Page 23 of Two Hearts' Ploy

“It won’t be,” he confessed. “I’ve already got the space doled out in my basement, but all I’ve got inside the room is a bench and some weights. I’ve just been putting off setting up everything since I’ve been working out with Luke. Visiting gives me a chance to spend time with my niece and nephew while I’m there. But I’ll admit, during the winter, I’m not too keen on driving to their house when the weather’s bad.”

When she quickly slipped out of her shorts, exposing the stretchy black fabric of the bottom half of her bathing suit that matched the string bandeau top, Jeff had the usual physical reaction as his mouth went dry.

He tried to pretend to be unaffected. But geez, if he couldn’t control his desire in the middle of a public beach, how in the hell was he going to be able to handle it when he had her alone at his house? And it wasn’t just physical desire. Never in a millionyears would he have ever thought that someone like Wren would be so easy to talk to.

Giving him a side glance, she wore an obviously knowing smile as she headed into the water, jumping to dive in after reaching deep water.

Trying to build up the courage to follow Wren into the water, Jeff blinked as he turned away, staring along the beach. “Talk about coincidence.”

“Unca Jeff.Mom. Look who’s here,” his nephew Danny cried out, running towards Jeff.

Giving Danny a wide smile, Jeff stood, picking him up and spinning him high in the air. Danny’s laughter echoed through the air when Jeff gave him some quick tickles before resting him down on his feet.

“What are you doing here at this time of day?” his twin sister Kelly asked as she approached, carrying his niece, Adriana.

“Giving a short tour to one of Eve’s clients,” he said, turning to Wren, as she stepped out from the water, reaching for one of the towels from her bag.

Chapter Twelve

There’d been something so touching about seeing the way Jeff behaved with the little boy who’d approached him on the beach, Wren’s eyes had momentarily filled with tears, thinking about how different her life had been as a kid compared to how Jeff’s must have been.

It would be rude to stay in the water without introductions to his friends, she decided. Besides, she didn’t want to push Jeff into swimming if he was uncomfortable with her seeing his prosthetic. Something about the way he’d been behaving made her certain that it mattered.

Although she had no aversion whatsoever to seeing him with or without it. Wren had dealt with far worse when she’d taken care of her father after a life-threatening accident.

Suddenly, she was staring at the woman standing on the beach with widened eyes.“Kelly?”

Kelly’s jaw dropped open momentarily until she finally squeaked,“Wren? Is that really you?”

“What’s it been – like twelve years?”

“Longer than that, I’m thinking,” Kelly admitted, grinning. “How in the world did you end up here with my brother?”

Wren blinked. “Wait a minute. By any chance, is Jeff your twin? The one who you were always trying to talk into modeling?”

Jeff snorted, looking dazed. Obviously, he didn’t have a clue that Wren and Kelly had once been friends. Kind of strange considering Jeff had once told Wren that he was a fan.

“At that age, I didn’t care how much money I could have made,” Jeff growled. “There’s no way I would have been caught dead modeling clothes. I would have never been able to live it down.”

Wren’s eyes met Kelly’s before they burst into laughter.

“Who’s this?” Wren asked softly, reaching out to the sleepy little girl Kelly was carrying in her arms, rubbing a finger gently over the side of her face. “She’s beautiful.”

“This is my daughter, Adriana,” Kelly answered. “We walked over here a few minutes ago so that my son Danny could get a little exercise. Luke’s been cooped up working in our home office a lot this week. Luke and I both manage the Crystal Rock Airport, so we can do a lot of our work remotely, when he isn’t off piloting for Jake Loughlin.” Her eyes lingered on Wren’s face. “It’s so good to see you again. I almost didn’t recognize you. God I love that hair.”

“I know. Isn’t it great?” she said, using her fingers to sweep it back from her face. “I had it cut at the Inn’s salon. You ought to see how cute it looks when it’s dry.”

They laughed.

From the corner of her eye, she watched as Jeff dropped his jeans, exposing his trunks, before tugging his shirt off over his head.

Powerfully built, with strong broad shoulders and muscular arms, even the leg that remained looked strong and conditioned.

Although she could see numerous scars, some seemingly recent, Jeff’s skin was darkly tanned. The metal prosthetic that he wore was most obviously highly functional.

Geez, he was more perfect than she’d ever imagined.

“Whoa,” Kelly said softly. “You’re positively drooling, Wren. I know he’s a big boy, but please don’t do anything to hurt him.”

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