License to Date (6 page)

“Not at this event.” Dave reached into his pocket, pulled out a card, then held it out. “But if you’d like to give it another go a different time then we can hook you up with that.”

“Thanks.” I accepted the card, but didn’t exactly have any pockets in my harness or silky tank dress (they were holding my purse and wrap for safekeeping). When I saw Dave look over his shoulder at his co-worker, I glanced around to make sure nobody was watching then slipped the card into my bra just as Dave turned back around. My cheeks heated. “Uh, how will you be lowering us?”

“We’ll clamp your rope onto this metal hook here.” He touched the metal piece on my harness located just under my chest. “I’ll be talking to you through your earpiece and Tony will be lowering you both at a slow but steady pace.”

I nodded. “Slow and steady. I like the sound of that.”
 

“No big deal.” Brian came up and stood beside me with his legs spread wide. “Don’t feel like you have to go easy on us.”

“Speak for yourself.” I tossed my date an annoyed look. Five floors and date number two would be over. Forget dinner, I was so ready to be done with him.

“Don’t worry. You’re not the first person to go down today. We’ve had over a hundred participants.” Dave gestured toward the edge of the terrace. “Go ahead and stand on the platform.”

I wondered if Paul had rappelled down the building. Probably not since it cost a thousand dollars to participate and I couldn’t imagine a bartender’s salary afforded that kind of luxury. Plus, he might have been working all day. Although, I didn’t know when his shift had started or when it ended either for that matter. My eyes flicked to where he was talking to some of the hotel staff. They were watching him with attention so he
must
be the head bartender tonight or at least in charge of the event.

Brian and I stepped onto the platform, and he put his arm around me. I suppose this was technically a date, but I didn’t feel even remotely attracted to him and the feel of his arm made me cringe. Then I thought of Kristen’s advice that I give him a chance. I was about to jump off a perfectly good platform, after all. I supposed I could give my date one more chance.

“What the . . .” Brian’s voice trailed off as he looked below us, then he suddenly gasped. “This is insane.”

“Are you okay?” My eyes widened as I watched him grip the railing then lower himself down on his knees.

Beneath his white knuckled grasp, his eyes were wide with terror. “Can we lower ourselves in the platform? We don’t h-have to go down with j-just a rope, do we?”

Wasn’t that the whole part of rappelling? “You said earlier it was no big deal.”

Oh, sure. Now he gets all freaky about the drop. Where were his sympathies when I’d looked off the terrace?

I clicked my earpiece on. “Dave? Are you there, Dave? We have a situation.”

Dave must not have turned on his headset yet, because he continued talking to Tony but Paul caught my eye and strode over immediately. “Are you all right?”

“Me? I’m fine.” The intensity of his look made my heart skip. “But I’m not so sure about Brian.”

A look of relief crossed his face, then he stared down at my date, who was crawling across the platform and onto the terrace. Instead of helping Brian, Paul raised his arm and a woman in an evening gown hurried over.

My jaw nearly dropped as she strode toward us with strong meaningful steps. Besides being gorgeous, she didn’t look nervous at all. She’d probably rappel off the top of the building without a second thought. Fingers of jealousy crawled through me. Was she Paul’s co-worker? Or were they more? Why else would she be looking at him so intently?

“May I help you with something?”

“Yes. Would you mind getting Dave? Mr. Burnside seems to be having second thoughts.”

I opened my mouth to ask Paul how he knew Brian’s last name, but then shock rolled through me as I realized what Brian’s second thoughts meant . . . I’d be rappelling down the building by myself!

I hurried over to Brian and knelt. “You can’t desert me, Brian. I need to do this.”

He looked queasy. “Not happening.”

“What about what you said to me earlier? About it being no big deal? That we’re attached to rope and all that garbage?”

He held his arm up in a weak gesture. “Can you not talk to me right now? I’m trying to keep my lunch from coming back up . . .”

I stood and marched back to the platform—alone. I was doing this freaking thing. For my cousin. For everyone with diabetes. For
me
, too. I scanned around for Paul but he’d disappeared. Disappointment flooded through me. It’s not like Paul owed me anything, but I really thought he’d wish me luck. He was at work, though. Maybe they needed him at the bar or in the restaurant. Still, he could’ve at least said good-bye.
 

This was exactly why I was sticking to my home remodel. Men just disappointed me and—

“You ready to go?” Paul’s husky voice came from behind me.

Surprised, I swiveled around and faced him. He’d ditched his tuxedo jacket and tie, and was wearing the same black harness I had on.
 

My mouth dropped open. “You’re . . . descending with me? Why?”

The corners of his eyes crinkled as he smiled. “To keep you company. You didn’t want to go it alone, did you?”

“Not in the slightest.” I let out a tentative laugh. “But, you’re working. Is it all right for you to do this? I don’t want you to get in trouble for me . . .”

“Don’t worry.” He winked. “I cleared it with the boss.”

The beautiful woman returned. “You’re not rappelling are you, Paul? I thought you—”

“Alice, can you get Dave’s attention for me? We’re ready to go.”

The woman looked baffled. Like she didn’t know how to respond. “Yes, of course.”

I leaned toward Paul. “What was that about? I’m not causing a problem for you, am I? Tell me if I am because—”

“I promise, it’s fine.” His fingers began firmly tracing the harness at my shoulders, then he followed the nylon strap down over my chest—gulp!—and across my waist, then he pulled at the clip in front as if to make sure it was secured tightly.

“Dave already checked me.” My body tingled at every place his hands had run and I so wanted to check
his
harness. “You didn’t have to do that.”

He brushed both sides of my hair back from my face, secured it with a ponytail holder he’d seemed to pull out of nowhere, then left his arms around me as he leaned forward. “Yes, I did.”
 

“You ready, Paul?” Dave appeared, then turned Paul away from me to check his harness as he spoke. “Your friend tossed his cookies by the plant inside the door. I called housekeeping.”

“Kaitlin’s friend, not mine.”

Loved how quickly he pointed that out. “He’s more of an acquaintance, actually.”

Paul raised his brows. “Date number two?”

“It was for the remodel,” I reminded him, then held my arms up as Dave triple-checked my harness—which wasn’t nearly as enticing as when Paul had done it.

“You guys are all set.” Dave clipped the ropes onto our harnesses, double-checked them, then gestured to his co-worker giving him the thumbs-up sign. He handed Paul an earpiece. “Facing the platform, you’re going to climb down the three steps, then ease off and the rope will hold you. Remember, straight legs are strong legs so just lean back and walk your way down the building. We’ll lower the rope slowly, so you’ll have time to enjoy the view. Give us a shout in the earpiece if you want us to increase or decrease the speed. Sound good?”

“Yes,” Paul said.

I swallowed when Dave turned to me. “Yes.”

“Who wants to go first?” Dave looked at each of us.

Paul turned to me. “You have a preference?”

“Second,” I said, without hesitation.

With one last tug on my rope, Paul moved to the staircase. Dave tested the sound in our earpieces once more, then with a final smirk Paul descended, and disappeared from sight.
 

My heart dropped and I scooted to the edge, holding my breath as I peered over while trying not to look
all
the way down. “Paul?”

My voice came out louder than anticipated and could’ve been considered strained. With the platform in the way, I couldn’t see him. What if he’d fallen? Pulse pounding, I started to panic. . . .

“I’m here, Kaitlin.” His voice was calm and quiet, which soothed me immensely. “Your turn.”

“Don’t look down,” I reminded myself as I dangled my first leg over the edge until it rested firmly on the step below me. Three steps. Dave had said there were three steps.
 

My top teeth ground against my bottom lip as I lowered my right foot to the second step. My legs were shaky and I knew I was crazy for doing this. Freaking Ginger and Kristen, and their dating deal. Still, at the same time, that tingle of excitement bubbled up and I only hoped it wouldn’t be the end of me.

Somehow my left foot found the third step and I braced myself knowing there weren’t anymore beneath.

“Looking good.” Paul’s voice came through my earpiece and I had to remind myself that he was right below me even though I couldn’t see him because I refused to look down. “Ease your right foot to the bottom step then bend your knees to lower yourself.”

I did as instructed, my death-grip tight on the hand rail as I sat hunched on the last stair.

“Good. Now ease your legs off, then once you feel comfortable, let go.”

“Really, Paul? Who is
comfortable
hanging off the side of a skyscraper?” I said, then heard him chuckle in response.

I’d never been so freaked out in my life.

Or as exhilarated.

I was five freaking floors above the earth. Then I’d let go and there’d be nothing holding me to the building except for a yellow rope that, I’m sorry, didn’t look all
that
much thicker than a shoestring.
 

Pretending I was easing into a pool, I lowered my legs . . . then became very aware there was no water to hold me up. My feet dangled in the air and a breeze blew by, tickling my feet through my strappy heels, and reminding me there was nothing below me.

With one last look at the rope clipped to my chest, my hands tightened at the spot right above the bottom of the hand rail and I closed my eyes. “Paul?”

“I’m here, Kaitlin. I won’t let anything bad happen to you. I promise.”

Hearing his voice and, oddly enough, believing him, I let go.

Chapter Five

I dangled in the air, high above the city, scared out of my mind as to what would happen next. In those few seconds, with my life out of my own hands, panic filled every pore of my body—until a warm hand gripped my own.
 

At the same time that my heels connected with the side of the building, my gaze flashed right, and beautiful blue eyes greeted me.

Paul’s mouth turned upward. “Fancy running into you here.”

Warmth flowed through me momentarily, then terror fought its way back up. “Please tell me you’ve done this before.”

“Don’t worry. You’re in good hands.” He squeezed my hand as if to emphasize it. “How do you feel?”

I gulped. “Like I’m standing against the side of a building on shoes that are way cuter than they are comfortable.”
 

His eyes traveled down the length of my body, a trail of heat following his path. “Sometimes you have to ditch comfort to live the life you want.”

Looking into his eyes, I couldn’t help wondering if he was talking about me or himself. “You think I want a life with pretty shoes?”

“Well, obviously.” He glanced down at my strappy heels again. “Among other things . . .”

Butterflies fluttered in my belly and I had to remind myself there wasn’t a safety cable to save me from
him
. If my investment counselor ex could cheat, what were the odds that a charming bartender would when he had scores of women available to him?

Remodel. Must focus on the remodel. “The lengths I’ll go to for free house painting.”

He chuckled, then gave instructions to Dave to start lowering us. As Paul’s long, muscular legs stepped backward, he turned back to me. “Besides painting the interior, any other house projects you’re working on?”

“Hmm . . . where to start?” I jerked unexpectedly when my rope started moving and Paul’s thumb rubbed across the top of my hand. The feel of his skin against mine felt way too good, and immediately alarmed me. So I eased out of his grasp and focused on putting one foot behind the other as the rope lengthened at a steady rate. “One of my favorite things about my house is that it’s on the Sacramento River. There are steps at the end of the backyard that lead down to my own dock.”

His brows furrowed quizzically. “Do you have a boat?”

Steadying my pace down the side of the building, I shook my head. “I don’t have a boat, but I love being near the water ever since . . . well, I just love being by the water.”

Paul opened his mouth—

“The previous homeowners left a faded red wooden table with chairs by the dock,” I quickly went on. “I bring a glass of wine down every evening to relax. Well, not this week since I’m, you know, rappelling down a building and all.”