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.
Sabrina stared at Ryan’s hand—big, strong and an invitation to be daring that included so much more than jumping out of a plane. Her gaze lifted to his chocolatebrown stare, her hand tingling with the desire to touch him. The sexual tension between them was palpable, darn near consuming.
“Okay, Sabrina,” Jennifer said, rushing into the room, “I have news that is either going to totally frustrate you, or make your day.”
Sabrina turned to face her friend, abandoning Ryan’s outstretched hand, as if her own hand were caught in the cookie jar. “News?” she asked.
Jennifer approached them and glanced suspiciously between Sabrina and Ryan. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing,” Sabrina said quickly and then shoved her paperwork forward. “Nothing but paperwork, that is. All done.”
“Paperwork,” Ryan said dryly. “Nothing but paper work. What’s the news?”
With keen, skeptical eyes, Jennifer grabbed the forms, but focused on Ryan. “Apparently Marco Montey enjoyed himself yesterday. He’s coming back this afternoon. He called jumping with you the best adrenaline rush he’d had off the track in years. In other words, you can’t take Sabrina up today. And for the record…that a well-known daredevil views you as an adrenaline rush is a perfect example of why I don’t want Sabrina
