CHAPTER TEN
ALLIE WALKED BY Beck’s side in the freshly fallen snow, the late afternoon sun glinting on the crystals. She was a little tongue-tied. What was she doing letting him convince her a date was a good idea? The main street with the wreaths and red ribbons all felt so very festive...and romantic. Ahead of them, the Rocky Mountains jutted up, a tall, snowcapped peak in the distance against the bright blue sky. She sucked in a breath, feeling lucky to be living in such a beautiful place.
She glanced up at Beck’s profile, wondering if he felt the beauty of the place, too. Normally, he hated the town. He preferred the pristine peaks far above the reach of ski lifts and amateur skiers. She wondered if he was thinking of those right now.
“Do you want to tell me why you’ve been ignoring me all week?” Beck asked. “I’ve been calling.”
“I know.”
“And texting.”
“I just... Maybe you’re right about us.”
Beck shook his head. “Allie, I know you’re trying to be me, but this is ridiculous. I’m the only one that gets to ghost people.” The way he said it made Allie laugh.
“I’m not ghosting you.”
“You’re not?”
“I’m just taking things slow.”
“By ignoring me.”
“Mmm-hmm.”
Beck stopped near a light pole decorated with a green laurel and glanced at the motorcycle parked in the snowy space. “Here we are,” he declared.
“What’s this?”
“My new ride,” he said. “Truck’s in the shop getting new tires, so...”
She glanced at the motorcycle, which already had a dusting of snow on its black seat. It was all chrome and black leather, a mean machine that looked like it spit out danger from its impressive tailpipe. The motorcycle suited Beck. It was a little bit wild, just like he was. She almost felt drawn to it, wanting to touch the black leather seat. But she held her gloved hands back. Was she really considering riding a motorcycle in snow?
“Oh, no.” Allie held up her hands and backed away from Beck and the two-wheeled death machine. “No way am I getting on that. It’s winter. In Aspen. You’d have to be crazy to ride one of those now. We’ll slip on ice and die.”
“Well, maybe the snow will break our fall.” Beck shrugged.
“No. No. I’m not getting on that thing.” Allie had always been taught to fear motorcycles a little. Her uncle had been an orthopedic surgeon and had often said that motorcycle accidents and trampolines made up the bulk of his business.
“I thought you were Allie 2.0,” Beck challenged, as he straddled the motorcycle. The cycle was big, but Beck was bigger and made it look small. “I thought you took risks and did things the old Allie wouldn’t do.”
“Yeah, but...”
“Yeah, but what?” He patted the seat behind him.
“You did this on purpose,” she said, suspicious. “Is your truck really in the shop?”
“It is. But, yes, I did this on purpose.” He laughed. “So? Come on, Allie 2.0. Part of you is curious.”
To ride a motorcycle, no, she thought, but to sit behind Beck? Wrap her arms around his waist and snuggle against his broad back? Maybe. Feel the wild wind whipping over their bodies? Possibly. But to go hurtling down the ice-slick highway on one? Uh, no.
“I’ve got a helmet for you,” he said, offering her one. “Even this date has some safety requirements.”
Her fingers tingled a little at the word date. What was his game?
“I’ll freeze to death.” She realized she was just coming up with excuses now. Part of her wanted to jump right behind him, and she squished that part down, feeling at war with herself.
Beck laughed a little. “I’ll keep you warm. And it’s a short ride, anyway.” He patted the seat again. “What? Are you scared?”
“No.” Maybe. A little. She sucked in a breath. Not that she’d ever let him know that. “Oh, hell. Why not?” Her reckless half won, as she grabbed the helmet and stuffed it on, and then took her place behind Beck. His shoulders were so broad she could barely see over or around them. It was a wall of Beck in front of her.
“You might want to hold on,” he cautioned her. She reached around and wrapped her arms around his middle. Then the motorcycle roared to life, pure power between her legs as Beck backed up into the street and then hit the gas. The jolt startled her and she pressed her face into the back of his bomber jacket. The hum of the wheels against the newly plowed street made her worry that they would somehow slip, but Beck, as usual, controlled the machine with rigid precision. He was a man who could bend machines and snowboards to his will, so it shouldn’t surprise her that he could maneuver a motorcycle with ease. The roads had been thoroughly plowed and salted by trucks after the last snowfall, so they were mostly clear. She found herself actually enjoying the ride, as he wound through the narrow streets of Aspen, past the adorable shops decorated for the holidays. Soon, she loosened her grip a tad, feeling every small shift of weight Beck made, and then she copied it, their bodies melded together in perfect harmony.
The smell of wood-burning fireplaces hung in the night air and she inhaled the scent and tightened her grip on Beck’s waist, thankful for the gloves on her hands as the cold December wind whipped across them. The sun, however, warmed her dark coat as they sped down the small two-lane highway, winding around the mountain. Up above, the snow clung to ridges, and the mountains stretched up into the sky. Allie was amazed by how much she could feel every last vibration, that she felt as much a part of Beck as she did a part of the bike beneath her. He kicked up the speed another notch and Allie sucked in her breath, nerves humming in her temples. But then she found herself loving the speed, the wind against the mask of her helmet as they passed a slow-moving truck and sped down the highway. There was freedom in the open road, behind Beck. She wanted to drink it in, savor it. She loved how his body talked to hers, telling it when to shift weight, when to hold on tighter.
The ride was over way too soon as he pulled off the road near a long metal walking bridge across a huge ravine. Far below, at least twenty stories down, the rush of the not-quite-frozen river flooded over boulders that were coated in snow. She recognized the spot. It was where Beck took clients who wanted to bungee jump.
“Oh, no,” she murmured, but her helmet echoed the sound back to her own ears. “You were serious about this?”
“Well, that’s what we’ve been talking about all this time. You said you’d bungee jump.” Well, in theory she had, but now that she was here, she didn’t much like the idea of leaping off a bridge tied to a rubber band. She hopped off the bike, her legs still vibrating from the engine. She tugged off the helmet and immediately felt the static electricity run through her hair as she shook it loose.
“I thought you were kidding.”
“When do I ever kid about bungee?” He set the kickstand to the ground and left the bike and helmet near the steps leading up to the bridge. In minutes, he’d unlocked the storage unit attached to the footbridge and dragged out a harness and the gear she’d need to free-fall.
Allie felt a little weakness at the back of her knees.
“Am I?” she asked, peeking over the edge of the metal bridge and feeling her stomach shrink as she calculated the sheer drop down. She didn’t do well with heights.
“Having second thoughts? If so, you can just admit that we’re great together and stop running away from me.”
“Says the man who ran away from me first.” Allie crossed her arms across her chest and frowned. “You cannot take the high road on this.”
“Well, I’ve grown. Matured. Seen the errors of my ways.” Beck flashed a grin and she felt her insides melt a little. Felt the pull to him, the powerful tug. All he had to do was crook his finger in her direction and she’d do just about anything he said. The depth of that power made her dizzy.
“I don’t believe you’ve matured.” She shook her head.
“Well, then, seen the errors of my ways.” He cocked his head to one side. “So...are you going to jump? Or admit you want me? That what you’d rather be doing right now is be naked in bed with me.”
Maybe now would be a good time to call this whole thing off, and let Beck know she’d only been kidding about Allie 2.0, that he was one hundred percent right. It was just a ploy to try to prove that, what? She wasn’t boring? That she wasn’t a Greenie. Or that, above all else, she wanted Beck to notice her. And keep on noticing her.
“No,” she lied. She glanced at the harness. It had a lot of buckles and loops, and while it seemed to be made of seat belts, she wondered if it would truly hold her weight. Oh, Lord. What happened if she ended up losing all control of her bladder? If her accountant parents ever found out about this, they’d have a fit.
“Come here.” Beck motioned her over and her stomach clenched. She didn’t know if it was because she was moving closer to Beck, or because he planned to hurl her off the edge of a bridge. She swallowed, hard.
“Do I have to?”
He nodded, and his blue eyes focused on her with an intensity she would’ve liked under different circumstances.
“Okay, Allie 2.0.” He busied his hands slipping the harness over her legs, and she was achingly aware of how close he was. For a second, she completely forgot she was standing on a bridge a hundred or so feet in the air about to plummet headfirst. She could stop this at any time, she told herself. She didn’t have to play Beck’s game. But the problem was, a part of her wanted to. Beck fastened the harness securely at waist level and then he started to work around her ankles, lashing them together. He tugged at the nylon to make sure it was all secure and double-checked the hook to the winch that would pull her back up once she’d taken her dive.
She glanced at the massive amount of bright blue bungee rope on the platform.
“You ready to plunge headfirst?” he asked her.
“You bet I am,” she lied, but was glad her voice sounded relatively calm. With her ankles together, she had a hard time moving, but she leaned on Beck. Beck swept her into his arms and she squealed, legs still lashed to the bungee cord. She grasped his neck, as he held her easily in his arms.
“You don’t have to do this,” Beck said. They were nearly nose to nose now, and she watched his lips as they moved. Remembering how they felt on hers. “You could kiss me instead.” His blond brow crooked upward, and she felt the challenge.
“You’d like that, wouldn’t you?”
“More than you know.” Beck’s lips were so close, she could feel the warmth of his breath on her. She wanted to taste him suddenly. She wanted his tongue in her mouth. He nuzzled her nose ever so slightly, and then just when she thought he might cover her lips with his, he put her down on the hard platform right near the edge. She felt oddly off balance with her legs lashed together. “Say the word, and I’ll untie you.”
“And then what?”
“And then you admit you’d rather get into bed with me than jump off this bridge.”
For a half second, Allie imagined Beck naked, his amazing athlete’s body in all kinds of interesting positions. Allie couldn’t help it—she laughed. “You’re an egomaniac.”
“And you’re in love with me.”
Allie froze, feeling suddenly on the spot, vulnerable, exposed. Did he know? Could he know that? Panic and denial rose in her throat.
“I am not.” Allie’s heartbeat thumped louder in her own ears. Suddenly, she almost wanted to jump so she could avoid Beck’s very serious and very intense stare. She couldn’t admit that she loved him. That would be giving him everything. Yet the way he was looking at her now told her he already knew everything. Everything she was feeling, everything she was thinking, everything she wanted to do to him in her bed tonight.
“Now who’s being cagey?” he asked her.
The icy wind whipped across the small metal platform bridge and it swayed a bit. She reached out and grabbed the railings.
“Is it supposed to do that?” Yes, let’s talk about the bridge. About me hurtling off it. Anything but how I really feel about you. Admitting she had fallen in love with Beck was the scariest thing she could think of. Even if she knew it was true. Admitting she loved Beck would be the same as losing him forever. She knew him well enough to know that much. If she could keep it light, remind them of their friendship, then maybe she could keep him. As a friend. As a casual lover. As something. And as pathetic and silly as that sounded, she’d rather have something than nothing. And she’d rather have it and her dignity all at the same time.
“Yes,” Beck said and dropped his length of bungee cord. She was inches from the edge. All she had to do was fall forward, and she’d be doing it: jumping into the ravine. “You look a little pale. You sure you want to do this? Or do you want to talk about your feelings about me some more?”
“I don’t have feelings for you.” Her voice shook a little, but she told herself it was the icy wind and the fact that she was at the edge of a thin metal platform about to free-fall. Her legs shaking had nothing to do with her feelings for Beck.
“You sure?” His gaze told her he knew she was lying. But she had to cling to the thin lie anyway. It was the only protection she truly had against him. She needed her dignity.
“Stop playing around, Beck.” It was almost a plea. If he kept at her, she just might admit what she’d sworn never to tell him, ever. “Am I going to jump or are we going to gossip about our feelings some more like girls at a tea party?”
Beck threw his head back and laughed then. “Suit yourself.” He tugged on her ropes, checking the safety harness once more. “You know, you really don’t have to do this. But I also know, if you do it, you’re going to love it.”
He grinned. And in that smile, she trusted him, even though she was terrified. Every cell in her body, every survival instinct she had, told her that jumping would be suicide, no matter how secure the ropes might be around her feet. Still, she needed to do this. She glanced up at Beck.
“I am, but I want to do it.”
“Or you could just skip this part and get into bed with me?”
She wanted to do that, too.
“So you can brag about being right? No way. I’m jumping.”
“Okay, if you’re really going to do this, then make sure to just dive off, like you’re jumping in a pool. Try not to pinwheel your arms. It’s best to keep them straight out by your sides. The bungee will catch you, but it shouldn’t be too rough. And when you stop bouncing, then I’ll reel you back in.” Beck tapped the winch next to her head. “Are you ready?”
Allie nodded. She scooted to the edge of the platform and glanced down. Good grief, that was a long way down. A cold sweat broke out on her lower back as she stood near the edge. What was she doing? Her conservative accountant parents would literally have a heart attack if they knew. Yet part of her felt the urge to just take the leap. Feel the wind on her face. Feel the free fall and, for a delicious second, all that chaos that could clear her mind entirely of everything but that single moment.
“You sure you don’t want to change your mind?”
Allie wasn’t sure at all. But then she spread her arms and jumped.
* * *
Beck had never found a woman sexier in all his life. She dived off that platform like a pro, arms out, legs pressed together, a beautiful, lithe bird, diving straight into the ravine below. For a woman who claimed to like to play it safe, she sure took to danger. The bungee caught her and she let out a delighted squeal, a sound that Beck felt in his entire body. Her auburn hair had come loose from its tie. Beautiful waves of gold and red caught the sunlight as she bounced once and then twice, before she came to a stop at the end of the bungee. She stretched her arms out and shouted with joy, her voice ricocheting off the rocks below and bouncing up
around them. He had to laugh at the purity of her celebration and felt himself a little envious. He remembered the rush of his first jump, and how it had made him feel invincible. There was truly nothing like staring down death to make you feel truly alive. Not that there was any real danger here, but try telling the body that. It doesn’t know or care about safety harnesses. All it feels is the free fall and the pure lick of adrenaline.
“That was amazing!” she screamed, her face absolute joy, as he activated the winch and pulled her up. In seconds, she was in his arms and on the platform. He set her down, and she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him. Surprised, he stumbled back a bit, but then caught himself, the fierceness of her lips demanding his full attention. Her hands were in his hair and her tongue in his mouth before he knew what was happening. Not that he was complaining. He kissed her back, right there on that platform, feeling his body come to life, summoned up to do whatever she commanded. She pulled away, her green eyes bright.
“You never told me that would be so amazing. Is this what skiing unmarked trails is like? Or any of the other crazy things you do?”
“Even better,” he said. It was true. That was what cheating death felt like. Addictive and wonderful.
“So this is why you do it. Pure thrill. God, my heart is beating so fast.” Beck knelt to take off her harness, freeing her feet. She ran her hands through her hair. “It’s just amazing. I’ve never felt so...”
“Alive?”
She nodded.
“Now, isn’t this better than taking married men home for a one-night stand?”
Allie laughed. “Marginally better.” She grinned. Allie glanced at the harness in his hand. “Wait. Can I put that back on? Can I do it again?”
Right there, with Allie standing in the sunlight, beaming from head to toe, her green eyes shining like emeralds, Beck knew he loved this woman. He didn’t know how he’d do it, but he’d find a way to convince her they belonged together.
* * *
Something shifted after the bungee jump, Allie could feel it, though she couldn’t say what. She rode with her arms around his back as he took her to dinner. It was the day before Christmas Eve and all the restaurants were packed with out-of-towners, tourists who’d flown in for the holidays. Allie never thought most people would opt to go away from home for Christmas, but Aspen was always full to bursting with those who did. After searching and failing to find a restaurant that didn’t have an hour’s wait, they ended up back at Allie’s condo with pizza and a bottle of red wine.
Double Dare You Page 12
