Page 44 of Maximum Dare
My gaze met hers, and I studied her trusting blue eyes, suddenly entering a dream-like sense of Zen.
My brain struggled to process the stress I was putting myself through. Every worry now seeming insignificant, all that counted was surviving.
My mind grew still.
Everything became clear. What was most important to me was connected to the woman squeezing my hand and showing me comfort.
I drew on her bravery.
Everything else paled—my work, the effort to succeed and grow wealthier. Now, here, being with someone who was so real felt like everything I needed. All the superficialities were stripped away.
My life was being wasted…
No, that wasn’t right. Fear was doing crazy things to me. I had a good life. A great job. A happy existence that didn’t need to be analyzed or questioned. I didn’t need to change what was working fine.
Just get through this and get on with things…
We were finally winched back up to the ledge and unhooked. I stood in the middle of the roof and fought an urge to kiss the ground, adrenaline still pumping though my veins. I was no longer chilled. Instead, my body was heated like a furnace, an after-effect of this terror-drenched mistake.
Trying to look unfazed, I strolled toward Daisy, wanting to see if she was coping with the shock.
She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around me. “We did it!”
Conflicting emotions caused me to shudder against her. Hugging Daisy, I surrendered to her warmth, leaning low and burying my face in her silky brown locks, inhaling her delicate scent, a soft, flowery fragrance that brought with it the kind of comfort I couldn’t remember having experienced before.
Tying to compartmentalize, I reassured myself that showing her kindness, since she’d been starved of it for so long, was a good thing.
Who am I kidding?I needed this hug as much as she seemed to, which was a bit mortifying. Because I had never needed anyone. My body went rigid with this realization.
She pulled back and studied me. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
“Never.”
“Was it really Nick that gave you the envelope? You can tell me.”
Rising out of a trance, I reached out to stroke her cheek, ready to open up about its origin…
Ted interrupted us. “I took photos, Daisy.”
She looked at him and blinked as though trying to process what he was saying.
“Your Instagram page is going to light up. You’ll break the Internet.” He threw in a wink.
My gut tightened in annoyance.
Ted looked at me with a triumphant smile, knowing he’d interrupted something special between us.
I gave a nod. “I think posting a photo of this is a great idea.”
“Max, you were going to tell me something?” she said.
Somewhere in the middle of all of this madness, I had started to fall for the girl with the broken heart.
“I should go,” I whispered.
“You came here to check on me?”
“Of course not. I was in the area.”
