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She raised a brow. “Rock climbing without equipment?” she posited. “I think I’ve heard of it.”
He clarified as they turned a corner and walked toward the restaurants that lined the main street. “Nothing cliff-like,” he assured her. “Bouldering is mostly done on rock formations that are no taller than fifteen-feet, but yeah. There’s no equipment except a crash pad and some chalk. And the right footwear, of course,” he added.
“I’d be interested in trying that,” she didn’t hesitate. “I love a good physical challenge.”
“It takes tremendous upper body strength,” Fleet warned.
“Is that a brag, or an invitation for me to feel your muscles,” she teased, and before he could sputter, she actually wrapped one small hand around his bicep. “Mmm,” she purred. “Solid.”
Fleet felt himself blush, which because of his dark skin he hoped wasn’t all that apparent, and attempted a comeback. “I, um, have to do something to keep my ass in shape since it spends most of its time in a chair.”
“Looks like you’ve found the right balance,” she teased, seeming regretful to let go as she slid her fingers down the length of his arm. “Wanna feel mine?”
Fleet nearly choked on spit.
Wanna…?Oh, shit.She meant her arm.
It was poised between them, flexed.
“Uh, sure.” He sent his hand out tentatively and surrounded one gun. Rock solid, yet encased in velvety soft skin. “Impressive,” he managed, clearing his throat of the want that threatened to strangle him. He hadn’t expected another kind of hunger that suddenly suffused him, nor the yearning to take all of her into his arms and simply absorb her essence.
“Well?” She brought him back from his inappropriate fantasies.
“Nice. Strong,” he rasped out, feeling like an idiot. Since when was his vocabulary relegated to one-word answers?
“So, does that mean you think I have a chance of doing well at this bouldering thing, Fleet?”
He could certainly give her honesty here. “I think you’ll be a natural,” he pretty much guaranteed, having heard from Everlee some of the things Talia and the rest of the SWAT team did with their bodies to train.
As he and Talia conversed, they’d walked several blocks and were now strolling amidst a small crowd, checking out the various cafés, some of which had live bands performing on their sidewalk spaces.
“See anything good?” Talia asked him. “For bands, I mean. You clearly know the music scene here, so I know you won’t steer us wrong.”
Fleet pointed. “Let’s head for that place.” He indicated a restaurant where he knew the chowder was top notch, and the band was familiar to him. “Chick and Monkey are playing, and they’re really good… If you like prog-rock,” he ended, giving Talia the choice.
“They sound good from here,” she said, tipping her head to take a listen. “But Fleet, I have to warn you. I don’t know prog-rock from alt-rock from rock-rock. Give me a physical challenge any day, and I’m your girl. Talk about music, and I know next to nothing.”
Fleet wasn’t discouraged. Not everyone had to know everything, and before Ever came along, he’d been woefully ignorant about police officers…with the exception of the few bad experiences he’d had…
He cleared his brain of that shit. “Not a problem. If you want to learn a few things, I can help. Or if you just want to enjoy what you hear and not think about it too much, we can do that, too.”
She scoffed. “I have a feeling that hanging around with you, I’m going to absorb all the music-scene stuff whether I mean to or not. Am I right?”
Fleet felt his breathing hitch. Talia was planning on hanging with him? Cool. Very cool. He’d thought maybe she was giving lip-service to the hiking thing, but now that she mentioned taking music tips from him, he knew she wasn’t messing with his head. He had to tamp down his enthusiasm though. Just because she seemed on board with spending time together, didn’t mean she found himromanticallyattractive. And was he even willing to risk…?
Nope.Another bad subject, and no need to darken the mood.
This was a simple meal, Fleet told himself. Not even a date. He’d worry about shit from his past, later.
He answered Talia’s question. “You’re probably right. You’re bound to pick things up by association. But please, shut me down if I start talking music too much. It’s kind of my go-to subject, and I can get pretty boring.”
She hummed a little under her breath and took his arm again, briefly. “I get the idea that nothing you’re going to do will bore me,” Talia told him, then changed the subject. “So, is this where we’re eating?” she asked brightly.
Fleet almost couldn’t get his tongue to work after the third positive thing in a row the woman said. Here he’d been thinking about Talia for weeks, and she was giving him all kinds of green lights. That meant the decision of whether he was going to man-up and date her was all on him, and had been rendered moot. Since she’d clearly already made up her mind, he would go there, apprehensions be damned.
“This caféisa great spot,” he managed, putting a hand to the small of her back and gently urging her toward the outdoor maître d’ station. They didn’t have to wait long to be seated, and on the walk to their table, Chick, the lead singer in the band caught his eye and gave a friendly chin lift.
“See,” Talia snickered quietly as they sat and picked up their menus. “You know the band more than casually, don’t you?”
