“Let me grab a towel, and we’ll hit the lake,” he said as he turned to go back in the cabin. A moment later he returned, and we made our way down the short set of steps that led from the deck to the yard.
Once we reached the shoreline, I spread a towel out on the grassy embankment and sat down on it. “You can go ahead,” I motioned to him. “I’m just going to take my leg off before getting in the water.”
“I’ll wait on you,” he said as he slid his flip-flops off beside the towel. “I imagine you might need some help getting to the water, won’t you?”
“I can assure you that I’m perfectly able to get in the water by myself,” I said with a little more defiance in my voice than I meant. In reality, I could do it. Although in all honesty, I wasn’t sure how graceful it’d be.
“I know you can,” he said easily, unperturbed by my stubbornness, “but since I’m here, I figure I may as well offer my favorite pirate wench a hand.”
He was so nonchalant that it was difficult to refuse him.
“Fine,” I reluctantly agreed. He stood patiently, soaking in the peacefulness of our environment. Water lapped gently against the shore as I pulled the sock and shoe off of my right foot. Then, I removed my prosthesis.
Ridge held his hand out to me, but I pushed to my good foot on my own accord before taking it. After a couple of hops, we were at the water’s edge.
“I could pick you up if it would be easier,” he offered.
“It’s not necessary,” I insisted, taking another hop and splashing water and mud all over both of us.
He shot me a grin.
“Oh, all right,” I finally agreed, prepared to die from the awkwardness of him actually having to lift me. If I had to find a bright side, it would be that I’d only had coffee for breakfast, so hopefully, I wouldn’t be too heavy.
In one quick motion, he scooped me up, both of my knees folded over his arm.
“Isn’t this better?” he asked, smiling as he watched for my reaction. “Not that mud baths aren’t beneficial.”
“Yes, I admit that this is easier, but it’s also much more awkward.” My arm rested on his shoulders.
“More or less awkward than giving a public speech?” he asked.
“More,” I answered without hesitation. As a realtor, I was used to talking to strangers and delivering sales pitches. Public speaking was not my enemy.
“More or less awkward than walking out of the bathroom with tissue paper stuck to the bottom of your shoe?”
“More.”
He shifted his head, looking toward the sky as if in thought.
“More or less awkward than gossiping about someone when they walk up behind you?”
“I try not to gossip, although I’m not always successful. More.”
“More or less awkward than trying to pay for a buggy full of groceries and your credit card gets declined?”
I wrinkled my nose. “Less.”
“More or less awkward than accidentally sending a text message to your parents that you meant to send to your boyfriend?”
“Definitely less.”
“More or less awkward than farting in a car full of strangers?” he asked.
I gasped. “You’re such a guy. I can’t believe you just asked me that.”
An endearing grin shot across his face, and my heart flipped in my chest.
“Well, I’m trying to make you feel better by establishing that there are plenty of situations that are much more awkward than this one,” he said as he continued to walk into the water.
My butt hit the cold water of the lake, and I shrieked as I tried to lift out of the water. He tightened his hold on me and waded in deeper.
“That is so cold,” I whispered with my teeth clenched.
“You’ll get used to it.”
I found myself leaning into the warmth of his chest as the water covered my belly, and once I realized it, I nearly leapt from his arms. “You can put me down now.”
He released my legs, but held tightly to my torso, his hands sliding to my waist. His touch sent jolts of awareness to every nerve ending as my foot landed on the soft silt in the bottom of the lake. “Are you good?” he asked, waiting for me to catch my balance.
I nodded, and he released me, taking the comforting warmth of his hands away from my cool skin. Dipping my shoulders beneath the water, I shivered as I began treading water to keep upright.
“So how’d you get into triathlons?” Ridge asked.
“Before I lost my leg, I used to run track for my high school team. I read an article one day about an amputee who was training for a triathlon, and I decided that I wanted to do it, too. So I did.”
“You make it sound so easy,” he said, scooping water onto his shoulder.
“Oh, it wasn’t easy. It was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.” Many times during training, my residual leg would hurt immensely, and some days, it would bleed. Refusing to give up, I had pushed on because it was something that I had to do for myself. But I would save him from all the unsavory details.
“You mentioned that I should try another one, and I have actually been training for one that’s going to be held at the beginning of November,” I said.
His eyes widened. “The one that’s being held in Chattanooga?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“That’s the same one that I entered,” he said. “So you’ve been training, too?”
“I have, but I decided to take some time off this week to give my residual leg a rest. Swimming was the only thing I was going to work on while I was here.”
“Then we’ll have to swim together, as long as you promise not to show me up.”
I grinned. “I’ll think about it.”
“Are you ready to swim now? It would help you warm up.”
“Sure.” I positioned myself beside him, and we both faced the glistening expanse of the lake.
“Ready…set…go!” he exclaimed, his deep voice carrying across the water.
I started swimming, noticing that he’d given me a head start. As I glanced behind me, I caught a glimpse of him diving into the water. I pushed harder, focusing on my breathing rhythm and my stroke.
It didn’t take him long to catch up and pass me. I noticed that he slowed some, and I had no doubt that he was doing it intentionally to keep from blowing me out of the water. Once we’d swum for several minutes, he pulled ahead and turned, swimming back toward the shoreline. I followed suit.
We both stopped in the same area that we had started, and I gulped in deep breaths of air. He wasn’t even winded, but he stood patiently waiting for my breathing to return to normal.
“Go again?” he asked.
I nodded, and we repeated the same process a total of four times before we finally quit. Standing in chest-high water, I shielded my eyes from the afternoon sun. “I’m warm now.”
“Yeah, that was a pretty good workout.” He rubbed his fingers through his hair, squeezing out excess water. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. What if the Grill Master makes an appearance and whips up some lunch?”
“I like that idea,” I agreed. “I’m hungry, too.”
An hour and a half later, we were seated at the picnic table in our swimsuits eating grilled chicken and vegetables.
“So how ‘bout tonight we go for a canoe ride?” Ridge asked, his amber eyes focused on me.
Since he carried me into and out of the lake, I’d already suffered from sensory overload. I remembered the feel of his hands on my skin, the soothing calmness in his voice. If I was alone with him in the close quarters of a canoe, I feared that my anxiety would kick in. My mind ticked off the pros and cons. Ridge wasn’t Jack. Maybe he was just trying to be nice to me, but he had a way of making me feel comfortable. No guy had done that so quickly since I had lost my leg.
“Okay.” Just the thought of being close to him in the darkness sent my heart skittering like the darting minnows in the lake. I took a deep breath, willing my heart to beat
normally.
I liked Ridge, but after what had happened with Jackass, I was afraid of those kinds of feelings. Aggravation swarmed my body. Normally, I would have jumped at a chance like this. I loathed the effect that I was allowing the guy I had previously dated to have over me. What happened to the spontaneous and fun Ava?
No, I wouldn’t let Jack have that kind of power.
Tonight, I would do something spontaneous.
Chapter 5
Ridge
A brilliant, crescent moon hung in the inky sky like a nightlight illuminating the blackness. The lake’s surface shimmered as the sound of water soothed me. Frogs called to one another like cantankerous old men grunting at old friends.
I pushed the front of the canoe into the water, the rear still safely lodged on shore. I turned to retrieve Ava. She was sitting on a patch of grass in her bikini top and a pair of low-cut blue jean shorts. Opting to leave her artificial leg on the deck to prevent it from getting wet, she waited quietly for my assistance.
She stood as I neared and wrapped her arm around my neck. I scooped her up effortlessly and carried her to the canoe, gently depositing her on the seat closest to the lake. Her hair was pulled into a casual bun at the nape of her slender neck, and she smelled faintly of coconuts.
While I was initially aggravated at Kelsey for sticking me in a cabin with a girl I’d never laid eyes on, I had to admit that Ava was sweet and personable. Besides her natural beauty, I found her gentle nature and dogged determination to be admirable traits.
After handing her a paddle, I pushed the back of the canoe into the water and climbed in, using my paddle to push us farther into the water.
Once we were a good distance away from the shore, we pulled our paddles into the boat.
“It’s so…soothing out here,” she said in barely more than a whisper.
“It is, isn’t it?”
She turned her head as she scanned the coastline, and the moon silhouetted her profile, outlining the soft curve of her cheek.
“This is why I came here. This feeling right now,” she said softly.
“I told you. You can’t get the whole lake house experience until you’ve canoed.”
“I’m glad I let you talk me into it.” She hesitated. “Part of me really wanted to canoe with you.”
“And the other part?” I asked, not sure what to make of her response.
“I was dating this guy, and eventually, I found out what a jerk he was. The other part of me is struggling with that and wants to steer clear of all single males. Sounds pathetic, I know.”
I grinned into the darkness. “No, it doesn’t. Sometimes, we have to watch out for ourselves because no one else will.”
“Exactly,” she said, turning to look at me. “But at the same time, I’m aggravated with myself for allowing him to affect me at all.”
“If he hadn’t affected you at all, it could only mean that you didn’t care about him.”
“I hadn’t thought about it that way, but I guess you’re right. Maybe I should be aggravated with myself for not being a better judge of character. Or maybe I shouldn’t have cared about him.” She trailed her fingertips in the water.
I smiled at her blatant honesty. “So what happened?”
“Let’s just say that everything was going perfectly until he found out about my leg. Then, he couldn’t get rid of me fast enough.”
“What a bastard.” Man, I could have imagined a lot of things, but that wouldn’t have been one of them. “Did he say that was the reason?”
“Yeah. Pretty much. Told me that he didn’t think he could deal with it.”
I could hear the pain in her voice. “Good riddance, don’t you think?” I asked.
She exhaled loudly. “I know, but it still hurts. Now, I don’t know whether to tell a guy on the first date or wait until we’ve actually developed a connection.”
“I’m sure that’s something you’ll figure out as you go, but if that prevents a man from dating you at any point, then you don’t want him, anyway.”
“I know, but that kind of stuff starts messing with your head after a while, you know?”
“Be strong, Ava. Everyone we meet in life can either support us on our journey or get the hell out of our way. And he needed to get the hell out of your way.”
She chuckled. “Thanks, Ridge. That actually makes me feel a little better.”
“Look at the moon,” I told her. “When I was growing up and I’d had a bad day, my mother used to call me outside at night and tell me to look at the moon. Then she’d say the moon was washing away all the bad things that had happened that day, and the sunrise would signal the fresh start of a new day, a beacon of all the wonderful things yet to come.”
“Your mom sounds pretty great.”
“She is.”
Ava stretched her neck as she gazed at the moon. “Did it work?”
“Every time. I’d just wake up in the morning and focus on my goals. Anything that didn’t help me accomplish those got pushed to the wayside.”
“Do you plan everything you do?” she asked.
“Pretty much.”
“Is Kelsey a planner?”
I chuckled. “I’m sure she does some planning, but for the most part, she’s a fly-by-the-seat-of-her-pants kind of girl. She’s changed her major three times, so I’m sure she’s easily added a year or more to her college career. Of course, we’re talking about a girl who can’t decide what shirt to wear.”
“You know, planning is great. I mean that. It really is. But there’s something to be said for spontaneity, too.”
I chuckled. “You don’t think I can be spontaneous?”
“Can you?”
“I don’t know. Why don’t you show me how it’s done?” I asked, my voice low and husky, challenging.
Her hands gripped the edge of the canoe, and she remained silent. Cautiously, she began crawling over the thwart. “Why don’t you meet me in the middle?” she asked softly.
I accepted her challenge, moving towards the center of the canoe. Once we were both there on our knees with nothing between us but the center support, she leaned forward and froze.
“What are you going to do, Ava?” I asked, my voice gruff. I watched her facial expressions in the soft glow of the moon.
Gently, she placed her soft palms on my shoulders. “I’m going to kiss you, Ridge Sutherland.”
It surprised me how much I liked the sound of that. I remained still, allowing her to be in full control. She leaned forward and gently pressed her lips against mine, sending an unexpected surge of desire through my body. Her lips were soft and warm and supple, and I could smell her tropical scent.
I put an arm around her waist, pulling her to me, assuring her that I wanted it, too, but I refrained from taking over. I had won a kiss from her, but my prize would be taken at a time of my choosing. This one was all hers.
Her lips grazed mine, and they moved across my jawline, down to my neck. The canoe shifted with her movement, and she froze, waiting on it to calm before she continued. Clenching my shoulders with her fingers, her lips teased my Adam’s apple. Her warm tongue flicked across my skin, and she gently sucked my neck, her breasts brushing against my chest. I groaned softly as her movement caused me to harden.
I suddenly wished we were anywhere but on a canoe. She was driving me wild with her soft, sensual movements, and she had barely even kissed me. I had the urge to grab her by the waist and kiss her like she’d never been kissed before, but I could wait to claim my prize. Besides, the teetering canoe prevented me from doing any of the things I wanted.
So I remained still while her maddening lips explored my body. She straightened, and her lips were on mine again, her tongue teasing me. More than happy to allow her entrance, I parted my lips, and her tongue slipped into my mouth. She rose higher, repositioning herself, her lips never leaving mine. The canoe began teetering, and then, she jerked back and let out a shriek as it wobbled dangerously. I reached out to steady her,
but she evaded my grasp as we both toppled into the water.
The numbing shock of freezing water assaulted me as I was submerged beneath the black, glassy surface. When I got my bearings, I rose to the top, taking a breath as I shivered in response to the lake’s late-night chill.
“Ava?”
She broke the surface of the water, sputtering and coughing.
I swam to her. “Are you okay?”
She coughed again. “I’m fine. Just got a little water down the wrong pipe. Remind me the next time I decide to flop out of a canoe to close my mouth first.”
Luckily, the canoe hadn’t capsized, and I checked to make sure the paddles were still inside.
“So much for being spontaneous,” she grumbled to herself.
I smiled into the darkness. “I don’t know. Getting dumped in the lake is pretty spontaneous, don’t you think? I, for one, didn’t see it coming.”
“I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I put too much of my weight on the left side of my body, and well, on an unstable surface like the bottom of a canoe and with no foot to help me regain my balance….”
I chuckled. “Don’t sweat it. I needed a good dousing, anyway. Some chick was getting me all hot and bothered.”
“Was she now?”
“Indeed she was.”
There was an awkward moment of silence.
“I’ll hold the other side of the canoe while you climb in,” I said, paddling to the opposite side. I grabbed the edge with both hands. “Ready?”
“Yes.” Ava climbed over the side easily and used her weight to our advantage as I climbed in on the other end.
“This has definitely been a memorable canoe ride,” I said, as the cool night air licked my skin.
“I’m sorry,” she said again, her voice sounding jagged as she spoke around the chills that racked her body.
“You’re freezing. Grab your paddle and let’s get you back to the cabin. And there’s no need to apologize.”
We quickly paddled back to the shore. For someone who had never been in a canoe, Ava paddled effortlessly, working in perfect unison with my strokes. I admired her athleticism, and I had the feeling that she was the kind of girl who could hang with me no matter what sport or activity I was doing.
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