Forbidden River (The Legionnaires #2.5)(36)

“I think you said as much but I needed to figure it out for myself.” He took her other hand. “Right now, there’s only one risk I want to take and it scares the life out of me, more than jumping off a damn platform or hurtling down a river.” He looked at their hands. So now the adrenaline charged in his veins. What was with that? “Except with this risk, if I succeed I might actually get somewhere in life, something might change for the better—which makes a hell of a lot more sense.”

He lifted his gaze. The breeze had blown her hair back onto her lips.

“I’m really not following,” she said. “What risk are you talking about?”

“It involves you and a plane.”

“You want me to take you stunt flying?”

“No, ma’am.”

“Gliding?”

“No, ma’am.”

“I am not skydiving.”

He cleared his throat. “My big risk is...asking you to come with me tomorrow.”

Her smile melted.

“This is gonna sound silly, but I’m thinking maybe Zack brought me here to meet you so I could move on, live again. Maybe he was sick of me and my stupid death wish.”

“Oh God, don’t make me cry.”

He brought their hands up to bridge the gap between them. Her eyes glistened, which kicked him in the chest. “I don’t want you to cry. I want you to say yes.”

“Cody, I...”

“See, the risk is that you’ll say no, which would suck, and I would honest to God be heartbroken. But the reward...the reward is us getting to see where this thing between us goes. And I reckon it’ll go somewhere good. And I reckon maybe you need the chance to move on, too.”

“You mean I come to France?”

“Yep.”

“For a holiday?”

“At first, yeah, I guess. You’re gonna be grounded awhile, and I should be on base awhile, so come to Corsica, see if you like it. See if you like me.”

“Oh, I’m pretty sure I’ll like you. And Corsica. But—”

“Plenty of call for good pilots in the Mediterranean. Or we could end up back here—or any damn place we choose. Who knows? Let’s just take off and see where the plane goes.”

“I don’t know if I can—”

“Fly away with me, Cowgirl. Take a risk.”

Panic darted across her eyes.

Don’t say no. Please don’t say no.

“Cody, I’m not good at taking risks.”

“And I’m too good. Which makes us perfect. You’ll keep me grounded and maybe I’ll scare you, just a little, in a healthy way. But we might have to make a stop on the way to Corsica.”

She frowned. “Texas?”

“Time to front up. Stop running. Stop pretending that all this extreme stuff is helping me, is bringing my brother back.”

She smoothed her thumbs over his. “It’ll be good for you.”

“Be a damn sight easier with you there. Wait—is Texas even on the way to France?”

“When you’re going from one end of the Earth to another, pretty much anywhere is on the way.”

“So? How about it?”

Her face fell. “I can’t. For starters, right now I’m financially in the sh—”

“I’ll pay for everything. Not because I’m a misogynist, you understand. Just because it makes sense.”

“I can’t take your money.”

“Tia, your helicopter wouldn’t have gotten shot if you hadn’t taken me up there.”

“I would have gone up anyway to drop off the climbers’ kayaks. I would have died.”

“I’m not so sure about that.” He kissed her knuckles. “Just promise me you won’t let this decision be about money—I’d hate to lose you over something that doesn’t have to be a problem.”

“I could pay you back when I’m on my feet again.” She was just thinking aloud, thinking hypothetically, but it filled his lungs with hope. “That could take years.”

Years. Years was good. He cleared his throat. “Was that a yes?”

“No!”

He flinched. Crap.

“I mean,” she said softly, “I can’t make a decision that big so quickly.”

“I think you already made it. You know it right there, don’t you?” He pressed their hands to her heart. “Just like I do. You just need to go with it. Maybe we both need to stop shutting ourselves away.”

“I can’t...” She shook her head, her brow scrunched.

“While you’re thinking about it...” He leaned in and kissed those shiny, hair-streaked lips. She kissed him back. They’d been doing this for weeks, but every time, he got a buzz like it was the first. He would never get enough of her.

Please, Tia. Say yes.

*

TIA GENTLY BROKE the kiss and rested her head on Cody’s shoulder, looking out over the river. This time tomorrow she’d be back in Wairoimata, alone.

Or maybe not...

There’s only one risk I want to take and it scares the life out of me.

It scared him? She was the one who liked playing it safe. And so far that’d got her nowhere but alone. Was she brave enough to do this? It was pretty bloody obvious she was falling in love. She got breathless whenever she looked at him. She felt like she was permanently high on happy pills.