Page 21 of Crazy for You

She brought her body closer to the rock and turned her head to give him a look. “Do you talk about all your clients’ butts?”

He grinned, looking so at ease there with his harness on, holding on to the belay rope to catch her if she fell. And at this rate, chances were high that she’d need catching.

“I might choose my words more carefully with a client I don’t know well, but the overall message is the same. Keep your body close against the rock or gravity will do its thing.”

Gravity was trying awfully hard to do its thing right now. She slid her right foot over, feeling blindly for the ledge he’d said was there. Her toes connected with a ridge barely wider than her big toe. “That’s not wide enough to hold me.”

“Sure it is. You’re wearing climbing shoes. They’ll grip just about anything.”

She shifted her weight onto her right foot, keeping her belly pressed against the rock, and sure enough, it held. Her fingers were about to give out, though, and she’d only made it about three feet off the ground. “I suck at this.”

“Not even a little bit. Learning to climb takes time and patience. Keep your weight in your feet or your arms will tire out. You want to be using your hands to steady yourself, not to hold yourself up.”

“Um…” She was pretty sure if she loosened her white-knuckled grip on the rock, she’d tumble right off.

“Trust your shoes, Emma.”

She loosened her grip with her left hand, reaching up with her right for a crease in the rock above her head. The shoes held.

“Atta girl,” Ryan encouraged from below. “Now look for your next foothold.”

Feeling rejuvenated now that her fingers weren’t about to fall off, she scooted her left foot over to another little ledge and stepped up. And?—

“Oh no!” She toppled backward off the rock.

Her stomach flopped, prepared for the fall, but the harness caught her, and she swung against the rock face, bumping her shoulder on it. “Shit.”

“Happens to everyone,” Ryan said as he lowered her to the ground. “This was your first fall. Won’t be your last.”

“Good to know.” She gripped the rock and hauled herself back up. The first few moves were easy, and it didn’t take her long to get back to the spot where she’d fallen. After a few false starts, she found her next foothold and shimmied her way up a few more feet, finally daring to take a glimpse over her shoulder. “Hey, look! I’m finally far enough up to actually need the harness.”

He laughed. “You’re doing great.”

Then she looked up and realized the top wasn’t even in sight yet. She let out a groan.

“Don’t expect to get there on your first day. I started you on the easy end of the rock, but this baby is still a beast. It makes victory that much sweeter when you reach it.”

“If you say so.” She scooted her left foot toward a new ledge, missed, and fell…again.

Her stomach dropped in that disorienting moment between losing contact with the rock and the reassuring yank of the harness behind her thighs.

“I’ve got you,” Ryan said.

Umph. She winced as the harness dug into her legs, but yeah, he had her. In every way that counted. He stood there, so solid and strong as he eased her to the ground.

“You ready to call it a day?” he asked.

She shook her head, even though her arms were trembling with fatigue. “I’d rather end on my own terms.”

He nodded. “Sure thing.”

She grabbed the rock and stepped up, wincing at the ache in her forearms.

“You’re going to be sore in some interesting places tomorrow,” Ryan commented.

“Fabulous.” She glanced over her shoulder at him, and their gazes locked. His eyes got all dark and smoldery while her insides heated up. Oh, how she wished she would be sore in those places tomorrow, instead of her forearms and calves.

Ryan cleared his throat. “So, I hear Ethan and Gabby and a few other people are going to Rowdy’s after work tonight.”

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