Page 3 of Extreme Romancing in Idaho

I expected a wave or a nod—not a handshake. And definitely not the whole ‘The Third’ intro.

“Nice to meet you, Remington James the Third.” I laughed as his cheeks grew a little red. I assume he’d been named for his father and his grandfather before him. I’d been named after Angie Harmon, the actress for Abby Carmichael on Law & Order, not one of my relatives. Nope, a TV star. After the first episode aired a few months before I was born, my parents became superfans. I didn’t tell him all this of course. “I’m just Angie.”

I slid my fingers into his hand. He held mine with a strong grip and shook vigorously. Goosebumps raised the hairs on my arm as I studied him. His soft, businessman’s hands were manicured, yet his clothes matched that of a mountain climber … or one of those people who went to every national park.

Maybe Smoot and Remi had figured out the secret ingredient to happiness: extreme sports. Too bad I had the courage of a gnat.

Mama scooted behind Papa’s wheelchair. “We’ll head over to baggage claim. Meet you there.” She winked and mouthed,Get his number.

I rubbed my forehead, certain a trace of a blush dusted my cheeks.

Remi adjusted the straps on his backpack. The helmet hanging from it thunked against its metal frame. “So, have you lived here your whole life?”

“Yep. Small-town girl. That’s me. We don’t even have a stoplight.” Stop talking. Just stop talking. I squeezed my lips together. The farthest I’d been from my town was this airport. “Where are you from?”

“Uh—Texas.” He tilted his chin down.

Hence his Southern accent with a Texan twist.

“If you’ve lived here your whole life, then you’ve been to the Perrine Bridge,” he said.

The bridge? It spanned the Snake River Canyon. “Yeah. I drive over it almost every day.”

“No way.My buddy and I are going to BASE jump it.”

I took everything I saw in him back. He was nuts. Jumping into a chasm with no guarantee your ‘chute’ would open? No, thank you. At least three BASE jumpers died every year catapulting into the canyon.

Smoot couldn’t bethisextreme.

“Are there any good places to eat around here?” He shrugged his backpack on his shoulders and smiled at me.

“I really like eating at Elevation 486.”

“That’s how tall the bridge is. 486 feet!” He bounced onto the balls of his feet. For a second, he may have actually left the ground.

Yikes. He acted like I was the most blessed thing on this earth to have the privilege of having a close relationship with the sacred structure.

“Sorry.” He cleared his throat. “You must think I’m … intense.”

“Just a little bit.” I held up my thumb and pointer finger with only a small gap between them.

He let out a burst of laughter like a kid on a carnival ride. If only I could hop on the same ride with him.

“It’s just … I’ve been waiting my whole life for a chance to take on this challenge. My enthusiasm kind of takes over.” He shifted his weight. “So, what do you like to do for fun? Jump off bridges?” Sarcasm wove in between his words.

Between finishing nursing school, working, caring for Papa, and running the farm, I didn’t have much time for fun. What would it be like to travel around the country with a helmet strapped to your bag and do whatever the heck you wanted?

It would be heaven. Except I would do other things, like soak in hot springs, lay out on a sandy beach, get massages, and … soak in hot springs some more. “No way would I do something as stupid as jumping off a bridge.”

His shoulders dropped a little with my answer.

“I guess I like to ride my horse,” I continued. I glanced away for a second. My parents had their bags but didn’t gesture for me to leave. Sly devils.

“You actually ride a horse? Not the kind you put quarters into?”

Merriment twinkled in his eyes, and, despite my bad mood, I laughed. Darn his superpower.

“I’m impressed. I live in a city. People don’t ride horses there.” He stepped closer, giving off a scent of fresh air and clean laundry with a hint of cedar.

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