Chance Encounter Read Online Free PDF Page A

just about anything. But family is family.”
    Ally thought about Chance’s smile and knew Lucy was right. She’d been at the receiving end of that smile. It’d said, I know you’re out of your league. It said, I dare you to do this. It said, I can kiss you blind and make you like it.
    And her silly knees had weakened.
    “If you need anything, anything at all,” Lucy said. “Go to him.”
    If she needed anything, it was to really live for once. And though he both fascinated and terrified her, she thought maybe Chance could help. All she had to do was convince him of that.
    “There’s nothing he can’t do once he sets his mind to it,” Lucy said.
    Yes, Chance was a man ready for anything, and if “anything” didn’t come to him, he’d go looking for it. In that, really, he was the perfect one to help her out. “I’ll be fine. You just get better.”
    “I’ll do that.” Lucy’s eyes closed and she sighed deeply. “You don’t mind if I take a nap now, do you, dear?”
    “No, not at all.” But Ally’s stomach tightened, because if this visit was over it meant only one thing—she’d have to go out there and face Chance, the rebel with a cause who just happened to set her on fire. Not that she wasn’t ready for this. She was. She just needed a few moments, that’s all. “You rest. I’ll wait here in this chair—”
    “Oh no!” Lucy straightened, her light green eyes popping wide open again. “You mustn’t wait. You just go on to the resort. And I don’t want you to visit me often, it’s too far. Come only when you can get away.”
    Ally hovered. “Are you certain?”
    “Very.” Again, Lucy laid back and closed her eyes. “I trust you as much as I need you. And Ally?”
    “Yes?” Eagerly, she turned back, thinking there would be some miraculous reprieve.
    “Give Chance a hug for me, would you?”
     
    L UCY HAD THE GOOD sense to wait until the door shut completely behind Ally before bursting into laughter.
    When the nurse came in a few minutes later, she was still grinning like a Cheshire cat.
    “What’s so funny?” the nurse asked, smiling a bit, because as Lucy knew, they all loved her.
    She sighed dreamily. “Everything is just so perfect.”
    “You’re in traction for the foreseeable future and everything’s perfect?”
    “I’m not going to die, am I?”
    The nurse let out a startled laugh. “No, of course not. You’re going to be fine.”
    Lucy stared at the closed door through which Ally had reluctantly disappeared. A knowing smile curved her lips. “Then, as I said, everything is perfect, just perfect.”
     
    C HANCE DROVE AS HE appeared to do everything else, with relish. His big hands mastered the wheel, his long, long legs flexed with muscle whenever he shifted. His intense gaze took in the sights as well as the road.
    Ally was dying to approach him with her idea that he be the one to help her succeed at her little dream ofbeing a wild adventuress. But though she felt him looking at her occasionally, he was silent.
    Maybe half an hour into the drive, his cell phone rang. It was on the dash in front of her, and his wrist brushed her thigh when he reached for it. Her entire body tightened, but he didn’t even look at her. He was looking at the caller ID with a frown.
    “What’s the matter?” she asked in an annoyingly breathless voice. Get a grip, she told herself.
    “It’s Lucy.” He didn’t even look at Ally, just brought the phone to his ear. “Couldn’t even wait until we got there, huh?” he said into the receiver. “Curiosity was killing you, I suppose.” His frown deepened. “I said I would, didn’t I?… Yes, you mentioned that about her already. Three times, thanks. I get it. She’s inexperienced and needs help.” He looked at Ally, who wished with all her might she could disappear into a large hole.
    “Look, it’s done.” He shoved a hand through his hair, which caused it to stick straight up. Instead of looking ridiculous, he