by Nikky Kaye
“Have a good dinner last night?” Gage asked, and got a few titters in response. “A few of you have sent me emails asking why we’re here this weekend. That’s a good question, since I’m sure most of you would rather be spending time with your families or friends, or at least sleeping in this morning.”
Amen.
“When we expanded last year with new biometric apps, we were very successful—thanks to our R&D, marketing, and many other members of this team. But as we needed to hire more people as part of that expansion, we lost a bit of the cohesiveness that made the company so attractive to VC in the first place.”
The urge to return to my cozy hotel bed—probably freshly made by Housekeeping—grew. I stifled a yawn with my palm.
“Now we’ve got Happit launching in the next six months, and you’ve all been working hard to get it ready,” Gage continued. “I have a lot of confidence in this app, in you. But in private conversations with some investors, it has been indicated to me that we are being seen as too bloated now, and that our recent success wasn’t due to hard work and innovation—that we got in at the right time, which made us lucky.”
Oh, yikes. I wondered which impudent investor’s head was rotting on a spike somewhere back in the city. From my position behind Nikhil’s elbow, I saw Gage’s sour frown.
“Luck isn’t enough. We need to be good. We need to be better than good. The reason our last app succeeded wasn’t because of other new peripherals in the market that we tapped into—it was because we tried to envision the future as a team.”
“Now, recently that team hasn’t been as strong, nor have our ideas—even mine,” he grudgingly admitted. “And I’ll level with you—there has been talk from some investors about pulling out; they think that we’ve already peaked.”
A murmur of concern rippled through the group until Gage put up his hands. “Relax, nobody is getting fired or anything. But we can’t rely on that golden egg.”
“Or the king will kill the goose when it doesn’t shit out another,” Susan muttered under her breath to my left. Gage eyed her, but went on.
“So we’re here because I want everyone to reconnect not only to what our goals are as a developer, but also reconnect to the drive and creativity that made us a success in the first place. Because we are going to come up with new ideas and run into new obstacles—I guarantee it. As a larger company now, we need to know how to work together to form solutions. So let’s think outside the box, because there are no excuses for failure.”
Of course there weren’t. Commence eye roll. Gage didn’t seem to get that failure just happened sometimes. It wasn’t something people chose to do.
Ten minutes later, we were walking like cowboys thanks to the uncomfortable harnesses around our groins, our chalk bags hanging like oversized testicles from our waistbands.
“You probably won’t even need the chalk,” said Bobbie. “But I know some people’s hands get sweaty when they’re nervous, so we’re giving you the option. It can also help protect your palms from callouses and other injuries.”
Injuries? This “High Anxiety” course was increasing my anxiety. Fucking corporate togetherness. Fearless Leader probably would have seen more enthusiasm, participation, and better results if he’d let us play hooky from our desks on a Friday afternoon to play company Twister instead.
“Aaron!” Gage called out. “It’s chalk, not face paint!”
Susan was still giggling at Aaron’s mime act, as he’d swiped the chalk over his dark face and pretended to be trapped in a box. Bobbie punched him lightly in the arm with friendly expression as she brushed some of the dust off his face with her other hand. Something she said to both Susan and Aaron made them laugh and glance over at Gage. I frowned, hoping they weren’t saying something awful about him.
He might be an overbearing, self-righteous tyrant, but he was my tyrant.
Bobbie gathered us all together. “We’re going to start out closer to the ground today.”
Oh, thank god.
She led us over to a group of trees that had marked and notched. “Our first exercise is a pretty basic one called the Swinging Log.”
I looked down at the long log suspended on its side between two trees by cables. Precarious, maybe. But not impossible. What were we supposed to do?
“You’re going to stand on it,” Bobbie explained.
Doable, I thought.
“Together. All of you.”
Uh, okay.
“At the same time, without falling off, for ten seconds.”
And… we’re done here.
CHAPTER SIX
MADDIE
I spun around to make a beeline back to the hotel, when Gage stepped in front of me with his arms crossed over his chest and his left eyebrow heading toward the high rope above us.
“Not a chance,” he mouthed at me.
Fuck my life.
We got together in a big group and brainstormed ideas for how to firstly get on the log without falling off right away, then how to stay on. Should we all try at the same time? One by one? Would sitting on the log together count as a win? Sadly, no.
I had to admit that it was an interesting exercise. We each took turns getting up on the log and were thrown off within a few seconds. As it was suspended from strong cables, the rolling and swaying motions were intolerable.
Nikhil quietly tried to come at it from a systems angle. What was making the log move, and could we counter it? Susan believed that the right hierarchy of roles could turn the log into a stable base for us to stand on. She proposed beginning by straddling Gage on the log.
A snort escaped me. To his credit, Gage assumed she was joking. I wasn’t so sure.
Experimentally, I climbed onto one end of the log, holding on to the tree it was cabled to for support. I leaned into the rough bark and as my core and legs fought to keep the log still underneath me. My rear end stuck out a bit, but for the most part I was stable—at least, until Gage came up beside me.
“You’re onto something, aren’t you?”
“Maybe.”
He peered at me hugging the tree, then looked at the placement of my feet and the cable between the log and the tree.
“Can you hang on tight?”
My forehead bonked against the bark. “What do you think I’m doing here, playing tennis?”
“Smart ass. Then hang on.”
I swayed as he clamped one hand on my hip, then stepped up on the log and turned in my direction. This could be a workable solution, if the anchor—me—wasn’t at risk of falling off just from being touched by Gage. He inched up the log, getting closer to me.
“Steady,” he told me.
I clung to the tree, my face burning as he held my hips firmly, almost curved around my body. My lower back was arched, my ass cradled by his thighs as he bent over me.
“Gage…”
“Let me try something. I want to see if I can stop you from wobbling.”
Then stop touching me like that! I thought. I turned my head as best I could to see the rest of the group huddled and still debating ten feet away.
Slowly he slid his hands from my hips around to my belly. His chest pressed against my back as he splayed his hands across my rib cage, his fingertips just a fraction of an inch away from the underside of my breasts.
“You’re still unsteady,” he breathed in my ear. His heat covered me like a blanket.
My laugh was almost as shaky as the log. “You think?”
He tilted his hips into my ass, and I gasped as I realized he was hardening in his jeans. “Is it the log that’s the problem?”
I groaned, not even sure if he was joking. “Really? You want to do this now?” I muttered, but couldn’t help wriggling my ass against him a little.
His muffled moan made sweat break out on my forehead, and my stomach muscles clenched under his long fingers.
I rested my forehead against the tree. My legs were starting to tremble a little with the constant demands made on my muscles, big
and small. The heart was a muscle too, I recalled; it was definitely getting a workout. Our colleagues hadn’t noticed us yet, though I saw Aaron glance over once or twice.
“Madeline, I said to stay still.”
Flattened against my back, Gage stretched up and bit the nape of my neck. Even my ponytail stopped swaying as I froze in shock.
“That’s better.” Wha—? “Aaron! Susan! Madeline has an idea!” he called out, while I slowly processed the fact that he just treated me like a mare in heat.
The gaggle of people migrated over to us.
“Oh, of course!” Susan said with a sneer.
“I think the best approach would be for someone to get on the opposite end to stabilize the whole log. Anchored on both ends, it’s unlikely to sway too much. Then one by one carefully step up and hold on to the person next to you,” Gage said.
I heard the amusement in Aaron’s voice even though I faced the tree. “Just like that, Gage?”
“Not exactly like this,” Gage replied tightly. Not just his voice was tight, actually.
With a minimum of fuss, everyone ended up on the log—together.
“Nobody breathe.”
“Dude, you’re going to pull down my pants.”
“Where’s the guide? Is she timing us? Ten seconds must be over by now!”
“Bobbie!”
“I’m here. You guys did great!” Gage’s sister moved around to my field of vision. “It looks like Maddie figured out how to, uh, not get thrown off.”
Even with my face squashed against the tree trunk, I could see her smirk.
“Okay, you can hop down now! Next up is the Leap of Faith!”
Gage waited until everyone was down before releasing me. Even then, he kept one hand on my hip as he dismounted. He moved close to my side, his other hand trailing along my arm to touch my fingers where they gripped the trunk.
“Take my hand, Madeline.”
Sighing, I let him pry my fingers from the bark. His hand was warm and solid and easier to grip than the tree, but much more dangerous. Carefully I turned my feet around so I was facing him, then only flailed for a moment until he took my other hand.
The measured way he assessed me made me shakier than the log. He nodded at me, encouraging me to jump down and into his arms. His eyes were the color of the sky, crinkling a little at the sides as he broke into a grin. “I’ve got you.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of, sir.”
“Next up is the Leap of Faith,” Bobbie announced. “You will climb up this pole, using the attached holds.”
My neck actually hurt when I tilted my head back to see how tall was the pole was. It was tall. Very tall. Trees on a mountain kind of tall.
I put my hand up. “I think I hurt myself on the last challenge.”
Bobbie squinted at me. I would swear she and her brother must have practiced steely-eyed expressions in the mirror together as kids. Their family must have some kind of hereditary bullshit detector.
“Half your group has already gone.” She pointed at their backs as they headed back to the lodge. A few stragglers were sitting on a nearby rock, their water bottles in hand. “We break for lunch after this.”
“It’s not a problem,” Gage said, his hand on my back. “Is it?”
“I, uh… How high is that?”
Bobbie waved. “Forty-two.”
“Feet?”
“And I just have to climb it?”
“Yep. Then stand on the platform at the top.”
My head jerked back to look again. Was there actually a platform up there?
“It’s a small one.”
Regardless of how damp my panties might have been, my mouth was suddenly dry as sawdust. I tried to swallow. “On top?” I said faintly.
Gage nodded. “Then you jump, right, Pinky?” Bobbie nodded with him.
I gaped at him. “Jump?”
Together, they pointed to a red ball-like thing hanging about a hundred feet away in the air.
Now I really felt faint. My face went from overheated to totally numb as the blood drained to my feet. “Jump. To that.”
Bobbie rocked forward on her toes. “That’s why it’s called the Leap of Faith.”
“Is there a priest at the bottom for last rites?”
Gage chuckled as Bobbie prepped my belay ropes and another guide roped him in at the same time. “You can do it.”
Maybe so, but I sure as hell didn’t want to. What was so bad about quitting while you’re ahead? I felt irrationally enraged as they prodded me up the pole. Each rung up felt higher than the one before, which was technically true. But Gage was pushing me in so many different ways, and I wanted to push back.
Well, and pull him closer, but that was my own libido talking.
“You’re almost there, guys!” Bobbie shouted from the ground, her voice carrying a little with the wind. “You just passed the third!”
“Third what?” I panted, clinging on to the pole. The security of the belay rope hooked to my harness was not enough to make me feel better about any of this.
“Third story.” Gage’s voice drifted up from his position just below me. “This is the equivalent of about a four-story building.”
Oh god. I wanted to vomit again. Don’t look down, don’t look down! When I got to the top, I felt stuck. Gage was just beneath me.
“You can do this, Madeline. Remember, you’re totally safe; you’re tied in to Bobbie. Just stand up really slowly, and jump for it.”
My throat was tight. “You’re fucking nuts, you know that? Both of you. All of you. Why would anyone want to stand on one square foot a million miles in the air and then plummet to their death? What possible purpose does this serve?”
Breathe. Had to breathe.
“Madeline, it’s not that bad. I know you can do it. I have confidence in you.”
“No, I can’t.”
“Yes, you can.”
The big red balloon blurred as my eyes filled with tears. “I can’t do it, Gage. Please don’t make me do it.”
I made the mistake of trying to look down at him. The wind ruffled his hair, but his expression was determined. There was no fear on his face, no hesitation—only confidence in me. There was also no ground underneath us. My brain barely recognized the safety net below. We perched on the pole like kittens in a tree.
“Madeline, there’s only one way down.” His voice rose and fell on the wind blowing around us. “And that’s down.”
I sniffled, but was too afraid to let go of the pole long enough to wipe the tears from my face. “Then I quit.”
“I won’t let you.”
“You can’t stop me.” No job was worth this. No position, above or underneath Gage, was worth risking my life over. My breath came faster and shallower, my heart pounding like a rabbit’s.
“You’re going to hyperventilate, Madeline. Relax.”
“Relax? You want me to jump off a fucking four-story building!”
“You’re not a quitter, Madeline.”
I snorted, embarrassed when some snot escaped. That was worth using my sleeve for a moment. “Oh yes, I am.”
“Quitters are failures,” he said sternly. “I won’t let you quit. Or fail.”
“I’m actually really good at it.”
He touched the back of my trembling knee, and was lucky not to get my foot in his face. “Don’t you trust me? Would I really make you do something that bad?”
“I don’t know,” I croaked, and my stomach twisted as I realized it was true. Could I trust him with this?
“Maddie, I know you can do it. Please.”
I shook my head.
“I’ll make you a deal.” His finger traced a fiery circle on the back of my thigh. Though his touch was gentle, frustration peppered his voice. “If you jump, I’ll give you a raise.”
“And if I don’t?”
His finger traced the line of the harness between my thighs and around my ass, sending a shudder through me.
Oh, my g
od.
The cool tears drying on my cheeks contrasted with the heat in my lower half. My clawed hands were aching, and I wanted nothing more than to just let go. Bobbie leaned back a bit at the bottom, boosting my position. The harness pressed into me like Gage’s fingers, only a lot less forgiving.
“What if I quit, Gage? Will you let me quit?”
He was silent. When he spoke, his disappointment was evident. “I can’t really stop you. But I don’t want to lose you.”
I meant quit the exercise, not my job. But my terror right now was taking over all rational thought. Gage was always pushing me.
“I could just order you to do it, as your boss,” he pointed out. But I think he knew that if he tried it, I would quit my position in the company as well as my position forty feet off the ground.
Last night was the first time I’d really pushed back against his will, and today he was a big, dark bundle of nerves. Could I use that to my advantage? My mind went to the previous night, flashing on the feelings of power and arousal.
Gage shifted awkwardly, his knees banging against the pole. It was a subtle reminder that he was waiting to do the jump himself. And he would do it, no doubt. Knowing him, he would jump as hard and as high as he could.
Bobbie leaned back in the belay again, reminding me that people down below were also waiting for us. Crap.
“What’s it going to be, Madeline?”
With a deep breath, I let go of the pole.
CHAPTER EIGHT
GAGE
Fuck!
With one arm crooked around the pole, I swiped at Maddie with my other hand and ended up with a handful of air. The guy on the other end of my rope was likely swearing at me and struggling, as it felt like my heart dropped into my harness.
Unlike a cartoon character, she didn’t hover for a moment before gravity set in. Her arms stretched out toward the red ball but she was at least an arm’s length away from reaching it. Bobbie screeched down below; probably frantically letting out a lot of rope quickly through the carabiner so she didn’t get yanked up as Madeline went down.