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“A burro?”
She gave him an exasperated glare. “A hot air balloon.”
“A couple of times.”
“Really?”
“Sure.”
She squinted at the bold yellow against the crackling blue sky. “How exactly do they steer?”
“They don’t.” He retrieved a small cooler from the back seat of the car. “You’re pretty much at the whim of the wind.”
“This is not reassuring, Jack.”
He placed his free hand at the small of her back, urging her toward the gate. “The pilot’s licensed.”
“So? You just told me he can’t steer.”
“The Grand Canyon’s a pretty big place. We’re sure to happen across some of it. Where’s your sense of adventure?”
“I left it on the jet.”
His face suddenly tightened with concern. “Hey, you’re not still freaked out from that, are you?”
She shook her head. Then she stopped. Now that he mentioned it, it was sort of unsettling to be going back up in the air again.
“Good.” He took her at her word, increasing their pace. “This is going to be fantastic.”
FROM THE moment they lifted off the ground, Kristy had to admit, Jack was right.
The trip was better than fantastic. There was nothing quite like being above the ground, yet out in the open air. The balloon was slow and smooth. She was glad she’d worn a long-sleeved blouse, but with record high temperatures, the breeze was soft. Between the pilot’s narrative and Jack’s questions and jokes, she completely forgot to be frightened.
They soared the breadth of the canyon, dipping between layered cliffs of red, green and brown stone, nearly kissing the brittle, scrub-covered valley bottom, only to rise again and wend their way between spires of sculpted rock.
“With this wind, I can put you down at Narin Falls,” said the pilot.
“Perfect,” said Jack, giving Kristy’s shoulders a squeeze. “Feel like a picnic?”
She nodded, relaxing back against him, content to be marooned and forget about the world for a while longer.
His arms wound briefly around her, his khaki-covered legs brushing against her new jeans, and the hard planes of his chest and stomach giving her a sense of security and certainty. She savored the feelings as long as she dared.
And then the balloon descended, following the steep drop of a cliff. It floated over a dusty plain until they came to a winding river with sprinkles of green lining either bank.
Then, in slow motion, the plain fell away. The river plummeted into a waterfall, burbling white and blue on its long drop to where it crashed into a turquoise pool surrounded by trees and shrubs and grass.
Kristy gasped at the sight.
“Hang on,” said the pilot.
The balloon quickly lost altitude, the basket scraping along the sand, bumping to a stop several hundred feet from the oasis, the balloon canted over to one side.
Jack jumped out of the basket, steadying it with one hand, and all but lifting Kristy out with the other.
The pilot quickly handed him the cooler, then tossed a blanket over the side.
“We’re clear,” Jack called, his arm firmly around her waist, backing them both away.
The pilot poured on the heat, and the balloon reinflated.
“He’s leaving,” Kristy stated, trying to get her footing sorted out on the soft ground.
“He is,” Jack agreed, keeping her clasped next to his side.
“How are we going to get out of here?” She’d seen the view from the air. They were miles and miles away from anything.
“He’ll give the helicopter pilot our coordinates.”
“We’re getting picked up by helicopter?”
“Sure.” Jack nodded, giving the pilot a final wave.
Kristy blinked up at him, the reality of the excursion suddenly hitting home. She was alone. Really, really alone with a man she’d only met yesterday.
She wasn’t scared, exactly. What were the odds Jack had brought her by hot air balloon to a desert canyon to ravish or murder her? Plus, the balloon pilot was a witness. If Jack was a closet ax murderer, he’d be pretty stupid to let the only witness to the planned crime fly away.
Jack was a businessman, and an incredibly busy one at that. He was running an international conglomerate. She wondered, not for the first time, why he would take time out to entertain a virtual stranger. Taking her on an impromptu picnic didn’t make any sense.
“I don’t get it,” she told him.
He glanced down at her. “What’s to get? They’ll send a helicopter. It’s part of the tour.”
“But—”
“Don’t tell me we have to have the burro discussion again. Because I don’t think they could even get burros in here. It’s too far—”
“What I don’t get—” she interrupted.
He snapped his mouth shut and gave her a chance to speak.
She took a breath. “Is why you’re doing this.”
“I’m doing this because I don’t want to spend ten hours walking home after our picnic. We have tickets to Cirque du Soleil tonight, remember?”
The man was being deliberately obtuse.
“I mean all of it.” He could easily have dumped her at the airport last night and gone about his business.
“All of what?”
Fine. She’d play along and spell it out for him. “Dinner. A balloon ride. A picnic?”
“Would you rather do something else?”
She pulled back from the arm that was still loosely around her waist. “You act like we’re dating.”
He let her go, fighting a grin. “Dating?”
“You know what I mean.”
“Did I say we were dating?”
Okay, now she was embarrassed. “No, you didn’t.”
“Good. We’re together on that at least.”
She scowled at him. “You’re wasting your time.”
“No, I’m pretty sure I’m having a picnic.”
“You should have left me at the airport.”
“That would have been rude.”
“I’m not your responsibility.”
He glanced around. “Why are we discussing this now?”
“Because—” She paused, following his lead, giving a quick check on the desert around them. He made a good point. What was she hoping to accomplish by standing here arguing with him in the hot sun?
Answers, she supposed.
Like, what was he doing here? What was she doing here? She wasn’t the kind of person to fall into adventures with rich, sexy, exciting men. Her life simply didn’t work that way.
After a minute’s silence, he lifted the blanket from the sand, gripping the cooler firmly in his other hand.
“We’re here,” he explained, “Because sightseeing is way more fun than hanging around an airport for two days. You know, you really have to lighten up, Kristy. You want to stand here and argue until we get sunstroke, or find some shade and break out the wine and sandwiches?”
At the mention of the food, Kristy realized she was starving. Her attention turned to the little cooler. “Sandwiches?”
He gave a sharp nod of approval and started for the oasis, tossing a final volley over his shoulder. “There. I knew you’d see things my way.”
She scrambled to catch up, sand creeping into the crevices of her shoes. “I didn’t see things your way.”
“Sure you did. And that means I won the argument.”
“There was no argument. And definitely no winner. We came to an amicable agreement involving shade, food and wine.” She fell into step with him.
He slanted her a knowing grin. “You agreed to relax and enjoy the picnic.”
“I did not.”
He shrugged. “Okay.”
“I merely accepted the fact that I’m trapped here with you for now.”
“Poor baby.”
She jabbed him with her elbow.
He hunched over to protect himself, but he was grinning. “Just make sure you don’t have any fun. Otherwise, I’m the winner.”
Kristy struggled not to laugh along with him. “Don’t worry. I won’t.”
He glanced down. “You sure? ‘Cause I think I see a smile in there.”
She shook her head and pressed her lips together. “No, you don’t.”
“Liar.”
She let herself grin, silently deciding to relax and take a breath. There really was nothing for her to worry about for the moment. Dee Dee was happy. She was having a great time with a concierge staffer named Randy and three other dogs staying at the hotel. A picnic beside a waterfall definitely beat an airport waiting room, even if it did mean Jack won the argument.
Maybe it didn’t matter that today didn’t reflect her real life. Fact was, it was happening to her. Against all odds and previous life experience, she was stranded in Vegas with a sexy billionaire who wanted to entertain her. She should enjoy it.
“What kind of wine?” she asked.
“Ha. Getting fussy are we?”
“No. I’m taking your advice and lightening up.” On impulse, she covered his hand that held the cooler and gave it a squeeze. “This is incredibly nice of you, you know.”
“I’m an incredibly nice guy.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
She laughed, and then went silent as the ground turned from sand to sparse cacti, then to shrub brush and a few sparse pine trees. The roar of the waterfall intensified, and the spray cooled the air by several degrees. A brilliant glittering pool came into view amongst the rocks and willows.
“How did you know this was here?” she asked, glancing around in awe.
“The tour guy told me about it.”
They came to a halt next to the pool, beside a small tangle of mesquite.
“We lucked out,” said Jack. “Depending on the wind, we could have ended up at Lone Pine, Condor Point or Dead Man’s Gulch.”
He set the cooler down on the grass to spread the blanket.
