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“Can I try this one with only twenty-five pounds in the vest?”
Trevor and I glanced at one another, and he shrugged. “Sure, but it won’t count toward qualifying.”
“I know that. I think I just need to get through it once without help, and then I can do it with the full weight.”
“Whatever you want, Maggie,” Trevor told her.
I put the vest over her shoulders, and she held her arms out to the sides as I tightened the straps. I glanced at her face and found her watching me. My hands stalled for a moment as I tried to read what I saw in them. There was determination, but also a desire, and it rattled me to see that. I didn’t want to desire Maggie.
The problem was that I did. So damn much so that I could practically feel her in my arms. I could imagine tracing my fingers over her firm body, and I could practically taste her on my tongue. I suppressed the shiver that tore through me and put distance between us, snagging the stopwatch out of Trevor’s hands just so that I had something else to focus on.
Maggie was quick to start and moved smoothly through the course, only having issues with one task momentarily. When I glanced at the stopwatch, I was surprised to see her doing good on time. If she nailed the rope wall, she’d make it under two minutes.
Maggie jumped as she got closer to the wall and got herself up higher, but she struggled to get her foot position and lost precious seconds. I didn’t help her this time, and after some serious focus, she managed to get herself up and over.
Yeah, she was fifteen seconds over the limit, but I was so damn proud of her for doing it on her own. We had quite a few men who struggled through the course.
She was huffing loudly as her chest expanded and released the air while I approached her. “You did great, Maggie.”
“I didn’t hit the time, though, did I?”
“Nope, fifteen seconds off, but you did a lot better this time.”
“Stupid wall,” she growled. “Do you make all the people who travel with you do this course in under two minutes?”
Trevor and I shared a glance. “No, only the ones that want to work with us.”
Maggie bent down and put her hands on her knees, inhaling slowly, then holding it before releasing it again. She did this twice before she spoke again, and when she did, her breathing had slowed noticeably. Damn, I knew a lot of guys who couldn’t calm themselves that fast.
“Why do I have to do this then? I’m not working for your company. I’m going so that I can shed light on the issues you all deal with.”
“Maggie, your safety is important to us, and Jake wants to make sure that you can take care of yourself.”
“Just Jake?” she barked back and raised a brow at me.
“No, not just Jake. I want to know you can take care of yourself too, Maggie. I can’t have you go over with us and get hurt because you couldn’t handle it.”
“Let me ask you a question, Greg.” She came to stand in front of me, the helmet sitting low on her head, and she tipped her face up; she was so damn cute at that moment. “I think you are well aware that I can take care of myself. I think you are looking for an excuse for me not to go.”
“No, I’m not,” I replied, and Trevor burst out laughing. “Shut up, Vaughn.”
“Oh, come on, Blaire, tell the truth. You don’t want her to go because you don’t want to have a hard-on the entire time we are traveling.”
I glared at him, and Maggie started to chuckle. “Oh, so that’s the problem! You don’t want me to go with you all because you want to sleep with me. Is that it, Gregory Blaire?”
“No.”
“Yes!” Trevor roared, and I almost threw the stopwatch at him.
Maggie shifted closer to me. “You know, we can take care of that, Greg. Maybe if we sleep with each other, we’ll stop wondering what it will be like. It’s not like we haven’t done it before.”
I stared down into her pretty eyes; had she lost her mind? I didn’t know about her, but I was pretty sure that having sex with her once would be nothing like it had been when we were teenagers. I also had a feeling that one time with her would never satisfy me. In fact, I was pretty sure a few years with this woman wouldn't be enough.
I think that scared me more than the thought of her traveling with us. As I stared down into her beautiful eyes, I realized that this woman still had a tight grip on my heart. Almost twenty years after I’d walked away from her to protect her, to allow her to have her life, I was finding that I’d never let her go myself.
Is that why every relationship I’d ever entertained had been doomed from the start? Because not one woman I’d ever met could hold a candle to the sexy, sassy, and smart-assed woman in front of me. My god! It was, and that realization was like a punch to my gut.
I swallowed as I stepped slowly back from her. “Sorry, Maggie, but that’s not happening.”
