Exposing the Bad Boy (7 page)

Pike was dubious. I read it in his frown and the knotted muscles on his long neck. I didn't want to let him ask questions or talk himself out of it. I had to act.

My power play would change everything.

Grabbing my purse, I hurried to the elevator. The steps behind me said Pike was following; good. Looking back was too risky. I didn't know if I'd crack under his fierce eyes.

Inside the shiny elevator, there was an older man waiting for us. His coat was crisp, a gold name plate—Faust—confirming he was important, in charge of access to areas not meant for most.

He grinned, turning a key beside the buttons. “I hope you're ready,” he chuckled.

Pike wrinkled his nose. “Ready for what?”

I pushed a finger to my lips, silencing Faust.

The trip was fast; we were already so close to our destination. As the doors spread, a gust of cool wind attacked us, ripping at my dress. I held it down, flushing, but never losing my smile. I was on edge with anticipation. Nothing would ruin that.

There was a crew waiting for us; men in shirts that said Security or Medical. Lights had been set up, the vibe was a live wire.

Turning to Pike, I took his hand; it was warm as fresh laundry. “Come on,” I urged him. “You're going to love this.”

Looking around, he questioned my words with just his eyes. Still, he followed me across, stopping as we reached one of the men.

The guy smiled, offering a parachute to Pike. “Here you go.”

“'Here I go?' What the hell is going on?”

Taking the helmet I was handed by someone else—a glorious, fire red thing with gold flames—I held it out to Pike. “I want to prove my promise. Maximal can let you jump from anywhere. We paid the restaurant so you could leap from their roof.” I shook the helmet. “If you want to, I mean. No pressure.”

Wide-eyed, Pike looked at me, then at everyone. His long legs took him towards the edge so fast, the medical team went to reach for him. I waved them off, moving to join him.

Standing a foot back, I eyeballed the drop warily. Even from here, it had my chest shrinking—lungs filling with acid. “Well, what do you think?” I asked, keeping my voice steady.

Crouching, he opened the chute. Wordlessly, he spread it, studied it closely.

“It's perfectly safe,” one of the men said.

Pike tugged at the straps. “I'd never jump without checking the gear first. I don't have a death wish.”

My hands made tight fists.
Does that mean he'll do it?
Picturing him diving from this spot, all sinew and bravery, it had me shuddering from more than my own fears. No, this sensation was... warmer.

Once Pike had bundled everything back up, he slid the chute over his shoulders, testing the weight. Then he turned to me, locking his wild stare. There was something manic in Pike's face. He was part tempest, a calamity all his own.

What could ever scare a man like this?

He reached for me, and I jumped. His palms closed on the helmet, taking it from me and sliding it into place over his hair. I breathed out, the noise lost on the breeze.

“You know,” I said, trying to ease my own mood, “You didn't use your helmet in that video I saw. You should be more careful.”

Connecting the chin-strap, he smiled. “I usually am.”

It finally clicked.

The puzzle piece that had been nagging me.

Pike was the sort to be prepared—he kept his gear at the ready. He checked it over, obsessively, like I'd just seen.

So why hadn't I seen him wearing a helmet in that video?
Not because he didn't feel like it that night...

Because he doesn't have one.

That blew my mind, but I had to be right.
It's what was bothering me about seeing his chute on the back of his door. All his gear, ready to go, but no helmet.

Pike was determined enough to jump that he didn't let a lack of helmet hold him back. The man was a train, and lord help anything that tried to stop him from his end goal.

“Are you really doing this?” I whispered in wonder.

His voice was grave, flat as a motionless sea. “What do you think?”

Adrenaline threatened to burst my veins into nothingness. If I felt that just standing here, how much excitement did
he
experience? How could he stand there and not shake from the bottled pressure of risking his life?

Helpless, the question fell from my lips. “What's it like?”

Pike went stiff.

Swallowing, I pressed on. “The thrill of it, the sensation... what else is like this? I just—I want to understand how you can do something so deadly.” I hugged myself. “How you can be so strong.”

Flexing his hands, Pike faced me fully. The wind yanked at my hair, freeing strands from the tight bun. I thought, for one amazing second, that he was about to kiss me again—right here, right in front of everyone.

Right before he might plummet to his death.

His death. Dear god.

He squeezed my bare arms, and all sensation went to those cells. My skin wanted to absorb the sensation of him.

“I'll sign the contract.” Pike said it so softly it was nearly lost to the night.

My jaw trembled. “You're serious? You will?”

“Yes. On one condition.”

“Anything,” I stammered, my skull feeling light as cotton candy.

Stepping away, Pike kept going. His long legs traversed the last of the curved roof in mere seconds. “I'll sign,” he called out to me. “But only if you perform a jump with me.”

A jump... with him?

Pike soared into the ether, his body a stone that was somehow graceful in its unstoppable fall. Everyone cheered, thunder when there was no rain or lightning. I was sure the people dining below were stunned to see him fall past their windows.

And me?

Well. I stood there, listening to the whistle of life and death. I couldn't move. I could hardly think.

I'd made a pact with Pike that I would have never, ever agreed to, had I known in advance. Yes, I could back out—no one would force me to do anything.

But I was Ellie Cutter.

I did whatever it took to get what I wanted.

I knew what I had to do.

Pike

––––––––

I
fell through the pureness of the void. It was higher than any base jump I'd done before, the field of speckled lights below resembling my own personal milky way. LA could be a filthy, terrible place at times. But from up here?

It was majestic.

The black night yanked at my face, dried my eyes. My smile was so big, it was hurting me. I didn't fucking care about pain. This was everything, this was the moment.

In the fall, what did pain matter?

The scent of life filled my skull. I inhaled deeply, held it in and captured the taste of flying.

Salt, smoke, clarity...

Cinnamon.

Grunting, I yanked the chute open, the force ripping at my shoulders. I'd fallen further than I should have, risked being too late. I hadn't meant to, but the drop had been intoxicating. I never got to free fall like this in the city. I couldn't have slipped up to the top of the World's Antenna, not even on my best day.

But she made it happen.

For me.

Ellie Cutter had wanted to make a point. The damn woman, she'd done that and so much more.

Gliding over the buildings, I drank up my memory of how she'd looked tonight. That white dress had revealed creamy skin, taunted me until my cock had begged for a break. I'd done my best to control myself, and I was grateful, somewhat, for how tense the dinner had been.

My mistrust of Maximal had allowed me to keep my head cool. I hadn't done the slew of things I'd been itching for. When she'd shown up on my doorstep, I'd been parched for a taste of her mouth.

When she'd eaten me up with her wide eyes in my room, I'd wanted to eat
her
the fuck up. To bend her over my bed, spread her thighs and show her how my lips would feel along her sensitive cunt.

And god, in the limo—her breasts right in my face, in my reach.

Ellie could be wicked...

But she didn't know who she was dealing with. She only thought she did.

I lifted my feet, landing carefully in an open parking lot. The sound of horns told me Maximal had a car coming my way.
They want to make sure I didn't break anything under their watch.
I touched the expensive helmet, frowning.
Or busted their gear.

Peeling it all off, I left the pieces on the ground. I didn't want a ride. I needed to get away from all of this shit and just walk until my legs throbbed like the rest of me.

Hurrying around a building, I fled into the cool night with the sound of car doors shutting in the distance. I was long gone, they'd never find me.

But running didn't solve this problem of mine.

Not my Ellie problem, for sure. But beyond that...

Was I going to sign with Maximal? For real?

Thumbing my nose, I skidded down a slope and onto the main streets.
Ellie won't do it. No way she'll jump with me.
I'd created an out for myself.

Or was that what I'd even meant to do?

Sighing, I sped my walk up. Soon, I began running. Anything to make my muscles burn and my lungs scream. I needed more exertion, more exhaustion.

She won't do it.

I panted, gulped air and gloried in my own sweat.

I wish she would.

Stumbling, I held my ribs and leaned on a stone wall. I'd gone further and faster than I thought I was capable of. Shit, Ellie had me fleeing from myself. What was I supposed to do about this damn
itch
inside of me?

Forget about her. She'll never have the guts to do it.

My smile was cynical, but it fit me better. Facing the night, ignoring the part of me that vibrated with the idea of another meeting with that tempting woman, I headed towards home. My home. My tiny, forgotten place in the city where I could go back to my normal life of scraping by and base jumping in secret.

She doesn't want you to sign so badly that she'd risk her own life.

But if she really, truly wanted to understand me, maybe she'd actually do it. Maybe she'd—
No.
I stomped out my wistful thought.

Ellie wanted to make money off of me. She knew my past, and her company still wanted me. The gleam in her stare that I sometimes caught didn't mean jack shit.

She didn't understand what I did.

And I didn't want to work for anyone that couldn't.

You'll never see Ellie Cutter again.

With that fact searing at my skull, I detoured towards the first reddish glow of an open bar that I could find.

****

I
was part raw garbage and part defeat when I rolled into work the next morning.

The drinks had been strong, the games from the women even stronger. They'd hung all over me, simpering and flirting and doing their best to get me hot.

I'd loved it—at first.

Then it had all fallen apart.

Somehow, I could see nothing but their cheapness. There was no life in their eyes, and their smiles made me sick. Since when did I give a shit about the caliber of women who wanted to fuck me?

I didn't know. Or maybe I did.

Fucking hell.

Regardless, I'd left, drunk and miserable. I was paying for it today.

Pushing the door open, I winced at the jingle of the bell. Sarah was waiting for me by the counter. She spun to face me, the early light making her curls a golden halo.

Her face was twisted with unease.

Lifting my sunglasses, I readjusted to the brightness. Scrubbing my eyes did nothing to erase the sight in front of me. “What the hell?” I whispered.

Sarah darted her nervous look between me, and the package on the counter. “It was delivered a few minutes ago. It's... well, it's for you.”

I knew it was, and I knew
what
it was. The glossy apple-red of the helmet was a reminder of what I'd done last night. Striding forward, I hesitated with my palm over it. I expected it to scald me, I don't know why.

“There's a letter,” Sarah said, pointing.

Peeking at her, I tugged the envelope off of the smooth surface of my gift. I didn't need to read the front to know it was from her.

Ellie.

Rocking side to side, Sarah watched me closely. Lifting the envelope, I tapped her with it on the head. “Ow,” she pouted.

“Give me some privacy.”

“Okay, okay.” Huffing, she grabbed a mop and vanished in the back. I didn't know what she was going to do back there, but I didn't care.

Peeling the letter open, I slid the crisp paper into the light. The writing was curved, if a little cramped. I wondered how long she'd agonized over this. If she'd felt as uneasy as the words looked.

Pike,

I thought about what you said. Maybe you don't realize how determined I am.

I'll jump with you. But only if you really mean you'll sign with Maximal.

Call me, I'll meet you wherever—I'll even arrange the jump.

I don't play around.

-Ellie

A laugh escaped me, deep enough to make my chest quake. Sitting in a chair, I held my head and read the letter again. She was serious. She was fucking
serious.

Ellie would jump with me. I never expected she'd agree, but I... well. I guess I
had
hoped. God, was this going to happen?

Shaking my head, I folded the paper away. Wandering to the helmet, I cupped the curved back and chuckled. I'd read this girl wrong. She wasn't going to walk away because of a little fear. I liked that.

The hunger inside of me woke with a new fervor.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement. “You can come back out, Sarah.”

“Well,” she said, leaning the mop on a wall, acting like she hadn't been spying. “What does she want with you?”

“Don't get jealous, now.”

Snorting, she stepped heavily behind the counter. “In your dreams. I just want to know what the hell is going on. She shows up out of the blue, claiming you're some athlete she wants to hire, and then she sends... this.” Sarah gestured at the helmet, then glanced back to me, waiting.

Tightening my jaw, I met her look with severity. “Ellie Cutter works for Maximal. They want to sponsor me.”