Page 17 of Daddy's Wild Girl

“Um, maybe because pie is life,” she replied. “I love pie. I dream about my next piece of pie. Maybe we should have pie after we jump out of the plane.”

“No one is jumping out of a plane.” Hayes crossed his arms over his chest.

That seemed to be his signature move.

“Oh, so you’d rather go cliff jumping?” she queried.

She thought she heard Corbin groan. He looked up at the sky as though searching for something.

Or perhaps he was keeping an eye out for parachutes.

“Cliff jumping?” Hayes said, his eyes practically falling out of his head. “No one is cliff jumping. I forbid it.”

“Aww, look at you, doing the manly man thing. But here’s the thing, you don’t get to forbid me from doing anything. It’s my life. If I want to jump from a plane, I will.”

Poor Hayes.

He looked like his head was going to explode.

“Are you all right? You’re going a bit red. Is it your blood pressure?” she asked. “I’ve heard that happens when you get old.”

Wow. His breathing was growing faster.

“It’s okay, though. You don’t need to come with me. I know that heights can be a problem for some people. And as you get older, there are probably all sorts of insurance issues to take into consideration. Do you have good medical insurance?”

“Oh dear God, kill me now,” Corbin said before grasping hold of her arm and steering her away from the other man.

“Are you sure we should leave him?” she asked. “Is he okay?”

“No, he’s not okay.” He quickly snatched back his hand from her arm, red flooding his cheeks for a moment before he frowned down at her. “And you’re provoking him. Not nice.”

Shame filled her.

Ouch.

She had been provoking him. Just a bit.

“Sorry, you’re right. I was provoking him. Guess I have a problem with other people telling me what to do. Maybe I have an authority issue.”

“Or perhaps you just haven’t met the right sort of authority figure,” he murmured.

There was a hint of steel in his voice.

So at odds with the way he blushed and sometimes stumbled over his words.

And it intrigued her.

Uh-oh. No. You are not falling for another guy. Doesn’t matter that he seems better than any other man you’ve dated. You’ve known him for like two seconds.

What was wrong with her?

“I think I’ve met them all. And I liked none of them. But I’ll try to be less . . . combative.”

“That would be appreciated. You’re really signed up to jump this afternoon?”

“Uh, yes. Got to be at the briefing in ten minutes, in there.” She nodded over at the building.

“So you think they’ll have room for one more?”

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