Personal Assistant (11 page)

       
“Fucking-A.”
He pulled the pack off of his back and then laid flat on the ground. “We need
to get you in better shape if you want to do this again.”

       
He
might as well have slapped her across the face. The words stung. It was the
first time he had said anything about her physically that wasn’t flattering.

       
She
looked off towards the clouds, the amazing view, and into the cool breeze
blowing across her face. It helped to hold the tears at bay. Her feelings were
hurt, crushed in fact. The moment his hand touched her leg she pulled away from
him situating her body so that he could only see her back. She gripped her legs
and rested her head on her knees.

       
“Frankie?”
She could hear him sit up and then move closer to her. “What’s wrong?”

       
“I
knew I wasn’t prepared to climb up this damn thing, but you insisted. And now,
you think I’m too fat or too weak, or both. I’m not sure.” She closed her eyes
against the sting of tears.

       
“Awe.”
He sidled up against her and put his arms around her,
rocking her into his body. His lips at her temple he said, “I was just teasing
you. You’re here. You did manage to get up here. I love your shape, Frankie. In
fact, I may be obsessed with it.”

       
“Don’t
try to sex your way out of it. I get it. You’re a physical guy, you like
adventures. I’m just not as…coordinated.” Frankie still refused to look at him.

       
“You’re
serious?” He moved to face her. “Look at me.”

       
Frankie
looked at the ground. He put his hand under her chin and lifted her face
towards him. An errant tear streaked from her right eye against her will.

       
“Ah,
shit.” He put his forehead against hers. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt your
feelings. I was teasing. I was a bit frustrated at the situation, not at you.
Maybe a little at myself because I practically forced you up here
to begin with.
I don’t…know what to say.”

       
Frankie
sighed. Life really wasn’t like the movies with Jonas. No one handed him a
script to memorize what to say to a girl when he crushed her heart in a few
sentences. Frankie shrugged. “It’s no big deal, you know. I…I’m just a little
sensitive right now, is all.”

       
He
frowned, and then a look of understanding crossed his features. “I get it. I’m
still sorry for making you sad. Did you bring meds? I hope so because I don’t
think we can get back down the hillside before nightfall and it will be too
dangerous to navigate again in the dark.”

       
Fabulous,
he thought she was
PMSing
. Frankie gritted her teeth
and tried to do the math, maybe she was. “I’ll be fine.”

       
He
kissed her forehead and then moved to sit beside her. He let out a long sigh.

       
“What?”
she asked.

       
“Nothing.
I was just hoping to…”

       
“You’re
a mess.” Frankie laughed. She sniffed. He rocked into her side and left his
head on her shoulder. She leaned her head against it. They sat there for a
moment. “This really is a spectacular view.”

       
He
let out a light chuckle.

       
“What?”

       
“To
be honest, I pushed to come up here to ensure privacy and seduce you. I would
have waited a week if I knew…”

       
“And
we would still be on a rock in the middle of an authorized camping area where
park rangers could come along. Not to mention there are no showers as far as
the eye can see. I am already a mess, and you think having hot sweaty sex up
here is a good idea?” Frankie shifted and pushed to her feet. She looked at the
backpack, and her backpack strapped to it. He had to carry them both. She was
not feeling especially confident at the moment.

       
“Where
is your sense of adventure?
Romance?
I know you’ve
read about romance. You teach literature for crying out loud. You can’t look
beyond the complications and just live in the moment?” he asked.

       
She
looked over her shoulder as he lay back on the ground. He was wearing a thin
blue t-shirt with some indie band name she had never heard of on the front of
it. His cargo shorts revealed a hint of thigh in addition to everything below
the knee. He had on hiking shoes and comfortable socks. He was comfortable out
here in this element. She had never been camping a day in her life.

       
“I
don’t want to get eaten by bears, Jonas. Is it unreasonable to try my best
not
to draw attention to myself?”
Frankie unclipped her pack and searched for the bottle of water in the side
pouch. She took a long drink and then said, “I don’t have cell service.”

       
He
growled then said, “You and that phone! We don’t need cell service, Frankie.
You act like you’ve never been camping before. I know what I am doing here,
woman. Trust me.”

       
“I
haven’t,” Frankie said before taking another drink of the water.

       
He
tilted his head to get a better look at her.

       
“This
is the first time.” She shrugged.

       
A
wry smile crossed his lips. He held a hand out in her direction. She put the
water in it. He closed his eyes and then opened them as he switched the water
from one hand to the next and extended the same hand to her. She slid her
fingers along his. She absolutely loved the man’s hands. Strong, sure, how
could she not trust him?

       
He
tugged at her until she was on the ground next to him. The hard rock pressed
warm against her back. He patted his chest and said, “Right here.”

       
As
she adjusted to rest her head on his chest she took a moment to appreciate the
situation. His shirt was warm from the heat of his chest, his heart thrummed a
steady beat, she could smell the laundry detergent, the soap he favored, and
the unique scent of him. He was so comfortable in his own flesh it unnerved her
at times.

       
“You
should have told me you were a virgin, Frankie.” He stroked the braid of her
hair. “I would have taken it easy on you.”

       
She
sighed to keep from laughing. In these moments it would be easy to confuse his
affection towards her. They didn’t really know one another, and yet the
attraction was undeniably mutual. She didn’t lie to him before. She did
consider herself worthy of male appreciation. She just didn’t think a male such
as him would be the one appreciating her.

       
“My
dad used to bring us out here when we were kids,” he said suddenly. “Janice
would try to race me to the top. Jed, my older brother, always stayed behind
us. Always worried we would trip or fall. Janice was faster than me back then,
older too, but she was fast.” He stroked the braid again making her wonder if
he was even aware he was doing it.

       
Frankie
thought about it a moment. She was an only child so there were no other
siblings to compete with. “How did you race up here? You said she was a fast
runner.”

       
“Around
the edge over there is a path.” He pointed with the water bottle.

       
Frankie
had been enjoying the moment, his story, the rise and fall of his chest beneath
her ear. “That’s funny. You make is sound like we could have simply walked up
here.”

       
He
didn’t respond. He kept stroking the length of her braid between his fingers.

       
“Jonas.”

       
“On
your resume it said you were interested in camping and rock climbing, and…”

       
Frankie
pushed up to look down at him. He held on to the end of her braid restricting
how far she could part from him. “The application asked what kinds of
activities you would be willing to do if required.”

       
“Oh,”
he said. “I thought that was hobbies and interests.”

       
“You
made me climb up this stupid rock and I could have walked?” Frankie could feel
her eyes stretch wide. The motion of her expression caused her glasses to pinch
the back of her ears. The slickness of the sweat made them slide a bit so she
had bent the ends more to keep them in place.

       
He
bit his lower lip in response.

       
“I
could strangle you.”

       
“I
wouldn’t mind if you straddled me.” He winked.

       
“I
said strangle!”

       
“I’m
not worried about you strangling me since you don’t have cell service and can’t
call for help.” He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.

       
He
let go of the braid and pulled her on top of him. She moved her legs to
straddle him. He was half-hard and she tried to resist the urge to dry hump him
like a desperate teenager. His hands traveled over her
capri
-length
hiking pants, patted the cellphone securely placed in a cargo pocket she had
sewn a second pouch inside of to ensure it was safe. He shook his head as if to
express disappointment with her. It was quickly dismissed as his hands slid up
to her waist and then higher to her breasts. He pushed them up slightly and
said, “What kind of bra are you wearing?”

       
“A sports bra, why?”
She had her hands resting on his
abdomen, not pressing, not touching as she wanted to. She was letting him
control this event, just as she had let him guide her climbing up a rock rather
than letting her take the easy way around.

       
“It’s
sturdy.
Too sturdy.
Normally, when you walk you have
just the slightest sway, unnoticeable to those not paying attention to it…”

       
“But
you pay attention?”

       
“Of course.”
He frowned at her. “Today, I noticed when you
walked towards me there was no movement. They were just suspended there
motionless, and I felt sorry for them.” He stroked his thumbs over her nipples.

       
The
bra may have been sturdy, it was supposed to be, but it did very little to
quell her reaction to his touch. The sensitive flesh immediately pulled taut.
Each turgid bud stood out against the bra, against the t-shirt, against the
pressure of his fingers.

       
“This
would be the moment I would pull you closer and kiss you.” He continued to
torture her instead. Her hips disobeyed her will and pressed forward to rub
against him. “Hmmm, but since I can’t, I suppose I should get the tent ready.”

       
His
touch was gone so quickly she barely registered his retreat. He was practically
lifting her weight off of his body as he moved to stand. She looked at him
befuddled. “But…”

       
“It
will be dark soon. We need to get the tent up.” He moved towards the backpacks,
and then turned to say, “I don’t want the bears to eat you.”

       
Off
in the distance a coyote howled. Frankie was on her feet and assisting him in the
efforts to raise the pop-up tent. It proved much easier than she had imagined.
The sleeping bags, thin and lined zipped together easily.

       
“So
you are sleeping with me, not near me?” he asked as he entered the tent.

       
She
was confused at his change of mood. She wasn’t sure if he was teasing her or if
he was serious. It was hard enough to read the emotions of a normal man, since
he was an actor she always had double the trouble reading his level of
sincerity and triple the doubt she was accurate.

       
She
started to unzip the bags.

       
“So
you’re going to take your chances with the bears in your own bag then?” He
waggled his eyebrows and she fought the urge to scream in frustration. She
didn’t know what he wanted.

       
“I
don’t know what you want me to do.”

       
“I
want you to do what you want to do. If you want to sleep next to me, I
understand. You might feel more secure that way. If you want your own sleeping
bag, I understand that too. You’re at a delicate place right now. I get it. I
have a mother and a sister. I know about these things.” He handed her the
fleece blanket he had rolled to use as a pillow.

       
Frankie
realized the reason he stopped tugging on her boobs wasn’t because he wanted to
kiss her, it was because he thought she was near or on her cycle. “This is really
a conversation I have never had with an employer before, but one I suppose I
should have had with a sex partner.”