Page 49 of Hired By the Enemy
Matthew quirks an eyebrow. “Ready to push me off the edge?”
“I was thinking more that I’ll be there to catch you if you fall,” I say.
Matthew stands there, blinking at me like a bewilderedowl. Shit. I replay my words, realizing how intense they sounded. I hide my embarrassment by studying the map.
“Looks like we’re heading east,” I say. “We better get going.”
I start off at a jog down the path. Matthew follows me.
We get briefly lost on the way, so when we arrive at the high-ropes course, Paul and Annette are already getting harnessed ahead of us.
Matthew looks up at the ropes high in the treetops, biting the inside of his cheeks.
“We’ve got this, my tulip,” I say.
A staff member gets us both in harnesses, and then we climb up the rope ladder and onto the platform. Before us is a swinging tire bridge that we have to navigate to get to the other side.
I lean forward to whisper in his ear. “Just look up, not down, and remember, I’m right behind you.”
He turns to me. “That’s right, you’re my personal Indiana Jones.”
“Hey, I could rock a young Harrison Ford. I’m pretty much Indiana Jones and Hans Solo combined.”
“If you were going to be any Star Wars character, you’d be Chewbacca,” Matthew says.
“I’m not sure what you’re trying to say about my personal grooming standards,” I say, and Matthew laughs.
Our conversation seems to have relaxed him, though, because he takes a deep breath and sets off across the tire bridge.
He makes it to the other side and throws me a triumphant smile.
Fuck. Even if I had a massive fear of heights myself, nothing would stop me from getting across to Matthew so I canhigh-five him.
I race across the tires.
“Told you that you could do it,” I say.
He shakes his head. “I’m still trying to get my mind around the idea of having Liam Jamieson as my personal cheer squad.”
I chuckle. “Not sure if I have the legs to be a cheerleader.”
“Oh, trust me, you’ve got the legs.”
The look he gives me is so sizzling that I have to remind myself we’re high up in the air and trying to beat the clock right now.
Matthew grows in confidence as we race around the course.
It’s not until we reach the final challenge, a high zipline from the top of a tall tower back down to the ground, that Matthew blanches. Because he can’t really use myjust look up, not downmantra right now.
His whole body is rigid as he stares at the steep course the zipline takes as it plummets.
“Do you want to go individually or together?” the instructor asks.
“Together,” we reply simultaneously.
The instructor straps our harnesses together and snaps us into the zipline.
“I don’t know if I can do this,” Matthew whispers, his face pale.
