Billionaire Romance: Spencer's Obsession (A Seductive Alpha Billionaire Romance Book 1) (4 page)

              “Emily! Please wait. Let's talk about this,” he called after me. I jammed the elevator button, beckoning for it to come rescue me—and fast. I could hear Spencer's footsteps coming down the hallway towards me, faster this time.
Please please please elevator—come on,
I prayed silently.

              Finally, the doors opened and I ran inside, jamming the 'close' button over and over again until they finally started to obey. I had to get out of here, I couldn't take it. But just as I thought I was going to make it, Spencer's arm appeared, stopping the doors from closing completely. Without hesitation he jumped inside of the elevator with me.

              I screamed and backed myself into a corner as the doors shut behind him and we were suddenly trapped in the elevator together. I could hear Spencer's panting (the result of sprinting from his office to catch up to me) and feel his breath start to warm up the small space of the elevator.

              “Emily,” he breathed, “you need to look at me.”

              I hid my face in my hands and shook my head 'no.'

              I heard him sigh and finally he said, “We're not going anywhere until you talk to me.”

              I looked up nervously and it dawned on me that the elevator was no longer moving. I panicked, glancing at the elevator panel—Spencer must have hit the emergency stop button.

              “Seriously?!” I shrieked at him. “Are you crazy? We're going to get in trouble.”

              “Uh, I own the company, remember? What are
they
going to do to me?” he laughed at my naivety. “Besides, there are plenty of other elevators they can use.”

              I blushed at the thought of being trapped in this elevator with Spencer with no way out. Suddenly it didn't feel quite as spacious as it had this morning when I was all alone. I glanced at Spencer and he was staring intently at me, his breath finally becoming stable again. He narrowed his eyes and then parted his lips ever so slightly, biting his bottom lip thoughtfully. What was he thinking? Whatever it was, it didn't appear to be anything innocent and I started to feel claustrophobic—like I was the prey and he was the hunter.

              All of a sudden, before I could react, Spencer had closed the distance between us and was pushing his strong, masculine body up against mine. I could feel the heat of his breath on my neck, in my hair as his hands touched me all over, grabbing at whatever they could get their hands on. He worked his way up the length of my body with his hot palms and long fingers, groping before finally stopping at the perfect bun I had made of my hair earlier this morning. In one motion, he pulled the hair tie out of my hair and it all came cascading down around us. Spencer grabbed my unruly locks between his fingers, pressing his face into my hair, breathing all of me in.

              He moaned into my neck, “Oh, Emily.”

              His words reminded me of the dream I'd had, sending a shockwave of electric pleasure down the length of my body that culminated between my thighs.

              He pushed himself away and then yanked gently on my hair so that I was forced to look into his intoxicating, icy blue eyes.

              I could feel my want for him growing stronger between my legs, the wetness building. I felt like I had been put under some sort of spell and the only way I could fight it was by giving in to the temptation of him. My legs began to feel weak as the elevator started to spin and then suddenly...everything went black.

              When I came to, all I could see was an artificial glow above me and the steady sound of beeping.
My vision was a blur and I felt a sudden sharp pain in my right temple. The first thought that came to me was that I must have been abducted by aliens. After all, there was a tall, dark figure hovering above me, but I couldn't make out who they were or what they were saying to me—everything was muffled.

              After I had been awake for a few minutes, my vision started to get a little clearer and I heard someone shouting, “Doctor! Please, come quick. She's awake.” The voice sounded familiar but I couldn't put my finger on who it belonged to.

             
Doctor? What is going on? Where am I?
I tried to vocalize these questions, but my mouth and throat were so dry that it just came out as a croak. I reached out towards the shadowy figure hovering above me, but my arm protested with a sharp stab of pain in the crook of my elbow.
Ouch!

              “No, no, Emily. Shh. It's okay. Just rest,” cooed the mystery man as I felt my hair being petted gently. “It'll all be okay.”

              I rolled my head to the left and now that I had been awake for several minutes, my vision was much clearer—I could finally make out the face of the man who was watching over me.

              “John?” I whispered dryly in surprise. Immediately I started having a coughing fit from straining my dehydrated vocal chords.

              Off to my right I noticed a white blur of a man enter the room and he bustled up to the side of the bed.

              “Hello, Miss Prescott. Glad to see you've come to,” he said, busily checking his clipboard, then glancing at the monitors at the head of my bed. “You had a bit of a dizzy spell that had us worried for a minute, but you're going to be just fine. Only a bit of dehydration,” he smiled at me.

              Ah, so that's what the sharp pain in my elbow was—I had an IV bag full of fluids pumping into my system.

              I tried to smile back, but there was so much inside of my head that still needed to catch up to the situation that I just couldn't react at all, so instead I sat there blankly.

              “Alright, now. I'm just going to check a few things real quick and then I'll be out of your hair, okay?” he stated as he snapped on a pair of latex gloves and proceeded to check the dilation in each of my eyes, then the size of the lymph nodes on either side of my neck and underneath my jaw. After scribbling some notes on his clipboard he said, “Well, everything looks pretty good. I'm happy to report that you should be able to go home in a few hours. We'd just like to monitor you for a bit longer to be sure everything stays on the up and up. Did either of you have any questions for me?” he  asked, looking at me and then John.

              We shook our heads 'no' and the Doctor smiled and nodded, “Alright, then. If anything changes or you need anything at all, simply buzz one of the nurses and we'll fix you right up.”

              I gave him a weak smile and John said, “Thanks so much, Dr. Raj.”

              And just like that he was gone. And the room was only filled with our deafening silence.

              “Can I please have some water?” I croaked and John immediately poured me a cup, making sure to hand it to me in my non-IV'ed arm. I gulped it down, feeling like I'd never been this thirsty in my entire life. “Ahh. Thank you. That's so much better. I can't believe how thirsty I am.”

              “Did you want some more?” he offered, deadpan. Now that the news had been announced that I was no longer at risk of maybe dying, John's personality did a complete 180.

              “No, that's okay,” I looked down at my fingers folded in front of me atop the thin hospital blanket—which was more like a sheet than any kind of blanket I'd ever seen. “John...why are you here?” I asked, unable to pretend any longer. It just didn't make any sense. The doctor said I'd only been out for a short while and I knew for a fact that John couldn't have been the one to bring me here.
Spencer
. Where was he? Why wasn't he here with me? The last thing I remembered was getting hot and heavy with him in the elevator at Ford Enterprises and then feeling dizzy and passing out and now I wake up and I'm here.  There were too many questions unanswered.

              “Uh...wow. Well, it's nice to see you, too, Em,” John scoffed in response.

              “You know I didn't mean it like that. I just mean...Illinois is a long way away and I didn't expect to wake up in some hospital and see your face. That's all. I mean, I'm not in that serious of shape” I said, attempting to smooth things over.

              “Whose face were you expecting? Spencer Ford's?” he accused coldly, his words like daggers. I hadn't ever told him about Spencer...at least not his name. How did he know? Did I say something in my sleep?

              “Don't look so surprised,” he continued. “He was here with you when I showed up. He said he was your boss, but he was really confused when I mentioned that I was your fiancé. Hurt, even. He said you never shared the fact that you were in a relationship, let alone engaged. He just stared at me for a minute or two trying to put all the pieces together...” John laughed, disgusted. He shook his head and I could see tears glistening in his eyes, threatening to rain down.

              “John, please. I'm sorry, I just...”

              “Dammit, Em! Please spare me. You could at least have the decency to be honest with me. At the very least. Jesus! I mean I flew all the way here just to show you how much I loved you and missed you and when I got to your apartment and Bridget told me you were here, I felt like my heart had shattered into a million pieces. I was so worried about you. And then I show up here, only to find you being comforted and consoled by another man. He was kissing your
hand
, Em! Your
hand.
That's some fucking intimate shit!” He threw his hands up in exasperation and covered his face, a jagged sob escaping his lips.

              My heart broke for him. Even though I hadn't cheated on him, it was dangerously close. Close enough that it still felt wrong. And part of me didn't even feel bad about it...that's how pathetic this whole situation was. Here I was, listening to my fiancé cry over the possibility of losing me and my mind was preoccupied with thoughts of Spencer—W
here is he? Is he angry with me? Will we still be okay tomorrow?

              “Are you even listening to me, Em?” John shouted, causing me to jump at his unexpected outburst. I'd never seen him so angry, like a bomb going off. The John I'd always known was calm, cool and collected. He could be having the worst day of his life and still be able to laugh it off. And yet here he was, blowing up right in front of my face and there was nothing I could do to stop it. Nothing I
wanted
to do to stop it, because this had been a long time coming and I knew that there was no turning back now.

              “John, I really am sorry,” I pleaded. “I never meant to hurt you. You have to believe that, okay? I really do love you...it's just, I can't marry you. We aren't meant for each other. Not like that.” And as the words left my mouth, I felt a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. Like I was finally able to be myself again, but even still, it hurt to have to break the heart of someone I cared so much about. There was no denying that. “I'm sorry,” I whispered as a tear fell down my cheek.

              He looked at me with so much hurt in his eyes that I wanted to disappear right then and there—to just stop existing altogether. “I'm sorry, too,” he choked. And then just like that, he turned and left me all alone to face the silence of my guilt.

              I laid my head back against the propped up bed and closed my eyes, letting the tears flow freely until they turned into sobs. The pain that I felt was of my own doing and I welcomed it, giving into its embrace until I became so tired from my grief that I slipped off to sleep.

*****

              I awoke with a start a few hours later to a gentle hand on my shoulder and a feminine voice saying, “Emily, honey. It's time now. The doctor says you can go home.”

              I opened my eyes groggily to a warm, smiling face. I recognized her as one of the nurses who had checked up on me earlier in the night. I made a mental note then, that she was my favorite. I tried to match her smile, but I don't think I was very convincing.

              “Is everything okay, sweetie? Do you have a ride home?” she asked with motherly concern.

              “I'm not sure,” I replied, honestly. “I guess I could call my friend Bridget to see if she can come get me.” The nurse nodded in sympathy.

              “Okay, sweetheart. Well, I'm going to go check on a few more patients while you get yourself ready, okay? If you need anything else you can find me out here at the front desk,” she motioned behind her.

              As she left the room and closed the door behind her, I realized I would have to have someone take the IV out of my arm before I could get dressed. Much to my surprise, though, when I looked over at my left arm, it was no longer there. Just a throbbing pain and band-aid with a cotton ball.
Wow,
I thought to myself,
she must have taken it out while I slept. No wonder she was concerned about me.

              I got up out of the hospital bed and found my clothes in the chair that John had been sitting in. The nurse must have moved them for me after he left. I smiled to myself at how thoughtful she was as I took my hospital gown off and changed back into my outfit from earlier. Under the harsh fluorescent lights and in light of what had happened earlier, my clothes now seemed too over-the-top. I felt downright dirty in them—like I belonged on a street corner, not in a hospital.

              I looked at myself in the small bathroom mirror. Yep, it was just as bad as I thought. I was a total mess. My makeup had run all down my face from crying earlier and my hair was matted in the back from sleeping on it. It's funny how only a few hours earlier I felt so sexy in this same outfit and now I just felt cheap.

              I sighed at my reflection, trying to wipe away some of the mess of my makeup. After several failed attempts I finally just gave up. At least this way the outside of me could match how I was feeling on the inside. I shrugged and placed my handbag over my shoulder as I made my way to the front desk. I could tell my disheveled appearance made the staff nervous and so I was relieved when my favorite nurse came rushing over to help me.

              “Yes, sweetheart?” she asked.

              “I was just wondering where I need to go or who I need to talk to about setting up a payment plan for my bill?” I asked, knowing that I didn't have health insurance and at the time of check-in they probably weren't able to gather any of my information.

              “Oh, well there's no bill, sweetie,” she smiled.

              “What do you mean?” I asked, perplexed about how that could be. I mean, surely with all the tests and time I had spent here, there would be
some
charge.

              “The handsome man who brought you in covered it. Mr. Ford, I believe?” she replied wistfully, as if just the thought of him was enough to cause her heart to flutter. Not that I could blame her—he was pretty charming and gorgeous. I felt my stomach do a flip at the thought of Spencer being mad at me, but yet he was kind enough to cover my hospital expenses. A wave of guilt came over me. How could I have been so selfish?

              “Oh,” I said. “Alright then. I guess if everything's taken care of, I'll just be on my way, then,” I shrugged.

              “Okay, sweetheart. You take care of yourself. Did you need me to call anyone for you?” she offered politely. Clearly she was going above and beyond the call of duty, because I highly doubted this was the standard hospital procedure for checking out patients.

              “No, thank you. I've called my roommate to come pick me up,” I lied, giving her a weak smile. “Thank you all so much for your help. I hope you have a wonderful night,” I waved goodbye, then turned to the elevators and made my way out to the front entrance of the Emergency Room.