Stirred Up (4 page)

She cringed, mortified beyond belief.

“Did you really just do that?” he asked,
sounding dazed.

She crossed her arms over her chest in an
effort to hide the goods. Jason’s eyes had drifted down and were
now on her breasts, or what he could see of them, anyway.
Apparently it was enough. His throat worked and when he finally
looked back at her, his eyes blazed.

This was not the easygoing, mellow Jason Shaw
she knew. His whole body had tensed and when he looked at her, the
lust in his eyes stopped her breath.

This was exactly what she’d been afraid of
when she first saw him. He was going to hit on her, or say
something inappropriate, and she’d have to turn him down or remind
him of their working relationship. Even a nice guy like Jason was
still just a guy.

He stood up and knocked on the door a couple
more times, then came back over and sat down.

He shrugged. “It was worth a try.” Then he
looked at her, his expression once again good-humored. “I hope
that’s all the excitement you have planned for today.”

“I’m pretty sure that’s it,” she said,
sagging back against a pillar with relief.

She could tell he was making a heroic effort
not to look at her breasts, but the tension was gone now and there
was no chance he was going to make a move on her. Of course, there
was still the motorcycle ride to contend with.

The tow truck showed up about twenty minutes
later. Cheryl gave the driver her information and was told the
garage would call her sometime the next day with a report. She and
Jason stood several yards apart and watched as her little car was
loaded onto the truck bed and driven away. Once again they were
alone in the parking lot, but at least her top had dried quickly
and she was no longer a one-woman wet tee-shirt contest.

“Have you ever been on a motorcycle before?”
he asked.

“Yes. It’s been a little while, but it’s not
complicated.”

That was a lie. Getting on a motorcycle with
him felt plenty complicated, but her place was only a
fifteen-minute drive from here. Surely she could survive that.

She gave him her address and he handed her
his helmet before climbing on the bike, and goddamn if he didn’t
look good enough to eat. Taking a deep breath, she slung her bag
over her shoulder and got on behind him. Her skirt rode up to her
thighs and she tried to tug it down, but there was no help for
it.

“All set?” he asked, turning towards her.

She nodded her head, giving him a dorky
thumbs up before wrapping her arms around his waist.

Gunning the bike he pulled out of the lot and
headed north. Unfortunately the traffic was stop and go, not the
ideal conditions to enjoy a motorcycle ride, or the wind in her
hair for that matter. Not that this was supposed to be a joy ride.
It was strictly a mode of transportation.

Even so, she couldn’t help how good it felt
leaning into him, her body so tight against his she felt every
muscle as he moved. The faint scent of soap at the nape of his neck
mixed with the light musk of clean sweat until she felt almost
woozy with sensory overload.

“I bet this thing is fantastic when you
really get going,” she ventured when they were stopped at a
light.

“Hell, yes, it’s fantastic. You want to give
it a go, or do you need to get home?”

He was looking at her over his shoulder, so
she could have been mistaken, but she thought she saw a gleam in
his eye.

“I have time,” she said, and watched a
satisfied smile curl his mouth.

As soon as the light changed he took a
left-hand turn away from her place and got on 93. They headed east,
crossing into Arizona before turning south, following the highway
through the Mount Wilson wilderness area. They rode along the
mountain’s ridge without speaking, and Cheryl drank in the cool air
as they passed into the higher elevation and the shade of the
evergreen trees.

They’d been riding perhaps forty-five minutes
when Jason pulled off onto the side of the road. Dismounting, they
peered down at the valley on the other side.

“Water?” he asked, pulling a Nalgene bottle
from his saddle bag. “It’s warm but it’ll do the job.”

“Yes, thanks,” she said, taking a long swig
before passing it back to him. “This is beautiful,” she said. “I’ve
never been out this way before.”

“Kind of incredible it’s so close to us,
isn’t it? I camp out here a lot. Here and Red Rock Canyon. This is
where I come to hike, but I go to Red Rock for the rock
climbing.”

“Really? You rock climb? As in hanging off of
cliffs?”

“Yeah, but I’m not always hanging off a
cliff. When it’s too hot I go to an indoor climbing wall. But soon
it’ll be cool enough to get back out there.”

“Huh. I’m not exactly an outdoor kind of
girl, but I’ve always kind of wanted to try that.”

“Really?” he asked, looking both pleased and
surprised.

She was sort of lying, since she’d only been
thinking about it for the last few seconds. But she was going to
need something to replace the adrenaline rush she got from
stripping, and rock climbing seemed like a good bet.

“Sure, why not?” she asked, trying to sound
nonchalant.

“You should come to the climbing wall with me
and see how you like it.”

“Would I need special equipment?”

“You can wear your regular sneakers, at least
to begin with, and I have everything else you’d need.”

“You don’t think I’m too small to do it? Also
I’m not all that strong, so I couldn’t haul myself up.”

“You don’t need to be a body builder. In
fact, it’s more important to be limber and have supple muscles. You
look like you’re all set in that department.”

He said it matter-of-factly, but when she
looked at him he glanced away.

“That would be great,” she said, unnerved by
the turn things had taken in the last hour.

It seemed Jason was at least a little bit
affected by her, and she wasn’t exactly unaffected by him, either.
He looked pretty magnificent standing by his bike, the wind
ruffling his hair. As natural out here as he was in the classroom.
She liked the view a little too much, which was why she suggested
they probably ought to head back.

Once again warmth radiated through her as she
got on behind him, and this time she couldn’t blame it on the
scorching day. Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to spend time
outside of work with him, but surely if she was careful and spaced
their time together so it wasn’t too frequent, no harm would come
of it? She liked being with him. He was easy to talk to and didn’t
seem to have any expectations, and it couldn’t hurt to have a more
comfortable working relationship with him.

Her thoughts ran on this way as they rode out
of the mountains, the air heating as they descended. After what
seemed no more than a few minutes they were back in the outskirts
of Henderson. Disappointment washed over her as he pulled up to her
apartment building, and she realized she didn’t want to leave his
company.

Were they becoming friends? Did she even
believe that was possible between men and women, especially when
there was at least some level of attraction?

“Thanks for everything,” she said,
dismounting and handing him the helmet. “You really rescued a
shitty afternoon.”

“It was my pleasure.”

“If you say so,” she quipped.

“I should probably come by tomorrow morning,
right?”

“I hadn’t even thought that far ahead. I
guess I will need a ride, but you don’t –”

“Forget all that. How does six-thirty
sound?”

“That would be great,” she said, surrendering
to fate.

“My bike okay, or should I bring the car?

“Bring the bike,” she said, then turned
around and headed for the stairs before he saw too much.

Jason parked his jeep in the lot outside
Cheryl’s building and looked at his watch. He’d told her he’d pick
her up Saturday at one o’clock, and he was a few minutes early. He
wasn’t sure whether he should wait in his car or go to the door,
and then decided he was over-thinking it and headed up the outside
staircase to her apartment.

His breathing was fast and light, and it
wasn’t from the one flight of stairs. He was nervous, which was
ridiculous. They were just going climbing at the gym, for God’s
sake. Why was he feeling like a teenager on a first date?

Maybe because he was as horny as one.

He was doing his damnedest to banish all
lustful thoughts and think of Cheryl as a friend, but with little
success. That is, he felt very friendly towards her, and he liked
her a lot, but it didn’t end there. He’d been attracted to her from
the beginning, and the more time he spent with her the worse it
got.

And if that wasn’t bad enough, the woman had
dumped a bottle of water over her head, giving him a front row seat
at his very own wet tee-shirt contest. Then he’d taken her on his
bike. Twice.

The second time she’d been waiting for him in
the parking lot and had hopped right on, like she’d done it a
hundred times. She’d even worn pants and a long-sleeved shirt, like
she knew it wasn’t safe to ride a motorcycle with bare skin
showing. He should have said something when he dropped her off the
previous night, but he’d been too dazed by the feel of her behind
him, and the sight of her smooth, muscular thighs every time he
glanced down.

He was normally a pretty laid-back guy, and
it wasn’t in his make-up to get overwrought about women, but a man
would have to be blind or dead not to be attracted to her. Still,
he was mentoring her this semester, and under no circumstances
would he jeopardize his position or make her uncomfortable by
letting on how he felt.

He could hear music playing, and he was
pretty sure it drowned out his knock and the doorbell. He tried a
few more times before calling her on her phone. No answer. He stood
there a few seconds, wondering if he should go back to his car and
wait, but that seemed ridiculous.

“Fuck it,” he said, a little frustrated, not
to mention hot standing in the scorching sun.

Trying the knob he discovered it was
unlocked. He pushed it open, calling Cheryl’s name as he stepped
inside. But she must not have heard him, because she continued
dancing around her living room in her tiny blue gym shorts and pink
workout tank.

Technically, she may have been cleaning,
since she was straightening pillows on the sofa as she swung her
hips from side to side and twisted down to the floor with the sexy
groove.

Instantly, his cock was iron hard, a fact he
would have a hard time hiding in his gym shorts. He couldn’t even
remember the last time he’d sprung a woody at such an inappropriate
time. This was crazy. But then so was his lust for her.

He was about to turn around and leave, wait
outside until he’d calmed down and start all over again. But before
he could do more than turn toward the door she spun around,
stopping suddenly when she caught sight of him. Her mouth fell open
in surprise and her arms fell to her sides.

She stood there for a couple of horrified
seconds before running to her iPod dock and turning it off. When
she turned back to him her eyes dropped to his crotch, where the
hard-on of a lifetime was straining his navy gym shorts.

“Um…”

She stood there, biting her lip and looking
nervous, clearly wondering what he was going to do.

He had a few choices. He could be frustrated
and crabby, he could make a move, or he could get over himself and
not make a big thing about it. As appealing as the first two
options were, there was really only one reasonable choice.

“Sorry, I rang and knocked. I even called but
I guess you didn’t hear me. You almost ready to go?”

“Yes, hang on just a minute,” she replied,
looking relieved, like maybe she’d been worried he was about to
make a move on her.

Hurrying out of the room, she came back a
couple minutes later wearing sneakers and carrying a gym bag. They
left her apartment without saying anything else and she followed
him to his car. He unlocked her side first and opened the door,
noting her look of surprise. Maybe it wasn’t a date, but he’d been
brought up to open a woman’s door first.

The gym he belonged to was about twenty
minutes from her place. At first their conversation was awkward,
but after a few minutes they settled into casual chitchat. His
erection had subsided, though just sitting next to her when she was
dressed in those little shorts meant the threat of another one
wasn’t far off.

They reached the gym and he grabbed his
duffel bag and led the way inside. At the front desk he checked in
for the short belaying demo and pulled out twelve dollars for her
day pass.

“Wait, what are you doing?” she protested.
“You’re not paying for me.”

“This was my idea and I invited you. Of
course I’m paying,” he replied, handing the money over.

She was still frowning when they walked away,
but her expression changed to one of trepidation when they reached
the climbing wall.

“Um, I don’t know about this,” she said,
looking up at the thirty-five foot high expanse covered with
thousands of tagged hand and foot holds.

“Don’t worry. You’ll only do what you’re
comfortable with. If that means you only get two feet off the
ground, no problem. This is supposed to be fun.”

“You two ready?” Andy, the climbing
instructor, asked, coming over to them.

Jason couldn’t help smiling when Cheryl
squared her shoulders, her eyes narrowing in determination.

“I’m ready.”

***

“I did it!” Cheryl yelled, grinning from ear
to ear.

She was clutching the uppermost handholds of
the climbing wall’s beginner route thirty feet off the ground. Her
muscles trembled and sweat dripped down her forehead, but she felt
amazing. Craning her head she looked down to see Jason smiling
hugely at her.