The Adventurous One: A Billionaire Bride Pact Romance

by Jeanette Lewis

  After swimming, they sat on the back deck and enjoyed a lunch of shrimp tacos, homemade salsa, cut fruit, and frosty watermelon margaritas. Taylor felt like an ageing chaperone as Brent and Cece talked and teased each other, coming very close to crossing the line between friendly and flirting several times. Taylor picked at her plate in silence; she had no appetite. What if things took off and Brent and Cece became a couple? She examined the thought and found that, aside from genuine concern for the welfare of her cousin, she didn’t much care.

  After lunch, she uploaded pictures she’d taken of the boat and worked on her blog while Brent and Cece went out on the jet ski. They bounced and circled in the water and even from this distance, Taylor could tell Cece was snuggled up against Brent’s back probably tighter than was necessary in order to stay on the jet ski.

  Part of her felt foolish. Was she holding a grudge when he really only wanted to be kind? Maybe she should do as everyone suggested and relax. It was pretty boring sitting on the boat watching them have all the fun. But just the thought of being friends again with Brent made her skin crawl; she knew what he was.

  “I’m ready to go back,” she announced an hour later when Brent and Cece had had enough of the jet ski.

  “So soon?” Brent frowned. “We’re having prime rib for dinner and then after it gets dark, I thought we could go up on the roof of the cabin and shoot off some fireworks I brought.”

  “Sounds fantastic!” Cece gushed.

  “It won’t be dark for hours,” Taylor argued. “I’ve given you almost the whole day, but I have things to do. Please take me back now.”

  He gave her a long look and she met his gaze defiantly. Finally, Brent sighed. “Okay, whatever you say. I’ll tell the captain we need to go in.” He stomped off toward the bridge.

  “For what it’s worth, I think he’s right,” Cece said.

  “Don’t you start too,” Taylor said.

  “Well, am I wrong? I can see how much he cares about you, it’s obvious every time he looks at you.”

  Taylor shook her head. “No, he doesn’t care. He cares about losing. He can’t stand that I called it quits before he did. If he’d been the one to file for divorce, I would have never heard from him again.”

  “You broke his heart,” Cece insisted stubbornly. “He really does love you; he told me.”

  Taylor narrowed her eyes. “What else did he say?”

  “Nothing,” Cece hedged. “Only that he cares about you, misses you, misses our family.”

  “And misses you?” Taylor guessed.

  “As part of the family,” Cece said.

  “Don’t fall for it Cece,” Taylor warned. “It’s all an act and he’s been pulling it for a long time. He makes you think it’s about you, but it’s never about you. It’s always about what he wants and how he’s going to get it.”

  Cece didn’t respond. Instead, she picked at a patch of dry skin on her knee, head lowered.

  When they finally got back to Grandma’s condo, Taylor gave Brent a quick thanks and hurried inside. She went to Grandma’s bedroom and locked the door; anxious to be away from Cece and her endless prodding.

  She took a long shower, letting the hot water ease away the stress of the day. Why had she ever agreed to go along with Brent? It only made her upset and she’d wasted the entire day when she could have been with Grandma or with Lane.

  Later that night, Taylor updated her blog, adding the pictures from the boat, but taking care to keep the details vague. She’d never talked about Brent on her blog and the last thing she wanted to do was introduce her ex-husband to her readers. Not only would it feed his ego, he’d probably want a cut of the ad money if he found out.

  She hit publish and then pulled up the page to check it worked. She scrolled quickly through to the next post and lingered on the pictures of Lane from the post she’d done about their visit to the Terrace Park. She’d included several pictures of him that showed his prosthetics, but hadn’t said anything about them specifically.

  Not that it mattered, her comment section was full of readers clamoring for more information about him. What had happened to his legs ... did he lose them in Afghanistan ... was he her boyfriend or just a friend ... and if he was just a friend, was he available? Taylor scowled at that one. He might not be her boyfriend, but that didn’t mean she wanted to release her readers on him en masse.

  She studied the main picture on the post. Lane, looking relaxed and happy as he rested against a boulder in the park, arms crossed. She studied the strong angles of his face, his deep, intelligent eyes, the swelling of his biceps under his short sleeves.

  Shards of heat shot through her, along with a deep yearning to see him again, so different from the way she felt when she thought of Brent. It didn’t matter what they were doing, just to be by Lane’s side, talk with him, hear his laughter—that’s all she wanted.

  Was this love?

  She opened a browser on her laptop and began researching interesting things to do in the city. Maybe he couldn’t do everything he used to, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t still have adventures.

  Chapter 11

  Freefall Indoor Skydiving was in one end of a huge, four story warehouse in the industrial part of town. Lane and Taylor took the elevator to the second floor and paused inside the door. The air chamber was in the center, a huge octagon of clear Plexiglas, surrounded on three sides by benches for spectators. A row of lockers stood along the wall to the right and along the left was a counter, backed by racks of colorful jumpsuits and shelves of helmets.

  Taylor shot him a grin. “Excited?”

  Lane nodded. Indoor skydiving had been Taylor’s idea and he’d been looking forward to this all day, rushing through his end of shift procedures at work to pick her up at the rehab center.

  When she’d texted him the idea yesterday, he’d called to see if they could accommodate someone with prosthetics, but now that they were here, he wanted to be sure. He gave Taylor’s hand a squeeze before letting go and moving toward the counter where a young woman looked up and gave them a smile.

  “Welcome to Freefall, do you have an appointment?”

  “Yeah, but first I have a couple of questions,” Lane said. He quickly explained the leg situation.

  “Uh, it should be okay, but let me get one of our instructors, okay?” The girl seemed nervous and Lane felt sweat break out on the back of his neck. What if he had to sit it out?

  “Everything okay?” Taylor asked, coming to his side.

  “Yeah, just making sure I can do this,” Lane said.

  The instructor’s name was Aaron. He was a very short, very lean guy with long brown hair pulled into a ponytail at the nape of his neck and an energy drink clutched in one hand. Lane felt like a giant beside him. He’d been expecting Taylor to wander off again while they talked, but she stayed by his side and her presence felt incredibly comforting. Even if he couldn’t do this, it would be fun watching her take a turn.

  Aaron took a quick look at Lane’s legs. “I’ll probably need to be a little more hands on with you, but it should be fine,” he said. “I’ve had other people with prosthetics and they haven’t had any trouble. About the only thing we can’t accommodate is pregnancy or a shoulder injury.”

  “Shoulder injury? Really?” Taylor raised her eyebrows in surprise.

  “Yep,” Aaron said. “There’s too much strain on the joints, any kind of shoulder problems is an automatic no fly. But we get people with all kinds of conditions—MS, autism, fibromyalgia, the other day I had a girl in here who is blind and deaf. She loved it.”

  Suddenly Lane’s legs didn’t seem like such a big deal anymore. He breathed a silent sigh of relief.

  “Then we’re good. Let’s go!” Taylor’s eyes sparkled with excitement and she bounced along at his side as Aaron took them to the suit up area. Taylor grinned when he handed them lime green jumpsuits. “Well, at least we won’t get lost in there,” she said.

  Lane laughed, appreciating how the br
ight jumpsuit made her cheeks look pinker and her eyes even bluer.

  Aaron showed them a short video that explained how the wind tunnel worked and gave them safety information, then they went over the hand signals he’d use once they were inside. “The main thing to remember is keep your chin up and hold still,” he said.

  Another group was finishing and their instructor led them from the antechamber.

  “That’s so awesome! Can I go again?” A boy who couldn’t have been more than eight pleaded, giving his mother a gap-toothed grin.

  The instructor shook her head. “Sorry, our time is up.”

  “Aw!” The boy moaned, disappointment heavy on his face.

  “We’ll come back,” the dad assured him.

  Lane squeezed Taylor’s hand. A month ago the idea he could ever have a child of his own, or a family of his own, was like a distant dream. But now, it didn’t seem so farfetched. Not that he was already planning a future with Taylor, but the idea that a woman might still find him attractive and desirable, even without legs, was starting to take hold.

  Okay, he wouldn’t mind planning a future with Taylor, but ten days would be moving a little fast, even for him.

  “Do you want to go first?” She asked him.

  “You go ahead,” he offered.

  Taylor beamed and inserted the ear plugs Aaron offered. She slipped on the safety goggles and stood still while Aaron buckled her helmet. “No laughing,” she said, raising her eyebrows at Lane.

  “No promises,” he grinned back.

  Aaron secured Lane’s helmet and they followed him into the antechamber. “Remember the hand signals?” he shouted and they both nodded. Aaron gave the guy in the booth working the control the thumbs up and the air noise increased exponentially.

  Aaron went first and they waited while he got his footing on the thick net that made up the floor of the chamber. The video had explained that upright, the instructors would have less surface area for the wind to catch, so he could stay on his feet and guide Taylor. She paused at the door for a minute, waiting for Aaron to plant his feet. On his signal, she pulled her arms into her chest and leaned forward. The wind took over and she floated, the fabric of her green jumpsuit beating against her legs.

  Aaron held her steady with one arm wrapped over her waist while with the other hand, he helped her extend her arms. Then he let go and she hovered, arms and legs outstretched, letting the wind blow her higher.

  Taylor dipped and soared while Aaron stood by, helping adjust her position and pulling her back if she got too close to the walls. She bobbed up and down, suspended in time and space. Whenever she got too near the net, Aaron would guide push her back up again. She grinned broadly and her eyes sought Lane’s. Even through the thick Plexiglas, through helmets and goggles and ninety miles per hour wind, their gaze connected and held. Lane’s pulse pounded as the energy flowed between them, sparkling with pure joy.

  Lane could have watched her forever, but finally, Aaron pulled her toward the door.

  “That’s incredible!” Taylor laughed when she stepped outside the chamber. Her cheeks were pink and her eyes were shining. “You’ll love it.”

  He didn’t doubt it. His heart pounded and real, pure anticipation like he hadn’t felt in a long time shot through him.

  Aaron beckoned him forward and Lane stepped to the door, took a breath, and leaned.

  He wasn’t aware of his legs leaving the floor, only that he was floating, weightless, the wind pushing past his face in a breathless torrent. Aaron reached out to adjust his arms and Lane hung still for a moment, then the wind took him, sending him shooting upward, past the edges of the Plexiglas to where the walls of the chamber transitioned to dark metal, up as high as he could go. Nothing else mattered, in here, his legs worked as well as anyone else’s.

  He relaxed his body and floated back down. When he was within reach, Aaron grabbed his wrist and ankle, spun, and sent them both soaring, twisting upward again, faster and faster. It was the same feeling of breathless weightlessness he’d felt on the rope swing, all those summers before. Beyond the Plexiglas, Taylor cheered.

  The ride was over too soon. The wind eased and they floated back down. Aaron guided him toward the door and Lane grabbed the padded edges and pulled himself out of the chamber, keeping a firm grip while he found his footing.

  The air in the tunnel died as they left the antechamber for the main room.

  “That was fantastic!” Taylor said. “Are you sure you’ve never done this before?”

  Lane’s heart pounded and he was breathless from adrenaline. He gave a quick laugh. “Nope, never done it before. But that was pretty cool.”

  Taylor lightly punched his arm. “Show off. I couldn’t get higher than a few feet and you go all the way to the ceiling.

  “You’re a natural,” Aaron said in a tone of admiration.

  Now he knew how that kid felt. Lane wanted to go again, and again, and again. But another group waited. With a pang of regret, he followed Aaron to the counter and handed over his helmet and jumpsuit. After giving the guide a generous tip and promising to be back, he and Taylor made their way outside.

  “We need to come do it again,” Lane declared. Already he felt the sinking pull of gravity as the weight of his fake legs bringing him back down to earth.

  “Definitely,” Taylor nodded. “Do you want to see the video?”

  She showed him the video she’d taken on her phone of him and he was surprised to see it looked rather tame. It hadn’t felt tame to him.

  “Do you mind if I put this on my blog?” Taylor asked.

  Lane shook his head. “Post away.”

  “Thanks.” She put the phone in her bag. “I’m starving, how about you?”

  “Always,” Lane replied with a grin.

  “What’s ahead for you?” Taylor asked as they sat on the restaurant patio with sandwiches and salads. They were at a small round table and had pulled their chairs so close they were almost touching. The sun was warm on their faces and a small breeze ruffled their hair. Taylor thought of the skydiving and wanted to go back.

  Lane picked at his pasta salad with his fork. “I don’t know. Same old, same old I guess. Work. What about you?”

  Her face fell. “I’m not sure. I mean, I submit my travel plans to my editor a year in advance, so I guess I’ll be picking up where I left off in my schedule when I leave here. I just ...” She trailed off, unsure how to phrase it.

  “You’re wondering what’s ahead for us?” he asked softly.

  Heart in her throat, she nodded. The differences between this day with Lane and the day on the boat with Brent were stark in her mind. No guilt, no harsh words, no second guessing, no nerves—except for the good kind. Just being with him, just looking at him, sent thrills shooting through her core and goosebumps parading up her arms. It was embarrassing, really, though if he’d noticed, he hadn’t commented.

  Lane put his fork down and reached for her hand. His fingers closed around hers, warm and strong. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I really like you. No, scratch that, I more than like you.”

  Taylor gave up all pretense of playing it cool. “I more than like you too,” she whispered.

  He flashed her a smile, then he was leaning toward her and she was leaning toward him. There was a moment, right before she closed her eyes, when she could see the flecks of gold in his hazel eyes, the fringe of lashes around them. He smelled clean and soapy and faintly like pine trees. Then her eyes fluttered closed and his lips brushed hers, warm and soft.

  She didn’t remember dropping her fork, but suddenly her hands were free, sliding up the warm contours of his arms, over his muscular shoulders, and into the thick hair at the back of his head. Heat and longing exploded through her body as she wound her fingers into his hair as his mouth claimed hers. He tasted like cola and salad dressing, like spending a lazy summer day in a hammock, like swimming in a warm hot springs, like freedom and passion and love.

  Lane’s arms were around
her, one clamped at her waist, the other at the back of her neck, guiding her head so their mouths moved in sync.

  “Get a room!” Someone hollered, another diner on the patio, and they broke apart. For a moment they stared at each other, unsure whether to be embarrassed by so much PDA, but then Taylor giggled. She didn’t care.

  Lane laughed. “Sorry about that,” he called to the person who yelled. “Can you blame me though?”

  The man chuckled, shaking his head, and went back to his lunch.

  “Wow,” Lane leaned forward, resting his forehead against Taylor’s. “Can we do that again?”

  She couldn’t quite catch her breath. “Come with me,” she whispered, before she could think.

  His eyes grew big. “What do you mean?”

  It was pure impulse, brought on by desire and raging hormones, but more than that, the knowledge that this was what she’d wanted from the moment she’d seen him again. She wanted to explore the world with this man at her side. “No expectations,” she added quickly, seeing the confusion in his eyes. “We’d get separate rooms, like when Summer and I travel with her boyfriends. I just ... I think it would be really fun to have you along, and I think you’d like it. It could be the way it was, at the outdoor club, the two of us, together. I want you to come, need you to come ... need you,” she finished shakily.

  He ran one hand down the curve of her cheek and sat back. “What’s your next trip?” He asked.

  “I cut my trip to Mexico short to come help with Grandma, so I have a couple more weeks free, but then in August, I start the Appalachian Trail.” The thought of having Lane along turned it from an exciting hike into a magical adventure.

  “The Appalachian Trail is over two thousand miles long,” Lane said. “You’re hiking all of it?”

  “Not the whole thing,” she said. “I haven’t finalized my route yet, but I’m planning to be in New England by autumn to see the leaves. Depending on how much longer Grandma needs me, I might start there and work my way south. What do you think?”