by Susan Stoker
Harley took a deep breath, happy Coach had put some space between them. Suddenly the thought of being strapped to him seemed way too intimate for two people who had just met. Maybe if she talked to him some more, asked him more of the questions she had burning in her brain, she’d get over her stupid attraction. It was worth a shot.
“Yeah, I do have more questions.”
“Come on, we can sit over here,” Coach told her, showing her a bench against the wall.
Harley nodded and went over to where he indicated. She could do this. She had to think about work. She got her thoughts in order and began to think about computer code and how she’d make the opening shot in the new This is War game the best ever.
Pushing her glasses up again, she asked, “What about the landing? I mean, I saw it on the tape, but it looks complicated with two people.”
“The days of hitting the ground like a sack of flour and rolling are over. The chute acts sort of like a glider, and the shape of it allows for an easier landing. It’s a bit more complicated with two people, but I’ll do most of the work. When I tell you, all you need to do is pull your knees up, and let me get my feet on the ground first, then you’ll just put yours down and help us stay upright. It helps that we’re close to the same height.”
“What if I screw it up?”
Coach chuckled and put one arm on the back of the bench, looking completely relaxed. He didn’t seem worried he was paired with a klutz. “You can’t screw up the landing, Harley.” When she looked askance at him, he put his hands up in surrender. “Hey! I’m not lying. Look, when you get to the ground, it doesn’t matter how you got there, just that you’re there in one piece, right? So if I overcompensate, or if the wind blows right when we get close to the ground, or you have a sneezing fit, it doesn’t matter. We’ll just topple over and take the brunt of the landing on our sides. I’ll steer us, but basically you want to hit the top of your thigh, then hip, then side. Roll into it and it’s not a big deal.”
“We won’t suffocate by the parachute wrapping around us?”
Instead of laughing, Coach merely shook his head. “No. It might come down over us, but it’s lightweight, not heavy canvas, so it’s easily removed.”
Harley bit her lip and watched as the others finished up their preparations. They were all smiling and happy and didn’t look like they had a care in the world. She couldn’t help but be nervous. Not only was she scared, but she wanted to memorize the entire thing so she could do the video game justice.
“You’ll show me the thingy to make the chute open?” she asked after a moment.
Coach put his hand over hers and his voice got serious. “Yes. I said I would. But I need you to trust me up there. I can’t have you freaking out and going for the ripcord handle before we’re at the proper altitude. Let me do my job. You’re safe with me.”
Coach’s hand was warm and so much bigger than her own. Just having him touch her made her less nervous. A little less nervous. She was being a big baby.
“I won’t. I do trust you, it’s just…I’m nervous. And I deal with being nervous by learning everything I can about the situation I’m about to go into.” Harley shrugged. “You should’ve seen me last year when I went whitewater rafting in Colorado with my brother and sister. You would’ve thought I was preparing for the national exam on how to be a whitewater guide or something. I swear that poor college kid was glad to see us leave at the end of the day. I tipped him big, but still, I know I drove him crazy.”
Coach smiled, but didn’t remove his hand. “I don’t mind. It’s refreshing. It’ll be much more fun for you, I think, now that you know what I’m doing as we go. What other questions do you have?”
Harley relaxed even more and thought about what else she might need to know for her game. Coach was being very nice and patient with her in answering all her questions. She’d lucked out in getting him as a jumpmaster.
Ignoring the fact he was still holding her hand, and trying to push her embarrassment down about having so many things she wanted to know, she threw caution to the wind and took him at his word…and asked another question.
4
Coach took a deep breath and tried to calm down. First it’d been the other customer’s snide dig about Harley’s size. The story of the dog that Harley used to have rang true in his mind. He was fairly easygoing, until someone went after a person under his care. And Harley, whether either of them wanted to admit it or not, was under his care. And not just because he was her jumpmaster for the day.
There was something about her that reminded him of his little sister. Jenny had been three years younger than him and shy. Extremely so. He’d spent his childhood watching as she’d been made fun of and picked on. He’d done everything possible to look out for her. Once she’d turned twelve, however, she’d fallen into a deep depression.
Coach had done what he could to try to protect her from the malicious taunts at school, but his love and protection had been no match for the bullies. A group of mean girls had taken it upon themselves to tear her to shreds, and had been remarkably successful at it too.
Bullies pushed Coach’s buttons more than anything else. It wasn’t a conscious decision on his part, but seeing what his sister had gone through had made him more sensitive to the issue, and more determined to make sure it didn’t happen to anyone around him again.
It was no wonder he’d reacted the way he had when Sarah had taunted Harley. He didn’t care that the woman was also making fun of his own size, he’d long since come to terms with his height and strength. But no one made fun of a woman around him. No one. Not ever.
Harley hadn’t even commented on his extreme reaction to Sarah’s words, but had let him lead the conversation and answer some of her questions. He was grateful. Coach didn’t like thinking about Jenny’s childhood; how what she went through had turned him into the man he was today.
While Harley reminded him of his sister, she was also very different. Yes, she was shy, and a little socially awkward, but she had an inner strength that Jenny never had. Harley hadn’t shrunk away from the mean comment from Sarah, but Coach knew that if he wasn’t there, she would’ve probably just ignored the other woman and tried not to let the words get to her.
But he was there. And Harley had put her hand on him, letting him know she was okay. The light touch of her fingers on his spine had calmed him down a bit. She hadn’t freaked out, withdrawn, or screeched back an insult.
Answering her seemingly unending list of questions, Coach ran though the mechanics of how the parachutes were packed and how exactly the AAD worked. He’d memorized all of the details while training to be a Delta Force soldier, so he could recite them backward and forward in his sleep. He’d been blessed with an eidetic memory, he could remember everything he’d ever read, and most things he saw, so it was easy to pull facts out of his overactive brain to try to teach Harley everything she wanted to know.
He finished getting himself rigged up after a few more questions, explaining how the jumpsuit he was wearing made the harness and parachute fit better. She watched carefully as he buckled each strap and he showed her the altimeter, which would be strapped to his hand so he knew exactly when to pull the cord to deploy the parachute. He didn’t really need it, having jumped enough to know instinctively when he was at the right altitude, but he didn’t tell Harley that, she was already nervous enough.
Tommy brought them two pairs of goggles, and Coach helped fit a pair over Harley’s glasses. She seemed embarrassed to be fussed over, but Coach ignored her protests and made sure her glasses weren’t smooshed on her face under the protective eyewear.
Watching Harley soak in the information he gave her was beautiful. She wasn’t humoring him, it was as if she was cataloging everything he said and storing it away in her mind. It had been a long time since he’d met a woman who genuinely was interested in what he had to say. He made a mental note to look her up when he got home and check out some of the other games she’d worked on. If she
paid this much attention to detail on all her games, he had a feeling they were kickass.
Coach had been doing fine dealing with his attraction to Harley, answering her questions while fitting her harness and being professional, until he’d turned her around and saw how her nipples had peaked when he’d tugged on the straps over her shoulders. He’d had a hard time not lowering his head and kissing the hell out of her right there.
But then he’d seen how embarrassed she’d been by her reaction to him. She’d hunched her shoulders forward to try to hide it. Coach was used to women flaunting their assets around him, not being embarrassed about them. It endeared her to him that much more.
As he answered her very intellectual questions, Coach got a better picture of who Harley was. She was smart; she’d have to be in order to be coding video games. She wasn’t flashy or even comfortable in her own skin. She had no makeup on her face, which made her look fresh and clean, rather than like someone who was trying too hard. She was willing to do things outside her comfort zone, if only to gain knowledge.
And she had no idea that she was pretty. None. She wasn’t categorically beautiful, but the longer Coach spent with her, the more attracted he was.
All in all, he liked what he’d seen so far. Coach kept his eyes on her brown ones, not lowering them to her chest, as much as he wanted to.
“What kind of plane are we jumping out of today?”
Coach cleared his throat, trying to keep his mind off her tits and on her question. “You’re in luck, Tommy went out of his way to get one of the newest and most comfortable GC Caravan Supervan 900 airplanes. There are only around fifty of them in the world.”
“What makes it so special?” Harley asked, leaning forward and resting one of her elbows on her knee with her chin in her hand.
“It’s been modified specifically for skydiving, and the thing that’s the most important is that the exhaust is on the opposite side of the door we’ll be jumping out of.” When Harley opened her mouth to ask the obvious question, he hurried on. “That’s important because it gets rid of the carbon dioxide in the cabin, so everyone is more comfortable when the door is open. There’re two benches that run the length of the plane, and it’s actually pretty cushy as far as these kinds of planes go. We’ll sit in the order we’re jumping.”
“Order?”
“Yeah, we’ll be last. I hope you don’t mind.”
Harley shook her head. “No. Actually, I prefer that. I can watch the others and learn from them.”
“You want to go over the positions again?” Coach asked.
“No, it seems pretty straightforward. You’ll clip me to you, we’ll scoot forward toward the gaping hole in the plane, then we’ll shove out. I’ll arch my back with my knees bent and my feet up between your legs. My arms will be out. When you tap me on the shoulder, I’ll grab hold of the straps at my chest to brace myself and the chute will open. It’ll jerk me up and my feet will fly upward. I have to be careful not to kick myself in the face.” She smiled as she said the last.
Coach laughed. “Yup, you sound like a pro.”
“What if I screw it up?” Harley asked in a low voice, looking around to make sure none of the others were listening.
Coach put his finger under her chin and forced her to look at him. “You aren’t going to screw it up.”
“But if I put my arms in the wrong position, or—”
“You’re not going to screw it up,” Coach repeated firmly. “Other than taking out a knife and stabbing me in the middle of the jump, or cutting your harness off, nothing you do will mess me up enough that I can’t get the chute open. Okay? Stop worrying. This is supposed to be fun you know.” He dropped his hand from her face reluctantly.
“Humph, fun. Yeah. I should’ve listened to my sister.”
Coach smiled at her cute mutterings. He wanted to ask her about her sister, about her family. She’d mentioned them earlier and he found himself wanting to know more about them…about her.
The words came out before he thought better of them. “Wanna get something to eat afterwards?”
“What?” Her head whipped around in shock.
“Food. You’ll probably be hungry when we’re done.”
The look she was giving him was blank. Coach couldn’t read her at all.
Finally, she asked tentatively, “You want to go out with me after we’ve jumped?”
“Yeah, Harley. Very much.”
“Why?”
Coach smiled. He hadn’t worked this hard to get a woman to go out with him in a long time. He liked it. “Because I like you. Because you’re interesting. Because I’m sure when we’re done you’ll have a million more questions to ask me.”
She looked at him for a beat before nodding. “Yeah, I probably will. Okay, if you’re willing to help me out with my work, I’m game.”
Wanting to make sure she knew it wasn’t just to help her out with her job, Coach clarified, “I’m willing to help you out. But I also want to get to know you better.”
Harley sucked both lips in and then licked them before saying in a soft voice, “Okay. Then yes, I’d like that.”
“Good. Me too. Ready to jump out of a plane?” Coach stood up and held his hand out to her.
Harley swallowed hard, but nodded and put her hand in his. “Not really, but ready or not, it’s time. Let’s do this.”
Coach didn’t drop her hand after she was upright. He simply turned and followed behind the others as they made their way out the door to the tarmac and plane. For the first time in a long time, Coach was looking forward to the jump. He couldn’t wait to experience it through Harley’s eyes.
5
Harley took a deep breath and tried not to hyperventilate. The trip up to the coordinates they’d be jumping from didn’t take very long, maybe around fifteen minutes. The others were chatting with each other as they climbed to the proper altitude, but Harley couldn’t hear a word they were saying over her own beating heart and the roar of the plane’s engine.
She only knew they arrived at the right place when one of the other jumpmasters stood up at the back of the plane and gave a thumbs up to everyone and turned to his customer. Harley couldn’t remember the woman’s name to save her life, but she happily turned her back to the man and he hooked her harness to his own.
Two other employees opened the door on the back right side of the plane and Harley took a deep breath at the rush of air that whooshed through the cabin. Coach had been right though, it didn’t take her breath away as she figured it might, that fancy engine was apparently doing its job.
Harley watched with wide eyes as the first pair of skydivers launched themselves out the door. She held her breath, not able to take her eyes away from the blue sky she could see going by.
Was she really going to do this? She was insane. Seriously. Why hadn’t she listened to Montesa? She could’ve watched this from her computer, safe at home, what was she thinking?
“Breathe, Harley.”
The words were spoken right next to her ear, and Harley let the breath she was holding out with a whoosh. She turned to see Coach leaning into her.
Coach didn’t bother to watch the others prepare to jump, his entire concern was for Harley. She was obviously scared to death, but so desperately trying to hide it. Her eyes were wide and her pupils were large black dots, dilated as if she’d just visited the eye doctor.
He put his hand on her leg, feeling it jiggling up and down in her nervousness, much as it had been doing when she’d watched the safety video. “That’s it, breathe. You’ve got this. Remember, I’m going to do all the work. All you have to do is trust me. I wouldn’t do this if I didn’t think it was safe. I’d never hurt you.”
She nodded jerkily, but didn’t take her eyes away from the door.
Coach touched his finger to her chin and turned her head until she had no choice but to meet his eyes. It was loud in the cabin, but he hoped she could still hear him. “You can do this. It’ll be over within fifteen min
utes. We’ll be on the ground and then we’ll go get something to eat. You can ask me all the questions that will have built up between now and then. Yeah?” Coach knew he wasn’t saying anything she didn’t know, but he hoped his words would shake her out of her terror.
He saw Harley swallow hard once, then again, before she nodded. Licking her lips, she said in a voice that was in no way convincing, “Yeah, I got this. No problem.”
Coach smiled. He couldn’t help it. She was funny and adorable at the same time. Picking up her hand, he put it on his chest, next to the handle that would release the parachute, keeping his hand over hers. “To the right of your hand is the ripcord. It’ll be under your left armpit. Once we hit around five thousand feet, I’ll pull it with my left hand.”
“If I move weird, will I set it off?”
Coach shook his head, happy that he’d been able to get her thinking about logistics again, rather than her fright. “No. It has to be pulled down with a hard tug. You can’t make the chute go off prematurely just by bumping into or touching it.”
He felt the pair next to them jostling forward. It was getting closer to their time. “I’m glad I’m the one who gets to experience this with you for the first time, Harley.”
“Kinda like popping my cherry, huh?”
It was obvious she hadn’t thought about the words before they’d slipped out, because her face flamed red and she closed her eyes in embarrassment.
Coach choked back a guffaw, not wanting to make her any redder than she already was. “Something like that, yeah. You ready?”
Harley nodded enthusiastically. Coach figured it was more to try to get her mind off what she’d just said than the fact that she was really ready to go.
Coach pulled the goggles, which had been resting on top of her head, down to cover her glasses, making sure they were comfortable, as he’d done on the ground. He then rose from his spot on the bench, not letting go of Harley’s hand. He used his free hand to prop himself up against the plane and to keep his balance. “Let’s do this, Harl.”