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I took a sip. Heavenly. I smiled and took another sip.
“I’ll take you up anytime you want.”
“Up where?” I was still tasting the pineapple and coconut and rum and feeling decadent and surprisingly happy. I ate one of the cherries.
“Hang gliding.”
“Hang gliding,” I repeated. I pictured myself jumping off the cliff. In my vision, my body soared straight down into the mouth of a hungry shark. I shivered.
Jason’s smile widened. Had he noticed my reaction? Read my mind?
“I teach a class a couple mornings a week. A small group... or we could do one-on-one.”
One-on-one... I shook my head to clear the image that popped to mind: Me, Jason, naked.
“I’ll pass.” My voice cracked.
“It’s fun.”
I ate a pineapple wedge, chased it with more piña colada. Yes, Jason Mallory looked like fun. And where would that get me? Grams had a lot of fun in her twenties and ended up pregnant and didn’t know who my dad’s father was. Fun was...fun. But there were consequences. I felt wholly out of my element. All I knew was that therehadto be more than one unattached man on the island. Someone less...
“It’s risky,” I said. “Dangerous. And you’re... you’re...” I twirled my fingers in circles to indicate his acrobatic loops, but stopped when I realized it was the universal sign for crazy. “The loops were insanely risky. The resort insurance must be through the roof.”
“Insurance?”
“The captain said you were part of the entertainment, so I assume this is your job.”
Jason laughed, and I immediately repressed my smile. I might not be able to help being attracted to the man—he was gorgeous, and he had to know it—but I didn’t have to succumb to his charms. I wanted risk-free sex. A man like Jason Mallory wasnotrisk-free. If he behaved wild in life, what would he do in bed?
My insides nearly exploded at the thought. So I stared at my drink, sipped, let out a low moan of pleasure. I kept drinking, trying to forget that he was watching me.
“I’m just the bartender,” Jason said lightly. “I hang glide for fun. Water ski. Windsurfing—that’s probably my favorite. We even have a helicopter. There’s nothing better than seeing the island from a thousand feet up. Well, maybesomething.” His tone was light and all too sexy.
I choked on a cherry. Coughed, drank more piña colada.
“I would hate for your pretty face to be smashed on the rocks when your parachute fails or a gust of wind slams you into the mountain,” I said.
“I take it you’re afraid of heights.”
I hesitated. Had he been flirting with me? I looked up at him, and his eyes sparkled. Jason was intoxicating.
“I’m afraid of falling,” I said, chin up, holding his gaze. “Like every sane person.”
“And your name?”
“I thought the staff knew everyone’s name.” I didn’t mean to sound so snarky. Was I disappointed that he didn’t know?
“Mia Crawford,” he said. “But I thought I’d be polite and ask. Excuse me.” He walked over to where a couple had just sat down on a love seat facing the ocean.
He’d been friendly, flirty, and I had offended him. I hadn’t meant to, but I felt wholly out of my element here. I tried not to be obvious as I watched the man. I could look, right?
Look, don’t touch. Everything about Jason Mallory went against my sensibilities. Maybe it was best this way—I could find another guy. I mean, if it was this easy to flirt with Jason Mallory, then I could surely flirt with the other men on staff. Men less likely to risk breaking their necks on a daily basis. But, I reminded myself, no matter how much I safeguard, even risk-free men could be the source of unplanned heartbreak. Like my dad.
He’d died suddenly, in a stupid car accident that wasn’t his fault. A jerk who’d driven all night had fallen asleep at the wheel and hit my dad head-on when he was heading to work early in the morning. That’s when I learned the hard way what financial havoc Grams’s free and fun lifestyle had wreaked on our family. I finally understood my dad’s frugal nature—it was directly related to growing up with financial insecurity and general chaos. Now I take care of Grams—just like my dad had done. Because for all her faults, she had the kindest heart, and we both loved her.
A girl walked in—the bored teen who’d been sitting with Andrew Locke and his girlfriend at the pool. She slumped at the end of the bar, reached over the counter, and grabbed a premade fruit stick from the tray. She called out to Jason as he walked back from serving the couple. “Hey, Jason, can I get one of those strawberry daiquiris you made me yesterday?”
Jason said, “Now that you’re legal, you can have anything you want, within reason.”