I suppress a shudder, but not very well. “It must suck being famous.”
He shrugs. “It has its advantages. Point is, that stuff was mostly harmless. Maybe what’s happening here is just more of the same. Meaningless pranks.”
I look into his eyes, mesmerized by the intensity there. For the threat to his family or something else? I lick my lips and taste chlorine, even though I haven’t set foot in the water. “You think this is meaningless?”
Still holding my waist, Dean shakes his head slowly. “No.”
I nod and shift my weight. Just slightly, but it seems to jar him. He glances down and sees his arm around me. “Shit, sorry.” He takes a fumbly step back.
Tries to, anyway. He’s still on the stairs, so he stumbles with a yelp. I grab his hand, intent on helping.
But Dean outweighs me by a good hundred pounds, so instead I topple toward him. I’m headed right for his chest when I grab the handrail at the last second.
“Dammit.” The force yanks me back so hard my boob nearly pops out of my suit. “Shit.” I straighten and yank the straps up over my shoulders. I’ve just cursed twice and nearly flashed my tits at the boss, which is a great start to a new job.
But Dean blinks up at me from the spot where he’s landed butt-first on a stair tread. “Is it just me, or is gravity conspiring against us?”
I laugh back the blush creeping into my cheeks. “We’re almost to the top, right?”
“Yeah, but who knows how we’ll manage to maim each other with two flights to go.”
“I’ll take my chances.” I turn and start back down the steps. “And I’ll take the tube the rest of the way up. It’s only fair.”
He hesitates. This is not a man who likes surrendering anything, even if it’s just a float tube. “Fine.”
I can’t help feeling a sense of jubilation. I also feel his eyes on me as I move down the steps, but instead of making me self-conscious, I feel sexy. Straightening my spine as I reach the landing, I grab the tube and turn to start back up. Dean’s on his feet now, and he gestures me to go ahead of him. “Want to take the lead?”
“No, thank you.” I grip the tube tighter and tip my chin toward the stairs. “Keep going. Eyes on the stairs.”
“Yes, ma’am.” He grins and turns back around, giving me the perfect, unobstructed view of his butt for the remaining flight of stairs.
We arrive at the top to an array of signs directing us to line up with our water buddies, no more than four per tube. “The signs are left from BONK days,” Dean explains. “We didn’t see any reason to change them.”
“They’re cute. And they get the job done.” I lean the float tube up against the wall and adjust my updo. “So how does this work? Do we get in together, or one at a time?”
He shrugs and surveys the fast-moving flow at the mouth of the tube. “Beats me. I was working the day they all came up here to test it.”
“You mean you haven’t done this yet?” That can’t be right. “You own a freakin’ waterslide that you’ve never tried.”
“Correct.” He grabs the tube and plunks it in the water, anchoring it in place with his foot. “How hard can it be?”
“Don’t say that. You’ll jinx us.”
He laughs and steps into the center of the tube, holding the handrails for support. “What, like you’ll be knocked unconscious and sue the company for millions?”
“I was thinking more like your swim trunks falling off or something.” Shit, bad example. Now he thinks I’m picturing him naked. “Or one of us will get a splinter in our foot.”
He looks down at the AstroTurf-surface separating the two of us. “I think we’re good. You ready?”
“Hang on.” I stick my hand through an opening in the lattice, waving for Gabe and Lauren’s sake.
From miles below, Gabe bellows “Action!”
I turn back to Dean. “Okay, let’s do this.”
“Hop in on that side. I’ll hold it steady.”
It’s just now dawning on me that this is like one of those corporate trust-building activities. The ones where you take turns falling backwards and counting on your co-workers to catch you. I bite my lip as I look at Dean, admiring the flex of his biceps and the tightness in his core as he anchors the tube in place with his body.
But I suppose he has to trust me, too. Trust that