Her head emerged after taking the sweater off, revealing the black tank top beneath, and our eyes locked. She smiled at me, as if she had just read my mind. My hand still cupped her waist, and I casually let my arm drop. Gods. I barely noticed the dozens of you girls flaunting their prefect bodies, but the sight of Daiyu removing a sweater could make my mouth go dry. It wasn’t because I was attracted to her that I was so thrown. That was a given. What terrified me was that I liked her.

Daiyu continued to undress, unzipping, then removing her brown boots. Her feet were clad in black stockings and she bounced on the balls of them, turning to scan the rock wall again. She threw a glance over her shoulder and winked. “I’m ready.”

“Right now?”

“Why not?” she replied breezily.

“It’s the best way to begin the new year,” I joked. “Tell the belaybot what size shoes you wear.”

Daiyu spoke to the silver, egg-shaped bot and it retrieved climbing shoes from the depths of its belly. “They fit!” she exclaimed as she jumped up and tested the feel of the shoes. “Now what?”

“We’ll strap you into the harness and you can climb. I’ll reset the wall to beginner level. I can talk you through it.” I took the harness and held it before her. “Your legs go through these holes here.” She laid a hand lightly on my shoulder as she slipped into the harness. “Great. Now we just need to tighten the harness at your waist.”

She was more slender than I was. I adjusted the straps, too aware of my own reluctance to touch her now, but I had to, to make certain the harness fit right. I ran my hands along the small of her back and around her waist, keeping my gaze down, tugging at the harness to make sure it was on correctly.

Resetting the wall configuration with a voice command, I then grabbed a pouch of powder and clipped it to one of the rings on her harness. “Dust your hands and you’re ready to climb. The bot will be belaying your rope.”

Daiyu eyed the bot with its impassive digital touch pad as a face. “Couldn’t you hold my rope instead?”

“The belaybot is stronger and absolutely safe. I bought the best on the market,” I said. “You can trust it.”

“I trust you. . . .” She paused. “I’d trust a person holding the rope more.”

Our eyes met for a brief moment, and I nodded. “Okay.” I slipped on my own harness and pulled the length of thick rope from the belaybot, then made a figure-eight knot for Daiyu, looping it through her harness. I gave the rope another tug to make sure everything was secure. “Tell me when you’re ready to climb and ready to come down. Make sure I give verbal confirmation each time.”