Page 23 of Flirt Away

“Lesson learned. You don’t like cauliflower no matter how doctored up it is with sour cream, bacon, and chives,” he said. “Any food involved in today’s festivities will be of your choosing.”

A thick lump formed in her throat as they pulled into the parking lot of Up in the Air, a local hot air balloon adventure tour. “You’re joking, right?”

“No. You mentioned you’ve never been, so I thought it would be fun.”

“Is your superpower remembering everything I say?” She held on to the clasp of her seat belt as if it were a lifesaving apparatus, and she’d fallen into the ocean. She blinked. Thankfully, she hadn’t said that out loud, or next thing she knew, she might be scuba diving.

Something that wasn’t on her bucket list.

He leaned in and kissed her cheek, his hot breath sending warm chills across her skin. “No. My superpower is giving you regular—and multiple—orgasms.”

“I doubt that will happen at five thousand feet while I’m utterly terrified. I’m afraid of heights.”

“That family over there will probably be in the balloon with us anyway, requiring us to keep it PG-rated.” He took her chin between his thumb and forefinger. “Are you the kind of afraid everyone is while on a plane, but you get on anyway? Or is it the paralyzing kind? Because if it’s the latter, I’m the world’s worst boyfriend. For the second time.”

She palmed his cheek and stared into his dark gaze that always gave her strength and comfort. “I’m right in between the two. And you’re the best boyfriend ever.” She brushed her lips over his, promising what might happen later—when they were alone. Perhaps even on the car ride home. “I’ve always been too timid to do something like this. I would never go on my own, and if you’d asked, I would have said no.”

“If you want to back—”

She covered his mouth. “Don’t give me the option. I need to step out of my comfort zone. I mean, people go up in those contraptions every day, and nothing happens to them. Right?”

“Right.” He tapped her nose. “Besides, I’ll be holding on to you the whole time.”

“Awesome. We can plummet to our death together.” She unhooked her seat belt.

He groaned. “Now you’re giving me second thoughts about my decision to sweep you off your feet—quite literally.” He stepped from the car and jogged around the hood.

She’d never tire of watching how his hair got caught in the wind or how he smelled a little bit like morning dew on a chilly fall day. When she’d stepped into Club Allure, she’d been looking to jump-start her dating life.

Not find a man who made her heart swell with something akin to…

No. She wasn’t falling in love with him.

Heavylike? Absolutely.

And it helped that he was damn fucking good in bed.

He laced his fingers through hers and tugged her in the direction of the big, floating balloons.

A man wearing a pair of low-hanging jeans, boots, and a cowboy hat strolled by—more like sauntered. He had that blond-haired, blue-eyed movie-star quality that was hard to miss.

“So, you like cowboys, do ya?” Zane said, giving her a little hip check.

“Not sure I’d kick him out of bed.”

“Neither would I,” Zane mused.

She glanced up at him, and he winked. But something told her he wasn’t kidding, making her want to give him an extra treat on the ride home. She had no clue why she was so turned on by the idea that he might have been with a man once in his life or that he’d perhaps fantasized about it. But she was, so she rolled with it.

Zane checked them in while she stood and stared at the balloon. Her heart beat so fast, she thought she might spontaneously take flight.

They’d lucked out with the weather—which was nothing short of a miracle in Seattle. A few big, puffy white clouds floated overhead, but the sun had command of the sky for the most part. She pulled her sweater across her body as a breeze came in off the Sound.

She hated flying, but she loved the last twenty minutes, where she got to see all the details of the world below.

“How are you holding up?” Zane asked as he looped a protective arm across her shoulders.

Craning her neck to catch his gaze, she smiled. “I haven’t vomited out of fear, so that’s good.”

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