Falling Fast (Falling Fast #1) - Tina Wainscott Page 0,48
a stop, but her face was pale. “That was crazy. I went from feeling fantastic to fearful in…well, zero to sixty seconds, as you might say.” She covered his hand with her left one. “Thanks for talking me down.”
“I knew you’d get it under control. You want to head back?”
She took another deep breath. “If it’s all right with you, I want to do it again. I felt the fear and the joy of doing something meaningful. The fear won that time. I want the joy to win this time.”
God, the way she was looking at him…“Go for it.”
That was exactly how he felt, being with her again. Joy and fear.
She let the car fly. Determination set her jaw tight. As she made the turn, the high took over again. She smiled, relaxed her shoulders and jaw. Sank into the experience. And she was beautiful, even with the scarred part of her face in view. As she hit ninety again, she let out another whoop and maintained speed until the finish line came into view.
“I get it,” she said. “I totally get why you raced. I mean, it was thrilling to be in the passenger seat, but I think a lot of that was being with you in the car. But driving is a different thrill. The adrenaline. The wind. The engine. Everything.” She smiled. “And you in the car, too.”
Dammit. That’s when Raleigh knew he still loved her. Loved the way she embraced life, conquered her fears. And that smile she’d shot him…hell. He was falling fast all over again, with the brakes nowhere in sight.
Chapter 9
Mia kept the glow of driving Raleigh’s car into the next several hours of labor as they painted the back two rooms. He let her drive to the hardware store to buy replacement baseboards and more painting supplies. It was safer to think that it was Raleigh trusting her with his baby that gave her the thrill.
What’s really giving you that thrill is just Raleigh.
Being with him was like racing on that track. Going fast. An element of risk. Of doing something she knew she probably shouldn’t.
By the time they’d eaten buffalo wings out on the deck, she was on overload from her feelings and the work.
“Let’s play Frisbee!” Cody said, racing off the deck, launching himself into the air before landing hard on the sand.
She wished she’d captured that moment of midair, his arms and legs akimbo, on film. She’d been so distracted that she hadn’t thought about taking pictures.
Raleigh stood. “You coming?”
“You go. I like watching.”
She put the “extra” wings in the fridge for Rose and grabbed her phone. There was a missed call from her mother, but Mia wasn’t ready to check the voice mail. She leaned on the railing and took pictures of the two, the setting sun as backdrop.
Cody caught sight of her. “Hey, come on out!”
The need to play rumbled through her the way the ‘Cuda’s engine had. Play. Live. She kicked off her sandals and jumped off the top step of the deck.
Raleigh tossed the disk at her. “Let’s see what you got.”
She missed it, then tried to emulate how they’d been throwing it. Not very well.
Raleigh came up behind her. “I’ll show you.” He wrapped his arms around her from behind, bending her arm in toward her body, then shoving it out. “Let it go nice and smooth at the very end of your reach.”
She wanted to lean back against him and breathe him in, but she followed his instructions. The disk flopped to the ground. He snagged it and demonstrated a perfect throw, sending it right into Cody’s hand. Cody shot it back, and she jumped up to catch it. And missed again.
“Maybe I should just watch.”
Raleigh pressed it into her hand. “You can do it. It just takes practice.”
True to his word, she did get better. After a while, they formed a triangle and tried to outshoot one another. They laughed at one another’s misses, falls, and really bad shots. The sun, even lower on the horizon, warmed her face. The sand squished between her toes. She felt alive. Carefree. Vibrant. For the first time since…
Since that magical summer. And, just like that summer, every time her and Raleigh’s gazes met, her stomach took a tumble. Or maybe it was her heart.
“Come on, kiddo,” Rose called from the deck, shading her eyes. “You got an early day tomorrow.”
“Can’t I…” Cody’s expression wilted. “Oh, yeah. I’m s’posed to help Mr. Scott with his fence.”