In flat shoes, she was several inches shorter than him, which he liked. He took her by her wrist and tugged her around the side of the building, then put his helmet on the sidewalk, cupped her face in both her hands and kissed her.
They were in a public place, in the middle of the afternoon. Not exactly conducive to a make-out session, but what the hell? He’d wanted to kiss Taryn from the first second he’d seen her last fall. He’d done his best to play things smart, but how was he supposed to resist her when she looked the way she did and sassed him on a regular basis?
Her mouth was soft and yielding. A bit of a surprise, but maybe she wasn’t nearly as tough as she pretended. She put her hands on his sides. The touch was light, as if she wanted connection but didn’t need his help to stay standing. Which would be just like her.
He brushed his mouth back and forth, exploring her, getting a feel for how it was going to be between them. Then, when the wanting started to grow, he drew back. He stared into her smoldering violet-blue eyes, pleased to see she’d been as intrigued as he had. He was about to kiss her again when a minivan pulled into a nearby parking space and about sixty kids tumbled out of the vehicle.
Taryn followed his gaze. “I never want that,” she said.
“Kids?”
“A minivan.” She shuddered.
“Because it would mean surrendering your identity?”
“Because no one needs that many cup holders. My assistant’s kids are all grown and she still drives a minivan because she loves it. She brags about the twelve cup holders. Whenever she runs an errand she goes on and on about how much she can hold. It’s not natural.”
He chuckled and put his arm around her. “The same could be said about your shoe collection. Do you really need that many? And those heels can’t be good for you.”
She glanced at him. “Angel?”
“Yes.”
“Do you have a favorite pair of my heels?”
He thought about how she looked in them and shook his head. “They’re all good.”
“Imagine what it would be like if I was wearing them...and nothing else.”
They’d been walking toward the entrance. He stumbled and had to catch himself as the image she’d planted in his brain blossomed to life size and beckoned him closer. Was it him or was it hot out here? A naked Taryn in five-inch heels. That kind of reality had the power to kill a man.
He swore quietly. She smiled.
“Ever going to mock my shoes again?” she asked sweetly.
“Hell, no.”
“Then my work here is done.”
“Remind me to congratulate your partners for surviving as long as they have,” he grumbled.
She was still laughing when they stepped into the sports center.
Despite the fact that there was a festival going on in town, there were plenty of people wanting to rent racquetball courts or hit baseballs. Angel guided Taryn to the back where they would check in for the rock-climbing wall that dominated the center of the building.
“Ever done this before?” he asked.
“No, and I don’t see the point now. The Living Life at a Run guy isn’t going to make us climb the side of a mountain.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I’m pretty sure. We don’t have those kinds of mountains around here.”
She was right, which impressed him. He wouldn’t have guessed she paid attention to her environment beyond whether or not it was comfortable.
“Rock climbing helps with coordination and upper body strength,” he told her. “Plus, you can talk about it and you’ll seem like a jock.”
She wrinkled her nose. “Oh, joy. Because my life has been so empty without that.”
Fifteen minutes later, they were signed up. Taryn hesitated before signing the waiver, then scribbled her name. She only gulped once when she saw she would be wearing rented climbing shoes.
“Just like bowling,” she murmured. “How lovely.”
But the joke was on him when she put her keys and cell phone in a small locker, then pulled off the loose T-shirt. Because underneath she had on a formfitting tank top cut low enough to make it hard for him to concentrate. It was going to be a long afternoon, he thought.
* * *
TARYN HAD ACCEPTED the rented shoes, the noise coming from the other areas of the facility and the harness that was snug in places that hadn’t seen action in a long time. Although after that very brief, very intense kiss earlier, she was hoping to have that chance soon. But what she wouldn’t accept was Angel’s silent laughter as she clung halfway up the damn fake rock, unable to move up or down.
“Raise your right hand,” he said from his position next to her. “Reach out.”
Which sounded oh, so easy, she thought grimly. She told herself she was secure. That there was some broad-shouldered college kid holding on to the rope that was clipped to her harness. Should she start to slip, he would catch her. Or at least hold on to her rope and lower her gently to the floor. Only she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t stretch out to the next hold and she couldn’t trust enough to let go.
Angel moved closer and put his hand on top of hers. “Come on,” he said, his tone more gentle. “I’ll help.”