High Octane

Unfortunately, the path to experiencing that world led—at least for the moment—away from Ryan and into what looked like a classroom. Sabrina soon found herself sitting at one of six steel folding tables, signing liability paperwork. Lots of it. Suddenly, she forgot long, hard Ryan and thought of the long, hard fall she might take if her chute didn’t open.

“Okay,” Jennifer said, sitting next to her. “Last signature.” She pointed to the release form. “Sign here.” But then she pulled the paper away. “Or don’t. You can still change your mind.”

Sabrina grabbed the paper and signed. “You are so not helping, Jennifer. Have you forgotten this was your idea?”

“It was my idea to send you up with Caleb,” she said. “Not Ryan. Yes, he’s part owner, yes, but that’s not the point.”

“Then what is?”

Jennifer let out a sigh and shifted in the steel chair. “I pushed you into this. I don’t want you to have a bad experience. I want you to feel it was fun, and that it really did help you with the whole control-freak thing. And Caleb…he’s sensitive, patient. He’ll know if you’ve reached your limits. He’ll know to pull you back. Ryan doesn’t know limits. He’ll push you. Especially if he knows why you’re doing this.”

“I can handle Ryan,” Sabrina said. “And, truth be told, I have my reasons for choosing him.”

“Jenn,” came the deep, silky male voice, “call for you.”

Sabrina’s gaze lifted to directly across from them where Ryan filled the doorway with all kinds of hot male goodness, his hat tipped back, his sultry bedroom eyes fixed on her.

“Good luck, honey,” Jennifer said. “You want him, he’s all yours.” Ryan sauntered into the room, his dusty boots some how only adding to his appeal as he gave Jennifer space to pass. Only she didn’t pass. She paused. “Behave.”

“Like a perfect angel,” he assured her.

Jennifer snorted and disappeared.

Ryan leaned on the table directly in front of Sabrina. “Any hope one of those reasons for choosing me is my hot body?” His eyes twinkled with mischief.

Sabrina knew how to talk the talk. She was a politician’s daughter, after all. “Actually, yes,” she answered. “If you were out of shape and wheezing with every breath you drew, I can’t say I’d be eager to jump out of a plane with you.”

“I got the impression you weren’t so eager to jump out of a plane with anyone.”

“I’m sure a lot of people feel that way right about the time they sign their paperwork,” Sabrina said.

“Only the ones who’re talked into coming by some one else,” he bantered. “But those people don’t normally come alone. They come with a girlfriend, a boyfriend, a pal. That ‘someone’ they are trying to please by pushing themselves. Who are you here to please, Sabrina?”

Her chin lifted, fingers lacing together in front of her, as they rested on top of the forms. “Myself.” For the first time in a very long time, she added silently.

His eyes narrowed. “By pushing yourself to do something that scares you?”

“More like something I wouldn’t normally do,” she countered, not giving him more than she had to. This was her private journey. He didn’t need to understand it to be a part of it.

“I need more than that if I’m taking you up,” he said, rejecting her evasive answer.

“Why?” she snapped back instantly.

“Because I’m responsible for you up there,” he said quickly, and then hit her with another question. “Are you afraid of heights?”

“No.”

“Flying?”

“No.”

“Falling?”

“No.”

He studied her from under the ridge of his hat. “Dying?”

She considered that a moment. “No. No, I’m not afraid of dying. Once it’s over, it’s over. I think I’m okay with that. And do you ask these questions of everyone you take up for jumps?”

“No,” he said. “But Caleb does.”

“I didn’t ask for Caleb,” she said. “I asked for you.”

“Why?”

Why. She’d walked right into that, but decided quickly she didn’t care. Fine. He needed to know. He could know. Maybe sharing what she felt was a part of letting go of control. “Because I want to be pushed when I’m on the edge, not pulled back,” she said, repeating what Jennifer had said when comparing the two men. “And because I know all about calm control, but I also know my limits are way too narrow.” In other words, she wanted what he had offered.

A bit of surprise flickered across his face, followed by full-blown interest. “You really think you can handle me, Sabrina?”

Truth be told, he scared the holy bejeezus out of her, but he also excited her in a wickedly wonderful way she would never have dared to explore before now.

“I can handle you, cowboy,” she assured him, with only a tiny white lie of uncertainty. “The question is…can you handle me?”

A slow smile slid onto his lips. “Sweetheart,” he said, “if I can’t, I’ll die trying. And I’ll do so a happy man.”

He could have left out the die, considering they were about to jump out of a plane, but she managed to shove that aside, using the much-needed distraction of this hot man flirting with her.

Sabrina slid her paperwork forward. “I’m ready when you’re ready.”

Keeping his gaze locked on her face, he said, “You have a decision to make.”

Wasn’t jumping out of a plane with this man enough of a decision for one day? “Which is what?”

“First choice. You can take several hours of training and jump on your own. That gives you the control, which appears to be important to you.”

“Jumping out of a plane with no one anywhere near to help me is not what I call control,” she said with no hesitation. In fact, she could feel her chest tightening, hear her heart pounding in her ears. “I thought I could jump with you? Can’t I jump with you?” She pushed to her feet, and barely remembered doing it.

“Easy, sweetheart,” he said softly, holding up his hands and slowly lowering them. “Of course you can jump with me. But maybe we should go get a beer instead of jumping out of a plane. Give you some time to think this through.”

Suddenly, she realized how silly she must seem. My God. How had she become this scared little girl, too frightened to do what a million other people did without fear?

“No,” she said, knowing that if she gave herself time to think, she’d back out. “Let’s go. I want to jump.”

Ryan stood up and walked around to her. Close. Towering over her. He extended his hand. “I’ll make sure you enjoy every last minute.”

3

SAFE, BORING, WITHOUT RISK. That described the men, and the events, of her life. She yearned for some excitement. She yearned to get past her fear. To live, to breathe, to enjoy life. Not just to survive it.