Page 20 of Daddy's Laws

Reminding herself that she didn’twanta bossy Daddy with a bunch of rules telling her how to live her life, she acknowledged his comment with a short nod and left.

It didn’t take long for her to realize she had no idea where she wanted to go. She’d come to the beach with some loosely formed plans to spend her days on the sand and her nights partying it up in some nameless club. Maybe let some cute college boy take her home for a tumble. What they lacked in knowledge and creativity, they usually made up for with enthusiasm.

But it was barely three in the afternoon, too early for clubbing. She could hit the Boardwalk, do the tourist thing, and get some shopping in. It felt somewhat lame to wander the crowded planks alone, though, so she kept driving.

And then she saw it. The end of the Boardwalk housed a permanent carnival of sorts, almost like a mini amusement park. Sitting in her car, waiting for traffic to move another inch, she watched as a giant ball was released into the air, the attached cords ensuring it snapped back to Earth. Again and again, the ball flew up into the air, then was yanked back.

The Slingshot.

Watching the ride, listening to the delighted, terrified screams of the riders, solidified her decision. Nerves humming, she swung into the parking lot as soon as she had a chance and made a beeline for the line.

The wait just drove her anticipation higher. A lot like waiting in the corner for a punishment, the combination of fear and excitement bubbled inside of her until she felt like she might burst from it.

“You alone?”

The question, growled at her by the harried-looking ride operator, made her jump. “What?”

“Are you alone? I gotta pair up the single riders,” he explained, his expression clearly stating she must be an idiot for not understanding him the first time.

“Oh. Yes, I’m alone.” It shouldn’t have, but the simple statement made her wish Bryant was there beside her, grumbling about how dangerous this was and threatening to blister her ass if anything happened to them. If he even let her ride it in the first place.

And that right there was one of the main reasons she told herself she didn’t want, or need, another Daddy. They were always making rules and poking their noses where they didn’t belong.

Maybe if you’d had a Daddy to tell you not to go to showings alone with strange men, you wouldn’t have been attacked.

“If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, we’d all have a merry Christmas,” she muttered under her breath, pushing the errant thought to the back of her mind. She wasn’t going to think about that, or abouthim,this week.

But her excitement had been successfully subdued for the time being. Right up until she settled into the giant wire ball beside a short, bright-eyed brunette who was practically vibrating with nervous excitement.

“My ex would have had a coronary over this,” the woman said with a laugh. “He always said these things were a death trap.”

“Well, let’s hope he wasn’t right. I’m Shannon.” She held her hand out to the right, as much as the awkward angles would allow.

“Samantha. Are you here alone?”

Sensing her new friend wanted to distract herself from the fact they were about to launch themselves into the air at a ridiculous speed with only a few flimsy cords tethering them to the ground, Shannon wrinkled her nose. “Sort of. My best friend’s bossy brother-in-law crashed my party, so I have company for the week, but we’re not really here together.”

“Bossy, huh?” Her new friend’s voice almost sounded wistful.

Before Shannon could respond, the operator’s voice came over the speaker, running down the safety precautions. She had a moment for the panic to kick in before he hit the button to activate the ride.

And then they were flying.

Her screams mingled with Samantha’s as the ball arced towards the sky. For one brief, shining second, they were suspended in the air and adrenaline raced through her veins, setting every cell in her body dancing with delight.

Everything else faded away. Bryant, the attack she’d barely survived, her fear of getting into a relationship with a man who would just end up betraying her in the end. All of it disappeared in the rush of joy, the heady thrill of simply beingalive.

They barely had time to suck in a breath for another round of screams before they were plummeting back to Earth. It felt like her stomach was still somewhere up in the air as they raced back toward the ground.

Again and again they repeated the process, flying up into the air, then dropping back down. When they finally stopped, her throat ached from her screams, and her heart felt like it might beat out of her chest at any second. Her knees buckled under her when they tried to step out of the ball, and she laughed like a maniac when Samantha stumbled dramatically toward the gate.

Still giggling wildly, Shannon helped her new friend steady herself as they made their way out of the gate.

“Well, Shannon, we survived. Thanks for riding with me.”

“Guess we proved your ex wrong,” Shannon replied with a grin.

Throwing her head back, Samantha let out a whoop of laughter. “Damn straight we did. I may even do it again before I head back home, just to prove him wrong again.”

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