by Lori Wilde
“He’s soft as a marshmallow, luv. Can’t believe you’ve been lusting after the likes of him.”
“That’s before I knew about you. And I can’t believe you just happened along the trail while I was sitting there wishing something interesting would happen.”
“It was fate what brought me to this vortex. That’s what it was. Nothing less than fate,” Jackson said to Abby and Durango. “I was meant to meet Tess today.”
“Fate,” Abby echoed.
“Yeah. We were supposed to shoot an action sequence this morning, but at the last minute the director decided to film the pivotal love scene instead, and on a closed set,” Jackson explained. “So the rest of us got the day off. Otherwise at this very moment, I’d be hurtling down a canyon in a runaway wagon instead of enjoying the sights with my new lady.”
New lady!
They’d just met for crying out loud. They were moving far too fast. Abby tried to catch Tess’s eye to mentally say, slow down, slow way down, but Tess’s full attention was focused on the hunky stuntman.
“Oh, Jackson,” Tess simpered, hanging off his beefy arm like a groupie.
Stunned, she stared at her friend. If she didn’t know better, she would swear Tess was in love. But she couldn’t be in love. How could she be in love? She didn’t even know this person.
“Jackson hiked out here all the way from the movie set. Can we give him a ride back to Sedona, Durango?” Tess asked.
“Sure.”
Abby shot Durango a dirty look. Why was he encouraging them? Oh yeah, right, because he was a huge proponent of passion. But from this side of the fence, the passion simmering between Tess and Jackson looked ripe for someone getting badly hurt.
And Abby feared that someone was Tess.
“Thanks, mate.” Jackson slapped Durango’s palm and winked. Abby didn’t like what that wink suggested. Not one bit.
“We were just heading back,” Durango said.
By the time they reached the Jeep, the sun was at its zenith and several more tourists were in the area. Tess and Jackson climbed into the back seat, Durango and Abby in the front.
As they were pulling onto the road, a man slipped from behind a rock. He raised his camera, snapped their picture, and then disappeared from where he had come.
Abby recognized the guy. He was the vortex-seeking tourist in the Bermuda shorts, plaid socks and Van Halen T-shirt combo.
“That’s weird,” she said. “Why was he taking our picture?”
“Paparazzi,” Jackson said. “They’re all the time mistaking me for Colin Cruz.”
“Gosh, I bet that’s exciting,” Tess said.
“It’s a pain in the arse, is what it is.”
“Hmm,” Abby murmured. She couldn’t say why, but she had the distinct feeling the guy wasn’t paparazzi. There was something about him that didn’t fit.
“Where can I drop you, Jackson?” Durango asked when they wheeled into Sedona.
“Tranquility Spa.”
“You’re staying there?” Tess squealed. “That’s so cool. Us too.”
“Now that’s what I call a pleasant coincidence,” Jackson said.
“It’s fate is what it is.” Tess leaned against his shoulder. She was already picking up his vernacular.
Oh pull-eaze, Abby thought, but secretly part of her was jealous at how easily Tess got swept away by her emotions. She didn’t stop to analyze or strategize or compartmentalize. She simply seized the moment with both hands and reveled in life. Come what may.
No letting a little common sense and fear of pain slow her down.
When they reached the Tranquility Spa, Tess and Jackson tumbled out of the back seat and headed inside together. Durango reached over and touched Abby’s arm, detaining her.
“So,” he said. “About this passion thing. Are you still game? Tomorrow is my day off and I thought we could start with something really fun.”
“I…I’m…I’m…”
Now that they were away from the influence of the electric vortex, Abby’s bravery vanished. She was having serious second thoughts about the wild fling they had discussed out on the mesa. She wanted it, yes. But she feared it too.
“Conflicted,” Durango finished her sentence for her. “Plunging into an impetuous affair isn’t really your style.”
“No, it’s not and you’re right, I am conflicted. On the one hand you’re incredibly sexy and I’m looking forward to fanning that old flame. But on the other hand, I don’t want to treat you shabbily.”
“Don’t worry about me.” His smile was gentle and oddly relaxing. “I get your hesitation. You’ve been telling yourself for so long that you’re sensible and calm and unemotional. Challenging your core values and beliefs takes a lot of courage.”
“The deal is, I’m not even sure I want to challenge them.”
“Of course, you do.” His knowing grin was easy. “Or you wouldn’t be here with me.”
“Tess set this trip up. I had no idea she was plotting to get me to Sedona to see you again.”
“But you allowed her to make the travel arrangements,” he said.
Abby inhaled audibly. “I did.”
“And you know what she’s like.”
“Yes.”
“I stand by my statement. Subconsciously, you want to be here.”
He had a point.
“It’s not that I want to change my beliefs and values,” she said after a moment. “There are just some things I need to discover about myself before I can move forward with my life.”
“What exactly do you want from me, Abby?”
“I want the adventure of a lifetime,” she said, barely able to believe she had the courage to ask for everything she needed from him. She’d spent her life trying to smooth things over, giving in to what other people wanted and rarely giving thought to what she wanted.
Until now.
It was a new and totally liberating concept, one she was going to enjoy trying on for size.
“Then that’s what I’ll deliver,” he promised. “I’ll pick you up at five o’clock tomorrow morning.”
“Five o’clock?” Abby was by nature an early riser, but five in the morning?
“We’re going hang gliding at dawn.”
“Hang gliding?” she squeaked. “I’m not sure I need an adventure quite that intense.”
“That’s just for starters. It’s gonna get much more intense.”
“Oh?”
“Oh, yeah.” Then Durango drew her into his arms right there in front of the main entrance to the Tranquility Spa.
Abby wasn’t comfortable with public displays of affection, but she didn’t know how to pull away without looking uptight and prudish.
“I need to take this one baby step at time.”
“Angel, hang gliding is nothing,” he said. “We’ll be flying tandem. I’ll do all the work—you just relax and enjoy the view.”
“What if I can’t go through with it?” she whispered. “What if we get up in the air and I panic? What if I freak out? What if I go on a sneezing jag?”
“Passion rule number one. You freak and the game is over. You’re in total control.”
“This goes for when we make it into the bedroom, right?”
“If we even decide to make use of a bed.” His tone sent chills of anticipation coursing down her spine.
“I’ve never had sex anywhere but in a bed,” she admitted.
He clicked his tongue. “That’s what I was afraid of. Passion rule number two. No beds.”
“And passion rule number three, what is it?” she whispered.
“Just let go and let it happen.” He hooked an index finger under her chin, tilted her face up and then lowered his lips and kissed her right there in front of the smirking bellboys.
“Those guys,” she mumbled around his lips. “They’re watching us.”
“Let ’em stare.”
“What if they talk? Remember, if we do decide to consummate this affair it has to remain a s
ecret.”
“Let ’em gossip. This isn’t Silverton Heights. No one is going to tattle to your daddy.”
“I can’t gamble with his career.”
“So I’ll pay ’em off to keep quiet.”
“I’m serious. This is important.”
“So are you. When are you going to stop putting everyone else’s interests ahead of your own?”
“You don’t understand,” she started to protest, but he placed a finger over her lips.
“Shh. Concentrate on what you want and forget everything else.”
She inhaled sharply.
Durango was kissing her and looking her straight in the eyes at the same time. Abby was so startled by the sheer thrill racing through her that she didn’t close her eyes either.
Their gazes were locked as tightly as their lips. She’d never kissed with her eyes open and she was surprised to discover how incredibly erotic it was.
Durango pulled away. “Did that panic you?”
“A little,” she admitted. “If you weren’t holding my shoulders I might have run away.”
“Fair enough,” he said. “But it was exciting, too, wasn’t it.”
“Yes,” she confessed.
“Liberating.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Just remember, Abby, you’re in charge of any and all adventures we go on together. Sexual or otherwise. If at any point you get too scared to continue, we stop. Nothing happens that you don’t want to happen.”
“Thank you, I appreciate that.”
“Unless,” he said, his tone pure chocolate sin, thick and rich and gooey with innuendo, “you decide you want to relinquish all control and abandon to abandon.”
5
ABANDON TO ABANDON.
Surrender to surrender.
Capitulate to capitulation.
Abby lay on the bed, staring up at the ceiling. All this letting go sounded tempting, but was she really cut out for adventure, excitement and pushing her sexual envelope?
More important, what if it turned out that she was so cut out for passion that her old life no longer fit? What if it turned out Cassandra was right?
What then?
Tess picked that moment to burst through the door of the room they were sharing, startling Abby from her daydream.
“It’s official,” her friend said, dramatically clutching a hand to her heart and falling backward across her bed. “I’m in serious lust.”
“What else is new?” Abby asked dryly.
“I’m telling you, it’s the power of the vortex. This place has made a believer of me.”
“What has the electromagnetic energy of the earth got to do with lust?”
“Everything.”
“Okay, if you say so.” Abby shook her head. She would never have guessed Tess would fall for this crazy vortex stuff. Then again she had felt something pretty amazing on the top of the mesa.
“Seriously,” Tess said earnestly. “I mean it. I haven’t had the hots for anybody this badly in a long, long time.”
“Bull,” Abby challenged. “Yesterday you were madly in lust with Colin Cruz.”
“Oh, he was just a fantasy.” Tess fanned herself. “But trust me on this, Jackson is very real.”
“Did you guys have sex already? Please tell me you didn’t already have sex with him, Tess.” Abby glanced at her watch. “You’ve known him all of five hours.”
“We didn’t have sex.” Tess smiled knowingly. “Unless you call groping each other in the tranquility garden having sex.”
“Just how much groping went on?”
“Let’s just say the tranquility garden wasn’t exactly tranquil while we were gettin’ it on.”
“Tess! People come to this spa to relax. Have some consideration.”
“Hey, they relax their way, I relax mine.”
“You’re incorrigible.”
“And you love me for it. Without me your life would be a total yawn fest.”
“That’s not fair,” Abby said defensively. “I do interesting things.”
“Name one.”
She frowned. She worked at her job, she helped out on her father’s campaign. She exercised faithfully and attended church on Sundays. For fun she piled onto the couch and watched movies in her pj’s and slippers. To relax she cooked gourmet meals. For enjoyment she listened to classical music.
Okay, so Tess had a valuable point. She was unarguably dull. That’s why she was embarking on this adventure thing with Durango. And to prove Cassandra wrong. She was determined to establish a precedent. She was going to show her mother that a person could indulge in passion, then walk away from it without destroying anyone’s life in the process.
“Well?” Tess prodded.
“I hang out with you,” Abby said at last.
“There you go. I’m your salvation. I provide your life with much-needed contrast.”
“Are you seeing Jackson again?” Abby asked, anxious to switch the subject off her boringness.
“You betcha. He’s sneaking me onto the movie set tomorrow and we’re planning on making out in the stuntmen’s trailer. Isn’t that exciting?”
“Just don’t get caught.”
“Why not? What’s the worst that can happen? I get tossed out. No big deal.”
“Jackson could lose his job.”
“You think?”
“Maybe.”
“Oh. I hadn’t thought about that. I’d hate for him to lose his job.”
“See, there is a downside to the whole impulsive fun-loving thing. So settle down. Besides, you don’t want to end up just another notch on his belt.”
“Why not? I’m carving out a notch with his name on it on my belt.”
Abby shook her head. “One of these days you’re going to get your heart broken.” She just hoped it wasn’t soon.
“Not me.” Tess waved a hand. “I’m the heartbreaker, not the other way around. I’ve learned my lesson from my parents’ mistakes. There ain’t no such thing as true love. It’s all a Cinderella fairy tale.”
“That’s so cynical.”
“Hey, considering what you’ve been through with your folks and then getting dumped by Ken I think you’d be on the love-is-bunk bandwagon yourself.”
Abby shrugged. “What can I say? I have high hopes.”
“And speaking of high hopes, let’s dish about the delectable Mr. Creed. God, is he ever yummy. So is he the same sexy guy you remember?”
And so much more.
Abby shrugged nonchalantly. She wasn’t ready to talk about her feelings for Durango. She needed time to process what had happened.
“Did you guys fool around on the mesa? That’s why I hung out on the trail, to give you some alone time. That is until Jackson came along and then I sort of forgot all about you.”
“Yes,” Abby admitted. “We kissed.”
“Well?” Tess rolled over onto her belly and propped her chin onto her stacked hands. “How was it?”
Abby tried to play it cool, but the memory of their kisses bubbled up inside her like a happy secret she just couldn’t keep to herself.
“It was incredible.”
“Elaborate.”
“All I can say is wow.”
“So is it like you remember?”
“Oh, it’s so much better. When we were teenagers I was too uptight to relax and Durango was too eager to take it slow. But he has really matured. And he fills out his jeans nicely, I might add.” She giggled.
“Well, so when are you seeing him again?”
Abby sobered. “He’s taking me tandem hang gliding tomorrow. That is, if I don’t end up backing out.”
“Why on earth would you back out? This is exactly what you need.”
“You know me, Tessy. I like having my feet planted firmly on the ground. This whole gliding-over-the-earth thing…” She shook her head.
“Mmm-hmm. And where has keeping your feet firmly planted on the ground gotten you so far? Working at a job you just sort of happened
into. Attending a university your father picked out for you. Engaged to the dullest man this side of dirt.”
“You’re making my life sound horrible and it’s not. I find being connected to something bigger than myself, like our community and the charitable organization I work for brings me peace of mind. I’m not like you. I don’t have to feel the earth shift every five minutes in order to feel alive.”
“Does it really bring you peace of mind?” Tess challenged. “Or are you just saying that because you’re afraid to have sex with the dynamic Mr. Creed and find out exactly how wonderful it feels to have the earth move under your feet?”
“I’m just worried these adventures will change me and not for the better.” Then Abby told Tess about her father’s phone call.
Tess sighed. “Don’t worry. You’re not going to turn into Cassandra.”
“How do you know that? Eve ate the apple and everything changed.” Abby snapped her fingers. “Just like that.”
“What if everything changes for the better? What if your father actually ends up approving of your bid for independence—once he gets used to the idea—and he applauds your growth?”
“I don’t think that’s going to happen. He was pretty upset with me. He’s afraid I’m going to sabotage the election.”
“You know what you need—” Tess began.
“Oh no,” Abby groaned. “That statement is what landed me in this quandary in the first place.”
“Getting dumped by Ken for Racy Racine is what got you into this situation. I simply added fuel to the fire. Listen up, what you need is to change something about yourself right now.”
“What have you got in mind?”
The idea intrigued her. Changing something small might give her enough courage to try something much bigger and bolder.
Like hang gliding.
And having non-bed sex with Durango.
“You could borrow my clothes. Wear something hot and sexy. Ditch those classy, tailored threads of yours. You wanna wear my turquoise tank made out of that special weave fabric that clings to your boobs like plastic wrap?”
“The one that shows off your midriff?”
“That’s the one.”
“Maybe,” she hedged.
“You could pair it with my low-rise bell-bottoms. It makes a jaw-dropping ensemble. Especially if you wear those adorable suede half-boots of yours. You know, the ones with the chunky heel.”