her. She thrashed her arms faster and sucked in air, along with some lake water. Five more strokes, and she’d have it.
Jared reached the oar moments before she did. Panting, she drew up alongside, unable to believe he’d beat her. Her head start had been huge. So much for girl power.
He turned the oar around, until the fat end was facing her. She grabbed it like a lifeboat, not caring that it did little to hold her up. Her breathing was fast and uneven, his slow and rhythmic, like he’d just walked across the yard. And while her teeth chattered away, he wasn’t acting the least bit cold.
In one stroke he was by her side, an arm around her waist. Water swirled around him as his leg brushed against hers. The corners of his mouth slid upward in a slow, sexy grin, drawing her attention to his mouth and then down to his broad shoulders. “And here I didn’t think bunnies liked to get wet.”
FOURTEEN
In a blaze of orange and pink, the sun set behind the ragged tops of the Olympic Mountains. Long shadows stretched across the lake. Frogs sang. And a blazing fire shot sparks into the dark night.
Jenny looked around the fire pit. Instead of just having Maddy over for Monday margaritas, Jenny had decided to include a few more friends. If she was going to jump back into her old life, she was going to do it with both feet. Yesterday, after she’d returned from Cody’s baseball game, she’d called Maddy again and asked her to bring her husband, Don. Then Jenny had called Sharron and Rob and also invited them. The four of them had arrived a couple of hours earlier, and with the fire crackling on the beach and a canopy of stars above them, it felt just like old times. Or almost. Jenny glanced at the empty seat on her left. Out of habit she’d brought six chairs down to the beach instead of only the five they’d need.
She knew tonight would be difficult, a minefield of emotions. It was the first time she was getting together with friends since Steven’s death. As she’d poured margaritas for the girls and handed beers to the guys, she couldn’t help but feel a little guilty, like she was doing something wrong. But then she’d glance over at the extra chair, and a sense of peace would come over her. Almost as if Steven were there, telling her, Yes, you’re doing the right thing. It’s time to move on. But she didn’t think he meant moving on with Jared.
Not for the first time did her mind stray to him. And each time she thought about him, she grew warm. She’d worried about how she was going to handle tonight, with Jared and her friends here. But, thankfully, Jared had unknowingly taken the matter into his own hands. Earlier, he’d left on his motorcycle, and she hadn’t seen him since.
And here I didn’t think bunnies liked to get wet.
Warm grew to hot as she remembered what he’d said to her in the lake yesterday. Remembered how his hands had slipped beneath her soaked tank top and found bare skin. How his hands had wrapped around her waist and held her close as they’d both paddled to stay afloat. Limbs had intertwined as cool water washed over heated skin. Something had shifted in the way Jared was treating her, and she wasn’t sure she liked it. On second thought, she was worried she liked it too much.
The voices of her friends floated around her. Don and Rob were deep into a friendly argument over which they found more challenging—sturgeon fishing or halibut—while Maddy and Sharron chatted about all things baby. Jenny had forgotten that, how since both of her friends had had children a couple of years ago, kids were the main topic of choice. When they’d started talking, Jenny had braced herself. Not long ago, she’d been certain she and Steven would be planning for a family about now. But the sharp sense of loss she’d expected never materialized. Instead, in its place, only a tender memory of what could have been resided.
“I couldn’t believe it either,” Sharron was saying. “My back was turned for less than a second, and before I knew what was happening, Amber had gotten into the Vaseline and smeared it all through her hair.”
“That must have been miserable to get out,” Jenny said, drawing her legs up and wrapping her arms around her