Jenny by Bobbi Smith

he found he couldn't refuse her. He had
serious doubts about her idea, but he knew what he
had to do: he would pay the bill out of his own pocket
and not mention it to anyone. What Jenny didn't
know couldn't hurt her.

    "Cole?" she said after a long moment. "Are you
going to go along with me on this? I really think I
can make it work."
    His expression was unreadable as he answered
gruffly, "If this is what you really want to try, then
I'll do what I can to help you."
    "You will?" She stared at him in disbelief, relief
and delight rushing through her.
    "Yes."
    "Thank you! You won't be sorry! You'll see!" she
told him, smiling widely at him. She couldn't believe
Cole was being so kind and supportive. She'd expected to have to fight him. She almost hugged him,
but controlled the impulse.
    "I hope not," he muttered under his breath, feeling a
bit uncomfortable. Lord knows, he was sorry enough
about other dealings he'd had with her.
    Tom had returned and was standing at the bottom
of the ladder, waiting to climb up and go back to
work.
    "Come on up, Tom. Despite your boss's objections,
I'm going to help you finish the roof. With three of
us working on it, we can get it done that much sooner," Cole offered climbing off the ladder to stand
on the roof with Jenny.

    Jenny was surprised by Cole's offer and glanced
quickly at him. "You don't have to help. We can handle it."
    For some reason, it irritated him that she didn't
seem to want his help.
    "Humor me. At least if I'm up here with you, I'll
be able to catch you if you start to fall."
    He said it so harshly that she took an unconscious
step backward. "I'm not going to-"
    Even as she started to say it, she stepped on an
uneven shingle. Her foot twisted and slipped out from
under her. With a gasp, she lost her balance and fell
awkwardly. She started to slide toward the edge, certain that she was going to fall completely off the roof.
    His worst fear realized, Cole reacted instinctively.
In one quick move, he managed to grab Jenny. He
hauled her up bodily against him, saving her from
certain injury.
    "Miss Jenny! Are you all right?" Tom shouted as
he scrambled quickly the rest of the way up the ladder.
    Jenny couldn't answer right away. Her heart was
pounding in her throat as she clutched at Cole. One
minute she'd been certain she was going to fall, and
the next she'd been swept into the safe haven of
Cole's arms.
    As her terror slowly gave way, she became aware
of more than just his strong arms around her. She realized she was pressed full-length against Cole, her
breasts crushed against the hard width of his chest,
her thighs tight against his. She was trembling, but
this time it wasn't from fear. There was something
elemental about being this close to him, and the unexpected power of her reaction to Cole left her confused and unsure.

    "Jenny?" Cole said her name slowly, worriedly, as
he looked down at her.
    Fear had filled him when he'd seen her lose her
balance and start to fall. His reaction had been immediate and instinctive, just like his physical reaction
to her now. Everyplace she touched him, he ached
and burned. He didn't want to release her. He wanted
to keep her close. He wanted to hold her and never
let her go.
    Logic returned, but it still took a herculean effort
for Cole to finally set her away from him.
    A part of him wanted to hold her longer, to keep
her near.
    But he didn't.
    He told himself to stop fantasizing about Jenny.
There was nothing between them. She had made that
clear two years ago, and it was going to stay that way
now, because that was the way he wanted it to be.
    "Thank you, Cole-" Jenny finally whispered,
drawing a ragged breath as she steadied herself.
    "You're all right?"
    "I think so."
    "That was close," Tom said nervously as he came to stand with them. He looked up at Cole admiringly.
"You saved her."

    Cole shrugged, casting one last quick look at Jenny.
"You sure you're all right?"
    Jenny