Read Online Best Man for Hire (Entangled Lovestruck) (Front and Center) by Tawna Fenske - Free Book Online Page B

feet.
    Don’t lose your grip. They’re depending on you.
    He leaped again, finding his rhythm now. It had been years since jungle training, but the movement was feeling familiar. Not easy, and his wrists would be scratched to hell where the shirt was too short, but this was doable.
    He was ten feet up the trunk now, and Rumpymuffle’s fuzzy butt was in plain view above him. “Hang on, big guy,” Grant called, trying to sound calm. “I’m coming for you, buddy.”
    Mew.
    The kittenish sound gave Grant a sharp pang in his chest, and he hopped again, gaining another couple feet. He kept going, closer now, nearing the top where the branches split into leafy green fronds.
    He could almost touch the cat.
    Mew.
    Rumpymuffle glanced over his furry shoulder, took one look at Grant, and skittered farther up the tree.
    “Dammit,” Grant muttered.
    “Are you okay?” Anna yelled from below.
    “Never better,” he called.
    “Please be careful.”
    The concern in her voice gave Grant the energy he needed for another surge up the trunk. He leaped again, just a foot from the frilled top of the palm. He let go with one hand and finessed his arm up through the palm fronds. Tugging a lower branch, he realized it couldn’t possibly hold his weight. He stretched his arm higher, sweat pooling on his brow and dripping down his arms. His feet were killing him, and a boulder-sized coconut swayed dangerously over his head. His fingers found another branch and gripped it hard. Tensing every muscle in his body, he pulled himself upward through the branches.
    Mew , said Rumpymuffle, glancing at him again.
    “That’s it, big guy. I’ve almost got you.”
    Grants legs were shaking with exertion now. His left foot slipped—probably from all the damn sweat—and he heard Anna gasp below him.
    “Everything’s fine,” he called, regaining his grip and pushing himself higher. “Almost there.”
    Mew, the cat said again.
    “That’s right,” Grant coaxed, letting go of the branch with one hand. He reached behind him and yanked on the mouth of the laundry bag, making sure he had a nice, wide opening. He grabbed hold of the branch, steadying himself, regaining his strength.
    “Oh, dear,” Mrs. Stein called. “Do be careful. You’re so high up there.”
    Grant wasn’t sure if she was talking to him or the cat, but it didn’t matter. A fall from this height would be pretty fucking painful for either one of them.
    Don’t fall , he commanded himself.
    He let go of the branch and stretched up, his fingers brushing the cat’s soft fur.
    “Shit, I need a few more inches.”
    He could’ve sworn he heard Anna mutter something beneath him, words that sounded a lot like, “Not from what I could tell,” but he was probably imagining things. The damn heat was making him dizzy. He flashed on the memory of Anna’s hand stroking him through his shorts, her knuckles grazing the head of his cock as she pressed his face into those beautiful breasts.
    Dammit.
    A hard-on was the last thing he needed right now. He took a steadying breath and reached for another branch. He tugged hard, making sure it could support his weight.
    Thunk!
    A falling coconut smacked hard on the top of his helmet, bouncing off and tumbling toward the ground.
    “Watch out!” he called.
    “Caught it!” Anna yelled. “Come down in one piece and I promise to make you my famous coconut-lime pie.”
    “Deal.” Grant shook off the ringing in his ears and stretched upward again.
    Still gripping the trunk between his feet, he pushed himself up once more. He caught another branch in his left hand and yanked. The branch held, and no coconuts came raining down. He pulled himself up and let go with one hand.
    “Let’s try this again,” he murmured to the cat. “On three. Ready? One, two—”
    He stretched his fingers up and gripped the cat’s scruff between his fingers and palm. “Three!”
    He pulled back, peeling Rumpymuffle’s claws off the trunk with an audible scritch.