Chapter Twenty-nine

Megan emerged from the bathroom, fully dressed and ready to go. She paused at the bed and leaned over AJ’s sleeping form.

"Psst,” she whispered. “I’m leaving now.”

“Mmmhmmm,” was the mumbled response.

“Did you want me to bring something back for you?”

“Mmmm.”

Megan tilted her head. “Was that a yes or a no?”

“Mmmm.”

“All right, whatever.”

She kissed his forehead and then grabbed a card key from the coffee table, tucking it in the back pocket of her jeans. Then she left the room, softly closing the door behind her.

“Hey.”

She turned around and came face to face with Kevin. He was smiling down at her and she couldn’t help but smile back.

“Oh, hey yourself.”

“AJ not coming?”

Megan shook her head. “Nope. He’s not feeling too hot.”

“Oh? Is he sick?”

“Sort of. We kinda got a little crazy with the tequila last night,” Megan said, laughing. “The boy can’t hold his liquor very well!”

“Well, shall we?”

“Sure. Where’s everyone else?” Megan asked as they walked down the hall to the elevators.

The left one had an “Out Of Service” sign taped to its doors, so they waited for the other one.

Kevin laughed. “Downstairs already. I guess we’re the slowpokes.”

“Even Dana?”

“Uh huh. She’s eager to shop.”

Megan slapped her forehead. “Duh, I should have known that.”

Kevin let Megan step into the elevator first, then he followed and pressed the button for the lobby. The doors closed and they began to move.

“So how sick is he?”

“He looks pretty green. I think he did a few too many shots.”

“Ah, I get it,” Kevin chuckled. “I remember once - “

He was cut off by a loud boom. The elevator jerked and bounced before stopping completely.

Megan held the handrail with a death grip as she whispered, “What the hell just happened?”

“I don’t know.”

Kevin reached for the emergency phone and held it to his ear. The frown that crossed his face was not a good sign to Megan.

“Oh please, don’t tell me. . .”

“It’s dead,” he finished, putting it back into place. “Wonder what the problem is.”

“The problem is, we’re hanging 30 floors off the ground and I don’t like it!” Megan said loudly, swallowing hard.

Kevin saw the panic and alarm in her expression and stepped over to her, putting his hands on her shoulders.

“Megan, are you okay?”

“Sure, sure, just fine. I’m a tad on the claustrophobic side, but really, I’m fine,” she babbled.

“You’re claustrophobic?”

She nodded and squeezed her eyes shut, still holding onto the handrail. Her knuckles were beginning to turn white, and Kevin tried to gently pry them off, but she refused to let go.

His cell phone went off, startling them both. With one hand still on Megan’s shaking shoulder, he reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out the phone.

“Hello?”

“Kevin!” came Brian’s agitated voice. “Where the heck are ya’? Is Megan with you?”

“We’re stuck in the elevator.”

“Pardon me?”

“You heard me. We’re just between floors 31 and 32.”

“Oh man, hey, wait a sec, okay?”

Kevin listened as Brian talked to the others.

“Kev? We don’t know what’s going on, but we’ll find out, okay? I’ll call back soon. Just hang tight.”

“Will do.”

Kevin pressed the off button and turned back to Megan. Her face was pale and she was breathing heavily. Sweat beads had formed on her brow and her lips were moving, but no sound was coming out.

“Brian’s going to find out what’s wrong. We’ll be out of here soon,” he told her, smoothing back her hair.

His phone rang again and he answered it.

“Kev, bad news,” Brian said. “The maintenance guys were supposed to stop the other elevator to do some work on it, but they pulled the plug on yours. And now they can’t seem to get it started. Looks like it’ll be awhile.”

“How long’s awhile?” Kevin asked quietly, turning away slightly from Megan.

“Maybe an hour?”

“Shit. All right.”

“You guys okay in there?”

He glanced over at Megan. “We’ll survive. Just tell them to hurry.”

“Okay.”

The cousins hung up and Megan asked, “How long?”

“Not long,” Kevin answered vaguely, putting his cell phone away.

“How long?” Megan repeated, opening her eyes and staring straight at Kevin.

“An hour.”

“Oh no, oh no, oh no! I can’t stay here for an hour! I’ll go crazy!” she wailed.

She finally let go of the handrail and began pacing around the enclosed space, talking rapidly and not making any sense. Kevin watched her for a few seconds before he reached out and grabbed her by both arms, crushing her against his chest.

And then his lips were on hers in a heated and passionate kiss that made Megan go weak in the knees. Her blood began to boil and she found herself leaning into him, doing her best to taste every inch of his lucious mouth. When she realized what she was doing, she pulled away.

“What the hell was that?!” she cried, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand.

“I was trying to get you to forget about us being stuck,” he said evenly. “I think I succeeded.”

Indeed he had. Now Megan was too busy thinking about that kiss more than anything else.

“You had no right to kiss me like that,” she said shakily. “AJ would kick your ass to the moon if he ever found out-”

“Are you going to tell him?”

She froze. Would she? Could she?

Sure she could. But would she also tell him that she enjoyed it all too much?

Kevin seemed to have read her thoughts.

“You liked it,” he said, a tiny smirk playing at the corners of his mouth.

“What?”

“I could feel it, you were getting into it.”

Her cheeks flamed red and she crossed her arms defiantly. “I most certainly did not get into it, and I didn’t like it either.”

“Liar.”

“Kevin. . . “ she threatened.

“Megan. . . “ he countered.

She made a face and slid to the floor, stretching her legs out in front of her and crossing them at the ankles. Kevin sat beside her, doing the same. She stared at how much longer his legs were.

“Can I ask you something?” she said a moment later.

“Ask away.”

“What’s going on?”

“Well, it seems we’re stuck in an elevator-”

“No, no, no. I mean, what’s going on with. . . us?”

Kevin raised a brow. “I didn’t know there was an us.”

Megan blushed. Maybe she was reading into this too much. So he’d kissed her. His intention had been to calm her down. Instead, he’d merely made her racing heart beat even faster. Jerk! she thought.

“Well, what I mean, is, you, me, there’s this tension. . . “ she stuttered.

“So, you’ve felt it too?”

“Since the first freaking day I met you.”

He chuckled softly, remembering that lovely meeting.

“Yes, but that was a different kind of tension,” he pointed out. “You just wanted to rip my face off then. Now, it’s heated.”

“Heated?”

Kevin nodded. “For lack of a better word, yes.”

Megan frowned, her lips jutting out in a pout that Kevin found adorable. He fought the urge to lean over and kiss her again, knowing this time he may just get slapped.

“I don’t like it,” she said, shaking her head. “It doesn’t seem right. I’m supposed to extremely dislike you, not extremely like you.”

Kevin scooted an inch closer and smiled. “Are you admitting you like me?”

“Um, I never said that.”

“But do you? Because if this is the time for truths, Megan, then I’ll start.”

“What? Kevin, don’t say-” Megan said, eyes growing wide.

“I like you, Megan. I really do. And not just as a friend either.”

She gulped as she listened to his words, desperately trying to find her voice, and coming up with nothing. Kevin took advantage of the silence.

“I want to be more than just your best friend’s boyfriend, or your boyfriend’s best friend,” he said, edging even closer, until their shoulders were touching and his face was inches from hers. “Do you think we could try?”

Megan finally swallowed and croaked out, “Triangles and squares.”

Kevin gave her a funny look. “What?”

“Triangles and squares,” Megan repeated, moving away. “That’s what this is.”

Kevin sat back and said, “I don’t get it.”

“Okay, try and follow me here,” Megan said. “You, me and Dana are a triangle. You, me and AJ are a triangle. You, me, AJ and Dana are a square.”

Kevin threw her a crazed expression. “What the hell does that mean?”

“It means, that those two things don’t go together. They don’t fit,” she said simply, as if this explained it all. “We just wouldn’t work.”

“You’re basing your logic of us being together by using shapes?!” Kevin cried, frustrated.

She had the most annoying way of turning everything into a puzzle!

Megan nodded and smiled. “That’s why you and I can’t be together, and AJ and I should be. And so should you and Dana.”

“But, but,” Kevin stuttered helplessly. Finally, he sighed.

Just when Megan thought he understood and would drop the subject entirely, she was surprised to find her lips crushed against his. . .again!

But this time, her heart told her brain to shut the hell up and go with the flow. She opened her mouth slightly, allowing his tongue to swirl around hers. Shivers shot up and down her spine and goosebumps rose on her arms. AJ didn’t kiss her like that, not that he couldn’t, but they just had a different chemistry.

Kevin kissed as if his existence depended on it. He was all passionionate and -

Heated, Megan thought. Damn, he was right.

When Kevin pulled away, he was panting slightly. He looked at Megan, eyes closed, lips slightly swollen and a beautiful pink, and he knew that she was the only woman for him. Dana was great, but she lacked the fire and ice that made up Megan’s personality. It was that fire and ice that Kevin found himself so seriously attracted to.

“Kevin,” Megan whispered, her eyelids fluttering open. “Please, don’t ever kiss me again.” She shook her head and rose to her feet, backing away from him as far as she could in their limited space. “I. . . it’s not right. AJ and I, we’re together. Dana’s my best friend, I couldn’t hurt her like that. Please.”

She was almost in tears, trying to balance out her feelings for Kevin, and her loyalty to AJ and Dana.

Kevin stood up and stepped over to her, gently wrapping her in a tender embrace.

“Is that what you really want?” he whispered in her ear.

She nodded her head, unable to rely on what her mouth might say.

“All right,” he said. “I’ll stay away. But just let me tell you that I know you feel it as much as I do, you can’t deny it. And if you ever change your mind, I’ll be here.”

Before Megan could say anything in reply, the elevator jerked and started moving. They both looked up to the numbers above the doors and saw they were headed for the lobby.

“Thank you,” Megan whispered, allowing herself just one more second in his arms before untangling herself. She wiped her eyes and ran a hand through her hair. “Thank you.”

He nodded and took a step back, casually leaning against the railing.

When the doors opened, they saw Brian, Howie, Nick and Dana eagerly waiting for them with several members of their security team. Behind them stood two sheepish looking repairmen and Charlene Arnold, overseeing things.

Kevin placed a hand at the small of Megan’s back and guided her into the lobby.

“Meg, are you okay?” Dana asked. “Omigod, I forgot, you’re claustrophobic!”

“I’m fine, Kevin calmed me down,” she said, glancing at him.

He put an arm around Dana’s waist and smiled down at Megan.

“Geez, how on earth did you manage to do that?” Dana wondered. “Megan can freak out pretty badly in situations like that.”

Kevin shrugged nonchalantly. “I just kissed her and made her shut up.”

Megan gasped, but Dana only laughed and tickled Kevin’s side.

“You goof,” she said, obviously not believing a word of it. “Come on, let’s go shopping!”

The group made their way towards the front entrance where a van waited for them outside. As Megan passed her mother, she couldn’t help but glance at the older woman.

Charlene simply smiled at her, then made a point of averting her gaze to Kevin. When their eyes met again, Megan was horrified to see the knowing look on her mother’s face.