it against the lake’s floor, and they glided across the smooth surface of the water.
“Do you want to paddle left or right?” She knew the answer. He’d paddled on the left-hand side the entire trip. She’d somehow catalogued the information without even knowing she had.
Looking over her shoulder, her gaze caught Victor’s. “You’re the boss, O’Connor. I’ll row on whatever side you tell me to.”
“Left will be fine.” As tempting as it was to make him row right, this wasn’t the day for testing his ambidextrous abilities.
“Left it is.” He gave her a wink. The breeze skittering across the water ruffled his hair, and the morning sun glinted off his muscular arms like he was starring in some great outdoors commercial. Even the scar running down the side of his face made him look even more like he belonged here. Just like the night before, as he’d skipped the rocks with unconscious ease.
Lacey turned around, her hand tightening around the wooden oar as she tried to get a grip on her unprofessional thoughts.
“O’Connor.” Victor’s voice was tinged with amusement, but she resisted the urge to turn back around as the canoe cut smoothly through the water.
“Yes?”
“While I’m flattered by your obvious confidence in my abilities, are you planning on sticking your oar in the water any time soon?”
Lacey’s head jerked up to see the other two canoes already ahead of them.
Their canoe, meanwhile, was turning toward the right-hand shore, the result of Victor paddling on the left and Lacey not paddling at all.
“Sorry!” She dug her oar into the water and leveraged all her weight into it, sending the canoe moving ahead and turning back on course. One more deep row and they were straight again.
Lacey dug her oar in, their canoe picking up speed and closing the gap on the other two. Get a grip, O’Connor. You’re supposed to be the captain!
Within a couple of minutes, they were back with the others, their pace slowing slightly to remain with them and not get ahead. Across the water, she could see Jen and Richard talking. Cassie and Louisa did the same. It made the silence in her canoe feel all the more obvious.
She could feel her shoulders tensing, creeping up toward her ears, just at the knowledge that Victor was less than a body length away. Staring at her back. Watching her every move.
Lacey cleared her throat, searching for something to say. “So what are your plans for after this?”
Stupid question. Like he was going to tell her anything. She was the competition.
There was silence from the back of the boat for so long that she relaxed, thinking he hadn’t heard her.
“You hinting I might be back on the job market, O’Connor?”
Lacey pushed her oar into the water and gave it a good shove. Just keep the rhythm. “That’s up to Meredith. Nothing to do with me.” Her words sounded cold. “I meant besides work. Anything waiting for you back home?”
Crap. Now she sounded like she was fishing for information about his personal life.
“My brother’s getting married soon. That’s about it.”
The perfect opportunity to reveal their connection dangled in front of her. She had might as well get it over and done with. Probably wasn’t going to be any better moment than when they were in a canoe. If she kept her head straight, she wouldn’t even have to look at him for a few hours.
“You got any siblings, O’Connor?” Victor diverted the conversation before she could get the words out.
“Just one. A sister.”
“Older or younger?”
“Older. By two years.” Though on the rare occasions the two of them saw each other, it looked more like ten. Betsy wore every single one of her hard years like a war veteran.
“Is she in New York too?”
“No, she’s still in our hometown.” Lacey’s words came out more clipped than she’d intended. The edge in her voice saying more than she wanted to. “Sorry. Our family … it’s complicated.”
“Families usually are.”
Lacey chanced a glance over her shoulder, but Victor wasn’t looking at her. His gaze was set somewhere over the treetops, his expression weighed down like gravity had gotten a lot stronger.
She turned her attention forward and dug her paddle back into the water. The sound of rushing water carried across the lake’s surface, an early sign that the first set of rapids were close.
As they paddled, the sound got louder, drowning out any possibility of conversation. Then, as they rounded a corner, the rapids appeared about a hundred feet away. A decent run