Free Jumping in Puddles by Barbara Elsborg

great-great-grandfather, and I saved my men at the battle of Arnhem. No one knows.’” Jago gave a rueful smile. “I figured one of my ancestors wasn’t going to hurt me, so I asked if it was okay to take a photograph and promised I’d let people know what he’d done. He agreed. I took loads of shots, and he disappeared. Denzel didn’t believe me, but I had the camera. I had proof.”
    “Wow.” How had he managed to take a picture of a ghost?
    “Except when the photos were developed, they were black and underexposed.”
    “Darn it.”
    “Yeah, the spirit was willing, but the flash was weak.” His voice and expression were deadpan.
    Ellie gaped at him and then laughed. “You had me there.” There was a sudden scraping sound behind her, and she squeaked. “Is that the dragon?”
    “Could be. Shall I hold your hand?”
    Ellie smiled. “Is your other name Saint George?”
    He stared at her intently, his eyes even darker in the gloom. “Does it matter?”
    She reached out to him as he reached out to her. Their fingertips touched, and Ellie felt as though she’d been caught in a brush fire. Heat raced along her veins, and her skin prickled. He slid his thumb onto her palm, and then his fingers moved over the backs of hers, and he curled his hand around her hand.
    They might only be holding hands, but she knew this was far more than that. He was the one meant for her, no matter how impossible it seemed, and she had no idea what to do about it.
    “Feel brave now?” he asked.
    Was that a catch in his voice?
    “Maybe if you had a sword in your other hand.”
    His face lit in a smile. “That could be easily arranged. Or maybe you’d like to hold it.”
    Ellie blazed.
    “Come on. I don’t like it down here. I used to worry about getting trapped, and now, thanks to you, I have to worry about dragons too.” He tugged her back along the maze of corridors to the stairs, his hold tightening to the point of pain.
    But when they reached the narrow concrete flight, he let her go. “You first,” he said. “I’ll catch you if you fall.”
    His gaze seared her bum as she walked up. As she emerged into the corridor, she saw a guy walking toward her carrying a basket of laundry. Jago came up at her back, and the hard outline of his cock pressed against her butt.
    “Watch what you’re doing with that sword,” she whispered, and Jago snorted.
    “Pretty lady been beating you up where we can’t hear the screams?” the man asked.
    “This is Baxter,” Jago said. “Baxter, Ellie.”
    Ellie held out her hand. “You’re so lucky. I love the idea of living here for less rent and working on the house in my spare time. Want to show me what you and the others have been doing? I’m looking forward to joining your work teams.”
    Baxter winced. “Need to get this washing in the machine, sorry. Talk some other time.”
    “I’ll draw up a schedule,” Ellie called to his back. “We’ll get more done if we cooperate.”
    Jago sighed as Baxter fled. “He’s a lazy arse.”
    “Perhaps you’d better buy me that whip.”
    “Mmm. Come and look at the ballroom. That’s one room that has been renovated.”
    She hoped he’d take her hand again, but he didn’t. When he pushed open the double doors, Ellie stopped and exhaled. Ahead was a long rectangular room with massive mirrors at either end, capital-topped marble columns running down the sides. The floor was a light polished wood, the blue walls lined with frieze panels filled with frescoes. It was like stepping back into a different century. She wished she could waltz, though how hard could it be with the right man leading?
    Ellie peeked at him and then glanced up. A spectacularly ornate ceiling arched overhead.
    “Each of the chandeliers contains twenty thousand sections of cut glass crystal and weighs over a ton. I washed and dried every damn piece.”
    “Did you restore this room?”
    “I made new moldings to replace the acanthus leaves and scrolls where they’d