Page 6 of A Little Bit Wild

“Will do!” I call back as I head out to my car.

It’s a beautiful day here, and I smile as I hop in my car and head toward the airfield. I’ve been smiling since I left Aria yesterday. There was just something about her that stuck with me.

When I noticed that she was crying when we first met, I didn’t even think. I just reacted, wrapping my arms around the curvy redhead and pulling her against me. From there, my protective feelings for her only grew.

I always thought that when I met the one, I would just know, and that’s what I felt yesterday when I met Aria. She’s meant to be mine. I know it deep in my gut.

I haven’t told the other guys about what she hired me for. I just said she wanted a bodyguard for a few days and that I could handle it. I know that Gates suspects something. He’s been eyeing me more lately, and when I told him that I couldn’t drive him to work today, he raised an eyebrow at me. In Gates’ language, that means that he’s on to me.

I wanted to tell him yesterday about her. It feels weird not to share everything with my best friend, but this all is still so new. I don’t want to tell him that I met the one if this is all going to stay strictly professional. I mean, Aria is grieving right now. The last thing that she needs is me hitting on her. I just have to hope that she can feel this between us too.

I pull up outside the West Coast Extreme office and park, looking around to spot Aria. I had wanted to pick her up, afraid she would chicken out on me, but she had insisted on driving. I had made her promise that she would be there, and we even shook on it before she left yesterday.

There’s no sign of her yet, but I’m early. I park next to a newer-looking Audi and climb out. I just happen to glance over, and I laugh when I see Aria slouched down in the driver’s seat. She looks miserable, and I reach for the passenger door handle and climb in beside her.

“It won’t be that bad,” I promise.

She jumps at me breaking into her car but relaxes when she sees that it’s me.

“But how do you know that?” She asks, eyeing the plane taking off like it’s a snake.

“I’ve jumped out of planes like a hundred times. A buddy of mine owns this place. He’s an ex-Army ranger. He knows his shit. We’ll be safe.”

She nods, but she looks pale.

“Or we can start with bungee jumping,” I say, nodding over to the bridge that’s set up on the property to do just that.

West Coast Extreme is like an adrenaline junkie’s playground. There’s bungee jumping, base jumping, skydiving, and zip lining, all spread out over a hundred acres along the coast. The main building where we check in is pretty small, just big enough to store the supplies and a small office.

“You think this is fun,” Aria accuses me, and I laugh.

“Itisfun,” I insist, and she shines the tiny flashlight attached to her keys in my eyes.

“Uh-huh, and how long would you say you’ve been experiencing these delusions?” She asks with a straight face.

“Come on. You’re going to have a blast.”

I climb out of her car, and she sighs but follows me as I walk up to the front door.

“I’m not going up in your plane!” A pretty blonde shouts as soon as we step inside. “Are you crazy!”

“See, this girl gets it,” Aria whispers to me, and I try not to laugh as I look over to my friend, Huck.

He’s behind the counter, giving the blonde an amused smile.

“You want me to take you for a different kind of ride?” He asks, and I laugh into my hand, trying to pretend that it’s a cough.

“Ugh, in your dreams!” She spits at him, and she glares at me as she storms out.

“Making all the ladies swoon still, I see,” I tease Huck as we head for the counter.

“Not all. Just one,” he says, staring after her.

I’m dying to ask what the story is there, but I have a feeling that if we don’t get up soon, Aria will bolt just as fast as Huck’s blonde friend did.

“Ready to go skydiving?” He asks us, and Aria just stares at him with a blank face.

“We sure are!” I enthuse. “Aria here could barely sleep last night; she was so excited.”

---