“What do you have in mind?” It’s hard to hold back my smile.
“A little doctor/patient role-playing?”
I smile and bite my lip. “That can be arranged.”
He squirms in his seat. “Damn, you’ve got me tense now.”
I laugh and he does too. We continue to drive, butterflies filling my stomach at the possibility of what this could be. What could grow between us. I don’t want to be hopeful, but the trouble with number nine is that he makes it so hard not to be.
He pulls into our destination and I’m shocked. Never in my life has anyone ever taken me to an amusement park.
“Busch Gardens?” I ask.
“You do ride roller coasters?” He follows the attendant’s directions and parks his Mercedes.
“I do.” That’s not really true. I hate rollercoasters but I don’t want to put a damper on this date when he went to the effort of planning it.
“Great. And they have pretzels here. Maybe I’ll finally get that answer on why you pick pretzels over nachos.” He turns off the engine, folds himself out of his Mercedes, and meets me at the hood of his car.
People look on, mostly families leaving the park with kids passed out in their parents’ arms. Maksim takes my hand and escorts me over to the tram to take us into the park as though he’s just an average guy. He’s so far from average it’s not even funny.
As we wait for the tram, I can’t help but notice how small my hand feels in his large one. I look up at him—the stubble along his jaw, the slightly crooked nose, his strong jawline that I can’t wait to lick. The natural blond highlights in his hair that I’m dying to run my hands through.
“Keep looking at me like that and we’re not gonna make it on the tram, kotik.”
“Promise?” I grin cheekily at him.
He looks down at me and his tongue slides out along his bottom lip. “Tell me one thing…”
“What?” I’m already breathless.
“Do you kiss after the first date?” I open my mouth to respond, but he holds up a finger. “Hold that thought.”
The tram arrives and we file into the back row. There are fewer people going in at this time of day.
Something occurs to me while we sit there and wait for everyone to get situated. I don’t want to be the shy girl who waits for a kiss. Not at all. Something about this man makes me not want to play it safe.
“So, do you kiss after the first date?” Maksim asks again once the tram moves.
I turn toward him, my hand sliding into the hair at the back of his head. “I kiss on the first date.”
My lips touch his and he wastes no time sliding his tongue into my mouth. Our kiss only lasts seconds, but I’ll never forget that feeling, as though I’m lifting off in a hot air balloon when his lips meet mine.
“We have to be semi-careful because we’re in public,” he whispers. “Wouldn’t want my doctor to lose her license for sleeping with the patient.” His breath tickles my ear, and he places the softest kiss right under my earlobe.
I realize suddenly that this is probably part of the reason we’re here, so far from where we live. He doesn’t want us to accidentally run into someone from the team.
I’m completely screwed. All I want to do is straddle him and beg him to fuck me right here, damn my license. But I sit nicely, trying to remember the last time I was at Busch Gardens and where all the hiding places are so we can have some make-out time.
He pays for my ticket, and we walk into the park. He pulls a ball cap from his back pocket, though it doesn’t do the best job of hiding who he is. I still see the fingers pointed in his direction and the hushed whispers, but no one comes right up to us.
“Shall we?” He looks at the biggest and scariest roller coaster at the park.
My stomach rumbles. I lied when I told him I was into roller coasters, but I don’t want to be that girl, so I buck up and say, “Definitely.”
Twenty minutes later, the harness comes down over my shoulders and I fear I might die of a heart attack with the way my heart is practically beating out of my chest. Maybe the headline could read, “Sweet girl dies trying to be someone she’s not.”
The most thrilling part of riding a roller coaster is when the cart tips over the top of the hill. The most anticipation comes with the slow climb up the first hill. On the way up, I glance at Paisley—she’s pale and gripping the harness so tightly, it might take a crowbar for her to release it.
“Are you positive you like roller coasters?” I ask.
She says nothing but nods enthusiastically.
“You don’t look excited.”
We’re approaching the top of the hill and I catch her closing her eyes. “I am. Just this hill… and I haven’t ridden one in a while.”
Blin. I picked the wrong date.
I watch her, not believing her act. The park is strewn out below us and the cart starts to tip forward as we crest the hill. A painful sound erupts out of her, then she screams. A loud, piercing scream that makes me close my own eyes. We’re down one hill and already climbing another.
“Okay, I lied. I hate roller coasters…” Her screams make it sound as if someone is chasing her with a knife. “Holy shit!”
I leave all the questions that want to rush out of my mouth for later. Why did she tell me she likes roller coasters if she doesn’t?
By the time the ride ends, her curly hair is windblown. A relieved breath falls out of her when the harness unclips and raises over our heads.
“Thank God,” she says, stepping out.
Paisley walks so fast down the exit ramp, I can barely keep pace and I’m practically double her size. A kid stops me for an autograph, then I finally catch up to her at the end of the exit ramp. She’s on a bench, bent over and catching her breath. I sit down next to her, stretching my arm out along the back of the bench.
She looks at me from the corner of her eye. “I’m sorry.”
“You have nothing to be sorry for. Are you okay?” I rub her back. I don’t care that she lied about liking roller coasters. If anything, it’s awesome that she tried to suck it up since I brought us here for our date. She was trying to make the most of it, a quality I admire.
“I’m good now.” She sits up straight.
“You didn’t have to lie just because I brought you here. I never want you to do something you’re not comfortable with just for my sake.”
She swivels my way. “I didn’t want to seem like I don’t know how to have fun. I didn’t want to be a buzzkill and tell you I hate roller coasters.”
I slide closer to her. “You never have to pretend to be anything but who you are.”
She chews on the inside of her cheek and stares at me for a moment. “I’m not really a ‘live life on the edge’ kind of woman.”
I smile. “I know.”
“You’re going to find out I’m kind of boring.”
God, she’s so fucking adorable. “There’s nothing boring about you.”
“You barely know me.”
“I don’t make a habit of falling for boring women, kotik. That’s why I like your claws.” I link my hand with hers and pull her up off the park bench. “Time for us to go on a train ride.”