Page 23 of Five Alarm Kiss

“Number seven is zip lining,” Skye said. “The full experience, not just half.”

“Three isn’t half of seven,” Laurel pointed out. She was so used to correcting math problems in her class, it’d become second nature.

Skye huffed out a breath and glared at her.

“Skye, I really don’t want to do this,” Laurel whimpered, laying it on thick.

“Pathetic. Eugene does better puppy dog eyes.”

Eugene was Skye’s cat, and he put the term “cranky cat” to shame. He hated absolutely everyone except Skye. Whenever Laurel would cat-sit, she’d be careful to enter the bus in stealth mode—Skye lived in an old school bus she’d renovated into an RV. The hope was to sneak in and out without Eugene ever noticing. Unfortunately, he always noticed. And aside from being hyper-observant, he was sneaky to a fault. He’d pretend he wanted to be petted, then hiss and take swipes at her if she ever fell for his act, which half the time she did. For the record, though, the cat could win an Oscar.

“Come on, Laur. Deep down you know you want to do it.”

“Um,no,I don’t!”

“Double-shake,” Skye reminded her.

“Stop saying that!”

Scowling, Skye stomped over to the wooden ladder and climbed up to the platform in record time.

“Hey,” the guide protested. “You’re not supposed to be up?—”

“Shut!” Skye ordered, holding a hand in front of his face. “Do you want her to jump or not? Cuz if not, I’ll climb back down, and we’ll be here all day.”

Laurel planted her hands on her hips. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.”

“Fine,” the guide conceded. He was probably in his early twenties and wishing he was anywhere but here. “If you can make her jump, go for it.”

Skye flashed him a too sweet smile which instantly disintegrated when she turned to Laurel. “You know you need the push.”

“If you push me, I swear I’ll haunt you!”

“Cool.”

Okay, bad choice in threats. Skye believed in ghosts and was adamant she’d had some paranormal encounters in the past. She’d probably love to meet a ghost in person—er—spirit.

“That would be totally—ohhh,hel-lo!”

“What?” Laurel asked.

“Snacksicle alert, ten o’clock.” Skye grabbed Laurel by the shoulders and turned her forty-five degrees to the right.

A cluster of people was standing at the base of the landing platform of zip line number three, waiting for the last of their group to finish. Two high school-aged boys were horsing around, but they hadn’t warranted Skye stopping mid-sentence. It was the three men standing next to them who’d pulled off that feat.

One guy had on jeans and a hoodie. He had light brown hair with longer bangs he raked out of his face. Standing to his right was a dark-haired guy with glasses wearing a windbreaker with “KISS FM 101.5” emblazoned on the back. That was the local top forty radio station. Maybe he worked for them?

The third guy was blond and wearing a sweatshirt and jeans that, honest to goodness, the manufacturer should be paying him to wear. No wonder Skye was distracted. The scenery around here was beautiful, but those three made for an incredible view.

“Yummy, right?” Skye asked.

The two men facing them started heading their way. Obviously, they were in the group behind Laurel and Skye’s and were next in line for zip line number four.

“They’re heading over,” Skye said. “Do you want them to see you acting like one of your kids?”

Laurel turned to her friend—her possibly ex-friend, if she didn’t let her off this platform. “Get real. Kids are fearless.”

“Oh, would you look who it is?” Skye’s smile was wicked. “Mr. Not Some Guy.”

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