“Yes,” she nodded. “That’s the good part of the story.”
I cringed. “What’s the bad?”
Without missing a beat, she replied, “All the rest.”
“Dani,” I groaned, growing weary of the game. “Just tell me.”
“Okay, here’s the deal. Our building has sustained major damage. You aren’t the only one in this zip code trapped in the rubble.”
“So, are you saying I’ve been waitlisted?” I asked, my voice rising an octave. “Like a college freshman?”
“Well, I wouldn’t have put it that way, but yes. If it makes you feel any better, everyone in our building is currently being waitlisted.”
Trying to squash down the panic rising in my chest, I replied, “How does that make me feel better?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “I’m not an expert on earthquake survival, RJ. I’m doing the best I can and, I promise you, so are the firefighters and police. When I found them, they were already pulling people out of our building. But then another aftershock hit, causing more damage, and now they’re waiting on some sort of safety evaluation before they’ll send their people back in.”
I let the words sink in. They weren’t coming. No one was coming. I slumped back in my grave.
Dani grabbed for my hand, the determination etched on her pretty face breathing life back into me. “Listen to me, RJ. I know it seems bleak, but I made damn sure they won’t forget about you.”
“How?”
“Do you have any idea how fast a social media post travels when you add the hashtag RJContrerasTrappedInEarthquake? Lightning speed, I tell you! Your fans went batshit crazy. Little Dayers started arriving two hours ago with their buckets and shovels, ready to dig you out themselves. They’re out there holding signs and chanting, ‘Free RJ!’ Reporters have arrived. Media barriers have been set up. And that, my vacuum-packed friend, is why no one’s going to forget you are trapped in the parking garage.” A grin broke wide across her lips. “You’re welcome.”
I blinked at her, unable to divert my eyes. It was official. This was hands down the coolest chick I’d ever met. “You’re like single-handedly keeping me alive, Dani Malone.”
She smiled. “Right?”
“I’m still confused, though. If the building is condemned, why would they let you back inside?”
“They didn’t. It’s dark. I slipped past the police lines.”
My eyes widened. She was just continually surprising me. “It’s like you’ve gone through basic training.”
Nursing her injured arm, now cradled into a sling, Dani gingerly pulled a duffle bag off her shoulders and dropped it to the ground. Reaching inside, she pulled out a bottle of water and handed it to me. “I suppose I could argue that dealing with you these last few months have prepared me for battle.”
After gulping down the water, I riffled through her duffle bag filled with camping supplies. “Did you go back to the apartment?”
“Uh…no.”
“Where’d you get this stuff?”
“From the dude I was supposed to go on a date with tonight. I borrowed one of your fangirl’s phones and messaged him. I asked to borrow money. He even drove me to the supercenter down the street and waited while I filled up a bag with all the stuff I’d need to save you. Wasn’t that nice of him?”
I nodded. “Sounds like a keeper. And so cool of him to loan money to you, which you would then use on his competition.”
“Are you…” Dani hesitated, as if not sure she should ask the question we both knew was coming, “the competition?”
Lifting her gaze, she searched my eyes for an answer. There really could be no worse place or time to pledge my allegiance but then, I also understood the fragility of this moment. If I didn’t act now, there was no guarantee I could physically do it later.
“I am now,” I replied.
Neither of us spoke as we tested the waters of this new and surprising bond. Certainly, this uncharacteristic attraction I felt toward Dani could be a consequence of the disaster porn we were now immersed in, but whatever I was feeling in this moment was worth pursuing. She was what I wanted and, in this place, buried in this hole, I was going to stake my claim. The other guy be damned. He wasn’t winning this war. And, yeah, there was probably a good chance I wasn’t making it out of here alive, but Dani would always know that I was the man who wasn’t afraid to try.
Clutching the back of her neck, I tangled fingers into her hair and pulled her toward me. Dani’s lips parted, anticipating my move but getting it wrong. She wasn’t dealing with an amateur here. I was a goddamn rock star. I knew how to seduce a woman. Bypassing her lips, my hot breath hovered over her ear. Dani stiffened, her eyes closing and her chest rising and falling with every breath. Under the soft ambient light of the lantern, Dani was the embodiment of all that was right and beautiful and exciting in the world. If I died, this—her—would be what I missed most.
Running my tongue lightly along the edge of her ear, I gave her lobe a tantalizing little flick. Dani gasped and I felt her shudder. I’d barely touched her, but her body was responding, and that encouraged me to go further, dig deeper. My lips trailed along her cheek until they pressed into the corner of her mouth. Dani’s breasts heaved and I took that as my invitation, sliding my fingers over the top of her shirt and lightly gliding by her nipples.
“RJ,” she moaned, arching her back.
I covered her open mouth with mine, capturing her lips, and circling my free arm around her waist, I pulled her in for a long, lingering kiss. Dani met my intensity with her own, her tongue sliding along the inside of my lips. My blood ran hot, mixing with the fever ravishing my body, and suddenly I felt the weight of my imprisonment. What was I doing? Nothing. Even if I wanted to take this further, I physically couldn’t. As long as I was stuck in this hell, I couldn’t have her. I couldn’t have anything.
Frustrated, I pulled away. Dani’s swollen lips hung open, her heavy-lidded eyes blinking in confusion.
“What is it?” she asked.
“I can’t. I’m sorry. I just wanted to feel something…with you.”
“And you didn’t?” she asked, and the vulnerability on her face made me want to protect her forever.
Placing my hand to her cheek, I traced my thumb in circles over her soft skin.
“I felt too much,” I whispered, casting my gaze downward. “And that only magnified the situation I’m in.”
Dani straightened, taking a seat opposite me and crisscrossing her legs. “So, that was all real?”
“Oh, it was real… and then some.”
“Good. That’s all I needed to hear.”
“Did I pull ahead of the competition?” I asked.
She smiled, outlining my lips with her fingers before placing a soft kiss on them. “There never was any.”
Dani wrapped her arms around me, laying her head against my shoulder as I settled into her embrace. It was going to be a long, hard night—but, for the first time in my life, I wouldn’t be facing the darkness alone.
• • •