He glanced at the tape still in her hand. “What do you need to measure?”
Wanting to slap herself upside the head, Brynnon laughed it off. “Oh.” She smiled. “Right. Sorry.”
Good grief. Could she be any more lame?
Turning back around, she closed her eyes for a couple of seconds to compose herself before returning to the task at hand.
“If you could hold the end here, I’ll pull it to where I need to stop.”
Freeing enough tape to ensure they wouldn’t touch, Brynnon held out the metal end for him. There were a few times during the process she thought she’d caught him staring at her exposed cleavage—an unfortunate and not-at-all intentional happenstance when she had to bend over to get the correct measurement.
She had to admit it was nice to know there was an actual human inside all that cold, rough exterior.
When she had all that was needed, Brynnon dropped the tape back into the bag and zipped it up. After heading back downstairs and putting it away, she excused herself to go to the restroom before the hour-plus trip back home.
Once she was finished, Grant took a cue from her and did the same. While waiting for him in the living room, a cool breeze brushed over Brynnon, taking her by surprise.
Remembering her furnace had kicked back off just before they came downstairs and her ceiling fans were all turned off to save electricity, she looked up to try to determine where the breeze would have come from. It only took a couple of seconds for her to spot the source.
“Damn it.”
Walking over to the scaffolding, Brynnon kicked off her heels and began climbing the metal rungs attached to its frame. The window to the right of the fireplace—the same one she’d worked on the last time she was here—was cracked open at the top.
In her bare feet, Brynnon pulled herself up to the wooden platform and went to the window. She was usually meticulous about this sort of thing. Then again, shehadbeen working day and night, lately. It was very possible she’d forgotten to shut it before she left.
Pushing it closed, she’d just secured the latch when a deep voice boomed from behind her.
“What the hell are you doing up there?”
Startled, Brynnon spun around quickly and squealed. Grant was glaring at her from the doorway just under the stairs. He looked extremely pissed off, though she had no idea why.
“Jesus, Grant!” she put a hand to her beating chest. “You scared the hell out of m—”
Before she could finish the sentence, the structure below her began to sway and give. Brynnon tried reaching for the metal frame, but it was already buckling beneath her feet. She was thrown off balance, the edge moving just out of her reach.
Terrified, she swung her gaze back to his. Grant’s eyes grew wide as they both realized what was about to happen.
“Jump!” He yelled as he started to run across the room.
What?“Are you crazy?”
The wooden platform began to tip forward.
“I’ll catch you,” he promised. “Just do it!”
I’ll do what you say if my safety is truly a concern.Damn. She should’ve known those words would come back to bite her in the ass.
Not wanting to fall amid the hard, metal pipes, Brynnon threw up a quick prayer and did as Grant ordered just as the entire scaffolding collapsed.
Screaming as she went, she leapt toward his outstretched arms. As promised, Grant caught her, but her force of motion caused him to fly backward. Luckily, the couch was directly behind him.
With a loudoof,Grant landed awkwardly over the arm of the couch, the momentum bouncing them both from the cushions down onto the floor. When it was all said and done, Brynnon was on the area rug in front of the couch...and Grant was lying on top of her.
It took her a second to realize he’d somehow managed to place his hand between her head and the floor, protecting her as they fell.Man, he’s good.
“Are you okay?” He stared down at her with genuine concern.
“Yeah,” she squeezed the word out. “I just can’t breathe.”
