Page 30 of Impossible Thrills

Jagger and Hays laughed at that. Nick brushed her arm with his, steadying her on the ledge. “You did amazing,” he told her. “This will be no big deal after that.”

She looked down at the pool below, Jagger and Hays’s expectant faces, and then at the climb she’d done to get here. She definitely wasn’t climbing back down. The only choice was to jump.

“Can we jump together?” she asked.

“Sure.” Nick took her hand in his. “Do you want to count down?”

“You do it, please,” her voice quavered, and she gripped his hand tightly.

“You’re ready?”

“As I’ll ever be.”

“All right. Three … Two … One!”

Nick tugged on her hand as he jumped, and she instinctively leapt forward with him. They plunged through the air. Her stomach hopped and of course she screamed.

Her feet slapped the water, and they plunged down. She closed her mouth and held on to Nick’s hand.

Nick kicked them back to the surface. Her head broke through the water, and she pulled in a breath. Nick treaded water with his legs and one arm, his other hand lifting her against his chest. She’d almost forgotten he’d told her he’d help her swim.

“How was it?” he asked.

“Amazing!”

“Nice.” He grinned at her.

She wiped her face clean. Nick’s body was pressed against hers and his intriguing lips were right there.

The spray from the waterfall misted their faces. The water was a lot colder than the ocean. It felt refreshing, but she wouldn’t want to stay in it for long.

“A six,” Jagger hollered at her.

Darcy eased back slightly from Nick. “So we’re all lying now?” she asked, laughing.

Nick chuckled at her teasing.

“Thank you for being so generous,” she said to Jagger.

Hays laughed. “Nobody has ever called him generous.”

Jagger shoved at Hays. Hays pushed back, and they ended up in the water, splashing and dunking each other.

She focused back on Nick.

“Do you want to go under the waterfall?” he asked.

“Sure.”

He released his tight grip on her, put one hand under her armpit, and tugged her over to the waterfall. They ducked underneath it. She kicked, hoping she was helping, but Nick mostly held her aloft as the spray massaged their heads, necks, and shoulders. It felt great, easing the tension of the past two days.

After maybe half a minute, Nick tugged her behind the waterfall and close to the mossy rock wall. It was cool to see the sheet of water falling between them and Jagger and Hays. As if they were shielded and in their own world.

“You’re a brave lady, jumping off the cliff, and swimming with me. I worried after yesterday you wouldn’t want to be in the water.”

She hadn’t even thought of either traumatic experience as they jumped or swam. She’d only thought of him. “I’m brave when you’re with me.”

Nick studied her. Would he make a move?

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