Collide (Collide, #1)(5)

“Oh, of course, but I’m not the new delivery boy. I mean, I work there. Well, obviously, I do since I have the uniform on, and obviously, I’m a girl, not a boy.” Emily cringed, knowing just how asinine she sounded. Drawing in a deep breath, she started over. “I waitress there; my boss asked me to drop off the food on my way home because the delivery boy quit.” She started to blush and wanted to drop dead right there. Literally. Drop. Dead. “Really, I can articulate educated complete sentences.”

“Long day at work? I can sympathize,” Gavin laughed, studying her face further. She had the greenest eyes he had ever seen and a tiny beauty mark perfectly positioned above her lip.

She smiled. “Yeah, a very long day at work.”

A ding in the elevator sounded on the thirty-ninth floor. The doors opened and in walked a woman. She was as tall as Gavin in her black stiletto heels, wore a white business suit, and her crimson hair was twisted into a bun.

“Well, hello there, Mr. Blake,” she rasped, pressing for the forty-second floor. An alluring smile ran across her lips as she leaned into Gavin’s ear. “I’m hoping we can pick up where we left off the last time I saw you.”

Gavin took an easy step back, his face smoothing into an unreadable impassivity. He simply nodded.

The woman smiled and turned to face the elevator doors.

Gavin glanced at Emily again, embarrassed that an unexpected one-night stand was in the elevator with him. “So have you worked at Bella Lucina for a while?”

Emily bit her lip and smiled. “No, today was my first day.”

“A new job. That can be stressful.” Gavin returned the smile, shifting on his feet. “I hope it went well for you.”

“It did actually, thanks.”

When the elevator doors opened, the unnamed woman stepped out and turned to Gavin. “Call me.”

He gave a curt nod, and with that, she walked away. The doors closed, leaving him and Emily alone once again. “She’s not my girlfriend if that’s what you’re wondering.”

Emily shot him a look, bemused by his remark. “And who’s to say I was?”

Her unexpected sexy feistiness prickled across his skin. He shrugged noncommittally, trying to get a feel for her. “And who’s to say you weren’t?”

“You don’t know me to assume much of anything I’d be thinking,” she scoffed, a laugh escaping her lips.

“That you are correct on,” he smirked, sidestepping himself to be closer to her. “But, I must admit, I’d like to get to know you.”

Great. He wasn’t just hot in his urbane, outrageously expensive suit. He was conceited, too. Emily blinked out of her semi-daze, trying to ignore how enticing he smelled being that close. “Well, I can’t. I’m sorry,” she replied, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

Before he could respond, the elevator doors opened on the sixty-second floor.

“This is where I get off.” Emily turned to grab the box from him. “I appreciate your help carrying it up for me.”

“Not a problem. This is also where I get off.”

“You work on this floor?” Emily asked, noticeably confused.

Not wanting to tell her that he owned the company located on the floor, he decided on a partial-truth answer. A boyish grin slid across his mouth. “Yes. I’m the one guilty of placing the order.”

Emily’s eyes flicked to his luscious lips and then back to his face. “So you knew when I walked in that I was on my way up here?”

“I had a few minutes to spare. I was waiting downstairs in the lobby for you.” He flashed a smile. “Well, I was waiting downstairs in the lobby for Armando, but instead I was graced with the beautiful woman who stands before me. I decided to be a gentleman and help you with the box.” He stepped out of the elevator, his stride strong and graceful. “Care to join me for dinner? There’s more than enough here for you.”

“I…I can’t. I’m sorry,” Emily replied, hitting the button to close the door.

“Wait!” Gavin swiftly leaned in and held it open. Knowing his approach was too strong and feeling like an * at that point, he tried to recover the situation as best as he could. “That was rude of me, and I apologize; my mother seriously raised me better than that.” He tossed a nervous hand through his hair. “I’d love to take you out to dinner sometime. I know an office setting like this isn’t romantic by any means. I just work a lot. But, like I said, I’d love to take you out one night.”

Before Emily could reply, a svelte dark-haired woman called out to him from behind a desk. “Mr. Blake, you have a call on line two.”

Smiling, he turned to face the woman. “Please take a message for me, Natalie.”

Quickly, with trembling fingers, Emily hit the button to close the door. It shut completely before Gavin could turn around. Leaning herself against the wall, she grabbed onto the brass railing, trying to compose herself. The effect the stranger had on her was unnerving. She shook her head at the breakneck pace of events, regretting that she’d agreed to drop off the food. Nonetheless, she made her way out of the building and went home.




“He was that good looking?” Olivia asked, taking a seat at the kitchen table.

Emily placed a finger over her mouth. “Jesus, Olivia, Dillon’s inside. Keep your voice down.” Her eyes darted to her room and then back to Olivia. “Yes, he was that good looking. Take-your-breath-away good looking. Want-to-strip-your-body-naked-and-let-him-devour-you-alive good looking. Certified-eye-candy good looking.”