Balen chuckled, grabbing the book beside him and opening it to Day Two. “Wow, your friend must be a real adrenaline junkie. Go big or go home kind of girl, huh?”
“What makes you say that?” she asked sarcastically, a little knot of dread tightening in her chest. Balen set the book in her lap and she read the activity Summer had planned for them. Her gut pitched. “Yeah…I’m not doing that.”
“Sure you are. We’re going to have a blast.”
“Have you ever done it before?”
“Yep, lots of times. It’s a real rush.”
Her stomach began to roll, nausea churning in her gut. “I think I’m going to be sick.”
“It’s going to be fine. Trust me.”
“No, I’m really going to be sick.” Autumn bolted off the bed and ran into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. She barely made it to the porcelain bowl before her stomach heaved, emptying itself of last night’s remnants of Captain Coke.
Balen’s laughter echoed from the bedroom, grating on her nerves. Didn’t he know it was impolite to laugh at someone else’s misery? “You all right in there, champ?” he called through the door. “Get it all out now so it doesn’t come up later.”
Oh God, help me…
“Balen, I don’t think I want to do this.” Autumn peered over the railing to the rushing water below. Her stomach dropped as the blood in her head drained to her feet.
“You’re not going to puke again, are you?”
She shot him a glare and rolled her eyes. “Ha-ha…”
That teasing grin on his face was too damn handsome for his own good. Autumn couldn’t believe she was seriously considering this.
“If I do, can we leave?”
He laughed. It was something she noticed he did a lot. Autumn wished the rich, throaty sound didn’t make her feel so warm and fuzzy inside. She didn’t want to be attracted to him, but she’d never met a man with such a playful, easy-going nature. Alex had always been so somber and dogmatic about everything. Being with Balen was kind of…refreshing.
“Would Summer let you leave?” he challenged, taking his job as her new bestie entirely too seriously.
She stuck out her tongue in answer. It was juvenile and exactly the response she would have given Summer. Albeit, Balen was hotter than any friend she’d ever had before. More than once today, she’d had to remind herself she wasn’t trying to impress him, but there was no denying the undercurrent of attraction sizzling between them.
But hey, if he was determined to ignore it then two could play at that game, and the best way to do that was to treat him exactly the same way she’d treat any of her friends. It helped that she still had no recollection of what happened between them, and now that they’d shifted into the friend zone, she kind of hoped she wouldn’t. Autumn didn’t want to know what she was missing.
“All right, then. What kind of a friend would I be if I let you back out now?”
What kind of a friend indeed… It was a little strange, Balen referring to himself as such, because, let’s be honest, “friends” was not how this whole thing had started and she’d never been this attracted to Summer. “One that understands a fear of heights,” she grumbled.
“I understand it, I’m just not going to let you cow to it. Come on. Let’s get you harnessed up.” Before she could kick up any more of a fuss, Balen grabbed her hand and dragged her toward the bungee instructor.
Summer, you are so dead the next time I see you.
The instructor fastened the straps around Autumn’s chest, waist, and ankles, giving them a good tug to test the latches. She stumbled a step before catching her balance, and Balen had to resist the urge to reach out and steady her. Autumn shot him a frightened glance and he met her stare, willing her confidence. He could see she was scared. A part of him wanted to rescue her from that fear, to unlatch her harness and take her out of here, but nothing good would come from letting her run away.
Her bestie, Summer, had gone through a lot of trouble and expense to plan such an elaborate vacation. He had to trust that Autumn’s friend knew what the hell she was doing. He’d learned to conquer his fear a long time ago, knew the importance of not letting it control you. The more times you faced it, the easier it got. Sometimes you just had to close your eyes and leap—literally in this case.
“I can’t believe Summer planned for us to go bungee jumping. She knows I hate heights,” Autumn complained. “How far is this drop?”
“Seventy-five feet, ma’am.” The instructor turned Autumn toward him and re-checked her harness connections one last time.
Satisfied, he placed his hand on her back and nudged her toward the jumping platform. She looked over the bridge to the rushing river below. “Has anyone ever died doing this?”
“Not on my watch.” The instructor winked, his grin a bit friendlier than Balen thought necessary. Was it just him, or was that guy’s hand lingering at the small of her back? The spike of jealousy knifing through his veins was an unexpected how do you do? Grinding his teeth, he shot the guy a back the fuck off glare. Mr. Handsy must have gotten the message, because he cleared his throat and dropped his meaty paw, and moved back. “You’re all set, ma’am.”
She nodded, taking a cautious step onto the platform that put her almost even with Balen’s height. “Holy shit. I’m so scared right now. I can’t believe I’m going to do this. Maybe you should take my picture for the scrapbook now before I jump. Just in case… You know…”
Balen laughed. “What, like a before and after picture? Pre and post splat?”
“Exactly. If I die, you send that book back to Summer and tell her I said fuck you very much!”
His laughter wasn’t helping, but he couldn’t stop. She had a funny, sarcastic sense of humor he could fully appreciate. “All right.” Balen pulled his cell out of his pocket and snapped a picture of Autumn on the ledge. “But you’re going to be fine. I promise.”
“Easy for you to say. You’re not plummeting seventy-five feet head first toward the water and perhaps your death.”
“I just did it! You were standing right here.” She’d insisted he go first so she could see it done once and would know what to expect. At least that had been her rationale. Now he suspected it’d just been a procrastination tactic. Taking her face in his hands, he looked her square in the eyes and said, “You got this. Stop thinking about it and just jump.”
She nodded, but made no move to walk any further onto the ledge.
“There’s no shame in feeling afraid, Autumn. It’s what you do with that fear that matters.”
She seemed to think about that for a second and then nodded again, this time with more conviction. “I’m going to do it.”
“Good girl. I’ll be waiting right here when you get back.”
She moved to the edge of the platform and stood there, visibly working up the courage to jump. She glanced nervously over her shoulder, maybe needing that final nudge of encouragement.
“You can do this Autumn. Jump on three. Okay?”
She nodded.
“One…”
She bent her knees.
“Two…”
She tensed to jump.
“Three…”
Autumn leapt off the platform, her scream an echoing plummet as she free-fell toward the water. Once the bungee took hold of her ankles and yanked her back toward the bridge, that scream morphed into laughter. After a few more plunging bounces, the instructor activated the winch and slowly began hoisting her back up. Her face was flushed, her beautiful blue eyes absolutely radiant. Exhilaration flushed her cheeks as she stood there while the instructor unfastened her ankle straps. The moment she was free, Autumn leapt off the platform and ran over to him, throwing her arms around his neck.
“I did it! Wow, that was so amazing! Terrifying as hell and so freaking unbelievable!”
The moment she crashed into him with all those soft curves plastered against his body, déjà vu cracked him over the head with a lust-filled 2x4. His
body instantly hardened, remembering with all too much ease the way she felt beneath him—that sweet little way her breath hitched right before she came with his fingers buried deep inside her. The sound of his name a breathless plea on her kiss-swollen lips, and the exotic coconut scent of her skin. All memories only he retained, bitter-sweet memories that were bound to torture him endlessly over the next week, because had he known then what he knew now, he never would have touched her.
It was bad enough that she didn’t remember the passion they’d shared, because that shit had been off the charts hot. He’d never felt that kind of chemistry with another woman before and it was just his luck that when it happened, he was the only one to remember it.
But his arms had a goddamn mind of their own and they wrapped around her. “See? I knew you could do it. You faced your fears. I’m proud of you. Wanna do it again?” Did she realize she was clinging to him so tightly? Or was her adrenaline-high dulling her to the fact that his erection was digging into the soft flesh of her stomach. She had to feel it. Was she too jazzed to care?
“Not a chance,” she laughed, exhilaration flushing her cheeks.
Man, she was beautiful. He was glad he’d been here to share the moment with her. It’d been a long time since he’d hung out with a woman just for the hell of it, and even longer since one treated him like any ordinary guy. He kinda liked it—or maybe he just liked her.
“I want my after picture.” Autumn surprised him by shoving her hand into his pocket, her fingers teasingly close to his dick. “Will you please take our picture?” she asked, handing his phone to the bungee instructor.
“Sure.”
Autumn slid her arm around his back and stepped into his side, giving the camera a thumbs-up and the biggest smile he’d ever seen. Did he mention she was adorable? Cute. As. Hell. With her twin braids poking out beneath her safety helmet.
The guy snapped the pic and handed him the cell back. “You’re a lucky guy.”
“Thanks…” Balen pocketed the phone, the compliment leaving a dull ache in his chest. Balen would’ve whole-heartedly agreed with the guy if Autumn were actually his. That wasn’t what this was, and he’d do well to remember that.
“Are you hungry?” he asked her, forcing aside the thoughts threatening to snake his perfectly pleasant day.
“I’m not sure. My stomach is still in my throat,” she laughed, pressing her hand against her flat belly.
“Come on, Evel Knievel—” She laughed as he threw an arm around her shoulders, guiding her off the bridge. “—I’ll take you back to the villa.” As they walked to her rental, he tried not to notice how perfectly she fit against his side, the top of her shoulder tucking snugly beneath his arm. This was all right, wasn’t it? Friends touched like this all the time. Sure they do, his cock cheerfully answered with an enthusiastic kick. She also has a chunk of hair that’s going to poke her in the eye if you don’t tuck it behind her ear.
Smartass…
Chapter Nine
Autumn stopped outside the door, her hand resting on the knob. Funny, this morning she acted like she couldn’t wait for him to leave and now it seemed like she didn’t want him to go. “I had fun today.” Her voice was soft, a little hesitant. She seemed unsure what to do next.
The adrenaline high of plunging seventy-five feet toward the earth had worn off sometime during supper. Yeah, he’d convinced her to stop and get something to eat. Maybe he hadn’t been ready for the day to end either. She appeared tired, maybe a little jet lagged, but not even fatigue could dull her beauty.
“Me too,” he confessed. Shit, this was more fun than he’d had with his clothes on in longer than he could remember—and in most cases—with his clothes off too.
“I never would have bungee jumped if you hadn’t been there. Thanks for giving me the nudge.”
“My pleasure. The first jump is always the hardest. It gets easier.”
“Sometimes I need to be pushed to do something wild and crazy. But I’m discovering the reward is worth facing the fear.”
Wait, were they still talking about bungee jumping? Because he wasn’t sure anymore and he didn’t know if it was his cock hearing what it wanted to, or if Autumn was drawing a new line in the sand. Either way, that was his cue it was time to go. Honest to God, a man could only take so much temptation, and after spending the day with this amazing, fun, sexy woman, he wasn’t sure he had the willpower left to honor his own damn stipulation. No sex. What the hell had he been thinking? That she’s a vulnerable, confused young woman who doesn’t know what she wants and you will not be the asshole who takes advantage of her? Oh, yeah…that.
“Do you, umm…want to come in for a while?”
Hell yeah, I do. “I can’t.”
“Oh…well…that’s all right.” She quickly tried to hide her disappointment, but it was too late. He’d already seen it in her eyes and something uncomfortable tightened inside his chest. “I guess it is getting kinda late. You probably have more important things to do than play BFF.”
Not really. But he’d been ignoring Bradford’s calls all day and now Connor’s had joined in with a lot of where the hell are you messages. So as much as he wanted to pretend the rest of the world didn’t exist for just one goddamn day, unfortunately that was too much to ask. So much for lying low…
“Okay—” She opened the door and turned to step inside. “—goodnight then.”
“Autumn, wait.” He probably shouldn’t have stopped her. Correction. He definitely shouldn’t have stopped her, because he knew that look all too well. She wanted him to kiss her. Problem was, as jacked as he was after spending the day with her, he was afraid if he started, he wouldn’t be able to stop. And now she stood there, waiting for him to say something. Shit. Real smooth, Kroft. “So, uh… I’ll see you in the morning?”
This was getting awkward. Just last night, he’d had his hand up her dress and his tongue down her throat. Now, he couldn’t even string a few damn sentences together. Maybe that’s because you can’t stop thinking about your hand up her dress and your tongue down her throat, asshole.
She humored him with a smile. “Sure. Goodnight, Balen.”
Autumn closed the door and he exhaled a ripe curse, roughly dragging his hand through his hair. He needed to go home and take a long, cold shower.
“Where the hell have you been?” Connor demanded from the couch as Balen walked in. He paused his Forza Five race and shot Balen a concerned scowl. The last time Balen saw that look, Connor was getting ready to tell him he’d caught Monica going down on his rival, Scott Cunningham, at a party at Pismo Beach. Dread slowly seeped into his veins.
Man, he was not in the mood for this shit. Bradford had just gotten done reaming him a new asshole because Sex Wax had indeed pulled out of their contract. “Hope your voyeuristic fuck was worth the two-hundred-fifty grand it just cost you.”
Balen refrained from pointing out—again—that he hadn’t been complicit in the whole sex tape scandal because what was the point? He knew he’d messed up. It was simple as that and he wasn’t the kind of guy who made excuses for his behavior. Connor was doing everything he could to contain this and Balen trusted his brother to handle it. Was there going to be fallout? Yep. But he wasn’t the first celebrity to get caught with his pants down and he wouldn’t be the last.
“I told you last night, I had a date. I didn’t realize I had a curfew, Dad.”
Connor lifted his wrist and stared at his imaginary watch. “That was over twenty-four-hours ago. In the future, if you could do your brother the courtesy of answering your phone that would be greatly appreciated.”
“It died.” He held up the cell as evidence and crossed the room to plug it in. “I only had a car charger and I returned Bradford’s call on the way here.”
“Heard you lost Sex Wax. That sucks, man.”
“Yeah...”
“If it helps, I’ve got that forest fire about seventy-five percent contained.”
“Thanks, man. I knew you
’d take care of it.”
“I’ll call Sex Wax tomorrow and try to smooth things over with them. Set up a meeting when we’re at Mavericks, offer them some free promo and shit. Maybe we can still save the contract. You know what they say…even bad publicity is good publicity—especially if I’m on the job.”
Balen laughed. “Tell that to Bradford. Maybe he’ll quit crawling up my ass.”
“Speaking of asses… I went out with Carlie last night—”
“Wait, is she the one with the freckle or without?”
“Without.”
“Okay. And…?”
“She told me Monica’s in town.”
“Oh, shit.” It was bad enough he was going to have to see her at Mavericks in two weeks. He did not have the time or the patience to deal with her shit.
“Carlie said she’s telling everyone that you broke her heart.”
His laugh was a sharp, sarcastic bark. “Was that before or after Cunningham’s cock was down her throat?”
“I don’t think she’s telling anyone that part of the story, man. She’s making it loud and clear that she wants you back, though.”
“Not gonna happen, my friend.” That she even thought there was a snowball’s chance in hell of them reconciling proved just how insane that chick was. “What’s the matter? Did Cunningham lose a competition or something? He slip from the number one spot?” Yeah, Balen might be over her, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t still bitter.
Connor chuckled and shook his head. “Maybe she found out you’re favored to win Mavericks Invitational. Who knows? That bitch is crazy.”
True that. There was no love lost between his brother and Monica. Connor had always seen her for the wave runner she was and, to his credit, he’d tried to warn Balen about her—several times. It wasn’t Connor’s fault he’d been too stupid to listen.
“You need to lay low for a week and stay the hell away from here. Let this media shit blow over and hopefully Mon-zilla will give up and go back to whatever rock she crawled out from.”
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