Page 59 of Keep Your Friends Close and Your… Work Enemy Closer?

"Ready?" I asked, standing next to her on the small platform.

She took a deep breath, then nodded. "No. Yes. No. Okay."

"Come on. Let's do this," I said, and with one final glance at her, I pushed off the platform.

The world dropped away beneath us as we soared through the air, the trees blurring into a green sea below. Dee's initial screech of terror turned into something that sounded suspiciously like laughter, and I couldn't help smiling.

God, this felt amazing. Not just the physical sensation of flying, but having this woman in my arms. When we'd taken off, she'd ended up nestled between my legs, her back pressed firmly against my chest. I could feel every tremor of her nervous energy as we sped along, the wind rushing past us, her hand instinctively gripping my knee.

My arms were wrapped around her, holding her securely in place, and although I was supposed to be reassuring her, the closeness was doing a number on me, unlocking something in my chest.

Humming with tension, the zip line vibrated under our combined weight, but it was smooth and steady, the sensation of gliding through the air unlike anything I'd ever felt.

As the landscape whipped by, all I could focus on was this woman in my arms—the warmth of her body against mine, the way we fit together and how she was finally letting go, leaning into this incredible experience. With me.

The route was long and winding, treetops and stunning scenery flying beneath us, and with each turn, my grip on hertightened, instinct and the need to keep her close rising up inside me.

For the time being, it was only the two of us, suspended in the sky, wrapped up in each other, and I loved every damn second of it.

When the landing platform finally came into view, disappointment flashed through me that this connection between us was coming to an end.

We slowed down, the line gradually easing us toward the wooden platform, and we soon landed, Dee stumbling a little as we righted ourselves. I let her go so we could unhook everything, keeping an eye on her. She was breathless but smiling, a real, genuine smile.

"See?" I said. "I told you it'd be fun."

She rolled her eyes, but there was no bite to it. "You might've been right. This time. And this time only."

I laughed my ass off at her snarky tone, resisting the urge to spank her behind as she turned and walked off. It was a start, and I'd fucking take it.

Fifteen

Annalise

After the world's longest shower and nap, I still hadn't quite recovered from my earlier experience with Jared. I'd replayed it a million times since, despite myself, remembering Jared's confident grin and his way-too-comforting presence, how he'd somehow managed to turn what could have been a terrifying experience into something... fun. And that bothered me more than I cared to admit.

Seriously, he'd been so annoyingly smooth. The way he'd wrapped his arms around me, making me feel safe, like he actually cared if I made it across in one piece. And I couldn't even think about the way I'd laughed and leaned into him, actually enjoying myself and letting him see a side of me I usually kept hidden away. I was supposed to be tougher than this, damn it, immune to that whole knight-in-shining-armor crap.

Yet, there'd been something undeniably thrilling about the way we'd fit together during that ride. His chest was warm and oh so sturdy against my back, his breath near my ear making me shiver even now, hours later during dinner.

Fuck.

The last thing I needed was to complicate my life with some office romance. He was just a co-worker, after all. A slightlymysterious, mostly obnoxious, occasionally charming co-worker who seemed to get under my skin more and more with every passing day.

I couldn't let him distract me, though. I'd have to keep my distance and pretend like none of this had ever happened.

Dinner had been easy. I'd waited until the last possible minute to come downstairs again, hiding out in my room with Mona.

And when we'd arrived, he'd already been seated. So it'd been easy to sit all the way at the other end of the room and eat my bowl of hearty stew.

But now?

We were headed outdoors for kumbaya time. Yay.

And sure enough, as soon as I took a seat on one of the blankets strewn about the fire, Jared sat down right next to me.

"Oh, hey," he said. "Didn't see you there."

Rolling my eyes at him, the gesture was lost in the darkness.

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