Free Falling for You by Julie Ortolon Page B

mean anything. Just one of those caught-in-the-moment kind of things.”
    “Yes. Absolutely. We’ll pretend it didn’t happen.”
    She nodded. “If you’d rather not help me, now, I understand.”
    “No! I want to help you. This doesn’t have to affect that. I mean, I can forget it, if you can.”
    She held her hands palms-up, smiling as if nothing in the world were wrong. As if her heart weren’t pounding and her insides weren’t quivering. “It’s already forgotten.”
    “Good. Hey, look”—he glanced at his watch—“it’s getting late. I should probably take you home.”
    She nodded, knowing if she had to hold her smile a second longer, her face would crack. “I’ll go find my purse.”
    The minute she rounded the rose trellis, she pressed a hand to her chest and fought to catch her breath.
Holy cow! Forget that kiss ever happened?
She didn’t think she could do that if she lived to be a hundred! Good grief, who would have thought Oliver Chancellor would be such a hot kisser

Chapter 6
     
    The five minutes it took to drive Aurora home were some of the most uncomfortable of Chance’s life. While she sat twisting the ends of the scarf tied about her waist, he fought the urge to explain. But explain what? That the course of his life was set and she wasn’t part of the plan? Yes, he was incredibly attracted to her, but the attraction was impractical. They were totally unsuited for each other.
    Aurora was spontaneous, the type of person to follow her heart wherever it led.
    He had been trained from birth to follow the rules. Those rules might chafe at times, but he respected structure. People who lived outside the rules lived in chaos. As much as he desired Aurora as a woman, he did not desire the chaos that would come with her.
    So why did he feel so compelled to aid her in her mad scheme?
    He couldn’t begin to understand the need inside him to see her succeed, but neither could he imagine leaving her to flounder on her own. If he didn’t help her, he feared she’d fail. She didn’t understand the rules—and passion alone would not turn her dream into reality. He should try to talk her out it, but as he pulled to a stop before the Bouchard Cottage, he realized he’d sooner cut out his tongue.
    He turned off the engine and quiet descended.
    “Thank you,” she said, not looking at him. “For introducing me to Betsy, and for your offer to help, if... if you’re sure you still want to do it.”
    “I said I did, didn’t I?” The words came out with more irritation than he intended. He wasn’t irritated with her, but with the situation, and with himself for making things uncomfortable between them. How could he have lost control and kissed her like that? His hands tightened on the leather-covered steering wheel as he remembered the feel of her in his arms, the way her body fit so perfectly to his.
    And her taste... like a drink of some sweet nectar that was instantly addictive.
    He’d been right when he’d thought that “nice” wouldn’t adequately describe the experience. He wasn’t sure a word existed that would describe the heat that had rolled through him, robbing him of all rational thought.
    Aurora St. Claire kissed the way she lived, all passion and no restraint.
    He cleared his throat. “If we’re going to do a business plan, we should get started right away. Before someone else makes an offer on the house.”
    “Do you think that could happen?” Fear flashed in her eyes.
    “It’s possible, but not probable. The place needs too much renovating. Even if it didn’t, I know how hard it is to sell old mansions like that from my family’s experience,” he said, referring to the stately old house that had been in his family until recent years. “When my grandparents died, we ended up donating Chancellor House to the state just to get out from under the property taxes, insurance, and upkeep.”
    “I thought your family did it as a gesture of generosity.”
    He shrugged. “That