In Over Her Head: An Anchor Island Novel by Terri Osburn (reading eggs books .TXT) 📗

if on a tour and Lauren followed close behind, still pondering the exception thing. Was he suggesting that he’d make an exception for her?

“Jackson says you took my advice.”

“Your advice?” she said, struggling to keep up. Did she want to be an exception? Hell, yes, her libido responded.

“About the adventure park. He’s pretty freaked out actually. The man’s afraid of heights.”

“Yes, I heard.”

Running his hand along the edge of the countertop, he said, “Nice prep space but the electric stove is a shame.”

Lauren had felt the same when she’d moved in. Chefs preferred to cook over an open flame. Better control that way.

Unable to take this much longer, she said, “Nick, why are you here?”

He leaned his exceptional ass against the edge of the counter and crossed his arms. “I don’t do relationships,” he said, tossing her off-balance once again.

They had that in common. “Neither do I,” she replied.

“Really?”

“You aren’t the only one with policies,” Lauren explained. “Relationships require trust and I’ve already told you that I don’t trust anyone. Given the opportunity, people will let you down every time. Life is less messy if you don’t give them the chance.”

Strong fingers scratched his scruffy chin. “That’s a cynical view of the world.”

“That’s called lessons learned,” she corrected. “Now you know my reason. What’s yours?”

He took several seconds to consider his answer and finally said, “Mine is similar but reversed. I don’t want anyone to get attached when I know I’d let them down.”

An enlightened answer, especially for a man. “Very evolved of you.”

“So we’re on the same page then?” Nick asked, and she assumed he meant they’d just agreed to nip this kissing thing in the bud.

“We are.”

“Good.” Shifting off the counter, he closed the space between them to stand entirely too close. “How about you come to my place tomorrow night and tell me how the day went?”

“But we—”

“Are two grown adults who know exactly where we stand,” he finished for her. “I’ll have a late dinner ready. Ten o’clock?”

Realizing he was offering the no-strings-attached scratch that she most desperately wanted, Lauren relaxed.

“I’ll bring the beer.”

9

A storm moved through overnight, stirring the seas and leaving a chill in the air. Lauren blamed the weather for keeping her awake, but the real culprit was Nick Stamatis and his promising invitation. She couldn’t pinpoint exactly when he’d gone from aggravating nuisance to potential bedmate, but she’d definitely turned that corner if her overactive imagination was any indication.

She’d given up her futile attempts to sleep well before dawn, opting for a lukewarm shower and a strong coffee before heading to Pilar’s for the meetup. When Lauren arrived, the sun had yet to come up and she found Axel Stedmeyer waiting alone on the entrance stairs. She hadn’t expected the quiet young man to be there before her.

The day before had gone well enough considering the entire team had been on edge. Lauren made some compromises regarding the layout and flow of the kitchen, and Axel had offered one of the better suggestions while also backing Lauren several times. He seemed to be a hard worker, spoke only when necessary, and ignored the opportunity to flirt with the dishwasher who batted her eyelashes whenever he was around.

Surfer boys with man buns were clearly the girl’s weakness, but Axel either didn’t notice or simply wasn’t interested. So long as the unrequited love didn’t cause problems in her kitchen, Lauren was happy to let the pair work things out on their own.

The rest of the crew trickled in, all well before the given time of six thirty. Another of the Navarro entities—a water sports business called Anchor Adventures—provided the shuttle bus that carried them up the Outer Banks to their destination. The trip should have taken less than three hours, but the ferry had been delayed due to rough waters and they reached the adventure park fifteen minutes late. Lauren had called ahead and the staff assured her that they’d honor the reservation.

When they stepped out of the van, the realization of what they were about to do hit home. Off in the distance stood a tangled monstrosity the likes of which Lauren had never seen before. The pictures on the website had not prepared her for the real thing.

A five-story round tower loomed in the center with a dozen poles standing in a circle around it. There must have been hundreds of ropes running not just between the poles but crisscrossing to and from the tower at different levels. The letters OBX hung between two poles.

Not until she moved to the area had she learned that this was the local abbreviation for Outer Banks.

“What fresh hell is this?” mumbled Mona, holding a hand above her eyes to block the sun.

“An adventure park,” Lauren replied, trying to sound confident. As if the sight ahead didn’t make her want to pee her pants. “They don’t call it Defying Gravity for nothing, I guess.”

Lauren always assumed she was fine with heights, but that theory had never been tested. As a kid, there’d been no money for anything that could remotely be called an adventure, and from the age of eighteen she’d been working in restaurant kitchens, often up to eighty hours a week, which left no time for vacations. She’d never been to an amusement park or even gone hiking.

“We’re going up there?” Jackson muttered with a mixture of awe and fear in his voice.

“It looks fun,” Axel said.

Nothing about this looked fun and a wave of nausea threatened. Closing her eyes, Lauren breathed through her nose. This was no time to show weakness. She was their leader, and today she would have to prove it.

Opening her eyes, she spun to face her team. “Are we ready?” Her voice cracked but she put on a brave face.

“Have any of you been here before?” asked Hermie, their driver. After a collective no, he said, “You can’t take phones or anything that can fall out of your pockets. Take your IDs but leave the rest in the