Page 39 of Keep On Loving You

Kat narrowed her eyes and resisted the urge to smack him with her cast. “This thing is coming off soon. And you know it.”

“So, you don’t want my help?”

She shot him a look and moved to the kitchen table. “I want you to agree before I tell you what’s on the list.”

He retrieved his glass of wine and pulled out the chair across from her. “Done. I agree.”

“Just like that?”

He shrugged. “I meant it when I said it, Kitty Kat. I’m here for you. No matter what.”

She lifted her wine glass and looked over the rim. “How do you feel about jumping out of an airplane?”

Chapter Fifteen

“I cannot believeyou talked me into doing this.”

The smile Kat flashed him was worth any of the anxiety Andy was feeling at that moment from standing on the top of the out-of-service rail bridge that spanned the river gorge over a hundred feet in the air. And hewasfeeling a lot of anxiety.

“You agreed to help,” she reminded him with a mischievous smile. “No matter what. Besides, it could be worse. We could be in an airplane right now.”

She was right. On both counts. Hehadagreed to help her with all the things on her list, and it very well could have been an airplane that she’d chosen. Not that it could have felt any worse than it already did.

“I’m surprised you look so casual about all of this. You hate heights.” It was something they had in common from when they were young. Craig used to tease them when they were on the chair lift together. Both Andy and Kat refusedto ever look down, and on the few occasions when the chair would be stopped, they would take turns keeping each other occupied, so that neither of them would panic.

“I do.” She swallowed hard and tilted her head up to look at the few fluffy white clouds in the otherwise bright-blue sky. The sun would set soon, but for now they had a gorgeous day. “So do you.”

He laughed nervously but there was no way he was going to walk away from the challenge. Not now. He’d given her his word, and he intended to keep it.

“Okay, you two.” The woman named Juniper, who looked far too young to be officially in charge of either of their lives, stood from where she’d been crouching in front of them. “You’re all strapped in.”

Andy swallowed hard and reached for Kat’s good hand. It was clammy, and she clenched his tightly while they listened to Juniper give them instructions. Not that there were many. It all seemed pretty straightforward.

Step backward.

Fall.

Sure, there was a bungee rope attached to their ankles, but all at once it didn’t feel adequate to be the only thing standing between them and the riverbed a hundred feet below.

“Are you sure you want to do this?”

She shook her head. “IknowI don’t want to do this.” She squeezed her eyes shut and when she opened them again, Andy saw the familiar flash of determination that meant Kat was prepared to do whatever she needed to do.

“Same.” He winked, and she laughed.

Juniper gave them each a concerned look. “If you want to back out, I need to?—”

“We’re not backing out.”

“No way.”

They spoke at the same time, and Juniper chuckled. “Okay. Since you guys decided to go tandem, you need to hold onto each other in some way.”

No problem. Andy didn’t have any intention of letting go of Kat while they plunged through the air.

“You can hold hands if you want.” She gestured with her head to their linked hands. “But I’d recommend an embrace. It’s a pretty intense experience. I don’t know what your relationship is, but it’s pretty wicked to experience it with someone else. It’s intimate, really.”

A shot of desire that he had no business feeling at that moment raced through him.

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