Billionaire Ghost Tour - Stephanie Fowers Page 0,44
locked?” He tried the handle, but it was stuck. Janson stumbled against a wall and slid down it to sit, wiping his hands down the sides of his sweaty forehead. “We need to get somewhere with a phone.”
She knelt next to him. “Let’s just wait here until we can get down without those creeps killing us.”
“I’ve got to warn my father about what’s happening.” He sounded desperate.
Her hands went to his. She understood. If someone met up with Mother Renee for lunch to say she’d been held for ransom, her mother would be out of her mind with worry. “He probably won’t be able to meet you there anyway, and if he does...”
He cut through her words, running his hand down his sling like his arm was still in pain. “I need to tell you something that I haven’t told anyone before. I’m trusting you, Mollie Sawyer, if you breathe a word...”
Her brows went up, but seeing the vulnerability break across his face, her hand went up too and she put her hand over her heart. “You can absolutely trust me. Charlize once told me that in the first grade she stole Brian O’Mara’s drawing of his house because she had a crush on him and wanted to find out where he lived, and I never told a soul... except now, I guess.”
His lips quirked up, though his expression was as sober as it ever was. “You’ve got to help me survive this room because I’m about to jump out the window.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Alarm spread through Mollie’s expression and she sat on his legs. “Oh no, you won’t be jumping! We’re four stories high!”
“Relax, Red.” His arms went around her to keep her from jostling him around. His whole body was freaking out from being in this small space, but as soon as he touched her, he realized holding her was more comforting than not. He took a deep breath. “I can’t fit through those windows anyway.” They were sealed tightly inside here like a submarine sinking thousands of meters underwater. “Look, I just need you to get my mind off the fact that we’re trapped here... together.” He realized that came out wrong when her brows drew in. “I mean, I have Cleisiophobia—I think. I ran a search on the internet. Every time I’m stuck somewhere where I can’t get away, I feel like someone has their hands around my neck and they’re choking me to death. The point is I really need you to talk me down, okay, Mollie?”
His heart sank when her expression flooded with concern. “Have you tried to get help for that?”
“How?” He was frustrated with himself that he hadn’t and still hoped she’d understand. “I don’t want any more drugs; that’s the problem. Not after all the hospitals and doctors and therapies and medication I’ve been through.” He hesitated, not wanting to go into the Crohn’s disease either. “My brain... my body... it can’t handle that. Not anymore. If there’s a side effect for a drug, I’m the person who’s going to get it. For once in my life, I just want to find a way to self-manage... if I can.”
And here he was, still running a pharmaceutical company. The second her eyes flashed with that clever intelligence he’d seen in them so often, he knew she saw the irony too. She didn’t disappoint. “Aren’t you the drug man?” His stomach lowered with disappointment. He shouldn’t have said anything. “No, no.” She hurriedly reassured him. “I get it.” She pushed back his hair from his forehead and smiled soothingly at him. “I can’t handle prednisone. My whole family can’t. One time I took it and thought my mother was plotting to murder me.”
“Okay, shut up and hold me down, so I don’t do something stupid.”
Her lips firmed into a secret smile. “I can do better. You just have to promise me not to jump.” Running her hand down his whiskered chin, she gently lifted off his legs and went to the windows, finding a crank handle to roll them open all the way. The music from the New Orleans Hotel floated up from the party below. She swung around to him, her lacy dress flirting with her legs as she kicked off her dainty slip-ons. “Take off your shoes and dance with me.”
Was she serious? He couldn’t breathe, and she wanted him to dance. She held her hand out to him and he gave in with a groan. If anything, it would be a good