Covert Intents: A Branson Family Novella Read Free Page B

could bench press those perfect curves of yours a dozen times over without breaking a sweat. But now might not be the time to show you, okay?”
    He winked at her, feigning a calmness he didn’t have. She needed to get out of that elevator. Now.
    He felt her small hand grip his arm, not like they were shaking hands, but grasp his wrist, causing him to grasp hers. A much more secure grip. Smart.
    “Good girl.”
    True to his word, he hoisted her up easily. He slid back as she came up so that they both ended up on the hall floor in a tangle of limbs, Rachel half on top of him.
    Both of them just lay there for a few moments breathing hard. Seth was very well aware of every place Rachel’s body touched his.
    “You okay?” he asked.
    She nodded. “Yeah, I think. Thank goodness you were there. If I had been in that elevator alone…”
    He wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her closer. Neither of them wanted to finish that sentence.
    The elevator hadn’t gone crashing down to the ground yet, but it still could at any second.
    “We should probably go report this to security—“ Seth’s comment was interrupted by a group from the computer engineering faculty, some of the very people Seth was investigating, stepping out of the other elevator.
    All their chatter stopped when they saw Seth and Rachel tangled on the floor and the elevator door limbs all akimbo.
    “Rachel, what in holy hell is going on?” A female voice, Lydia Williams, said. “Somebody call security. The janitor has attacked Rachel.”

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER THREE
     
     
    “ Oh my gosh, so you just both almost died in the elevator?”
    Rachel was surrounded by most of the computer engineering department at Baxter’s Bar & Restaurant the next evening, telling the story again. Everyone seemed fascinated, although Rachel tried to downplay the whole thing as much as she could.
    Some people would enjoy being the center of attention like this, not Rachel.
    When it became obvious she was not going to give a lot of juicy details, most of the people dispersed to talk about other, more interesting, things. Rachel may love to read stories, but she was not good at telling them.
    Especially ones that started with her being rejected by the janitor for a date and ended with her lying on top of him surrounded by a half dozen of her colleagues.
    Ryan and Lydia, the two computer specialists she’d become closest with, still sat with her even when the other college employees had moved on to more exciting conversations.
    Lydia popped an olive from her drink into her mouth. “All I’m saying is that the janitor guy—“
    “His name is Seth,” Rachel interrupted.
    “Whatever. Hot janitor guy was holding you pretty protectively there on the ground,” Lydia finished.
    “And then you threatened to call security. Way to go.” Rachel could feel herself blushing. “Anyway, it’s not like that. He’s not interested in me.”
    Lydia rolled her eyes. “How do you know? You’re pretty, in a sexy librarian sort of way.”
    Ryan seemed focused on something else and not even involved in their conversation, thank goodness.
    Rachel’s flush grew deeper. “I sort of asked him out. To come here, tonight.”
    That got Ryan’s attention. “You did?”
    “Look, I don’t want to talk about it.” Rachel wanted to talk about this even less than she wanted to talk about the elevator incident. “Excuse me, I need to go to the restroom.”
    She went upstairs and splashed some water on her face. She just needed a few minutes to pull herself together.
    She then headed to the second floor balcony which held outdoor seating. It was a chilly October night, and she welcomed the breeze on her heated cheeks. Leaning back on the balcony railing she looked inside the bar. Ryan and Lydia seemed to be arguing, or at least discussing something pretty intently. Dr. Dale Hudson, a professor, had also joined their conversation.
    Rachel didn’t know