The thought of the man I cared about jumping out of an airplane into free fall was too terrifying to contemplate. My hands were already shaking with a combination of nerves and fear.
“Jack?” I glanced up to see Rourke wheeling his way out of the lobby with Nate. “They said you were on another trip. Sorry to miss you.” He seemed to notice my expression because he stopped and frowned. “You okay?”
“No. I need to get to La Porte to stop Teo from doing something stupid,” I muttered, trying Tee and hearing the call go straight to voicemail.
“What’s going on?”
I gave him the short version. “Apparently, he’s roped some celebrity into skydiving to help my sister and brother-in-law’s skydiving business get some exposure. But the guy is forcing Tee to go with him, and he’s terrified of planes.”
“Damn,” Nate muttered. “I can’t imagine he’ll actually make it out the bay door though.”
“He’s a stubborn asshole,” I said. “And he’ll do anything to help a friend. That’s how he’ll see this. He’ll get to the open door and convince himself to jump out of fear of letting us all down if he doesn’t.”
Rourke wheeled closer and gripped my arm. “Then I guess we’re headed to La Porte. I’ve always wanted to try skydiving. Think they make accommodations?”
I glanced up at Nate, who was grinning before I looked back down at Rourke. “You’re joking.”
Rourke shook his head. “Nope. Never. You know how much I love a good adventure. Don’t deny me my skydiving chance now that you’ve brought it up.”
I made a half-hearted attempt to argue, but I knew he was telling the truth when he mentioned loving adventure. Within twenty minutes we were taking off on the short hop to Kirk’s landing strip. Rourke’s Cessna was plenty small enough to land there with no problems, and it was strange to sit in the copilot seat for once since Nate was the captain on this trip.
I radioed Kirk. “Don’t let him jump.”
“Dude, chill out. He’ll be fine.”
“He’s terrified of flying, Kirk. He’s going to piss himself when he has to jump out of that plane. He’s only doing it to help us.”
“I know that, and I’m grateful as hell. If I thought he was in any danger, I wouldn’t let him do it. Trust me.”
“Fuck.” I would have punched something if everything in arm’s reach hadn’t been critical to flight control.
Nate was awfully smiley today. “Never thought our emergency landing in Goose Bay would find you a boyfriend.”
“Ugh,” I groaned. “This is why I don’t do relationships! My hands are sweating, and I feel like I’m going to need CPR pretty soon. What the fuck is he thinking?”
Rourke’s voice came over the headset from the seat behind us. “He’s thinking he’s in love with you, and he knows how much your family means to you.”
I glanced over at him, ready to tell him he was full of shit. But I knew he wasn’t. The only thing that would get Teo Parisi up in a damned skydiving rig was love.
“Ready to land,” Nate warned Rourke. “Belt on and all that.” As soon as we were on the ground and taxied to a stop off to the side of the apron, Nate gave me the go-ahead to exit the plane and find Millie.
Instead of bolting, I took the time to help Rourke into his chair and down the lift until both of us were racing toward the drop zone which was off the side of the runway about halfway down the tarmac.
Tons of people were already there. Video cameras, photographers, tourists, staff, and my family all stood happily off to the side anticipating the jumpers’ descent. Millie yelped and threw herself at me with excitement when she saw me, but I shrugged her off.
“How could you let him do this?” I was even angrier than before. I knew any minute he’d be forcing himself out the door of that plane, and I wasn’t there to encourage him.
“How could I not? He was so happy to help. Jack, he’s a grown man.”
Someone yelled, “There they are!” We all looked up. At this point I was shaking so hard, I was having trouble standing. My stomach was ten seconds away from revolting, and sweat was pouring down the center of my back making my pilot’s uniform shirt stick to me like clingfilm.
Rourke tried reaching for my hand, but I yanked it away with a muttered apology. I couldn’t stand still. I couldn’t look. What if something happened to him? What if he hit the ground wrong or got tangled in the gear? What if—
“He’s under the yellow canopy. His friend is the purple one,” Millie said into my ear. She was pointing to the colors in the sky.
My entire fucking heart, my entire goddamned world was hanging by two straps and a sheet of thin nylon. He had to be so damned scared. And he was doing it without any support. Hell, he barely knew any of these people including whoever the hell this blogger celebrity guy was.