Page 21 of Two Hearts' Ploy

Jeff paused, realizing he’d been rushing down the staircase.

“Sorry,” he muttered, stopping so she could catch up.

“You’d definitely never know you had a prosthetic,” she said, giving him an unguarded smile.

Jeff stilled as her eyes met his. This was going to be difficult, wasn’t it? He was starting to fall for her hard already.

Yeah, right. Who was he fooling? He’d fallen for her years ago, and his feelings had never really changed.

He swallowed, feeling like he had a lump in his throat.

“Did you want to head to your room and change clothes?” he asked. “That skirt and those heels won’t make it easy for you to walk along the beach.”

“That would probably be a good idea. I might even throw on my bathing suit so I can take a quick swim if it isn’t too crowded,” she said.

“You like to swim, do you?” Jeff asked, strangely intrigued. He knew so little about her outside of what he’d read.

“I do. In fact, unless I’m on the road, I’m vigilant about my daily routine which includes swimming when I’m working out.”

Jeff nodded. “Me too. At first, it was great therapy during rehab. But my place is on the lake, so I swim daily when the water isn’t frozen.”

“Brr,” she said, hitting the elevator button in the annex when they reached the bottom of the staircase leading to Jake’s, since it was set up independently from the Inn.

“Sometimes,” he agreed, grinning. “But it’s great for circulation.”

He almost felt…nervous, he decided. Funny, after pushing her around only a few minutes earlier. Jeff was confident when it came to anything security or work related, he supposed, but when it came to his personal life…some days he had no idea how to move forward.

They travelled upstairs on the elevator in silence, until they reached the fourth floor.

“I’m in the Hummingbird Suite,” she said as they stepped off from the elevator.

Jeff nodded. “I remember how hard everyone laughed when Danielle decided to name the suites after birds, but it actually caught on. I haven’t been on this floor since I worked as a bus boy and made room service deliveries back in high school.”

She used her key card to open the door, motioning him inside behind her.

“It’s even nicer than I remember,” he said softly, heading toward the French doors leading out onto the balcony that overlooked the lake.

“I’ll only be a minute,” she said, walking into one of the bedrooms as he stepped outside.

“I’ll just wait out here,” he called out, thinking about the life she led. An apartment in New York, a beach house, and he wassure that home to her was an exclusive property somewhere in Los Angeles.

He’d better be sure to keep any thoughts of romance out of his head. Besides, what would she see in an ordinary guy like him, who was not quite physically whole, even though it didn’t seem to bother her.

Looking more like a tourist, Wren walked onto the balcony to join him wearing something even sexier than the skirt she’d previously worn.

Jeff nearly groaned as he scoped her out from head to toe. Every enticing curve was visible in her black bandeau style bathing suit top, a pair of very short jean shorts more than likely covering the bottom half of her suit.

“Ready?”

She grinned, almost like she knew what he was thinking. “Yes. I’ve packed a beach bag with a couple of towels inside in case you’d like to swim too.”

“Actually, I do have trunks on beneath my jeans. When the weather’s nice, I head to the concessions for hot dogs or ice cream. It’s a habit I’ve had since I was a teenager.”

“Well, let’s get a move on then,” she said, reaching for the bag she’d left on a chair, hoisting it over her shoulder as she headed toward the door. “I didn’t eat breakfast, so I’m suddenly feeling hungry. Those hot dogs sound really good right now.”

“Don’t get too far ahead of me,” he called out as she stepped up to the elevator that would take them back to the breezeway at the bottom of the staircase that led to Jake’s office. “I thought we’d walk along the lakefront. There’s a nature trail that will take us straight to the beach.”

“Sounds great. Lead the way,” she said, stepping onto the elevator when it opened.

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