Free Keeping Kennedy by Debra Webb Page A

now.”
    Drake shrugged. “Then you forfeit to
Cassandra.”
    That thought didn’t sit too well. She didn’t
want Cassandra to win. The woman had gotten the better of her too
many times in the past. Kennedy’s gaze traveled slowly up the tree
once more. Could she really do this? She could see Cassandra’s
triumphant expression if she didn’t.
    “It’s your call,” Drake added, egging her on.
Kennedy swallowed. She rolled her shoulders and considered all the
equipment she used at the spa. She was in good physical condition.
Gave an elliptical a run for its money. Why couldn’t she climb a
tree?
    “All right,” she agreed.
    “That’s my girl.”
    The devilish grin on his face heated her
insides yet again. What was wrong with her? This whole spin was
making her crazy. Without further consideration, she squared her
shoulders and strode forward. She would not say die…at least not
yet. She paused directly in front of the tree and calculated her
first move. The lowest limbs were about at shoulder level. She
would need a boost, definitely.
    “I’ll give you a boost,” Drake said, as if
reading her mind.
    Instead of making a stirrup as he had done
last night, he clasped her by the waist and hoisted her up.
Startled, Kennedy scrambled onto the lowest branches as quickly as
possible. She couldn’t bear the hot feel of his hands around her
waist any longer than necessary. His touch made her feel restless.
She did her best to ignore the unfamiliar sensations and started
the climb upward. Gingerly, she pulled herself up, toward her
destination, silently repeating every swearword she knew and
Cassandra’s connection to each.
    Finally she perched on a limb that put her
within arm’s reach of the bag. Kennedy pulled the bag and tape off
the tree limb and shoved it and the note it contained dictating
hers and Drake’s costume for the ball into her pants pocket. This
had to be the most idiotic idea Cassandra had ever hatched up.
Kennedy shivered again as her cool, damp clothes flattened against
her skin in the autumn breeze.
    Then she made her mistake…She looked
down.
    Muscle-freezing fear surged through her
veins. She had climbed a great deal higher than she realized. She
must be…too many feet above the ground.
    Kennedy swallowed. Her heart pounded like a
drum. She told herself to move, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t even
let go of the limb she held in a death grip.
    “What’s the holdup?” Drake called. “You
okay?”
    No! She wasn’t okay. Kennedy
shuddered. She had to get down. She almost laughed
hysterically.
    “Kennedy, what’s wrong?” he demanded again,
that analyzing gaze watching her too closely.
    She licked her lips and opened her mouth to
speak. Nothing came. Kennedy took a deep, shaky breath. “I…I can’t
get down.”
    He frowned, an expression somewhere between
disbelief and amusement. “Of course you can get down. You got up
there. Just take your time and retrace your steps.”
    She gave her head a little shake. “I wasn’t
looking down when I climbed up. I…I can’t do it.”
    She didn’t quite make out the oath he hissed,
but she felt certain it didn’t bear repeating. “Just come up here
and get me,” she suggested, the pitch of her voice rising to match
the fear pulsing through her veins.
    He glared at her. “You climbed up there
because the limbs wouldn’t hold my weight, remember?”
    “You’ll have to risk it,” she told him, her
tone final. “I’m not coming down otherwise.”
    “I suppose I could go for the fire
department.”
    Kennedy’s eyes rounded in horror. “Don’t you
dare. You come up here and help me down this instant. Or…or,” she
stammered, “I’ll never speak to you again.”
    “I should be so lucky.”
    This was going nowhere. Kennedy finally did
what she knew she had to do: beg. “Please?” she cried. “I need you,
Drake.”
    That rattled him. Kennedy could see the
subtle but instant change. He swore again, then sighed loudly.