Her Amazing Boss!: The Daredevil Tycoon

“For a few minutes. The envelope is already almost down.”

“It’s not going to cover us, is it?”

“It won’t hurt if it does, we can just crawl out. But, no, it’ll go the other direction. There, it’s almost down.”

When the nylon was lying on the ground, Rafael dropped his rope and indicated Amalia could do the same.

She did so, hesitantly.

“Good job,” he said, joining her.

“Now what?”

“We wait for the others.”

She looked around. “I don’t see a road.”

“They’ll come.”

“We are not where we were when you gave them the GPS location.”

“Manuel and Maria both know how to calculate distance and direction. And we have a beacon that I can start that gives off a signal. When they are close enough, they’ll receive that. I haven’t been wrong yet, have I?”

“Not that I know of, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be,” she said, annoyed with him. He looked as fresh and energetic as he had that morning. She would love to sit somewhere and relish being on the earth again. She knew any hint of makeup she’d put on that morning was gone. Her hair had to be a mess. And she’d love to forget about everything and just veg out—preferably away from Rafael Sandoval.

He laughed. “True enough. But better for my image if every time I’m wrong, few people know about it.” He looked around, fists on his hips.

Amalia thought he looked the way a conquistador probably looked when landing in the New World and thinking he’d conquered all he surveyed.

“We can wait in the basket if you like,” he said.

“No, thanks, I’ve spent enough time there today.”

“Then help me with the balloon.”

They stretched it out, then began rolling it toward the basket. Once it was compacted, he reached in the basket for the blankets and a large plastic tarp.

“We cover the balloon, then we sit and wait.”

“Why cover the balloon?”

“To keep it dry. Wet nylon doesn’t inflate very well.”

“Oh.”

“I’ll take a blanket to sit on,” he said when the envelope was covered. He also took the last two sodas.

She handed him a blanket and then put hers down on the ground. Rafael sat opposite her.

“Will we have to spend the night here?” she asked as he tossed her one of the sodas and kept the other.

“Probably. I didn’t see any signs of civilization when looking for this space. I don’t want to spend a lot of time traveling back and forth when we could be airborne.”

“I’m not much for camping,” she said.

“Ever been?” he asked.

She shook her head.

“Then how do you know?”

“I like hot and cold running water too much.”

“Look on this as a great adventure.”

“Yeah, that’s what my brother says. Who says I want adventure?”

Rafael laughed.

Amalia swallowed her drink wrong and ended up in a coughing fit. He pounded her on the back until she stopped.

“Thanks, I’m okay now.”

She looked around. The clearing was several acres in size. There were a few scruffy trees here and there, but otherwise it was a rocky flat area on the dry side of the hills they’d been following all day. She was already feeling the hard unevenness of the ground beneath her. How could she sleep on it? How could she sleep alone with Rafael?

Were there wild animals? She looked around, realizing how fast the light was fading.

“It’ll be dark soon,” she said.

“We have a couple of flashlights in the gondola. At least when it’s dark, you can see the stars like never before. Each one is crystal clear.”

“I’d think you’d dislike it even more than I do. Aren’t you missing the fancy restaurants like last night? The luxurious hotel with the fabulous spa tub?”

“You’ve been reading too many newspaper accounts. Sure I enjoy fine things. And I like eating good food. But I also enjoy climbing, hot air ballooning. Versatility is needed for both.”

“So tell me about climbing. How did you get into that?”

“Friends from school and I first went on a trek in France when I was around eighteen. I was hooked. Talk about a challenge—finding my way up the face of a cliff that looked as if it had never been scaled. Reaching the summit and feeling like I was on the rim of the world. You should try it sometime.”

Amalia shook her head in horror. “I can’t imagine much worse—unless it’s hot air ballooning.”

“So your hobbies are needlepoint or knitting, safe and secure?”

“Don’t turn your nose up at those kinds of hobbies. They’re probably fun for many people. But not for me. I like computers.”

“So you don’t take your brother on camping trips?”

“Is that a guy thing? He does plenty outside. He’s going on a science camp this week, with twenty other students. They’ll be camping out and exploring geophysical phenomena. He’ll love it, even if it rains.”