If I weren’t standing on a skinny wooden plank attached to a huge tree and convinced I was about to fall to my death, I might’ve thought it was beautiful. But the forest floor was dizzyingly far below us, and all that stopped me from falling wasa flimsy cord attaching my harness to an overhead cable, and an even shorter one attaching me to Cade.
And being this close to Cade was… distracting. I couldn’t stop thinking about how we’d woken up—on the beach, tangled in blankets under the early morning sun. Sure, there’d been more sand in the bed than I would’ve liked, and the temperature had dropped when the fire fizzled out, but Cade’s body was as warm as a furnace.
“Ellie?” a deep voice snapped me out of my daydream.
I shifted my gaze from my white-knuckled grip on my harness to Cade next to me. “Huh?”
His cheek twitched like he was fighting a laugh. “You’re not breathing.”
I blinked before sucking in a breath and peering over the edge of our tiny platform. All thoughts of warm bodies and cuddles vanished as dizziness took over. “How high up are we?”
“The harnesses will stop us from falling more than a few feet.” He gave the rope attaching my harness to the course a tug that made my knees knock together. “See?”
I frowned. “That wasn’t my question.”
Cade looked way too unconcerned for my liking. But at least we weren’t the only ones up here. Each couple was up in their own tree, balancing on a tiny platform.
“I believe we’re all set down here!” Dr. Lovejoy clapped to get our attention from her spot, nice and safe, down on solid ground. “Are there any questions about the safety measures we covered?”
“It’s too hot for this,” Candace called down from the tree to our left. She wiped at the blonde hair sticking to her cheek. “Can’t we just go back on the yacht now, Dr. Lovejoy?”
Fletcher wrapped an arm over her shoulders. His dopey, lopsided smile hinted he’d started the drinking early today. Or maybe he’d never stopped.
“Come on, babe,” he urged, bumping his hip against hers. “It’ll be fun.”
She wrinkled her nose. “There’s nothing fun about sweating my ass off.”
“Please consider giving this a chance, Candace.” Dr. Lovejoy smiled up at her. “Ropes courses are a unique test of your communication and teamwork skills. Work with Fletcher. Face each challenge together.”
Candace blew out a breath but gave up arguing.
“Remember to trust your partner,” Dr. Lovejoy reminded the rest of us. Her smile widened. “Everyone ready?”
There was a chorus of yeses while I stayed silent, and Harrison called over from the tree on our other side, “Ready to get your ass beat, bro?”
Cade let out a single sharp laugh. “When’s the last time you beat me in anything, Harry?”
“This isn’t a race, boys,” Dr. Lovejoy scolded lightly from the ground. “It’s a couple’s activity with your partner.”
Harrison ignored her as his smile grew. “If you’re so confident, then let’s put some money on it. How about a hundred?”
“Double it,” was all Cade said, while my jaw dropped.
Two hundred dollars?
What was he thinking? There was already enough pressure on me without Cade adding money into the mix.
“Do you really need to bet?” I asked, voice strained. I gave my knees a stern look to stop their shaking. It didn’t work. “This isn’t supposed to be about winning.”
“Of course it is,” Cade said. “What else would it be about?”
My brows drew together. “Having fun.”
His lips flirted with a smirk. “Winningis fun, Darling.”
I sighed, looking back down at my stubby trembling legs. I really hoped Cade wasn’t a sore loser. “I’m just saying, two hundred dollars is a lot of extra pressure to put on a girl.”
A low chuckle pulled my attention back up to his growing smirk. “Not two hundred. Two hundred thousand.”
