4. Chapter 4
Chapter 4
Keeley
W hy exactly did I agree to this shit again? I stare at the abyss in front of me. Fine, not really an abyss. It’s “only” a sixteen-foot drop. This is the biggest drop on the route and I almost bottled it at the much shorter six-foot drop earlier.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Suddenly there’s a gentle hand on my back.
“Take a deep breath,” Oliver says softly in my ear. We are the only two left on the top. Kurt jumped first and was then making sure everyone made it to the surface after their jump. Now the group is gathered at the bottom of the waterfall staring up at me. Talk about pressure.
“Remember to cross your arms in front of your chest and then jump.” Oliver’s hand rubs gently up and down my back and it does help me to relax a tiny bit.
That is until I look down again. It’s not just a high jump, it’s also narrow. Jagged rocks on either side of the gully. I can see myself bashing my head against the rocks. Even if the rest of the group had no issues, somehow, I’ve convinced myself that I will die a horrible death here.
“Keeley, look at me.” Oliver’s gentle voice pulls me back to reality. I try to shift my focus from the void to his face. His dark hair, or at least the little that is peeking out from underneath his white helmet, is wet and curling up, surrounding his rugged face. His eyes, which appear even bluer than I remember, scan me.
“Do you want to climb back up and take the path down?” he asks with no judgment in his voice.
“What… no. I… I just need a minute.” My stubbornness outweighs my fear. I know I can do this. I just need to hype myself up enough.
“You take your time. Just keep taking deep breaths.” His hand is now rubbing up and down my arm. I take comfort in his touch. When he looks at me like that I can almost forget my fear. Fuck is he hot.
I nearly had a heart attack when I arrived at the carpark this morning. Not because of the running, or maybe a little because of the running, but mainly because this man in a neoprene suit is a wet dream waiting to happen. It hugs his frame and all I can think about is sliding my fingers over—
“Keeley?” Oliver says a little louder.
“Right, yes, hi,” I grin. Oh my god, get a grip.
“Where did you go?” he asks, studying me.
“I, sorry, I was just trying to hype myself up. I… do you want to have a coffee sometime?” Oh fuck, fuck, fuckity fuck. What did I ask that for? Talk about wrong place and wrong time.
“I—” His ears are turning read. “I’m sorry, Keeley I don’t date clients.”
“Oh, of course, silly me … sorry." I'm mortified.
“No, it’s fine. I’m flattered.” He gives me a kind smile.
Flattered? Now doesn’t that make me feel like a silly goose. I look around, wishing the ground would open and swallow me up. Instead I’m stuck between a rock and a hard place. Jump or remain in this uber-embarrassing situation.
“I think I’m ready.” I turn back to the abyss. I’m not really ready but I’d rather be down there than up here. I cross my arms and leap. The fall seems to last forever, but eventually I dip into the cold water. I struggle back to the surface and draw in a deep breath. I did it.
I swim over to the edge of the little pool and as I scramble onto the rocks with the others I hear a splash behind me. My mission for the rest of the morning will be to avoid Oliver.
I run spell check one more time before pressing send. The first draft of my blog about the canyoning is on the way to my editor, together with photos of the group and Kurt and Oliver in action. I have consent forms from everyone and I upload them to the relevant file on my computer. That’s it.
I sigh. Of course, I didn’t mention the absolute car crash moment when I was let down by a smoking hot guy with “I’m flattered.” Argh. I bury my face in my hands. Now I’m just glad I haven’t signed up for any other trip with Alluring Adventures.
The thing is, he might be there tonight. I can feel knots forming in my stomach. When we got back to Fellside, one of the other participants mentioned that it was his birthday and that he’d be celebrating with drinks at a local pub. He invited everyone, and naturally, I agreed to go. They were a lovely group and a fun evening sounded like exactly what I needed.
But then Kurt said he’d be going too. I held my breath as Oliver’s eyes met mine in the rear-view mirror.
“I’ll be there,” he confirmed and I wanted to groan. Surely, he knows how embarrassed I am. But now that I’ve said yes I can’t come up with a believable excuse to back out.
After I’d changed outfit three times I decided to finish my blog before finalising what to wear. Which means I now only have thirty minutes until the taxi picks me up to take me into the village. I grab the flowery, purple dress from the wardrobe. It might be a bit much for a village pub but I don’t care. I wrangle my boobs into the cups and then fasten the straps. There. Looks cute and a bit sexy. I tie my hair back—I get sweaty when I dance with my hair down—and slip on my sandals. They are flats which gives the dress a more casual look. I spray on some deodorant, drape my necklace around my throat and slide my bag across my body. Done. No time to make any changes.
The closer I get the more my nerves start to fray. The pub is right in the heart of the village, and the taxi driver has to drop me off on the main road. Behind us another driver honks their horn impatiently.
I scramble to pay and leap out of the taxi. As I push open the heavy wooden door of the pub, I’m met with a cacophony of noise. The pub is bustling with groups of people standing tightly packed around high tables, chatting and laughing.
“Keeley,” a voice calls out from the far end of the pub. I wave at the group and weave my way through the crowd. When I join the group I see that everyone is there already, including Oliver wearing cargo shorts and a tight black T-shirt. In that outfit, the tattoos on his arms and left calf stand out a lot more and make him look dangerously sexy. Argh! He. Turned. You. Down!
“Hey everyone, sorry I’m late. Can I get a round for the birthday boy?” I ask. The invitation is met with cheers and everyone shouts out their orders to me. After the fourth drink I’m lost.
“Don’t worry, I’ve taken note and I’ll help you carry them,” a woman with a blond bob standing next to Oliver says. She wasn’t part of the group this afternoon.
“I’m this one’s sister and also work at Alluring Adventures. My name’s Hannah,” she giggles. Oh fuck , for one second I thought she was about to say his girlfriend or wife. I peek at Oliver but when I find his eyes on me I turn my attention back to Hannah.
“And this is my friend Jake.” She ruffles the dark hair of a guy next to her who playfully slaps her hand away.
“Nice to meet you both.” On closer inspection, I can see some resemblance between Hannah and Oliver.
Hannah and I take everyone’s order and then fight our way through the crowd to the bar.
“So, can I be nosy? Did you enjoy this morning?” she asks.
“Yes, it was amazing, thank you.”
“Oh, great! It’s just that Oliver said he didn’t think you had. In that case I may have tried to use this opportunity to shamelessly beg you not to write an article because times are tough and a bad review from someone so popular like you could really damage the business.” She looks at me sheepishly.
Why would he think I didn’t enjoy it? Unless he thought that turning me down would influence my blog and if so, that pisses me right off.
“Well, Oliver’s wrong. I had a great day.”
“Ols is really worried about the business even if he won’t tell me. Maybe he was just reflecting his worries on you. He knows that this article could make a big difference for us.”
Her words almost calm me down, but I still have a nagging feeling that he’d think I would get revenge with a bad review of his business.
“It’s alright, I understand. I sent my first draft this afternoon and it was full of praise, trust me.” I shift forward as the person in front of me carries a tray of drinks away from the bar.
“Amazing, thank you so much!” Hannah grins and rattles off the orders she had noted down on her phone.
I think I need to have a word with Oliver.