Next, Ava did something she would never have thought possible while being scantily dressed in public: she let loose a full-belly laugh and felt years of repression start to lighten from her shoulders. She’d had sex, walked on a public beach in a bikini, and done her first ever sext—all in one week—with only minor moments of panic. After so many years of almost giving up on herself, she was getting her life back, and in that moment, she felt like a carefree teenager again. Fun, fearless, and ready to take on the world.

Without stopping to overthink it, she pulled a now-worried Suzy up to the sign advertising parasailing before it hit her. “I didn’t bring any money!” Maybe it was divine intervention, but she didn’t want to stop now. She had been determined to see this through without letting her fears win.

Suzy looked at her disappointed expression before cursing under her breath. In a move that made the young man taking the money gawk, Suzy stuck a hand into her swimsuit top and pulled out some bills. “I know I’m going to regret this, but if you’re all set to go for it, then I’ve got your back.” The poor guy seemed to struggle not to swallow his tongue as he took the hundred-dollar bill from Suzy’s outstretched hand. When he was finally able to get it together enough to return her change, he motioned for one of the thankfully older men on the beach to help them into the boat.

One man drove the boat while the other hooked them in their harnesses and then helped them onto the flight deck. The man handling the equipment explained that they would be launched and retrieved using a hydraulic winch. Ava was relieved to know that they wouldn’t suddenly catapult into the water. When the winch started to launch them into the air, she felt her stomach drop to her feet. “Oh my God, why did I let you talk me into this?” she screamed over at Suzy.

“What! I was happy to stay on the ground! I told you that we’d take baby steps today. That meant walk around and think about doing this shit, but not actually do it!” Suddenly, they both looked down, realizing that the boat was now only a small speck in the distance. “Oh, holy fuck-a-moly! Remember what I said about pissing my pants? Well, it may just happen this time!”

For Ava, that was all it took. Hearing Suzy curse and toss out threats along with the adrenaline rush of doing something so completely crazy was enough to make her snap. Instead of the panic that she would normally feel, though, she started laughing. Tears rolled down her face, and she could barely breathe, but she only laughed harder. She had well and truly lost her mind this time, but in a good way. She threw her hands up into the air and started to squeal between bouts of mad laughter. “Ahhh, yayyy!” she screamed over and over. After a few minutes, she noticed someone echoing her crazy yells and turned to see Suzy doing something similar. They looked at each other, grinning like idiots.

“Girl, you are crazy!” Suzy gasped out. “Everyone within a five-mile radius can probably hear us, but who in the hell cares? This is the bomb!”

When the guy below hoisted them in, he was grinning at them, trying hard to suppress his own laughter. “Sounds like you ladies had a good time.”

Instead of shying away and waiting for Suzy to answer, Ava gave him a thumbs-up. “It was off-the-charts! We’ll definitely be back, right, Suzy?”

Suzy gave a small thumbs-up in return before slumping back against the boat seat. “Ur—yeah, I’m afraid we will.”

After that, they took a leisurely walk on the beach, laughing over how crazy they had sounded before heading back toward Suzy’s house. Ava had expected to see Mac there and was disappointed when Gray said that he had already left.

At Suzy’s insistence, she left her swimsuit on but borrowed a T-shirt to throw on over it. It did seem crazy to put her work clothes back on after being on the beach. It wasn’t exactly sexy lingerie, but still she hoped that Mac would like it.

*   *   *

Mac paced back and forth across his entryway, waiting for Ava to arrive. When he’d shown up at Gray’s house earlier, the other man casually mentioned that his wife and Ava were parasailing down on the beach and would be back in a few hours. Parasailing? Holy shit! Mac’s concentration had gone out the window after that. He was only half listening to Gray’s questions about an alarm system upgrade as he imagined the woman he loved breaking her neck and drowning in the freaking Atlantic Ocean. It had taken everything he had not to leave Gray standing there while he marched down the beach and threw Ava over his shoulder. He thought he deserved a fucking medal for having that much self-control.

He had wanted to ask Gray how it was that he didn’t seem at all concerned about his wife’s welfare but figured that being married to Suzy had probably taught the other man some patience. Mac had always heard that a smart person picked his battles, and maybe that was how Gray handled things with his wife. Mac, though, obviously wasn’t that intelligent, because he was pissed and ready to start an out-and-out war with Ava the moment she arrived. That was assuming she made it there in one piece. She was supposed to arrive at eight, which was about fifteen minutes from now.

He had been in a state of near-constant arousal since her text earlier today. Couple sexual frustration with anger, and it was a volatile combination. He knew that he needed to exercise control with her, though. He couldn’t risk scaring her away, after they had finally taken a step forward and made it this far. Her message had given him hope that she wanted him with the same all-consuming desire that he felt for her. He had already been hanging by a thread when he found out that she was, once again, doing something that could very well get her injured. He had hoped that after she had been so spooked by the man at the hang gliding club meeting, she would give all that up and come to her senses, but that didn’t appear to be the case. These stunts just seemed to be getting worse. He wanted to kiss every inch of her delectable bottom but also itched to turn it red. The woman would be the death of him.

As he continued to seethe, he heard the unmistakable sound of a car engine followed by a slamming door. That had better be her. He truly pitied anyone else who believed this might be a good night for a visit. He looked through the side window and glimpsed her walking up the steps. He gulped as he noticed she wore nothing but a shirt that left miles of leg uncovered. Oh, shit. He threw the door open, noting her surprised expression as her finger hovered over the doorbell. Without a word, he took her hand and pulled her inside the darkened entryway . . . and that was as far as they made it.