Chapter 52-Love In An Elevator

"Reach For the Sky"

After their conversation about Billy's mystery phone call with Allen Aghaney while they stood in the corridor waiting for the elevator, Lee stopped Amanda's words with, "Before you become so enthused, this is not a "we" case, this is a "me" case." He looked at her sternly wanting to keep her out of whatever potential danger Billy was in.

As they debated a bit longer and he firmly reminded Amanda that he was unofficial, her response of, "Look, who could be more unofficial than me?" stopped him cold for a moment. How she was always able to leave him completely speechless was something that never ceased to amaze him. By the time he'd regained his composure, she was already in the elevator leading to the ground floor. With a shake of his head, he sighed, got into the elevator with her and conceded, "You're right."

As they rode the elevator, he couldn't help stealing little glances at her, the smug grin of hers making him crazy on more than one level. On one hand, it infuriated him to no end when she gloated about being right, but on the other it set that all-too-familiar fire blazing within him again. He quickly averted his eyes when she caught his stare and glanced up to the surveillance camera in the corner of the confined space. God, what he wouldn't do to wipe that smirk off her face if they weren't being watched right now... After all, the coats hanging around them would make perfect padding for such activities...

He carefully examined the camera and its wiring, wondering just how difficult it would be to disable it, thinking that he could always hit the emergency stop button and make his fantasy a reality, but before he could get much further with his thoughts, Amanda beat him to the punch with a testy... "Oh, here..." as she pointed to the barely concealed wiring that ran along just the edge of the bar from which the coats dangled.

"Here what?" Lee asked obtusely as he tried his best to look innocent.

Amanda fixed him with a stern gaze as she slapped the emergency stop button with the heel of her hand. "Like I don't know what you're thinking about? It's written all over your face." She stared him down her hands on her hips.

"How do you know what I'm thinking about?" He challenged as he edged a bit closer to her and added in a low growl, "Unless you're thinking it too," his eyes twinkling in merriment.

"Back off, Buster," Amanda protested and planted her hands firmly against his chest. "At least until you do something about that camera." She pointed for emphasis at the offending spy that was intruding on the moment. "I don't particularly care to be the next topic of gossip around the steno pool."

Lee gaped at her in open-mouthed shocked and unable to form a coherent thought, pushed the button to start the elevator back up again. Which was probably a good thing because as long as it had been off, it would have set off the alarm within moments anyway.

"Chicken," Amanda snorted as she turned to face the doors again.

Lee stepped in front of her, slamming his fist into the button. "Did you just call me chicken?" He glared down at her, eyes blazing.

She rose up on her toes meeting his challenging gaze and fired back, "You heard me!"

"That is SO childish!" He countered as he inched closer to her backing her up into the coats and himself closer to the camera's hidden wire.

"So is not admitting to what you really want," Amanda retorted, her face scant inches from his.

"What I really wa-" Looking into her burning eyes, Lee couldn't even think clearly anymore and in one smooth move, yanked firmly on the camera's cable hearing the satisfying hiss of sparks flying as he used his other arm to pull her to him and capture her lips in a fiery kiss, the sparks flying between them hotter than the ones from disabling the camera.

Amanda let out a low moan and slid her fingers up into his hair as he backed her up against the side of the elevator compartment, the coats cushioning her back as he tugged at the buttons of her blouse. "Easy," she gasped as she tore her mouth from his. "You're hard on my wardrobe and we still have to get past Mrs. Marston."

Lee used the opportunity to lower his lips to the tender spot just below her ear, growling in satisfaction at the low purr it brought forth from her throat as he yanked her blouse from her pants and began working on her buttons from top to bottom, trailing his mouth downward to each new patch of skin he exposed. "'Manda," he murmured against her stomach as he worked her belt loose, flicked open the button of her pants, slowly eased her zipper down and then slid his hand inside her pants to cup her bottom and pull her closer to him the scent of her arousal already driving him crazy. He paused for a moment to look up at her only to see her gazing down at him with a why-the-hell-did-you-stop look, giving him all the encouragement that he needed.

He bent lower to raise her left foot in order to slide one of her white high-heeled pumps from her heel, tossed it aside, then once finished with that, repeated the move with her right foot before resuming the task he'd begun with her pants while she leaned forward and tugged impatiently at his tie, yanking it free and dropping it to the floor she then began furiously working on the buttons of his dress shirt sliding her hands inside to caress his bare chest immensely grateful that he'd long ago stopped wearing those stupid vests and that he never wore a tee beneath his work shirts.

"Lee, stop a second," she scolded as she her found efforts thwarted by Lee's arms being busy trying to push her pants down her hips while she was trying to get his jacket and shirt off him.

"Mm-mm," he murmured against the skin of her stomach as he finally slipped her pants down her long, slender legs and dragged her panties with them.

"Lee," she whimpered desperately wanting to touch him, but all conscious thought was lost as she felt his hands gripping her bottom and his warm mouth suckling at her center. "Lee," she hissed, gripping his head, sliding her fingers through his silken hair and throwing her head back against the coats as he increased the pressure setting bells ringing in her ears as her body began to convulse against him with the force of her orgasm.

Her eyes were still shut tight, her body still shaking, her heart still pounding from her release when she heard the faint rasp of a zipper and then his voice demanding, "Amanda, look at me."

When her eyes fluttered open, Lee moved one hand to her thigh to lift it up onto his hip and slid his hard length inside her watching her eyes darken as he did so and giving her a smug grin much like the one she'd worn earlier. "Yes," he groaned as he pushed deeper into her.

Amanda locked her arms around his neck and pulled him to her for a searing kiss as she pushed against the wall to drive him on, needing the completion that she knew only he could give her, the bells still ringing in her ears. "Oh, Lee," she cried out as he gave her what she needed driving up to meet her as she pushed against him every time, their sighs and moans intermingling as their frenzied coupling continued until neither could hold on any longer and they tumbled over the edge and onto the floor of the elevator together, yanking several of the coats down with them, sending both into a fit of laughter amid their already heavy breathing and racing hearts.

Once he had caught his breath, Lee finally gasped out, "Well, I don't think we'll be trying that one again anytime soon."

It was then that Amanda realized that the ringing was still ongoing and was the sound of an alarm. "Oh my gosh," she exclaimed. "We set off some kind of alarm."

"Relax, Amanda," Lee said in a soothing tone as he held her close to him and stroked her hair. "it's just because we the elevator's been stopped for more than five minutes, but we really should get straightened up here before security comes to check things out." He then grinned at her. "After all, you don't particularly care to be the next topic of gossip around the steno pool...right?"

Amanda slapped his bare chest, violently tossed aside the coats that had partially buried her, rose to her feet and began to pull her clothes back on. "You can be a real jerk sometimes."

Lee laughed heartily as he too rose and slapped playfully at her bottom, then began working on straightening his clothes as well.

"Oh my gosh, How am I going to explain my smudged make-up when I get out there?" She then looked at Lee, then around the elevator's cabin as she buttoned her pants, while Lee did the same with his shirt.

"Hmmm...good point," Lee commented as he began to work on his tie.

"Hey, wait a minute," Amanda exclaimed as she pulled on her blouse. "Don't do your tie."

"What? Why?"

"If we both go out there looking a mess-"

"If we both go out there looking a mess," Lee interrupted, "Then Mrs. Marston will KNOW something was up."

"Exactly."

"What?"

"Just trust me," Amanda told him with a conspiratorial smile.

"I don't like that look," Lee said suspiciously. That exact look is what had gotten them into their current predicament.

"Look, just leave everything to me. I've got an idea that will work, I promise" Amanda assured him as she buttoned the last button on her blouse, but purposely left it un-tucked, then walked to Lee and un-tucked his shirt. "And don't put your jacket back on. Just carry it out there, okay?"

"Okay-ay," he replied, still eyeing her warily.

"You ready?"

"I guess," He shrugged.

"Just follow my lead," Amanda then hit the emergency stop button and mentally prepared to put her plan in motion while waiting for the doors to open. the moment they did, she barreled out and in a high-pitched squeak, said, "Mrs. Marston, I must insist that you get maintenance out here on the double."

"Mrs. King, what happened to you two," Mrs. Marston inquired as she peered at the pair over the top of her glasses.

"What happened to us?" Amanda shrieked. "I'll TELL you what happened to us. We have been stuck in that...that...that..." she waved her arms wildly at the elevator..."that thing...forever... and the air-conditioning cut off and I'm sure the air supply too. I mean, just look at my make-up and how runny it is and...and Mr. Stetson's shirt...it's drenched because the poor man was just pouring sweat. And the alarm was going off and there were sparks flying and we couldn't breathe! It was like we were suffocating! We could have died in there and did anyone care? No! No one cared!" She dramatically buried her face in her hands and then quickly raised her head, and stated dramatically, "I'm sorry...I have to go clean myself up now." She then raced up the stairs and slammed the door behind her.

"Is this true, Mr. Stetson," Mrs. Marston asked.

"Every word," He nodded as he slowly ascended the stairs. "Like she said, you'd better get maintenance on it right away." He then paused on the stairs, and added, "Oh, and security, the surveillance camera shorted out while we were stuck in there too." As Mrs. Marston turned away and Lee continued up the stairs, he shook his head and muttered, "Ham," but still he couldn't help admiring her creativity.

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"You know, it's kind of funny that we never met back then," Lee mused in a different elevator the next day.

"Oh, we did," Amanda corrected him.

Lee stopped in his task of working on the lock and stared at her. "What?"

"Oh yeah. It took me a long time to figure it out...but we did. It was a very awkward double date. You were dating one of my sisters...Dina Montrose..."

"Dina..." Lee said with a fond smile at the memory.

"He-ey!' Amanda protested loudly. "You also called me stupid that night!"

"No...no way...Not if I knew you...I'd never have called you stupid."

"You most certainly did! Joe and I were talking about our wedding plans and you said we were both stupid for getting married so young! Then Dina called you...well...let's just say...a not-very-nice name and stormed out, then you went chasing after her."

"Okay, THAT...I remember!" He looked at her curiously. "That was you?"

"Mm-hmm. Then we ran into each other again later that night when Dina was trying to sneak you out of the Kappa house at the same time that I was trying to sneak Joe out of the house."

"Right...You called me a jerk."

She nodded. "I did...and you were a jerk."

"Or..." he paused for emphasis, "Maybe I was right." Then turned back to his task.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you are divorced now, aren't you?" He replied without turning around.

"Yes, but it was better that we did get married because what I didn't know until a while later is that that was also the night that Phillip was conceived," she fired back at him.

Lee whipped around angrily and snapped, "Okay, that is WAY more information than I wanted to know."

Just as she had in the elevator at the agency, she rose up on her toes to meet his gaze. "Oho! Well, do you think I really want to know about all your black books?"

Lee sighed and conceded. "Touché" Turning back to the lock again, he was finally successful at opening it. "So, Amanda, do you think you can pull some of your magic like you did with Mrs. Marston?" He smiled warmly at her.

"With pleasure," she answered smiling back.

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Lee and Amanda exchanged a smile at Billy's "yelling" at Francine in the background when Jill asked them, "So, I heard about your caper in the elevator the other day." causing their smiles to abruptly fade as they then exchanged worried glances. At seeing their looks she inquired, "Was it really that bad?

I mean, Mrs. Marston said you nearly suffocated, but you know how she exaggerates."

Lee and Amanda quickly looked away from each other so as not to give themselves away while Lee forced a shudder and answered, "Awful," and Amanda simultaneously replied, "Terrifying," with a shake of her head.

"Did they ever figure out what happened?" Jill asked.

Lee grinned. "Well, you just never know with Francine in charge."

Amanda chimed in, "You know, that's true, I mean...she's really good with the administrative stuff, but what does she know about building maintenance?"

"Or building security."

"You know, Lee, maybe we should bring that up to Mr. Melrose."

"You know, I'm thinking you're right," Lee agreed.

As they walked away from Jill's desk, Amanda whispered to him, "You know you coulda' just jiggled the blue wire."