"Yeah. There's a five-day trip, cage diving off the coast of Mexico's Guadalupe Island. We're guaranteed to see sharks. Up close. What do you say?" Eyes shining, he lifted his brows. "Five days on the water. You and me."
"That part sounds good, but the shark part?" Voluntarily getting up close and personal with one of the ocean's deadliest predators seemed crazy. She'd have a hard enough time dealing with the flight to Mexico.
The bartender sidled over toward them. Blonde and busty, she leaned over to scoop up the empty glasses. Unashamed of eavesdropping or flashing her cleavage, she shot Slade a slow smile of obvious invitation. "I'd do it in a minute."
Irritation, unease, and jealousy twisted together, and Savanna kept her arm below the bar to avoid hauling off and punching the woman for infringing on their conversation and on her man. What was she supposed to say—that instead of scary sharks, she'd prefer swimming with happy dolphins at a luxury resort? Yeah, right. That sounded really brave. Ignoring the woman, she twisted toward Slade, pleased when the hand draped over her shoulder pulled her closer.
Slade shot the blonde a semblance of a smile and immediately turned to Savanna. He linked their fingers together under the table. "They follow a careful safety protocol. You remember what I told you. I do a lot of research and I'll always keep you safe. When we get home, I'll show you the website."
When we get home... They spent most nights together now, enough to keep clothes and toiletries at each other's places.
He moved their linked hands to rest on the bar, in plain sight of the bartender and anyone else interested. "I've never done this before and I think it would be something really cool to share together."
She loved that he wanted to share experiences with her. But some of his ideas were dangerous, especially to someone like her. Even so, she squared her shoulders and lifted her chin, projecting as much confidence as she could manage. "I'd love to see the site."
Grinning, he talked about the accommodations and amenities and how they should take an intro to diving course together to prepare. Like this trip was a definite, and her confidence was acceptance of the plan.
With the bartender hovering, Savanna couldn't relax or talk to Slade about limitations. Catching the blonde's eye, she frosted her voice. "Can we have the check?"
Slade slid his hand down Savanna's back and nuzzled her neck. "Good call. Let's get out of here. My apartment is closer, so let's spend the night there."
The blonde came back. With a smirk at Savanna, she pushed a glass with the check rolled inside to Slade. A piece of paper behind it had her name and number scrawled across the bottom.
He glanced at the check and stuffed it back in the cup with some bills, burying the offending piece of paper. Savanna smirked in return at his action and slid her hand into his back pocket as they exited the bar.
Once they were tucked into his bed with his laptop, looking at the shark dive site, she broached the subject. "When we were para-sailing, I mentioned that I didn't think I ever wanted to go skydiving, and you said that was okay."
"It is. I'll never force you to do something you don't want to do."
"I don't think I ever want to do bungee jumping either. Or hang-gliding. Or cliff diving. And when I ski, I stick to the bunny trail."
His brows knit in confusion. "Okay?"
"I like that we've taken some risks. But I still have fears, and I think some might be self-preserving."
"I know. We still need to get you back to that diving board and the firehouse pole." He cupped her face with his hand. "If the sharks are too much, you don't have to go. I'll never push you past your limits."
You don't have to go, not we won't go.
If she stayed, he'd still take that vacation. Maybe with someone else. Someone like that blonde bartender. She didn't like that at all. But she also didn't want to feel like she had to do things she didn't want to do just to hang onto him. "I'll think about the sharks. The cages are really strong. And seeing them up close would be amazing."
He grinned and then drew her close. His lips closed over hers, firm and warm. Too soon, he pulled back. "We can do anything you want too. Just name it, and I'll make it happen."
His enthusiasm and generosity were overwhelming. But he operated from a base of no fear. Making promises like that were easy to him. No risk on his part because he was brave enough to take on the world.
She wanted to be with him and he wanted to be with her, but was that enough when they were so different in their tastes? She'd known a couple who'd divorced after twenty years of marriage because their differences outweighed their similarities.
She didn't want Slade to grow to resent her for not wanting to try things that he wanted them to share. But she also didn't want to be forced past a reasonable comfort zone either.
Maybe they were too different to be together.
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
LIAM
LIAM INCREASED HIS pace to a faster walk on the treadmill and settled his attention on the TV hanging on the wall. His ankle felt pretty good. One week to go until the All-Star game. He wasn't back to jumps yet, but Andy had approved a few small, easy stunts. He couldn't wait to race across the field on the ATV and hear the fans cheer.
Fin's comeback was so close, he could almost taste it.
On screen, highlights of the previous day's Riptide game played. He cheered when they showed Slade's grand slam home run. The team's abrupt firing of Dusty had flipped a switch for the team. All the guys were playing better because they loved and respected the new manager, a former player who had mentored Dom in
