“Ben,” she whispered, gripping her hands over his forearms. “I’m so scared.”
He didn’t seem to hear. His arms jerked and pulled on the straps. Their momentum slowed.
Then there was a hard jolt and everything stopped.
Chapter Sixteen
Perfect. Landing. Son of a pistol—if that would’ve been a bull riding competition, he would’ve scored a ten. He’d be walkin’ home with the damn trophy. Ben looked up at the lanky oak tree branch that had snagged their chute. Not ideal to be swinging a good thirty feet off the ground, but it sure beat the hell out of broken legs, so he’d take it.
“Hallelujah!” He swung his arms around Paige and pulled her close, the blitz of adrenaline still fresh in his blood. “That was somethin’, huh?”
But Paige didn’t seem to share his enthusiasm. Her body went stiff. “Get. Away. From. Me.”
He laughed. “Sorry, sweetness. That’s impossible right now.” Besides, that’s not what she’d said at three thousand feet. He seemed to recall that she’d leaned back into him, dropping her head to the side, and maybe even moaning when he’d kissed the sweet-tasting skin of her neck…
In fact he’d like to pick up right where they’d left off. Could be difficult hanging from a tree, but not impossible. He leaned in to nuzzle her neck again.
“Stop it!” Her legs swung. “You almost killed me!”
The tree branch swayed with her frantic movements.
“Hey.” He captured her in a bear hug from behind. “Settle down. You wanna fall?”
She went still again and peered down at the ground.
Yeah. He didn’t think so. “We weren’t gonna die, Paige. Didn’t you hear me? I said, ‘rough. It’s gonna get rough.’ Not, ‘brace yourself for death.’” He could’ve gotten them down on the ground. It would have been bumpy, but not catastrophic.
“You had no control up there!” He didn’t have to look at her to know her jaw had clenched and made those hot, pouty lips pull tight.
“We could’ve been killed,” she shrieked. “Something could’ve gone wrong. Something did go wrong. Now we’re stuck in a tree!”
He cleared his throat to cover another laugh. “I could think of worse places to be stuck.” He didn’t mind it at all, no sir. Thanks to the seat harness, she was practically sitting in his lap. Now, if he could get her to face him, somehow…
“Hey.” He brought his lips close to her cheek. Sure enough, a gasp escaped, a small sound torn between acceptance and frustration. Ha! She wanted him as badly as he wanted her.
“Oh no you don’t.” She flailed again. “You stay away from me!”
He backed off, eyed the branches above. Last thing they needed right now was a bad fall. “Easy, trigger. You’re gonna break us loose. Then we’ll be talkin’ major injuries.”
Her shoulders rose and fell against his chest in heated breaths. “Don’t tell me to take it easy.” She jerked her head and glared. “And don’t touch me. You said if I did this, you’d leave me alone.”
“Oh, no, sweetheart. That deal’s off.”
“Excuse me?”
“You severed it midair. Remember?” He sure as hell did. He remembered the exact words. “I asked if I still had to leave you alone and you said, ‘no.’” He moved in close to her neck again, let his breath flow out in a long sigh. “Then I kissed you.”
She stared straight ahead and crossed her arms like she felt nothing, but her shallow, quick breaths betrayed her. “I changed my mind. You still have to leave me alone.”
“Too late.” That wouldn’t be possible now. Not when he’d gotten a taste of her. Not when she’d let her guard down and he saw what really lived inside of her, fear, but also hope and a desire to let go. He could help her with that. They could help each other.
“How the hell are we supposed to get down from here?” Paige was still playing like he didn’t affect her, as if she didn’t want him the way he wanted her. But every time he brushed a touch against her skin, she trembled.
As much as he’d like to explore what that meant right here, right now, he couldn’t seduce her up in a tree. So he slowly, carefully, dug out his phone from the zipper pouch attached to his coat. “I’ll call Avery. She’s probably close by. I asked her to pick us up.”
“Avery?” Those tendons in Paige’s neck pulled tight. “As in Bryce’s wife?”
“She seemed like the best option, considerin’ you didn’t want Bryce to know.”
Paige strained to look back at him and made a big show of rolling her eyes. “Like she’s not gonna tell him.”
“She won’t. She’s all about secret romances.” He bounced his eyebrows for effect and waited for the fiery reaction in her eyes.
Sure enough, they flashed.
Man, that’d never get old. “I reckon it’s more than likely he’ll find out now. Everyone’s gonna find out.”
Her tanned face suddenly looked pale. “Whadda you mean?”
Didn’t she know? Once this hit police scanners, they’d have no place to hide. Avoiding the answer he knew she wouldn’t want to hear, he dialed Avery’s number.
“Ben.” Her tone didn’t mess around. “Whadda you mean everyone’s gonna find out?”
He held the phone up to his ear. “There’s no way we’re gettin’ ourselves outta this tree. Avery’ll have to call the fire department.”
“No.” Paige’s head shook like they were watching a horror movie and the serial killer was about to murder his last victim. “No. Please. No.”
“It’ll be fine.” Definitely not the ideal situation, especially considering Gracie would find out, too, but there was nothing they could do about it, now. He’d explain it all to Bryce. After Gracie’s heart attack, she’d get over it.
The phone rang into his ear. Finally Avery picked up. “Hey, Ben! Where are you?”
“Well…” He gazed at their surroundings. “You see that big grove of oaks by the river?”
Movement scratched across the line. “Oh. Yeah. I see it.”
“We’re about thirty feet up in the tallest tree.”
“Oh no!” she gasped. “Are you kidding? Are you okay?”
“We’re great,” he said, aiming a smile at Paige. She deflected it with her signature, I’m-going-to-kill-you-in-the-most-painful-manner-possible glare. Which he saw right through, by the way. She wouldn’t get so fired up if she felt nothing, now, would she?
“Drive on over,” he said to Avery. “I’m thinkin’ we’ll need to call in the big guns to get us out of here.”
“I’m on my way!” she yelled, then the line went dead.
“See?” He clicked off the phone and stuffed it back into the pouch. “Nothin’ to worry about. She’ll be right over.”
“Nothing to worry about? I can’t believe this,” Paige growled. “I can’t believe you did this to me. I could lose my job, Ben. Don’t you get that?”
“You’re not gonna lose your job. Bryce’ll know this was all my idea. Trust me. He’s known me long enough.” He’d pulled enough stunts like this in college. Bryce wouldn’t be surprised that he’d convinced Paige to jump off a cliff with him. Just another ordinary day in Benville. Unfortunately, at the moment Paige didn’t seem exactly thrilled to be visiting his world, but he could change that.
Gliding his hands up her back, he kneaded her muscles in a gentle massage.
Her shoulders let down in a sigh. “Ben…”
He ignored the warning in her tone and kept going, working his hands in circular movements between her shoulder blades. Her head bent forward, giving him access to her neck.
His fingers grazed the skin at the base of her neck.
He heard her breath catch in her throat…
Below them, Bryce and Avery’s black F-450 barreled toward the tree at about a hundred miles per hour. Right before a head-on collision with the tree trunk, it screeched to a stop and kicked up a cloud of dust.
Damn. He hated to take his hands off of her.
Avery
leapt out of the truck and stared up them. “Oh my god! Paige! Are you okay?”
“We’re great!” Ben yelled and waved cheerfully.
“No we’re not!” Paige snapped.
“Don’t worry!” Avery waved her cell above her head. “I’m calling nine-one-one right now. We’ll get you help!”
“Great,” Paige spat at him. “We’ll probably be front page news tomorrow morning.”
Yeah. No way to avoid the media on this one. Kev would probably have a coronary. But there was no such thing as bad publicity, right? Besides, voters always loved a romantic story. What could be more romantic than this? At the moment, there was no one he’d rather be stuck in a tree with, and he planned to make the most of it. He eased his hands onto her shoulders again, inching his fingers over the tops of them, as low down her front as he dared without getting slapped. “It’s not so bad. Think about all this extra time we’ll have to get to know each other.”
She didn’t answer. If fact, she seemed hell-bent on staring straight ahead so she didn’t have to look at him.
“Don’t worry guys,” Avery called up. “They’re on their way. Ten minutes, tops.”
“See there?” Hands still on Paige’s shoulder, he leaned in close, so his lips were against her cheek. “Help is on the way.”
“Great,” she muttered, but she did glance back at him. Their eyes met and the force of it was like a punch to the gut.
Wind rustled the leaves around them and spread her hair across her face. Sunlight beamed in through the shadows and lit the hazel depths of her eyes. Good god, she was gorgeous.
Before he could tell her so, she cleared her throat and looked away.
He relaxed against the harness. Patience. Timing was everything. He gazed up at the infinite blue of the sky, thought about how her breath had caught when they took off into the wind, about how she’d gasped and whispered. He gathered her hair in his hand and smoothed it down. “You didn’t like it up there?” he asked, teasing her, because he already knew the answer. “Not at all?”
Under the influence of his touch, Paige seemed to have relaxed, too. Well…at least her shoulders weren’t cranked so tight.
She lifted one shoulder in a small shrug. “It was…different.”
“Good different, right?” he prompted.
She peered back at him again. “You’re impossible.”
That was an improvement. At least she wasn’t flailing to get away from him anymore. “I like to think of myself as an optimist. Someone who doesn’t give up easily.”
“That’s putting it mildly,” she said with a hint of a smile.
“Hey, guys!” Avery interrupted. “Do you want me to call Bryce?”
“Yes!” he yelled at the same time Paige shouted, “No!” She looked back at him, her face tight with exasperation.
“Might be better for him to hear it from Avery,” he offered. “Rather than find out later.”
Her eyes closed. “Yeah. I know.”
“I’ll take care of it. Don’t worry. You won’t lose your job.” He and Bryce had covered for each other for years. He’d understand. He might not love it, but he’d understand.
She opened her eyes, her gaze drifting away from his into an almost a shy retreat. Silence ticked away, but he didn’t mind it. Finally she darted a glance at him. “It was amazing up there. I’ve never experienced anything like that.”
He grinned. He knew she’d feel that way, once the initial shock wore off. That’s what he’d been hoping for, anyway. Paragliding was a lot like sex. The rush of it, the thrill of it, the danger of it, tended to bond two people together in a shared intimate experience that could either end in a perfect connection or a catastrophic fall. They’d had that connection. He’d felt it. And then he’d gone and ruined it with a stupid stunt like landing them in a tree.
He slid his hands back over her shoulders. “Sorry I scared you. I should’ve warned you about the landing.” That was always the hardest part, rough and unpredictable. But worth it, anyway, to feel that free. As scared as she’d been at the top, she probably wouldn’t have gone with him if he’d told her how hard it was coming back to earth.
“It’s okay,” she whispered, and for once, the woman didn’t look away. She looked right at him, into him, brave and sure. Terrified but strong. Her lips parted and he heard a labored swallow. “Ben…this is such a bad idea.”
He pulled her closer, threading his arms around her. He couldn’t help himself. “I know.” But he pressed his lips against hers, anyway, and when her perfect chest expanded with a gaping breath he pressed in harder, tasting the sheer extravagance of her lips, her mouth, her tongue…
Then he kissed her again, with all the reverence she deserved, until the sound of sirens serenaded them.
Chapter Seventeen
Stop,” Paige whispered, her lungs bulging with empty gasps. “Stop, Ben. Please.” Because she couldn’t. She couldn’t pull away from the tender warmth of his mouth, the draw of his capable hands. With every touch, she lost more of herself, lost that stinging awareness that this could not happen. Every hypersensitive nerve in her body submitted to his touch, until she felt completely powerless.
Below them, chaos erupted, engines and slams and shouts and the distinct scent of a diesel truck. Sure enough, the fire department’s tower truck grumbled to a stop right below the tree. Four of Aspen’s finest hopped out, and damned if Luke Simms wasn’t one of them. Of course he’d be on duty today. Of course.
“It’ll take them a while to get up here.” Ben went to kiss her again, but she held him off. Half the town was down there beneath them, scurrying around, shouting, pointing. She’d already spotted Bryce’s 4Runner, Elsie’s robin’s-egg blue convertible, and Sawyer’s police cruiser drive in. How could he even think of kissing her at a time like this?
He peered over her shoulder at her face, a slight pout on his lips, and even though she tried to fight the smile, it rose anyway. One look at his gorgeous, comedic face was all it took to distract her from the shit storm that waited below. Bryce had asked one thing of her. Make sure everything goes smoothly. Make sure you don’t mess this up. Ben was in Aspen for publicity, and she was pretty sure this was not the kind of publicity he needed.
Leaning forward, she peered down past her toes.
Luke held up the megaphone. Static crackled. “Everyone okay?”
“We’re perfect!” Ben shouted down.
Why’d he have to be so cheerful all the time? Like this was simply another adventure to record in his log. If she didn’t know better, she’d have thought he landed them in a tree on purpose.
“We’re sending up the bucket,” Luke called.
That finally made Ben pull back, but his large hands still rested on her shoulders. She braced herself. If he started caressing her again, she’d be in big trouble.
“Promise we can pick this up later?” he asked, his voice tingling down her neck.
Promise. She couldn’t promise him anything. Just like he couldn’t promise her anything. They didn’t know each other, not really. And if her previous relationships were any indication, he’d find something about her not to like. Case in point, Luke Simms, who was currently being raised toward them in the tower truck’s bucket, their knight in shining fire gear.
“Paige?” Ben drew out her name into a question. One she couldn’t answer. There were too many things in the way—her scarred heart, her job, Grace Hunter Noble, the fact that Ben was running for senator. None of that seemed to matter when he his hands were on her, when his lips commanded hers, but now each of those things glared at her, hands on their hips, shaking their heads. No. No, no, no. Don’t you dare go there. “You told me you’d leave me alone. I jumped. Now you have to keep your word.” She turned her back on his lengthy sigh.
The bucket inched closer and closer, propelled by the soft hum of a motor. Finally Luke came into view.
His lips quirked. “Well, well, well. Who do we have here?” He jammed his finger into a button an
d the bucket stopped. “Paige Harper. Stuck and needing my help.”
He’d always known exactly what to say to light her inner fire. “Shut up, Luke.” It was common knowledge that she hated needing anything from anyone. Especially help. People who knew her well made jokes about it at the hole-in-the-wall bar she used to frequent. Paige would cut off her own arm before she used the cell phone in her back pocket to call for help.
Which is why Luke seemed to find her predicament so hilarious.
“Aw, Paige. Come on. I’ve missed you. Been meaning to call you.”
Behind her, branches rustled. Ben’s movements jerked her upper body. Yeah. Like he could defend her honor up here. In a tree. She had this overwhelming urge to unshackle herself from him, if only to make a point. She didn’t need him to get all offended for her. She could handle Luke.
“What’s the matter? You in between hookers right now?” she asked as innocent as Laura Ingalls Wilder.
Luke busted out a laugh. “Damn, Paige. We were good together.” He looked past her and nodded at Ben. “But I see you’ve moved on. Name’s Luke Simms. And you are…?”
“Ben.” It was quick and sharp, obviously meant to sever any further discussion.
“Nice to meet you, Ben. Gotta say, I’m impressed. Aren’t many guys out there who could sweep Paige off her feet like this.” He clamped his huge hand onto her shoulder.
“How about you do your job and get us down?” Ben growled. “Taxpayer money and all that. Save the commentary for another time?”
“Happy to.” He smiled and cranked open a small door. “Go ahead and scoot forward ’til you can climb in. Then we’ll unclip the chute and you’ll be home free.”
Paige eased forward, feeling Ben right at her back. The tree shook. Leaves fluttered down around them.
“Easy.” Ben’s arms encircled her, guided her slowly onto the bucket floor. Then he went to work unclipping all the strappy things like he didn’t want to give Luke the opportunity to touch her.
When they were all set, Luke pulled a small lever. The bucket lifted. “We’ve gotta get up there and untangle the chute.” He shot Ben a mocking glance. “Nice landing, man. Takes real talent to find the one grove of trees in the entire meadow.”
Something Like Love Page 15
