Serenity clipped Turner onto the next line of the course. “Ready to go!” she announced.
He took no time flinging himself off the edge. This section seemed a little shorter than the last one. He did this so carelessly and freely. I doubted that by the end of the course, I’d feel confident enough to step off without thinking of every possible way I could die. My brain just didn’t work that way, or allow me to relax. But, at least this time, I knew what I was expecting when I would let myself fall. I saw Turner reach the bottom and give a thumbs up. Guess it was my turn. Getting clipped in, I lowered myself to a seated position and allowed gravity to do its job. No running starts for me.
I heard Turner say a little “whoop” for me when I was near the platform. When I got to him, I was successfully stopped by Joe, and unclipped.
“You’re getting good at this,” Turner commended.
I rolled my eyes. “Did I really have a choice? Seems to be the only way down at this point.”
“You have a point.”
“If I go on another date with you, I swear I’m going to need in writing and possibly a blood fingerprint what you’re plans are. No more of this surprise freaking Annabelle out stuff.”
He laughed. “But you’re doing it aren’t you? Are you enjoying it?”
I thought for a moment. “I think I’ll find it enjoyable after I get home and realize I’m safe and sound from your crazy antics.”
“Oh, Annabelle, these aren’t crazy antics. Unless I take you skydiving or bungee jumping, this is quite tame.”
My eyes got round. “I will never throw myself out of a perfectly good airplane for shits and giggles, Turner Brooks. So count me out.”
“Noted.”
He was amused by me. Joe was standing back allowing our moment and not interrupting our date. I kind of wished he would keep us moving so we could get this over with. Wait a second . . . this was the third platform. Didn’t Serenity say this was the one that would be interesting? Crap. I looked around for anything that was different about this one versus the last two. That’s when I saw it. There was a small wooden bridge that extended outwards about six feet. A cable went across it but it looked just like the ones we’d just traveled on. Maybe we were supposed to walk out and step off. Why in the world would we do that instead of doing it from right here? The bridge looked unsteady.
“Are we going?” I asked, ready to keep moving.
Joe came into my line of sight. “Yep, but here’s where you have two options. You can either go down this one like you have the others, or . . .” his “or” sounded ominous. “You can walk out on this little plank here like a pirate, and take a leap of faith.”
Turner wagged his eye brows at me. “Argh!” He tried to sound like a pirate.
“Not funny.” I glared at him. “What do you mean a leap of faith? As in, just step off? Do you slide down the line still?”
Joe shook his head. “Nope. This one is a little simpler than that. You jump off the edge and once you’re at the bottom, you walk to the next station.”
I gulped. Were they insane? I already thought the was the worst idea ever was throwing myself over the edge of a hillside, but now they are asking me if I want to plummet eighty feet to the bottom? No way, no how. I already knew my answer. I was barely comfortable with this whole zip lining thing, this was just insanity to me. And of course I didn’t need to ask Mr. Daredevil if he planned on jumping. He was.
“You going to do it?”
“Hell no. I’m quite fond of my legs and arms being intact, thank you very much.”
Turner stepped into my little bubble again. Why does he do that? His woodsy aftershave washed over me and made me slightly dizzy. Men should not smell this good. He brushed his hand down from my shoulder to my elbow leaving a little trail of goose bumps in its path.
“It’s not really the kind of free fall you’re thinking it is. The line catches you and lowers you halfway down.”
I met his blue eyes head on. “That halfway is still too far for me. I’ll go the ‘traditional’ route.” I gave air quotes.
“You’re very stubborn, you know that?”
“Ha! So says the king of Stubborn Land.”
Then he did something I didn’t expect. He bent down and lightly kissed the tip of my nose. My poor heart went into over drive. Until now, Turner had yet to make any move to actually kiss me. Sure he’d kissed my hand at the end of our other date, but that didn’t count. Not like this. And, of course, he chose now to plant a sweet delicate one on me when my nerves were already a hot mess. I’ll give him credit though, it did shift my attention to other things. Like how tender he was. How in that split second I could tell his lips were silky soft. And now how I wanted to grab him by his collar and pull him down to me and kiss him the way I’d been thinking about for the past two weeks. I felt flushed all over and I shifted on my feet. Needing a little air, I cleared my throat.
“Well, you better make the plunge to your death. Your mom’s number is in your phone right?”
He gave me another full bellied laugh. “Yes, it’s in my phone.” He started making his walk out on the very flimsy wooden boards. The further out he went the more it wobbled. “Annabelle?”
The sound of his voice calling my name felt like it was a shot straight to my soul. Why was I feeling this way?
“Yes?”
“There’s more where that came from.”
He leapt. My God, could the dude get any more brazen or cocky? Did it make my heart leap for joy? Yep. But that wasn’t the point here. Clearly he thought he could do whatever he wanted if he sweet talked enough, or put me under his little spell and got close enough. No wonder all those women fell for him. He was like a little devil in scrubs. Err . . . well actually khaki shorts and a t-shirt that all fit him entirely too well. The bastard.
Looking over the edge, he landed on a black cushioned mat that was well worn from other jumpers.
“You proud of yourself?” I called down.
“Yes, ma’am. You really should try it. It’s more fun than you think.”
I gave him the “ok” hand sign. “I’m good.”
Joe hooked me up to the traditional line and told me Serenity was waiting for me at the other end. Only difference between the last two times I’d gone, and this time, I noticed my nerves weren’t in full effect like they had been. I zoomed down the line thinking of nothing but Turner and his adorable mouth. I questioned if I would allow him to kiss me again if he tried. And if he did, would it be on my nose again, or on the lips. I was getting wrapped up in the thought of him when my feet touched the bottom. Turner was climbing up a ladder on the side to meet up with me.
“Was it a good one?”
Okay, was he referring to the ride, or the kiss? Certainly not the kiss, it was just on my nose.
“It was enjoyable.”