10. Sarah
Chapter ten
Sarah
Barrett walks us down the gangway, following the mass of people who are leaving the ship. I glance around, trying to figure out what he could've possibly planned. He's not left my side, so I can't imagine when he would've done this either. The people in front of us move to the side, but Barrett keeps pulling me through the crowds.
I glance over at the hunk of a man next to me. Man, if I thought he was hot in regular clothes, athletic ones are even more dangerous to my libido. It shouldn't affect me as much since I saw him with his shirt off in the pool, but the way those shorts hug his ass. Whew. I think the temperature out here just rose a few degrees.
After a few minutes of walking through town, we stop by a man standing in front of a Jeep, holding a sign that reads ‘Island Adventures’.
Where the hell is he taking me?
I don't have time to ask though, before the man greets us. "Hello. Are you Mr. Thomas?"
"I am." He turns toward me with a huge grin that takes up most of his face. He takes my breath away.
I've never seen him smile so much. It's gorgeous. He should do it more. I love it. Obviously not knowing what I'm thinking he introduces me to the other man. "And this is Sarah. She'll be coming with me on this adventure."
"It's a pleasure to meet you both. My name is Ernie and I'll be your tour guide today," he says as he places his hand out.
Shaking the man's hand, I respond, "Nice to meet you. Now can you tell me where we're going today." Tilting my head toward Barrett, I continue, "This man has been keeping it a secret all afternoon." I wink at the man standing next to me.
Our driver Ernie laughs. "Oh, you two are going to be a lot of fun." He opens the door to the Jeep, holding it open for us. "Hop in, you two."
I do as I'm told by climbing in and Barrett does the same. As I buckle my seatbelt, I hear the doors close and then the Jeep start. Not knowing where we're going or what we're doing has the excitement bubbling out of me. Jumping up and down in my seat, I plaster my face to the window to see if I can figure out where we're going.
The wonders of the island have me mesmerized as we drive along the dirt roads. Gorgeous green plants fill the sides of the roads as if we are in a different world. "It's beautiful out here," I mutter to no one in particular.
Barrett pulls me to his side, giving me a kiss on my temple as he mutters against it, "One day, I'll bring you here again."
My heart soars with the idea of us doing this again together, even though a small voice in the back of my head whispers that's not possible and not to get too comfortable. This is all going to be over tomorrow, and we will go our separate ways. Back to just being client and PR representative--nothing more, nothing less.
The Jeep pulls to a stop. Looking out the windshield, I see an enormous cliff with a gorgeous waterfall that leads to an immense lake underneath it. My pulse picks up. "Uhh, are we just going to look at the waterfall?" I ask, hoping that's all, but I know Barrett wouldn’t plan something as mundane as that.
Releasing my seatbelt, he gives me a kiss on my cheek. "No. We're going to climb the trail up to the waterfall and then jump."
"Jump?" I screech. Shaking my head back and forth, I say, "No thank you. Not doing that."
Barrett grabs my hand and pulls me in closer to him, looking me right in the eye. "Darling, you can do this. It'll be easy. Ernie said the hike's only about a mile and a half, and the trail is smooth. I'll be with you the whole way."
Closing my eyes, I pull a harsh breath through my nose, slowly letting it out. When I open my eyes, I look at him. "You promise? You won't leave me behind?"
"Darling, I could never," he says with a small smile, and I just pray that he means it, not just for today, either.
"Okay. Let's do it."
Barrett opens the car door; he gets out first and I follow next. Ernie is already waiting for us outside the Jeep. "Are you two ready?"
My hands intertwine with the muscular man standing next to me. We both look up at each other than back to Ernie as we answer in unison, "Yes. We're ready."
"Here you go," he says as he hands us two bottles of waters. "The path starts over there behind the rock," he says as he points to the rock that is just a few feet behind us. "I'll be right here waiting for you with towels when you get done."
"Thank you,” I say as we turn and head to the trail.
Neither of us says anything for the first few minutes of our hike. Just enjoying the scenery around us as sweat drips down my back. Even though it's not a long hike, it's unbelievably hot. "So, is this something you like to do in your free time?"
"What?"
"Hike. Do you like to hike back home?"
"It's one thing I like to do, but I mostly just rock climb at this place next to my house."
I hum in response when he returns the question. "Do you like to hike?"
"I used to hike when I first moved to California. Now I'm so busy I just don't have the time."
"Then why did you have a small freak out in the car?"
"It's not the hike, I was worried about. It was the whole jumping off the cliff."
He nods. "You don't like heights?"
I wince at his question, I want to lie and say something different, but I can't seem to, so I tell him the truth. "No, I don't like heights. When I was a kid I fell out of a tree from really high up and since then I'm not a fan.”
Squeezing my hand to remind me he's here, he murmurs. "Don't worry, we'll do it together. Look we're here."
Sure enough, I look up and we are at the top of the cliff. Frickers, it's breathtaking up here. You can see a good amount of the plant filled area that we are in, and it looks magical with the waterfall in the forefront.
"Shit, this is one of the most gorgeous sights I've ever seen," I hear him whisper into my ear from behind.
"You're right. This is amazing."
"I wasn't talking about the waterfall," he mutters, giving me a small kiss on the soft spot behind my ears.
When he pulls away, he walks to the edge of the cliff, glancing over his shoulder at me with a twinkle in his eye. "Ready to jump?"
"Ugh no. But I take it you're going to make me?"
"Darling, I won't make you do anything you don't want to do. But I think this is something you don't want to do. You're just scared. Lean into that fear."
Taking in a deep breath, I put one foot in front of the other and make my way to him. I feel like this jump here is the beginning of so much more. That this jump represents everything about us. Am I going to jump with him or will one of us leave the other behind?
Grabbing Barrett's hand, I look over at him, and a thrill runs up my spine. "I'm ready,” I whisper.
"Jump on three. One, two, three," he yells into the quiet rainforest area.
Without even thinking, I jump off the cliff with him and into the unknown.