of a fully operational helicopter hovering thirty feet from the ground.
Ten feet from his feet touching the ground, the cable jolted in his hand. Sawyer bounced in the harness and then dropped like a ton of bricks to the ground. He tucked and rolled, absorbing the impact, and then sprang to his feet. What the hell had just happened?
The attendant at the bottom yelled something in Spanish and threw himself into the jungle. Quentin followed suit.
Sawyer spun in time to see the cable springing back toward him, detached from the pole at the other end. He dived to the right and ducked behind a tree. The cable whipped through the treetops like an angry snake and finally lay still on the ground.
His heart pounding like a bass drum, Sawyer leaped to his feet and yelled, “Everyone okay?”
Quentin climbed out of the brush, pulling leaves out of his hair. “Holy crap. Did you see that?”
Sawyer’s jaw tightened, and he forced himself to take a deep breath. “Saw and felt it.”
“If you’d been a couple seconds later on that cable...” Quentin shook his head and clapped Sawyer on the back. “Damn, buddy. I hate it when you’re right.”
Sawyer brushed the dirt off his hands. “In this case, I wish I hadn’t been right.”
While the zip-line attendant scrambled to his feet, swearing in Spanish, Sawyer unbuckled the nylon straps from around his legs and let the harness drop. “Next time you want me to slide down a zip line...”
Quentin held up his hands. “Don’t worry. There won’t be a next time.” He felt his pockets and cursed. Then he dived into the brush and came up with his cell phone. “The good news is I got it all on video. The guys are gonna die when they see this.”
Sawyer snorted. “I almost died living it.”
Quentin shoved the phone into his pocket and turned toward the exit. “I have to admit, I was surprised to see you coming. But even more surprised when the redhead came down first.”
Sawyer glanced around and didn’t see the woman named Jenna anywhere. “I take it Jenna arrived safely at the bottom.”
“She did. She and her pretty friend left, claimed they needed to get back to find a piece of missing luggage. The redhead told me to tell you thanks for the encouragement.”
Disappointed he’d missed her, but glad she’d gone before him when the cable was still intact, Sawyer asked, “You didn’t happen to catch her full name, did you?”
“She didn’t offer a last name.” Quentin turned back to Sawyer. “Why? Are you interested?”
Again, Sawyer shrugged. “Just wondered.” Hell, yes, he was interested, but he’d be damned if he let Quentin know. He’d pick at him incessantly.
“I did get her roommate’s name, though.” Quentin patted his smartphone. “Carly Samuels. We have a date tonight.”
Figured. Quentin didn’t waste time when it came to women. He was a charmer, and women fell for him all the time. Perhaps the best-looking man on the team with his black hair and ice-blue eyes, he usually had his pick of the ladies.
Quentin had a date and Duff was with his lady friend, Natalie, leaving Sawyer and Montana fending for themselves for dinner and drinks. Which suited Sawyer just fine. Montana was a big, outdoorsy mountain man who didn’t say much but was good company. They had a week and a half left of their two weeks in Cancún. Granted, he loved his SEAL teammates like brothers, but he could use a little quality time away from them, preferably in the company of someone of the opposite sex.
As they slid into the rented Jeep, Quentin turned to Sawyer. “You had a few minutes alone with her. Why didn’t you get her name and number? We could have gone on a double date.”
“We weren’t alone. The attendant was there. And who said I wanted to go out with her, anyway?” And he sure as hell wouldn’t go on a double date with Quentin. No, if Sawyer had gotten Jenna’s number, he’d have taken her out alone. Maybe for a walk along the beach in the moonlight. If she showed even the slightest interest, he might have stolen a kiss. Those pretty pink lips she’d chewed on prior to taking the big leap on the zip line were full and plump. Made for kissing.
“You’ve got to get out there, be more sociable, network and sell yourself.”
Sawyer’s fingers tightened on the steering wheel at Quentin’s comment. He’d heard the same words from his father’s mouth on more than one occasion. Quentin was right. He hadn’t dated in a while, and he was getting rusty at socializing with women.
What Quentin and his father never understood was that Sawyer didn’t like being in the limelight. Especially in front of all of his father’s peers. He’d rather be the best he could be at his job in the navy SEALs, the one place he’d proven he was good enough to make the cut. Besides, wearing the uniform was usually all he needed to find a date when he really wanted one. Too bad he was in civvies here.
“So do you have plans for tonight?” Quentin asked.
“Yeah. I plan on spending the afternoon on the beach. Maybe I’ll rent a WaveRunner. Then I’m going to eat seafood and have a few beers with Montana. I don’t have to live for excitement like you.”
Quentin shook his head. “Since excitement seems to follow us, you might need a little rest and relaxation.” He linked his hands behind his neck. “Missions always leave me wired, ready to expend some energy.”
“Like winding the springs on a watch?”
“Yeah. Something like that.”
“Not me. We’ve spent the past few months either training or performing back-to-back missions. I could use some downtime to regroup and get my head on straight.”
“Well, you do your thing. I’ll do mine.” Quentin shot a grin his way. “With the adventurous and beautiful Carly.”
Sawyer almost opened his mouth and asked Quentin to secure the phone number for Carly’s friend Jenna. Then he thought better of it. He didn’t need Quentin to find him a woman. If he really wanted to go out with her, he’d find her himself. She had to be somewhere in Cancún. The resort area wasn’t that big. He might even run into her on the beach.
His pulse quickened at the thought.
* * *
EVEN AFTER THE long drive back to the resort, Jenna Broyles still shook from her experience on the zip line.
“I can’t believe you actually did it,” Carly said for the tenth time as she got out of the rental car and met Jenna in front of the hood. “I’m so proud of you.” She hugged her and stood beaming like a mother bird on her chick’s first flight. “So how does it feel to be adventurous?”
Jenna pressed a hand to her belly. “A little nauseating.”
Carly laughed. “You’ll get over it. Just like you’ll get over being stood up at the altar.”
That reminder bit into Jenna’s newfound adventurous spirit. Though it had been almost two months since she’d stood in the anteroom at the church, wondering where
