Chapter 10

The strength issue was mostly geared towards her. Jon would be able to carry more without it straining him like it would have her. She was athletic, no doubt about it, but his JOB was built around his strength. And devilish good looks. Couldn't forget those.

"C'mon, doll." Locking the truck, Jon tucked the keys in the leather satchel around his waist, where he also kept important copies of equally important papers or cards, just in case. "There's a trail at the very top we'll take that down in the morning." They were at the end of the traditional tourist season, so he wasn't foreseeing too many other people.

The sight was absolutely breathtaking and it was just cool enough to be decent instead of boiling hot like it'd been in August when they first met. October was a beautiful time of year, right before the Christmas rush would come in. People, more often than not, went on vacation and Vegas was their destination for Christmas. It was a sad, surprising fact. Once they were up enough, Jon stopped and unzipped his bag, pulling the harnesses out. He twirled his finger, ordering Vallea to turn around and she did without question, beginning to fasten the safety gear on her body.

"Thank you." She murmured once he finished, feeling his lips brush against the pulse point on her neck, and proceeded to help him with his gear.

He nodded, securing them both, and then triple-checked all the ropes and rigging. If she had fallen from the Red Rock, where they had been, she might've survived with a lot of broken limbs, but it was survivable. This was not one of those places and was far more dangerous.

"Ready to get to the fun stuff?" Jon flashed her a grin, adjusting his sunglasses over his eyes before looking up and whistling. He was so glad he had skipped the gym, this was going to be a full-body workout.

Slipping her own shades on, Vallea nodded and had her hands wrapped with tape to keep a steady grip on the rocks. There were little crevices to latch onto, but they weren't that deep. Thank the stars for harnesses! They stayed side by side while climbing, the altitude something they were used to. She was all smiles the entire climb, focusing on where to put her hands and feet, showing she could really do this. It wasn't a fluke at Red Rock Canyon. Once they were at the halfway mark to the top, Jon called for a break as they stopped to have something to eat and drink, both nestled in what looked to be a cave within the mountain.

"Mmm, water…" She was breathing heavily, sweaty and her heart was beating a little fast in her chest, but not too hard. "Damn, they weren't lying when they said this was a BITCH to climb."

"I know, right?" Jon chuckled, his voice coming out a rasp.

He wasn't going to lie, he needed more cardio in his life and it didn't help that he smoked occasionally, which screwed him right about now. They were making good time and progress, and he wasn't expecting them to hit the peaks, or plateaus if he were more accurate, for another few hours. By then, they'd be ready to find a sheltered area to camp and relax. She had said no, twice, about the car thing, so he would nail her under the stars on a mountaintop.

"So worth it though. This is the best date I've ever been on and it's not even over yet." Vallea laughed, her voice full of mirth while sipping her water.

She knew better than to down it because it'd make her nauseous and that wasn't happening. Jon was too good to be true – a strapping, strong man who enjoyed climbing mountains and had a carefree, don't give-a-damn attitude. He wasn't the only one waiting for the other shoe to drop, so was she.

"Okay, what's wrong with you? You're practically perfect and I'm just waiting to find out the uglier side of you, if there is one. So, come on, nail me with it. Give me a flaw, something, anything, please?"

"I'm crazy, doll, or haven't you figured that out yet?" Jon couldn't believe what he had heard coming out of her mouth. "Woman, you've seen me beat the piss out of a guy for being a good Samaritan. I would have probably killed him if you hadn't intervened. How is that practically perfect?" God, please don't let her be one of those crazy broads who found that sort of thing and being abused sexy, he silently prayed.

"No, he should've realized what was really going on and kept going on his way. I wasn't screaming or crying out for you to stop. He was an idiot." Vallea stated coolly, folding her arms in front of her chest. "If anything, he was probably trying to get a piece of me after thinking he'd take you out." That was laughable. "And you're only crazy in a good way, Jon. I don't think you're crazy in a bad way at all. I wouldn't be up here with you otherwise." Maybe now was the time to ask him about his background. "Let's start with something simpler. Where are you from originally? I was born and raised in Ohio before I had to get the hell out of that state before it bored me to death." His face had gone a little pale and she touched his arm, frowning. "What's wrong?"

"Ohio blows chunks." Jon shrugged her hand off of his arm and rifled around in his bag, procuring a bag of trail mix, a pouch of dried fruit, and some jerky. "Hungry, doll?" He was changing the subject and he didn't care that he was blatant about it. "Good to know you're on board with me beating down wonder bread boys." Plain, stale, do-gooders. He couldn't say anything, hadn't he rescued her too?

Something told her the change in subject was due to her mentioning the state. Was he from Ohio too? Surely not! There was no way they could be from the same state, but then again, fate had mysterious ways of doing things. She took some food from him, eating quietly, and looked out at the beautiful view they had, chewing thoughtfully. Monique was right; they had to get to know each other better if they had a snowball's chance in hell of making this work. Or they might as well stick to sex only and leave it at that.

"I lived in the Cincinnati slums when I was a kid, I HATE that place. I hate thinking about it, Valle. Nothing good came from that hellhole." Jon finally said after a long, terse silence. "Well…the Bengals are a pretty badass team, but that's about it." He fell silent again, thinking, and then glanced at her. "And maybe you, the jury is still out."

"I didn't say anything…you don't have to tell me anything you don't want to, Jon." Vallea assured him, not wanting him to feel pressured in any way because that wasn't what she was trying to do. Hell, she was still trying to figure this whole situation out in her own head. "Cincinnati, huh? I'm from Akron, it's near Cleveland. And no, I'm not a fan of the Indians. I don't like Ohio at all, actually. Haven't been back there in years. I left home when I was 16 and never looked back. Don't regret it either." She wanted to ask him about his parents, but decided against it and chomped on some more jerky. "This is really good."

"Oughta be, a guy I work with, he hunts. A lot. Like, all his time off, I'm pretty sure he ignores his old lady and just goes hunting. He makes his own jerky, does his own meat, that sort of thing." Which was not Jon's style, at all, but damned if he didn't mind eating the fruits of that beloved labor. "If there's ever a zombie apocalypse or some sort of nuclear fallout, this guy will be set. He's that kind of person." Stretching his legs out, he reached out to pull her between them, feeling Vallea lean back into his chest. "Ohio sucks, I think we're both in agreement on that."

Vallea snuggled against him, feeling his strong arms around her, and slid her nails up and down his forearms gently. She was perfectly content with staying right here with him, in the crevice of this mountain, if this was where he wanted to set up the camp. Anywhere with him was fine with her, actually.

"That guy knows what he's doing then. It's not spicy, which is weird since most jerky usually is." She wasn't a major fan of it, but this kind she could definitely get used to. "You're so warm…" She sighed, closing her eyes to enjoy the tranquility with him.

It just depended on the jerky, Jon had learned. His friend did it in all kinds of ways. Ghost peppers, sweet and sour, teriyaki, that sort of deal. All things considered, Jon had not wanted to risk messing up his or her stomach. Nothing sexy about an upset stomach and a pissed-off ass.

"So what's your job really? You're no travel agent, Vallea." The way she had explained her job and what he had seen, she was more like a personal assistant than anything. "And how many clients are you friends with?" Like Monique, she was Vallea's employer sometimes from his understanding, but they were also close friends.

"It's…complicated." Vallea meant that honestly because, to this day, she didn't really know what her job title was. "I am a personal assistant, but I also make money, commission, off of setting up vacations for people. I really don't know what to call myself, to be truthful. And besides Monique, I'm friends with three other people that I work for on a regular basis. And yes, one of them is a man in his 60's and he's happily married and thinks of me as his daughter. His name is Stan. That doesn't bother you, does it?" She looked up into his electric blues, eyebrows drawn together thoughtfully.

"Only if Stan likes to roleplay daddy/daughter scenarios and you take pay for them." It was out before he could think twice or stop himself and Jon half-expected Vallea to slap the taste out of his mouth.

Most women would have. But here she was, surprising him again and putting to rest that 'most women' thing that kept popping up in his head. Jon was rapidly learning that Vallea was not like most women. She wasn't slapping him, she was laughing at him. Vallea couldn't help it. The mere thought of roleplaying anything with Stan was hilarious because his wife would string his balls up on their Christmas tree! She'd given him that exact excuse a time or two, actually. Once she settled down, she smacked him on the chest and then kissed his chin.

"I assure you, the only man I wanna roleplay anything with is you. If you're into that sort of thing. I personally have tried it a few times and there's good and bad parts to it." Standing, she stretched her arms in the air and grinned, not fazed by what he said regarding Stan. "Come on, we're halfway up and if we sit around here any longer, we'll never make it to the top."

"Oh, we will…" Jon assured her, smiling as he leaned back on his hands and just stared up at her. She would roleplay but nothing in public, so exhibitionism was out. Fair enough. "I've done this climb once or twice." Never alone because he wasn't a total idiot; if he fell here, he wanted someone nearby to help save his big, dumb ass. "I'm enjoying the view just fine here, doll."

Her cheeks flushed at his compliment as she raised a brow down at him, wondering if he even wanted to make it to the top. "I think you'd enjoy it a lot better up close and personal." She slowly lowered to straddle his lap, sliding her hands up his muscular arms to rest them on his shoulders, and brushed her lips against his softly. "I can give you an even better view, if you want." That was such a loaded comment and Vallea knew it. She felt his hands settle on her hips and it felt as though they were burning, searing, through the material of her clothes.

Jon was sorely tempted and, even as he was kissing her, he was considering the pros and cons. Definite pro, she was gorgeous and stellar in bed. Given the disproportionately high number of sexy broads who didn't know what they were doing these days, she was a keeper on that merit alone. Con…they needed the light to get to where they were going and set up. Beautiful place to spend the night, dangerous if one didn't get familiar enough with it to not sprain an ankle or fall to their death. Groaning, he gently untangled himself from her, pulling himself up onto his reluctant feet and taking Vallea with him.

"Tempting doll, realllly tempting." Jon didn't even have to glance down to know he was sporting wood and hoped that disappeared before they got back to climbing.

He was determined to get up to the top of the mountain before settling in and she was fine with it. Nothing wrong with a little tease, however. "Figured I'd offer, but I do promise I'll show you a full view later on."

Winking, she walked over to the wall while Jon grabbed their gear and looked up at the rest of the mountain to climb. If they went at a steady pace, they would still have plenty of daylight left. She was looking forward to camping on top of the mountain with him and began scaling the terrain again, following Jon's lead. He'd been here before, so he knew his way unlike her.

Hell yes, he was determined to get to the top of the mountain.

Jon had every intention of having sex with Vallea beneath the starry skies. He had done a lot of traveling, and one thing he usually disliked was the light pollution blocking out the skies. Even here in his beloved Vegas, the sky was constantly lit up by the neon lights from the Strip. Out here, it'd be glorious and gorgeous. Determination did not make him careless, however, he took his time, and let Vallea know ahead of time if there was a weak or crumbling spot in both natural and man-made areas they used to grip and pull. With the afternoon also came the sun beating down on them both and he was damn glad he had coated himself in sunblock because they were at risk of baking alive.

"Almost there, Val!" Jon called down after some time, taking a moment to inhale, noting the change in the altitude.

Nothing major, nothing that would cause discomfort, but his ears had definitely popped.