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same time another part of me fluttered with excitement. I was so tired of being the safe good girl. Where had that gotten me, really? Single at twenty-eight, dating for a free paint job, that’s where.  
    For once in my life, I wanted to take a chance. Do something risky.
    “There you are.” Brian’s voice invaded my thoughts. “I was looking all over for you.”  
    “You found me.” I peered over the railing again, chills prickling across my chest. “I don’t know how I’m going to do this, Brian.”
    He held his arms out while the extreme sports person adjusted his harness. “What’s the big deal? We’re attached to a rope.”
    Turning away from my (very unempathetic) date, who was being carted off for a reason I couldn’t hear and didn’t care about, I gripped the rail and looked down again. The people walking on the garden terrace below looked so small from this high up. A cold chill trickled down my spine.
    Suddenly, I felt someone come up beside me. “Having second thoughts?”
    Upon hearing that husky, sexy voice, my skin immediately warmed.  
    Lifting my lashes, I peered up at Paul. “No. I haven’t gotten past my first thought, which is that I’m about to become pavement splatter.”
    He chuckled. “That would be some bad publicity for the hotel. You think we’d risk that?”
    Okay, probably not. “Accidents do happen.”
    His electric blue eyes peered into mine. “But you want to do it. Don’t you?”
    My mouth dropped open. “Have you not heard a word I said?”
    “I hear everything you say.” He turned so his body was facing me. “I also see what you’re not saying. You want to do this, but you’re scared. Scared you’ll get hurt.”
    Suddenly I wondered if we were talking about rappelling down a building or asking him on a date—a real one. I wasn’t sure which option scared me more.  
    The second one. Definitely.
    My shoulders raised as I looked up at him. “I’m not the kind of girl who rappels down buildings.”
    The wind blew a few strands of my hair across my face and he reached out and tucked them behind my ear, his eyes holding mine the entire time. “You’re whatever kind of girl you want to be.”
    Yeah, he could say that because he’d never met my mom. She’d raised me to be poised and proper twenty-four seven, marry a financially successful man—I’d slightly botched that one—join a country club, pop out two children, and never let anyone see me sweat.  
    None of her plans included rappelling down a skyscraper in downtown Sac. Although she had told Brian I was adventurous. Maybe she figured, at this point in my life, I was that desperate. As if.
    Paul tucked another stray strand behind my ear. “What’s going through that pretty head of yours?”
    “Rappelling.” Living. Taking chances.  
    The entire thought sounded crazy, totally dangerous, and actually kind of   . . . exciting.  
    My insides warmed and energy pulsed through me. Suddenly, the chatter in the background disappeared and there was just Paul and me, standing on the dark-lit terrace high above the city and staring into each other’s eyes. . . waiting. Waiting for me to decide what my life was going to be.
    My lashes lifted to where his blue eyes were studying me. I swallowed, building up the nerve to say the words. “I want to jump,” I whispered, when I really should have said I wanted to jump with him, not Brian.
    The corners of his mouth turned upward. “Then what are you waiting for?”
    With the decision made, my mouth spread into a smile and I shrugged. “Hook me up.”  
    ****
    “Who’s in charge of lowering the rope again?” I said, figuring it would be nice to say hello to the person who would (hopefully) keep me from plummeting to my death.
    “Tony and I will be taking care of you,” the extreme sports guy named Dave said. “We’ll control your speed from that rig over there.”  
    I stared at the giant metal spool of rope he’d pointed to, which had a crank on