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I do the same, and the heat beats down on me. “I am not running up ninety-nine steps, Will. I’ll die.”
“It’s fun, trust me.”
“Trust you? I don’t trust anyone, remember?”
He briefly looks past my shoulders, his smile faltering. “First one to the top wins.”
“Wins what? A drive to the hospital in an ambulance, or worse, to a funeral home?”
He laughs out loud, circles the car and steps close to me, very close. His warm breath feathers over my face.
I plant one hand on my hip. “I thought we were getting ice cream.”
“You can have ice cream and anything else you want. If you beat me.”
I spin around and glance up and down the busy street. A man with a cart full of coconuts stops to hack the top off one with a huge knife and hands it over to a customer, who dips a straw inside. I make a mental note to try one. Then I see the brick stairs. My gaze goes from the bottom to the very top.
“That looks like a lot more than ninety-nine steps to me.”
“Only by four. They added some cement steps.”
I eye Will. “You’ve done this before, right?”
He rolls one shoulder. “Sure, numerous times.”
“Okay, since you have an advantage, I get a head start.”
He thinks about it for a second. “Fair enough.”
“You have to count to ten before you can start up.”
We walk toward the stairs, our knuckles brushing innocently, but damned if it doesn’t send shock waves straight down my body. Maybe the rush of adrenaline will help me beat him. We reach the bottom step, and I glance up to see the green wooden rail on the right, and foliage popping with bright purple flowers on either side of the steps.
“It doesn’t look so bad up close.”
His mouth is close to my ear when he says, “It’s not.”
“What does the winner get?”
“Whatever they want.”
I take a second to think about what I want. But the vision of myself living happily ever after in a cozy house with a family, writing articles I want to write, is a dream not even Will, a man with all the resources in the world, could fulfill.
“Go,” he says.
“What?”
“One, two...”
“Oh, shit,” I say, and dart up the stairs. Will is laughing from the bottom. “Count slow,” I yell, but when I look back he’s already closing the gap between us. I start laughing so hard I can barely climb, but I’m competitive, and clearly Will is, too. I pick up the pace and hurry onward.
I push harder, but his long, strong legs have no trouble reaching me. His breath is hot on my neck, and I do everything to block his way. I spread my arms, but he grabs me by the waist, picks me up and spins me until I’m behind him.
“That’s cheating!” I yell at his back, but my gaze quickly drops to his ass as he easily negotiates the steps. I reach the top, panting like a Newfoundland dog...in Hawaii. Will doesn’t appear winded at all. Jerk.
“I won,” he says.
“You cheated.”
