Defending Harlow (Mountain Mercenaries #4)(58)

He opened her door, helped her stand, and then laced their hands together as he walked her toward the front doors of the hotel. Harlow loved how easily he intertwined his fingers with hers. As if he didn’t even think about it.

They entered the lobby—and she stopped dead in her tracks, gaping at the sign in front of the small table off to the side, then at Lowell. “You didn’t.”

He grinned. “I did. You said you had no problem with this, so I thought, what the hell?”

The sign said, RAINBOW RYDERS HOT AIR BALLOON RIDES.

“We’re going up in a hot-air balloon?” she asked.

“If that’s okay with you.”

She beamed. “Yes! It’s more than okay! I’ve always wanted to do this. I can’t believe it!”

“Come on then. Let’s get checked in and get on with it,” Lowell said.

Harlow tugged on his hand, and he stopped, looking back at her in concern. “Is everything all right?”

Without thinking, Harlow stepped close and kissed him.

She had surprised him enough with the brief peck that she’d pulled back before he even had a chance to move. But as soon as her lips left his, Black wrapped an arm around her waist and tugged until she fell against him.

Then he tilted his head and kissed her back. Hard.

Harlow wasn’t inexperienced when it came to kisses. She’d had her share of good kisses, great kisses, and some pretty disgusting ones as well. But nothing compared to the feel of Lowell’s lips against her own. She felt the stubble on his cheeks against her face as he kissed her. Goose bumps immediately raced down her arms and the back of her neck, and she closed her eyes to fully experience the first taste of his lips on hers.

He swept his tongue along the seam of her mouth, and she eagerly opened for him. Instead of plunging inside and mauling, his tongue played with hers, licking and retreating, coaxing her to loosen up and let him in deeper.

When she moaned low in her throat and relaxed fully against him, he moved a hand to the back of her neck and kissed her as if there were no tomorrow. He wasn’t teasing anymore. He devoured her mouth, and she loved every second of him taking control.

It wasn’t until she heard someone whispering about them getting a room that she remembered where they were.

Lowell obviously heard the comment too, because he immediately lifted his lips from hers, but he didn’t move his hand from her neck or his arm from around her waist. He simply stared at her as if he were seeing her for the first time.

Feeling a little uncomfortable, and needing to fill the silence, Harlow blurted, “I hope my breath isn’t awful from the coffee.”

He grinned and shook his head. “No, baby. You’re perfect. If I could bottle up the way I felt while kissing you, no one would ever need to drink coffee to get going in the mornings again.”

She blushed.

His grin widened. “You ready?”

“As I’ll ever be, I guess.” She thought she’d be embarrassed, but Lowell made it impossible. He didn’t leer at her or make any sexual innuendos, simply grabbed hold of her hand again and made his way over to the desk to check in.

Within fifteen minutes, they were climbing into a van to be taken to the launch site. Once they arrived, she saw three balloons were lying on the ground, ready to be inflated. Harlow watched in fascination as Lowell helped with the process, and soon they were being escorted into a large wicker basket with two other couples.

Harlow looked up into the gaping hole of the balloon and couldn’t control the goofy smile on her face. The balloon they were riding in was yellow with stripes of different colors and the Rainbow Ryders logo in the middle. The whoosh of the burners being turned on to lift the balloon was loud in the morning stillness.

She turned to Lowell, grinning wider. “Holy crap, this is so awesome!”

He smiled at her and kissed her forehead. “Yup.”

Then she turned back around and held on to the edge of the basket as the pilot made last-minute adjustments. Before she knew it, they were ever so slowly lifting off the ground. Harlow felt Lowell step up behind her. His hands rested next to hers on the edge, and she felt completely surrounded by him.

She vaguely heard the pilot talking to them about what he was doing and where they would be floating that morning, but she could only stare at the sight of Pikes Peak bathed in the morning light as they slowly rose into the air.

Sighing in contentment, she allowed herself to lean against Lowell. One of his hands moved from the basket to rest against her lower belly. Harlow had never been more satisfied in her life as she was at that moment.

The ride seemed to last forever, but at the same time, it was all too soon before the pilot was steering them toward a large open field. Throwing caution to the wind, Harlow turned in Lowell’s arms.

He was looking at her instead of the impressive view in front of him. “Was it everything you hoped it would be?”

“You need to stop arranging for me to do things when I mention them offhandedly,” she said in reply. “Please tell me that you haven’t set up a skydive.”

“Do you want to go skydiving?” Lowell asked.

She wrinkled her nose and shook her head.

He chuckled. “Then, no, I haven’t set that up.”

“Good. Although I have no idea how I’ll top this.”

Lowell immediately shook his head and frowned at her. “You don’t have to top anything, Harl. It’s not a contest.”