Her brows jumped all the way up. “Uh, no. I’m not great with heights.”
“Just not great with heights or do you have a genuine fear?” I cocked my head while chewing the next bite of my breakfast. “There’s a big difference.”
“If I say I’m just not great with it but not genuinely afraid, you’re going to make me do it, aren’t you?”
“Yep.”
She sighed, her head shaking as she burrowed her toes into the sand. “I’m not deathly afraid. I just prefer to keep my feet on the ground.”
“Well, I’d prefer to sweep you off them, so we’re doing it.” I grinned. “I’ve done it a million times. We’ll go tandem. I’ll keep you safe. I promise.”
Her blue eyes were filled with doubt when they met mine, searching for something that she must’ve found because eventually she nodded. “Okay, but if I want to, I’m keeping my eyes closed the entire time.”
“I’ll even keep them closed for you. If that’s what you want, I’ll keep one hand clamped over your face until we get back to the beach.”
“I really might take you up on that.” She motioned to my almost empty plate. “Eat up. We’ve got parachutes to fly and drowning to get to.”
“I won’t let you drown.” I polished off the last of the bacon, stood up, and offered her my clean hand to help her up. “Trust me, okay? We’re both going to be just fine.”
She slid her hand into mine, not letting it go once she was standing next to me. “Can I? Trust you, I mean.”
“You can.” I held her gaze for a beat, letting her see the resolute determination in mine. “I won’t let anything happen to you, Linds.”
“You used my actual nickname there.” She squeezed my hand. “I’m guessing that means you’re serious.”
“I am.” We walked to the parasailing booth where we talked to a guy with dreadlocks who got us geared up. Lindsay’s eyes were wide with fear as the boat took off, contrary to her expectation of keeping them shut.
I wrapped my arms around her waist and held her to me even though her harness was also fastened to mine. Bringing my head forward, I spoke into her ear once we were in the air.
“You’re doing fine. Just breathe. Take a look around. It’s fucking beautiful up here.”
I felt her chest expanding as she followed my instruction, then heard her gasp when she noticed what I was talking about. Floating above the crystalline blue waters with the sun only just starting to warm us up and the gentle breeze, we had a view only seabirds used to get. It was absolutely majestic, and her breathing evening out told me Lindsay thought so too.
“This is incredible.” She whooped, relaxing against me as she took it all in. “Doing what you want to do might not end up being so bad after all.”
“Just wait and see. The day is only beginning now. By the end of it, I think I’ll have converted you.”
She laughed before starting to point out landmarks on the hill behind the resort. Our ten-minute trip flew by, and when we landed, my supposed wife was smiling wider than I’d ever seen her smile before.
Throwing her arms around me when we landed safely on the beach and returned the gear, she pressed her body to mine and let out an exhilarated laugh. “That was amazing. What are we doing next?”
I hugged her back, holding her tight for a long minute before stepping away and taking her hand. “Follow me, young thrill-seeker. I think I know exactly what we’re doing next.”
Chapter 13
LINDSAY
Jaxon led me back into the main part of the hotel, not even bothering to go to the room to get a shirt. Although there were a lot of shirtless people moving around between the various pools and the beach all the time, he still garnered stares on our way to the lobby.
Mostly from women, but some from men as well.
He didn’t even seem to notice it, but I sure as heck did. Jealousy reared up inside me when I caught other people looking at him like they wanted to climb on top of him.
He might not really be mine, but I straightened my spine and gave them all “back off” glares anyway, tightening my grip on his hand. I’d never thought of myself as a jealous person before, but Jaxon was bringing a lot of different things out in me.
Besides, he wasn’t really mine, but they didn’t know that. It was