Page 16 of Reckless
“Core them,” he said, certain he’d heard her incorrectly. But then she flipped one of the heads of lettuce between her palms, turning it over to reveal the rough, pale brown disk in the center.
“Mmm-hmm. There’s a small part right here in the middle that’s too fibrous to eat, so it’s gotta go before we can get to chopping.”
Huh. Guess that’s what he got for dodging his greens. “All right, so how do you do that?”
“Well, most people do it the old-fashioned way by using a paring knife, right here around where the stem used to be. But I’m kind of a fan of the shortcut.” Turning the head of lettuce sunny side down, she lifted it over the tabletop, pausing for only the briefest of seconds before slamming it into the stainless steel surface.
“Jeez!” A shocked bark of laughter catapulted past his lips, but it was chased quickly by a ripple of surprise as Zoe crooked her thumb and forefinger to pluck a small, Christmas tree-shaped core from inside the ball of leafy greens.
“See? If you hit it just right, you don’t need to bother with the slice and dice.” She swapped the head of lettuce for one of its uncored counterparts, passing it off to Alex with a no-nonsense smile. “Go ahead and give it a shot.”
He paused, but only for a breath as the effect of her smile slipped away in his bloodstream. If tossing around produce was her idea of cooking, he had this in the bag, no problem. Alex brushed his fingers over the soft, tightly packed leaves, bringing the lettuce down over the flat of the counter with a bang. Rolling it over with a confidentI got thistacked firmly to his face, he reached out to pop the core free and move on to victim number two.
Cue a whole lot of nothing happening.
“Seriously?” he said, stepping back to lift his brows at the undisturbed cone still nestled tight inside the head of greens. Alex tightened his grip on the base of the lettuce core, a frown taking over his mouth as he went to dig that sucker out come hell or high tide. But then Zoe let loose with a deep-bellied laugh, and the sheer, reckless abandon of the sound jammed his irritation to an abrupt halt.
“Don’t worry,” she said, the lean muscles in her forearms flexing as she motioned for him to rotate the head of lettuce back to its original position. “Every once in a while a stubborn one pops up. The good news is you can try again without hurting anything.”
“I suspect you mean other than my pride.” Alex flipped the lettuce back between his palms, determined not to be bested by a head of freaking salad greens. Luckily for both him and the produce, the second time was the charm, or at least mostly. After some awkward and not-gentle coaxing, he managed to maneuver the core free with a soft snap, and okay. This kitchen thing wasn’t so bad.
“So, I have a question.” Zoe didn’t look up from the pile of carrots she’d just amassed next to the scuffed white cutting board in front of her, but despite her obvious concentration on the food, Alex felt certain she had a metaphorical eye on him and an ear on his answer, besides.
“Shoot.”
“Why would you jump out of a perfectly functional airplane?”
Oookay. Talk about something he hadn’t been expecting. Still, the answer was a total no-brainer, so he said, “Because I can. Life’s too short to ask why.”
“I’d imagine life becomes drastically shorter if you’re prone to doing things as insane as skydiving.” She picked up a carrot, sliding the peeler over its surface with a brisksnick snick snick,but oh no. No way was he going to let her pin one of his favorite pastimes with the crazy flag just because she had a thing for too much caution.
“I don’t go without a parachute, Zoe. Anyway, it’s stuff like skydiving that lets you know you’re really living.”
A soft snort crossed her lips, but the glint of curiosity on her pixie face gave her away. “How does risking imminent death make you feel alive?”
“Because the rush is the best way to live in the moment, and it’s a hell of a lot better than walking around saying ‘someday,’ or worse yet, having regrets when your time runs out. Anyway, skydiving isn’t as risky as you think.” He held up a hand to quell the not-so-soft counterpart to the snort she’d given up a second ago, and to his surprise, she conceded. “Yes, it’s an extreme sport, but first of all, you’ve got a statistically greater chance of being struck by lightning than dying in a skydiving accident. Secondly, it’s not as if they just strap a parachute to your back, slap you on the shoulder, and say good luck as they toss you from the plane. There’s a lot more to a jump than that.”
“Hmph.” The rasp of the peeler and the intermittent bang of lettuce to countertop filled the quiet between them, and for a minute, Alex thought she might not bite. But then Zoe tilted her head, the thread of bold curiosity making a repeat appearance in her eyes as she said, “Like what?” and ha! He had her.
“Well, the first bunch of times you jump, you have to go tandem with an instructor, who’s literally strapped to your back. He’s in charge of getting you out of the plane at the right time, pulling the cord for the chute…pretty much the only thing you get to do is go along for the ride.”
Her brows furrowed into aVover her doubtful stare. God, she was going to be a tough nut to crack. “I suppose that would cut back on rookie mistakes somewhat. But you’re still jumping out of the airplane at…what?”
He grinned, halfway to a hard-on just thinking about it. “Thirteen thousand feet.”
The vegetable peeler hit the countertop with a clatter. “You’re serious.”
“Sugar coating isn’t my thing,” he reminded her, placing the last head of lettuce on the worktable with a shrug. “You have to go up pretty high if you want enough time for the instructor to pull the cord so the parachute works its magic, so yeah. Thirteen K is about average for a good run.”
“I don’t suppose you can have the guy pull the cord before your feet leave the ground,” Zoe said, her tone strongly suggesting she was half joking at best.
“No, but you can have him walk you through about four hours of training before you’re allowed on the airplane the first time. In fact, it’s required.”
“Really?” A different sort of disbelief flickered over her features, lighting her pretty brown eyes with genuine surprise rather than sharp-edged doubt, and the shift triggered a memory, lodged deep and barely touched, from his brain. That same stare, brimming with heat and brash intentions, as they’d bumped into each other on the semi-wooded path connecting Fairview’s park pavilion to the open fields where the FFD held their annual barbecue. The way he’d innocently tried to help her untangle an errant strand of hair from one of her dangly gold earrings, and the way she’d not-so-innocently reached up to wrap her fingers around his.
“You know what I think, Alex Donovan? I think you should kiss me.”
Christ. He really should fork over a neat one- or two-word answer to be polite and just get on with assembling the rabbit food. Zoe was the walking, talking epitome of off limits, and anyway, he didn’t need any comfort in her kitchen. No, what Alex needed was to shut his cake trap and be on his merry, salad-making, community-service-fulfilling way.
