Born to Be Wild by Donna Kauffman Page B

she said, amazed that instead of crying, she was fighting the urge to laugh. How did he do that? “It’s never been an issue since, okay?”
    “Until now, huh?”
    She met his gaze. “Just the thought of getting even afoot closer to that thing makes me queasy. I’m sorry about this, Zach.” She waved her hand. “You went to a lot of trouble.”
    “Don’t be. It’s my fault. It just didn’t occur to me.”
    The melancholy wave threatened again. Not that he could have known. He still thought of her as the wild child he’d grown up with. But that didn’t keep her from wondering what else “just didn’t occur” to him in his zeal for making plans and chasing thrills. There was no denying Zach was a successful businessman. But his business was about taking risks, and consequences be damned. The kids she worked with already faced too many risks and had dealt with too many consequences. And frankly, so had she.
    A dull throb took up a slow tempo behind her eyebrows.
    “What do we do now?” she asked quietly.
    Zach read concern, worry, and fear in her eyes. He wished like hell he knew what was going on inside her head. He could almost hear the wheels turning. Somehow he doubted she was thinking about the balloon ride or the camping trip. He had the distinct impression her thoughts dealt specifically with him—as he related not just to her job, but to her personally.
    He could always just come out and ask. But he wasn’t particularly interested in having that fact confirmed.
    “What we’re going to do, is go on a picnic. That’s one promise I made that I can still keep.”
    “But you don’t have to—”
    “Yes, I do.” Zach saw she was about to argue and ended it the fastest way he knew how. With his mouth on hers. She stiffened at first, but only seconds later her lipssoftened, and Zach had to stifle a groan and the urge to pull her into his arms. While he still could, he broke off the kiss and leaned his mouth close to her ear. “I want to, Dara.” He dropped a kiss on the soft skin just below her earlobe. His heart was pounding. Her light scent filled his head, the rush finer than the thin air at twenty thousand feet.
    “Besides,” he added. “We need to go over the plans for the camping trip.” He barely waited for her to nod before heading across the field to Scotty and the rest of the ground crew.
    They were back in the truck and heading farther west, the soft outline of the Blue Ridge Mountains dominating the skyline ahead of them, when Dara finally broke the long silence.
    “It was really beautiful, Zach.” At his questioning look, she clarified, “The balloon, I mean. Is it yours? Your company’s?”
    “No, it belongs to a friend of mine. I rent it from him occasionally for trips with clients.” He shot another look at her. “Today was a loan from one friend to another, Dara, so don’t worry. I knew I was taking a chance.”
    “I still feel bad about it. I’m sure my fear of flying seems pretty silly to someone like you.” She glanced over at him, but his eyes were trained on the road. “We’ve set up a few balloon ride trips for kids at the foundation. I imagine it must be spectacular up there.”
    “It is.” He reached across the seat and laced his fingers through hers. “Don’t knock yourself for not likingto fly, Dart.” He squeezed her hand before letting go to downshift at a red light. “It’s not a fatal disease.”
    It wasn’t fatal. Unless of course she found herself falling for a thrill-seeker. And then the only fatality would be her heart.
    “How did you get into doing what you do?” she asked, hoping the answer would give her the strength she needed to resist him. Lord knew nothing else had.
    “It was after you moved away. You know I loved sports, anything that demanded a physical challenge. In high school, none of the organized sports really did it for me.”
    “Not a team player? Now, why doesn’t that surprise me?” She’d meant it as a joke, but a