Page 59 of Take Me to the Wedding

I grabbed her hand, which made her look at me. She looked troubled. “Take a chance with me.”

Ignoring that, Sam got up and caught a rope harness made of knots that looked as flimsy as a macramé plant hanger. “Your ride’s here.”

She knelt down next to me and demonstrated the tiny saddle made of knots.

“I don’t want to move.” For a moment, I closed my eyes and tilted my head back against the rock. Fear was seeping in, but I fought it back. And I wasn’t done with this discussion. I needed her to know how I felt.

“I get it,” she said. “We’ve got to immobilize your leg somehow.”

She started looking around for something—sticks, I guess. I could see her reasoning it out.

“Would you do something for me first?” I asked.

She turned and looked down at me. “What?”

I lifted my hand.

She stared at it. “What?”

“Take it.” She frowned. “Come on,” I said, insistent. “It’s important.”

She did and I used my strength to tug her down next to me. Before she could protest, I said, “I want one favor. Since you said so yourself—this is life and death.”

“Caleb, it’s not life and death. You’re going to be fine. We just have to?—”

“Kiss me.”

“No. No way.” She tugged back, but I kept holding her hand.

“Just one time.”

“You’re not just a hopeless romantic, you’re also a drama queen. You need to get to the hospital. We’ve got to get you hauled out of here. Our friends are waiting.”

“I want us to be honest and talk about what’s really going on here. And it’s not about Lilly.”

“Two days ago it was,” she shot back.

“Take a chance. One kiss.” I met her panicked gaze. I truly believed that she thought I was delirious. “I would never hurt you, Samantha.”

“Everyone says that.”

“ButImean it.”

She huffed. “If I do it, will you let me help you into this thing?”

I answered by giving one last tug that placed her body right up against mine. I felt the sudden shock of her softness, her heat. She let out a tiny gasp of surprise as our bodies collided and our lips met. For a suspended moment, we stood there, pressed up against each other, unmoving. I began to kiss her, slowly, carefully, gently exploring her lips. At last she began to kiss me back, at first small, light-as-a-feather kisses. Then she wrapped her arms tightly around my neck, pulling me closer, kissing me deeper, moving her lips against mine. I savored every second—her soft lips, the quiet exclamations, the feel of her in my arms. Everything felt so right.

I was lightheaded—from her nearness and the pain—and my leg was throbbing. But I’d never felt so certain that this was different. This meant something. I hoped she felt it too.

I finally broke away and pulled back. My head and my leg—and other parts of me—were throbbing, but those kisses… had been one small, perfect thing in an otherwise heinous day. “That’s much better,” I said, smiling. “I didn’t want to die without doing that.” I forced myself to scoot away, dragging myself into view of the top of the cliff and waving to our friends.

I turned to take one last look at Sam. She was a little out of breath, her hair tousled, her eyes dazed, her lips a little kiss-swollen. In that moment, she was so breathtakingly beautiful and clearly as impacted by those kisses as I was that I could easily have said the hell with being rescued and stayed. But it was time to go. I could only hope that she knew that was just a small sample of how I really felt about her. I gave her a big smile, then gave a thumbs-up to the people above. “Okay, folks,” I called up, “here I come.”

ChapterSixteen

Samantha

I got up and walked over to the dangling harness, struggling to untangle it and all my emotions as Caleb dragged himself over, bracing himself against the side of the cliff for support.

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