Page 7 of Alluring Adventure

“Hey, boss man, whilst I get changed maybe you can change your attitude a bit.” She doesn’t give me the opportunity to reply and instead closes the curtain.

Fuck.

Chapter 4

Keeley

Why exactly did Iagree to this shit again?I stare at the abyss in front of me. Fine, not really an abyss. It’s “only” a sixteen-foot drop. This is the biggest drop on the route and I almost bottled it at the much shorter six-foot drop earlier.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Suddenly there’s a gentle hand on my back.

“Take a deep breath,” Oliver says softly in my ear. We are the only two left on the top. Kurt jumped first and was then makingsure everyone made it to the surface after their jump. Now the group is gathered at the bottom of the waterfall staring up at me. Talk about pressure.

“Remember to cross your arms in front of your chest and then jump.” Oliver’s hand rubs gently up and down my back and it does help me to relax a tiny bit.

That is until I look down again. It’s not just a high jump, it’s also narrow. Jagged rocks on either side of the gully. I can see myself bashing my head against the rocks. Even if the rest of the group had no issues, somehow, I’ve convinced myself that I will die a horrible death here.

“Keeley, look at me.” Oliver’s gentle voice pulls me back to reality. I try to shift my focus from the void to his face. His dark hair, or at least the little that is peeking out from underneath his white helmet, is wet and curling up, surrounding his rugged face. His eyes, which appear even bluer than I remember, scan me.

“Do you want to climb back up and take the path down?” he asks with no judgment in his voice.

“What… no. I… I just need a minute.” My stubbornness outweighs my fear. I know I can do this. I just need to hype myself up enough.

“You take your time. Just keep taking deep breaths.” His hand is now rubbing up and down my arm. I take comfort in his touch. When he looks at me like that I can almost forget my fear.Fuck is he hot.

I nearly had a heart attack when I arrived at the carpark this morning. Not because of the running, or maybe a little because of the running, but mainly because this man in a neoprene suit is a wet dream waiting to happen. It hugs his frame and all I can think about is sliding my fingers over—

“Keeley?” Oliver says a little louder.

“Right, yes, hi,” I grin.Oh my god, get a grip.

“Where did you go?” he asks, studying me.

“I, sorry, I was just trying to hype myself up. I… do you want to have a coffee sometime?”Oh fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck. What did I ask that for?Talk about wrong place and wrong time.

“I—” His ears are turning read. “I’m sorry, Keeley I don’t date clients.”

“Oh, of course, silly me … sorry." I'm mortified.

“No, it’s fine. I’m flattered.” He gives me a kind smile.

Flattered? Now doesn’t that make me feel like a silly goose.I look around, wishing the ground would open and swallow me up. Instead I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place. Jump or remain in this uber-embarrassing situation.

“I think I’m ready.” I turn back to the abyss. I’m not really ready but I’d rather be down there than up here. I cross my arms and leap. The fall seems to last forever, but eventually I dip into thecold water. I struggle back to the surface and draw in a deep breath. I did it.

I swim over to the edge of the little pool and as I scramble onto the rocks with the others I hear a splash behind me. My mission for the rest of the morning will be to avoid Oliver.

I run spell check one more time before pressing send. The first draft of my blog about the canyoning is on the way to my editor, together with photos of the group and Kurt and Oliver in action. I have consent forms from everyone and I upload them to the relevant file on my computer. That’s it.

I sigh. Of course, I didn’t mention the absolute car crash moment when I was let down by a smoking hot guy with “I’m flattered.” Argh. I bury my face in my hands. Now I’m just glad I haven’t signed up for any other trip with Alluring Adventures.

The thing is, he might be there tonight. I can feel knots forming in my stomach. When we got back to Fellside, one of the other participants mentioned that it was his birthday and that he’d be celebrating with drinks at a local pub. He invited everyone, and naturally, I agreed to go. They were a lovely group and a fun evening sounded like exactly what I needed.

But then Kurt said he’d be going too. I held my breath as Oliver’s eyes met mine in the rear-view mirror.

“I’ll be there,” he confirmed and I wanted to groan. Surely, he knows how embarrassed I am. But now that I’ve said yes I can’t come up with a believable excuse to back out.

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