Page 64 of The Problem with Princes
“Weare going to climb that.” He reaches for my hand and tugs me forward so I’m standing in the harness on the floor. He leans forward and pulls it up. Fastening it securely around me, he tugs on the clip in the front.
“Why are you doing that?”
“Just to make sure all the clips are secure,” he gives me a wink. “I don’t want anything happening to my girlfriend.”
My mouth drops open in a most fish-like way. “Your girlfriend?”
He nods. “You are, aren’t you?” He studies my face intently. And there is that vulnerable look again.
I shrug. “I wasn’t sure.”
He pulls me to him and drops his mouth to mine, kissing me with more fervency than he had at the beach. His kiss is both soft, but insistent. Sweet, but passionate. My lips part slightly, and he hugs me tighter to him, deepening the kiss. Everything around us fades away and it is just Ty and me in the whole world.
I have the urge to jump into his arms and wrap my legs around him, just so I can be closer to him. But the lines are already blurred as to where he ends, and I begin.
He eases up and whispers against my lips. “Do you have any doubts now?”
I shake my head. “No. But I also don’t think I can climb anything right now.”
He pulls back and winks down at me. “We’ll take it slow. I promise.”
“Are you talking about climbing or being girlfriend and boyfriend?”
He gives me a little hip bump. “Both.”
We head over to the wall, and he clips a rope that is secured to the ceiling high above, to each of our belts. “Have you ever climbed before?”
“Yeah. We did it as a group activity once.” I don’t mention how much I hated it. It scared the daylight out of me, and I never went higher than about fifteen feet off the ground.
“I know you’re afraid of heights, but I think you’ll do okay at this. If you just look up, it isn’t so bad. And I’ll be right beside you.” He squeezes my hand and looks so hopeful. I almost believe what he says.
Even though my heart is pounding so hard, I think it might explode, I move over to the wall and put my hand on the highest grips I can reach. I smile over at him. Can he see how much this terrifies me? “Let’s do this,” I say like I do it all the time.
Just look up, I say to myself. It is about to become my new mantra for the next ten minutes or however long it takes me to climb this thing.
“Okay,” he says next to me. “Just take it slow.”
I put my foot on one of the holds and pull myself up. I glance down and realize that Ty is right. I can’t look down or I will never do this. I look up for the next handhold, moving slowly up the wall.
Ty is right beside me, my own personal cheerleader. “You’re doing great, Gee. Just a little bit higher.”
I keep my gaze focused on the last black handhold at the very top. It looks like it’s at least a mile away, maybe more. “Oh, sweet baby Jane, what am I doing?” I go to glance below, but Ty reaches out a hand.
“Don’t look down.”
My gaze flicks to him and catches his eye. “That’s right. Just look at me and then look up.”
How am I supposed to ignore an invitation like that? I give him one last hard look and then glance up to find my next handhold. I grip it and pull myself up. Sweat is running down between my cleavage and shoulder blades. I’m going to be looking so hot when I get down from here. And I don’t mean in two ways.
My body sags, but I cling to the wall. I’ve got to have gone more than I did the last time. Maybe I can just be done.
“Sweet baby Jane?” I hear Ty chuckling next to me.
I glare over at him. “It’s not really the time to discuss my choice of cuss words.”
“I see no better time than the present.” He lets go of the handholds and leans back slightly.
My eyes widen and nearly drop, but he quickly grabs hold again. “No, no, no. Eyes up here.”
