Flirting With Danger

by Claire Baxter

  A piece of timber hit her on the shoulder and as she gasped, her mouth filled with foul-tasting water. Sucked under, she hung onto the branch with grim determination, all the while fighting against the powerful flow. Finally she broke the surface and dragged in one breath after another, her eyes still squeezed shut.

  The water was rising rapidly. There was every chance she wouldn’t make it out of there alive, even if she succeeded in saving the boy. And Aaron would never know how she felt about him.

  If she made it out alive, she’d tell him that she loved him.

  With difficulty she repositioned herself to begin the arduous task again. She’d thought of Aaron as lacking courage when it came to his emotional security, but was she any better?

  No. She hadn’t been prepared to take a risk on him, had she? And now she wished she had because he was the most important person in her life, and what would be the point of being alive without him?

  If she made it out alive…

  The boy’s grip loosened suddenly, and she looked into his eyes. He trusted her. She could see it. He believed that she wasn’t going anywhere without him.

  She nodded at him and took him in a firm hold with one arm while with the other she clung to the branch. When she’d positioned in front of her, she took a deep breath, braced herself, and let go of the branch. The rushing water swept them along the pipe. It was like a water slide in a theme park, except that this was no laughing matter.

  And then they hit a brick wall. But it wasn’t a brick wall, it was Aaron. She’d known it would be Aaron. She would have staked her life on it.

  In a very short time, the boy had been hauled out of the manhole, and she followed, shivering but elated. While the others occupied themselves with the boy and handing him over to the waiting ambulance, Aaron pulled her aside and right there in front of the whole crew, he wrapped her in his arms. Tightly. She didn’t care what anyone thought; she was right where she wanted to be. Her heartbeat throbbed in her ears and as her trembling arms clung to him, she could feel his heart beating against her chest. Now she was safe.

  “You took a risk there,” Aaron said after several long moments of silence.

  “Not really. I knew you would catch me.”

  “Always.” He touched her cheek. “When you need me, I’ll be there. Guaranteed. I love you. I need you to know that. I made a deal with myself that I’d tell you as soon as you made it out of there.”

  She stared into his face, her heart thumping so hard, everybody in the area had to be able to hear it.

  “Mate, mate! Are you all right there? What’s going on? Aaron, are you feeling all right?”

  She heard Dave’s voice and tried to pull away, but Aaron held on.

  “I’m feeling great. Never better. Although there’s one thing I need to make everything perfect.”

  When he didn’t elaborate, Dave nodded. “Go on, then. I’ll bite. What do you need?”

  “For you all to witness what I’m going to say.”

  “Huh?”

  “Jasmine, I’m committed to you, and I want the team to know that, because if I mess up, I’ll be dead meat. And I want you to know that I know that.”

  She shook her head. Shock. It must be the shock of the rescue. Aaron couldn’t possibly have just said what she thought he’d said. In front of everybody.

  John and Kane were standing next to Dave now.

  “John,” Aaron went on. “I’m going to need an application form for a transfer to another shift crew.”

  “What?” She realized that the squeak she’d heard was her own voice. Luckily, hers wasn’t the only voice demanding to know what the heck he thought he was doing. And doing, it seemed, very calmly.

  Dave shushed them all. “Let him speak, or we’ll never find out what’s going on.”

  Still looking at her, Aaron said, “It’s against policy for romantic relationships to occur between members of the same shift crew. I checked.”

  Aware of all eyes on her, she tried to swallow the lump that was still expanding in her throat. “You did?”

  “I did.” It was clear that, for once, he wasn’t joking.

  “Can we talk about this?” She flicked her own head toward the group gathered alongside them. “In private, I mean.”

  John cleared his throat. “Dave, Kane, let’s get this equipment packed away.”

  Jasmine waited till they’d moved off, then she met Aaron’s eyes, which he still hadn’t taken off her face. “Are you crazy?”

  His face softened. “Maybe, but I do love you. And I am committed. One hundred percent.”

  “Why?”

  “Why?” A thoughtful smile curved his mouth. “You’re good for me. You challenge me to do better, to be better. You make me laugh, and you get my jokes. You know me. You’re brave and strong, and capable—”

  A noise escaped her throat. She’d never thought to hear that word capable used in this context.

  “I like to be around you. When I’m not with you, I want to be with you. And when I’m with you, I don’t want our time together to end.” He paused, then said in a serious tone, “And today, I could have lost you. It would have killed me. That was when I knew that I couldn’t let another day go by without telling you how I felt and what I wanted.”

  “But will you be able to handle this? I mean, you’re talking about changing everything about your life, even your job.”

  “You’ve changed me. I don’t want the life I had before. I don’t want your life either”—he grinned briefly—“that would get boring. I want the life that we could build together. If you’ll have me.

  “You were right when you said that I was scared to let myself love someone in case she left me,” he said. “But you were also right when you said that falling in love is not something you can control. I can’t control anything about this. I fell in love with you, and all I can do now is ask you to take a risk on me. I’m terrified that you might leave me, but if I don’t take a risk, how can I expect you to do the same?”

  He pointed toward the entrance to the storm drain. “You trusted me to catch you down there. You knew I’d be waiting. Take the same chance now. Please. I promise I’ll always be there.”

  Life with Aaron…was a life she could have. For real. If she let go of her fear and trusted him, the way she’d trusted him to catch her earlier.

  Could she do it?

  Damn right she could. If ever there was a time to take a risk, this was it. And while she’d been underground her true feelings had made themselves heard. There was no one more important to her than Aaron, and no one she could ever love more.

  He cleared his throat, reminding her that he was there. “An answer would be good.”

  “I’m thinking.”

  “Oh, God, if you have to think about it—”

  “Shhh.” She touched his face, ran her fingertips along his jaw. “I’m thinking about all the reasons why I love you.”

  “That’s good.” He broke into a wide grin and even with water dripping from the end of his nose, he was the most good-looking man she’d ever seen. He nodded. “Keep thinking.”

  “Now I’m thinking about what it would be like to be in a serious relationship with you.” She frowned.

  “Uh-oh.”

  “You do know that I can’t compete with the women you’re used to dating, don’t you?”

  “Compete with them? What would be the point? You’ve already won…if you consider me a prize, that is.”

  “I do.” She smiled. It was finally sinking in that Aaron had chosen her. She leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. How many kisses did they have ahead of them?

  He drew in a sharp breath. “Does this mean you want to be with me too?”

  “Yes, it does. It definitely does.”

  He gathered her into his arms again and kissed her. But just as she felt herself sinking into the sweetest kiss she’d ever known, the fire truck’s siren blared out.

  “What?” Aaron swung her around and, pull
ing her with him, strode to the front of the truck.

  The door opened. John, Dave, and Kane looked down at them.

  “We thought you’d had long enough to seal the deal,” Kane said.

  “Well?” Dave said. “Did she say yes?”

  Aaron grinned. “Yes, she did. It’s been nice knowing you, guys, but I’ll be moving to another crew as soon as possible.”

  “We’ll survive,” John said. “Now get into the truck and let’s get out of this rain.”

  Epilogue

  Eighteen months later

  “I love this dress,” Sasha said from the corner of the room where she was studying her reflection in her full-length eggplant bridesmaid dress. “It’s such a classy color.”

  Jasmine smiled. “I know, and you look beautiful in it.”

  “You only chose it because you wanted to wear your purple shoes again.” Sasha picked up one of the heels from the floor beneath the ivory wedding dress on its hanger, and turned it around in her hand. “They are lovely, though. I can understand why you’d want to.”

  “They’re gorgeous, and they’re my something old.”

  “You’ve worn them once. They don’t really qualify as old.”

  Leanne gave both of them an indulgent smile. “Just think…two years ago we were sitting in this very room, and I told you there was someone out there for both of you. Now look, Jasmine’s getting married and it will be your turn next, Sasha.”

  “We’ll see.”

  Leanne sighed. “I knew it would happen for Jasmine, I just didn’t know exactly when.”

  “And Aaron’s the last man you thought she’d be marrying,” Sasha added.

  “That’s true.” Leanne shrugged. “But I’ve changed my opinion of him now. I’ve never seen a man more in love. Except for my Mike.”

  “I agree.” Sasha nodded. “I think we can safely say that Jasmine’s made the right choice there. I wasn’t sure she’d ever get her act together.”

  “Hello. I’m still in the room, you know.” Jasmine got to her feet. “And I could really do with some help to get into my dress.”

  “You look incredible,” Leanne said a short time later. She stood back for a better view and tears instantly filled her eyes.

  “Mascara!” Sasha handed her a tissue, then turned to stare at Jasmine. “You really do, you know. Aaron will think he’s in heaven.”

  Jasmine shook her head. “I honestly believe he’d be just as happy if I turned up in uniform. He loves me, no matter how I look.”

  Sasha sniffed and reached for a tissue of her own.

  Jasmine smiled. “And isn’t that what we all want? To be loved for the person we are and not for the makeup and clothes?” She looked from one friend to the other. “Someone who sees through all the external stuff and loves the woman inside?”

  “Yes,” Leanne said. “That, and a real commitment.”

  And that was exactly what she’d found in Aaron, Jasmine knew. She couldn’t be happier.

  Sasha handed her the simple bunch of purple daisies she’d chosen to carry. “Ready?”

  She nodded, and the three of them made their way outside and down the wide stone steps to the terraced garden where her father was waiting for her. She smiled up at him as she took his arm. His pride was evident as he gazed down at her, and as his eyes filled with tears, he sighed.

  “I’ll be all right, Dad.”

  “I know you will, sweetheart. Aaron’s a lucky man, but he knows it.”

  “Yes, he does.”

  She could see him waiting in the gazebo at the end of the lawn. She loved him so much her heart ached with the weight of it.

  Sasha and Leanne stepped onto the red carpet and started a slow walk toward the gazebo.

  Jasmine followed with her father. She spotted John, Dave, and Kane on one side of the aisle, and on the other, her brothers, but then she forgot about the guests because she was close enough to the gazebo to see the expression on Aaron’s face.

  If she’d had any doubt that she was the only woman for him—which she didn’t—it would have vanished in that moment.

  He was all hers.

  About the Author

  Claire Baxter writes contemporary romantic fiction of all lengths. Her short stories have been published in commercial women’s magazines around the world, while her novels have been translated into 20 languages and have finalled in the Romance Writers of Australia’s Romantic Book of the Year Award, the Booksellers’ Best Awards, the RT Book Reviews Reviewers’ Choice Awards and the Cataromance Reviewers’ Choice Awards.

  Before following her passion to write full-time, Claire was an award-winning corporate communications manager. Earlier, she worked as a translator and a PA.

  Claire grew up in Warwickshire, England, but for more than 20 years has called Australia home. She considers herself lucky to live near one of Adelaide’s beautiful metropolitan beaches where she loves to walk and think up stories.

  Visit her online at www.clairebaxter.com.

  Find your Bliss with

  Rachel Harris’s

  Taste the Heat

  Sweeping her hands aside, he glided his thumbs across her cheeks. Wiping away the lines of smeared makeup, he looked into her clearing gray eyes and said, “You’re gorgeous.”

  A flash of uncertainty crossed Colby’s face, and he bent his head to prove it.

  The first brush of his lips was light. He didn’t want to take advantage of her emotions. He just wanted to assure her that regardless of her tears, she was still one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen. But when a sigh escaped her parted lips, and she fisted her fingers in his hair, Jason abandoned timid and gentle. He gave in to the desire that had been snapping and building between them since the day of the competition, and proceeded to kiss her senseless.

  Reaching down, he palmed the smooth skin of her calf. It felt like silk in his hands. He skimmed his fingers down the soft length to her ankle, hooking it around his hip. Colby made a satisfied noise in her throat. She wiggled closer and, happy to oblige, he tugged her fully against him and deepened the kiss. He swallowed her moan.

  Leaves rustled in the wind. Unseen wings fluttered and buzzed. And their heavy breaths filled the air, turning Jason on even more. Colby’s mouth tasted of citrus. Sweet, like the daiquiri she had drank, and like her. He teased the corners of her mouth. Licked the satiny skin of her upper lip. And gently bit down on her pouty lower one. He knew he needed to break the kiss soon—his daughter was sleeping in the tent only a few yards away—but this woman was like a drug. And he was quickly becoming an addict. Jason shifted to press his lips to the sensitive skin just under her ear.

  Breathless and panting, Colby tilted her head as he trailed his mouth along the column of her neck. “I’ve always wondered,” she admitted with a shiver, “what it would be like to kiss you.”

  He arched an eyebrow in surprise and grinned against her skin. “If memory serves me right, this is our second kiss.”

  A shocked gasp of air escaped her throat. “You remember Kiss and Catch?”

  He looked at her and nodded, remembering every stolen moment of that childhood kiss.

  She gazed back with dazed eyes, and chewing the corner of a slightly swollen lip, admitted, “That was my first kiss.” Her tone was almost bashful, the flush of her skin darkening to rose before a hint of the vixen came back and she said, “Okay, so I’ve been curious how the adult Jason would compare.”

  He chuckled as he dipped his tongue into the hollow where her pulse fluttered. “And the verdict?”

  “Meh.”

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  Find your Bliss with

  Cindi Madsen’s

  Act Like You Love Me

  “Cut, cut cut!” Sawyer stood. “Was that supposed to be more passionate? Because it sucked.”

  “This is supposed to be the eighteen hundreds,” Brynn said.“It can’t be too passionate or it would seem inappropriate for the time.”

  The next inst
ant Sawyer was charging up the steps to the stage. “I’m not saying it’s got to be a kiss with tongue, I’m saying you’ve got to look at each other like you’re in love so the audience will want it to work out. Our modern audience.” Sawyer shook his head. “Take it again, from before the proposal.”

  It was impossible to concentrate with Sawyer standing right there, so close she could hear every shift of his body and feel his gaze on her like a weight. All her lines were swimming together.

  Leo knelt, told her she was an angel. She said her line, trying to peer into his soul like she wanted to be with him, and then Leo kissed her. And it was sloppier than usual. She did her best to not jerk back, though it was her first instinct.

  “Okay, that was just…” Sawyer moved in front of her. He looked at the playbook, then lowered it by his side and stared into her eyes. The air thickened around them and she could feel every thump of her heart. “What a perfect angel you are, Cecily.” He said it so tenderly, his smile close-lipped but full of joy.

  “You dear romantic boy,” she said, all out of instinct because thoughts were getting fuzzy.

  He leaned in and kissed her, a soft kiss with his lips barely parted. The pressure of his lips increased for a delicious moment, and then they were gone. A quick, simple kiss, but when his mouth left hers, she felt its absence so strongly that she couldn’t think about anything else for a couple seconds. Her breath was stuck somewhere in her lungs and her lips still tingled, living the sensation over and over again. Heat wound through her body, her hands itched to reach out and touch him. And then she remembered she was supposed to. She ran her fingers through his hair and felt the whisper of his breath on her wrist as he exhaled.

  “Wow, that was good,” Wendy said from the front, breaking Brynn from her trance.

  Brynn stepped back and swallowed, but her throat wasn’t working right. Sawyer’s eyes never left hers, and one corner of his mouth curved up in a smug, self-satisfied way.

  “It was all right, I suppose,” Brynn said, working to keep her voice steady. She crossed her arms and shrugged. “For a first-timer, anyway.”