Freefall (Santa Cruz Skydivers Book 1) Read online

  “Don’t let her innocent look fool you, Frankie, she is wicked to the core.” Both of them were talking about me like I wasn’t even there. “She is a party girl, this one.”

  “I am right here, you know,” I said in a futile attempted to interrupt.

  Levi continued to talk over the top of me. “Yep, Frankie, I’d place a bet Andi could drink you under the table any night of the week. You should have seen the way she handled Don Julio last night.”

  “Oh shit, you were doing slammers last night?” She moaned. “And Don Julio, too! You know that’s my favorite. Why didn’t you call me? I told you I’d come and save you from the boredom and be your company for the night.”

  I opened my mouth to include myself in the conversation, but Levi spoke before I could get my words out.

  “Well, I was kind of busy with Andi here.” Finally, he looked away from her and winked at me, like we had a little secret. “Andi saved me from the boredom and a rather sticky situation. She was just the right company I was looking for.”

  Frankie raised her left pierced eyebrow at me, pursing her lips.

  With that one look, she made me feel inadequate and insignificant. I decided to try and change the topic onto something more current. Anything other than my appearance. “Sorry to interrupt, but shouldn’t I be filling some forms out or something?”

  She put her professional smile back in place. “Of course you should. We don’t want to get sued in case anything goes wrong.”

  My expression must have been priceless.

  “Don’t listen to her,” Levi told me. “I won’t let anything happen to you, other than us having a great time, of course. Frankie is just jealous. She’s been trying to get me to take her up since I started here this week.”

  “Damn straight I’m jealous,” she agreed. “I’ve jumped with all the guys except you.”

  “Even though Frankie has her jump ticket, and is probably more experienced than me, she still likes to tandem,” he explained to me.

  “I love jumping tandem,” she gushed, a faraway look in her eyes. “Its a rush, having no control over when your chute opens, pushing your fear to the last minute, and you have to rely on someone else to pull the cord. It’s the one time I don’t like to be in control, if you know what I mean. Besides, who wouldn’t want to be strapped to LJ?”

  My jaw dropped at her loaded innuendos, but Levi only laughed. “That’s enough from you, Frankie. Now give Andi her forms so we can go jump.”

  Frankie smiled coyly and obliged, pushing a couple of forms over the counter in my direction. I took the forms and started filling them out.

  “Andi, I’ll meet you in the jump room. I’ve got to go prep and run through a safety check. We’ll be landing on the beach today, so you’re in for a great view of the bay. You’re going to love it.”

  His green eyes twinkled and explored mine briefly like he wanted to say something else. Instead, he flashed me a megawatt smile and, as he turned away, accidentally brushed his hand lightly across my butt, causing tiny shivers to run through my body.

  Like me, Frankie watched Levi walk away into the next room. Once he was gone, she turned her attention back to me. “So, Andi, after you fill out your personal details, you need to read the disclaimer and sign down the bottom.” She pointed where I needed to sign. “When you’re done, I’ll need you to get on the scales. We need an accurate weight so LJ can calculate when he needs to open the chute. The heavier you are, the quicker the freefall.”

  “He’ll see my weight?” I blurted out before I could filter my comment. One thing I didn’t want him to know was how heavy I was.

  “Don’t worry, you’re not the most overweight we’ve had here before. I’m sure he’ll get his calculations right.”

  I frowned, unsure whether she was having a dig at me. I chose to brush it off. “I have full faith in him. I’m not worried about his calculations,” I mumbled while I signed the forms and handed it back to her.

  The weigh-in wasn’t as painful as I had thought. Either their scales were wrong, or I had actually dropped two and a half pounds this week. And here I was thinking my staple diet of vodka and stale pizza wasn’t good for me.

  She handed me a laminated color A4 poster. There were photos of tandem skydivers, all of them looking totally unglamorous with their faces contorted by the force of the freefall. “So, I’m supposed to ask if you want the photo and video package. This is an optional extra, not included in the price of the dive. I know you’re here as LJ’s guest, but I still have to ask. It’s part of my job. I also have to inform you, if you decide not to get the package, he won’t take any footage. In other words if you want footage, you have to decide now.”

  I looked at the price of the package and knew there was no way I could afford it. Even though I didn’t want a photo of me looking like that, I so desperately wanted a photo of Levi. Something to remember him by. If things between us went like I thought they would, I wouldn’t see him again after this morning.

  I sighed. “I can’t afford it.”

  “Okay, no problem.” She swiftly took away the brochure and pointed to the room Levi had walked into just now. “Just head through that door to the jump room and wait for LJ. You will need to give him your forms. There is also a locker in there to store your purse and belongings.”

  “Thank you.” I smiled at her as I took the forms with my recorded weight on it and made my way to the next room.

  I poked my head cautiously through the doorway, not knowing what to expect. The room looked like it could be a family room in any average American household, with a rug on the floor, comfortable couch, and a big screen TV, except to the side of the room there were several unfurled parachutes hanging from the wall instead of works of art or family photos. Levi was in the middle of the room, standing with his back toward me, surrounded by skydiving gear.

  Like a perverted stalker, I watched quietly as he bent down to pull up his skydiving harness, his tight ass straining against the light material of the black skydiving jumpsuit he had changed into. His shoulders and biceps tensed when he hoisted the straps of the parachute backpack harness onto his back. I had an insane urge to run my hand along those biceps down his back and finish up with cupping those ass cheeks. Closing my eyes, I remembered how good he smelled and memories of my little sex fantasy flashed through my head. What I wouldn’t give to see him naked. I had to know whether the fantasy was as good as the real thing. Who was I kidding? Of course it was, but this was my reality, and my fantasy was the best it was ever going to get. Girls like Frankie got guys like Levi, not inexperienced basket cases like me.

  I could have watched him all day, but my stalker guilt got the better of me. Alerting him to my presence, I cleared my throat lightly as I walked toward him. He turned to me just as he was adjusting his package between his legs. The harness sat snug up against his crotch and only accentuated what I had already suspected. The man was huge. I was guessing it was even better and bigger than what I had fantasized. Shame I’d never get to experience it, even though I wouldn’t even know what to do with something that size. It wasn’t like my one previous experience prepared me for it.

  “Perfect timing.” He smiled, oblivious to the fact I had been standing there for the past minute drooling over his shoulders and ass. “Come here and let’s try on your harness and get you fitted. But first, let’s lock away your purse. You won’t need that for the rest of the day.”

  My mind quickly changed from thinking about his huge cock into full-blown panic. My stomach turned. This was really happening.

  “Okay.” My voice squeaked.

  “How you feeling?” he asked as he led me to a small row of lockers and helped me lock away my purse using a combination lock.

  “Nervous,” I squeaked again, sounding similar to the church mouse.

  “It’s to be expected. I was shitting bricks my first time, but then the moment I jumped, I knew this had to be my job.”

  “Glad I’m not alone.” I slam
med the door closed on the locker, turned the knob, and followed him back to where he had been standing when I first walked in.

  He threw a blue harness down on the floor, similar to the one he had on, although unlike his, there was no backpack attached.

  “Put your feet in there.” He pointed to obvious leg straps. I did as he asked and stood still in the harness while, from behind me, he hoisted it up and then helped me thread my arms through the shoulder straps.

  Once all the straps were in place, he turned me around to face him and loosely buckled the strap across my chest and tightened the thigh straps. He stood close to me, our bodies only inches apart. I couldn’t breathe, and even though I was nearly puking with nerves, the fact his hands were so close to my intimate parts didn’t escape me. I stood unable to move as his fingers brushed lightly against the inside of my thighs, adjusting the thigh straps so they were sitting snug and tight against my crotch.

  Although he didn’t verbalize it, I’m sure he knew exactly the effect he had on me. I was one hundred percent sure he wasn’t inexperienced like I was in the sex department, after all, he was sex on legs.

  “There we go. Now you’re all ready.” His voice was an octave lower than normal.

  Like before at the check-in counter, he looked at me like he wanted to say something else. He opened his mouth, but closed it again, his eyes reflecting conflicting emotions. We stood toe to toe, silence between us. I could hear my heart beating. He was so sexy it hurt.

  I couldn’t stand the silence any longer. “I’m supposed to give you these.” Just as he had begun to reach a hand toward me, I thrust the insurance forms into his hand.

  “Thanks.” He fisted the forms without even bothering to look at them and glanced at his watch. “It’s almost time to go.”

  “Do I need to watch an instructional video first?” I blurted out, stalling for time. I felt my question was justified, though. In all the movies I had watched with skydivers, I was sure people viewed videos first.

  “Nope, no need to. You got me.” His self assured cheeky smile was back in place. “Come on, let’s go wait outside. We have another tandem with us, Phil, my supervisor, and a paying customer. I’m not sure where they are, but they’ll need to get her prepared and they’ll want this room. I also need to sign your forms and give them back to Frankie at the front counter.”

  “She said you need to read them first.” I chewed nervously on the inside of my cheek.

  “Usually, yes,” he agreed. “But it’s only really if you have any health problems. You don’t, do you?”

  “No, nothing wrong with me.” I forced enthusiasm. I took a couple of panicked deep breaths in quick succession. “Frankie said something about needing to know my weight for the freefall calculations.” Don’t look, don’t look.

  “Only if the person jumping looks like they might be too overweight too jump. Then we need to make sure the parachute will hold their weight. You’ve got nothing to worry about. You’re perfect,” he said. “Now stop stalling. Let’s go wait outside.”

  “Okay.” Relief flooded through me, glad my mantra worked. I followed him with a little spring in my step. He didn’t need to know exactly how much I weighed, plus, he said I was perfect. Whatever that meant, although I was sure it was all just part of the service.

  Chapter Eight

  Andi

  When Levi said outside, I thought he meant on the porch of the clubhouse. Instead, he led me off the porch, through the parking lot, past my Jeep, and kept walking toward the actual runway. To say I was crapping in my pants was an understatement. This was it. No backing out now.

  There weren’t a lot of aircraft to choose from on the edge of the runway. I scoured for what I thought might be our plane and froze, pointing at what was clearly waiting for us on the tarmac.

  “We’re going up in that?” My voice shook with fear while my right hand clamped down hard on Levi’s arm.

  It wasn’t what I had envisioned. Quite the opposite. The white-and-rust-colored decrepit plane was no bigger than my Jeep, the only difference being it had wings and a propeller attached. The name of the skydiving school was faded on the side while the fuselage of the plane had a few dings, and there were numerous scratches in the paint work. It had clearly seen a few years. The overall look did very little to calm my fear of flying.

  Levi laughed loudly, grabbed me playfully around the waist, and kept me moving forward toward the death trap. “You’ll be perfectly safe. Haven’t you ever been told to not judge a book by its cover? This Cessna has been turbocharged, and has done hundreds of flights before ours today.”

  “That’s what I’m worried about,” I muttered under my breath.

  I just had to keep reassuring myself that Santa Cruz Skydivers had the best safety record in the bay, rust bucket plane or not. Swallowing my fear, I let him grab my hand and lead the way. I’m sure he must have known if he wasn’t holding my hand I would have run the opposite direction. We reached the plane and I looked inside the open side door, noticing there was only one seat for the pilot up front, and a small carpeted cramped space to the rear.

  “Where are we sitting?” My voice came out in a near whisper.

  He pointed to the cramped space directly behind the pilot seat. “We will sit behind the pilot, just there. The other tandem jumping will be sitting here by the door. Phil will open the door and jump first. We will follow him out about thirty seconds after.”

  My stomach lurched. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” I was almost hyperventilating. “How is this old rust bucket going to get five people up in the air? And are you sure there is even enough room?” The pitch of my voice almost reached crescendo.

  “Relax, Andi.” He spoke calmly. “Do you seriously think I would endanger our lives? I do this nearly every day, sometimes up to four times a day, and nothing has ever happened. I could do this in my sleep.”

  Breathing deeply, I calmed and replied, “Well, sooner or later, the odds have to catch up with you.”

  “Andi, look at me.” He grabbed me by the tops of my shoulders, forcing me to look into his green eyes. “Do you trust me?”

  I nodded at him. “Yes.”

  “I always pack the chutes myself, that way I know it’s done properly. Nothing will happen, except that we are going to have an awesome time. Now, answer me again. Do you honestly think I will let anything happen to you?”

  I nodded emphatically, but replied, “No.” Damn him and those eyes, and that sexy mouth.

  He smiled, clearly enjoying my reactions. I tried to return his enthusiasm, but couldn’t get out a smile. Instead, I managed to lift one of the corners of my mouth in a grimace and wrinkled my forehead, giving the overall look of what I was sure was someone straining in constipation. This only made Levi laugh and pull me into an embrace. If I hadn’t felt like being physically ill from nerves at that exact moment, I’m sure my heart would have leapt out of my chest at his contact.

  He turned serious, letting me go, and switched into instructor mode. “All right, just a few last minute instructions before we get in the plane.”

  I was impressed at the way he could turn from the Aussie jokester into the professional skydive instructor. He immediately set me at ease. Well, not entirely, I still felt like throwing up.

  “When we jump, as I mentioned, Phil will go first with his client and we will go last. Because you will be harnessed onto the front of me, you will have to be sitting right here on the edge on the plane with your legs hanging over the side to the rear of the wheels here.” He patted the metal casing covering the wheels of the plane.

  “Don’t the wheels retract?” I asked, trying to get my head around where I had to sit, hanging out of a plane in mid-air. There was no way I could do this.

  “Not on this plane. These are fixed wheels, so it’s important that your legs swing that way…” He pointed to the rear of the wheels. “Away from the plane. Got it?”

  “Yep.” For the second time that morning, I swallowed down the l
ump that was sitting in the back of my throat. I was positive it wouldn’t be the last time either. I could feel the blood rushing from my face and only hoped I could remember all this when it was time for me to jump.

  A small smile twitched at the corner of his mouth, threatening to destroy his professional facade. He quickly recovered and continued on with instructions.

  “When we fall, I will need you to put your head back on my shoulder and lift your feet up behind me. We are going to flip backwards away from the plane and I will need you to stay like that until I tap you on the shoulder. Then you can extend your arms and legs. Got it?”

  His instructions were tumbling around inside my head. I didn’t dare ask him what would happen if I got something wrong.

  “Legs out, head back, legs back, tap shoulder, arms out, legs out,” I replied mechanically.

  “And don’t forget to have fun.” A laugh began to quiver in his voice.

  “Have fun,” I replied automatically, which finally set him off into fits of laughter.

  I stood still, my hands clenched by my sides, repeating his instructions over in my head. Today was not going to be the day I died.

  “Here comes Phil,” he announced once he had finished laughing at my terror. “This is it. Climb on in. You’ll need to face the rear of the plane and get down as far to the back window as possible so I can fit behind you.”

  I had officially lost all forms of verbal communication, so I nodded at him and climbed on in, thanking God I had stopped drinking last night and went home to bed after he texted. I couldn’t imagine doing this with a hangover. Unable to stand upright in the small, confined space, I crawled to the back of the plane, squished myself as far down as I could, and sat facing the rear with my legs crossed. The space was tight and cramped. I had to ensure I left enough room for Levi. His large frame would be taking up most of the available room.