A Cowboy for the CEO

Chapter 15: You Spin Me Right Round

Only the kids went on the next two rides as Hank and Ali both opted out of the twirling teacups and the tilting pirate ship. Somehow Sarah had no such objections to heights or rotating as she did to dark rooms, and she ran back to them with a huge grin.

"Let's do the giant swings next." She jumped up and down.

"Oh, yeah. That's one of my favorites," Ali agreed, but Hank looked more dubious.

"Which one is that?" He squinted in the setting sun, glancing up the midway.

"That one." Colin pointed to a tall ride full of blinking lights. Plastic seats hung by long chains from an umbrella-shaped canopy, and although the line snaked around a cordoned-off area, it seemed to move quickly. "Please, Uncle Hank." Colin tugged his sleeve. "Let's all go."

He took a step backward, nearly running into a young couple. "Whoops. Sorry." Digging into his jeans pocket, he pulled out his phone. "I'm going to sit this one out. I need to call Liz and let her know we're okay, but you guys go ahead."

He appeared much too frazzled to just be worried about checking in with his sister, but seeing no real reason to argue, Ali took the kids by the hand and walked to the end of the queue. They managed to get on the ride without having to wait a full turn, and soon they were buckled into the swinging chairs. When everyone was secured, the operator started the machine and cranked up the music. The seats lifted a few feet off the ground before the entire canopy began turning. As the speed of the rotations increased, so did the height of the riders dangling in the air.

Ali grinned as Sarah and Colin rocked their swings and kicked their feet in delight. Keeping her eyes above the orange-tinted horizon, she watched the blur of passing trees, rides, and buildings as the swings continued to float through the air in a counterclockwise direction.

"I'm flying!" Sarah exclaimed, letting go of the chains and holding her arms out.

Ali shuddered at the sight, gripping her chain with that much more force. After a few more turns around its axis, the canopy slowed and lowered the riders back down to the ground.

"That was so fun!" Colin gushed as they left the ride behind. "Can we do it again?"

Taking a deep breath, Ali focused on trying to get the world to stop spinning. "Sure. But how about something a little less . . . um, centrifugal, first?"

"What does that mean?" Sarah asked Hank, who was waiting by the ride's exit.

He smiled. "It's a fancy way of saying that Miss Ali is dizzy."

"Oh, I'm fine now," she insisted, but stepping forward, her foot landed in something—whether a scoop of melted ice cream, a piece of fallen cheese, or an item she was better off not knowing about—and she lost her balance. Tumbling forward, she threw her hands out, expecting to hit the pavement, but instead fell against something much more pleasant.

"Are you okay?" Hank had his arms around her as she once again found herself pressed against his chest. Warm and firm, she could feel his heart thumping under his T-shirt. And even this close, he smelled divine.

"I swear I'm usually not this clumsy," Ali said, pushing away and lifting her shoe to get a better look at the sole. "But I stepped in . . . oh, gross."

The children giggled while she wiped the sticky mystery goo on the concrete, but Hank was more sympathetic. "Life is full of the unexpected," he said, in spite of this now being the third time she'd either run or fallen into his arms.

"That it is," Ali replied, unsure of how literally she was supposed to take the observation that sounded more like something you'd find on a Pinterest quote board. "But I'm fine. What's next?"