Read April of Enchantment (Sweetly Contemporary Collection) for Free Online Page B

the figures each time. Also, it would speed the task, an important consideration. Without her coat, and as still as she was having to remain, she was beginning to feel the cold. Already, the ends of her fingers were growing numb. She waited until he had put the camera to one side on the floor, then clipped the pen to her pad and dropped it to him.
    “About this polyester cast, do you consider making it a part of your job, too?”
    “Yes,” she flung the word over her shoulder as she strained upward, stretching as high as she could, trying to hold the ruler level and steady as she lined it up with the outermost edges of the medallion. She called down the diameter in inches and in centimeters, and he jotted them on the pad.
    “I hate to point out the obvious,” he said, “but you look as if your ladder is going to be a little short to take an impression.”
    “A painter’s scaffold will have to be brought in, or else a special one built for the house. It will be needed anyway to clean and repair the ceiling and cornice moldings.”
    “I see,” he said, and lapsed into silence.
    A few more measurements, and she was done. Laura closed the ruler, gathered up her prints, and began her descent. When she was halfway down, she noticed that Justin had moved to the step side of the ladder, to steady it. She could feel his black gaze upon her as she felt for each step with her booted foot. A woman coming down a staircase might be a graceful and romantic sight, but neither element was present in a woman coming backward down a ladder. Despite her self-consciousness, Laura’s lips twitched in wry amusement. She didn’t care whether he saw her as graceful and romantic, so long as he found her competent.
    She was only a few feet from the bottom when it happened. The pictures she was holding were still slightly tacky from the developing process. She had been trying to keep them separated, holding them fanned out like a deck of cards. It wasn’t easy to do while keeping a firm grasp on the ladder. The corner of one picture hit a step and flipped from her grasp, fluttering downward. Automatically, she grabbed for it, resting her weight on one foot. The smooth leather sole of her boot slipped, her numb fingers would not hold, and in an instant, she was falling.
    She came up hard against a broad chest. Strong arms held her breathlessly close. There was smooth suede under her cheek, and she was enveloped in warmth scented with the smell of leather and the tang of a spicy after-shave. It was a haven where she was safe, at rest.
    “Are you all right?” The deep voice came from just above her head.
    She stirred a little, because it seemed required. Tilting her head backward, she stared up into the bronze face of the man who held her. There were gold flecks in the depths of his eyes, she discovered. His brows were thick and wiry with a tendency to curl, and the hair that sprang from his forehead had a crisp vitality that seemed to suit him. The cleft in his chin was deep and blue-shadowed, and she wondered with complete irrelevance if it was difficult to shave.
    “Are you hurt?” he repeated.
    “N-no,” she answered. To prove it, she pushed away from him, standing on her own feet. He did not release her at once, but held her steady, his hands resting on her forearms as if reluctant to relinquish their grasp.
    “Good,” was all he said.
    Laura managed a shaky smile. “I knew you would be handy as an assistant.”
    Slow amusement rose into his eyes. “At least you seem to have a good idea of exactly what you might need.”
    He was an attractive man when he was frowning; when he smiled, he was devastating. Laura permitted her lashes to shield her expression. “Yes, wasn’t that lucky?”
    Without waiting for a reply, she swung away, glancing at her wristwatch. The half-hour he had suggested before they parted was over. It must have taken her longer than she had thought to arrange the ladder in position. She picked up the snapshot