Page 32 of Pure Temptation

“Yep.” She glanced over at him. “You probably passed the area when you went for your illicit run.”

“Which I promised I won’t do again.” Daxon chuckled. “I’ve followed every single one of your directions. I’ll do whatever you ask.”

He gave her a sexy, mock-serious look. On anyone else, it would have come off as ridiculous, but Daxon managed it with exactly the right amount of confidence and humor.

“Whatever I ask?” She mimicked his sexy overtones in his question.

“Oh, yeah.” His smile was so lazy and sensual.

What if she asked him not to free climb Moonlight Buttress? The question popped into her mind before she could quash it. Kendall wasn’t even tempted to voice this unwanted jolt of reality, so far out of bounds of this playful discussion. The thought was another cliff, but when she crashed into the bottom of this one, Daxon wouldn’t be waiting.

Plus, she had no right to bring this up, to push him. He was free to make his own choices, just like everyone else. The warm wind blew strands of hair in her face, despite the tight ponytail she had fastened. She closed her eyes and pushed her worries out of her mind. Instead, she found a different question, one she had been thinking about ever since the Costa Rica trip.

“I read about how you started the Pure Adrenaline videos,” she said. “About wanting to experience life in the moment. I think you even quoted Sartre.”

Daxon groaned. “I’ll never live that interview down. God, what a pompous ass I come off as.”

She gave him a skeptical glance. “You did call your stunts existentially enlightening.”

He laughed. “Aaah, you memorized my words.”

“Youwouldsee it that way.” She took another bite of her sandwich.

“Absolutely.” Daxon’s smile faded. “Seriously, that guy was out to make me look like a fool, but it’s my fault I took the bait. He kept pushing me about why anyone in their right mind—his words—would want to do high-risk stunts.”

“So you’re not after existential enlightenment?”

“I detect some judgment in that question,” he said, humor dancing in his voice. “Go ahead, judge away. I wouldn’t expect anything less from the person who’s supposed to help me recover from my injuries.”

Kendall frowned. Was she judging him? The truth was that she actually admired him. He had pushed himself to take risks, and even after years of raising the stakes in each Pure Adrenaline episode, he still hadn’t yet reached his breaking point.

“I’m not being judgmental, really,” she said. “I want to understand. Why do you take these risks, over and over again?”

“I do love the thrill of it, of course,” he said. “That existential awakening thing isn’t complete bullshit, even if it sounds like it.”

For a moment, Daxon’s smile faltered. “But I didn’t need the Pure Adrenaline show to do all that. I would’ve been happy rock climbing and sky diving and living out of my truck for years, with no one watching.”

He took a bite out of the baguette and stared down at the sand. He had put his sunglasses back on, and she wished that he would take them off so she could look in his eyes when he said this. But he didn’t.

“What changed?” she asked.

He swallowed, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat. “My mother got sick.”

Oh.

“I’m sorry,” she said softly. Kendall wasn’t sure what she had been expecting him to say, but this definitely wasn’t it.

Daxon gave a little nod, but he didn’t say anything. She had basically cyber stalked this guy, read all the articles she could find on him, but she had never seen even a hint of this part of his story. In fact, it occurred to her that she knew nothing about his family. Did he have siblings? Where did his father fit in? She had been so caught up in the excitement of sex and fun that she hadn’t thought to ask.

She wasn’t sure if they were done with this topic, but after a while, Daxon continued.

“It took me a while to notice she was sick. I had dropped out of college, and I was just driving around to different locations, hanging out with other people doing the same thing. I’d come by her house from time to time, do my laundry, hang out with her for a few days and then leave again. I was getting some sponsorships, making enough money to eat and buy gas, but not much more.” Daxon sighed. “Even she didn’t know what was wrong for a while, either. She was just tired in the beginning. I guess no one really thinks of Parkinson’s at that age.”

Oh. Kendall had worked with some Parkinson’s patients back in school, so she had an idea of what that could mean. And just how hard it could be on families.

“How’s she doing these days?” she asked.

“Surprisingly well, though some days are better than others. It’s hard to tell how fast the illness will progress. And the medications seem to work well for her, which isn’t always the case.”