I shrugged. “He said it was my choice.”
Jonah clapped his hands giddily. “Oooh. So many choices.” His hazel gaze locked on my face. “Where’re you going?”
“I’m not sure yet.” But I did have an idea. For whatever reason, I wanted Cav to be the first to know about it, so I played it off with Jonah.
“Damn. I’ve got to get to class,” he said on a huff before pulling me in for a hug. “You better not hold out on me tomorrow. I expect all the deets.”
“Of course.” I chuckled as we pulled apart.
With that, Jonah hurried off and I headed for the parking lot, texting Cav as I went.
Me: You up for something adventurous?
Cav: Mmm. I like where your mind’s headed.
Me: Rock climbing?
Cav: You’re on. Pick you up at seven?
Me: I’ll be ready.
I was ready by seven o’clock when Cav appeared at my door wearing shorts and a T-shirt.
“You know it’s cold outside, right?” I teased as I pulled on my jacket over my yoga outfit. I’d opted for a sports bra and leggings, figuring I might as well take this opportunity to tease the man a little. After all, just seeing him was a tease for me.
His heated gaze raked over my bare midriff, remaining there until I hid it beneath my jacket.
Those devastating baby blues shot up to my face and he grinned. “I’ve got a jacket in the truck if I need it.”
“Since I have every intention of getting you all sweaty, you might be all right,” I joked as I grabbed my keys and my phone, tucking them into my pocket.
“Sweaty, huh?”
“Yes, sir.”
His head jerked over to my face, his eyes imploring me. “What?”
He shook his head, then opened the door.
It wasn’t until we were walking to his truck that I realized what I’d said. I had called him sir, and since that was an honorific often used in BDSM, he’d taken it in a different way than I’d meant it. A trickle of heat skittered into my bloodstream. If I could make him look at me like that again, perhaps I would be calling him Sir in the future.
A few minutes later, we were in his truck and I was giving him directions to the indoor rock-climbing facility I’d gone to on a few occasions.
“You good at this?” he asked as he steered into the parking lot.
“I wouldn’t say I’m good.” I laughed, completely relaxed in his company. “But I can hold my own.”
“What’s your time?”
I frowned. “My what?”
“Your time. You know, how long it takes you to scale the wall.”
“Which wall?” I asked, trying to stall.
He cut his gaze to me briefly. “Intermediate.”
I waved him off. “Oh, you know, I don’t really pay attention to that.”
Cav’s laugh had my insides warming significantly.
“Right.” He grinned widely. “But you can hold your own.”
“Yes,” I insisted.
Another raspy chuckled sounded. “We’ll see about that.”
Yeah. We would.
I had called ahead to ensure we would be able to get in. Turned out Thursdays were a relatively busy night, so it was a good thing I had. After a quick rundown of safety tips from the assistant, we were harnessed and ready to go.
For the next half hour, we scaled the rock wall, talking as we did. Although it appeared he wasn’t exerting any energy, I felt every muscle in my body tightening. Since I did go to yoga routinely, it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been, but it certainly wasn’t easy. I’d only been here twice. Once for Tiffany’s twenty-second birthday and then again when Jonah had needed something to take his mind off the breakup with his last boyfriend. That had been eight months ago. It was safe to say, I was out of practice.
“It’s always good to get a warm-up in,” he said casually.
I glanced over, noticed the way his eyes glittered with mischief. He was on to me. Since it hadn’t been a race, I knew Cav was allowing me to make it to the top at my own pace.
Because he was sweet like that.
It wasn’t until we were back on firm ground that he turned to me. “One more time?”
I glanced around, noticed there was no one waiting. “Sure.” Hopefully my muscles would hold out.
“Want to make it interesting?” Cav asked as he got a good hold on an extension.
My attention stuttered on the bulge of his bicep, the way his shoulder muscles bunched. I remembered how he’d looked at the club. I had memorized all the sleek muscles in his upper body and I suddenly had the urge to run my tongue over them. Slowly. And more than once.
“Cupcake?”
“Uh…” I jerked my gaze back to his. “Yeah. Sure. What’d you have in mind?”
He peered up toward the ceiling. “If I get up there first”—his eyes locked on mine—“you get to treat me to dessert. My choice.”
