The Real Thing. Brenda Jackson

down at herself and wondered how she had let Adrian talk her into this. Indoor mountain climbing. Seriously?

      But here she was, decked out with climbing shoes, a harness, a rope and all the other things she needed to scale a man-made wall that looked too much like the real thing.

      “Ready?”

      She glanced over at Adrian who was standing beside her, decked out in his own climbing gear.

      Ready? He has to be kidding.

      She saw the excitement in his eyes and figured this was something he liked doing on a routine basis. But personally, she was not an outdoorsy kind of girl.

      So why did you allow him to talk you into it?

      It might have had everything to do with the way he had grabbed hold of her hand as he’d led her out of Andrew’s and toward his car. The tingling sensation that erupted the moment his hand touched hers had seemed to pulverize her common sense. Or it could have been the smile that would creep onto his lips whenever he was on an adrenaline high. Darn, it was contagious.

      He snapped his fingers in front of her face, making her realize she hadn’t answered his question. “Hey, don’t start daydreaming on me now, Trinity. You need your full concentration for this.”

      She looked over at the fake mountain she was supposed to climb. He claimed this particular one was for beginners, but she had serious doubts about that. She glanced up at him. “I don’t know about this, Adrian.”

      His smile widened and she felt the immediate pull in her stomach. “You can do this. You look physically fit enough.”

      She rolled her eyes. “Looks are deceiving.”

      “Then this will definitely get you in shape. But to be honest, I don’t see where there needs to be improvement.”

      She swallowed. Had he just flirted with her for the second time that night? “So, have you ever climbed an outdoor mountain? The real thing?” she asked, rechecking the fit of her gloves.

      “Sure. Plenty of times. I love doing it and you will, too.”

      She doubted it. Most people were probably in bed and here she was at one in the morning at some all-night indoor mountain climbing arena.

      “Ready to try it?” Adrian asked, breaking into her thoughts.

      “It’s now or never, I suppose.”

      He smiled. “You’ll do fine.”

      She wasn’t sure about that, and did he have to be standing so close to her? “Okay, what do I do?”

      “Just grab or step on each climbing hold located on the wooden boards as you work your way to the top.”

      She glanced up to the top and had to actually tilt her head back to see it. “This is my first time, Adrian. There’s no way I’ll make it that far up.”

      “You never know.”

      She did. She knew her limits...even when it concerned him. She was well aware that she was attracted to him just as she was well aware that it was an attraction that could get her into trouble if she didn’t keep her sense about her.

      Trinity moved toward the huge structure and proceeded to lift her leg. When she felt Adrian’s hands on her backside, she jerked around and put her leg down. “What are you doing?”

      “Giving you a boost. Don’t you need one?”

      She figured what she needed was her head examined. Had his intention been to give her a boost or to cop a feel? Unfortunately her backside didn’t know the difference and it was still reacting to his touch. Heat had spiked in the area and was spreading all over.

      “No, I don’t need one, and watch your hands, Adrian. Keep them to yourself.”

      He gave her an innocent smile. “I am duly chastised. But honestly, I was only trying to help and was in no way trying to take advantage of a tempting opportunity.”

      “Whatever,” she muttered, not believing him one bit. However, instead of belaboring the issue, she turned and started her climb, which wasn’t easy.

      Beginner’s structure or no beginner’s structure, it was meant to give a person a good workout. Why would anyone in their right mind want to do this for fun? she asked herself as she steadily and slowly moved up one climbing hold at a time. After each attempt she had to take a deep breath and silently pray for strength to continue. She had made it to the halfway point and was steadily moving higher.

      “Looking good, Trinity. Real good.”

      It wasn’t what he said but rather how he’d said it that made her turn slightly and look down at him, nearly losing her footing in the process. Climbing this structure was giving her backside a darn good workout. She could feel it in every movement, and there was no doubt in her mind that he could see it, too. While she was struggling to get to the top, he was down below ass-watching.

      “That’s it.” Frustrated with him for looking and with herself for actually liking the thought of him checking her out, she began her descent.

      “Giving up already?”

      She waited until her feet were on solid ground before she stood in front of him. Regarding him critically, she answered, “What do you think?”

      Dark lashes were half lowered over his eyes when he said, “I think you’re temptation, Trinity.”

      Whatever words she’d planned to say were zapped from her mind. Why did he have to say that and why had he said it while looking at her with those sexy eyes of his? The last thing she needed was for heat surges to flash through her body the way they were doing now.

      “Considering the nature of our relationship, you’re out of line, Adrian.”

      He leaned in closer and she got a whiff of his manly scent. She watched his lips curve into a seductive smile. “Why? And before you get all mouthy on me, there’s something you need to consider.”

      “What?” she asked, getting even more frustrated. Although she would never admit it, she thought he was temptation, as well.

      “I’m supposed to find you desirable. If I didn’t, I couldn’t pull off what needs to be done to dissuade Belvedere. My acting abilities can only extend so far. I can’t pretend to want a woman if I don’t.”

      Trinity went still. Was he saying he wanted her? From the way his gaze was darkening, she had a feeling that assumption was right. “I think we need to talk about it.”

      “At the moment, I think not.”

      When she opened her mouth to protest, he leaned in closer and said in a low, sexy tone, “See that structure over there?”

      Her gaze followed his and she saw what he was referring to. It was huge, twice the size of the one she’d tried to scale, designed to challenge even the best of climbers. “Yes, I see it. What about it?”

      The look on his face suddenly changed from desire to bold, heated lust. “I plan to climb all over it tonight. Otherwise, I’ll try my damnedest later to climb all over you.”

      Five

      Some words once stated couldn’t be taken back. You just had to deal with them and Adrian was trying like hell to deal.

      He had taken his climb and had done a damn good job scaling a wall he’d had difficulty doing in the past. It was amazing what lust could drive a man to do. And he was lusting after Trinity. Admitting it to her had made her nervous, wary of him, which was why she was hugging the passenger door as if it were her new best friend. If he didn’t know for certain it was locked, he would be worried she would tumble out of the car.

      “I won’t bite,” he finally said as he exited the expressway. But I can perform a pretty good lick job, he thought, but now was not the time to share such information.

      “Pretending