Page 39 of One Night in Paris

Finally turning his head to look at me, he said, “I’ll jump if you’re right there with me.”

“You’ve got it.” With his hand in mine, I took a deep breath and turned my eyes to the ocean.

The instructor shouted out the countdown. Logan didn’t hesitate. The second the man said “three,” both of us hurled ourselves off the bridge with determination. Even when he was scared, when Logan did something, he put his whole heart into it.

We jumped together, exhilarating fear flying up inside of me as gravity tugged us down toward the waiting water below. As the ocean rushed up toward us, we plummeted to the surface, all of us screaming in excitement. Glancing at Logan, I saw a huge grin on his face.

Brushing the cool water for only a second, we were hurdled back up into the air. All of us broke into fits of laughter as we continued to bounce there, taking in the panoramic view of the ocean and the bridge. It was surreal, looking down at the ground and up at the sky, knowing I was just hanging in the middle, swaying in the wind. Trevor’s hooting and hollering continued even after we finished with the fall.

We bounced there for several seconds, all trying to catch our breath. When I could finally talk, I turned to Logan and said, “I’m so proud of you!” I truly meant it. I knew he could do it.

Smiling, he said, “I can’t believe I just did that!”

“Logan,” I began, looking into his eyes again, “I’m pretty sure there’s nothing you can’t do.”

Giving me a grateful look, Logan nodded, but he didn’t speak, and then it was time for us to make our way back up to the bridge.

Climbing back up to the top, my heart still pounding with adrenaline, my face began to ache from smiling. None of uscould believe we’d done that, and all of us were proud of ourselves.

Once we reached the top, I hugged and congratulated the others, even Trevor, on a successful jump. But I couldn’t resist giving Logan a hard time about his fear of jumping. “So, I guess you’re not really a thrill seeker after all.” Giving him a wink, I playfully punched him in the arm.

“What are you talking about?” Logan protested, looking wounded as he tried to play it off. “I’m totally a thrill seeker. I did it, didn’t I?”

“Then why is this the first time you’ve ever bungee jumped?” I asked, crossing my arms and raising an eyebrow. “Shouldn’t you have been doing this all along?”

Shrugging, Logan stammered, not able to come up with a true explanation. “Well, I…”

“You were scared. I get it. But you did it, and you’re a better person for it.” Done giving him a hard time, I reached for his arm and gave it a squeeze.

Logan laughed. “Fine, you got me. I wasn’t sure I could do it, but I’m glad I did. I’ve always been afraid of the rope breaking. But now that you made me, I’m stoked I went through with it, and I can’t wait to do it again.”

“That’s the spirit.” Wrapping an arm around his shoulder, I added, “Now you can truly call yourself a thrill seeker.”

Logan pulled me into a tight embrace, making my heart start to race all over again. “Thanks for believing in me. I couldn’t have done it without you.” He kissed the top of my head. Breathless, I couldn’t respond, only smile.

Trevor’s voice cut through my revelry. “Well, while that was fun, if you want to call yourselves true thrill seekers, you two girls will come skydiving with Logan and me in a couple of weeks.” Trevor’s grin was huge as he waited for our response.

My eyes widened. He was talking about something totally different now. “Skydiving? You’re kidding, right?” My stomach dropped at the thought of jumping out of an airplane. Talk about not trusting equipment.

“No way! That sounds amazing!” Kylee’s eyes lit up with excitement.

Even Kylee was willing to go? Looking at Logan, I could see he wasn’t afraid of that at all. He gave me a reassuring nod.

“Come on, Harper. It’s the ultimate rush, the closest you’ll ever get to flying.” Trevor was doing his best to convince me, but all I could think about was jumping and not having my chute open.

Taking my hand, Logan said, “Nothing compares to the feeling of freefalling through the sky, with the wind rushing past you, and the incredible views below. Trust me, you won’t regret it. And the equipment we use for that is totally safe. One hundred percent professional grade.”

Not wanting to look scared in front of my friends, especially after I had just convinced Logan to jump, I put on a brave face. “Sure, I’m in.”

Swallowing hard, I hoped I hadn’t just signed my death certificate.

21

LOGAN

Aweek passed by pretty quickly. Seeing Harper at the office every day was amazing. Even though we’d slept together Friday night and kissed when I’d driven her home Saturday, we were able to keep things professional in the office.

It wasn’t always easy, though. Whenever we were in meetings, I’d find myself looking at her a little longer than I’d intended. My eyes would linger, and my hands wanted to follow. For the most part, I stayed away from her whenever I found my urges to be particularly strong. But that wasn’t always possible. One afternoon, when we were working on a project in my office, I had to fake a call on my cell to get her out of there before I took her right on my desk.

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