Chapter 4
Chapter Four
LUCA
“Sorry,” Ollie said eventually.
“You sure apologise a lot,” I drawled, releasing his knee with a pat and retreating to the opposite wall.
I wanted to hold on to him longer. Hell, what I really wanted to do after hearing that story was grab him and hug the shit out of him.
But I’d already taken enough of a risk by touching his leg.
Considering how he’d reacted earlier, it didn’t seem smart to offer anything else, even if it was a platonic hug because he was hurting. “It’s so British.”
“Aren’t you British?”
“Yep,” I said. “But I’ve spent most of my adult years in the States. Over there, you only apologise if you have something to apologise for.”
Ollie gave me a small smirk. “Must save a lot of time.”
Now that I’d heard his story, I understood why he’d been so vehement in promising not to tell anyone.
From how he’d struggled to get it out, I suspected it was information he didn’t share with many people.
To share it with me, a virtual stranger, simply because he wanted to put my concerns at ease, meant a lot.
I cleared my throat. “Thank you for telling me that. I get it. I understand why you won’t tell anyone. ”
“No one deserves to be judged for suffering from mental illness or conditions. And you don’t have to believe me, but anything you say here will stay between us.” Ollie’s shoulders squared as he spoke with absolute conviction.
I shouldn’t believe him about keeping everything private, but for some reason…
I did. Not that I was expecting anything to happen.
Even if this stranger had skin that looked like cream, just begging me to taste it.
Or wore a shirt that stretched deliciously over his broad chest. Even the coffee stain didn’t detract from the shape of his muscles under the material.
Couple that with his soulful hazel eyes, thick kissable lips, and primly styled blond hair…he made a pretty package I was dying to unwrap.
But that didn’t matter. Given how quickly he’d pulled away earlier, he had to be straight.
“I wonder how long we’re going to be in here,” I said idly before something very obvious occurred to me. “Hang on, aren’t we supposed to push a button and call for help?”
Understanding dawned on Ollie’s face. “Bugger, you’re right. I should’ve thought about it earlier, but I was distracted.”
I winked, unable to stop flirting even though I knew it was a bad idea. “I am very distracting.”
Ollie flushed beetroot red. Interesting. Was that because I’d embarrassed him? Or was it something else entirely…
Nope.
Ollie jumped to his feet and pressed the alarm button. It rang for a painfully long time before a bored-sounding operator came on the line. “Hello?”
“Hi, we’re stuck in lift”—he glanced up to check the display—“C in the Identity offices in Grosvenor Square.”
“Yeah, a power line has gone down in Millbrook. Half the city is without electricity.”
I bit back a groan. An outage of that magnitude would mean we wouldn’t be the only ones in need of a rescue.
“Do you have emergency lighting?”
“Yes.”
There was a pause on the line. “But the lift doors haven’t opened?”
Ollie looked over his shoulder at me in exasperation, and I snorted a laugh. “No. Hence the stuck part.”
The level of sarcasm dripping from his tone was Oscar-worthy. I bit back a grin.
“The emergency generator should’ve automatically taken you to the nearest floor and the doors should’ve opened.” Keys clacked on her end, followed by a sigh. “Unfortunately, it looks like the building owner hasn’t updated the system in over a decade.”
Ollie closed his eyes. “Any idea how long the power will be down?”
“Current reports are saying two to three hours. How many of you are in the lift?”
“Two.”
“Is anyone hurt, unwell, or in distress?”
At that last one, he glanced back at me. I shook my head emphatically. I didn’t want crews of emergency workers descending when there’d be other people needing them more. “No.”
“In that case, it’ll be a while before the emergency services can get to you.” Some of the boredom in her voice was replaced by sympathy. “You’ll just have to wait it out, I’m afraid.”
“Fantastic,” Ollie muttered, stepping back from the panel and taking his seat on the floor, long legs sprawled in front of him. “Looks like we should make ourselves comfortable.”
He was so tense that it was on the tip of my tongue to offer to make him feel really comfortable. My cock plumped at the thought of the things we could do to pass the time.
I folded my hands in my lap, hiding the evidence from Ollie while berating myself. What was wrong with me? I normally had way better self-control than this. What was it about Ollie that had me feeling like a hormonal teenager?
He’s straight. And even worse, he’s a journalist.
Imagine the story he could write if I did make a clumsy move.
Trapped with Luca Weston: how the rock star everyone wants tried to seduce me in a lift.
That was the exact kind of headline Kevin wanted me to stay away from. Shame my libido didn’t see it quite the same way.
“So, you’re a journalist. Do you work here?” Maybe if I kept the topic centred around his profession, my dick would understand how pointless this sudden infatuation was.
“No.” He laughed bitterly and checked his watch. “I might’ve done, had today gone any differently. Given it’s now almost an hour past my interview time, I think I can safely say the boat has sailed on that.”
“An hour? We haven’t been stuck in here that long. It can’t have been that important to you if you weren’t here early.” I gestured at the large brown stain on his shirt teasingly. “And you’ve spilt coffee over yourself. Were you trying to make a fashion statement?”
Ollie’s face turned purple. “Are you fucking serious right now?”
I tilted my head to the side and smiled softly. “I mean, the coffee stain does work. Really makes it seem like you put in the effort…”
“Let’s set a few things straight, shall we?” He spoke through gritted teeth, and something in my stomach sank. “One of the reasons I was late is because a car was blocking the road and causing a build-up of traffic.”
I flinched. Shit, I shouldn’t have teased him. I opened my mouth to apologise, but he held up a hand to stop me. “Another reason was that the lobby was full of screaming fans, making it near impossible for me to get through.”
The fire in his eyes practically sent out sparks as his temper grew. “And the coffee stain? I got that when you knocked into me, spilling your coffee over me and burning my chest. So thanks for that.”
My blood ran cold as I scrambled across the floor to him. My hands were on his chest, hastily unbuttoning his shirt. “Oh my god, I’m so sorry. I had no idea. I swear, if I’d known, I would’ve got someone to get a first aider and offered to have your shirt dry-cleaned. Are you okay?”
“What are you doing?” he whispered.
I froze, my fingers twitching on the soft cotton. I raised my head to look at him, belatedly realising the move put my mouth mere inches above his. Christ, his eyes were even more captivating up close. “Umm…I was checking if you’re okay.”
Ollie’s eyes dropped to my lips, and he cleared his throat. “I’m fine. You could’ve just asked instead of stripping me down.”
“Oh fuck, you’re right,” I said, dropping the material hastily and hurrying back to my side.
What was wrong with me? Where was the confident fuckboy everyone knew and loved?
Apparently, he’d vanished the second he’d realised how deliciously tempting Ollie was. “Sorry, I panicked. I wasn’t thinking.”
“That’s okay.” Ollie sighed. “I’m the one who should be apologising. None of those things were your fault, not really. I’m sure you have a driver who chose to park there. You didn’t ask your fans to hound you. Even the coffee can be blamed on them.”
“Still feels like my fault.” I twisted the bracelet round on my wrist, focusing on the intricate detailing on the beads. “You sure you’re okay?”
“Here.” Ollie knelt up, his eyes on me as he loosened his dark tie and unbuttoned the shirt slightly.
He pulled it to one side, revealing a small red mark.
I couldn’t focus on it, my mouth watering at the expanse of creamy skin dusted with ash-blond hair.
“See, nothing to worry about. It’ll be gone by tomorrow. ”
“If you’re sure,” I said faintly, looking back down at my lap. If I stared at him any longer, he’d definitely think I was a creeper. “I am sorry. I’m happy to buy you a new shirt to replace it.”
To my surprise, he chuckled. “No bother. It’s not like I’ll need an interview shirt any time soon. This was kind of a once-in-a-lifetime deal.”
“You should call them,” I said. “Let them know you’re stuck in the lift. It’s not like you can help it.”
He pulled his phone out and made a face. “That’d be a great idea if I had any signal.”
I checked my own. “Can’t even lend you mine. We really are cut off from the outside world.”
“Probably wouldn’t matter anyway.” Ollie huffed, shoving his phone back in his pocket. “Even if you hadn’t been here, I likely wouldn’t have made it. Not after what happened at home this morning. That was the biggest fuck-up of today without a shadow of a doubt.”
“Why? What else happened?”
He jolted like he hadn’t realised what he’d let slip. “Umm…nothing.”
His response was more intriguing than the original statement. “You don’t have to tell me.”
“It’s not that. It’s just…you’re a stranger.”
“Sometimes talking to a stranger is easier.”
His head thudded back against the lift. “It’s embarrassing.”
I leaned my arms on my knees and grinned. “Now this is getting interesting.”
“Not in the way you might think,” he muttered darkly.
“You don’t have to tell me,” I said. I couldn’t deny I was curious, but I wasn’t about to force him to open up. “But we’ve got a lot of time to kill, and you look like you need to get something off your chest.”