Free The Protea Boys by Tea Cooper

foot slid down a rung. “Bugger.” She braced herself uselessly against the rotting wood, anticipating the crash.
    ***
    Tom stood quietly, enjoying the easy grace of her limbs as she stretched up into the top of the bush, the muscles in her back visible through her thin shirt when she pulled her body upward. Her hair beneath the cap had fallen loose and was hanging down over her shoulders, the sun highlighting the dappled streaks of color. He swallowed the thick knot filling his throat. She was, without a doubt, the most unselfconscious, naturally beautiful woman he had ever set eyes on—but she was falling.
    In one fluid movement, Tom reached her and gently spread his hands, encompassing her waist. “I’ve got you now, one step at a time. Take it easy.” A rapidly beating pulse below her rib cage thrummed beneath his fingers, and her soft, warm body trembled slightly; only a thin layer of cotton separated his fingers from her skin. She slowly stretched one leg down toward the next rung, testing it with her weight. He absorbed the heady scent of her sun-warmed skin, mixed with the fragrance of flowers. An overpowering urge to simply lift her down into his arms, pull her close, and cradle her against him swamped him.
    The raucous whistling and banging on the corrugated iron of the shed announced his enthusiastic audience and made him change his mind, but in that instant of distraction, Tom’s plans crumbled. Georgie fell backward, breaking the last two rungs, and twisted, collapsing against him. Her hands rested close to his heart, and her face pressed deep against his chest. He could see the button on the top of the ridiculous pink cap and feel her breath catching and the slight shiver of her body.
    Tom planted his feet firmly in the dirt and spread his hands around her waist, steadying himself against her slight weight, and a protective surge of emotion swept through him. Wolf whistles and catcalls filled the air. Blood roared in his ears, and he wanted to go and belt the living daylights out of the fools in the shed, but he didn’t want Georgie to move. In fact he prayed she wouldn’t move, would stay there, forever close to him where he could make sure she was safe and not throwing her accident-prone body all over the place. It was ridiculous, totally crazy. Tom searched his memory for some key as to how he should behave, but failed. Finally he dropped his hands and stepped away from her, ignoring the taunt of disappointment that erupted from the vicinity of the shed.
    “Are you okay?”
    A timid smile crept across Georgie’s face, wrinkling her nose and making the flurry of tiny freckles dance. She pulled the pink cap off her tousled hair and shook her head. He imagined bending forward and kissing her right on the end of her upturned nose.
    “I’m fine. It was just a stupid mistake. I shouldn’t have used the old ladder, but the new one was on the truck.”
    The depth of his reaction surprised him. He was responsible for her near-accident. She could have fallen and hit her head or hurt her back. The horror hit him deep in his gut, and unable to control himself, he let fly. “You shouldn’t have been up the ladder. Don’t do it again. Next time get someone who knows what they are doing.”
    Georgie’s head came up with a snap, her eyes flashing amethyst danger signals. “I am quite capable, thank you, of deciding what I’ll do and how and when I’ll do it. You forget I am running this business.” She stepped away from him like a scalded cat, leaving a cold rush of air filling the space that a moment ago had been so warm. “Thank you for your assistance,” she said, brushing her hands on the side of her cargo pants, then spun on her heel and stalked back up the path.
    She was about as prickly as an echidna and impossible to get near because of all those tortuous spines. What was a man supposed to do?
    “Bloody ladder,” he swore quietly to himself, pulling the remains of the rickety frame down from