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Now she laughed softly as she tried to reache el dedo"

Abel s to feel a difference in the way he looked at her and spoke to her, but she dare not give it tooand had his entire life ahead of him It would be no ordinary life either Already he was rich and slowly beco for him, and she completely understood why he’d want to be free to enjoy it as the single wealthy hot celebrity he was quickly beco--just like Felix Sanchez, the first one of his boxer friends whose faazines with a different starlet or fa his hand behind her neck, and kissed her, this tier than when he’d called her adorable but just as sweet "Okay, no bungee juainst her lips "But you said you wanted to live it up So we’re doing so roo in their room, they explored Fisher the fa Nellie always had when she and Rick would visit, but she’d never enjoyed San Francisco as she had today And now Abel was telling her the fun had only begun? With her heart ha away, she wondered how much , even though Abel assured her she didn’t have to, Nellie thought about another thing she was sure her et on a helicopter Ni a patadas As nauseated as she was beginning to feel about doing this, she’d already turned down bungee ju She’d teased Abel that just because she wanted to try exciting things didn’t mean she had a death wish

A helicopter ride around the bay seereed to it Now she was seriously having second thoughts about this whole letting-loose-and-really-living thing Maybe she just didn’t have it in her It took a certain type of person for that kind of lifestyle, and she wasn’t feeling it Just because she’d ed to transform her outer appearance didn’t mean she wasn’t still the same ole play-it-safe Nellie on the inside For asto really live and let loose since her divorce, she’d only done a few things out of the ordinary in her free tiood book and a glass of wine on a Friday night She’d been perfectly content doing so too

Who was she kidding? Nellie knew it from the very start, but she was evenwith anotherso with Abel The worst part was that, as alar as it was to admit, it wasn’t just for ine anotherto protect her heart and not think it, she was also beginning to get the distinct feeling that Abel wouldn’t be so okay with that either

"You nervous?" Abel asked through the tay headsets they’d been given before they boarded

She squeezed his hand and smiled but admitted it "Yes"

"You’ll be fine," he said with the sweetest smile "I promise"

A few minutes later, they were up in the air and away they went As the minutes passed and the very friendly pilot narrated the stunning views of the Golden Gate Bridge, Alcatraz Island, Treasure Island, and the entire breathtaking bay, Nellie was able to relax and just enjoy

To Nellie’s delight, the tour included a three-hour dinner cruise after the flight along the bay on a dining yacht It was supposed to be open to other passengers, but wanting the utht out the boat So it was just the two of theht she’d seen enough spectacular views of San Francisco, but seeing theical What she’d started with so lad you did this?" Abel whispered in her ear as he held her fro away thoughts that this a day and ould probably continue into the next few days was only temporary--pretend Because as wonderful as he’d been to her so far, she knew that once they got back to Los Angeles everything would go back to the way things really were For now, she’d take what this actually felt like--the real thing Asfor this man It scared her soabout that "Yes," she said with as genuine a slad I did this, and thank you soet the nerve to do soested"

His brows juee ju, and dare I say it, paraglidingnever"

"Ah," he said with a twinkle in his eyes, "but I distinctly re that you never say never"

He distinctly remembered that? She stared at him for a moment as his expression drifted into the less playful and hthearted banter took a turn, and once again she felt what she’d thought she’d felt before Was he trying to tell her so? As tempted as she was to ask-- as alive as she did when she ith him; that her body had never experienced such pleasure; and that for all her talk about wanting to be free, she was ive her heart to him if he asked for it--she couldn’t There was no way What if she was reading too much into the profound way he looked at her so much now? What if he was just this wonderful to all the wo otherould ruin this trip,the rest of their time here unbearably aard?