“Impressed yet?” Harper asked. She was about five feet off the ground now with one leg karate kicked to her right and she was seemingly keeping herself from falling with nothing more than a thumb from each hand digging into tiny holds.
I looked at her ass, then nodded enthusiastically. “Very.”
“Are you watching my climbing, or are you getting distracted?”
“Both.”
Harper laughed, then navigated the last few holds until she touched both hands in the squared off section marked with black tape at the top of the wall. She lowered herself a few feet, then dropped gracefully to the mat and dusted off her hands. “So do you want to give that one another try, or should we go to the kid’s area?”
“You just brought me here to show off, didn’t you?”
“That was only half of my motivation.” She licked her lips seductively and leaned close to whisper in my ear. “The other was to see the look on your face as you stared at my ass on the wall.”
“Consider your plan a success on both counts, then. But the joke is on you, because I think I’m actually going to enjoy this.”
“Good. Maybe I can teach you to belay, next. Otherwise I’ll have to keep asking the guys around the gym.”
I glared at her. She was absolutely trying to get me jealous, and it was working. “Where do I learn?”
She laughed. “Easy, Greyson. I’m only kidding. You’re the only man I’d trust watching my ass.”
“Good.” And I felt a surge of protectiveness I had no right to feel. I wanted to keep her safe, and I didn’t like the idea of her asking some random stranger to keep her from falling if she was out here climbing by herself. “Do you come here often?”
“I used to before my internship. I honestly haven’t been much since I got back. But I was meaning to get started again. Assuming my new jerk of a boss gives me enough time off to come when I start in a couple weeks.”
“That might depend how persuasive you can be.”
She pressed a fingertip to my chest and lifted her eyes to mine. “I’ve been told I am very persuasive.”
I made sure the kids weren’t looking, then took a generous helping of her ass in my hand. “I’m going to need to fuck you after this. But the kids are over this weekend.”
“Guess you’re going to have to use that hand of yours in the shower a few times, Mr. Greyson.”
“I’d rather have yours.”
“Then I challenge you to save it for me. No jacking off until I can give you what you need on Monday. I’ll know if you cheat.”
This fucking woman was going to destroy me. “Alright. But I need you Monday morning. Not at night.”
“Hmm. I’ll have to consult my schedule.”
“You’ll be at the inn first thing in the morning on Monday. Fuck your schedule. That’s a direct order from your boss.”
Molly ran between us with her finger raised in mockery of a unicorn horn. “Neeeighhh” she called.
Billy tried to do a backflip from halfway up the wall and landed face first on the mat. After a short delay, he let out a muffled. “Ow.” Somehow, he had managed not to injure his arm any more than it already was so far, but I wondered how much longer that could last.
I smirked. “Looks like the kids are demanding some supervision. I’m going to give them a little attention, then I’m going to watch you climb another route.”
32
HARPER
Greyson looked like he’d been deposited directly by godly thunderbolt on the picnic bench. His dark hair was tussled by the evening breeze, his sculpted body was practically bursting from his white collared shirt, and his legs looked practically edible in a pair of blue jeans. He was watching me from across the table while he casually popped a chip in his mouth and chewed.
I couldn’t stop myself from blushing every time our eyes met. Lin and Farrah were sitting on either side of me, and the kids were off participating in the town pig painting.
Lin studied the obvious chemistry that was pulsing between Greyson and I, then shifted her focus to the kids. “You ever wonder what the pigs think of this?”
“They’re pigs, Lin. I don’t think they’re super conscious of what’s going on.”
“Pigs are super intelligent, actually,” Lin said.
While my friends argued, Greyson lifted the straw of his soda to his mouth and locked eyes with me. It felt like he was telepathically trying to fuck me, and damn, it was almost working. I wondered if he was still holding true to his agreement not to even masturbate until we could be alone again on Monday.
His ex sort of knew we were together now, and it seemed like that had flipped a sort of switch for Greyson. He was trying to hide his attraction less, and I was sure the entire town was quickly piecing the truth together one rumor at a time. I didn’t care, though. I hated this game of close but not too close we were playing. Hell, I was almost ready to tell him I’d follow him to D.C. if it meant we could just drop the act. There were restaurants in D.C., after all. I’d be close to Greyson and the kids. It’d be something new.