Tell Me You Want Me (Search and Seduce 2)

She was starting to rethink her grand idea of falling, but the list couldn’t be ignored. This was part of her independence, after all.

“So I just fall, and you’ll come in after me?”

He nodded. “It’s part of training.” He tugged on a rope that was secured to his harness. “I’m going to propel down, get you, and we’ll be pulled up.”

She took a deep breath. She was trusting him to come in after her. Trusting that she’d be okay. Trusting that he’d save her.

It was as exciting as it was terrifying. The whole point of this was to break away from being tied to people. To anyone. She looked at Dex. Part of her wanted him more than she should. And that was the one thing she couldn’t do. Shouldn’t do.

But she also couldn’t turn away from an opportunity to prove her courage.

She’d just have to fall and live with the consequences.

“You going to back out, princess?” he asked.

She frowned. No, she wouldn’t.

A scream broke from her lungs as she pushed off the helicopter and plummeted into the cold water. She held her breath as the tiny pricks of cold hit her.

She’d full on ran and jumped away from Dex. Away from the thought of more. Away from the threat of needing him or even wanting him.

She’d just jumped.

The rush of the experience was overwhelming. She felt good. Alive. She felt Dex splash in behind her. His big arms grabbed her up and secured her to his harness and body. As they started getting lifted from the water, she did the strangest thing…she held on to him.

Which was bad…very, very bad.

Chapter Ten

Michelle’s mind had been a mess since she’d stupidly held on to Dex after he saved her from the water. Mock rescue and training and her list aside…she’d reached for him. Clung to him. And if she was really honest, part of her wanted to be saved.

She shook her head.

Pathetic.

She needed a new list and fast if she was already caving on depending on someone else. Dex hadn’t reached out since he’d dropped her off after the helicopter training. Over twenty-four hours had passed since then, and she still hadn’t heard from him. He’d been cold on the way to the mock water rescue, but when they’d finished it, he’d been filled with the same warmth that made her love being around him.

And then he hadn’t called. Despite him needing his hours. Despite his stated commitment to helping her cross off everything on her list. He’d left her alone.

So she’d busied herself at her boutique. Today had been busy. Very busy. Which was good. She needed the revenue. But a part of her worried it was already too late. She’d known things were shaky, but looking over the finances again, even with the good sales today, she was in bad shape. She would have to figure out something fast. Or else.

She just wished she could stop thinking of Dex. Now that she was at home and the night was getting darker, she was sitting with a glass of wine, staring at her phone, wondering what he was doing. Not that she cared. She was just…thinking too much.

“This is ridiculous,” she told herself and tossed her phone on her couch. Then immediately picked it back up. Had she heard it ping with a text? Nope, now she was hearing things. Or just wishing for things.

She needed to get out of this funk. Because life without Dex seemed…bland. She hadn’t realized that somewhere along the way, she’d come to enjoy his challenges and spending time with him. Worse, she’d come to need that time with him. She got a thrill when she succeeded at every challenge he put before her. It was like a drug. But all it had taken was her looking at her business’s finances to remind her that she wasn’t doing nearly as well as she needed. Not by a long shot.

What was she supposed to do? Hang out with Dex and ignore everything else while her life fell apart? Worse, find that she only felt confident and independent when he was around?

No. She couldn’t. That was the whole reason she’d come out here. The whole reason she’d first hooked up with Dex. She needed to know she could do this on her own.

She paced, looking at her phone and taking another long swallow of wine. She and Dex weren’t meant to be long-term anything. And clearly he wasn’t thinking of her, or he’d have reached out.

She needed to talk to someone, though, and she needed to stop thinking of Dex. So she dialed Natalie.

“Hey,” Natalie’s happy voice came through the phone. “What are you up to?”

“Oh, just got home from the shop.”