Page 31 of Stunts and Sparks

But he was sincere. “Not even a little bit. I bet your training affected your relationship with your mom, too. Gave you both a common goal, something to do together, something to talk about. It gave you so much outside the ability to become a professional gymnast. You just struggle to see it, that’s all. And there’s not a single injury in the world that can take any of that experience away from you. You’ll always have the memory of it and the lessons you learn.”

Heather leaned further into Cole, appreciating him more by the minute. Be bent his head over her and kissed her hair. Then he urged her onto his lap, and she gladly rested there, her legs straddling his thighs as he pushed her hair aside and began kissing the back of her neck.

She looked up at the stars and enjoyed the feel of his warm lips against her skin. He was so tender, reaching around to the front of her, cradling her breasts. The first time he’d made love to her had been so passionate, so fast, that this felt like an almost completely different person.

She still wore the yellow sundress he had bought her for their fancy dinner date that never happened, though Heather thought she could not have planned a better evening. The sky was beautiful, the breeze was cool, and Cole’s hands were working their magic.

He slid one hand under her skirt and slipped his fingers between her skin and her underwear, touching her, massaging her, as she leaned back against him and appreciated every moment of it. Heather groaned as she felt herself grow slick under his fingers, and she felt him getting hard at the same time.

“Do you want me?” she asked him.

“Obviously,” he murmured back.

“Then go ahead and take me.”

Those words alone produced a moan in the back of his throat, and he quickly worked to free himself enough to do just that. She leaned forward and he pressed into her, letting her slide down onto him as he reached back around to hold her breasts again. She was sitting on her knees, and he groaned loudly into her hair as she lifted back off him and lowered again.

Every move she made drove him absolutely crazy. She could tell by the sounds he made and by the energy his hands had and the way he touched her. She moved too slowly, and so he urged her on, his hands finding their way back down, touching her until she could hardly stand it anymore. She could only see the sky. She could only feel his hands on her and the girth of him inside of her. She could only hear his voice and hers mingling in desire, sounding together, communicating exactly how close both of them were to losing control completely.

He wrapped his arms around her again, leaning forward to grip her and hold her while she moved him closer and closer to the edge. He twitched in response every time she made him sink all the way into her, thrusting the only way he could. He moaned her name, and she knew he was there as he swelled inside her, bringing her all the way to completion with him. She screamed her pleasure into the night, and she heard it echo across the desert along with his voice, his growling orgasm that seemed to go on and on with hers.

Nothing mattered in that moment, outside the pleasure they gave each other, there under the stars and the sky, in the back of that rusty old pickup. It felt like paradise, and Heather knew this would be one of those moments she never forgot, one of thosenights she fantasized and dreamed about long into her future, when she remembered how good she’d had it as a young woman. A secret treasure, she thought.

She rose up off of Cole and turned to face him, kissing him again and again, grateful for everything he’d done for her. And he seemed grateful, too. He held her tight and they sank down together, laying side by side in the back of that truck.

“You know, it is possible that I love you,” he muttered.

“I’ll take those odds,” she said, and she melted into him and dozed off in his arms.

Heather woke at dawn, while Cole was still fast asleep beside her. She’d always been sensitive to light when it came to sleep. If she didn’t have blackout curtains or a light blocking mask, she would always wake with the sun. Usually, it irritated her, but this morning, she didn’t mind so much. She actually enjoyed watching the sun as it was just beginning to slip out from behind the horizon. It was beautiful. The warm orange and red colors were mesmerizing.

Last night had been a dream. There had been something so tender about the way Cole had made love to her. While she had definitely enjoyed their hot-and-heavy night at the hotel, last night had opened her eyes to another side of Cole. He wasn’t just the handsome, cocky guy she met that first day on the set. In fact, his entire attitude seemed to be some kind of mask he wore to protect himself from getting too close to anyone. He was guarding his heart, and she couldn’t fault him for that. But when push came to shove, he showed up for her. He showed up inways she would not have expected of a best friend — or even her mom. Her mom. She’d almost forgotten that her mom had not even heard from her since the kidnapping.

It took Heather exactly three seconds to come to a conclusion about the situation. A couple ideas added to her reasoning. The first was that Cole wasn’t close to his family. He had no one to fear for him, according to his own admission. So, he wouldn’t have any idea what it might be like to worry for someone who was afraid for him. Yes, he had told her not to contact her mom, but at the same time, he didn’t really understand, did he? The second idea that affected Heather’s decision was the way Cole had spoken to her about her being overcautious. She was afraid all the time, unable to take risks. And Heather was determined to work on that aspect of her personality. What better way to work on that than to take a risk for the person she loved most in the world, her mom?

She quietly slipped out of the bed of the pickup truck and grabbed a sports drink to take with her. Cole would surely be happy she’d remembered her last predicament and learned from it. He might be a little concerned that she wasn’t there. She decided to leave him a quick note on a scrap of paper telling him where she had gone and that she would be right back.

Then she started down the road, back toward the nearest town. It was actually visible off in the distance, so it wouldn’t be that long of a hike. A couple miles maybe. She could walk it easily. She’d find a phone in town and call her mom, just to let her hear her daughter’s voice.

The sun was still rising, and Heather felt good about herself for the first time in a while. She was going to change her behavior and try to be braver.

CHAPTER 16

COLE

The good mood Cole woke up in was killed almost immediately when he looked at the empty sleeping bag beside him. Heather wasn’t there. In his mind’s eye, he pictured her being taken that day. She had only been away from him for a few minutes. Now she was gone.

He shot up and looked around, assuring himself that he was probably overreacting. Surely, she knew better than to go off without him. They’d had this conversation already. It wasn’t like her to take stupid risks. It was the one thing he knew about her — the one thing he thought he knew.

Where was she? He started by searching the truck. He even looked under the truck, uselessly hoping she was maybe playing a prank on him. She wasn’t there. The only sign he saw of her was a set of footprints, starting at the back of the truck, circling around it, and then heading off in one clear direction. She really had gone off on her own.

“Damn it, Heather,” he said to no one. He was so worried about her, and at the same time, so frustrated with her. Why couldn’t she have just listened to him?

He got into the truck and started the engine. Now he was going to have to search for her. All the while his heart was pounding, and he began to sweat more than usual. He was terrified, but he didn’t have the time to process it, admit it to himself, or deal with it. No matter what he was going through, the only thing that mattered now was finding Heather. He would deal with his own issues when she was safe. If she was safe. He shuddered at the idea that she might not be.

He drove the truck for maybe half a mile before pulling over, jumping out, and checking the dust for Heather’s footprints. Just seeing them there comforted him a little. She had not been scooped up while she walked down the highway alone. Her footsteps were still here. He repeated this action a number of times on his way to the nearest town, each time heaving a deep sigh when he finally saw her footprints.

After a while, he thought to turn on the radio and listen to some breaking news, just in case they said anything about the gang, where they may be operating, whether they had been caught. He was getting closer and closer to the nearest town, and he kept checking for her footprints, but he didn’t quite make it into town. Right outside of it, on the highway, on the way in, was a lone pay phone, and of course, Heather was standing right beside it.

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