she hit rock bottom. What would a few odd looks from strangers matter?
Decision made, she waited for the text announcing the arrival before leaving her apartment and heading to the elevator. Stepping inside, she smiled at the memory of last night.
And Gage.
Damn, that man could kiss.
It was so good and actually the only thing she had been able to think about other than how her life was spiraling completely out of control. But now when she let herself think about Gage–and the kiss–she realized how badly she wished they had never been rescued. If they were still in the elevator, then she wouldn’t have made a fool out of herself with her boss or known that she had been passed over for the promotion. She would have spent the night in the arms of a very attractive man and it wouldn’t have mattered that they were on the elevator floor because they were totally into each other.
Sighing, she thought about waking up curled around him and sleepily kissing him awake. Her phone would have been dead and neither would care because once the elevator started to move, Gage would ask her up to his place and she’d readily follow him. She wouldn’t care about work or missing her meeting because Gage would keep her pleasantly occupied all day.
The quick ding announcing her arrival in the lobby snapped her out of her silly fantasy.
Cautiously, Hannah peeked out the doors once they slid open and breathed a sigh of relief that no one was around. Checking the app one more time, she saw the driver was out front and heading into the building. Sprinting from the elevator, she met him at the door with a smile as she thanked him. Back inside–and still with no one around–she opted to go and get her mail too.
All the decorating was done and the music was just as loud and obnoxious as it was yesterday, but she refrained from singing. Once she had her mail and started back toward the elevator, she spotted Gage through the large front windows and panicked. Considering what she currently had on, it made yesterday’s casual attire look like she was a supermodel. Her heart began to race. There was no way she wanted to run into him looking–and feeling–like this, so she quickly pulled her hood up and dashed for the nearest stairwell.
She made it up one floor before caving and sitting down on the steps. If she simply waited a few minutes, Gage would be up in his apartment and there would be zero chance of running into him.
If it were any other day–and she wasn’t dressed like she’d slept on the floor covered in her laundry–maybe she’d feel confident enough to see him.
Just not today.
Groaning, she rested her head against the wall and cursed the rotten timing of their meeting. God, she’d been so arrogant yesterday, bragging about her job and the big promotion she was going to get.
I’ve busted my butt on this thing and the final presentation is in the morning. But it’s just a formality. My boss told me I’m a shoo-in for it so…
Ugh…I loathe myself. Why did I have to go and say anything? I probably jinxed it all.
With another sigh, she swiped at her phone screen and figured she’d give herself another two or three minutes before going out to the elevator.
Then reconsidered.
I’ve been sitting on my ass all damn day. Surely, I can walk up a few flights of stairs without it being a big deal.
Standing, she turned and began making her way up and was thankful she was in good shape. As a rule, she did most of her work standing up and wasn’t shy about walking around the job sites. But that was on a day when she was feeling bright and peppy and useful. Right now, it felt like her limbs were made of lead and every step took a major effort. By the time she got to the fourth floor, she was a bit more winded than she would have liked.
Great, now I can add being out of shape to the list of things wrong with me. Awesome.
The door to the stairwell was at the end of her hallway and when she looked out, she spotted someone standing at her door.
Gage.
“Shit! Shit, shit, shit!” she whispered and quietly stepped back into the stairwell. “Sure, I finally meet a nice guy and it had to happen while I’m in the biggest crisis of my life!”
And like a coward, she stayed where she was until Gage left and got on the elevator. It was definitely a gutless move to blow him off like this, but she wasn’t ready to tell anyone about what happened today.
Back in her apartment, she closed and locked the door and slowly made her way to the sofa, emptying the contents of her takeout bag on her coffee table. Once it was all out, Hannah realized it was an almost obscene amount of food for one person. And yet…
I should have ordered dessert too.
Sitting down, she turned on the TV and began opening containers. The scent was mouthwatering and after finding something to binge on Netflix, she dug in–officially wiping her mind of her job, the pitiful state of her life, and the sweet kisses of Gage Lawson.
On Saturday morning, Gage was coming back from a run when his phone rang. He was standing outside the apartment building stretching, but when he saw it was his mother, he seriously contemplated letting it go to voicemail.
And immediately felt guilty.
“Hey, Mom!” he said instead as he slowly walked along the front sidewalk as part of his cooldown.
In forty-degree weather.
“Oh, Gage! I’m so glad you answered!” she said cheerily. “Sarah and I are on our way Raleigh and hoping we could see you.”
Frowning, he paused in his steps. “Why are you coming to Raleigh? You didn’t mention it when I was there for Thanksgiving.” And yeah, he cringed at his accusatory tone.
“It was sort of a spur-of-the-moment thing. You know my friend Jeanie, right? Irene’s mom? Well, it’s her birthday, and she invited us to come celebrate with her. Isn’t that sweet? I get to see Jeanie, Sarah gets to see Irene, and hopefully, we’ll all get to see you!”
“I guess…”
“I thought maybe all of us could go out for brunch tomorrow. Are you busy?”
So many responses were swirling in his mind, and yet he couldn’t seem to get the words out.
“I know it’s short notice, but I was hoping you were free,” she went on. “Surely you can spare a couple of hours for your mother and the chance to spend some time with a nice, single girl.”
The thing was, Gage met a nice girl.
She just happened to seemingly vanish off the face of the earth.
All week long he’d been trying to get in touch with Hannah and he kicked himself more than once for not getting her phone number. He’d gone to her apartment and knocked on her door, hung around the lobby at the time he knew she normally came and went for work, with no luck. When she mentioned this promotion was going to take up so much of her time, he thought she’d been exaggerating, but clearly not.
At one point, he even caved and asked Shawna if she’d seen her, but…she hadn’t.