Nine Months Part 1 (36 Hours) Read online

  36 Hours Serial

  As a devastating summer storm hits Grand Springs, Colorado, the next thirty-six hours will change the town and its residents forever….

  Nine Months Part 1

  Sex with a stranger isn’t what Paige Summers expected when she was trapped in an elevator with hot cowboy Jared Montgomery, but he unleashed her wild side. It all seemed like a great adventure. Until she reported to her new boss, J. L. Montgomery—her elevator cowboy in a suit and tie!

  Jared is on the fast track to success. He’ll need a wife, but his adorable redheaded assistant is more bedroom than boardroom. Still, he can’t get her, and the stormy night they shared together, out of his mind.

  When Jared overhears Paige telling a friend she’s pregnant, he wants to do the right thing. But Paige isn’t willing to settle. Marriage means love—and until that’s on the table, there’s no deal.

  The story continues in Nine Months Parts 2 and 3.

  Dear Reader,

  In the town of Grand Springs, Colorado, a devastating summer storm sets off a string of events that changes the lives of the residents forever….

  Welcome to Harlequin’s exciting new digital serial, 36 Hours! In this thirty-six part serial share the stories of the residents of Grand Springs, Colorado, in the wake of a deadly storm.

  With the power knocked out and mudslides washing over the roads, the town is plunged into darkness and the residents are forced to face their biggest fears—and find love against all odds.

  Each week features a new story written by a variety of bestselling authors like Susan Mallery and Sharon Sala. The stories are published in three segments, on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and the first segment of every three-part book is free, so you can get caught up in the mystery and drama of Grand Springs. And you can get to know a new set of characters every week. You can read just one, but as the lives and stories of each intertwine in surprising ways, you’ll want to read them all!

  Join Harlequin E every week as we bring you excitement, mystery, fun and romance in 36 Hours!

  Happy reading!

  Malle Vallik

  Director, Editorial Digital Initiatives

  About the Author

  Movies fascinated Beverly Barton from an early age, and by the time she was seven she was rewriting the movies she saw to give them all happy endings. After her marriage and the births of her children, Beverly continued to be a voracious reader and a devoted moviegoer, but she put her writing aspirations on hold. Now, after writing over seventy books, receiving numerous awards and becoming a New York Times bestselling author, Beverly’s career has become her dream come true.

  Nine Months Part 1

  Beverly Barton

  Contents

  Prologue

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  How Things Change in Just 36 Hours…

  The weather forecasters were so wrong. They thought the June storm would be a welcoming spring rain. Wrong. The thunder, lightning, and pounding rain hit Grand Springs, Colorado, with a vengeance. People were thrown together in the most awkward situations. Families grew closer. New acquaintances formed. And some became lovers. But the storm had a dark side. The mayor of Grand Springs was killed in her own home. The police still don’t know the mastermind behind the heinous crime. Not knowing that, does that mean the citizens also don’t know if there are more people on the hit list? Who’s next?

  Prologue

  The elevator doors swung open. Since it was after office hours on a Friday, Paige Summers had expected the elevator to be empty. But a lone man occupied the small space. Tall and lean, with an aura of masculine strength surrounding him, the stranger stared at Paige, inspecting her from head to toe. Forcing herself to ignore his interest, she quickly ran her gaze over the handsome cowboy.

  His faded jeans fit like a glove, and with one more washing his plaid work shirt would need to go into a ragbag. A sweatband circled the base of his black Stetson.

  Although he dressed like dozens of other men in Grand Springs, Colorado, one glimpse told Paige that this man was unlike any she’d ever met.

  When she glanced back at his face, he smiled at her and her stomach did an evil flip-flop. He did possess a killer smile. A wide, sensuous mouth. Full, tempting lips. And beautiful, perfect teeth, sparkling white against the dark, suntanned skin of his face.

  “If you’re worried about getting on an elevator with a stranger, I can assure you, you’ll be safe with me.”

  The man spoke with a drawl. Oklahoma or Texas, maybe, she thought.

  Paige forced a smile to her lips. “I’m sorry. It’s just that I didn’t expect anyone to be here still.” She stepped inside the elevator, but deliberately avoided eye contact. She was a quiet, private person, who didn’t normally find herself lusting after a stranger.

  Lusting after? Good grief, Paige, how could you think such a thing? He’s attractive. That’s all. You’ve never lusted after a man in your life.

  She glanced at the cowboy again, unable to stop herself. His dark brown hair brushed his collar. Strands of gray streaked his thick sideburns. He grinned and tipped his hat at her. Paige looked down at her feet. A guy with his looks and charm could be dangerous.

  The elevator doors closed.

  Jared Montgomery couldn’t remember the last time he’d been instantly attracted to a woman, and never this strongly attracted.

  She was lovely, in a fresh, unspoiled sort of way. He liked that she was a good deal shorter than he, and that every inch of her five-and-a-half-foot body was filled out in lush, curvaceous proportions.

  The elevator jolted to a sudden halt, shaking Jared instantly from his thoughts and tossing him sideways. Acting purely on instinct, he grabbed the young woman the moment he realized they were both falling. She clutched the front of his shirt, accidently ripping off two buttons. Quickly maneuvering her around, Jared took the brunt of the fall as they hit the floor. The black Stetson flew off his head and landed a few inches from his right shoulder. The impact of his big body sandwiched between the hard surface beneath and the woman on top momentarily knocked the breath out of him.

  The red emergency lights came on, coating the interior of the elevator in a rosy pink glow. Paige realized she was lying on top of the stranger, her body intimately aligned with his. Her breasts crushed against his muscular chest. Their bellies pressed together. Their legs entwined.

  A fluttering, quivering sensation began in the depths of her femininity. It quickly spread through her entire body, and she became embarrassingly aware that the man lying beneath her was aroused. His hardened sex pulsated against her.

  She rolled off his chest and onto the floor beside him. “Are you all right?” she asked, her voice deceptively calm. She shook like a leaf in the wind.

  Jared stared up into the woman’s big brown eyes, concern evident in her gaze as well as her voice. She hovered over him, her large, round breasts almost touching his chest. God, she was gorgeous.

  “Fine.” He sat up too quickly and groaned.

  “You’re hurt.”

  “I said I’m fine. How about you?”

  “Okay, I guess.” She wriggled against him. “What happened?”

  “Well, I’d say the power went out.” He rubbed his forehead, then ran his hand across his stinging cheek. “Ouch.”

  “What is it?” In an effort to see what was wrong with him, she leaned too close and her breasts brushed his arm.

  His body tightened even harder. “I think I bruised my cheek when we fell. No big deal. Are you sure you’re all right?”

  She scooted away from him. “I’m perfectly all right, thank you. Just…well,
just a little unnerved.”

  “Yeah, sure. Having an elevator go dead in mid-descent is enough to unnerve anybody.” Jared placed his Stetson on his head, then stood up slowly. Glancing down at the woman on the floor, he held out his hand.

  Paige stared at his hand—an obvious offer of assistance—and hesitated.

  “You are the most cautious woman I’ve ever met,” the man said. “Come on.” He wiggled his fingers back and forth. “I promise I won’t bite you.”

  “I didn’t think you would.” Her cheeks flushed. Retrieving her purse off the floor with one hand, Paige reached up with the other. She allowed him to help her stand, then immediately took a careful step backward.

  The stranger grinned. The bottom fell out of her stomach. Turning his back to her, he checked the telephone.

  “No answer,” he told her.

  They both checked their cell phones. No service.

  “Isn’t there any other way to get help?” she asked. “How will anyone know we’re in here?”

  Noting the slight panic in her voice, Jared tried to reassure her. “Hey, there’s nothing to worry about. The minute the power went out, the emergency generators kicked in to keep the lights and the ventilation working. The maintenance crew should have things going again pretty quickly.”

  “But it’s Friday evening. Don’t you think everyone who works in this building has gone home?”

  “No. There should be at least one maintenance man on duty twenty-four hours a day.”

  “What if the outage isn’t just in the Wellman Building?”

  “There’s no way to know,” he said. “But one way or another, we’ll get out of here, so stop worrying, honey.”

  Jared stood quietly for a while, silently fidgeting and trying not to look at the woman. But when he glanced at her, he noticed her actions mimicked his.

  “Are you sure the air is circulating in here?” She tugged on the collar of her suit jacket. “It feels awfully warm to me.”

  “The air-conditioning probably isn’t on, if that’s what you mean,” Jared said. “But the air ventilation is working just fine. Relax, honey.”

  “Would you please not call me honey.” The woman glared at him, her chin tilted defiantly, as if she were a schoolmarm scolding a naughty little boy.

  “Sorry, but since I don’t know your name—”

  “Paige. My name is Paige.”

  “Hello, Paige.” He smiled and held out his hand. “I’m Jared.”

  Paige stared at his hand, but this time she didn’t accept it. Instead she crossed her arms over her waist and tapped her fingers up and down on her elbows. Glancing around the elevator, she sought a means of escape. She couldn’t stay here any longer, trapped inside this tomb.

  She unbuttoned the top two buttons of her suit jacket, clutched her throat and took a deep breath. She couldn’t fall apart. Not in front of this stranger. After all, they weren’t in any real danger. They had air and light, and sooner or later someone would rescue them. Sooner, she hoped. “Jared, please find a way to get us out of here!”

  “I’ll do what I can, hon—Paige. Maybe I can open the doors.” Pressing his hands flat against the metal surface, he positioned his fingertips along the sealed edges and pushed. “We could be stopped right at floor level.”

  “What if we aren’t?”

  “Then we’ll either climb up or step down.”

  “All right.” Forcing a smile, she nodded affirmatively. She’d suffered mild attacks of claustrophobia all her life, but she usually managed to avoid situations that might trigger her problem. Unfortunately, using elevators was a necessity. And if she hadn’t stopped to call and tell her mother about her new job, she wouldn’t be stuck in this elevator—with a rough and rugged cowboy!

  “They’re opening!” Jared pried the doors apart, then cursed under his breath. “It appears we’re trapped between the mezzanine and the first floor. And if I remember correctly, the first floor is about forty feet high.”

  Paige stared at the solid wall behind the open door. “Then we are trapped, aren’t we.” She rung her hands together.

  “We aren’t trapped.”

  “But you said—”

  “Sorry. Poor choice of words. But there’s no reason to panic.” He took a couple of tentative steps toward her.

  Paige backed away from him. “I think I should tell you something.”

  Lifting his eyebrows, he looked quizzically at her. “Let me guess. You’re claustrophobic. Right?”

  “Sort of. But I’m only slightly claustrophobic.”

  “Oh, I see.” Hell, it was just his luck to get stuck in an elevator with a young, nervous and shy woman who was only slightly claustrophobic.

  Paige couldn’t help but notice that Jared’s devastating smile had vanished and been replaced by an intimidating scowl. “I haven’t cried or screamed or anything foolish, but you’re angry with me, aren’t you?”

  “I’m not angry.” He was not angry. He was frustrated. And he had to admit that the thought of dealing with a potentially hysterical woman unnerved him.

  He tossed his Stetson to the floor and looked up. With his arms held straight above his head, he jumped toward the ceiling.

  Paige let out an astonished cry. “What are you doing?”

  He jumped again, then again. “I’m trying to reach the emergency hatch up there.” He pointed toward the sealed square in the roof. On his fourth attempt, he shoved open the vent.

  “Damn!” He cursed loudly.

  Paige’s gaze followed Jared’s line of vision. “Oh, no. I can’t climb up there. We must be at least twenty-five feet from the mezzanine level.”

  Jared saw the panicked look in her eyes and realized he really was going to have a hysterical woman on his hands if he didn’t do something to distract her. And in his experience, there were only two ways to gain a woman’s complete attention. Either make love to her or make her fighting mad. He decided on the latter.

  “I know it looks like a long way, honey, but I can boost you up to the opening, you can grab onto the—”

  “Have you lost your mind?” She glared at him in disbelief.

  “I know you’re claustrophobic—”

  “Slightly claustrophobic!”

  “But you don’t suffer from acrophobia, too, do you?”

  “No, I am not afraid of heights!”

  “Then what’s the problem?” Watching her face turn crimson and her brown eyes sparkle with dark fire, he grinned. “You must be afraid you’ll get your beige suit dirty. Is that it?”

  “Despite the fact I’m a little upset right now, I am not some silly female who would worry about getting her suit dirty.”

  “Oh, then you must have another reason for wanting to stay here with me. Could it be that you think if you play the helpless female, I’ll play your hero? Honey, if you want me, you don’t have to be coy. All you have to do is come and get me.”

  “Oh!” Paige huffed loudly. “Of all the nerve. You must have a monumental ego to think—”

  “My ego isn’t the only thing about me that’s monumental,” he announced. Paige gritted her teeth and Jared could tell that she was too mad to give a thought to being slightly claustrophobic. He’d rather have an angry woman on his hands than a hysterical one.

  “Why, you egotistical, macho jerk!” Without giving a thought to what she was doing, Paige balled her hand into a tight fist and punched Jared in the stomach.

  The blow was totally unexpected, and Jared doubled over from the instant pain.

  “Why the hell did you do that?” He straightened up to his full six-foot height, poked his hand through the opening where two of his shirt buttons were missing and rubbed his stomach. His movements loosened his shirt from his jeans, revealing several inches of his washboard-lean belly covered with swirls of dark brown hair.

  “You were being hateful and insulting,” Paige said, forcing her gaze away from his body and up to his face.

  “I was trying to keep your mind off being
trapped in this elevator,” he admitted. “But I had no idea you had such violent tendencies.”

  “I do not have violent tendencies.” Her voice quivered ever so slightly. Then as the anger, frustration and sense of helplessness overwhelmed her, her eyes filled with tears that overflowed down her cheeks and ran into the corners of her mouth.

  “Oh, hell, honey. Don’t do that!” Dammit, this was what Jared had been trying so desperately to avoid. Under normal circumstances, he would walk off and leave her. He didn’t tolerate any woman’s silly, emotional spells. But he was as trapped as she was. “There’s no cause for your acting this way.”

  Paige glared at him through misty eyes. She hated him! Jared Whoever-he-was. She hated him! Why couldn’t he be more like her father and act like a gentleman?

  Hugging herself as she continued breathing deeply, Paige closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the wall. She would stop crying. She would regain control. And she wouldn’t say another word to Jared Whoever-he-was. No matter how long they were stuck in this hellhole together.

  Jared didn’t know whether two minutes, twenty minutes or two hours had passed, but it seemed like two days to him. Paige stood on one side of the elevator, he on the other. Neither of them had spoken a word. But he could hear her ragged, sobbing little gulps for air. He glanced over at her and cursed himself for a fool.

  What the hell! he told himself. What would it hurt to comfort her a little? Maybe if he put his arm around her and soothed her, she’d stop that noise. If necessary, he might even apologize. Anything to quiet her.

  “Paige?” He took a few steps forward, stopping just short of touching her. When she looked at him with her dark chocolate eyes and bit down on her bottom lip, all soft and pink, he felt as if he’d been poleaxed again. He wanted this woman!

  Paige sucked in a deep breath. Jared was looking at her as if… No, surely not, she thought. He couldn’t possibly want her. She was letting her imagination run wild. She tried to break visual contact, but it was as if she were hypnotized by his seductive stare.