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  “I think we’re definitely stuck inside today,” Ava said, agreeing with my assessment.

  “So what should we do for fun?” I asked. “We don’t have Internet access. We don’t have TV.”

  “Maybe we could play a game,” Ava said, a forkful of eggs hovering close to her mouth.

  “Maybe,” I agreed. “I wonder if they have any board games around here.”

  “I don’t remember seeing any, but I’ll look when we get through eating.”

  I couldn’t remember the last time I’d played a board game. If I were at home, I’d use my time more efficiently, but seeing as there was nothing constructive that I could do now, other than maybe push-ups or sit-ups, I figured I may as well entertain Ava with a game.

  After we finished breakfast, I helped Ava clean the kitchen. We searched the cabin for games, but came up empty. I did manage to find a spiral notebook and an ink pen.

  “We may not have any board games,” I said meeting her back in the living room, “but there is one game we can play.”

  “What’s that?” she asked, as we both sat on the couch.

  “You should like it, too. It kind of fits in with your fantasies about killing off men.”

  She looked at me puzzled, her brow furrowed in confusion.

  “Russian roulette?” she guessed.

  I laughed. “With imaginary bullets? That would kind of defeat the purpose. This is a game that Kelsey and I used to play when we were younger.”

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “Hangman.”

  A look of recognition crossed her face. “Prepare to get your butt kicked.”

  I scoffed. “Confident, aren’t we?”

  I handed the paper and pen to her. “I’ll let you start.”

  “Okay,” she agreed, taking them from me. “The first one to win five games will be the official winner. If you finish a puzzle, you get one point. If you hang your man, you get nothing.”

  “Okay, but there is a catch.”

  “What’s that?” she asked.

  “The puzzles have to be something about the other person. Like for you, I might make a puzzle from the word beautiful.”

  I saw a hint of a smile reach her lips, and I decided that I loved it when her face reflected a touch of shyness.

  “Should we put a little wager on it?” I asked. “What do you want if you win?”

  Ava thought a moment before she answered, “If I win, you have to cook breakfast the rest of the week and clean up the dishes.”

  “Deal. And if I win….” I intentionally paused, wanting her to feel the anticipation of my answer. “You have to go swimming with me.”

  An immediate look of panic assaulted her normally calm features. She shook her head. “No. I already told you that I wouldn’t swim with you.”

  It hadn’t occurred to me before, but I wondered if perhaps she didn’t know how. Was that the reason for her discomfort every time I mentioned swimming? “You know, I could teach you how to swim.”

  “I know how to swim,” she said sharply. She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry. It’s just that….”

  “It’s okay,” I assured her, aware that something else was going on here. Why was she so terrified of swimming? “I can pick something else. When you were a kid, did you ever play spin the bottle?”

  “A few times,” she admitted.

  “Then, how about if I win, you agree to kiss me?” I wasn’t sure why I suggested that. Despite the fact that Kelsey, London, and Brandy had all conspired to play matchmakers, I hadn’t planned to play along. But Ava was sweet and pretty, and a kiss seemed like a pretty good idea. Shit. Now, I felt like I should follow that up with some kind of explanation. “That way, we can tell our meddling, little sisters that we did share a kiss. Then maybe they won’t feel like total failures.”

  That shy, subtle smile tilted the corners of her mouth. “Okay,” she agreed, and I had to admit that part of me was relieved that she hadn’t found that just as repulsive as swimming with me. “Of course, that might encourage them to try their hands at matchmaking even more.”

  “Good point. If I win, maybe we’ll keep it to ourselves. There’s nothing worse than having a little sister who won’t mind her own business.”

  She chuckled. “Touche.”

  I was competitive by nature, but I had just decided that I really wanted to win.

  While Ava readied the game, I thought about the limited knowledge that she would have regarding me, so that I could already decide what words or phrases she might choose. I easily won the first point when I guessed her phrase, Kelsey’s brother.

  As easy as that was, I refused to make her puzzle one that she would immediately guess. So after hanging her stick figure, she demanded to know the answer.

  “Milky fair doesn’t make sense,” she said, trying to fill in the remaining blanks.

  “That’s why it’s not the answer.” I shot her a grin.

  “Then what is the answer?”

  “Silky hair,” I said.

  “Oh,” she said, running her fingers through her hair as if she were subconsciously double-checking my answer. “It’s strange when you get something in your mind and then you just can’t see anything else.”

  I handed her the paper and pen. “Your turn.”

  She shifted on the couch, looking at the ceiling as if she were deep in thought before she readied her puzzle.

  My stick figure got close to hanging, although I was finally able to guess correctly, list-maker.

  “I prefer to use the term…goal-oriented,” I said.

  “You’re a list-maker,” she said with a grin, handing the notebook and pen to me.

  “Yeah, and you’re two in the hole,” I reminded her.

  She managed to guess the next two puzzles, which were considerate and freckles, and I remained undefeated by guessing the obvious choices of drives a Camaro and electrical engineer.

  I stumped her on the last puzzle.

  “Dainty ears?” she asked. “Who says that?”

  “I noticed them yesterday when you pulled your hair into a ponytail. You have the most perfectly-shaped, dainty ears. Believe me, I’ve seen girls that I couldn’t say that about. You should definitely take it as a compliment.”

  “If you say so,” she said softly.

  “Well, I was going to say nice ass, but I wasn’t sure you’d appreciate that, even if it is true.”

  She suppressed a smile, and I was pretty damn sure that she wouldn’t have been offended. “Now you have to tell me one you really wanted to do instead of all the safe, easy ones that you actually used.”

  Her eyes widened. “I didn’t want to make them too hard. I wanted you to….”

  She completely shut down. It was like she’d caught herself off-guard, and all of a sudden, she remembered who she was and what she was doing. I didn’t know her well enough to know why she had lost her nerve, but it was blatantly obvious.

  “You wanted me to what?” I asked, hoping to get her to talk.

  Her eyes studied her hands, folded primly in her lap, but she didn’t answer.

  “You wanted me to…win?” I asked.

  Her eyes flew to mine, and her lips parted in surprise. I got all the answer I needed.

  Thunder boomed in the distance, snapping her out of her stupor. Rain drummed rhythmically against the cabin.

  “It sounds like it’s gonna rain all day,” she said, taking a sudden interest in the weather.

  I’d won the game, and my prize was a kiss. But I wasn’t ready to collect just yet.

  “Yeah,” I agreed, turning to look out the wall of windows as the angry drops splattered into the lake like tiny bombs. The trees bent and swayed with the direction of the wind. “I love storms,” I said as I watched the scenery.

  Thunder boomed again, and she jumped, a tiny screech slipping from her lips. She laughed. “I do, too.”

  ***

  Sometime during the night, the rain had stopped. I slept later than I had the pr
evious morning, hoping that most of the rainwater would drain off before I started jogging. As I dressed, I admired the view through my bedroom windows. The sun cleared the tree line, and the water reflected its rays like a liquid mirror.

  As I entered the living room, the glorious smell of coffee hit me. I found Ava sitting at the kitchen table with a mug cupped between her palms.

  “Good morning,” I greeted.

  She looked up, a bright smile on her face. “Morning. You want some coffee?”

  “I’d love some.”

  She started to rise. I held my hand out toward her. “Don’t get up. I got it.”

  I grabbed a cup of coffee and sat across the table from her.

  “I take it you’re going running,” she said.

  I nodded. “I am. You wanna join me?”

  “No, thanks. I’m just gonna hang out and relax.”

  “Relax or devise more ways to knock off old boyfriends?”

  An impish grin lightened her face. “I don’t have it in me to hurt anybody, but there’s nothing wrong with a little fantasizing here and there.”

  I sipped my coffee. “So in your fantasies, are you doing spinning karate kicks to the face? A swift kick to the groin?”

  “I was thinking more like bamboo shoots under the fingernails. Maybe a little Chinese water torture.” She frowned, and I could see the unhappiness momentarily reflected on her face.

  “If you really want to torture him, you should lock him up in the same room with our little sisters.” I stood and rinsed out my coffee cup before putting it in the dishwasher. “Being in the same room with Kelsey for any length of time would certainly drive me insane.”

  “Why’s that?” she asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

  “We’re polar opposites. I like things calm and organized. She’s like a freakin’ hurricane.”

  “And you let her borrow your car?”

  I turned to look at her, icy fear filling my veins as I wondered whether my car was still in one piece. I lamented not have a phone signal. “Yeah, sucks for me.”

  “Maybe your run will let you vent a little stress.”

  “Hopefully. And speaking of, I guess I’d better get going.”

  She stood, too, and put her cup in the dishwasher. “How long will you be gone?”

  “Probably a couple of hours.” I headed toward the front door.

  “See ya when you get back,” she said.

  I hurried out the front door, eager to get my run started before the day heated up. Five minutes into the run, I realized that I’d forgotten my hand towel. Groaning, I turned around.

  Taking the porch steps two at a time, I burst through the front door, planning to make a quick grab for my towel and hit the road to minimize my delay.

  With my fingers still wrapped around the doorknob, I froze. Ava stood in front of the couch in a pink and black bikini, her long blond tresses pulled into a messy bun. My eyes fell to her ample cleavage and followed the narrow lines of her slender waist to the flare of her hips. She was beautiful, and while that would have been enough to render me speechless, it wasn’t the main reason that I found myself tongue-tied.

  Her lips turned down in a frown, and she watched me with vibrant blue eyes like prey observing its predator.

  “Your leg,” I managed to ground out in a voice deeper than normal. My eyes fell to the metal bar that extended just below her knee and disappeared into an artificial foot. “You’re missing a leg.”

  Her gaze followed mine. “Oh, my gosh! You’re right!” She then began frantically looking around her, snatching up the throw pillows from the couch in a dramatic display of searching. “Where’d it go?”

  I immediately felt horrible for my reaction. Holding my palm up in a conciliatory manner, I said softly, “I’m sorry. I just didn’t expect it.”

  She gave me a sad smile. “It’s okay. I’m used to it. I’m sure you must be thinking how horribly inadequate I am.”

  “Inadequate?” I asked in surprise. “No, I’m thinking not only have you finished a triathlon, even if you were a few seconds shy of the deadline, but you finished it with one leg, which really puts the pressure on me.”

  A smile broke across her somber face.

  “And I’m thinking you look incredibly sexy in that bathing suit,” I added. “And please don’t think me insensitive, but I have a huge Halloween party every year, and I’m thinking that you would make one helluva a pirate wench.”

  Chapter 4

  Ava

  “A pirate wench, huh?” I asked, snatching one of the decorative pillows from the couch and throwing it at him. “I hate to disappoint you. While I do have some spare legs, I’m afraid a wooden peg leg isn’t one of them.”

  He rubbed his palm across his bare chest and shot me an endearing grin. I exhaled a breath that I’d been holding since he’d first walked in the cabin.

  Years of experience had taught me that it was impossible to tell how someone would react when they first learned about my leg. And not unlike most girls, I was even more self-conscious around the opposite gender. There were times when I didn’t give a crap what people thought, and then there were times when I worried myself sick. Jack had dealt a major blow to my confidence, and no matter how many times I told myself to forget him, that he wasn’t worth the anxiety, my heart refused to listen. I had been devastated, and the ordeal had left me wanting to cower in the shadows. That was why I’d come here. I knew I needed to get it out of my system and move past it. I needed to renew my resolve. While I hadn’t expected to meet Ridge here, the fact that he had taken such a lighthearted approach to the discovery of my amputation had been a huge relief.

  And the fact that my amputation hadn’t been the only part of my body he’d noticed had boosted my ego, melted away a sliver of my self-doubt.

  “Is that why you wouldn’t go swimming with me?” he asked, pointing to my prosthesis.

  To answer affirmatively would be to admit what a pathetic state of mind I was in. I blinked as I wondered how to answer. I supposed to acknowledge it out loud would be a start to getting over this hump. I wasn’t crippled because of my leg. I was crippled because of the delicate emotional states that I sometimes found myself in, times when I wondered whether my leg would keep me from winning the man of my dreams or make me so paranoid that I would sabotage those dreams. I knew it would only hinder me if I allowed it to, and I knew my battle right now was a mental one, not a physical one.

  “Yes,” I said with a voice loud enough that I hoped it would resonate within my own brain.

  “Is it because your leg can’t get wet?” he asked.

  That wasn’t the reason that I had refused to swim with him.

  “If you’ve participated in a triathlon, then I know you can swim,” he said, his brow furrowed as he waited for me to give him some indication as to why I had refused to swim with him.

  “I’m a pretty good swimmer, but I don’t use a prosthesis when I swim.”

  “Damn,” he said, standing akimbo and shifting his gaze to the floor.

  “What?” I asked.

  “It sounds like you didn’t swim with me because…you just didn’t want to swim with me. First, you put a huge dent in my machismo, and now you’ve dealt quite the blow to my ego. What the hell are you trying to do to me?”

  I walked toward him, grinning like a peg-legged pirate who’d just found a boatload of booty. He had gone out of his way to make me comfortable, and the gesture endeared him to me. I could feel giddiness travel through my veins like a long swig of rum.

  “Don’t be frettin’, matey, I’ll go fer a swim wit’ ye,” I joked as I approached him, and it felt good.

  A crooked grin turned up one side of his mouth. “Alas, ye’ve made me a happy scallywag, me beauty.”

  “When do ye wants t’ go?”

  “As soon as me lazy arse gets back from me run.”

  I giggled, feeling more carefree than I had in months. “You do a fine pirate impression, if I do say
so myself.”

  He pointed at me. “There’s more where that came from. You and me. Halloween party. Wear your peg leg. Deal?”

  I nodded my head, my bun flopping with the motion. I’d have to figure out the peg leg thing later, but I was definitely up for a party with Ridge. “Deal. It sounds like fun.”

  “Awesome. I’m going to grab my towel and finish my run. Then, we’ll meet back here and go for a swim.”

  “Okay.”

  He stepped around me, heading toward his room, and I watched as he walked away from me, appreciating the way his broad shoulders tapered down to a narrow waist. Once he had disappeared down the hall, a tiny squeal escaped my lips. A chest-crushing weight had been lifted from my body. Ridge Sutherland now knew that I was an amputee, and other than a momentary blip at the unexpected revelation, it didn’t seem to faze him one bit.

  After he left to go on his run, I sat on the couch and applied sunscreen. I had planned on taking a short swim while he was out, but now that fate had intervened, I lounged on the deck and read, opting to wait on him before I headed toward the lake. The late summer breeze had a bit of a nip to it, and I used a spare towel to drape over my body while I waited for the air to warm.

  By the time Ridge returned, the sun perched high in the September sky. He stepped onto the deck in the same low-riding pair of red trunks he’d worn previously, his well-defined abs clearly visible.

  “How was your run?” I asked, positioning my bookmark before I shut the novel and laid it on the chair beside me.

  “I’m glad it’s over.” He walked to the lounger and sat beside me, and after noticing his light, clean scent, I knew he had recently showered.

  “You still want to swim?” I asked, hoping he hadn’t changed his mind. While I knew that going for a swim was a small thing, I‘d been looking forward to it all morning.

  “Abso-freaking-lutely.”

  A small smile tugged at my lips. I pushed the towel I’d been using as cover to the side and swung my legs over the edge of the chair. I hadn’t removed my tennis shoes, and I would leave them on until I’d gotten to the edge of the water. Scooping up the folded towel that I had reserved to dry off with and the towel that I’d been using as cover, I waited while Ridge stood.