Daddy’s Wild Girl (Montana Daddies #16)

Chapter 6

6

“ F lying?” Corbin asked. “You didn’t say that we would actually be jumping out of a plane.”

“What did you think I would be jumping out of or off?” she asked. “A cliff? Well, we could, but I haven’t found anywhere nearby that does that. It’s on the list, though.”

There wasn’t really a list.

It was more that she got a whim and went for it without thinking it through all that much.

When she’d learned that these guys would be arriving this afternoon . . . well, part of her had decided to test them. To see what they were willing to do.

How far they’d go to ‘protect’ her.

This had her mother written all over it. Heck, she wouldn’t even be surprised if her mother had made up those messages threatening her in order to manipulate Bebe into doing what she wanted. Because that control freak couldn’t stand the fact that Bebe had a mind of her own.

So no, she wasn’t taking the threat seriously. She wasn’t moving back home. And she wasn’t going to let these two men boss her around.

Or limit what she did.

Because if she wanted to jump from a plane on a sunny, if slightly chilly, Thursday afternoon . . . well, that’s what she was going to do.

Sometimes, doing something a bit crazy and scary was the only way she could get herself out of her own mind. To stop thinking so much.

However, she was surprised by her reaction to the cute one. She’d always had a thing for a man in glasses. Although she usually went for the older type.

That had kind of been her downfall, though.

This guy didn’t look too much older than her. Maybe in his early thirties. And there was an ease to his smile, as though he did it often. She kind of liked that. His smile reached his brown eyes, making them twinkle. His hair was short and he was clean-shaven.

So, definitely not her usual type.

But she was completely done with her type.

She’d done the moody, brooding male thing. While some people could handle that . . . she was in no mood to go there again.

And the other guy. Hayes. He had grouch written all over him. She wasn’t sure if he’d actually stopped frowning since meeting her.

Well . . . he was welcome to head back to Montana if he didn’t like it here.

Her gaze ran over Corbin, studying his navy blue T-shirt and dark blue jeans. His T-shirt was loose, but she could tell there was a good body under there.

Down, girl.

A man like this probably can’t handle you. He deserves someone sweet. Like him.

Someone who will be there to greet him at the end of each day with a smile on their face. And probably pie. Maybe cherry pie.

Yeah, Bebe didn’t have the patience or skill for cherry pie.

“You like pie?” she asked Corbin, whose eyes widened.

“Um, I, uh . . .”

Oh, he was even cuter when he got all flustered.

Lord, why couldn’t she be worthy of a man like this? He’d probably never cheat on her or hurt her. Betray her trust. Put her down.

No, instead, you go for assholes who do all of that.

“Pie?” Hayes barked, making her jump.

Corbin frowned at the larger man.

“Why are you talking about pie?” Hayes asked.

“Um, maybe because pie is life,” she replied. “I love pie. I dream about my next piece of pie. Maybe we should have pie after we jump out of the plane.”

“No one is jumping out of a plane.” Hayes crossed his arms over his chest.

That seemed to be his signature move.

“Oh, so you’d rather go cliff jumping?” she queried.

She thought she heard Corbin groan. He looked up at the sky as though searching for something.

Or perhaps he was keeping an eye out for parachutes.

“Cliff jumping?” Hayes said, his eyes practically falling out of his head. “No one is cliff jumping. I forbid it.”

“Aww, look at you, doing the manly man thing. But here’s the thing, you don’t get to forbid me from doing anything. It’s my life. If I want to jump from a plane, I will.”

Poor Hayes.

He looked like his head was going to explode.

“Are you all right? You’re going a bit red. Is it your blood pressure?” she asked. “I’ve heard that happens when you get old.”

Wow. His breathing was growing faster.

“It’s okay, though. You don’t need to come with me. I know that heights can be a problem for some people. And as you get older, there are probably all sorts of insurance issues to take into consideration. Do you have good medical insurance?”

“Oh dear God, kill me now,” Corbin said before grasping hold of her arm and steering her away from the other man.

“Are you sure we should leave him?” she asked. “Is he okay?”

“No, he’s not okay.” He quickly snatched back his hand from her arm, red flooding his cheeks for a moment before he frowned down at her. “And you’re provoking him. Not nice.”

Shame filled her.

Ouch.

She had been provoking him. Just a bit.

“Sorry, you’re right. I was provoking him. Guess I have a problem with other people telling me what to do. Maybe I have an authority issue.”

“Or perhaps you just haven’t met the right sort of authority figure,” he murmured.

There was a hint of steel in his voice.

So at odds with the way he blushed and sometimes stumbled over his words.

And it intrigued her.

Uh-oh. No. You are not falling for another guy. Doesn’t matter that he seems better than any other man you’ve dated. You’ve known him for like two seconds.

What was wrong with her?

“I think I’ve met them all. And I liked none of them. But I’ll try to be less . . . combative.”

“That would be appreciated. You’re really signed up to jump this afternoon?”

“Uh, yes. Got to be at the briefing in ten minutes, in there.” She nodded over at the building.

“So you think they’ll have room for one more?”

Her eyes widened as she gaped up at him. She wasn’t short at five foot seven, but he had to be slightly over six foot. So she had to look up at him.

“Do you mean that you want to jump too?” she asked

“Won’t be my first time,” he replied, looking amused.

“It won’t?”

“Nope. I’ve jumped at least twenty times. So, are we going or what?”

She couldn’t even find the words to reply, so instead, she nodded. Sure, if he wanted to come with her, he could. But part of her wondered if it was a trick, though.

“You’re really going to come with me?” she asked.

“I said I would, didn’t I?”

Yes, but in her experience, people often said things and then didn’t follow through with them.

So, she wasn’t holding out much hope.

“We’re going to go in and get debriefed,” he called out to Hayes.

The other man was glaring at them, his hands on his hips. He had ex-military written all over him. She wouldn’t be surprised to find out that he wasn’t long out of the armed services. Even his short haircut screamed ‘military man.’

Tough. Stern. Taciturn. Bossy.

She sighed. She should apologize. People didn’t understand she wasn’t trying to be mean or rude. Sometimes, she just liked to push boundaries. Perhaps because she’d had next to none when she was young she wasn’t always sure when to pull back.

As though sensing where her mind was, Corbin lightly touched her back. “Off you go. Do it.”

“Do what?” she asked, more to stall than anything else.

“Go and apologize.” It was an order. Given in a firm voice.

And boy, did that make her insides dance. How was it possible for him to be that sweet and yet so dominant?

Bebe felt like she was in unchartered territory.

But she started moving toward Hayes without further thought.

Wow. Corbin could pack a real punch with that tone when he wanted to.

“Um, Hayes?” she said, scratching at the back of her neck.

He grunted.

Great.

He didn’t look impressed as he glared down at her, his arms crossing over his chest.

Yep. Definitely a signature move.

“I’m sorry about before. I didn’t mean to be rude or anything.”

Another grunt.

Did that mean he was still irritated? Or was he willing to forgive?

“You’re really going to do this?” he asked.

“Yep!” She bounced on her toes and then punched the air with her fist. “I’m pumped.”

“Can’t talk you out of it?”

“Nope.” She smiled. She could tell that he was bending.

He groaned and looked skyward, then around again. “You break your neck and I am not telling your parents.”

“No worries, pretty sure that informing next of kin of death due to neck breaking is part of the package I bought.”

“You’re a smart-ass.”

“Oh, um, sorry.” She bit her lip.

“Didn’t say you had to be sorry. I’ll be waiting here.” This was directed at Corbin.

Bebe turned to see the other man nod. “Don’t worry, I’ll make sure she doesn’t break her neck.” Reaching out, Corbin again placed his hand on the small of her back.

She shivered.

She might like that a bit too much.

But he suddenly snatched his hand back as though he’d just realized what he’d done. “Sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?” she asked.

“I shouldn’t touch you without your permission.”

Bebe stared up at his tight jaw. “What if I was in danger? Would you touch me then?”

“Of course. That’s different. You’re not in immediate danger right now, though.”

And what if I told you that I liked you touching me?

Yeah, best she didn’t do that.

“Don’t worry, I think it’s the instructor’s job to make sure I don’t break my neck,” she said lightly as they entered the building.

“It’s my job to keep you alive. No matter what.”

Damn.

He said it like it was a vow.

“I bet you say that to all your clients,” she said with a wink. Then she wished she hadn’t.

Because he likely did say something like that to his clients. And she didn’t like the idea of that. She wanted to be special.

Damn it, Bebe.

Stop being an idiot.

“Actually, I’m not often out in the field. The last time I was, it didn’t . . . well, it didn’t go well. The woman I was guarding became . . . actually, that doesn’t matter. I know what I’m doing and I’m going to keep you safe.”

Was he trying to convince her or himself?

Curiosity bit at her. Pushing her to ask him.

No. Nope.

None of her business.

She just hoped his last client hadn’t died. Because that would be bad.

Why had he brought up the last time he’d been on assignment? Idiot.

Now she was going to think that he didn’t know what he was doing.

And he could admit to himself that he wanted to impress her. There was something so vibrant about her. She practically radiated life.

Although there were a couple of times where he’d seen something darker in her gaze.

Was that what her parents were worried about?

Were they concerned that all that energy, the smile, the mischief in her gaze, was hiding something darker? Something dangerous to her health?

You’ve known her for a few hours. You can’t make any judgment.

No, all he could do was keep watch over her.

They were now on the plane. Luckily, they had space for him due to a cancellation.

He wasn’t worried about the sky jump. He’d done them before on his own plenty of times. But he was a bit concerned about her.

Bluebelle looked slightly pale as her instructor positioned her in the open doorway. Did she know she could still say no? That she could back out if she needed to? He wanted to tell her that, but it was too noisy. He waited for her to look back at him, urged her to.

But then they were gone. His heart actually leaped into his throat. Stupid, he knew.

She was safe. She wasn’t plummeting to her death. And her ridiculously cheerful instructor better fucking make sure that she made it onto the ground without a goddamn scratch.

Or Corbin was going to murder him.

Slowly. Painfully.

It was his turn, yet he barely noticed anything as his instructor pushed them out of the plane. He did what was needed robotically with no real enjoyment. He didn’t take in the scenery or revel in the feeling of flying.

Nope. He was too busy scanning the skies to make sure she was safe.

He thought that was her parachute over to the right, far below them. He was wearing goggles over his glasses so he could still see as they plummeted toward the earth.

Finally, they glided down to the ground. He lifted his legs for the landing, letting the instructor and catcher do their jobs. Once he was on the ground and freed, he rushed over to where he could see Bluebelle sitting on the ground, sipping some water.

“What’s wrong? What’s going on?” he asked urgently. “Are you all right?”

“Yeah, of course,” she said brightly. But it sounded forced.

“Bluebelle,” he said warningly.

She winced. “Please call me Bebe. Bluebelle is . . . well, a bit much.”

“Your girl just got a bit of a queasy stomach,” her instructor said, coming over to squat next to her. “How are you feeling?”

Corbin didn’t correct the other man’s assumption that she was his. But if she were his, then this dipshit would have no right to sit so close to her.

Okay, ease back.

“I’m all good now.” She attempted to stand but wobbled and put her hand over her stomach.

“Okay, you’re definitely not all good,” Corbin said as he quickly wrapped an arm around her and guided her back down. “You need to stay sitting and sip your water.”

“I don’t know what happened. I don’t have a problem with heights. And I don’t usually get motion sickness.”

“Maybe a drop in blood pressure,” the instructor said, oh so helpfully. He reached out to take her pulse, but Corbin reached out and snatched her hand away.

Both of them stared at him in shock. He grimaced but didn’t let her go.

“I’ve got her. I have medical training.”

Not exactly. But his first aid certificate was up-to-date. And he didn’t trust this guy to know what he was doing.

The instructor just nodded. “Possessive, huh? I get it.” He walked away.

She stared at Corbin with wide eyes. “What was that?”

“What do you mean?”

“Um, why did you just snatch my hand out of his hold like he was gonna hurt me or something?”

“I just think I know what I’m doing more than he does. Now, quiet.”

Her pulse was a bit fast but nothing dangerous. There was color coming back into her cheeks, which was good.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Like an idiot who got dizzy just because she jumped out of a plane.”

“There’s nothing idiotic about that,” he told her fiercely. “You need a drink with electrolytes, though. Something to help with your blood pressure, then you’re going home to rest.”

“You got it, boss.” She saluted him.

He hadn’t forgotten that she’d done that to Hayes earlier in the day when he was being bossy.

“You best watch that sassiness doesn’t get you into trouble.”

“Hey, I’m counting on it.” She grinned at him.