Stirred Up (13 page)

Cheryl waited until the waitress brought
their drinks over. She took a deep sip.

“He knows who I am,” she said.

He looked at her, puzzled. “I know, I
introduced you. A fact I sincerely regret now.”

“No, I mean he recognized me from the club.
Apparently he went back again after the bachelor party. Anyway, I
guess after seeing me take it all off like that, he thought…”

Jason’s expression darkened. “Never mind. I
didn’t mean to upset you,” he said, taking her hand.

But she needed to get it out.

“He said I was practically a prostitute, so
what was the big deal?”

Jason froze, his jaw tightening and his hands
gripped hers tighter as he fought for control. It was a few moments
before he could speak.

“Jesus, Cheryl, I’m sorry,” he said. “I wish
I could beat the shit out of him again. Or hold him down so you
could do it yourself.”

“He’s a creep. But the thing is, a lot of
people think that. Guys talk about the VIP room like we have orgies
in there, but it’s not like that –”

“You don’t have to tell me that, Cheryl. I
would never think that way about you.”

“But didn’t you, just a little bit?” she
asked, quieter now. “Something changed after you saw me. I wasn’t
the sweet little teacher you thought I was.”

“You’re right,” he admitted, shifting in his
seat as if uncomfortable saying it out loud. “I had a hard time
wrapping my mind around what I knew of you, and what I saw up there
on stage. It took me longer than it should have to figure out that
you’re the same person I always thought you were.”

She nodded slowly, grateful for his honesty,
even as she felt the pain of his initial reaction again. But it was
what it was, and there was no going back and making it sweet and
pretty.

Jason had tensed up, and he looked for a
minute like he was going to say something more. Instead he shook
his head and downed a gulp of whiskey. They both sat quietly for a
few minutes, and Cheryl let the slight uneasiness settle around her
without fighting it.

She wasn’t sure what to feel about this new
place she and Jason were in. In a way they were back to how they’d
been before Strippergate. Or some toned-down version of it. They’d
both been much more careful and reserved when they climbed together
this past Saturday, their subtle flirtation of the first time
exchanged for hearty encouragement.

There was no denying that being friends with
him opened the door to all the attraction she still felt and
refused to give in to. But she was pretty sure they were on the
same page now. She clearly wasn’t what he was looking for
romantically, and she knew better now than to entertain that line
of thinking. Even if he seemed like he accepted who she was and
what she did now, she’d never be able to trust that he wouldn’t
throw it back in her face some day. She’d seen his true reaction,
and nothing could undo that.

So maybe that left them as friends, and that
wasn’t such a bad place to be.

“I’m quitting the club as soon as the
semester ends,” she said.

She hadn’t been planning to say anything,
since it wasn’t his business, but something made her want to tell
him.

He looked surprised, and unsure what he
should say. Smart man, thinking things through before speaking.

“Well, I hope you rake it in until then,” he
said.

“Yeah, me too,” she said, pleased with his
response.

She went to take another sip and he raised
his glass to hers.

“To raking it in,” he said, smiling a brash,
un-English teacher smile that went straight to her belly and
hollowed it out.

She raised her glass and drank. “What I
wouldn’t give for a week off, somewhere out of town,” she sighed,
leaning back in her chair and closing her eyes, weariness
overtaking her. “Not that I don’t love your classes,” she added,
not bothering to open her eyes.

“We could get away for a bit, if you wanted.
What do you say we do some outside climbing? It’d be a good change
of scene, and the weather is perfect now.”

She opened her eyes. “I don’t know. I’m not
sure I’m ready for actual cliff walls.”

“It wouldn’t be anything dangerous. There are
some great beginner routes in Red Rock Canyon. If you’re up to it,
we could even go out there on a Saturday morning and camp overnight
so we have plenty of time to explore.”

“How exactly would that work?” she asked
cautiously. “I mean, would we be sharing a tent, or…?”

“I have an extra tent,” he said, blandly,
ignoring all the possible minefields. “I also have a sleeping bag
you can use. You don’t need to bring anything but yourself and your
clothes, plus some good sunscreen. I’ll take care of the rest.”

“I’d have to find someone to work for me
Saturday night, but that probably wouldn’t be hard. A lot of the
girls want to work that shift since it’s the best money.”

“Great. I’ll make reservations for the
campsite.”

“Full disclosure, I’ve never camped before.
Just so you know what you’re getting into here.”

“Really, not even as a kid?”

“My mom was never into that kind of thing,
and I never went to camp.” She thought for a second. “I have slept
in my car a few times, if that counts.”

“Because you had nowhere else to go?” he
asked.

She nodded.

“Then no, it doesn’t count.”

“Well then, I guess you’ll have to help me
make up for lost time. We’ll have to do all the typical camping
activities. Let’s see,” she said, counting off on her fingers.
“Make s’mores, tell ghost stories, whittle… Am I missing
anything?”

“That about covers it,” he laughed.

The whiskey had done its job, and she was
feeling almost mellow now. Still, she couldn’t help worrying that
by standing up for her, he’d screwed things up with his friend.

“It’s none of my business, but what happens
now between you and Brad?” she asked. “I’d hate to cause a rift
between you two.”

“Nothing happens now. I always thought he was
kind of a dick, I just put up with him because I’ve known him so
long.”

“Oh, okay. If you’re sure…” she said, feeling
guilty despite how unambivalent Jason sounded.

“Do you have any idea how furious I am that a
friend of mine did that to you? Every time I think about it I feel
like my head is going to explode. We’re done, and good
riddance.”

The waitress came over then and asked if they
wanted anything else. Cheryl shook her head no and Jason took the
check.

“Don’t you dare offer to pay for this,” he
said, fake glaring at her across the table.

Cheryl shut her mouth.

As usual Jason let her precede him outside
and walked her to her car.

“So I’ll see you at school tomorrow, and you
can tell me if you had any luck lining someone up for Saturday
night.”

“Will do,” she said, climbing in and smiling
up at him.

“You’ll be okay tonight?”

“Yes, don’t worry about me,” she said. But
she had to admit, to herself at least, that she was glad there’d
been someone to worry about her today.

As soon as she got home she called Paula, a
single mother who was always looking for more shifts. Paula snapped
up Saturday night, and Cheryl hung up the phone and did a little
dance around her living room, already less stressed just knowing
she’d be getting away.

Maybe it was the dumbest idea ever to be
spending that kind of time with Jason, but she wasn’t passing it
up. It was going to be fun and get her out of her crazy routine for
a couple of days, and that’s all she cared about at the moment.

***

Jason knocked on Cheryl’s door at seven
o’clock Saturday morning, two coffees in hand. Cheryl opened the
door and greeted him with a sleepy smile that turned into a
yawn.

“Come on in,” she said, grabbing the coffee
from him and breathing deeply of it. “I overslept a bit, but I’m
almost ready.”

How was it she looked more adorable every
time he saw her? She was fully dressed, but her little blue shorts
and yellow long-sleeved top only served to amplify her unbelievable
rack and gorgeous legs.

But he needed to keep his cool. He wasn’t
going to do anything to jeopardize the friendship they were
re-establishing. That meant no ogling, no hard-ons, no innuendo. He
was going to be platonic if it killed him. Which it just might.

A few minutes later they were on their way,
windows down to enjoy the fresh morning breeze. Red Rock Canyon was
only half an hour from her house, so they didn’t need to camp to
take advantage of the park, but it would be a lot more fun,
especially since she’d never camped before. Besides, it had been a
while since he’d done an overnight, and he was itching to sleep in
all that open space.

“You swear I won’t fall to my death this
weekend?” she asked.

“Um, yeah.”

“Right, sorry. Just making sure,” she said,
giving him an embarrassed smile.

“It’s going to be awesome. You’ll see.”

They wound their way through the park, the
red cliff faces rising around them.

“Wow, this really is beautiful. Even if I did
die here, it would be a good way to go.”

He just looked at her.

Once they got to the campsite he set about
organizing it in his usual manner. First, unload all the gear, then
set up the tents. They’d face this way…

“Uh, Jason? Are you talking to me, or to
yourself? If the answer is yourself, that’s totally fine. I’m just
not sure if I should be doing something.”

Why did her teasing make him want to throw
her down and kiss the daylights out of her? If she only knew.

“There’s plenty for you to do, Ms. Munro.
Come take hold of the other side of the tent.”

Cheryl jumped right in, looking extremely
pleased with herself each time she hooked a pole into its loop. She
grinned at him, dusty, a little sweaty, and he suddenly wondered
how in hell he was going to keep his hands off her.

No. He would not go there. He was a teacher,
a trusted member of the community. Desperate, he conjured the image
of Yoda in his head. He’d be like Yoda, wise and without attachment
to anything, especially gorgeous redheads who’d be sleeping only a
few feet away from him.

“Jason?”

“Sorry, what?”

“I was just wondering if we should go
explore.”

“Definitely. Let’s get our gear.”

Actually, this was perfect. What could be
less conducive to lust than sharp, craggy cliffs? Then he watched
her rub sunscreen over her smooth, creamy skin and knew it wouldn’t
matter where they were.

“Here you go,” he said, settling her apple
green sunhat hat on her head. She looked up at him, her luscious
pink mouth smiling with eagerness, and it took everything he had
not to lay one on her.

They were one hour into the trip.

He threw all the gear in his backpack and
grabbed a couple of extra large water bottles.

“Don’t I get to carry anything?” she
asked.

“I’m going to be all manly for now and do the
carrying. I want you to enjoy yourself.”

“Are you sure? That looks really heavy.”

“This? Nah. You should see me when I go
hiking in the backcountry. I’ve carried fifty pounds of supplies
for days at a time.”

Her gaze swept over him, from head to toe and
back up again. A thorough inspection that ended with her eyes on
his. Maybe he was imagining it, but he was pretty sure he saw a
gleam of interest.

“Lead the way, tough guy.”

He took her to an easy route a short walk
away, where he climbed to the top and ran a rope through the ring
already drilled there.

“Coming at you,” he called down, tossing the
rope over.

When he was back at the bottom they changed
out of their hiking boots into tight, more flexible climbing shoes
and pulled on gloves.

“Let’s get you in the harness and you can go
up first,” he said, handing her the harness.

Once she was in he clipped her onto the rope,
threading and looping until she was securely connected. He glanced
up when he was done to find her looking nervously up at the cliff
face and biting her lip.

“You’re totally ready for this, you know. I
won’t let anything happen to you, and you’re going to feel amazing
when you see what you can do.”

She nodded her head, as if he’d just given
her a pep talk before sending her into battle.

“I’m ready,” she said, squaring her
shoulders.

And she was ready. As he expected, she had
little trouble with the route, making it to the top in less than
twenty minutes. As soon as her feet hit the ground she turned to
him, beaming and delighted.

“I want to go again. Is there somewhere
harder?”

Laughing, he grinned down at her, as
delighted with her achievement as she was.

“You bet. Follow me.”

They spent a couple of hours at the next
spot, the two of them taking turns climbing. The weather was
perfect, the day was perfect, and she was perfect company. He
couldn’t get over how she took to climbing, and was amazed at how
quickly she gained confidence in her abilities.

By mid-day they’d both worked up a good
appetite.

“Want to head back to camp and I’ll rustle us
up some grub?” he asked, purposefully sounding ridiculous just to
hear her laugh.

She did laugh, just as he’d expected. What he
hadn’t expected was the way his heart squeezed, hard and tight, at
the sound.

***

Cheryl couldn’t remember the last time she’d
felt this good. Pleasantly tired, pleased with her abilities,
pleased with the present company. She looked over at Jason, his
long body sprawled in the chair. So at ease, so capable, his scruff
and lean muscles a pleasant, sexual taunt.

She wasn’t the only one who felt that tug of
awareness. Their chemistry hadn’t dissipated, even if circumstances
had changed. But he seemed to get that she wasn’t looking for
anything else, which meant she could relax and just enjoy being
with him.