If She Dares (Contemporary Romance) Read Free

her house being robbed, she’d spent the next few evenings with every possible light on, determined never again to be ambushed by a man from the shadows. How long would her makeshift flashlight last? She’d talked to a number of clients today and had planned to charge her cell phone while she was driving.
    Glancing down, she checked the phone’s battery power. Almost to the red zone.
    “Got any bars?” Jack asked.
    She shook her head. “I learned months ago it’s next to impossible to get a signal in here. My mom’s been cut off twice.” Her lips twitched at the memory of a phone call last week and how she’d evaded her mother’s latest attempt at matchmaking. “On the plus side, whenever I want to end a conversation, I just say I’m getting on the elevator.”
    “Useful tip. I’ll be sure to keep it in mind.”
    “Hey!” A man’s booming voice came from above. “Jack? You okay in there?”
    “We’re fine,” Jack called back. To Riley he said, “That’s Tony, one of my police buddies.”
    “Pretty sure your whole building just lost power,” Tony reported. “If the elevator’s not moving, I guess there’s no backup generator. Want me to call the fire department?”
    Jack darted a glance in Riley’s direction, as if assessing her panic level. She gave him a weak smile.
    “The fire department can get us out,” he told her, “but this would be a low-priority call for them. Depending on what other outages or accidents have been caused by the storm, we may have to wait a little bit.”
    “Understandable.” She mentally crossed her fingers that the power would kick back on any second now.
    While Jack continued his conversation through the ceiling, she sat down, her back to the wall and her denim-clad legs stretched out in front of her. There was a lid on the old printer paper box she’d been carrying, and luckily none of her paperwork had spilled.
    After Tony returned to Jack’s apartment, her new neighbor sat across from her, flashing a grin that brightened the darkness even more than her phone. “Since we’re crisis buddies, don’t you think I should know your name?”
    “I’m Riley. Riley Kendrick.” The other people in the building probably just called her The Hermit in 4-C.
    “Nice to meet you. Officially.”
    Her cheeks heated as she recalled their last encounter. She turned off her phone’s screen to preserve the battery. If shutting down the phone also kept Jack from seeing her blush, well...that was a bonus.
    “I apologize for the way I overreacted the other night,” she said. “Rainstorms make me jumpy.” Rainstorms, the dark, the sound of pipes settling, her own shadow. She’d spooked herself a few weeks ago when she’d caught movement from the corner of her eye. Her heart rate had tripled before she realized it was her reflection in the mirrored closet door.
    If she did go to the tenant Halloween party in a couple of weeks, at least she knew what her costume should be—the Cowardly Lion. A frustrated noise caught in her throat, not quite a growl, but damn close.
    “Riley?” Jack’s voice was rich with humor. “Please tell me that was you. Otherwise, we may be sharing the elevator with something not human.”
    “Just me, snarling in exasperation.”
    “About the power outage stalling you? Were you in a hurry to get somewhere?”
    “Actually, I was headed to see my accountant.”
    “On a Saturday evening?”
    “Well. He’s also my brother-in-law.” The middle Kendrick sister, Rochelle, was the only one married. She’d met her husband while they were both getting their MBAs.
    Rochelle had once said that, of the three sisters, Riley was the perfect blend of traits. “Wren’s paintings are fabulous, when she bothers to finish them, but she’s flighty as hell. I have a brain like a calculator, but no imagination. With your web design, you balance creativity and content management. Plus, you’re braver than Wren and me put together.”
    Before, maybe.
    She