Living Dangerously by Dee J. Adams Page B

arm while his other arm pulled her closer against him. She hated being such a wimp.
    “I’m not usually this chicken.” In fact she prided herself on how far she’d come and on her continued participation in self-defense courses. But she had to concede it wasn’t the man so much as the situation that had her freaking out. Her breathing started going funky again.
    “Hey, now.” His tone commanded her attention and she looked up at him. “You’re okay. I’m not letting anything happen to either one of us.”
    She laughed. “That’s a nice sentiment, but if this thing decides it’s going to drop, there’s not much you can do.”
    “Maybe. Maybe not.” He rubbed her arm. “How ’bout I take your mind off it?” The elevator continued to jolt its way upward, groaning, creaking and grinding the whole time.
    “Honestly, I can guarantee there is no way you can take my mind off of this.”
    He tipped her chin up to face him, his eyes staring into hers. “I can try,” he murmured. He slanted his head just a fraction and moved in a little more.
    She thought her heart might burst out of her chest. “What are you doing?” Abbey whispered since her vocal chords seemed to have left the building.
    “Taking your mind off the situation.”
    He’d certainly succeeded because all she could think about was the lack of space between his mouth and hers. “What situation?” She grinned because he was actually doing it. His lids had half closed over his clear blue eyes, but the corners of his lips quirked up in a reckless smile.
    “See how good I am?” His seductive tone sent a fresh ripple of chills down her back, but the line reeked of “playboy” and Abbey pulled back. “I’m not sure what we’re talking about now.”
    “I could show you what I’m talking about.” Blake moved in again. Slowly.
    Hold on , Stud Muffin . “You don’t really think I’m going to let you kiss me, do you? I don’t even know you.”
    He stopped, but held the ground he’d covered. “Sure you do. I’m Blake, remember? We shook hands a few minutes ago.”
    Abbey sputtered a laugh. She couldn’t help it. He was undeniably gorgeous.
    “And you’re Abbey. The very beautiful Abbey, who I will be thinking about the rest of the day. Definitely the week. Probably the month.”
    Abbey couldn’t help herself. “Why?” she asked. Her stiffness usually turned guys off. They might’ve looked, but her cold shoulder generally had them moving in the other direction.
    His thumb stroked along her jaw and sent the hair on her nape standing at attention. “Because the second you walked into this elevator I fell head over ass in love with you.”
    The elevator gave a mighty jolt and knocked them sideways. The doors opened a crack. “You folks okay in there?” a gruff voice called. The doors opened more, and the scary sight of seeing that the car hadn’t yet arrived on the floor had Abbey’s heart rate soaring. A fireman, dressed in full gear, stood a good yard over their heads.
    Blake jumped to his feet and hauled her up next to him as the doors opened another foot.
    “We’re going to pull you both out of there as soon as we get this door opened a little more. Sound good?” The fireman peeked his head in the opening.
    “I can boost her up to you,” Blake called.
    “We’ll get her. We just need to get these doors opened a little wider. Should be ready in two minutes.”
    Blake pulled her forward. “Ever ride a horse before?” he asked.
    “What?” Abbey had an instant vision of riding Blake, sans clothes. She felt her cheeks heat. “What does that have to do with anything?” she asked, setting her pack over her shoulders.
    He grinned and cupped his hands low in front of him. “I’m going to give you a boost. You grab onto his hand and I’ll give you a little push.” He got into position. “Up you go.”
    Abbey didn’t move. She felt silly now that it was all over. “Thank you for taking my mind off the situation.” He’d