“It’s a water pickup,” Tim confirmed. “It’s a sweet jump for a first-timer.”
Dominick nodded. “Sounds good.” He looked down at her. “Right, honey?”
She could only manage a tremulous smile.
“Great,” Tim said. “I just need for you to fill out the paperwork and a form of payment.” He leaned forward and looked over the counter at their feet. “It’s a good idea to wear athletic shoes. If you don’t have any with you, there’s a decent selection in our store.” He gave Violet’s black suit the once-over. “And you might want to wear something more casual.”
Her mouth watered to say that she’d dressed for business, thank you very much, not for being dangled upside down on a big rubber band.
“Thanks,” Dominick said, then dropped his arm from her shoulder to remove his wallet and slide his credit card across the counter.
Violet missed his arm around her, but it allowed her mind to fully function again. “Excuse me. How high is this jump?” she asked.
“About two hundred feet,” the guy said with a grin. “Long enough for you to enjoy the fall, but short enough to give you a nice rebound.”
Violet’s throat contracted. “The length of two football fields?” she asked Dominick.
“Relax, you’ll love it,” he assured her.
But the paperwork didn’t help her to relax, especially the waiver form. The participant is aware that bungee jumping is a calculated risk sport with inherent dangers, including serious injury or death, that no amount of care, instruction or expertise can eliminate.
“Don’t worry,” Dominick whispered in her ear, “I’ll check all the equipment myself.”
Violet signed her name with a shaky hand, but her heart was clicking double-time. She wasn’t sure what scared her the most—the thought of jumping off something that wasn’t on fire, or how her body would react to the certain fear.
After the forms were filled out, Tim weighed each of them and recorded it on the paperwork, then told them where to meet the bus.
“Sorry about the whole boyfriend-girlfriend thing,” Dominick said as they walked across the lobby to the entrance of the retail store. “It just seemed more believable.”
“That woman at the café didn’t find it so believable,” she said lightly.
He frowned, then an amused expression came over his face. “Why, Vee, if I didn’t know better, I’d think you were jealous.”
Her face heated.
He winked. “But of course, I do know better.”
His comment left her feeling out of sorts. She didn’t know whether to feel flattered or offended at his inference that she didn’t have the capacity to be jealous.
Bemused, she followed him into the gear store that featured more neon and more pulse-pounding music. Dominick surveyed the showroom, nodding his approval. “They could use some Burns apparel, but otherwise, not a bad selection.”
They went to the shoe section and Dominick picked out styles for each of them to try. Violet felt shy—trying on shoes together seemed like such an intimate act. She had to hold herself in check. Dominick was so appealing, it would be easy for her to fall into the trap of feeling like his girlfriend.
At his urging, she also tried on cargo pants and moisture-wicking shirts for the jump and, more mysteriously, “for future activities.” She stealthily snagged an athletic bra to take into the changing room with her. She handed the tags to a clerk as she decided which items fit, and by the time she emerged in her new clothes, Dominick had already paid for her items and his. He was dressed similarly in long sturdy pants and a lightweight shirt. She had comfortable clothes at home for her yoga classes, but felt out of place in these hi-tech, rugged garments. Dominick’s gaze roved over her, but she couldn’t tell if his smile was in appreciation or amusement.
“We’d better get going,” he said.
The bus ride was nerve-wracking, if only because everyone else seemed more excited about the impending jump than she was. The only upside was that Dominick sat close and kept reassuring her that everything was going to be okay. Her heartbeat raced and her breathing felt compromised. By the time they unloaded on the bridge where the bungee operation was set up, she could hardly move. Just being on the narrow bridge and feeling the openness around her was enough to make her light-headed.
“Everyone has the jitters the first time,” Dominick said, sliding his arm around her waist to propel her forward. “It’s okay to be afraid.”
“You’re not,” she murmured.
“I always get a case of the nerves before a jump. Without fear, you wouldn’t get an adrenaline rush, and that’s the fun of it.”
She was starting to think that her idea of fun did not mesh with the rest of the world’s. In the letter she’d written in college, she had craved excitement, but maybe this was going overboard. She pressed a hand to her heated face. She was feeling…edgy…tense…stimulated.
“What do you think of the class so far?” she asked Dominick, trying to steer the conversation back to business long enough to take her mind off of what she was about to do.
“So far, so good,” he said. “But I want to see what kind of instructions are given by the jump master here at the bridge.”
They gathered in a group while the jump master, a woman named Natalie, welcomed them and asked if anyone in the class was a first-timer. Violet gingerly raised her hand.
“Very good. Are you jumping solo?” the woman asked.
“Tandem,” Dominick spoke up.
“Any other tandem jumpers?”
There were two other couples jumping tandem, and Natalie decided they would all go last. Violet watched while the woman explained about the ankle harnesses and how the equipment was attached to the bridge.
“Don’t look down,” she warned with a laugh. “Look straight ahead when you approach the edge, then the group and I will count you down to jump.” She stepped up on a crate to demonstrate. “Then lean forward, and jump out and away from the bridge. Those of you going solo, put your arms out like a bird.” She jumped off the crate, exaggerating good form. When she landed, she straightened and grinned. “And those of you going tandem, hold on to each for dear life.”
Violet’s stomach churned as the other two couples twined hands, kissed and generally made eyes at each other. Suddenly she felt Dominick’s hand clasp hers. When she looked up, he winked as if to say, “just for appearances.”
“Don’t worry,” Natalie continued. “You’re not going to hit the water and you’re not going to bounce back up and hit the bridge. Just scream your head off and have fun. When you stop bouncing, you’ll be close enough to the water that our ground crew will move an air mattress underneath you and I’ll lower you onto it from up here. Any questions?”
After a couple of questions about freestyling from some of the more experienced jumpers, everyone started lining up. When a breeze blew across the bridge, Violet swayed, and Dominick caught her arm.
“Just hang on to me,” he said.
She did, grabbing a fistful of his shirt to steady herself. But as each jumper was fastened into the ankle harnesses and sent off the edge by a boisterous group countdown, her anxiety ratcheted higher. Many people in the group peered over the railing to watch the jumpers, but she couldn’t bring herself to get that close. Fear wallowed in her stomach…and desire hummed in her sex. She flicked out her tongue to whisk away the perspiration beaded on the rim of her lip.
Finally when it was down to the three couples going tandem, Dominick moved her closer to the platform.
“I don’t think I can do this,” she said, shaking her head.
“Of course you can,” he said in a soothing voice. “You’ll be in good hands.”
She closed her eyes briefly. He wasn’t helping to calm her nerves.
She watched as the first couple was readied for their jump. They each had a set of harnesses fastened to their ankles, and the bungee cord itself was heavier and thicker to support their combined weight. They stood at the edge of the platform and wrapped their arms around each other. When the couple was ready, the jump master counted them down and they sprang off together with a triumphant whoop.
Violet’s stomach flipped—both at the thought that their turn was coming and at the realization of how close to Dominick she was going to be. Moisture pooled at the juncture of her thighs and her limbs felt weak.
Within a few minutes, the empty cord was hauled up and attached to the next couple. They kissed passionately as Natalie counted them down, then they pushed off together and disappeared over the edge.
“We’re up,” Dominick said, urging her forward to step onto the platform. Violet’s breasts and sex felt heavy and tingly. She shook her head and turned to face him. “I don’t think I can do it.”
“Yes, you can,” he said with a little smile. He clasped her upper arms. “I told you I won’t let anything happen to you. Don’t you trust me?”
Violet bit her lip and nodded. She just didn’t trust herself.
“Then let’s do this,” he said, walking onto the platform and pulling her along by her hand. “Don’t look down, concentrate on breathing.”