The Freefall Trilogy (Complete Collection) (24 page)

His eyes were hard, still not deviating from the road.  She watched his jaw clench, her own mouth hanging open. 

'Look, what it all boils down to...' he said, ‘is do you trust me or not?'

'Well yes, but—'

Joshua sighed, running a hand through his hair.

'I remember when you trusted me with your life,' he told her.  'You'd known me all of five minutes at the time...  Whatever happened to that?  Look, I'm sorry for being secretive, and really, I hate telling lies, but if I'd been straight with you it would have spoilt the surprise.'

Lucy stared at him.

'What surprise?'

Joshua's lips curled in a smirk. 

'See!' he snickered, nodding back to the road.  'That's
exactly
what I'm talking about.

'I love you' he said emphatically, smile fading again.  'That's the important thing.  That
's all you really need to know.  I've told a couple of fibs to get you here, and I'm not proud of that...  But you know, sometimes my need to be honest with you has to take a backseat.  Surely you can understand that?'

Lucy pulled a face.  She couldn't; no way, no how.  She had a zero toleration policy when it came to lies.

'Look, when you're sixty four,' Josh continued, 'when you've given me nine kids and thirty five grandchildren...' 

Lucy's eyes flared.

'OK, three kids and a dozen grandchildren,' he conceded. 'If you ask me whether your bum looks big in that dress...  and chances are, well, you know, it's going to.  But I'm not going to be the idiot who turns around and says
yes
!  …I'm going to go with my own version of the truth.'  Josh flashed her a shy smile.  ‘I'm going to say:
you look beautiful…

‘
It always worked for my granddad,' he said quietly.  ‘You don't keep a wife for seventy years by making her feel like shit.'

His warm fingers wrapped around hers, grazing her knuckles agitatedly.

'Archibald?' Lucy murmured.

His green gaze flicked to her, suddenly full of mischief.

'That's right,' he said, with a nod. 

'My granddad was called Archibald.  Archibald, and
Myrtle
.'

He caught Lucy's bulging blue eyes, knowing full well they didn't see him; just the happy couple on the mantelpiece at home.

'I know,' Josh grinned, peering up at the road sign; letting go of her hand to flick the indicator stick. 'Freaky, isn't it?'

'Are we nearly there yet?' asked Lucy, trying to stifle a yawn.

'Very,' Joshua smirked. 

She peered out of the window at the expanse of green.  She had no idea France was so flat.

The city was far behind them; they'd been driving for the best part of an hour.  She hoped that whatever he had planned wasn't going to take long.  Her stomach was grumbling. 

She wrapped her arms around herself, trying to silence it.  Lucy paused.  It wasn't her stomach at all.  The growl was coming from outside, somewhere behind them.  She almost jumped out of her skin as the plane roared over their heads. 

Lucy's eyes flared as she saw the road sign.

Aérodrome
de Montargis

She caught Joshua scanning her face; heard the indicator tick-
tocking.

'That's why you brought your rig,' she murmured as the car came to a standstill.  Josh smiled, grinding the handbrake, turning the engine off.  'What are you...  What are we—'

He slinked his arm around her shoulders, silencing her with a kiss.

'Lucy.  Don't
overthink it.'

He kissed her again.

'You're safe.  I'm not going to let anything happen to you.'

Lucy shuddered as he whispered the words in her ear.

'I remember the first time you said that,' she whispered back, her heart thundering, running her fingers through his soft hair.  She felt his grin against her cheek.

'Believe me baby, so do I...

'But we haven't got long,' he sighed, shaking himself.  He pulled back, undoing their safety belts; leaning through the well between them and fumbling around in the back.

'Here,' he said, smiling shyly.  'This is for you.'

Lucy stared at the huge black and white flocked gift bag perched on her lap. 

'It isn't going to open itself you know,' Joshua said dryly.  'Come on, Myrtle.  Tick-tock.'

She grabbed the ribbon handles, tipping the opening towards her, peering into it nervously.  Joshua flinched as she let out a squeal of excitement.

'A jumpsuit!' she squeaked, holding it up by the shoulders.

'A jumpsuit,' Joshua grinned at her. 

'I like you in black,' he teased, quirking an eyebrow.

'I know you do,' she giggled.  'Oh Josh!  It's beautiful!'

His brow crinkled.

Beautiful?

He watched her fingers trace the piped silver edging.  She beamed up at him.

'I love it!'

He watched her for a moment, happy as a kid on Christmas day, breathing a sigh of relief.  She had tears in her eyes, but these were the good ones.  Joshua cleared the lump in his throat.

'Well come on then,' he muttered.  'Let's go and see if it fits.'

He watched her grin instantly slide.

'Oi!' warned Joshua, wagging a finger.  'What did I just say, Miss Simkins?'

She swallowed.

'Don't overthink it.'

He smiled.

'That's right. 

'We're going
to take this in baby steps.  One at a time,' he said gently.  'No racing ahead of me.  Got it?'

'Got it,' she murmured.

'I'm not going to force you to do anything you don't want to do,' he said, all trace of humour gone from his voice.  'You can say stop whenever you want to, and that's exactly what we'll do.'

His green eyes blazed back at her, weighing her up.

'Alright?'

'...Alright,' she squeaked. 

He burst into a grin.

'Alright!'

He watched her sling the jumpsuit over her shoulder, opening her door; hesitantly climbing down.

Well that wasn't too bad... 

It had gone a lot better than he'd envisioned.  Joshua frowned, biting his fingers.

Don't let her bail out me now... 

Lucy stepped out of the kit room, her head shooting up as she heard a deafening wolf whistle echoing around the hangar.  She walked faster, head down as she stepped down the middle of the two rows of packers, feeling the weight of twenty stares.

'Stop it!' she hissed as soon as she reached him; eyes bulging, cheeks burning, trying not to laugh.  'They're all looking at us!'

'I don't think they're looking at me,' Joshua said with a smirk.  'So?  How does it fit?'

She hesitated for a moment.  She could tell by his tone in the car that he was reverting to instructor mode.

'It's perfect,' she said quietly, going up on tiptoe; grazing her lips on the light stubble of his cheek.  'Thank you,' she whispered.

'My pleasure.'

Whoa!

Her heart almost stopped.  He slinked his arms around her, squeezing her through the black padded canvass; taking her weight and leaning her back.  He kissed her, in front of the whole room.

She blinked up at him. 

'OK,' Lucy squeaked.  'Who are you and what have you done with Snowy?'

He'd never been big on public displays of affection.

Joshua laughed. 

'I think it must be Paris.  ...Or maybe the frog's legs?' he grinned, setting her back on her feet.  'Aren't they meant to be an aphrodisiac?'

Lucy pulled a face.

That isn't quite the effect they had on me...

'You'll be glad to hear you don't have to wear one of those ridiculous hats,' he told her.  'It'd probably be better if you tied your hair back though,' he said, holding out a band.

Lucy stared at him. 

'Hang on...' she frowned.  'I'm going to jump without a helmet!  Are you nuts?'

She peered up at him, quirking an eyebrow and folding her arms.  It was a trap – she knew what he was like.  He'd turn around and bollock her in a minute for being lax on safety. 

I'm not falling for that.

'Well I'm not losing my teeth,' came Joshua's flat response. 

He pulled the harness from behind his back. 

'Tandem jump,' he said quietly

Lucy's mouth fell open.  Joshua's pressed in a line.

'Just to get your confidence back,' he said warily.

Lucy scanned the room, her eyes wandering down the rows of brightly coloured parachutes being folded away, the unintelligible chatter rising up again.  It was a good idea.  A bloody good idea.

Why didn't Froggy think of that?

'Remember the last time I put you in one of these things?' he said, running the canvass straps through his fingers.  'Oh the ideas that were running through my head, Miss
Simkins.'

She watched him bite his lip, his gaze flicking up in a scorching green blaze.

'Tandem sounds good,' Lucy croaked.  She cleared her throat, nodding quickly.  'I could go with that.'

Joshua laughed.

'Excuse me!  Excuse me!'

Their heads turned in unison.  A little Frenchman scurried towards, waving some papers and a pen. 

'So sorry, but we cannot take you up until you've signed '
zese.'

Lucy's stomach dropped as she saw the heading.

Declaration of Fitness.

Josh smiled politely, taking the pen and paper.

'
Merci.'

He glanced at Lucy, smile slipping.  She raked her hair back behind her ear.  She snatched the form from him, skimming over it.  He frowned.  His pronunciation must have been off. 

It was in English - just like the ones at home.  He didn't see the big deal.  He saw her eyes flicker, her face turning ashen.

'Lucy?  What's the matter?'

Her gaze bounced up to his, eyes burning blue in the strip lights.  Her mouth flapped for a moment, but no words.  She closed it again, gaze sweeping the floor.

'I need to go to the toilet,' she breathed.

He watched in bemusement as she stalked away, handbag slung over her shoulder.  They didn't have long.  He tilted his head.  The jumpsuit was a good fit.  He clenched his eyes shut.

Oh God...  Has she still got the squits?