I don’t like this one bit!” Dakota mumbles. She is strapped in, the way I am, with a pair of headphones over her ears and a microphone in front of her mouth.

I know there have to be cameras somewhere in the helicopter, since the audience will want to catch every heart-stopping, cringe-worthy moment of this epic disaster.

I can’t admit it out loud to her, but I don’t like it any more than she does. Flying in a helicopter is one thing since I don’t have a fear of heights. Although, it doesn’t exactly make me comfortable to be this high up in the thin air wearing a wetsuit, but knowing what we have to do once we reach a specific point of the Delaware River is a whole other thing.

I flash Dakota what I hope is a confident smile. “No sweat! Just close your eyes and it’ll be over before you know it!”

“You know what else could be over before I know it? My life!”

I reach for her hand and give it a quick squeeze. It’s freezing cold and clammy. “They wouldn’t ask us to do anything that would kill us. You have to be smart about the way you jump.”

Her head whirls around. “Smart? Smart how?”

How the fuck should I know? I have to come up with something to relieve her anxiety. “Try to fall straight up and down. Point your feet. Cross your arms over your chest.”

“Have you ever done anything like this before?” She wants me to say yes. She wants it so badly.

But I’m a shit liar. “No. But you’ve seen stuntmen perform falls like this, haven’t you?”

“Actually, no. I don’t like action movies.” She cranes her neck to look beneath us. We’re still flying over the city, and it’s a gorgeous view. The skyline is speeding toward us—or, rather, we’re speeding toward it—which means the river isn’t far away. Which also means we don’t have much time left.

She’s like a frightened animal right now, so I have to be gentle, or else risk her digging her heels in. “All you’ve got to do is decide to get it done and do it. I know you can.”

“How do you know that?” she asks, looking at me with those wide, terrified eyes. They’re about as big and round as saucers.

“Because I know enough about you to know how tough you are. You don’t back down from a challenge. You didn’t back down that first day, remember? When I tried to intimidate you after you hit my car?”

She lets out a nervous bleat of a laugh. “I didn’t hit your car. You hit mine, but it’s good to know that you finally admit you were trying to intimidate me.”

“Well, yeah. But you stood up to me and threw all my words back in my face. God, I wanted to fucking throw you over my knee, pull your panties down, and tan your ass.”

“You did?”

Hell, yes, I did. I look back at that morning and I can feel the same physical reaction I had then: heart pounding, blood pumping in my ears, teeth-gritting levels of frustration. “You drove me crazy. I wanted to spank you into submission, Miss Dakota Manning.”

She giggles a little. “At least I know for sure now.”

“I’m glad I could make you feel better about yourself.” I roll my eyes, and she giggles again. Good. As long as she keeps giggling, we’re okay. She has to do this. She can’t back out. I’ll push her out of the damned helicopter if I have to. “You see? You don’t back down, even when you’ve got me in your face. And that’s not something I can say about everybody. Or even most people.”

“Really? You’re not just saying that?”

“Believe me. When we have the time someday, I’ll tell you all about it.” I look out of the copter’s window. But that time is not now. We’re rapidly closing in on the river and we’re going to have to make the jump soon. I can see three boats sitting out on the water, forming a sort of makeshift circle. That’s where we want to end up, in the center of that circle. I can just make out the shape of divers waiting on the deck of one of those boats. They’re obviously there in case we need rescuing.

“I’m pretty sure I’m gonna pee in this wetsuit,” Dakota frets nervously, looking out from her side of the helicopter.

“Go right ahead, but you might want to wait until you hit the water to do it.”

“Thanks,” she mutters. Sarcasm practically drips from her voice. At least she sounds like herself again.

“It’ll be alright. I bet you’ll wanna do it again by the time it’s over.”

“Somehow, I doubt that.”

“Hey. Haven’t you ever surprised yourself? Done something completely out of character?”

She turns her head slowly, eyes meeting mine. She doesn’t say a word. She doesn’t have to. I know exactly what she’s thinking about. I just marvel silently at the way I’m thickening at the memory of last night. Even now, in this damned stupid helicopter, when I’m about to pull the stupidest stunt ever, my fucking dick is responding to her. “There you go, then,” I choke out. “You’re able to surprise yourself. You can do it again, right now.”

She looks down again at the river then turns to me and shakes her head, her eyes full of panic. “Trent. I’m sorry. I really am, but I don’t think I can do it. I’m frozen. I can’t move.”

“Sure, you can. Stop telling yourself you can’t.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re not me. You don’t know how I feel.” Her chin quivers and her chest rises and falls faster, faster, to the point where I’m afraid she’ll hyperventilate before she even takes off the headphones.

“Listen to me.” I lean over and take her shoulders in my hands. “I know you have to have a damn good reason for doing this. Right? This isn’t fun and games for you. You’re in this for some larger reason.”

She nods, silent.

“Me, too. And that’s what I’m thinking about right now…how much I need the money, and why. That’s what you need to remember. Why you did this. Why it’s important to you. If you keep that in mind, you’ll find that there isn’t anything unthinkable anymore. You’ll do whatever needs to be done to get where you want to go. Just follow everything the old guy taught us to do and you’ll be just fine.”

She nods slowly.

“You’re capable of so much more than you can imagine.”

“You think so?”

“I know so. If there’s anybody I know that’s true for, it’s you.” Our eyes lock and I don’t look away. I need her to know I mean it, that I’m not just saying it to get her to do what we’re being dared to do. I believe she could do anything if she was desperate or motivated enough to do it. Which doesn’t bode well for me in the future, but it’s what I have to tap into right now, if we’re going to move forward.

“Do me one favor, please,” she whispers before biting her lip.

“Anything.”

“Hold my hand as we’re jumping. Jump with me. You can let go once we’re out of the chopper, but I need you with me when my feet first hit thin air.”

“I can do that.” I smile, and she smiles back.

“Okay! We’re all set, you two.” The pilot looks over his shoulder at us. “Ready to go?”

“No, of course not,” Dakota laughs nervously. “But there’s not much of a choice.”

Dammit, I wish I didn’t like her so damn much, but she says and does all the things that twist my insides, and I just can’t help myself.

We unstrap ourselves and take off our headsets. Then we sit down on the edge of the opening in the side of the helicopter with our feet along the rail. The whir of the blades and roar of the engine threaten to deafen me. There’s no point in saying anything more to her, since she’d never be able to hear me. The wind whips past us, all around us.

I take her hand in mine and signal with the other, holding up three fingers. She nods. God, I hope we’re not both screwed right now.

Three…two…one…

And we jump.

Her hand is wrenched from mine as our bodies fall through the air, but I can’t worry too much about her in those few heart-stopping moments because I’m busy trying not to die. I take my own advice, straightening my legs and pointing my toes just before hitting the water. Even with the wetsuit, it’s cold enough to make my nerve endings scream in protest. I kick my legs hard and reach the surface seconds later, then immediately look for her.

She’s not surfacing.

“Dakota!” I swim in a circle, breathing heavy. Every ugly scenario imaginable flashes through my head at once and I’m just about to dive down to look for her when her head pops up not five feet from me.

She’s grinning like a maniac.

“That was amazing!” Dakota screams, laughing maniacally. “You were right! I wanna do it again!”