Swept Away. Kristina Mathews
when she’d heard a deep male voice, felt strong arms around her, and realized she wasn’t alone in the water.
The rest happened so fast. She was in the water. Then out. Somewhere along the way, she’d lost her bathing suit top and this man was holding her close. There was a second man, identical to the first. He gave up his shirt and flirted with her. The first guy seemed worried about her. But she was fine. Really. They were making too much of a fuss over her. “Sorry to interrupt your fishing trip.” Lily tried to steady her voice, to sound like a woman who could take care of herself.
“Hey, it’s okay,” one of the guys said. “The water’s a little high for good fishing, anyway.”
“We caught something much better.” His brother smiled and spoke with a light-hearted tone. He was definitely flirting with her. She remembered flirting. It’s what her ex had done with every woman but her.
“Tell me again who’s who.” They’d reached the end of the trail. Lily was trying to keep them straight, knowing it must be hard to be constantly mistaken for your twin.
“I’m Cody, the good-looking one.” The first brother flashed his dimples and smoothed back his blond hair in an over-the-top, I-know-I’m-good-looking way.
“Yeah? When was the last time you got a haircut, you hippie?” His brother gave him a friendly shove. Lily’s gaze strayed to his wet shorts. He’d been the one to jump in the water after her. He’d been the one to really save her life. She shivered at the thought. And at the way the damp fabric clung to his muscular thighs.
“At least I don’t look like an escapee from boot camp, like Carson here.” Cody snapped to attention and offered a salute.
“I like it short.” Carson sounded a little offended. “Besides, my hair’s so thick if I go more than four or five weeks without a trim, I have to put stuff in it.”
“And it would just run out into the river, poisoning the fish.” Cody recited the words like scolded schoolboy. “Lighten up, man.”
“So I care about what gets washed into the river.” Carson shook his head and chuckled. “You only care about what you pull out.”
“Hey, at least I catch something once in a while.”
“I’m not talking about the fish.”
They teased each other, but there was genuine affection in their banter. Lily envied their closeness. As an only child, she’d envisioned a large family of her own someday. Three, maybe four kids running through the house. Walking down to Fairy Tale Town or the Sacramento Zoo. Baking cookies and hanging their artwork on the refrigerator door. The only thing hanging on her refrigerator now was an appointment card for Foothills Fertility Clinic.
She followed the twins to a white double-cab Toyota truck. Carson clicked open the locks and held the front passenger door for her. He offered his arm to help her climb up into the cab. A jolt, almost as startling as the icy-cold water, shot straight through her.
How long had it been since she’d been touched, really touched, by a man? For the last few years, sex had been entirely clinical. An act of procreation—and desperation—that had nothing to do with intimacy.
But he hadn’t really touched her. Not like that. He was only trying to help. Like he’d been trying to help when he pulled her against him. And he was only trying to help when he’d touched her breast. Lily wasn’t going to read anything into it. She didn’t need a man. She definitely didn’t need two of them.
Carson went around to the driver’s side and Cody slid into the backseat. Lily clicked her seatbelt in place. If only she could restrain her nerves so easily.
“So tell me.” She turned so she could converse with both of them. “What do you two do when you’re not rescuing topless women?”
Masculine laughter filled the cab. The deep, rich sound warmed Lily from the inside out. Carson started the ignition and turned the heater on full blast, to warm her on the outside.
“We run Swift River Adventures, a rafting company out of Prospector Springs.” Carson’s smile showed a man who took pride in his work.
“It’s not far from where gold was first discovered in California.” Cody leaned forward, inching closer, making her aware that there was entirely too much testosterone in this tiny space. They were big men. Strong men. Very good-looking men.
It took twice as long to drive to the cabin as it had for her to float downstream. At last, she was home. Home. Even if it was only temporary.
“Nice place.” Carson shut off the engine and turned toward her. His eyes were as warm, and as blue, as a summer’s day. “Are you renting for the summer?”
“Nope. It’s mine.” She was still getting used to the idea. “All mine.”
“Is it a vacation cabin?” Cody asked from the backseat.
“Not exactly.” Lily turned to find Cody’s eyes were just as startling and blue as his brother’s. “My house in Sacramento sold a lot quicker than I anticipated. So this is home. Until I figure out where I want to end up.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re here now.” Carson’s voice was slightly lower than Cody’s, without the teasing note. She just hoped she’d be able to find other ways to tell the two of them apart. They both wore faded khaki shorts, complicated athletic sandals, and nothing else. Carson had tossed his wet shirt in the back of his truck and she was still wearing Cody’s.
“So, Lily.” Cody didn’t seem to want his brother to get the last word in. “What do you do when you’re not charming the shirts off a couple of fishermen?”
“I’m an accountant.” Or she had been.
“No way.” Cody leaned forward again. “You’re much too interesting to be an accountant.”
“I think that was supposed to be a compliment.” Carson shot his brother a disapproving look. “What kind of accounting?
“I don’t have my CPA license.” Lily was making excuses again. Focusing on what she lacked, not what she could do. “I do general bookkeeping, payroll, just about anything except income taxes. But my company decided to outsource my duties, so here I am.”
She exited the truck and approached the front porch steps. Both men followed her across the wraparound deck and through the front door of the two-story cabin. The place had been built in the 1940s, when things were made to last. The floors were well-worn oak planks, the fireplace had been built with rocks gathered from the area, and a large picture window overlooked the river below. Three bedrooms, plus a loft, would provide plenty of space for the large family Lily still hoped to bring back here someday.
They entered the bright, spacious kitchen, with its knotty-pine cabinets, butcher-block counters, and a large cast iron sink big enough to bathe small children in. Lily had so many dreams for this place. None of them involved being divorced, jobless, and alone.
“Do you have any tea?” Carson eyed the kettle on the back burner of the gas stove. “Or hot chocolate? Something to warm you up?”
“How about some whiskey?” Cody suggested. His grin made her somehow think of those old cartoons with the big St. Bernard lumbering through the snow with a barrel of whiskey on his collar.
“Um, yeah. Tea bags are in the cabinet over the stove. There’s beer in the fridge.” Lily pointed to the old-fashioned Frigidaire. Not the most energy efficient appliance, but it reminded her of a simpler time. Back then, fresh fruits and vegetables replaced microwave popcorn as a snack. Cupcakes were made at home, not ordered online and delivered to your door. And families were created when a man and a woman loved each other very much and wanted to share that love with a child. It didn’t take a credit check or a series of lab tests. “Make yourselves at home while I go change.”
“You should take a long, hot shower,” Carson suggested. His voice warmed her and made her shiver at the same time.