Page 62 of The Ice Queen in the Corner Office

He smirked. “Your boyfriend is acting like a helicopter mom on the first day of kindergarten.”

“He’s not my boy—”

“Are you insane,” Alex shouted up at me. “Do you want to end up in a cast like me?”

I looked at Cody, whose eyes were glittering and lips were twitching, and burst out laughing. “He really is like a helicopter mom,” I said, when I got some air.

Cody laughed with me, then reached up and sat down in his harness. Before he zip lined to the next obstacle, he gave me a warm smile. “Worrying like that means he cares about you, Jill. He’s got my vote.”

There was so much I wanted to say about that, but Cody was gone, zipping through the trees.

“Well, he doesn’t have my vote,” Noah said. “I don’t trust him.”

“Lucky for me,” I said. “Neither of your votes count.”

Cody had reached the platform on the other side, so I sat and zipped after him. Unfortunately, the next obstacle was a tight wire walk with only rings, spaced far apart, to hold onto. There was no going fast on that obstacle. And Noah had zipped up to the platform right behind me.

“So you are dating him?”

I spun to look at my older brother. “No.”

He frowned, and his hands fisted at his sides. “If he’s going to spend two days in his cabin with you, he should be willing to date you.”

“He’s not the one who doesn’t want to date. I am.”

His eyes widened. “So you’re…I mean you don’t want…” He closed his eyes and swallowed hard, before opening them. “You know what? I don’t want to know. Just tell me if he hurts you or takes advantage of you or is an asshole in any way, and I’ll be more than happy to kick his ass.”

I smiled and pecked my brother on the cheek. “I know.”

I spun to find Cody was on the opposite platform and took a deep breath to center myself before I stepped onto the wire.

“You don’t have to do this,” Alex yelled up. “You can turn around. I can get someone to help you, if you want. Just say the word.”

I smiled down at him. He was a class-A worrywart, but also adorable. “I’m fine, Alex. Just relax and enjoy the scenery.”

“Like I can do that while you climb around on that rickety contraption.”

I stepped onto the wire and started across. There was nothing blocking my view of the ground below, nothing to allow me to fool myself into thinking I wasn’t high off the ground.

I grinned at Cody who was watching me, and he gave me a thumbs up, looking as happy as I felt. My brothers were nosier than a fox in a hen house, but they were my brothers and it was good to share this with them.

Two hours later, we piled back into the car. I was feeling pumped and happy, but Alex still looked a bit pale.

“How was it?” he asked, as Noah pulled out of the parking lot and headed for the main road.

“It was amazing,” I said. “Thank you so much.”

“Yeah, man, thanks,” Cody said.

“It’s the least he can do since he’s boning our sister,” Noah grumbled.

“Dude,” Cody said. “Shut the hell up. I don’t want to hear about that shit.” He spun in his seat and glared at Alex. “Hurt her and you’re a dead man.”

“Have you seen your sister fight?” Alex asked. “By the time you get to me, there’ll be nothing left.”

Cody’s eyebrows lifted, and he looked at me. “You fight?”

“Didn’t I tell you I’m teaching a Krav Maga class?”

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