“It’s so hot in here.”
It was almost a relief to be distracted from his own thoughts.
“Not much we can do about it,” he replied, knowing it would annoy her. After all, it was what he was good at.
“Imagine if Robinson Crusoe had that attitude. We need to be innovative, think outside the box. Or the elevator, I guess.”
His eyes still on the ceiling, he shook his head minutely in exasperation.
“This isn’t Gilligan’s Island, Mary Ann. We can’t just bake a batch of coconut cream pies and wait for the Professor to find a way to get us back home.”
“Ginger, if you don’t mind.”
“What?”
“Ginger. I always wanted to be Ginger, not Mary Ann.”
That surprised him so much that he turned to look at her and found she was on her back also, and was looking at him. Without his permission, his eyes flickered down to her chest. Her full breasts strained at the fabric of her bra now that she was on her back, and he felt a definite tightening in his groin. What was it with him and those breasts? He’d seen great breasts before. And he’d see them again. Plenty of them, in matched sets. These weren’t the only breasts in the world. So why was he suddenly so hot to see them and touch them and taste them?
“Ginger was a redhead,” he said, forcing himself to concentrate on the subject at hand.
“So? On the inside, maybe I’m a redhead.” Her eyes dared him to contradict her.
“Hey, it’s your split personality, not mine.”
“Exactly.”
Their old friend silence crept back into the elevator. Jack bent his legs and rested one ankle on the opposite knee, for something to do. And to try and distract himself from thinking about her breasts.
He bet they were firm. Firm, and sensitive. He bet if he took her nipple into his mouth, she’d cry out. He had a flash of Claire’s eyes clouded with desire, her lids slightly lowered, her mouth open and wet.
“Who would you have been?” she asked suddenly.
“What?” he asked, almost starting with guilt.
“On the island. Who would you have been?” she repeated.
“Mr. Howell.”
“You’re kidding? Ugh!”
She sounded genuinely disgusted. He had a natural skill in this area, it seemed.
“Come on, think about it. He was rich, he managed to work it so everyone else did everything for him and he still had his main squeeze with him on the island.”
She laughed. Another surprise—she had a sense of humor.
“You’re the most practical playboy I’ve ever met,” she said.
She was smiling again, her face just an arm’s length or so away. It was almost like being in a very large bed, him on one side, her on the other. His body had things to say about the idea of being in bed with this new-improved, friendly, black-bra-wearing Claire Marsden, and he ruthlessly changed the subject. And kept his eyes fixed firmly on her face.
“Okay, Desert Island Top Five,” he announced.
“I don’t think we need to pretend we’re trapped on a desert island, do you?”
She had a point.
“Trapped in an Elevator Top Five, then. All-time favorite movies,” he said.
She shot him a look, seemed about to say something, hesitated and then spat it out anyway.
“I thought you were angry with me.”
He shrugged. “You want to spend another five hours arguing or sitting here glaring at each other?”
“Good point. Okay. Top five movies. The first one is easy—The Big Sleep, definitely.”
He couldn’t help himself. “Surprise, surprise.”
“Excuse me?”
“Everyone picks a black-and-white movie, preferably something with Bogie in it. Gives you street cred.”
“But it’s my favorite movie!” She sounded outraged.
He made sure there was a heavy dose of doubt in his tone. “Of course it is.”
“Wait till it’s your turn,” she warned him. “Second movie would be When Harry Met Sally. I can watch it over and over and it’s still clever and funny.”
“So predictable, not even worth commenting on.”
She threw him an exasperated look.
“You know what’s predictable? You not agreeing with a word I say. I swear if I said the sky was blue, you’d disagree with me just for the sake of it.”
“Depends.”
She snorted with exasperation this time, and he found he was enjoying needling her like this.
“On what, pray tell?”
“If it was nighttime or daytime.”
She half laughed at his lame joke, and he tried not to notice how pretty she looked and the way her breasts jiggled invitingly. Those damn breasts!
“Okay, third movie. Getting tougher now. Have to have a comedy in there, otherwise it’s just way too boring.”
She stretched one leg in the air, waggling it around aimlessly as she considered her options. Jack’s eyes followed the hem of her skirt as it slid down to reveal more of her thighs. As if her breasts weren’t doing him enough damage. But it was impossible to keep his eyes from the sleek, tanned firmness of her legs. She really had great legs. They looked strong, and flexible. Like they could grip a man hard around the hips as he—