Probably, but damned if she could remember. The toe of her sneaker slid against the bark, seeking purchase and failing. “Crap.”
“Grrrr.”
“You’re not helping.”
He snorted. “I’m not here to help. I’m here to eat you. As unpolitely as possible.”
“It’s ‘impolite’, and shut up.”
“Impolite. Sorry.”
She flinched as a stream of air stirred the fine hairs on the back of her neck. “Stop it, Nick.”
“Just tenderizing the meat.”
She ignored him and focused solely on forcing her foot into the fork. Tendons strained and bones creaked. She could do this, yes she could. But a meter off the ground was pretty damn high when it had been so long between Pilates classes. Then … yes, success! Her legs were not happy. Neither were her arms, as she pushed off the ground with her other foot in a bid to have it join the first. Sweaty hands slipped against the bark.
“Shit!”
Nicks grabbed her hips, stabilizing her as her foot flailed against the tree trunk. “Hang on. I’ve got you.”
“This is stupid,” she snarled, hanging from the tree like a defective ape.
“You’re doing great.” He laughed against her back, his chest shaking. Big hands cupped her butt, taking her weight off her poor aching arms. Hard to object to the manhandling when it was the only thing keeping her off the ground.
“I’ll give you a push up,” he said. “Okay?”
“No!”
“Calm down. You can do this.”
“Wait.” With his support she managed to wedge her other foot into the divide. Someone had lit her shoulders on fire. How did people do this shit? Why did they? Idiots.
“Ready?” he asked.
“Okay.” And up she went. With his hands all over her ass, splayed out, steadying her. She wrapped her arms around one of the big branches and hung on for dear life. Rough bark scratched at her cheek. She clung on like a koala, but with less style.
Nick looked up at her from where he stood on the ground, hands on his h*ps and a broad grin on his face. Delighted with her again, apparently. She tried not to smile back. The corner of her mouth twitched in betrayal.
“There we go. I said you could do it. Move over,” he said. “I’m coming up.”
“What? Hang on.”
Nick grabbed at her handhold branch with one big hand, propped the end of his foot beside her and swung himself up. That damn easy. “Hey,” he said.
“Hi.”
“Nice view,” he said, staring into her eyes.
Unease slid through her. Their noses almost touched. He didn’t have to be crowding her again. She looked at all the elsewhere over his shoulder. Anywhere but him was good. Her gray T-shirt clung to her in patches, nice and sweaty. Strands of hair stuck to the side of her face. Catching her breath took time. The idiot just kept staring. She leant back a little, but there wasn’t anywhere to go and he just followed. Like it was a game, damn it.
“Stop it,” she mumbled.
“Stop what?”
She probably smelled fantastically bad. He smelled like a man who’d been jogging. Clean male sweat and all that, the same as the other day when he’d been chopping wood. Her heart capered around inside her chest due to the physical exertion. Nick grabbed at another branch stretching out from the tree beside his head. The sleeve of his blue T-shirt rode up a little, stretching around his bicep.
“Wanna go higher?” he asked, looming over her.
“Um, no. This is good.”
“Zombies could chew on your ankles at this height.”
“Fortunately, you seem to have lost your appetite.”
“Have I?” His eyes darkened perceptively, never once leaving her face. “Bet you can guess what I’m thinking right now.”
“You’re a freak.”
“Says the woman who can’t admit to liking it when I take control.”
She growled.
“Lie down,” he said, placing gentle pressure on the middle of her back.
“We need to establish some ground rules.”