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With that, he pulled the burner cord, releasing a roar of hot air.
Madden followed suit — so quickly, some of his guests clutched the basket edges.
“Are we supposed to lurch like that?” someone peeped.
Madden chuckled. “Don’t you worry. It happens sometimes.”
I snorted. Not if he’d observed what Erin had. But, heck. I had only picked up on the wind shift at the last possible moment, so I couldn’t blame him. But Erin…
I glanced at her out of the corner of my eye. How had she known?
“Lime Kiln Road, here we come,” she murmured, letting the van coast down the road.
Soon after, she parked and motioned everyone out of the van. We fanned out around an open area, watching the balloons waft in.
From a distance, they hardly seemed to move. But now that they were only a few yards away, they barreled toward us like elephants surfing an invisible wave.
“Just grab one of the straps on the basket and jog alongside, slowing it down,” Erin warned. “Don’t try to slam the brakes on all by yourself.”
When the bottom of the basket swept by at eye level, I grabbed on to a leather strap. And, whoa — the balloon’s momentum nearly wrenched my arm off.
“Steady,” Erin ordered in the same voice you’d use on a couple of horses.
Our hips bumped, then our shoulders. My body warmed pleasantly.
The balloon dropped lower, keeping up that sideways shear. A moment later, the bottom of the basket thwacked through a bush.
I cursed, whacking through it too.
Beside me, Erin clutched another strap, all cowgirl determined to tame a wild bronco. A foot above me, someone gaped.
“Whoa. We’re coming in fast.”
But three jogging steps later, momentum gave up the fight, and the basket touched down with a light creak. Henry pulled a cord, dumping air. The balloon swung sideways, slowly deflating.
“There — grab the crown line.” Erin pointed.
Chico and I caught it and strode away from the basket, guiding the top of the balloon until it lay neatly stretched along the ground.
A few minutes later, the guests clustered around a champagne brunch while we ground crew heaved, rolled, and muscled both balloons into neat packages.
So much easier to fly alone,my dragon muttered.
True, but a job was a job.
My eyes slid to Erin before I forced them to the ground.
Just a job,I reminded myself.A little mindless work to help me get back on track.Once I got my shit together, I would be on my way to greener pastures and a new direction in life.
I just had to figure out what that might be.
Chapter Six
ERIN
The problem with someone ticking you off was that it stuck with you, no matter how hard you tried to shake it away.
And boy, did I try to shake Nash away.
