"Catch her! She's going to fall!"
Detective Jefferson Dupree turned at the shoutjust in time to see the young woman teetering at the edgeof the makeshift stage set up in the center of the park.
He lunged, arms outstretched, and took the weightof her body against his as they both tumbled to theground. There was little time for him to register hersoftness and the subtle scent of her perfume. Or howperfectly she seemed to fit within his embrace. Therewas only time to brace himself as he cushioned herbody with his own.
Amanda had known she was going to fall. Therewas no time for shock or fear. Just the thought that itwas going to be embarrassing as hell if she didn't die.Because only then would the fall have been forgivable.Congressmen's wives did not fall from stages in frontof crowds of voters.
But the expected pain of landing on the grounddidn't come. Instead she found herself cradled against a broad, thundering chest, and held so gently that fora heartbeat she wished never to move.
"Oh my God," she whispered.
Forgetting to feel embarrassed, she found herselflost in gentle, brown eyes that were shot through withjust enough gold to remind her of warm whiskey. Hisnostrils were flared slightly from the strength he'd exertedin breaking her fall. His upper lip was sharplychiseled, the lower, full and sensual, but at the moment,twisted slightly in a grimace of pain.
Everything about him that she saw came and wentwithin a millisecond, and then she thought, David isgoing to kill me.
In the moment when they stared into each other'seyes, something passed between them. Somethingswift. Sudden. Urgent. But it was never voiced.
From the corner of his eye, Jefferson Dupree sawDavid Potter dashing from the stage. Before he couldfind the breath or impetus to speak, the woman wasyanked from his arms. He would have sworn that foran instant Amanda Potter had clung to him as if dodgingher husband's hands. The moment he thought it hetold himself he was a fool. She was married to one ofWest Virginia's brightest and most charming congressmen.Her world had to be just about perfect.
"Oh, my! I'm sorry," she whispered; and looked upinto her husband's face, searching the handsome perfectionfor approval.
Dupree wasn't certain whom she'd just apologizedto, but he assumed it would have been to him.
"No need to apologize," he said, brushing off hisjacket and slacks. "I'm just glad I was here. Are you allright? That was quite a fall." Out of habit, he started tocheck her for injuries.
But Amanda Potter wasn't allowed to answer. Shewas busy being engulfed within her husband's embrace.Jefferson Dupree was shocked at the odd shaftof resentment he felt when he saw it happen. Momentsago it had been his arms that had sheltered her. It hadbeen his chest she'd laid her head upon.
What the hell is wrong with you, Dupree? he askedhimself.
He hardly knew this woman. The last thing heshould be thinking was what was on his mind. Thegathering crowd of concerned onlookers gave himtime to regroup.
"I can't thank you enough," David Potter said, andshook the detective's hand, ever conscious of theflashbulbs going off around them. "You savedAmanda from a terrible fall, I'm sure."
"I was just in the right place at the right time,"Dupree said, and smiled at Amanda, wishing he hadthe right to tuck the stray lock of chestnut hair awayfrom her wide, frightened eyes and kiss the small redspot on her cheek that had collided with his chin.
Amanda smiled nervously and brushed at herclothing, unable to look either man in the face. Allshe had left of the moment was a lingering feeling ofthe way their bodies had collided and then joined,and the security of being held. Her face was...
With over fifty books in print, award-winning author SHARON SALA, who also writes as DINAH McCALL, still has to remind herself from time to time that this isn't a dream.
She learned to read at the age of four and has had her nose in a book ever since. Her introduction into romance came at an early age through the stories of Zane Gray, Grace Livingston Hill and Emily Loring. Her pride in contributing to the genre is echoed by the letters of her fans.
She's a four-time RITA finalist, Winner of the Janet Dailey Award, three-time Career Achievement winner from Romantic Times magazine, four-time winner of the National Reader's Choice Award and five-time winner of the Colorado Romance Writer's Award of Excellence, as well as numerous other industry awards.
Her books are regularly on bestseller lists, such as the New York Times extended list, USA Today, Publishers Weekly, Waldenbooks mass market, and many others.
She claims that, for her, learning to read was a matter of evolution, but learning to write and then being published was a revolution. It changed her life, her world and her fate.
