The Devil's Deal

chapter ten

I catch my breath as I head towards the receptionist, who is seated at a long mahogany desk.

"Hello"

She looks up from her computer, her eyes roam over my face before she looks back down.

I clear my throat which causes her to glance up again with an annoyed expression, "Yes? How may I help you?"

"I need to speak with Mr. Bridger right away" I say.

She rolls her eyes, but smirks, "and what makes you think he'd give you the time of day?"

I almost spit in her face but control myself, "I think he'd want to see me, I couldn't say the same about you..."I say sizing here up.

Her skin seems to flare but she scoffs and rolls her eyes,"be my guest, his office is located on the top floor," she motions towards the elevators, "but don't come crying when you're turned away."

I laugh and walk towards the elevators, pressing the button and watching as it lights up under my fingertip. I stand back and wait, watching the numbers above light up as the elevator passes the highest levels, it pauses momentarily on a few before continuing.

When the doors open, I step inside, fully aware that there's another person standing inside. It seemed like he wanted to get off when the elevator doors opened but now he's back leaning against the farthest wall, with one leg crossed over the other.

I press the button for the top floor as the doors close, the reflective metal shines back at me and through it I can make out our reflection. That of me and the man standing directly behind me, his eyes are cast towards the floor so I take my time looking him over.

His dark hair is pushed forwards falling over his forehead, some strands are gelled back but most are falling into his eyes. He is dressed for the most part, appropriately for anyone who has business inside this building, however, slightly more casual, in a white dress shirt that is unbuttoned at the collar revealing a small part of his toned chest. His button up shirt is cuffed at the elbows exposing some black ink that swirls down his forearm stopping just above his wrist. Along with the dress shirt I expect to see him wearing a tie, but to my surprise he's not wearing one.

Even though I know it's weird that I'm checking this man out it's because he is attractive. From the moment that I stepped onto the elevator I noticed his striking features, as well as his youth which must be relatively close to mine. It isn't wrong to admire someone you don't know, Brooke and I do it all the time with people we see walking down the street.

He seems to be whistling something that I can't quite make out and suddenly his eyes shift to me and I begin to feel self conscious as I feel his gaze burning into my back, like a bolt of lightning was zapped into me igniting my veins.

His eyes begin to roam from my shoes to the bag I have clutched tightly in my hand, then up, his eyes pause on the back of my neck and I feel my cheeks heat up under his steady gaze. He is unrelenting and like me he seems interested in the fact that we are sharing a seemingly intimate elevator ride.

Our close proximity in this elevator is getting impossibly tighter as the tension rises between our secret glances. And I'm pretty sure he knows I've been looking at him but that isn't stopping him from staring directly at me.