Page 25 of Extreme Romancing in Idaho

Several retorts came to my mind—one step closer to a heart attack—one more step closer to death—time. I didn’t have much of it left because my heart was going to stop, but the sensations that made my toes curl had crawled their way up to my jaw and kept it clamped shut. So, I did as he said and burned him with my stare.

We took another two steps along the V together, our bodies growing slightly further apart.

“Nice. Now concentrate on your breathing and try to slow your heart rate.”

The wire swung back and forth under my weight. “Ah-ahh.” My heart did the opposite of what Remi wanted it to do: it beat even faster. Two more steps had us fully leaning on each other. “I can’t do this.”

“Then give up and let me win.” He squeezed my hand painfully, drawing my attention back to our grip.

I frowned at him. My mind couldn’t come up with a clear thought. “I can do anything you can do.” Sheesh. I sounded like a kindergartner.

I looked back at his eyes, knowing they had never left me. My abs tightened as I let go of my fear and leaned fully into him, forced to trust him to catch my weight and keep me in place.

Our bodies became almost completely flat. I kept my eyes locked on Remi even as I felt my feet slip and my body start to fall. I managed to contain my scream until I lost contact with him and the wire. I slammed against the harness as it caught me. Once again, I didn’t stop screaming until my feet touched the blessed grass.

The rope went completely slack, and I laid down face-first on the soft carpet of green. Remi stooped next to me and laughed.

“Maybe the reason I grow stuff is because I love plants and the ground. I think I should stay on it.” I rolled onto my back, flopping my arms open. The lowering sun heated my skin, and the wind calmed, but I still breathed hard.

“Does this mean you give up on Smoot?” he asked with a tilt of his eyebrow, challenging me to accept defeat.

“Not a chance.” I moved from my safe and comfortable position.

He laughed again, grabbing my hand. He pulled me up. “Come on. You’ve earned yourself a banana split.”

Oh! I hadn’t eaten a banana split in years. The thought of the decadent hot fudge, caramel, and strawberries topping the mounds of creamy goodness with fluffy clouds of whipped cream—a few cherries and a touch of peanuts—turned on the sprinklers in my mouth. How did he know my weakness?

“Your dad mentioned it was your favorite dessert.” He tilted his chin down and half-smiled.

Hot fudge and biscuits! He was as irresistible as my favorite dessert during my time of the month. “I can’t—I mean, I can’t eat a dessert like that. Do you know how many calories are in a banana split?” I continued without letting him answer, “About a thousand. That’s more than half my allotted caloric intake.”

His eyes widened, and they traveled down the length of my body. “With a body like yours, I’m surprised you’re so worried about calories.”

I took a couple of steps back from him, opened my mouth to say something, and then closed it. I repeated this action a couple of times. A body like mine? What did he mean by that?

The two college kids had finished winding the ropes and asked us for our harnesses. Remi unbuckled his and stepped out of it. I followed his actions with my mind still adjusting to a reality where he might think of me as attractive.

“You act like you don’t know you’re a beautiful woman.” He shook his head and took my harness, handing both to the smiling college student.

“I’m not a woman. I’m a farmer.”

My comment set Remi into a fit of giggles. “The most attractive farmer I’ve ever met.”

Heat crept into my face once again, and I covered my cheeks with both my hands.

He motioned to the parking lot with his head. “I’m taking you out for dessert because you are living a more adventurous life, remember? I’ll even take the hit and split those calories with you.” He winked.

“Fine,” I agreed, but not because his wink sent butterflies flittering all which ways in my abdomen. No. I’d conquered my fear of heights today, and I’d be FaceTiming Dan tomorrow. I deserved to intake each and every one of those calories.

Chapter 9

Remi

Thedayhadfinallyarrived for the highly anticipated FaceTime call. And Angie was a mess. She’d allowed a brief break in our day for this and had taken time to shower, but she worked tonight. She’d scheduled FaceTiming Dan during her only chance to nap. I still had on my farm clothes, and they weren’t the cleanest.

Hot rollers covered Angie’s head, making her look like she walked out of a sitcom from the fifties, and after a heated debate over ‘less is more,’ her makeup was finished. The last task to tackle: wardrobe. Wrapped in a bright-blue robe, Angie held an emerald, flouncy shirt for me to inspect. Though the shirt would pull out the flecks of green in her eyes, Smoot would be thinking with his other head the moment he saw her breasts spilling over.

“Nope. Neckline’s too low. Not a bad option, but not on the first call.” I took it from her and tossed it on top of the growing pile on Angie’s bed. “Think of yourself as a gift. You want to wrap yourself up, layers if you can, so he can imagine uncovering you in his mind.”

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