Out on a Limb

  Out on a Limb

  Can't Help Falling, Volume 3

  Lauren Giordano

  Published by Harvest Moon Press, 2017.

  This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

  OUT ON A LIMB

  First edition. December 2, 2017.

  Copyright © 2017 Lauren Giordano.

  ISBN: 978-1540164926

  Written by Lauren Giordano.

  Also by Lauren Giordano

  Blueprint to Love

  Trusting Jake

  Falling For Ken

  Chasing Marisol

  Sheltering Annie

  Blueprint to Love Books 1-3

  Can't Help Falling

  Out of the Mist

  Out of Reach

  Out on a Limb

  Out of the Ashes

  Can't Help Falling Books 1 to 3

  Watch for more at Lauren Giordano’s site.

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Also By Lauren Giordano

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Excerpt: Out of the Ashes

  Sign up for Lauren Giordano's Mailing List

  Further Reading: Can't Help Falling Books 1 to 3

  Also By Lauren Giordano

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  "Jack—have I mentioned-" MaryJo Mullaney shimmed a few more inches up the tree, her hands raw and aching from the climb. "How seriously disappointed I am?" A gust of wind rocked her precarious perch. How on earth would she avoid plunging to her death on the trip down? "Damn you, Jack—get down here." Belatedly remembering where she was, she lowered her voice to an aggravated whisper. "You are in so much trouble."

  The trunk grew slimmer, swaying in the blustery wind. Determined not to look down, MaryJo couldn't help noticing when the light in the second floor window winked out. Holy cow—the second floor. Instinctively, her straining thighs tightened around the trunk. Moments earlier, she'd seen a shadow in that window and the glow of a computer screen through the blinds. She could easily imagine the heart failure she’d experience—peering out the window and catching someone hanging in the tree.

  "I could be arrested for this." She was trespassing. If anyone glanced out the window right now, she looked more like a cat burglar than a cat rescuer. How had her Friday night gone so incredibly wrong?

  Shivering, MaryJo wished for the dozenth time she'd remembered a coat. That she'd had the foresight to . . . "Wear pants, maybe?" Instead of ridiculous, flannel pajamas plastered with maniacally jumping frogs. That, just once—she could've been clear-headed enough to choose shoes instead of the fuzzy slippers she wore around the house. A faded tee shirt clung to her back, because—this being the perfect night—it had started raining. "God—you're too old for this stuff."

  Risking a glance down, she swayed with the knowledge she was way the hell up a seriously skinny tree in the gusting rain. "Pray for me, Saint Simeon, for I am but a fool." How often had her father muttered those words? Usually the result of her doing something ill-conceived. 'Mariela—if your mother was alive. . .' or 'Simeon was watching out for you, MaryJo.' At the ripe, old age of thirty-one, she was still on a first name basis with her patron saint of fools.

  She could use a little Sean Mullaney tough love right about now. He'd simply bully her down the tree. Her rapidly numbing toes groped for a foothold in the slippery notch below. Her rain-soaked slippers had disappeared thirty minutes earlier. Far above, her stupid cat yowled as the wind picked up and the rain shifted from drizzle to downpour.

  TRAVIS LOCKWOOD HAD visitors. In the tree outside his window. Facing his computer, he followed the activity with his peripheral vision, his fingers suddenly clammy on the keyboard. With darkness pressing against his window, he detected movement—a body in motion—climbing his tree. At no time during the security installation had anyone mentioned the probability of a burglar swinging into his second floor window from the Sugar Maple in the yard.

  Rapidly saving his work, he toggled screens so the intruder couldn't view more classified information than he'd already stupidly allowed. "Patrice will have a cow," he muttered. The mere suggestion of a breach would send his partner into orbit. He could kiss working from home goodbye. She'd have Travis chained in the basement lab for the remainder of the project.

  Feigning a shoulder stretch for the spy in the window, he moved to the doorway and snapped off the light, before diving to the floor and belly-crawling back. Crouched by the window, he searched for movement. Sheets of rain gusted against the window, making it almost impossible to hear anything else. Who the hell was out there on a night like this?

  "You should call the cops." That would be the easiest way to handle this. Except, he'd lose the opportunity to confiscate whatever the spy had seen. Worse- he'd be forced to tell Patrice. She'd crawl even farther up his ass—and with the software releasing in three months—she'd practically moved in.

  Tonight was one more problem in a long string of issues related to the software release. Crouched by the window, he debated his options. If he called the cops, Patrice would jump his shit about the protocol breach. It also meant risking news of the break-in hitting the media. A pre-launch security failure wasn't exactly the PR buzz he wanted associated with his software—but, it sure as hell would be newsworthy.

  Hearing a grunt, Travis' body prickled with awareness. The voice was slightly elevated now—perhaps just above the window. A moment later, the voice carried clearly—a muttered threat—to someone named Jack. "So—there's at least two of them."

  Hell—he'd have to venture outside and investigate. Muttering as he descended the stairs two at a time, Travis headed to the storage closet for a flashlight and a baseball bat—just in case.

  THE FLEETING IMAGE of her warm, cozy living room floated through MaryJo's brain as her teeth continued chattering. Friday night . . . and she was up a damned tree. She'd had a perfect evening planned. Flopped on her comfortable, lumpy-in-all-the-right-places couch, a rom-com ready to stream. She released a frustrated groan. Chardonnay chilling. Popcorn awaiting popping. Two lazy, pampered cats battling for territory on the quilt . . .

  Instead, Jack had escaped when she'd taken out the trash—bolting for the woods on what he likely viewed as an adventure. "And you stupidly followed." Jack wasn't an outdoor cat, she'd reasoned. He wouldn't know the way home on a freezing, February night. MaryJo reminded herself of the foolhardy logic she'd used as the excuse to tramp through the woods behind her house. The logic that persuaded her to cut through the backyards of eight strangers before finally launching herself up a damn tree in the ninth yard.

  "Jack, get down here—now." His answering howl sounded both pitiful and mocking at the same time.

  "You wanna tell me what the hell you're doing in my tree?"

  The sudden voice from far below, along with a slicing beam of light cutting through the murky darkness was enough to startle MaryJo. "Oh, God." Blinded by the flashlight, she tumbled from her perch, frantically air-grabbing for a branch. "Oh God. Oh God." Shrieking, she plummeted down, crashing through several unforgiving branches, feeling them snapping at her skin before she finally managed to catch herself, swinging wildly from aching, throbbing arms that hadn't performed nearly enough pull-ups to support her weight now.


  "Holy shit, lady. Hang on."

  Whimpering with pain and terror, MaryJo acknowledged the surly voice below held little comfort. "I can't," she groaned. "My arms . . ."

  "Damn it, it's too far to drop. Just hold on."

  God, she hurt—everywhere. Unable to prevent the tears dripping from her eyes, she only succeeded in clouding her already poor excuse for vision. Between the driving rain and the loss of her glasses twenty minutes earlier, her sudden urge to sob actually didn't make much difference. She was blind without her glasses. Hanging in the icy darkness from arms that would surely snap off in another moment, she moaned. "How far am I now?" She heard him scrambling to get something.

  "I said hold on."

  Not a question. A command. Dangling Lord only knew how high above the ground, MaryJo had just about had it. With everything. "Just move out of the way and let me fall."

  Another muttered oath and the sound of footsteps returning. "I can't find the damn ladder in the dark." His voice, though furious, was actually comforting. At the very least, odds were pretty good he'd call an ambulance if she broke an ankle in the fall. Or the cops. Which was more of a guarantee than she'd had five minutes earlier.

  "You've got—maybe fifteen feet. When I give the word, I want you to let go—and I'll try to catch you."

  Try? "You just said it was too far." Smothering a whimper of agony, MaryJo could actually hear her biceps screaming for release.

  "Never mind that. You'll be fine. I'll catch you."

  Releasing a gasp of exquisite pain, she acknowledged the ordeal was about to get much worse before it was over. "Sir—this isn't gonna be pretty." Her voice hoarse with pain, she blew out a breath. "At this point, I don't care if I break something. I'm frozen. I'm tired. I'm bleeding. Just stand clear and let me fall, okay?"

  His smothered laughter still managed to spark fury, despite her frozen, pathetic state. Seriously? Laughing? At a time like this? What the hell was this guy's problem?

  "You're not going to get hurt, okay? I will catch you. Now, let go of the branch," he directed.

  She discovered the one thing she wanted most in the universe—to finally let go . . . to relieve the excruciating pain in her arms. . . was suddenly the thing she feared most. "I c-can't."

  "You can," he coaxed. "It'll be over in a second."

  "That's the part I'm afraid of," she admitted. Far below, his sigh was aggravated.

  "What's your name?"

  "MaryJo." Releasing her name on a moan, she knew she couldn't last much longer.

  "MaryJo, my name is Travis. I'm right below you. It's not that far," he explained. "I want you to let go. I'll break your fall and you'll be safe."

  "But—I'm . . . big." How much more humiliating could this get? She almost wished her rescuer wasn't there to witness it. She'd grown up nearly traumatized by kids teasing her about her size. This situation summed up her version of living hell. She was about to crush some nice, little man who was only trying to help. What if she injured him? What if she squashed him? What if he sued-

  "MaryJo—I've got this," he insisted. "You're not too big."

  "How tall are you?" Despite the bone-chilling temperature, sweat was breaking out on her upper lip. She fought a sudden bout of light-headedness. Don't let go.

  "I'm tall, okay?"

  His laughter sent a rush of anger to her paralyzed brain. Bastard. Maybe she wouldn't feel bad about crushing him after all. "Damn it, how tall?"

  "I'm six three and I'm . . . a weight lifter," he boasted. "Unless you're a sumo wrestler, I think we're good." His voice held equal traces of amusement and annoyance. "Now, will you just let go? It's freezing out here."

  Her ears drumming with fear, her arms ready to snap, she latched on to his voice. His soothing, sarcastic, annoyed voice. "Okay—I'm coming." The relief she experienced was short-lived as she hurtled into him. Crashing into a solid, but soaking body, his arms wrapped around her as they both tumbled to the ground. A moment later, she fell back in the wet grass, pain knifing through her shoulder as icy needles of rain continued their assault.

  She’d collided with a slab of granite. His body sprawled over hers, MaryJo was pinned to the frozen, wet ground. Somehow, Travis had managed to cradle the back of her head in one large hand. Forgetting her own pain, she immediately pushed against him. "Are you okay? Did I crush you?"

  "I'm on top of you, remember?" His face was above hers now, his panting breath crystallizing in the frigid air, his features hidden in murky shadow. As the rain poured down on his head, it dripped into her eyes, blinding her as she shivered uncontrollably.

  "How are you? Anything broken?" His thighs still straddling her, Travis methodically frisked her, searching for bones that—at the moment—felt as though they may no longer be inside her body. When his hands brushed over her obvious curves, she felt his ripple of shock.

  "I don’t think I’m hurt there," she mumbled, too frozen to care that his rather capable hands had just been in close contact with her boobs.

  "Sorry. I was looking for ribs." His hands moved systematically, yet gently down her aching limbs, feeling for breaks as though he sort of knew what he was doing. "Can you wiggle your fingers?" When she complied, he asked the same of her hands, wrists, elbows and toes. Slowly, he bent each arm and leg. "I don't think anything is broken, but I'm sure you're going to be pretty bruised."

  "Are we f-finished? Because y-you're sort of c-crushing me."

  "Can you tell me what hurts?"

  "It would p-probably be quicker to l-list what d-doesn’t." Forming words was growing increasingly difficult around her chattering teeth. But, the biting cold didn't seem so bad now, her brain enveloped in a pleasant fog. "I’ll l-let you k-know when I f-find s-something."

  THE CRAZY WOMAN WITH the death wish was still locked in his grip. Travis quickly rolled free of her, grateful for the darkness. It wasn't every night he got to roll around in the mud and cop a feel of the neighbor. Suppressing a shiver as rain gusted over them in sheets, he rose to his feet. "Think you can move?"

  The woman appeared drained of strength, her body curled in the fetal position, her nose half-buried in the spongy grass under her cheek as she panted for breath.

  "I c-can get h-home. The damn c-cat will h-have to r-ride it out until m-morning." MaryJo's voice was faint, but adamant, her eyes firmly shut against the rain.

  "That's why you were up there? Trying to rescue a cat?" As if on cue, the damn thing screeched from high above them.

  "J-Jack’s an inside c-cat. H-he doesn't know what to d-do," she insisted, teeth chattering as she slowly sat up.

  "I think he’ll manage." Travis caught her wince of pain in the glow of the flashlight. Her face was ghostly white, her lips nearly purple with cold, her teeth chattering. Hell—how long had she been up there? If she didn’t get into some heat, she was going to be in serious trouble. "We need to get you inside."

  "If y-you c-could just h-help me up . . . I c-can w-walk home."

  With his assistance, MaryJo staggered to her feet, but her limbs were surprisingly atrophied when he hauled her up. Long, skinny arms poked from a drenched tee shirt that had seen better days. They were covered in angry scratches from the branches that had broken her fall. She was likely battered with contusions. "Where the hell is your coat?"

  "I-I d-didn't think I'd b-be outs-s-side very l-long."

  When she stumbled against him, Travis jerked her into his side to keep her from keeling over again. Christ, she was tall. And thankfully, a whole lot lighter than he'd imagined, based on her description. Sheer determination was about all he had working for him to propel her across the yard toward the back door.

  "I live . . . t-that w-way." Her arm flopped uselessly against his shoulder. "G-gotta go h-home."

  "Later. First, you need to warm up. Then, I'll get you home." Pausing for a breath, he heard the mournful wail of her stupid cat, high in the Sugar Maple she'd just fallen from. Shaking his head, he tightened his grip on her now quaking body. Hell�
��she was soaked to the skin. "How long were you out there?"

  Her shrug was listless. "D-don't know. Eight o'clock?"

  Struggling to keep her upright, Travis' exasperation grew. "An hour? You've been up there for over an hour? In the rain?" His limbs were nearly frozen and he'd been outside for twelve minutes.

  "Jack-" When her damn cat screeched again, her head lifted for a moment before slumping back to his shoulder.

  "He'll be fine," he answered, not really caring whether it was true. She'd risked freezing to death for a damn cat.

  Relief swept over him when he finally tugged the half-dead woman up the steps to the deck. They’d made it. Travis hesitated only a moment over what he was getting himself into with the crazy cat lady before her violent shivering put an end to his quandary. No matter how annoying the situation was, he couldn’t leave her out on the deck to freeze to death. Propping her up, he hustled her through the door and pushed her into the nearest chair, before shutting out the fury of the storm.

  The woman appeared spent. She was drenched and splotched with mud from their wrestling match in the grass. Despite her slender build, he was breathing heavy, proving his suspicion that he'd been away from the gym too long. His late nights were catching up with him. All work and no workout had weakened him to a candy ass.

  MaryJo's ghostly complexion was enhanced by an ugly, purple bruise on her right cheekbone. Frowning, Travis drew closer, wondering when she'd picked that up. Probably from the first fall—when he'd scared the bejeezus out of her. He'd nearly had a coronary watching her tumble, knowing he'd be too late to reach her before she hit the ground.

  Yet miraculously, she'd managed to catch herself. And hang on. And even argue with him when he'd finally reached her. Her drenched hair was long and midnight dark. But, the long, sweeping eyelashes brushing pale, sad cheeks left him with an image of wholesome-girl-next-door rather than crazy cat lady.