Going Down: The Elevator Series (27 page)

Leroy was sitting in the corner of the living room looking like a teenager waiting for his parents to leave. I pulled the lid off the second container. “Found my shoes!”

Cole reacted like I’d fired a starting pistol. “Thank heavens. I’ll get the bags.” He had all my bags and his one travel bag before he finished his sentence.

I looked in the full-length mirror on the closet door again. “I really think I should change my skirt. It’s too dressy.”

“Cici.” Cole’s voice dropped to the pitch that let everyone know he was serious. “I will carry you down to the car if you try to change anything else. You can put on something different when we get there, if you want. You grossly over packed, as per usual.”

There was no such thing as over packing in my book. It was called
being prepared
. “All right, but which of us will be ready for a renaissance-themed party, should your parents decide to throw one?”

That one gave him pause, though it shouldn’t have. We’d been together for over a year; nothing I said should ever surprise him at this point. “Cici, it’s just going to be us and my family. Why would my parents throw a themed party for Thanksgiving?”

I grabbed my purse off the bed and walked over to bid farewell to Leroy. He reluctantly acknowledged my presence before turning back to stare out of the cracks in the blinds. “The better question is, why
wouldn’t
they throw a themed party?”

Cole exhaled slowly again. “You’re really becoming a threat to my cranberry sauce now.” He pointed to the door with the one hand not full of luggage. “Get your spectacular ass in the car.” He swatted said ass as I walked by him.

Thankfully, we didn’t have to wait for the elevator. Cole dragged all the bags on and pushed the button for the floor leading to the garage.

“No, I want to say good-bye to Willie before we leave, honey.” I pushed the button for the lobby.

Cole double-pushed the garage level button. “Our doorman is a wonderful person and I’m sure he’ll understand that we should have been on the road an hour ago, but we were waylaid by a very indecisive woman.”

I pushed the lobby button again. “I’m sure you’re not talking about me. I don’t want to be rude. It will only take a minute to stop and wish Willie a happy Thanksgiving.” I pushed the button again for good measure.

He mashed the garage button. “You said it would only take a minute to fix your hair. And get dressed. And clean out the fridge.” He tapped his right foot like he was trying to send a telegraph. “Why is this elevator so slow today?”

“You probably broke it by manhandling all the buttons like that. You have a track record, you know.”

His foot tapped faster. “Fine. One quick good-bye and then to the car. I suppose I can just have cranberry sauce next year.”

The elevator slowed further as we reached the lobby. “Cole, let the sauce go. Thanksgiving isn’t even until tomorrow.”

Cole whipped through the doors before they opened fully. He turned his head to talk in my direction as I tried to keep up with his near sprint. “I explained this last year. We don’t eat cranberry sauce with Thanksgiving dinner. Who gets there first eats all of the sauce so no one else can have any. It’s tradition.”

“Honey, I love your family, but I really don’t understand you guys sometimes. Everything is always a competition.”

“That’s only because everything is about beating John and Felicity.”

I thought about arguing the circular logic of that, but remembered I had never had much luck in the past. It was best to let it go.

Willie was sitting in his chair next to the front door, like usual. While he was technically a doorman, he didn’t actually open doors. He was a relative of someone in the building’s management company, and I think he wanted something to do since he retired from his former career a few months ago. He was so friendly that none of the residents seemed to mind that he just sat in a chair all day making small talk with everyone.

I cut around Cole when two of the bags he was toting made a break for freedom. He tried to rearrange the collection so he had better control. It was his family’s fault I had to pack so much. I had one bag strictly devoted to protective padding and a helmet in case we played flag-slash-full-contact football again. Cole’s brother was like the Great Dane who didn’t realize he was not a lap dog. He had no concept of personal space or bone fragility where sports were concerned.

I reached Willie while Cole was still struggling with the bags. “Willie! Happy Thanksgiving! We couldn’t bear to leave without saying good-bye to our favorite doorman.” I shot a pointed glare at Cole behind me as he dropped my shoe suitcase a third time.

Willie stood up carefully and gave me a hug. “Ms. Carrington. Mr. Danvers. Are you two headed to see family?”

“We are and I told you to call us Cole and Cici. There’s no reason to be so formal. Are your kids and grandkids coming to visit for the holiday?”

He stretched out his back. “Three of my kids and their kids are. My youngest son can’t make it this year. He’ll be up for Christmas though.”

Cole gave up on the bags and left them in a heap in the middle of the lobby. “Willie,” Cole said as they shook hands. “I hope you have a great Thanksgiving.”

“Oh I always do. My wife is the best cook.” He rubbed his stomach enthusiastically.

“Do you ever have any leftover cranberry sauce?” Cole’s voice had a hopeful lilt.

“Cole!” I reprimanded. “How old are your grandkids again?”

Willie took off his hat and rubbed his head. “Well, let’s see. I’ve got a ten-year-old, nine-year-old, one that’s seven, a five-year-old, and the youngest is four. They keep this old man on his toes.”

Cole fidgeted nervously with the cuffs of his long sleeves. I could tell it was slowly killing him to not be on the road to his parents’ by now. I decided to throw him a lifeline. I’d grown pretty attached to him and it would be nice to keep him around a little longer. “Willie, I’m glad we got to see you. We should probably get going. Give your wife and those kids big hugs from us.”

I hugged him and Cole shook his hand again. I never understood why men weren’t huggers with each other. Women were so different. If a woman liked you, she would invade your personal space early and often.

“You two have a safe trip!” Willie called after us as Cole tried to herd all the bags in one direction.

He visibly relaxed in the elevator. “I can’t wait to dig into Marie’s Thanksgiving feast. She makes the best pies. And her homemade rolls are to die for. They’re going to be the second best thing you’ve ever put in your mouth.” He winked overdramatically.

Cole shoved all the bags out of the elevator and into the parking garage. Leasing a space in the garage was our little splurge. Our firm was doing well, and I’d made a decent profit on the sale of my tiny apartment after the fire damage was cleaned up. Synthetic hair and candles do not mix. I know that now. Nonetheless, our combined incomes afforded us some luxuries.

Watching Cole try to fit all of my luggage into his sporty little car was like watching a three dimensional Tetris game. I offered my help, but he kept insisting that he had it under control. He asked silly questions like, “What’s in this bag and do you need it?” We both had to sit on the trunk to get it closed and I had to hold a bag in my lap, but he finally made it work.

I really wanted to swing by Gramercy Park and say good-bye to my old buddy, Gene, again, but I was afraid Cole’s head would explode if I proposed another delay. I had seen him yesterday anyway, where he thoroughly destroyed me at a game of Checkers. He made up for it by giving me some of his trademark pearls of wisdom that I was still kicking around in my head.

Once we were out of the Manhattan gridlock, he zipped through traffic at a breakneck speed. He always said it was to make up time from how long I took to get ready, but I secretly thought this was just how he liked to drive. He was a lot like my best friend, Maggie, in that respect. I had a theory that everyone should drive with them just once. They had a way of making you appreciate life. Each time I left their cars having cheated death, I felt extremely grateful and far more spiritual.

Cole reached over and held my hand across the console. I tried to focus on the sweetness of the gesture and not think about which car we were going to smash into on the crowded road. “What’s your favorite part of Thanksgiving, Cici?”

I had to think about that for a minute while I rubbed the side of his hand with my thumb. “I would have to say spending time with my family. I miss my parents and I miss having everyone under one roof. They aren’t nearly as…spirited as your family, but it’s fun and comforting.”

Cole squeezed my hand. “How about when we get back, we schedule a trip to see your parents? I’ve only met them over Skype, and I would really like to meet them in person.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat before answering. “I would love that. Thank you.”

“I’ve never been to Nebraska. It will be fun.” Cole darted in front of a compact car that was driving the speed limit.

“You can’t drive while we’re there.”

Cole took his eyes off the road to shoot me a perplexed look. “Why not?”

Two blaring horns brought his focus back to the highway. “Why not? You’re just a smidge too aggressive, honey. You will terrify everyone.” He cut off a line of traffic to move over two lanes. “You might even end up in jail. No one wants that. We’ll just let my parents pick us up from the airport. That will be better—and safer—for everyone.”

“They’re going to drive slow, aren’t they?”

“Most definitely.”

“We’ll table this discussion for when we have the flights booked.”

“This is non-negotiable. I won’t budge on this. Your driving could scare half the town into heart failure. Lives are at stake here.” I squeezed his hand in an attempt to be authoritative, but I don’t think he noticed.

“Let’s change the subject.” The side of Cole’s mouth twitched just enough to let me know he was about to say something he shouldn’t. “How about you put your head in my lap?”

And I was right.

“Are you crazy?” I could have adjusted the volume of my voice for the small space of the car, but I didn’t.

Cole’s mouth twitched again, which meant he was going for broke. “Hey, I’m just thinking about you, baby. I know you don’t like to have sex at my parents’ house. We can get one out of the way before we even get there.” He finished off with a wink, which usually vaporized my panties.

But not this time.

I crossed my legs and turned my body away from him. My libido never, ever turned down Cole Danvers, and I couldn’t afford for it to betray me now. “You have lost your mind. Do you not remember what happened last time?”

“I do. And I think successful road head would go a long way to heal those wounds.”

I crossed my legs tighter. “You almost crashed the car last time.”

“I know.”

“Because I got my head stuck under the steering wheel.”

“I remember. I have since had the seat fixed.”

“There are cars everywhere.”

“No one is paying attention.”

He tried to put his hand on my knee, but I was slowly morphing into a pretzel to avoid his touch. I looked out the passenger window as I spoke because I was terrified to look at his face and turn down any type of sex. The Earth might spin off its axis and plunge us into eternal night. “You get yourself under control right now. My mouth is not going anywhere near your penis, mister.”

“For now.” I could actually hear him wink.