Take Me Now

"Hold the elevator!" Alex Davis shouted, struggling with bags on her arms and a box clutched tightly to her chest as she rushed towards the metal doors. She didn't think she would be able to stand there and wait for it to come back down, let alone make it up the stairs without falling flat on her face.

A hand shot out from inside the lift, stopping the doors from sliding shut.

"Thanks so much." Alex panted as she juggled the huge load into the elevator. Sweat trickled down the back of her neck as she pressed her back against the inside wall.

"No problem," the guy said quietly, pushing up the dark rimmed glasses falling down his nose. He wore a plain black t-shirt and had his hands in the pockets of his dark blue jeans. "What's your number?"

"What?" Her eyebrows shot up as she peeked over the box at him. "We just met..."

The corners of his lips turned up and his hazel eyes glittered with mirth. "No. I mean what floor are you going to?"

"Oh my god! Right." Her face flamed with embarrassment as she looked away, causing long brown strands of hair to stick to her lipgloss. "Six, please."

"Me too. Weird." He shook his head and chuckled as he pressed the button, his short dirty blonde waves shaking with the effort. "I'm Ian."

We live on the same floor?

"Hey, I'm Alex. I just moved in." Her voice was soft as she snuck a peek at him, while attempting to pull her now sticky locks from her lips by rubbing her head against her shoulder. She probably looked like an insane person, but he didn't seem fazed.

"Welcome. Here, let me help you with that." He reached for the box, which she gratefully let go of, and caught a whiff of what she assumed was his soap. The scent reminded her of being outdoors. While he looked at the glowing numbers flashing above the door, she took time to observe him, setting down her bags and shaking out her hands in an attempt to regain feeling in her fingertips.

He's cute in a geeky sort of way.

His nose was straight and strong. His lips were full, framed by a strong jaw. Although clean shaven, his hair was disheveled like he had just woken up. A DSLR camera hung around his neck by a thick blue strap. She opened her mouth to ask him what sort of photos he took, but the elevator dinged and the doors slid open on level six.

"Lead the way." He smiled warmly at her as he stepped aside in the hallway, holding her box effortlessly with one arm.

"I think it's this way," Alex said, picking up her bags and following him out into the hallway. Its cream-colored walls and blue carpeting reminded her of being at the beach. She picked the hallway off to the right and started walking, leaving him to follow behind her.

"What apartment number is it?" he asked quizzically as her pace slowed.

"I'm in 603A."

He chuckled to himself, shifting the box to his other arm.

Her eyebrows drew together and the corners of her lips turned down.

"Why are you laughing?" She was tired from carrying stuff all day.

"I'm so sorry. It's just, you're on the wrong side of the building." Ian bit his lip, trying to keep his laughter contained as best as he could.

"Crap," Alex muttered as she rolled her eyes to the ceiling. "That would figure."

"Listen. I live in 603C. Since we're already on my side of the building, would you mind if we stopped off at my apartment really quick? Then I can help you get to your place. I forgot my spare battery." He lifted his camera and shrugged. "Wouldn't get very far at work if I wasn't prepared."

"Sure that's fine. I appreciate your help. So, you're a photographer? Where do you work?" She clapped a hand over her mouth. "Sorry, I'm nosy sometimes."

"I don't mind. Besides, what kind of person would I be if I didn't finish helping you after I already offered?" He grinned as he headed down the hallway. "And you don't have to apologize for asking questions. It's a perfectly reasonable thing to ask."

"Okay. Good deal." She smiled up at him as she paced herself alongside him, matching his strides with hers.

"I'm a freelance photographer. So, really I work for myself, but I submit photos to various places." They stopped in front of his door. He rummaged in his pocket, fiddling with the keys before dropping them.

"Wow. Your own boss, huh? That's really cool." And sexy, she added silently as she picked up his keys and stuck them in the lock for him.

"Thanks." He turned the handle.

Ian strode quickly inside as Alex stood in the doorway, awaiting his return. After a minute or so, she heard a distinct Aha and he reappeared, battery in hand. "Found it. Sorry, I forgot where I had put it."

"It's alright." He locked the door and shoved his keys in his pocket along with the battery. Again, Alex met him step for step. "Am I keeping you from anything?"

"Not particularly. I've got to drop off some photos to be printed up for submission and then I'm just going to take photos until both batteries die." He smiled down at her with greenish brown eyes seemingly lit up from within when he mentioned his photos.

"Nice! Must be awesome to have found something you love to do." They reached the elevator and stepped inside. She felt slightly claustrophobic in the tiny space, but chose to focus on Ian. It wasn't that hard to do. He was definitely easy on the eyes. "I've got a job lined up and I start tomorrow at eight a.m., but it's for a lower level position. I'm hoping to work my way up though."

"I do love my job." He pushed the ground level button and turned to her as the doors closed. "Where is this new place of employment at?"

Alex bit her lip and rolled her eyes. "It's stupid, but I don't really want to say until after I make sure I can hack it. I don't want to jinx it. I'm a teensy bit superstitious." She balanced the bags in her aching arms and did her best not to wince. "I really need this job."

Sounding desperate much?

He laughed and reached out a hand to take some of her bags. She looked up at him warily, starting to shake her head, but he flashed her a look that told her not to argue and gestured his hand at her. "Come on. Hand them over."

She sighed and handed an armful over. "Thank you."

"Sure. What are neighbors for?" He winked just as the doors opened and waited for her to exit first.

Alex couldn't think of anything else to say as they walked down the right hallway this time. Ian strode beside her in comfortable silence. Occasionally, she snuck a peek at him and caught him looking at her which would cause her to blush and turn away. When they finally reached her door, she stuck her key in the lock without looking at him and pushed the door open. He followed her in, leaving the door open, which made her feel a little more comfortable with the fact that she was alone with a stranger in her apartment.

"Where do you want them?" he asked, breaking the awkward silence.

"Oh, um, over here is fine." She nodded her head in the direction of the kitchen while she plunked her load onto the counter.

Ian did the same and peered down at her. "Well, I should probably get going. I hope you have a lovely day." He backed away, never breaking eye contact.

"You, too. Thanks so much again for your help."

"It was nice meeting you, Alex."

She liked the sound of her name on his lips. He kept his hazel eyes on her as his lips upturned slightly.

"Maybe I'll see you around?"

"Maybe," she returned softly as he closed the door.

Alex bit her lip as she locked the door behind him. She went to run a bath, desperately wanting to wash the grime off of her sweaty body from moving in. As the hot water steamed up her bathroom, she couldn't help but smile.

Maybe things are finally looking up for me.

*****

Alex peeked at her wristwatch as she hurried down the hallway toward the elevator. 7:30 a.m. Good, she'd make it on t— "Oof." Alex collided with something warm and solid in her rush. She wasn't looking up. She stumbled but strong hands caught her before she fell.

"Careful now," a raspy voice said with a chuckle - hazel eyes twinkling as she looked up at the same guy from the elevator. "You alright?"

She cleared her throat, her words fighting to get out. The woodsy notes from his soap invaded her nostrils, teasing her senses. Being so close to a male unnerved her - especially one who smelled so good. She hadn't been touched by a man since Mark - her cheating ex-husband.

No! Do not go there.

"Yes, thank you."

He's so warm... Ian removed his arm from around her waist and helped her to stand upright.

"You look nice today," he said with a lopsided grin that produced a dimple in his cheek. "You must be off to your first day of work."

So cute and he offers compliments? Where has he been all my life?

"Yes. I'm trying to make sure I'm early," Alex said, shaking her head and flashing a smile as they stepped into the elevator.

"Oh, I see." As his smile widened, his teeth gleamed, perfectly straight aside from one slightly turned tooth. Somehow the slight physical flaw made him all the more appealing. "Going down then?"

"Yes, please." She smiled and he pressed the ground floor button. He cast her a sideways glance, followed by a smirk. "Fancy meeting you here again. Are you lost?"

He laughed as the doors closed. "Yes. I'd like to say that it must be fate, but the truth is that I was hoping to run into you before you took off this morning." He winked at her, causing a nervous chuckle to flutter out of her mouth.

A guy winked and you're falling apart. Pull yourself together.

"Oh, really, and why is that?" she asked, trying to disguise how happy that made her. Alex wanted to appear cool and aloof.

"I just...uh...wanted to wish you good luck." Ian rocked back on his heels, his hands in his pockets as he smiled sincerely at her. He seemed uncertain of himself and a little out of his element, which made him all the more alluring. A funny guy who's also vulnerable and sexy? So rare.

Alex opened her mouth to speak, but a whole group of people stepped inside on floor five, pushing her and her sexy new acquaintance to the back of the elevator. As still more people piled in on the third floor, Alex and Ian were packed together, side by side. His bare arm touched hers, sending warm tingles up her arm. She gasped and he looked down to meet her eyes. His gaze heated. She bit her lip, her cheeks warming as she tore her eyes away from him.

When she spotted him out of the corner of her eye, he was looking down at her, grinning. They both laughed, causing a few heads to turn. Alex tried to smother her giggles with her hand, while Ian pressed his lips together, shaking with barely contained laughter. The lady beside her dropped some papers, cursing as she bent down to pick them up. She accidentally bumped Alex, causing her to trip backwards. Her backside landed against Ian's pelvis, causing him to gasp.

With his sharp intake of breath she wondered if maybe she had hurt him. She turned around to see if he was okay when the lady accidentally bumped into her again. Her body pressed against his in the crowded space. Her heart pounded and when she looked up at him a tremor ran through her as she met his intense stare. A small bead of sweat trickled down the side of his face and disappeared inside his shirt. His breathing was heavy, along with hers, but they couldn't look away from one another.

Warmth pooled down into her groin and she had to suppress a moan. The elevator dinged on the ground floor and everyone started to clear out. She pulled herself away from him, smoothing down the grey pencil skirt of her business suit. He adjusted himself quickly, but not so fast that she didn't catch a glimpse of the noticeably large bulge in his pants. Alex glanced up at Ian in surprise, but this time he wouldn't meet her gaze. A blush spread along his cheeks and down his neck.

"Sorry," he muttered quickly, glancing briefly at her as he rubbed the back of his neck. She wanted to tell him it was okay, but he was gone before the words left her lips.

Alex bit her lip, trying to contain her small smile as she strode outside to the parking lot. He was nice enough to seek her out just to wish her luck and she didn't even get his number.

Crap! I left my phone!

She didn't have time to go back for it now. Aside from her lawyer and her parents, nobody called her anyways, what with her being an only child and having no children of her own. All of her friends kind of drifted away after she got married. Mark was a little controlling, so she never had time to make new ones. In fact, she had only been married for a little over a year before she found out her husband was sleeping with everyone who had a vagina. Thirty years old and she already had one failed marriage under her belt. Well, nearly. She had filed for divorce, but was still waiting on Mark to sign the papers. She was not looking for a long-term relationship any time soon.

Alex rushed to her white Chevy Blazer, pushing the key fob to unlock the door repeatedly. As she buckled up and pulled out of her parking space, she couldn't help remembering how arrogant the bastard had been when she found him having a threesome in their bed with some girls he worked with. They were assistants or secretaries or interns or something, but who they were wasn't important. He was angry she came home early instead of being apologetic about cheating on her. He blamed her for being too boring in bed. That's when she knew for sure it was over.

She turned on the radio and looked at all the pretty Colonial-style houses she passed. One day she would own one of those. Blaring her favorite Indie Rock station, she sang along as loud as she could, hoping to drown out her sorrows. She didn't want to focus on the past any longer and wanted to live more in the moment, taking things as they came. Maybe Mark had been right about her being boring.

I doubt Ian would agree.

She smirked as she flashed back to the way he'd looked at her, like he wanted to take her right there in the elevator. She clenched her thighs together, overcome by a sudden urge to touch herself. Alex had never been this turned on before, not even by her ex. She barely even knew the guy and already she wanted to jump his bones.

Concentrate on getting to work on time. Plenty of time to daydream about fucking Ian later.

Living only ten minutes away from work had its perks. A fast and easy commute was one of them. Another was hardly any traffic, since she no longer lived in a big city. New York had been too busy for her. Once the divorce was finalized, she wanted to start over in a small place where she could really get to know people. It's easy to be forgotten or overlooked in a city, with all the competition to be the most successful.

At first, the hustle and bustle had been exciting. She'd worked at a large, daily newspaper since college. She moved her way up after college, from an unpaid intern to a full-time reporter position and finally ended up as the editor. It was cutthroat there and she had to fight for each article she wrote, always had to come up with something new and interesting. She had loved every minute of it. Alex foolishly started a romance with Mark, who was her publisher. She was young and naive to believe he really loved her. In truth, he just wanted to control and own her. That became apparent soon after they were married.

After the separation, everything changed. Nothing about working at the newspaper appealed to her, especially with her ex being her boss. So, she found a new job, sold pretty much everything she owned, and moved to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. Though she was promised a reporter position, Susan informed her after Alex had moved that they had given the position to someone else.

She had no choice but to accept the classifieds/legals position. Every penny she saved went towards the move and apartment. She was stuck. Alex sighed as she pulled into a space at Kitty Hawk News and shut off her engine. She stared out the window at the small town, red brick building and blew out an anxious breath. She got out and strode into the office, congratulating herself for being on time. Maybe Susan wouldn't have a conniption fit. The likes of which her new co-workers had warned her about the day she interviewed. She had thought they were trying to psych her out at first.

Wrong.

A long lecture on the importance of punctuality. Even though she was. According to Susan's clock, however, she was two minutes late. Alex didn't argue. She let her new boss vent until she ran out of steam, nodding and agreeing in all the appropriate places so as to not lose her job on the first day. Soon she was dismissed as if she were simply a servant, giving Alex the impression that her boss was a total bitch.

The rest of the morning was spent on training. Basically answering phone calls and emails. Boring. At least she was also learning how to build ads. She missed reporting, but hoped the busy work would give her a change of pace or at least a new perspective.

Her stomach growled, announcing that she was famished. She finished the ad she had been assigned and grabbed her purse. Alex found herself once again wondering what Ian was doing. Internally she was kicking herself for not getting his number, but she was pretty certain she would see him again.

"Susan?" Alex knocked tentatively on the publisher's door. "Is it alright if I go to lunch now?"

"Sure, that's fine," Susan said, smiling at someone in a chair with their back to the door.

Curious. A smile looks so odd on her. She's looked rather stern all day...

"But first, come in and meet my favorite grandson. He freelances for us from time to time."

"I'm your only grandson," said a quiet voice as the chair turned around.

"Alex, this is Ian. My grandson." Susan patted him on the shoulder with pride in her eyes. "Isn't he just adorable?"

Neither Alex nor Ian said a word as he stood slowly, never taking his eyes off her. Alex's smile froze and her mouth went dry.

He's her grandson? It's a small town, but still, what are the odds?

Susan cleared her throat and Alex blinked, sticking her hand out awkwardly. "Hello." She wasn't sure if she should acknowledge they knew one another.

"Nice to meet you, Alex." The sound of her name on his lips caused a flutter in her stomach.

I guess he doesn't want her to know we have already met. Play it cool.

"Nice to meet you too, Ian." His hand in hers caused a tingle to go up her arm and she licked her lips absentmindedly.

He tracked the movement of her tongue and clenched his jaw, pulling his hand away quickly and glancing at his grandmother. Ian clasped his hands in front of him and stared at Alex with hunger in his eyes. He adjusted his pants and sat back down, which made Alex smirk as a delicious warmth spread through her abdomen and groin area. He played with his camera and shifted in his seat, shooting glances at her every so often.

He's just as flustered as I am. Look at him all hot and bothered. He's so sexy. Why does he have to be related to evil incarnate?

"Alright, off you go. Don't stand there gawking at us. Enjoy your lunch." Susan shooed her away, her voice and demeanor softening with Ian around.

I like this side of her. Maybe she's human after all.

"I'll see you in half an hour." Alex smiled and started to back out of the room.

"Oh, make it an hour. Ian and I have much to discuss." Ian raised his eyebrows and looked at his grandma in surprise.

"I'll leave you to it then."

She raised her hand in a small wave and Ian nodded at her, a tiny smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. She smiled back and left, trying not to dwell on the fact that he pretended like he didn't know her. It bothered her a little, but at the same time, she barely knew him.