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Turning, she walked away hoping that none of the girls understood their conversation.
Tomorrow night, they would remove their clothes and complete three laps around the statue.
CHAPTER11
For the first time ever, Zach had wanted to lose a basketball game. But at the last minute, his team had pulled out a squeaker over a team they should’ve beaten handily. If he’d lost, then it would’ve been only him here freezing his buns off, getting ready to run around the Cupid statue. Instead, both of them were shivering in the early February night. And he was so afraid.
He didn’t want Emily to get fired. Why had he ever started this? Why couldn’t he learn from his mistakes? He had created a lot of problems for Emily, and after their last few encounters, he felt bad.
What he’d done, she didn’t deserve.
In fact, he really didn’t want to do this tonight. It was quarter to twelve and he’d like to be at home snug in his bed. But stupidly, he’d thought to trick Emily. He should have known that she would’ve learned the truth.
“I’m not getting naked in front of you,” she said, standing shivering close to the statue in her clothes. It was almost midnight.
Shaking his head, he was ready to admit defeat. “Look, I think we should call this off. If either one of us gets caught, we’re fired. You’ve had enough publicity that this would just be the icing on the cake and you could never get another job in basketball ever again.”
Rubbing his hands together, he approached her. “Let’s just go home and call it quits.”
“No,” she said. “I’m not going to back down. We made a bet. We’ve been going back and forth at one another since I arrived in Cupid. Tonight is the end. Tonight is our last prank and if you pull another one, I will get you fired.”
He laughed. “It’s too dangerous.”
“After this year, I’ve discovered I like living life on the edge,” she said. “We’re doing this. It’s five till twelve. Go to the other end and take your clothes off. And no, you are not going to be the first person I see. We’re going to test this superstition.”
That was part of his problem. He wanted to be the first person she saw. The only person she saw running around the statue. He wanted her back in his life. He wanted them to go back to the way they were before he let his anger get the best of him.
And now was not the time to make this realization. Damn, why couldn’t he have realized this weeks ago instead of now?
“Who is going to pick you up?”
“It’s all arranged. Don’t worry about me.”
But he did worry about her.
Turning, he walked to the other end of the park that held the Cupid statue. Glancing around, he searched the area to make certain no one was nearby. Quickly, he shed his clothes, hoping that no one would steal his sweats.
He thought he heard giggling but wasn’t certain. Maybe it had been Emily. Rubbing his hands up and down his cold arms, he did a little dance to keep warm.
This was nuts. He’d lived here for years and knew the dangers of dancing around the statue. Why had he thought this was a good idea?
Because he wanted to get Emily fired.
Saying a little prayer that they wouldn’t get caught, he heard the clock strike midnight and began to run. A slight breeze blew and he realized that it was near freezing. They could get frostbite in little time out here in the park without their clothes.
“Crap, it’s cold,” he said, his bare feet touching the ice-cold concrete. Three laps and they would be done.
Shivering, he did his best to keep the statue in between them until he saw the flashlight coming toward him.
No. Just no.
Turning, he ran as fast as he could. When he rounded the corner, he slammed into Emily.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“It’s the sheriff,” he said, grabbing her hand. “We’ve got to get out of here.”
He pulled her into the park, streaking from bush to bush, his bare feet stepping on twigs and thorns as they ran.
