Page 67 of Runaway Bride and Prejudice

But I sure am enjoying the ride.

Amelia smiles and my ribs suddenly feel tight.

“Yeah, I’m good, hotshot.”

Wave clears his throat. “So everybody’s all good, then?”

His eyes bounce between the two of us, and he takes the smallest step back. Still too close. I’m ready to get off this platform and to have Mills to myself again. Which isn’t how today or any of this is supposed to go.

Wave clears his throat again and I take a step back from Amelia, trying to clear my head. But the only thing it does is make me want to go right back to having my arm around Amelia.

It also allows Wave to step back in. Dude doesn’t seem to take hints.

Read the room, pal. Or, as it were, read the platform.

Now I clear my throat. Dramatically. Amelia giggles as I pin a glare on Wave. “Are you going to make sure my harness is tight enough?” I ask him.

“Looks good,” he says, giving me barely more than a cursory glance.

“But you’ve got to check, right? Standard procedure and all that. Preventing lawsuits.”

Do I really want a man called Wave getting all up close and personal in myverypersonal space? No. I really don’t.

But I suspect he’ll like it even less. And though maybe itisa standard practice and not just something he did to get close to Amelia, it’s clear he had zero intention of doing the same for me.

Guess Wave doesn’t care if I fall into a gator pond.

“Wait,” Amelia says, her fingertips brushing my arm. “Are you allowed to zip line?”

Wave’s head snaps up. He’s frowning, but I swear the guy looks hopeful. Probably at the idea of separating Amelia and me.

“Heart problems? Medical issues? Did you even read the waiver?”

“No medical issues.” Though I do seem to have a heart problem. One that got me up on this platform to begin with.

“He plays hockey,” Amelia explains.

“Ah. That explains the black eye,” Wave says.

I glare at him. “That’s not where I got the black eye. Are you going to check my equipment or not?”

Amelia tugs at my arm again, and I turn toward her as Wave crouches, checking my harness a little more enthusiastically than necessary.

“Would my dad be okay with this?” Amelia asks. “I don’t want you to get in trouble.”

“Nothing in my contract says I can’t zip line.” There are a lot of other stipulations about what I do, especially during the season. Some of whichmightactually extend to include something like this. But I’m not letting Amelia go by herself.

“Don’t worry about me,” I tell her. “Are you nervous?”

“Can’t wait,” she says, beaming.

Wave pulls something a little tighter than necessary and I grunt, glaring down at him. “Hey, pal. I’m all for safety, but I’d also like to have children at some point in the future, so let’s not tighten things too much down there.”

“You want to have kids?” Amelia asks softly, and the hopeful look she’s trying to hide has me feeling a surge of hope too.

Swallowing around the tightness in my throat, I say, “Someday.”

It’s not something I think about often, mostly because I haven’t been in any serious relationships and I haven’t been in a hurry. There were times I swore I’d never want to have kids, not after what my parents put us through.

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