Page 168 of Love Me Reckless

And you didn’t care?

Why would we care?

“Would you be willing to come talk to my classes about what you do?” Sam asks. “Share some of your experiences?”

“I’d be honored.”

He laughs. “Don’t get too excited. Getting through to these kids can be exhausting.”

“I may sort of understand that.”

Sam laughs and we shake hands. He closes the bay doors and leads me through the computer room to the sunny courtyard outside.

“Thanks for thinking of us,” Sam says, shading his soft brown eyes. “It means a lot.”

“It means a lot to me too,” I reply.

I leadKirilee by the hand down the shaded path in the falling dusk, the warmth from the summer day hanging in the air. To the west, the sun’s final rays have soaked the horizon in crimson and turned the lake surface below to a shimmering indigo.

“You sure it’s safe?” Kirilee asks.

“No,” I reply.

She laughs. “You’d let me plummet to my death?”

“Of course not. I’ll go first.”

“But then what ifyouplummet to your death?”

“Maybe we should go together.”

She laughs again. The trail rises higher, to a rock promontory that juts over the lake. The jump is probably only twenty feet and I know from experience that the lake is deep here.

Kirilee’s going to love it.

We set down our towels on the sun-warmed rock. I take her hand again and lead her to the edge, so she can peek over.

Her brows knit together and her face scrunches in that adorable look of determination that I am crazy about. “Hmm.”

“You want to watch me first?”

She side-eyes me. “Where’s the fun in that?”

I caress her face and lean in to kiss her. “There’s my girl.”

She kisses me back, her lips tasting of the cherries we snacked on during the drive. When she breaks away, her gaze locks on mine. “I like being your girl.”

“Then I must be doing something right.”

Her smile brightens. “You spoil me.”

“Damn right.” I peek over the edge. “What’s it gonna be, princess? You going first or am I?”

She tries to scowl at me but it turns into a laugh. “Together,” she says, peeling off her t-shirt and slipping her shorts past her hips.

“Can you do that again, only, uh, slower?” I say, unable to tear my eyes away from her in the simple dark blue bikini. Her opal pendant glitters in the sunlight. Since she got it back, she refuses to take it off.

She laughs. “Maybe later?”

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