Free TAKE A CHANCE (Chance Colorado Series) by Melissa Mayhue Page A

plenty of furniture up here to set up shop. I just need to haul it downstairs.”
    The idea of her surrounded by books seemed to fit. Now that he thought of it, he seemed to remember her, as a kid, dragging a book around with her more often than not.
    “Have you thought of asking for donations for the lending library? I know my mom and Katie have boxes of books stacked out in the barn. I bet they’d be willing to help.”
    “That was something the girls—” She started forward but stopped, her face wrinkling as if she were in pain when she put her weight on both feet.
    “Are you hurt?” He cleared the distance remaining between them by vaulting over the boxes blocking his path.
    “No.” She chuckled, accepting the hand he offered as she teetered on one foot. “I sat on my foot too long and cut off the blood flow. Now it’s at that icky, tingly stage.”
    Not quite what his imagination had conjured when he’d started up the stairs tonight. Instead of finding her trapped and injured, he’d found her alone and frightened. Almost as bad.
    “Listen. I’m off duty tomorrow. I’ll come by your place to pick you up and we can come up here together to figure out what you need to take downstairs. I make a pretty decent moving man.”
    Allie stared into the dark shadows, shaking her head. “You don’t need to do that. It’s kind of a lot to ask.”
    “No, I don’t need to,” he said—though in an odd way, he felt as if it was exactly what he needed to do. “But I want to.”
    She looked up again, her expression hard for him to read. “Okay, then. If you’re sure.”
    “I’m sure. I’m also sure that what we need to do now is get you out of here.”
    He swept an arm behind her legs and lifted her off her feet, ignoring her startled little squeak just as he tried to ignore her arms slipping into place around his neck.
    “I can walk out of here on my own,” she said quietly, her warm breath feathering over his cheek.
    “I’m sure you can,” he agreed. “But it’s already almost one in the morning, and with the way you’re limping, I’d have to clear all those boxes for you to be able to get out of here. This is much faster.”
    He wouldn’t add that holding her like this was a lot more enjoyable than stacking boxes could ever be.
    She seemed as if she might argue the point that it would only require waiting a few minutes for her to fully recover, but she didn’t. What that might mean he didn’t know and didn’t care. All that mattered was that they were on their way out and she was in his arms.
    “Flip that switch for me.” He motioned his head toward the floor lamp they stood beside.
    “Off?” Her voice squeaked with the question, as if she couldn’t believe she’d heard him correctly. “You want me to turn it off?”
    “We can’t very well leave it on all night, unattended. It’s an old lamp and this is an old building.” The last thing he wanted to be responsible for was starting a fire he’d get called back to put out before the night was over. “Burning this place down would look bad on my record. Firefighters don’t get promotions for starting fires.”
    She smiled at him then, as if the little joke helped relax her, and she grasped the switch. Instantly the inky black that had been held at bay by the old lamp engulfed them. Her free arm fastened around his neck and a shiver ran through her body.
    “There’s a flashlight in my shirt pocket,” he offered, not wanting to risk falling over something while carrying her.
    Her fingers stroked along his chest as she hunted for the pocket opening before sliding down the soft fabric to retrieve the light. In the dark, the movement felt somehow more intimate than he had expected, and his heart raced with an increased blood flow.
    “There’s a button on the end,” he said softly, his lips close to her ear.
    She fumbled with the light, her breath coming in short, quick little puffs. Heat radiated from her skin, warming him. After what