Boss Me (Private Listing #3)

“What’s happening?” The alarm is persistent but not overly loud.

“We need to get out of the building.” Seth drags me into the closet and grabs a huge sweatshirt to put on me before pulling on his jeans. He tosses a pair of sneakers on the floor before me, and I slip my feet into them.

We hurry into the main part of the apartment. The others have on jeans and are tugging shirts over their heads.

“The elevator is shut down.” Blake nods his head back toward my bedroom. “We need to take the fire exit.”

Seth’s fingers squeeze mine as we all turn back to my bedroom. I have a million questions, but right now we have a goal: get out quickly. Once things calm down and we’re safe from whatever, then we can talk.

Blake leads us to a door in my living room that I just don’t think about. Coop told me about the fire escape in my room when he showed me the apartment, but my brain was focused on other things that day. How much I wanted him even though I didn’t think I could have him.

Seth pulls me through the door into a huge staircase that winds down all the floors. “Hope you’re ready for exercise, princess.”

“If you get tired, let us know.” Coop stops beside me and brushes my hair out of my face. “I can carry you if you need me to.”

I nod and Blake strides by us.

“Let’s get a move on.”

We descend the stairway, our hurried steps and labored breathing echoing off the concrete walls. Mostly my labored breathing. I’m not as fit as they are.

“What do we know?” Seth asks two flights down.

“Fire alarm in the kitchen and on the third floor.” Blake lets out a huff as he rounds the next landing. “They didn’t go off at the same time. It’s odd. The fire station has been notified, and they’re on their way. So are the ambulance and police.”

“Does this happen a lot?” I pause on the landing for a quick breath.

Noah grabs my hand and keeps me moving. “Not typically, but we keep up with the system, so in case of an emergency we’re ready.”

“Our goal is to make it outside and across the street.” Blake pauses to look back at me. “We make sure everyone got out and then we evaluate the situation. Fortunately, tonight it’s just us and the night guards on the main floor. Evacuating the entire building is almost a nightmare.”

“Do we think it’s a false alarm?” I don’t smell any smoke. We were just in the kitchen. Everything was off.

“We won’t know until we get out and make sure everyone’s safe.” Blake takes off down the stairs again. “I’ll check the system when we know we’re in the clear.”

By the time we reach the bottom of the stairs, I’m winded and need a moment as Blake pushes open the door that leads out the back of the building.

“Come on.”

I inhale the fresh, cool air as I step out and glance around. It’s almost midnight. The lights back here overlap slightly, but they fight against the oppressive darkness trying to close in on us.

Coop draws me into his side, and Noah’s hand slides from mine. Noah’s dark eyes give me reassurance, but he steps away from me.

A shiver ripples through me as Coop leans close to my ear. “There might be cameras out there, sweetheart. We need to keep up appearances.”

Coop takes my hand and slides the ring I left on the tray in the bathroom back onto my finger. “You need to keep this on.”

I don’t protest as he wraps his arm around my shoulder and we follow the others. It still feels wrong to wear this ring that someone in the past used to make the ultimate promise of love forever to someone else. Especially when the reason Coop gave it to me was to continue this ruse that we’re a couple so no one guesses all of us are together.

The wind blows against my bare legs, making me huddle into Coop more. Red lights flash against the building as we step out into the front plaza. Coop draws me to the side as Blake and Seth go to talk to the first responders. Noah walks beside us as we make our way across the street.

The lights are bright, but someone shut the alarm off. A group of firefighters enter the front door and disappear into the lobby. Noah steps closer, blocking the wind a little but not touching me.

If I could, I’d pull him close and sandwich myself between him and Coop.

Seth runs a hand over his hair as he makes his way across the street to us. A flash of something dark catches my gaze, and I jerk my head to see someone wearing dark clothing disappearing down the side of the building that we came from.

A chill creeps over me. Maybe it was just a shadow. Maybe my imagination is getting the better of me.