Page 71 of Cougar Chronicles

How could he possibly give her more than he already had? “Just exactly how do you plan to do that?”

“Well…” He stalked toward her, loosened her towel, and let it drop to the floor. “I could lavish these remarkable breasts with some more attention.” He cupped them and circled his thumbs over her nipples. “Or I could lick that sweet pussy of yours for a couple of hours. That would be a true pleasure for youandfor me.”

“Michael, you’re an incredible lover.” At least he was as far as she knew in her limited experience. “But I’ll be honest with you. Skydiving scares the shit out of me.”

He smirked. “Are you a woman or an amoeba?”

Though embarrassment flooded her that he’d remembered that stupid line, she couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re throwing that back at me?”

He joined in her laughter. “It seemed to fit.”

She shook her head. “Michael, I don’t understand you.”

“What’s not to understand? I just spent the night with a beautiful lady. I’d like to spend the day with her too.”

Could this be more than a one-night stand? A two night stand maybe? Or at least a night and a day stand? “But sky diving?”

“Tell you what”—he kissed her ear—“I will personally guarantee your safety. I want to make sure you get back in one piece to all those who care about you.”

Stacy snorted. Who? No one cared about her. “There’s no one to get back to, Michael. You know I’m divorced and I never had kids. Both my parents are dead, and I don’t have any brothers and sisters.”

“Geez, Stace, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry. I’m fine with it. But frankly, no one would notice if I was gone.”

He smiled. “I would. In fact, I’ll guarantee you that it will be the best experience of your life.” He bit her lobe. “Excluding last night, of course.”

Tingles skittered over her skin. Why did his touch affect her so?

“Come on, Stace. What is it? Are you afraid of heights?”

“No, it’s nothing like that.”Just afraid of my own shadow.But admittedly, she’d come a long way in the past twenty-four hours. Starr would sky dive. Could Stacy?

“Then live a little.”

She plunked her head on his broad shoulder. “Okay,” she said timidly.

“What was that? Say it again.”

She lifted her head and punched him in the arm. “You heard me. Geez, Michael. I can’t believe I’m going to do this.”

“I promise you’ll love it.” He brushed his lips against hers.

* * *

“I think I’m going to throw up.”

Michael adjusted the hooks on Stacy’s gear. He spoke loudly over the aircraft engine. “You’ll be fine, Stace.”

She tried to soothe her stomach by breathing deeply. The sporadic lunges of the small aircraft weren’t helping her cause. How could practicing jumping out of a plane and studying free fall maneuvers and parachute deployment for only an hour prepare her for this?

“What if the chute doesn’t open?”

“I’ll take care of the chute. You let me worry about that.”

She and Michael would be tandem skydiving, which was the best method, he had explained, for the first jump. Rather than jumping on her own, she’d be harnessed to Michael, her qualified instructor—help!—who would be responsible for safe and timely deployment of the parachute. This method freed Stacy to concentrate on freefall, piloting the canopy, and landing.

Yeah, right.

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