Worth the Risk(71)

“Oh shush, I know better than to start that with you,” she dodges when I know damn well that was what she was attempting. “All I was saying is that it seems to me you’re in a top position in this contest, so you wouldn’t want anyone to think you won because you were . . . uh . . .”

“Sleeping with Sidney?” I throw it out there and grin like a little boy as I hear her cough to cover her tracks.

“Well, that’s none of my business.”

Like that has ever stopped her before. “No, but you were implying that I might just be headed over to Sidney’s house to be a grown man and do whatever the hell I please without my mother sticking her nose in my business and fishing for information, correct?” I shake my head, love and irritation playing equal parts in my tone.

“Grayson.” It’s all she says, and I know I’ve got her flustered.

“Mom, I love you. Madly. I couldn’t do this parenting thing without you . . . but my sex life is off-limits.” I laugh when she stutters a response. “Good night, Mom. I’ll grab Luke in the morning.”

“Take your time.”

When I end the call, I stare at the old Kraft house across the street. My words repeat in my head. My sex life is off-limits. Is that all this is? Because fuck if it doesn’t feel different this go around. Fuck if the minute I got my clearance to return to work in two weeks, the first person I wanted to go tell was Sidney.

But why?

Why do I feel this way when, normally, a thought like that would cause a panic attack of epic proportions?

I glance at the white daisies in my hand and shake my head.

There is no going out with the crew tonight. There is no getting drunk to celebrate.

She’s the one I want to celebrate with.





“Grayson!”

I’m thoroughly shocked to see him standing in my doorway. And I’m more than fully aware what an absolute train wreck I look like—no makeup, hair piled on top of my head, and definitely no red-soled shoes making me taller.

“Hey.” It’s all he says before he shoves a handful of white daisies at me and lifts his brows. “Miss Sidney, will you go out on a date with me?”

I laugh. I can’t help it. He’s giving me the same hopeful look that Luke had given me. “A date, huh?”

“It worked for Luke,” he says as he steps into the foyer and I shut the door behind him. “I figured it might work for me, too.”

“Oh really?” I murmur, letting him pull me close so he can brush a tender kiss on my lips.

“Yep. Is it working?” His smile is mischievous when he leans back.

“I’m not sure,” I tease, prompting him to lean in for one more kiss. This one is longer, softer, toe-curling. “Yes, now that worked. A date, huh?”

“A date on my terms.”

And there it is. The little reminder that as much as this is, it will never really be.

“Where are we going?”

“That’s for me to know and for you to find out.” Another tempting and tender kiss. “And completely off anyone’s radar.”

“Okay . . .” Excitement bubbles up. “What should I wear?”

“Dressier than what you’re wearing, but not as formal as you normally wear.” He shrugs as I take the daisies and bury my nose in them. Other than Luke, I can’t remember the last time a man brought me flowers. It seems as if the Malones are just a bunch of charmers.

“That isn’t a lot of help.”

“Jeans, but it’s a shame to cover up those legs of yours,” he murmurs as his eyes darken and run the length of my body in pure male appreciation that make this female feel desired. “Shirt, unless you want to walk around without one. I mean, I have absolutely no problem with that one.” He winks.

“Funny.”

“Always. And a jacket.”

“A jacket? It’s hot out tonight.”

“Not where we’re going, it isn’t.”




The past hour has gone by in a blur.

Sneaking out to Grayson’s truck under the cover of night. The unexplained trek across town and out to Miner’s Airfield. The shock that bled to nervousness when he pulled next to an airport hangar and explained to me he was flying me to our date in his friend’s helicopter.

Flying me.

Not a driving me through the country, not a walking me through a park, but a flying me . . . in a helicopter date.

Despite the nerves edging my laugh when he told me, I find myself calming some as Grayson straps my belts and adjusts my headset so I can hear him. Once we’re in the air and he’s maneuvering us through the dark night, I find myself completely at ease as I look out over the small towns with their glimmering lights.

“Off the radar, huh?” I ask as my stomach flops back into place when the landing skids touch down to the ground.

“You caught that?” he says, flashing me a grin before turning back to all of the instruments he’s flipping and switching as the rotors overhead begin to wind down.

“Very clever.”

He removes his headset and then mine before leaning forward and pressing a kiss to my lips. “You ain’t seen nothing yet,” he murmurs.

He’s right. I haven’t. Because when the rotors stop and he helps me from the helicopter and to the place he found, strictly by the light of the moon, my breath catches. We’re standing on a huge plateau on a mountaintop that overlooks the whole of Napa Valley below us.