The Dare - Dyken Rachel Van (серии книг читать бесплатно .txt) 📗

Jace was oddly silent during my rant. And then his face broke out into a giant grin.

"Stop smiling." I was about two seconds away from choking the life from his body. Was he making fun of me?

"Done."

"Done?" My eyebrows shot up. "What do you mean done? You're going to suddenly Thor yourself all over the place and get romantic?"

He shrugged.

"Find a white horse and sword?"

He shrugged again.

"Stop shrugging!" This time I did stomp my foot. Yes. I was a thirty-year-old foot-stomper, so sue me. We all have our moments.

"Let's go." He grabbed my hand.

I stood my ground.

So he threw me over his shoulder and marched out the little hut door. And I hated to admit I was grinning like a fool the entire way.

Chapter Twenty-nine

"Do you think that Mr. Brevik felt outside pressure to romance the young girl?"

"Well, of course he did! Leaving that man to his own devices is like giving a child a quad-shot mocha. They run into walls and scream at the top of their lungs."

"So in your mind, Mr. Brevik is a child?"

"He's a man," Grandma said slowly for the agent's benefit.

"Your point?"

"Men, children — there is no difference, only that you change one's diapers while the other just lets loose in public."

"I don't know how to respond to that."

"Like I said, men."

Jace

I was going to need a hell of a lot of Gatorade if I was going to pull everything off. She wanted crazy? I'd give her crazy. There I was, pouring my feelings out all over the place like some Lifetime Christmas movie, and she still wasn't impressed?

Fine. I'd keep romancing the pants off of her until she realized that I was in it; I wanted a second chance. Then again, I didn't blame her. Why give me a second chance when I'd told her to her face that I was walking away from her?

I wouldn't trust me either.

And there was that small problem of my profession.

"Jace," Beth snapped. I was still carrying her; I liked carrying her. I wasn't putting her down anytime soon.

"Shh…" I slapped her ass. "I'm thinking. Don't interrupt a man when he's thinking."

"I want to lick you."

I tripped and almost went sailing into the wall. All thoughts left my mind. All thoughts except her tongue on me, my tongue in her mouth, licking. Lots of licking.

"Why'd we stop walking?" Beth said innocently.

I slapped her ass again. "You'll pay for that."

"Yes, please."

More licking.

"Damn it, Beth!" I huffed. "Stop doing that."

"What?"

"That," I grumbled, setting her on her feet. Now climb.

"Climb?"

I turned her around and pointed to the cliff. "Climb."

"You're kidding, right?"

The cliff was a rocky climb. It led to a ledge that was about thirty feet high. I'd seen locals jumping from the cliff for the past few days and figured if they could do it without dying, we could too. She wanted crazy? This was insane.

"Nope." I crossed my arms. "Not kidding. Where's your sense of adventure?"

"Must have left it back at the hut with your feather tea," she said through clenched teeth.

"I'm making a big gesture." I tilted her chin toward me and brushed a soft kiss across her lips. "The least you could do is go along with it."

"Fine, but if I die, I'm going to haunt you for the rest of your days."

I helped her on to the rocky trail and held her hand as we made our way slowly up the cliff. Luckily, the path was lit by a few torches, so it wasn't like it was this creepy abandoned area that was booby-trapped or something.

A warm breeze picked up once we reached the ledge. Waves crashed against the rocks below us. I had to close my eyes.

"What are you doing?" Beth squeezed my hand.

"I forgot to tell you something."

"What?"

Shit, I was sweating. "I'm terrified of heights."

"Then why are we here?"

"You said you wanted crazy. You said my apology wasn't good enough, and let's be honest, you have absolutely no reason to trust me."

"All true." She looked nervously over the edge then back at me. "So what's your point?"

"My point is you need vulnerable."

She bit down on her bottom lip and released my hand.

"You don't need crazy." I sighed. "You want crazy for you."

Beth still refused to look at me.

"Heights terrify me," I continued. "If you had asked me last week what my biggest fear was? I would have said heights. Two days ago, I would have said Frank."

Beth's warm laugh made my stomach flip.

"Ask me what I'm scared of right now."

Beth's gaze flew to my eyes. "What are you scared of now?"

"You," I whispered. "I'm scared I'm not who you think I am. I'm scared that you really have convinced yourself that I'm some sort of hero, when we both know that's the last thing people would call me. I'm terrified that if you give me a second chance, I'm just going to screw it up. I'm afraid that you'll wake up, and not want me. That you'll decide I'm not worth it. Because the truth, Beth? Guys want to be fought for too. We want to be worthy of the women we love. I want to be the Romeo, Mr. Darcy, and Avenger. But those shoes? They're pretty big ones to fill, and although I love difficult situations, I don't like the idea that one day you're going to wake up and realize how damn beautiful you really are. You are worthy of those guys and more. I know where I land on that totem pole, and it's on the very bottom, underneath the dirt and worms and crap. You'll see me waving.

Beth laughed.

"I'm serious." I pulled her into my arms. "I'm serious about you. What would you say if I told you that you were the one that got away?"

"I'd say you're crazy."

"Mission accomplished," I whispered. "And what would you say if I told you I wanted more than a few days?"

"I'd say you're out of your mind."

"What would you say if I told you I burned for you? What would you say if I told you that even before this week, you consumed my dreams?"

Beth shook her head and opened her mouth to say something.

I kissed her roughly across the mouth. "And what would you say if I told you I was going to jump?"

"Jace—"

"I'm jumping. If only to prove to you that I'm going to start conquering fears, starting with jumping and ending with you."

"Jace don't—"

I couldn't hear her words as I jumped; my blood was roaring too loud, and the wind whipping by my face wasn't helping anything. The water slapped against my body as I landed, far away from the rocks and into the warm ocean.

I didn't have time to enjoy my accomplishment, what with Beth throwing herself off the cliff in such a fashion that I was a bit concerned she was going to belly flop.

Three seconds of cursing like a sailor, followed by mind-numbing screaming, and Beth splashed right next to me. She gasped for air, and then her hands were around my neck.

Holy shit. She was going to drown me!

"Beth!" I croaked, unable to actually breathe.

"Don't you dare," she shook me in her tiny hands, "do that to me again! I thought you were going to die!"