Page 36 of Hero's Prize

They talked a few more minutes before Jess had to head off to an early-morning meeting there in Romania. Ella disconnected the call on her watch and was about to get down from the counter when she realized she needed one more set of bowls.

She opened another cabinet and muttered a curse when she saw the ones she needed were along the far wall. She studied the far cabinet door, estimating her reach. It would be a stretch, but she could reach it. It would be easier than getting down, dragging the chair over there, and going back up.

She stretched, going up on her tiptoes, and realized almost immediately that she’d made a mistake as she began to lose her balance. She was going to fall.

Shit. This was going to hurt. She tried to twist so that her arm and shoulder could take the brunt of the impact, but it wasn’t as easily done as thought.

Her entire body tensed as she closed her eyes, bracing for a crash into the floor, but it didn’t come. Instead, a set of arms stopped her fall.

She blinked her eyes open, completely unable to believe that it was Colton holding her.

“That was not a good idea,” he said.

She was so shocked that she just blinked up at him. “What are you doing here?”

“Evidently, saving you from cracking your head open.”

He was still holding her in his arms. She squirmed. “Put me down. I’m too heavy.”

The sound that came out of his mouth could not be called anything less than a scoff. “Please. You are insulting both of us. I could hold these gorgeous curves of yours for an hour without breaking a sweat.”

They locked eyes. Honestly, Colton looked as surprised that he’d said that as she did hearing it.

But yet, he still didn’t put her down.

“Are you okay?” he finally asked.

She nodded. “I was trying to get some bowls. I lost my balance.”

He nodded too. “I saw that part. That would’ve been a hard fall.”

“You’re right. Thank you. I should’ve been more careful.”

He slowly let her down to the floor. She couldn’t help but be aware of how their bodies touched the entire way.

As soon as her feet were on the floor, she backed away. No doubt all this chemistry was just in her mind. She was not letting herself go there again.

“What are you doing here, Colton?” There was a bite to her voice, one she rarely used, but she couldn’t help it.

“Here in Oak Creek, or here in this building?”

She shrugged and turned back toward the counter so that she could set out the bowls the way they were needed. She’d go ahead and get that done since she’d risked her life to get them.

“Both, I guess. I heard you were in town…” But he didn’t come see her and hadn’t made any effort to reach out, so she assumed he didn’t want to talk to her at all.

“Yeah.” He cleared his throat slightly. “I haven’t left Linear Tactical property since I got here. I got some bright idea about building an obstacle course for the kids’ camp, and that has basically filled my time twenty-four seven.”

She didn’t look at him. “Understandable.”

“I’m telling the truth, Butterscotch.”

She looked over to find him standing much closer than she’d expected. Once again, he looked about as surprised at what he’d said as she was to hear it.

“And Oak Creek is my hometown too. Maybe I just needed to be here for a while.”

She closed her eyes and rubbed the center of her forehead. She was being unfair. The man had almost died just two months ago.Haddied, if you considered that Boy Riley had done CPR on his son.

“Of course it is. You’re right.”

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