Total pages in book: 122
Estimated words: 112884 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112884 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
She stops and puts her hand on the door. “I’ll be right there with you the whole time.” She gets in and I close the door.
“You better be.” I walk around to the driver’s side. “I keep thinking about the rides,” I tell her as I pull out and head toward the amusement park. “I even went and watched videos of them.”
“Of course you did,” she states and the whole car already smells like her, a bright citrus scent. “Why does this not surprise me?” I look at the road and pull into the parking lot, pulling into the first spot I can find. “Here we go,” she chirps and I just close my eyes before getting out of the SUV.
She waits for me in the back. “Do you want to start slow?” she asks me as we walk with people toward the front gate. “I also already bought us tickets”—she takes out her phone—“and the fast pass so we can go right to the front of the line and you can’t back out.”
“I’m not going to back out,” I assure her nervously, “and we should probably just get it over with.” I look around as she walks to one of the booths as she scans her phone.
“Here,” she says, handing me a bracelet, “today is on me.”
“That’s a very intriguing offer,” I tell her and I can see her eyes get a touch darker, and her cheeks turn a hint of pink as she looks down and avoids my eyes. “Thank you.”
She shakes her head, putting on her own bracelet. “I meant, it’s cashless, so whatever you want, it charges my card.”
“I’m too nervous to argue with you,” I admit to her, looking around and she tries to hide the smile by biting her bottom lip. “How was your week?” I turn to her and I can’t help but smile when she smiles.
“I got the keys to my new house,” she declares proudly, “and I moved in, mostly.” I follow her to the entrance as she scans her bracelet and it beeps, letting her in.
“Please don’t work,” I joke as I scan my own bracelet and it beeps, letting me in. “This is happening,” I say and I feel her hand slip into mine.
“I promise you, I’ll be here the whole time,” she assures me, and with her hand in mine, I think I’d do whatever she asked me to do. Roller coaster, jump out of a plane, swim with sharks, in a cage, obviously, but I would do anything.
“Okay, so which one do you want to do?” I ask her as we walk hand in hand through the throngs of people. I see a couple of people do a double take when I walk by them.
“Shit,” she swears, stopping and looking at me. “I didn’t even think people might recognize you.” Her hand slips out of mine and I want to grab her hand back.
“Does it bother you?” I ask her, seeing her eyes looking around. “It really doesn’t bother me. Worst case, I have to take a couple of pictures.”
“No,” she says, stepping in close to me, and I swear I stop breathing, “worst case is you throw up on the ride and it goes viral.”
“That pretty much is a worst-case scenario,” I admit, looking around and smiling at a couple of people who have stopped to look. “Now before I run out of here with my tail between my legs, let’s get this over with.”
I slip my hand in hers, this time our fingers intertwined and it feels more intimate. “Okay, so I think we just do the Goliath and call it a day.”
I don’t answer her as she pulls up the park map on her phone. “I think it’s over there.” She points and I try to collect myself.
She zigzags through people, the whole time holding on to my hand until we get to the ride. “Are you tall enough?” she jokes over her shoulder, going through the line of fast pass and I can hear people yelling.
“I think I’m going to be a little sick,” I tell her and she turns back to me, stopping me in my tracks but making her bump into my chest. My hand comes up to grip her hip, while she puts her hand on my chest.
“We don’t have to do this,” she backpedals softly. I move my hand from her hip to the small of her back, and I pull her closer to me. “I’ll still take the job.”
“A deal is a deal,” I tell her, looking into her eyes and then down at her lips before looking back up at her eyes. “We do scary things all the time.”
“You are one of the bravest people I know,” she says softly, and I wonder if she can feel how fast my heart is beating under her hand. I can blame it on the ride, but the reality is that it’s her.