RISKY PLAY (RED CARD #1) BY RACHEL VAN DYKEN Page 0,4

a faraway voice as the plane bounced lower, making her shriek as she clutched both my hands in hers. “Are we going to die?”

“Absolutely not,” I lied. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but I couldn’t die, not when I finally had a fresh start. “We’ll be just fine.”

“Okay.” She nodded a few times and gulped. “But just in case, I think I’ll do this—”

Her mouth was on mine before I could protest.

And then any argument I would have had died on my lips at the first taste of her tongue. Her hands tugged on my hair as my arms wrapped around her warm body.

The plane made a screeching sound and then slammed against the runway, pulling us apart amidst sirens and cheers from the other passengers.

I stared at a pair of lips I wanted to taste again.

And when she said, “I’m Ashley, what’s your name?”

I did the dumbest thing to date and lied. “I’m Hugo. Nice to meet you.”

Chapter Three

MACKENZIE

I just mauled a nice stranger with my tongue.

And gave him a fake name.

All within the span of five minutes.

This was not normal behavior.

But he’d been there.

And those eyes.

Paired with my absolute panic that we were about to die, I just . . . I reacted.

And it felt good.

So.

Good.

The last time I’d reacted to something without thinking, it had been with hives after eating too much peanut butter. Well, that and this vacation. Two instances.

I wasn’t reactive.

I was a planner.

Which was probably why my parents were so concerned about my impromptu trip. I was the girl that had a wedding book at age five and had picked out my colors and flowers at six.

“Where are you staying, Ashley?” Hugo asked.

Oh duh, me. He was talking to me. I was Ashley, not Mackenzie. “Um, the Secrets resort, something . . .” I frowned. All I could remember was that I’d booked the penthouse with a swim-out because Alton said he’d want his own private pool for us since we wouldn’t be leaving the room at all.

I blushed at the thought.

Funny, since the guy had never passed third base the entire time we were together.

Saving it for later, he said.

Making it special, he said.

He respected my father too much, he said.

Hugo handed me my bag. “Me too.”

“You too?” I said in a confused voice as we were shuffled out of the plane by security and enough police officers to make my head dizzy.

“Secrets,” he said slowly. “It was one of the first ones to pop up on my search engine. I booked it and didn’t look back.”

“Oh.” My head felt warm as I followed him off the plane and toward customs. He went into a different line, not that I was watching.

By the time my passport was stamped and I found my luggage, he was nowhere to be found.

I tried not to be disappointed.

After all, this vacation was about me.

Not the handsome stranger I’d kissed in first class when I thought I was about to die.

“You ready?” Hugo said from behind.

I jerked and then turned as he dangled the keys to what looked like a Ferrari—the rearing horse emblem was a dead giveaway—in front of my face.

I was used to money.

But my family didn’t spend it if it wasn’t necessary.

So renting an expensive foreign car?

Not necessary when you could invest!

Who was this guy?

“You’re not one of those people that kidnap Americans and then get a ransom, are you?” I asked stupidly.

He bit down on his lip. “Do I look like a kidnapper?”

“Well . . .” I narrowed my eyes and studied him. “No. Yes. I’m not sure.”

He leaned in until we were chest to chest. “Trust me.”

I sucked in a breath, he was so close, and the gold flecks in his eyes were so hypnotic I didn’t even blink. “Can I?”

He shrugged. “Who knows? You’re being spontaneous, you’re the one with all the regrets.”

“Not true—” I started to argue.

He silenced me with a brief kiss that left me shocked, aroused, and my heart pounding. “Then why the question? The one thing you ask before you plummet to your death is what you would do different, which makes me assume you would do a lot of things different, and you don’t look like the type of girl who gets into cars with strange men.”

“That’s because I listened about stranger danger in school.” I smirked.

He barked out a laugh. “I must have missed that lesson.” One side of his mouth lifted in a cocky half smile. “I skipped a lot of school