Adventures In Parenthood. Dawn Atkins

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      Once they were chest-deep in the water, she wrapped her legs around him and kissed him. He had generous lips that tasted of champagne and cold saltwater.

      They kissed until she began to shake from excitement more than cold. “Let’s warm up,” he’d said in that sexy voice of his, but she had a better idea. She ran toward the cliff, taking the steep stone path to the rocky ledge where they’d watched skin divers perform the night before.

      It was scary as hell up there. The water seemed miles away, but she refused to be intimidated. She dared him to jump with her, never expecting him to do it. He was a serious guy, totally responsible, like his brother, except better-looking and with some sense of fun. She’d managed to captivate him, and that was a total rush.

      “We’re drunk and we don’t know the bottom,” he’d said. He didn’t even sound like a wimp saying that. He had guts, but wouldn’t be goaded into proving it. That was very, very sexy.

      When he winked at her, then jumped, she’d been so surprised, it took her a second to leap off, too. She pushed hard, running in the air to catch him, which was why she’d landed wrong, jamming her foot between two boulders near the bottom. She surfaced in agony, but hid it, proud she’d kept her thumb over the champagne bottle and hadn’t spilled a drop.

      Dixon saw through her smile to her pain, and carried her in his arms to her room, as effortlessly as if she weighed nothing.

      * * *

      DIXON RETURNED WITH scissors, tape, a stretch bandage and a Baggie of ice. He taped her big toe to the one beside it and wrapped the bandage around the ice bag on her instep. “Feel okay?”

      “It’s fine.”

      “It’s the same foot, isn’t it?”

      “Yeah.” The ankle had been weaker ever since Mexico, but she wasn’t about to tell him that.

      “I warned you it was too rocky.”

      “Come on. You didn’t say I told you so then. Don’t ruin it now.”

      “It was my fault you got hurt.”

      “It was all me. I was trying to catch up with you.”

      “Again, my fault.” She liked his teasing tone. It reminded her of how he’d been that night. “Though hanging on to that bottle probably didn’t help you.”

      “I wasn’t about to waste expensive champagne.”

      “How did you manage that anyway?”

      “Sorry. That’s a trade secret.”

      He laughed.

      She grinned, happy she’d amused him.

      He examined her leg, which gave her a thrill, until she realized he was studying the scabs showing below her shorts. “What happened here?”

      “I was in a reindeer race.”

      “You rode a reindeer?” His eyebrows shot up. It was fun to surprise him.

      “You don’t ride reindeer. Well, maybe Norwegian cowboys do, but in a reindeer race you wear short skis and the reindeer yank you down an iced-over trail. It’s like a standing bobsled ride. Very intense. I’ve got the ice rash and bruises to prove it.” She shifted to one hip, unzipped her shorts and showed him the spot.

      “Ouch.” A complicated look came into his eyes—sympathy, amusement and a wisp of sexual interest.

      “The footage is on my blog if you want to see.”

      “Sounds dangerous.”

      “Scout would agree. She bailed on me a hundred yards in.”

      “Your cat was with you?”

      “We don’t call her Adventure Cat for nothing. She loves to move.”

      “And swim, right? Unusual for a cat.”

      “Scout is totally intrepid. I found her on a hike in Yosemite, not far from the highway. She was sick. Someone had dumped her. She was terrified, hissing at this goofy retriever who’d cornered her.”

      Dixon smiled.

      “I nursed her back to health, and she’s been glued to my side ever since. My readers love Scout stories.”

      “So what’s your blog like?” The amusement in his eyes made her wonder if Howard had mocked her career to him. Not that it mattered. She knew the value of her work.

      “There are tons of outdoor recreation blogs. My niche is women. My tag line is ordinary girl on an extraordinary journey. The idea is to show women they don’t need to limit themselves. I talk about the scary parts and the mistakes, as well as the thrills and triumphs.”

      “Yeah?”

      “Take the reindeer race. I shrieked and fell, but I kept going anyway. That’s important for fans to see. Another time, I got lost in a Marrakesh marketplace, which is a very hinky place for a woman to be alone at night. I kind of panicked.”

      “Who wouldn’t?”

      “Maybe, but the point is that I shared that with my readers. If an ordinary girl like me can do it, anyone can.”

      “You don’t seem ordinary to me.”

      Pleasure sang in her veins at his praise. “Your brother thinks I’m crazy.”

      Dixon didn’t react to that, making her surer she was right about Howard’s opinion. “You’ve tapped into a market if you can make a living at it,” he said.

      “I make enough from web ads to live on, but travel costs have eaten up my savings. But I got great news today. My meeting in L.A. was with ALT Outdoors.”

      “That’s a big outfit.”

      “I know. And they’re close to offering me a sponsorship, which I really need.”

      “Yeah?”

      “If I can’t afford to travel, I might as well hang up my kayak. An old blog is a dead blog. I need ALT to stay in business.” She crossed her fingers, her stomach churning over all that was at stake. “They’re looking to reach my demographic—single females, 18–35—so it’ll benefit them, too.”

      “When will you know?”

      “ALT’s sending a camera crew with me for an adventure race in Utah next month. I’ll use their gear and talk about it on camera.”

      “Do you have to win the race to get the nod?”

      “We have to at least place. Last year, Neil and I took sixth. It’s a challenging race, but not brutal.”

      “So you dumped the boyfriend you brought to the party? Rafe?”

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