The corner of a binder bit into her side. She shifted the two overstuffed binders, trying to balance them. Her glasses slipped down to the tip of her nose again. Of all the rotten luck, to have one of her contacts rip the day before the replacements arrived. Leaning her shoulders back, she tipped her head and tried to wiggle her glasses back in place. She shifted her load again to keep it from falling and ran into a wall.

Her glasses slid to the floor, but she kept hold of the binders. After steadying herself, she glared at the wall. Only the blob in front of her definitely wasn't a wall.

Oh, no, she'd run into someone, probably disrupting their strutting.

A hand gripped her elbow. "Are you all right?" The deep voice caused shivers to course down her back. "Let me take those."

The weight of the binders was lifted from her and she squinted to try to make the man in front of her come into focus. "I…I'm fine. I just lost my glasses."

"How very Velma of you," the voice said, followed by a chuckle.

The voice sounded so familiar, and Natalie's stomach started twisting. What if it was…no, it couldn't be. She heard the thud of her binders on a counter. The man-blob stooped down briefly.

Her heart sank as the glasses brought the face of her rescuer into sharp focus. Chase Booker. Unruly, sun-kissed blond hair fell on a face that