Too Fast to Fall (Jackson Hole 1.10)

“I know. I checked.”

She looked down into her beer. “But when I’m out there alone, I just…lose myself. It’s not that I think about getting out there and seeing how fast I can go. I’m not racing. At least, I’m not racing anyone else. I just want to go.”

“Where?” he asked, the word just a quiet drop in the river of noise that flowed around them.

“I don’t have any idea,” she answered honestly. “Just away. Somewhere else.” She shook her head. “It feels good. To go as fast as I want to, even knowing I shouldn’t.”

“I get that. It can feel good. Doing something you shouldn’t.”

Jenny felt her cheeks go pink before she even looked at him. His soft words prompted her to peek at his ring finger. She’d checked it out before and knew he didn’t have a ring, but did he have a tan line? She was pretty harmless, so what else could he mean by something you shouldn’t do?

“Yes,” she finally said, raising her gaze to meet his. He was still unreadable, still giving nothing away. “But it’s your job to stop that, right?”

“If it’s illegal, sure.”

“And if it’s not?”

For the very first time in any of their encounters, she saw his mouth soften and almost—almost—smile. His lips weren’t so thin, she saw; he simply held them tight together most of the time. Or most of the time he spent with her.

“If it’s not illegal…” His teeth flashed white against his skin as he spoke. She realized she was staring at his mouth but couldn’t tear her eyes away. “Then it’s every man for himself.”

“And every woman?” she asked.

“Depends on who the man is,” he said. And then…Nate Hendricks smiled. “Hopefully you’d get some help with that.”

The jolt of it went through her like a shock wave before settling into her belly. This was the man named Nate. Charming. Wicked. Utterly adorable. The delicious feeling dipped a little lower in her body.

“Oh, shit,” she breathed.

The smile disappeared. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“What is it?”

Wow, she really knew how to play a flirtatious moment. He was frowning now, looking both suspicious and a little worried. With the thousands of people she’d watched flirt over the years, Jenny would’ve expected more from herself than a muttered scatological curse. Now he was leaning back, edging away from her.

“I’ve never seen you smile before!” she said quickly.

He frowned harder.

“I mean, usually when I see you, you’re really pissed off.”

“I take my job pretty seriously,” he said gruffly.

“You don’t have to tell me that! Whew. You’re Mr. Serious.” She was babbling and couldn’t stop. “Ha! You kind of scare me, you know.”

“Ah. Well.” He glanced toward the door. “I see.”

“I mean…not in a bad way!”

“I scare you in a good way?”

That sounded weird, but the words still pulsed through her. He did scare her in a good way. The good way that made her feel nervous and aware and a little too alive. Or just alive enough. It felt like driving fast, flying through the world.

“Yes,” she heard herself say. “In a good way.”

He stopped edging away from her.