Dangerous to Her Read Online Free PDF Page A

was staring straight at the wall in front of her. The sounds of her breathing echoed loudly in her ears. Feeling her grip slipping, she whimpered.
    “Jump off,” she heard her spotter yell and immediately thought, not a chance.
    “Oh God, oh God,” she chanted, afraid to look down again. Feeling dizzy, she closed her eyes and rested her cheek against the wall. This is why I don’t do stuff like this , she thought.
    “Jump off.”
    “Push back.”
    “I’ve got you.”
    Several people were shouting up at her now. For one crazy second, she actually thought she heard Dom’s voice.
    It jerked her out of her paralysis.
    “You’re doing this for Jordan,” she reminded herself. “What if Jordan was stuck up here? What would you have her do?”
    Blowing out a breath, she imagined the situation and was suddenly enveloped by a sense of calm. She was strong again. She had to be. For her daughter.
    Mentally, she recalled her spotter’s instructions. When she reached the point where she wanted to stop, she was to give her the signal, kick off the wall, and fall back, letting her harness and the attached cable lower her to the ground.
    Lowering her gaze, she found her spotter and gave her a thumbs-up. She nodded and shouted, “Go ahead.” Somehow, Mattie managed to kick and let go at the same time. Barely stifling a moan, she hung suspended in air before being steadily lowered to the ground.
    When she got there, she trembled with relief. Her spotter knelt down beside her. “So what do you think? Ready to do it again?”
    The denial was almost out of her mouth before she pressed her lips together, effectively quashing it. She held up a finger. “Give me a few minutes, okay?”
    “Sure. Just signal me when you’re ready. I’ll be right over there.” She motioned to an area just to Mattie’s left, where a much steeper and taller rock wall was set up for advanced climbers. Nodding weakly, Mattie watched the girl approach another female spotter, who excitedly gestured towards the top of the wall. Within seconds, a crowd gathered. Squinting her eyes, Mattie turned to see what everyone was so interested in. Her breath caught. Someone came to stand next to her.
    “It’s amazing the guy can climb at all with cajones that big.” Despite the awe-tinged whisper of the stranger standing next to her, Mattie’s gaze never strayed from the man climbing up the wall, which was alternately smooth or obstacled with layered protrusions. She certainly didn’t respond to the colorful assessment of his bravery. Stupidity was more like it.
    Unlike the climbers on her side of the room, he wasn’t hooked up to a harness and cable. There was nothing to stop him should a single slip or lapse in focus send him falling to the ground below. Just bulging muscles and determination.
    He was so controlled. So sure of himself. It made her wonder if he’d be that confident in bed. Somehow she knew he would be. That when he decided to bed a woman, he’d give his full attention to pleasuring her. If he didn’t kill himself first.
    She shook her head at her fanciful thoughts, equally annoyed and encouraged by them. She wasn’t the type to fantasize about strange men, no matter how hot they were. But at least she’d managed to forget about Dom for a minute. She chose to see that as a good sign.
    Then the man turned his head just enough for her to get a clear view of his face.
    Disbelief came first, then a flood of anger.
    It was him . Had he followed her? Was he mocking her, trying to make her believe he didn’t remember her, then conveniently showing up at the same gym?
    Bastard!
    Turning away, she started throwing her things into her gym bag. She wasn’t going to let him get away with this. Tomorrow morning, she’d tell him exactly what she thought of his juvenile games…?.
    “Damn!” The man next to her muttered the word, causing Mattie’s gaze to fly back to Dom. Her heartbeat skyrocketed out of control. His left leg had slipped out from