Stirred Up (5 page)

“That was fantastic. How do you feel?” he
called up.

“Great, but I’d better come down before all
my muscles give out.”

“Come on down then. I’ve got you.”

And he did, literally. Her harness was
attached to a rope that ran through a pulley set into the wall,
with Jason hooked up at the other end of it. On her way up he’d
kept tension in the rope so that if she slipped, she wouldn’t go
anywhere.

There was no doubt in her mind that he knew
exactly what he was doing, and that she was as safe as if she were
standing on the ground. After her little tutorial with the climbing
instructor, he’d personally checked through all their equipment,
answering her many questions.

Jason gave the rope some slack, but still she
hesitated. It was an odd feeling to know she’d be falling through
the air, even if he was on the other end, controlling her
descent.

“Cheryl? You okay?”

Nodding her head, she took a deep breath and
pushed off from the wall. A squeal escaped her as she fell several
feet.

“You’re doing great,” he called, obviously
feeling the need to encourage her.

She pushed off again and he let out more
line, but now that she knew what to expect, it wasn’t so scary. In
fact, it felt kind of incredible. By the time her feet hit the
padded floor, she was euphoric.

“That was amazing,” she said, wiping the
sweat out of her eyes with her gloved hand.

“You’re amazing,” he said, smiling. Only this
time there was a flare of heat in his eyes that belied his
easy-going manner.

She said nothing, unable to speak as her
whole body lit up with awareness and heat pooled in her belly and
between her thighs.

“Here, drink some water,” he said, handing
her a water bottle, and the moment passed.

Then it was her turn to stand at the bottom
while he went up, but unfortunately her confidence was starting to
wane a bit, and she was almost more nervous than when she’d been
the one climbing.

“What if I screw up and you plummet all the
way down?” she asked. “Just hypothetically.”

“It would be great if that didn’t happen,” he
said, totally deadpan. “But you know what you’re doing. You’re set
up perfectly, and you understand what to do, right?”

She breathed out.

“Sorry. Yes, I totally know what to do. I’m
just not used to having a big muscle-bound man at my mercy.”

“Oh no?” he asked, his voice suddenly low and
rough.

He was looking at her like he had the time
she’d dumped water over herself. Like maybe he’d eat her right
up.

“You ready?” she asked, trying to get them
back on safe footing. “Because if you don’t get going, I might just
take another turn.”

With a veiled look at her he headed over to
the wall. Cheryl breathed a sigh of relief.

They were both slipping a bit, saying things
they would normally have kept to themselves. They were too loose
and fired up to be careful, but nothing irreparable had been said.
Yet. But it was a near thing, with him looking like he did. With
his gym shorts and fitted workout shirt, she was getting an
up-close look at his first-rate bod. The weekend scruff he was
sporting didn’t help matters.

She wasn’t the only one who noticed, either.
She saw several women smile and give him the eye when they passed
him, not that he made much of it. He smiled right back, but it was
a distracted, automatic smile that meant nothing.

Not that she cared.

It was just a good thing she had an excuse to
keep such a close eye on him as he made his way along one of the
expert routes. No one had to know that though she was being very
careful to do everything right, she was also taking great pleasure
in watching his muscles flex and extend, his strength evident in
every inch of him.

She’d been cooling off some, but now she felt
a whole new flush work its way over her skin. Shaking her head, she
forced herself to think only of the technical nature of what they
were doing. And she did do everything perfectly during Jason’s
climb. By the time he dropped back down she was absurdly pleased
with herself.

“I didn’t let you fall to your death at all,”
she declared proudly, stepping out of the harness.

He laughed, his hands on his hips. He seemed
utterly delighted with her at that moment.

“You were perfect,” he said.

He couldn’t have known that she stopped
breathing when he said that, or that the look in his eye was giving
her heart palpitations. Or that the sheen of sweat on his skin was
leading her to all kinds of naughty ideas.

They separated to shower and met up by the
front door. Unfortunately, the effect he was having on her hadn’t
washed away in the shower. Seeing his long, hard body stretched out
in a chair waiting for her left her feeling like she was still
hanging, breathless, high up in the air.

“You hungry?” he asked, jangling his keys.
“There’s a decent sandwich place not too far from here.”

“I probably ought to get back,” she said. “I
have a ton of work to do.”

Which was true, but it wasn’t easy to turn
him down. She liked being with him, but she liked it too much, and
both of them were feeling too good, and too physical, for their own
good.

They were quiet on the way back. She was
tired, the exertion finally catching up to her, and he seemed deep
in thought.

“That was a lot of fun,” she said when they
pulled into her parking lot. “Even cooler than I expected. Thanks
so much for taking me with you.”

“The pleasure was all mine. Besides, you’re a
natural.”

She couldn’t help grinning like a fool at the
compliment.

“Really, you think so?” she asked.

“I do. We should do it again next week if
you’re up for it.”

He must have seen her hesitation, because his
smile faded away.

“No pressure, or anything,” he said. “We
don’t have to decide now –”

“No, I want to,” she blurted out.

He looked relieved. “Great. Well, you have a
good rest of the weekend. Any big plans?”

“Just classwork and prepping for teaching
next week,” she said, a twinge in her chest that she had to lie to
him. But it was better than telling him she was a stripper. No need
for him to know that anytime soon. Or ever.

“No boyfriend, then?” he asked.

She looked at him, trying not to seem too
surprised. It was the first time either one of them had outright
asked the question, though of course she’d wondered about him. It
was hard not to believe some woman hadn’t snapped him up, but since
he’d never mentioned anyone, and they were hanging out together on
a Saturday, she’d assumed he was single.

“Ah, no. No boyfriend.”

“Good. I mean, then there’s no one to mind me
taking you away on Saturday.”

He was looking a tad uncomfortable now. She
smiled, glad she wasn’t the only awkward one, and opened the door.
“See you Tuesday,” she said, climbing out.

She could feel his eyes on her as she walked
away, and she didn’t breathe normally until she was in her
apartment, safe behind the door. Then she slumped onto the couch
and sighed. She shouldn’t have agreed to see him again next
weekend, but she couldn’t seem to help herself.

***

The next evening Cheryl arrived at Mama
Iguana’s, a favorite local restaurant with great Mexican food, and
looked around. Spotting Emily and Lisa, Cutter’s sister, she
quickly made her way over to their booth.

“Thank God you called,” Cheryl said. “I
seriously needed a break from homework.”

“Your homework, or the students’ homework?”
Emily asked, taking a sip of her margarita.

“Both. I’m helping to grade essays on
The
Scarlet Letter
and it’s just about killing me. It’s like some
of them are writing about a completely different book.”

“Welcome to the next forty years of your
life, sweetie,” Lisa said, shuddering, as if the thought of
teaching gave her the willies.

“Great pep talk, Lisa. I’ll remember never to
call you.”

“You don’t need a pep talk, you need a drink
and maybe a brownie sundae.”

“I definitely need a brownie sundae.”

The waitress came over and took their orders,
and then all three of them leaned in again.

“How’s your ballet coming?” Cheryl asked
Emily.

Emily’s face lit up. “So far everything’s
been pretty amazing. We’re casting it now and I’ve already chosen
the principals. Rehearsals start the beginning of the year. It’ll
be one of three short works, and it’ll run for six weeks.”

“That’s fantastic,” Cheryl said, reaching
over to give Emily’s arm a quick squeeze.

“You should see Cutter,” Lisa said. “I never
thought he’d be so whipped. He actually beams whenever her name
comes up, never mind when she’s in the room.”

Lisa was teasing, as it was obvious she
adored Emily, too. She, Cutter and Emily were a family now, a
feeling Cheryl hadn’t known in ten years. Longer, really. After her
father died when she was fifteen, everything had gone to hell.
Beth, the friend she’d gone to live with when she was sixteen, had
been like family, but since she was still in Ohio they had to make
do with phone calls.

For the first few years after she moved to
Nevada she’d been busy just trying to get by day to day, and now
she was just trying to get through school. Would she ever have it
together enough to have her own family?

“Now we just have to get them married,” Lisa
said. “Neither one of them can decide where or when to do the big
deed.”

Emily sighed. “My mother wants me to have the
wedding in Boston, but that means I have to invite more family and
it’ll be more expensive. Plus, it would be harder on everyone out
here.”

“You could just do it Vegas style and have it
over with in fifteen minutes,” Lisa suggested.

“Trust me, that option is still on the
table,” Emily said. She looked at Cheryl and Lisa. “Seriously,
would either of you ever consider one of those cheesy chapels?”

“Sure,” Lisa said shrugging. “But I’d make
sure they spelled ‘wedding’ right on their sign. That’s where I
draw the line.”

“What about you?” Emily asked, turning to
Cheryl.

Cheryl dipped another chip into the
guacamole. “I’d do it anywhere, so long as I got my guy.”

“Hey there.”

Cheryl jumped at the sound of Jason’s voice,
dropping the chip in her lap. Looking up she saw him standing next
to their table, smiling down at her. Just the sight of him, just
the sound of his voice, really, sent a wave of giddiness through
her. Like Christmas morning, every time she saw him.

“Oh, hi,” she said, conscious of Emily and
Lisa’s eyes on her. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

Inwardly she groaned at how lame that
sounded, but he didn’t seem to notice.

“This is one of my favorite places. I don’t
mean to bother you all, I just wanted to say hi.”

He turned to the man standing next to him,
who Cheryl hadn’t even noticed. “Ladies, this is Evan Hunter.”

Cheryl introduced Jason to Emily and Lisa,
who were looking alarmingly interested. Just then the waitress came
by with their food and Jason and Evan stepped out of the way.

“We’ll let you eat in peace. I’ll see you
Tuesday, Cheryl.”

“Why don’t you join us?” Emily asked.

The two men looked at each other.

“We wouldn’t want to intrude,” Jason said,
without much force.

“You wouldn’t be intruding, would they,
Cheryl? We’ve had plenty of time for girl talk. Have a seat and
we’ll get the waitress back over here.”

It was amazing. Emily looked like a helpless
little blond, but beneath all that lurked a will of iron.

Jason sat in the empty seat next to Cheryl
while Evan pulled up a chair and sat at the end. The waitress came
back over and took Evan and Jason’s orders and then disappeared,
leaving them all staring at one another. Lisa broke the silence
first.

“So Jason, how’s our girl here doing with
your students?”

“She’s doing great.”

Cheryl felt herself flush and shot a
withering look at Lisa.

“I just hope all those horny boys behave
themselves around her,” her friend went on. “I’ll never forget the
hell the boys in my class gave Ms. Carpenter in senior year math
class. That poor woman was at her wit’s end.”

Cheryl kept her face free of expression but
aimed a kick at Lisa. Unfortunately, Jason had stretched his legs
out and she connected with something a bit more solid than Lisa’s
slender calf. Jason started in surprise but merely smiled and
raised an eyebrow in her direction.

“The boys are horny all right, but nothing
Cheryl hasn’t been able to handle.”

“So Evan, what is it you do?” Cheryl asked,
desperate to turn the subject away from her.

“I’m an ER doctor.”

All three women looked at him in surprise and
sat up straighter.

“Damn. It never fails,” Jason complained,
looking exasperated. “Every time he says he’s a doctor, women get
the same look on their faces. Unbelievable.”

Evan grinned and took a sip of beer. “It does
make me sound kind of God-like.”

Jason snorted and tried to hide his amused
smirk.

Cheryl watched the interplay between the two
of them. They had probably been friends for a long time, given how
comfortable they were with each other. And though his friend was
undeniably hunky, it was Jason she couldn’t stop looking at. His
big body shifted until his elbow was on the back of her chair,
giving her an excellent view of his body at ease. It was all she
could do not to ignore everyone else at the table.

The five of them chatted through the meal and
Cheryl enjoyed herself, but the tension never entirely left her,
and she knew who to blame it on. She was so aware of him all the
time, and she was getting a vibe that told her he was pretty damn
aware of her, too.