Gretchen sits up, barring her arms over her chest."And what about you?Dougal's got a serious hard-on for ruining your life."
"Dinnae worry about me."
"Telling me that won't make it true."
"Aye, but there's nothing I can do about MacWraith right now."A breath blusters out of me."I've got more jobs lined up, and the first is this evening."
She lifts her brows."A nighttime stunt?Ooh, I've got to see that."
I smirk at the lass."It's not just a nighttime stunt.It's the most dangerous one I've attempted in years."
Gretchen's eyes widen."More dangerous than jumping a motorcycle across a river?"
"Aye.This one involves fire, explosives, and a blindfold."
She gawps at me as if I've just announced I'm planning to swim to the moon."You're kidding, right?Please tell me you're kidding."
I gawps at me, but my mind is already calculating angles and timing."It's for a film that's shooting near Aonach Eagach, which is a difficult mountain ridge that marks the norther side of Glencoe.The director is a mate, and he wants something spectacular for the climax---something that'll have audiences gripping their seats."
"And you volunteered to risk your life?"Her jaw drops, and she shakes her head."After what just happened?With Dougal lurking who knows where?"
"Relax,gràidh.I can handle MacWraith, and I can handle a cliff jump too."
She flattens her lips, blustering air out through her nostrils."How dangerous, Kirk.Tell me now.I need the details."
"All right.But ye may not like what ye hear."
Chapter Twenty-One
Gretchen
"I don't care if I like what you tell me.Just be honest."I haven't seen the mountain he's talking about, but the way he described it made every hair on my body stiffen.A chill slithers through me too, though I think that's in my head and not real."Come on, Kirk.After everything we've done together, I deserve to know exactly what your latest feat of outrageous bravado will be like."
"My stunts are not bravado.I'm paid to do these things."
"And you enjoy it."I try to scowl at the crazy man beside me, but I doubt that will affect him."Don't give me the eye roll, Kirk.I deserve to know the details, all of them, before you do whatever wackadoodle thing you've cooked up this time."
Kirk settles onto the edge of the bed, twisting his mouth into a lopsided expression of irritation.But then he relaxes and tells me, "It's a series of jumps down Aonach Eagach with strategic explosives timing my descent.I'll be blindfolded for the first third."
"Blindfolded?While jumping down a mountain with explosives?"Did I shriek those words?No, I couldn't have.I spoke in a higher-pitched voice than usual but there was no shrieking.I'm ringing my hands now too."That is not a stunt, it's a suicide mission.Are you trying to get yourself killed?"
"I've done riskier jumps," Kirk assures me, his voice infuriatingly calm."The blindfold comes off after the first ledge.It's for dramatic effect."
"Excuse me?Did you say 'dramatic effect'?You could slam into a rock face and die.I can't have sex with a puddle of red slime."
He smiles in that cocky that always makes me want to both kiss him and strangle him."The route is mapped out.I've memorized every inch."
"And what about the explosives?"I demand, clutching the sheet tighter."What happens if the timing is off?Or one of the explosives goes off too early?"
"That's why I'll have a team."Kirk reaches for my hand, but I pull back, still too rattled by both Dougal's intrusion and this new revelation."The explosions are controlled, lass.They'll be far enough away that I won't be in danger unless something goes catastrophically wrong.And if it does---"
"You die.Right?And I'm supposed to just stand there and watch?"
Kirk's eyes soften, though his jaw remains set in that stubborn line I'm starting to recognize."Ye dinnae have to watch at all.You could stay here in the village."
"No."The word bursts out of me, sharp as a knife."If you're doing this insane stunt, I am going to be there."
"Aye, I thought you might say that."
