Wild About Her Wingman

by Robin Bielman

  Her little forehead was still furrowed.

  “We’ll start on the smallest wall, too. But I bet you’ll be right next to me climbing the tallest one before we’re through.” He pulled into the parking lot and they got out of the car, only scattered raindrops falling now. Amelia ignored her mom’s hand and grabbed his. He tossed his keys to Bree so she could hold on to them.

  Erin stood at the check-in desk when they walked inside, the guy behind the counter enthralled with whatever she was saying. She turned her head and her infectious smile once again made his heart beat too damn hard. Until she noticed Amelia and the corners of her lips faltered.

  “Hi…everyone,” she said, a little unsettled.

  Amelia marched right over to her, peered up, and said, “Hi. Is your finger all better?”

  Erin looked down. “Um, yes it is. Thank you for asking.”

  “Hi Erin. I’m Bree. I’m not sure if you remember me, but we met—”

  “At the tree lighting ceremony last year.” A faint smile made an appearance. “I was the one who collided with you on the ice-skating rink. And you were the gracious one who tried to teach me how to avoid future body slams. It’s nice to see you again.”

  Bree chuckled. “You weren’t that bad.”

  “Oh, yes I was.” She slid her gaze to him. “Hey.”

  “Hey,” he said.

  “So my friend Chase here”—she pointed her thumb at the guy behind the counter—“is going to be helping us out today. Are you guys just the cheering squad or are you climbing, too?”

  “I’m climbing,” Amelia said.

  “And I’m just watching and lending support.” Bree put an arm around Troy.

  “Okay. So Bree, there’s a release form you’ll need to fill out for Amelia.”

  “On it,” Chase said.

  Erin stepped away from the counter and sat on a nearby bench. Troy joined her. “Sorry about the little surprise.”

  “It’s okay. Actually, I think it might be good for you to see someone you care about climb. It’s very tame in here, but for a four-year-old, it’s probably pretty scary.”

  How did he not realize he was letting Amelia do something a little dangerous? A little adventurous? Setting the tone for future activities he wanted her to stay away from? She could hang ten on a surfboard. She could not hang glide.

  He pressed his hand to his knee to stop it from bouncing. Erin’s hand covered his.

  “Don’t worry. Chase is awesome and he has a young daughter, so he’ll take good care of Amelia and make it fun for her.”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

  Erin canted her head and looked at him. He kept his gaze straight ahead. “You didn’t think this through, did you?”

  He shook his head.

  “You can’t shelter her, Troy. And she’s only four. I don’t think you’re committing her to a life as a stuntgirl quite yet.”

  “When did you start?” he asked, so damn curious to know more about what made Erin tick. He couldn’t shut off his interest no matter how hard he tried.

  “Two and a half years ago.”

  That got him to turn his head. “Really? I pegged you for a Kindergarten Knievel.”

  She laughed. “No. I did do stupid stuff in high school, but it wasn’t until my college graduation and a douche bag of a boyfriend that sent me jumping out of a plane.”

  “So a guy pisses you off and you go all wild woman.”

  “I guess you could say that.”

  “Remind me never to piss you off.” The weight of those words hit him square in the gut like he’d been punched by the hundred-pound bag at the station.

  “Too late for that,” she teased. “Hey!” She jumped to her feet as Chase, Amelia, and Bree approached. Chase got them climbing shoes and gave instructions, and they headed for the beginner climb area and the twenty-five-foot wall. Amelia climbed like a champ and rang the bell at the top of the slab on her second try. Pride—dammit—filled Troy. He’d never forget the grin on her face. Or the admiration on Erin’s. Erin was impressed, too, and she gave Amelia a high five.

  They were bonding. Over rock climbing. His heart jumped into the back of his throat.

  When faced with the taller challenges, though, Amelia shook her head. So Chase took her back to the beginner area where Bree watched and cheered and two other employees joined him and Erin to belay and supervise their climbs.

  “How you doing?” Erin asked from a few feet away before they started up their first climb on the intermediate wall.

  “Fine.”

  “Good. I had a feeling the controlled environment and predictable climbing surfaces would make this easy for you.”

  “See you at the top,” he said and took off.

  “You’re not beating me,” she called after him.

  That was all the incentive he needed to race up a ridiculously easy climbing route without a thought in his head but reaching the handmade peak first.

  He belayed down, feeling lighter than he had in a long time.

  “You cheated,” Erin said when she got to the bottom a few seconds after him.

  “How do you figure?”

  They unclipped their harnesses and in silent agreement moved to the tallest sculpted climbing surface.

  She brushed his arm as they walked. “You didn’t count down like a fair person would.”

  “You think a ‘3-2-1’ is all it takes to beat me?” he teased.

  “Let’s find out.”

  “You’re on.” He peeked at her out of the corner of his eye and chuckled at her determined profile.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “You are.”

  “I’m not the one with ink still on the tip of his nose.” She lifted her chin in victory, and her eyes sparkled like she’d won something big.

  He shrugged just as she stumbled, and arms flailing, fell facedown onto the cushioned floor.

  Troy and the two employees assisting said, “You okay?” at the same time she rolled over and said, “Who left their shoes in the middle of the room?”

  Then she looked at his nose and cracked up. She wrapped her arms around her middle and laughed hard enough for others to take notice and smile. Light-footed she wasn’t, but she didn’t seem to mind, and that only made her more beautiful.

  Stop noticing her beauty.

  “I take it you never did ballet,” he said, sitting down beside her.

  She pushed him in the arm. “I did, too.” The corners of her mouth lifted again. “And totally sucked at it.”

  “We can’t be good at everything.” He bumped her knee with his.

  “You think I’m good at things?” She playfully kneed him back.

  Certain things he’d like to find out on his own. She had her bottom lip between her teeth now and the urge to straddle her, lay her back, and kiss all the good out of her hit him so hard he’d drown if he didn’t get to find out what she tasted like.

  “I think snails are good at things,” he said instead. You are an idiot.

  “You’re comparing me to a slug? What does that even mean?”

  It meant she wiped out all coherent thought from his head whenever she did just about anything. Jesus, he needed to get over this wild attraction already. He jumped to his feet and put a hand out to help her up.

  She rose without his assistance, but the simper on her face told him it was just to get back at him for the asinine snail comment.

  “You two ready to climb?” asked one of the guys assigned to them.

  “Yep.” Erin ran her hands down her black leggings. “Let’s get our climb on.”

  They got in position, Troy giving Erin her pick of placement on the tallest “gym rock” in the place. She had him so engaged in the competition between them that when she counted down and he lifted off the floor, he didn’t have a care in the world.

  Even when his foot slipped off one of the rubber anchoring devices, he didn’t panic. Instead he angled for another route and got to the top at the same
time she did.

  “Again?” he called over to her.

  “Okay.”

  “Hey you two,” Bree said when their feet touched down. “Amelia is pretty wiped.”

  Troy looked over his sister’s shoulder and found his niece lying down on a bench. “No problem,” he said, undoing his harness. “Give me a minute and we’ll go.”

  “Wait.” She grabbed his locking carabiner before he’d finished unhooking it. “I hate to make you go when it looks like you’re having so much fun. I could just take your car, and Erin, maybe you could drive Troy home when you’re done?”

  “Sure,” she said.

  “Great. Thank you. Bye, little bro.” Bree kissed his cheek and spun around before he’d blinked. Or scowled at her. She thought because she was born two minutes earlier that she could steamroll right over him.

  Erin tilted her head and scoped him out top to bottom. He guessed the little bro comment had something to do with it. At six two, he wasn’t little.

  “See something noteworthy?”

  She jerked her head back to a neutral position as her contemplation snapped back to his face. “Nope. Nothing memorable.”

  He stepped closer. “Really? Because your expression says otherwise.” Common sense told him to stop baiting her, but then hadn’t he just accepted the fact that with Erin he liked to act without thinking?

  “You wish.”

  “I wish for a lot of things.”

  “Yeah, probably having to do with that little moniker of yours.”

  He laughed. God, he hadn’t laughed this much in one day in a long time.

  “Not that some of the best things don’t come in little packages,” she added.

  “Oh, I can guarantee you my package isn’t little.”

  Her eyes darted down for a split second. “Oh yeah?”

  Damn, he should’ve known she’d rise to whatever bait he flung at her. Erin didn’t back down from anything. She wore faith and passion with breathtaking deftness and if they weren’t standing in the middle of a public place he’d back her against a wall so she could feel how she affected him.

  “You asking for a demonstration?”

  “How about first one to the top of the next climb gets whatever they want from the loser?” she said.

  “Deal.” He didn’t back away from a challenge, either. He’d win his bet with Oliver and he’d win this one, too. Because just then he knew exactly what he wanted from Erin. Before he found her the perfect guy, he wanted one thing.

  A kiss. One very long, sweeping kiss to slake this intense animal attraction and get her out of his head.

  …

  Erin ran to her car in the pouring rain. Troy’s big, strong body kept pace beside her and she shivered. From the wet chill in the air, she told herself. Not because he was hers to do with however she wanted.

  She clicked off the car alarm and they climbed inside. Settling back into her seat, she wiped the moisture off her cheeks and pulled her hair over to one shoulder. Troy watched her, unsettling and enjoyable at the same time. In the close confines of the car interior, his scent mixed with that of the rain and the combination heightened her awareness of him. “I think that was a really successful outing. You didn’t seem at all bothered by the height.”

  “It was a great idea. Thanks. I didn’t have any problems. Think it means I’m cured?” He smiled that ridiculously sexy smile of his.

  “We should test it at least one more time again outside.”

  “Probably a good idea.” He ran a hand through his wet hair.

  “So where to?” She put the key in the ignition and started out of the parking lot. He told her to turn right and then gave directions to his family home, adding that he lived in the guesthouse. Rain pelted the windshield and her wipers squeaked for a few seconds.

  “It’s really admirable that you came back to Cascade after your brother-in-law died.”

  He shrugged a shoulder. “My family is important to me. I got lucky that a job opened up in Beaver Creek and then here when it did.”

  She wondered if Jamie would’ve come with him. If the accident hadn’t happened and Troy had asked her to marry him, would she have said yes? He’d loved someone that much. Would he again?

  “You contemplating my task over there?”

  “Huh?”

  “You beat me to the top of our climb, now lay the whatever on me.”

  “Oh. Okay. I want you on my team.” She turned down White Sails Road and glanced at Watters Park as they drove by. A woman braved the rain with a large yellow umbrella and walked her dog.

  “Your team?” he said, confused.

  “Every Sunday after Thanksgiving my family has a flag football game and this year I’m one of the team captains. We can recruit whoever we want and I want you.” She turned her head and found him raising his eyebrows. “For the game.”

  “You sure that’s all you want me for? You were checking me out earlier.”

  “Oh my God. I was not.” She totally was.

  “You sure, Watters? Because you’re acting—”

  “What’s with the Watters?” She slid one hand off the steering wheel and wiped her palm down her leggings.

  “I can’t call my team captain Erin.”

  “So you’ll play?”

  “I’ll play. I did lose our wager and I always pay my debts. Plus, I was the quarterback in high school.”

  “I heard that.” She glanced at him again, and he had one brow arched this time. She rolled her eyes. “Everyone in town knows you were the quarterback.” He’d been two years ahead of her in school and she didn’t know him back then, but given her misplaced affection for football players, she had heard about him. He’d broken a few records or something.

  “Who’s the other captain?”

  “Luke. And we have to beat him.”

  “Why is that?”

  “Because I hate to lose.” She’d run off at the mouth at Sunday brunch a couple of weeks ago and now she had to follow through. She loved having her big brother home and loved that he teased her, and would love it when she finally bested him at something.

  She’d best Candace, too. Which reminded her… “So about this wingman thing. Have any more friends you want to set me up with?”

  He took a moment before answering. “I don’t like losing either, so I definitely have someone for you to meet.”

  His flippant response felt like she’d been slapped in the face and she didn’t like it. And she had no idea why he sounded put off by her question. He was the one with the bet. He didn’t know about the one she had with herself.

  “Cool,” she said, and then because she hated feeling like he was upset with her about something, added, “Oh, and if you want to stick around after the football game, my parents feed everyone lunch.”

  She kept her focus on the road but could feel his eyes on her. Did he guess that was an afterthought and she’d originally had no plans to invite him to stay longer than the game? That she hadn’t intended to spend more time with him than necessary. Because…because… She didn’t want to think about all the becauses.

  Whether he did or not didn’t matter, because she sensed his mood softening. And even though she tried not to notice, parts of her felt his attention like a touch.

  She needed to have a talk with her parts.

  “Sounds great. And I’ll bring my lucky football,” he said.

  “You’ve got a lucky football?” She turned down his street.

  “It’s the one I held when I ran in for a touchdown with less than a minute to go in the last game of my senior year. We won.”

  “Okay, but if it ends up in the ocean, don’t blame me.”

  “Who else would I blame?” he said, and she wasn’t sure if he was teasing. “That’s me on the right.” He pointed to a large two-story home with a guesthouse beside it.

  Erin pulled over to the curb, shaking her head in disbelief that he’d actually blame her. “Trust me, I won’t be the one to lose your football.”
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  “What position will you be playing?” He unclicked his seat belt.

  She undid hers and turned. He had a light stubbly thing going on today and she stared at his square jawline for a moment. “Receiver. Think you can get the ball in my hands?”

  “The question isn’t whether you can catch, but whether or not you can hold on to the ball without tripping. From what I’ve seen, footwork can be a little challenging for you.”

  “For your information…” She leaned forward. “I’ve never—”

  “I’m teasing you. The way you move is actually pretty…distracting.”

  “Oh.” Had he just given her an unexpected compliment? And had he leaned closer?

  “I’ll help you win.”

  She drifted closer because his compliment tugged at her. So much about him tugged at her and maybe she just needed to kiss him to say thanks, and then she could forget thinking about what kissing him would feel like.

  The pitter-patter of raindrops shielded them from any notice inside the car. She heard herself breathing. And then she heard him breathing and yes, he’d gravitated toward her. She knew this because the adorable faint black mark on his nose was only inches from hers now.

  He looked at her lips.

  She looked at his.

  And then he kissed her.

  Hard.

  His mouth covered hers with such authority that if she hadn’t been sitting, she would have surely collapsed against him.

  “Erin,” he whispered as he pulled back.

  “Troy.” Then, like it was second nature, she kissed him again. Her hands gripped the front of his shirt. His hands moved to her cheeks…like she was something special.

  “God, Erin,” he said, his voice low, rough. Sexy.

  She took a steadying breath. Her eyes drifted half shut. And then their mouths came back together again. Only this time, they stayed.

  He nibbled and teased and she was infused with happiness, the soft caress of his lips on hers intense and so, so pleasurable. She slid her hands to his shoulders and climbed over the center console and into his lap. The seat jerked as he slid it back to allow for more room. She giggled against his mouth.