Harlequin Desire March 2020--Box Set 1 of 2 by Reese Ryan

Author:Reese Ryan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2020-10-15T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

Rock wall climbing wasn’t nearly as hard as I’d expected.

I’d have to learn the knots, and I’d have to learn how to put on a harness, and I’d have to learn a whole bunch of technical things before I’d be anywhere near ready to go out on my own. But the actual climbing, finding a handhold, finding a foothold, pulling myself toward the ceiling on the big vertical wall so far was a whole lot of fun.

I’d thought Jamie would be way, way better than me. Oh, he was definitely good, really good. But while he had bigger muscles, he also had a higher body mass to lift. Thanks to my short stature and relatively lean frame, I could hold my own.

I couldn’t help but feel proud of that.

It also turned out that I had no fear of heights. I’d never given it much thought before, but quite a few of the people in the class got nervous as they climbed higher. As long as my harness was tight, I just enjoyed the view.

“You’re a natural,” Jamie said as my feet came down on the mat.

I was facing the wall, and he put his hands on my hips, obviously to make sure I stayed steady.

His touch felt good. It felt strong and secure. I didn’t really want him to let me go.

“Your girlfriend’s impressive,” the instructor, Paul, said to Jamie.

Jamie abruptly let go. He seemed to realize how the gesture had looked.

I was glad my face was warm from exertion, or I might have worried about blushing. It wasn’t such a huge mistake, thinking I was Jamie’s girlfriend. After all, we’d signed up together. That would be perfectly natural.

As it was, Paul’s suggestion embarrassed me. I might secretly want to be Jamie’s girlfriend. In fact, I was starting to fantasize about it.

But that wasn’t the point. The point here was to make Jamie attractive to other women. I was his sidekick, his means to an end, the person helping him replace Brooklyn with someone equally glamorous and exciting.

“Thanks,” Jamie said to Paul.

I couldn’t help but note that Jamie made no correction, offered no explanation, and was simply appreciative.

I felt stupidly good about that.

It didn’t change anything. But for a second there, I felt more important to Jamie than just a pal. I liked that.

It would hurt later, I knew. But for the moment I was going to bask in the idea that someone, or maybe more than just Paul, considered Jamie and me a couple.

“Want to go up once more?” Paul asked me.

“Is there time for that?”

The clock was inching toward noon.

“Only for one of you,” Paul said.

“Go ahead,” Jamie said.

“You don’t want to?” I didn’t want to be greedy.

We’d each had three climbs this morning, after sitting through a presentation on theory and practicing some basic knots. I could see there was a whole lot to learn about the sport.

“Go ahead,” Jamie said. “I’ll watch Paul on belay.”

I waited while Paul double-checked my ropes and equipment. Then I set off again, with Paul on the ground holding the rope to anchor me in case I slipped.

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