Page 27 of Reckless
“A little farther wouldn’t hurt. After all, I promised you an honest go, and you’re right. I’m a woman of my word.”
10
While Alex Donovan had been called a lot of things by a lot of people, patient had never once graced the list. So the fact that he waited to claim his win for nearly five hours while he and Zoe climbed the north wall a half dozen times, took breathers in between to discuss mechanics and practice a few techniques, and had a spirited conversation with both Jocelyn and Kyle about the most intense outdoor climbs they’d ever been on? Hell, that even took him by surprise. But now that they were back in Zoe’s car, with her smile bright enough to power a nuclear reactor and the energy to match, the gloves were coming off.
“You look like you enjoyed yourself today,” he said, going for the understatement rather than the kill. Hedidhave just under four whole weeks to gloat. Anyway, she looked so frigging cute over there, tapping her fingers to a tuneless beat over the steering wheel as she smiled intermittently to herself and followed the backlit path to his house on her phone’s GPS. While half of Alex’s purpose today had been to win the bet, the other half had been to prove that getting a little reckless wasn’t such a heinous infraction. After all, if you weren’t busy grabbing life by the hey-nannies, you were pretty much just wasting time.
And time had a way of disappearing with a whole lot ofsomedaystill left on the table.
“A little. Maybe.” Zoe folded her latest smile between her teeth, but even in the dusky evening shadows starting to darken the car, her expression had pure, uncut bliss scrawled all over it.
“You bought a six-month open climb membership before we even went up the wall a fourth time,” Alex said, bringing himself all the way back to the moment with a laugh. “I hate to break it to you, but your definition ofmaybelooks pretty tilted from over here.”
“Okay, okay!” She broke ranks with her careful ten-and-two-hand positioning on the steering wheel just long enough to nudge him with an elbow. “As much as it pains me to say you were right, I’m not above giving credit where it’s due. Even though I have no idea how you pulled it off, I didn’t hate rock climbing.”
He tamped down the urge to let his inner twelve-year-old break free for an elaborate fist-pump, oh-yeah celebration, opting instead to keep his smile tacked into place. “I didn’t think you would. But for the record, I didn’t pull anything off. You did.”
Zoe crossed the boundary to his neighborhood, squinting hard at the path Alex had known for over half his life. “How’s that? You’re the one who showed me what to do.”
“True,” he said, the adrenaline of the day combining with the carefree look on her face to send his blood on a faster circuit through his veins. “But you’re the one who took the leap.”
“How did you know? That I wouldn’t hate it, I mean. Or was that a risk, too?”
“I’ve got to admit, you threw me for a bit of a rope-a-dope when you said you were afraid of heights.” Truly, it had been Alex’s only moment of doubt for the entire afternoon. Not that he’d been about to let a little thing like steeper odds stand in his path. Shit. Most of the time, that just gave the risk at hand more of a kick. “But I still had a feeling that if you gave climbing an honest shake, you’d get into it anyway.”
She pulled into the narrow stretch of asphalt serving as his driveway, shooting him what she’d probably intended to be a cool stare. Too bad for her, the smile still lifting the corners of her mouth destroyed her game face. “You’re a little presumptuous, don’t you think?”
“It’s not presumptuous if I’m right,” he said, releasing his seat belt with a muted click. Okay, now hewaskind of messing with her, but come on. With the holy trinity of a great climb, a winning bet, and the bold look taking up residence on Zoe’s pretty face right now? He had enough feel-good endorphins kicking through him to bench press a Sherman tank.
Alex popped the handle on the passenger door of the Prius, retrieving his gear bag from the backseat and waiting for Zoe to slide out from the driver’s side before continuing. “Look, I didn’t take you rock climbing today to change who you are or how you think, Zoe. You might cover it up most of the time, but under all that by-the-book rule-following and carefully constructed caution, I think you’ve got a reckless streak. I only took you climbing to prove that letting it out once in a while won’t hurt.”
Her bright peal of laughter threaded through the cool evening air, tagging Alex right in the chest. “Right. I’m sure the way I nearly called it quits before we even started climbing is a prime example of my wild side.”
“Maybe not. But the way you tackled the north wall once you put your mind to it sure was.”
“Listen, I’m not trying to renege on our bet,” she said, holding up one hand to punctuate the words as she followed him toward the garage. “But believe me, any recklessness you saw from me today was an anomaly.”
“And what about five years ago, at the FFD barbecue? Was that an anomaly, too?”
Ah, hell. Alex’s unbreakable mood had ushered the question past his lips before he could cage it. But as dangerous as the topic might be, he wasn’t about to deny wanting to know what had sparked the by-the-book attitude that hadn’t been there five years ago.
Not to mention why she was hiding her boldness beneath it.
Zoe’s cheeks pinkened, deep enough for the blush to be visible even in the waning daylight around them. “You remember that?”
Her tanned, muscular legs in the cutoff shorts she’d been wearing, the flush of a couple of beers mixed with the summer heat on her pretty, pixie face…Jesus, she had to be completely off her rocker if she thought he’d ever be able to forget.
“Of course I remember it,” he said, punching in the garage code and turning to face her as the door trundled up the track with a rhythmicclack-clack-clack.“You were wearing a white tank top and that pair of dangly earrings. They kept getting caught in your hair.”
“I hated those things.” She laughed, soft and self-deprecating. Still, her chin stayed up, and damn, she was the perfect mix of sweet and strong.
“Then why’d you wear them?”
“I wanted to look grown up.” Another laugh puffed past her lips, just as enticing as the first. “Fat lot of good it did me.”
“You looked pretty grown up when you asked me to kiss you,” Alex said, all truth, and although her blush gained intensity, Zoe answered the same way.
“I’d had a few. And by a few, I mean like four. But it doesn’t really matter. Just because I was tipsy and voiced my ridiculous crush on you doesn’t make me reckless, although I’m sure you got a great laugh out of the whole thing later.”
