...
      Audrey shrugged. “The trip to Scotland last summer got me thinking. You know me pretty well, but you don’t really know the rest of my family much at all, really, so it might have been hard for you to really enjoy your visit. I don’t want that to happen this summer when you come for my wedding. Besides—” she paused and smiled. “I really do want you and Jason to get to know each other. Neither of you have many friends. There’s no reason for you two to not be friends when you can be.” She shrugged. “Having you over this week just seemed like a good idea.”
      Kyra smiled back at her. “Well I’m glad I’m here. It’s going to be a fabulous week no matter what happens.”
      Audrey stood up. “Want to go see if Mom’s back yet? We can start dinner for her if she’s not.”
      “Sure—”
      Kyra’s voice halted as two splashes sounded in the water. “What was that?” she asked.
      Audrey swept the willow branches aside, and they stepped out along the edge of the water again. “It’s just Jason. He likes to come down here for a swim when he gets home from work. The water’s still way too cold for me, but he likes it.”
      Kyra looked out over the water and saw two figures making long strokes away from them across the lake.
      “It looks like he got Dad to race him again,” Audrey commented.
      Kyra couldn’t tell which wet head belonged to whom, but she saw that both were excellent swimmers. Their powerful strokes split the water and scooped it behind them with a speed that made her take mental note not to ever challenge either in a swimming match. They reached the rocks on the other side and turned back toward where

she and Audrey were walking. They stayed side by side all the way back to the pier, where they turned to head across again.
      Kyra caught her breath in surprise. “How many laps are they going to go at that speed?”
      “They usually do two laps there and back. Jason can rarely convince Dad to do three.”
      They turned at the rock again, and one of the heads started to fall back.
      “Go Dad! You can catch him!” Audrey yelled across the water, and Kyra knew that the head in front was Jason’s. Audrey dropped her voice. “I always root for Dad when the two of them go at it, just to tease Jason. Dad hasn’t won in years, but he likes the workout.”
      Kyra watched as Jason touched the pier’s piling a couple lengths ahead of his father and grinned as he got a head ducking for his victory. They moved toward the ladder on the end of the pier and climbed up.
      And she nearly lost her breath.
      She’d never seen Jason without a shirt on.
      Spending summers in a castle might be part of Jason’s more-than-meets-the-eye, but she was pretty sure she was looking at more of it. Lots more of it. Relatively good-looking didn’t really describe him very well, she decided. Gorgeous came a bit closer to the truth.
      Just a bit.
      Now she understood why Audrey chuckled when she’d accused Jason of only being interested in computers and chess clubs. As far as she knew, those activities did not produce the kind of build she was currently trying not to stare at.
      “Gee whiz!” she muttered under her breath with a glance toward Audrey. She offered her friend a glare in return for the smirk she saw.

“Has he always been...?” Her voice trailed off, and she finished her question with a nod in Jason’s direction.
      Audrey nodded.
      Good heavens! Why would a guy go through high school hiding muscles like that? She hadn’t seen a build like that since the last summer Olympics!
      She chanced another glance or two at him while he grabbed a towel and quickly dried his arms and shoulders. He moved with a power and grace that was infinitely attractive. She spared a moment to wish that he hadn’t walked away from the potential fight that day in high school. She would have loved to see Todd get what he deserved. And looking at him now, she had no doubt that Jason could have thrashed him thoroughly.
      “Do you guys have a weight room in your basement or something?” she asked. She looked at Audrey again and got a shake of the head. “Then how...” It must run in the family, she thought as she finally noticed Jason’s father, whose build almost equaled Jason’s. No wait, they’re not blood related, she remembered. But still, no wonder they could swim like that!
      “They’ve got their own special workout that they do in the mornings, Audrey finally answered. She paused as though waiting to see if Kyra’s curiosity held out.
      It did.
      “If you want to know more, then I’ll wake you up before daybreak tomorrow.” Kirsten tossed her a teasing grin and went to greet her father and brother.
      Kyra hung back and tried to stop staring. Jason shook the water from his hair and pulled one of his baggy shirts back over his head. That made it easier, but only a little. Now she knew what his baggy black shirts hid.