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“Geez, Stace, I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be sorry. I’m fine with it. But frankly, no one would notice if I was gone.”
He smiled. “I would. In fact, I’ll guarantee you that it will be the best experience of your life.” He bit her lobe. “Excluding last night, of course.”
Tingles skittered over her skin. Why did his touch affect her so?
“Come on, Stace. What is it? Are you afraid of heights?”
“No, it’s nothing like that.” Just afraid of my own shadow. But admittedly, she’d come a long way in the past twenty-four hours. Starr would sky dive. Could Stacy?
“Then live a little.”
She plunked her head on his broad shoulder. “Okay,” she said timidly.
“What was that? Say it again.”
She lifted her head and punched him in the arm. “You heard me. Geez, Michael. I can’t believe I’m going to do this.”
“I promise you’ll love it.” He brushed his lips against hers.
* * *
“I think I’m going to throw up.”
Michael adjusted the hooks on Stacy’s gear. He spoke loudly over the aircraft engine. “You’ll be fine, Stace.”
She tried to soothe her stomach by breathing deeply. The sporadic lunges of the small aircraft weren’t helping her cause. How could practicing jumping out of a plane and studying free fall maneuvers and parachute deployment for only an hour prepare her for this?
“What if the chute doesn’t open?”
“I’ll take care of the chute. You let me worry about that.”
She and Michael would be tandem skydiving, which was the best method, he had explained, for the first jump. Rather than jumping on her own, she’d be harnessed to Michael, her qualified instructor—help!—who would be responsible for safe and timely deployment of the parachute. This method freed Stacy to concentrate on freefall, piloting the canopy, and landing.
Yeah, right.
Like she’d remember anything about piloting a canopy when she was plummeting to the earth at a gazillion miles per hour.
“You’ve secured the extra parachute, right?” she said loudly but timidly.
“Yes, baby. It’s all secure.”
“’Kay.” Her heart slammed into her sternum. Why was she doing this again?
“We’re going to be strapped together, your back to my front. That’s kind of a turn on, don’t you think?” Michael’s low voice carried across the noise.
“Michael, if you wanted to be strapped to me, we don’t have to jump out of a plane to do it.”
His buoyant laugh filled the small aircraft. “I’ll hold you to that. After our jump.” He tightened another buckle. “You’re all secure, Stace. Now, let me just hook us together, okay?”
“No hurry.”
The loud roar of the small aircraft engine buzzed in her ear. Calm down, she told herself. You’re an intelligent woman. You know what to do. And Michael’s an experienced sky diver… Just words. Words that weren’t helping her nerves one bit.
“We’re about ready, Oliver!” Michael yelled to the pilot.
The small plane swerved. Stacy nearly lost her balance, but Michael’s arms steadied her as he fastened the straps of their equipment together.
