Page 23 of Reckless
She lifted her chin in surprise, the move loosening a handful of tendrils from the pair of loose, blond braids at her shoulders. “It’s only fair. My fear of heights puts you at a total disadvantage for this bet if we rock climb.”
God, her affinity for going by the book was really something else. “But that’s not what I asked you.”
“Why would you teach me how to rock climb even though you know it practically destroys your chances of winning?”
Alex bit down on the urge to laugh, rocking back on the heels of his Nikes instead. “What can I say? I’m a sucker for bad odds. Plus, if you’re willing to give rock climbing a shot”—he paused, because as much as he wanted Zoe to make the move, it had to behermove— “I think you might be surprised.”
She made a noise that suggested he had quite a ways to go in the convincing-her department. “Or I might tumble to a slow and painful death.”
He closed the space between them to a mere sliver of daylight before his brain fully registered themovecommand pumping up from behind his sternum. “That’s not going to happen.”
“Oh.” Zoe’s murmur brushed past his ear on the hot shock of her exhale. “I just meant…”
“I know what you meant,” he said, the words surging up on a direct path from his chest. “Look, I respect that heights scare you, and if you really don’t want to try rock climbing, I’ve got to respect that, too. But there’s one thing you need to know. If we do this today, which is your call, nothing bad is going to happen to you.”
The fear in her eyes softened for just a second, but it was enough. “How do you know?”
“Because I’m not going to let it, that’s how.”
Zoe stood perfectly still, gold-colored lashes fanning up into a wide arc as she held onto his stare. The bold curiosity that had flashed through her gaze when she’d first asked him about skydiving resurfaced, and the end of one braid bounced off the gray fleece of her hoodie as she gave a tiny nod. “Okay,” she whispered. “I’ll give it an honest try.”
“All right.” Alex’s pulse slid faster through his veins, but he tempered it with the same brand of calm he dialed up whenever they rolled out of the fire station, sirens blazing. If he wanted Zoe to stay relaxed enough to enjoy the climb, he’d have to set the bar at practically pulseless to get her to meet him halfway. Although, damn, the flush still covering her cheeks was going to make keeping cool a job and a half.
“The first thing we need to do is get our gear all set, but we can do that over here where we’re going to climb so you can start getting a feel for how everything works.” Alex shifted his backpack to keep it in place on his shoulder, kicking his feet into motion across the cavernous climbing room. Zoe stuck pretty close to his side, but she also didn’t hesitate to follow him, and yeah. Now they were cooking with gas.
He stopped just shy of the north wall, angling himself toward her while still giving her a clear view of both the space they’d be climbing and the equipment around it. “In most situations, climbing takes two people. One person goes up, and the other person stays on the ground to operate what’s called a belay line. That’s the rope that gets hooked to the climber’s harness, then run through a pulley system that’s steel-bolted to the ceiling. The belay operator adjusts the tension on the line as the climber goes up and keeps him from falling if he loses his grip or his footing. Sort of like a backup plan.”
“Oh.” She examined the length of thick climbing rope clipped into the wall anchor, the impenetrable knot of her shoulders loosening slightly as she said, “So, that’s what you’re going to do then? Be my belay guy so I won’t fall?”
“Nope.”
Just like that, her shoulders sprang back into loop-the-loop status, and okay, maybe it wouldn’t hurt him to think before speaking every once in a while. He said, “If I worked your belay, I’d have to stay on the ground, and I wouldn’t be able to climb next to you. But don’t worry. Kyle here is going to have your back.”
Alex nodded to the spot where his buddy Kyle had reappeared by the door to the equipment room, with a harness slung over one forearm and a smile and “hey” combo on his mouth.
“Wait.” Zoe’s eyes went wide before tapering to slits. “Kyle, the crazy skydiving guy?”
Of course she’d be able to pull that little chestnut out of thin freaking air. Not that Kyle seemed to mind being called crazy. “That’s me,” he said with a wave of one heavily tattooed arm.
“You guys rock climb together, too?” Zoe turned her brows-up stare in Alex’s direction, but all he could do was shrug.
“We adrenaline hounds tend to stick together across multiple sports. At any rate, Kyle’s an experienced climber. He’s going to operate your belay line right here from the ground, and I’m going to climb the wall with you, step by step.”
“Okay.” She ran her fingers over the line running up to the pulley in the ceiling, her delicate brow tucking in nice and tight as she asked, “So, if Kyle is in charge of my belay line, who’s going to do yours?”
“I am.” Alex lowered his backpack from his shoulder to the floor, unzipping the bag to unearth his tried-and-true harness. “Most people, especially beginners, need someone to manage their belay line from the ground. It’s a little more comfortable that way. But we’ve got a self-belay device here, too, and since I’m an experienced climber, I’m going to use that.”
He pointed to the separate line running down from the covered circular housing bolted into the top of the wall, and Zoe shook her head. “I didn’t realize rock climbing had so many safety regulations.”
Ahhh, screwing with her might not be the coolest thing going, but then again, no one had ever accused Alex of being buddy-buddy with the straight and narrow. Plus, maybe a little teasing would loosen her up another notch. “What, you thought I was going to just put you in front of the wall and tell you to hold on tight?”
She chirped out a laugh, and affirmative on getting her to kick some of that tension to the curb. “Well youarepretty reckless.”
Leave it to Zoe to lead with something he really couldn’t argue. Still… “It’s like skydiving, Zoe. I might want the rush, but I don’t want to end up in traction, either. You ready to get geared up?” He gestured to the harness in Kyle’s hand nice and easy, and her nod followed in exactly the same manner.
“Okay, sure.” She unzipped her hoodie, slipping the slouchy fleece from her shoulders to fold it into a neat square, and in that moment, Alex realized he’d made a huge tactical error.
Not only was Zoe wearing a form-fitting tank top that revealed just enough skin to be both disarming and hot as hell, but she’d paired it with black yoga pants. On their own, yoga pants were dangerous enough to his concentration.
