Read Online Love in Bloom by Karen Rose Smith - Free Book Online Page A

temperature seem over a hundred.
    "Climbing accident."
    "Mountain climbing?"
    "Rock climbing.  Mt. Everest was never in my plans."  So he'd been told.
    "Jeez," Ben repeated.  "Did a bear get you, too?"
    Paige moved slightly and Clay knew she was going to cut off Ben's questions.  But he shook his head at her.  After all, this was what today was all about, wasn't it?
    "No bear.  Rocks.  The safety gear was defective.  I went over the shelf first and..."  He shrugged.  "The rest is history.  The doctors tell me I'm lucky to be alive."
    Ben just stared and shook his head.  "My leg doesn't look anything like that.  And you don't care if people see it?"
    "It's me, Ben.  I have a right to swim or work out or do whatever I want.  Sure, people stare.  But usually a few words of explanation stop that.  I just say I was in an accident.  That's enough."  He'd learned people could accept physical disabilities much more easily than mental ones.
    Paige was watching him more closely than Ben.
    Clay stood and unbuckled his belt.  "So, you ready to swim?"
    He noticed that Paige's cheeks, already rosy from the heat, suddenly flushed redder.  He followed her gaze to his hands.  Hadn't she ever seen a man take off his shorts?  He looked at her in surprise.
    She quickly averted her gaze.  "You two go ahead.  I'll be in in a few minutes."
    Clay frowned, but his attention was diverted as Ben stripped to his suit.  The teenager glanced at his cane but didn't pick it up.  When his eyes met Paige's, he mumbled, "I can manage without it."
    Ben picked his way carefully as he and Clay walked down the grass beach around clumps of sunbathers.  Ben was limping but seemed steady enough.  He tentatively smiled at a group of teenage girls who'd come out of the water.  They returned the smile.
    Paige crossed her fingers for luck.  So far, so good.  Feeling self-conscious, she took off her blouse and shorts.  She wasn't used to parading around in next to nothing in mixed company.  Yes, she'd had swimming classes in boarding school--with all girls.  In med school, she hadn't had time for sunning or swimming.  In Africa, she'd kept herself covered most of the time because of the cultural taboos and the heat.  When she'd traveled with her mother, water was a precious commodity meant for survival, not recreation.
    But today the lake called, and Paige was in the mood to answer.  As she approached the water, she saw Clay's head break the surface.  After a quick look around, he dived under again, swimming along the rope that bordered deeper water.
    As she made her way to the lake, she felt less self- conscious.  Everyone else wore bathing suits much less modest than her navy maillot.  At the edge of the water, she swished her foot back and forth.  It was cold.  She hoped Ben's muscles wouldn't cramp.
    Wading into the water steadily but slowly, she let her body get used to the temperature change.  Goose bumps broke out on her arms.
    When she was in waist high, Clay popped up in front of her.  He ran his hands over his face and shook his hair away from his eyes.  Water droplets sprayed her and she shivered, but not from the cold water.
    She'd seen plenty of naked men since she'd been practicing medicine.  But they'd been patients.  With Clay, when she'd glanced at his gray trunks, the stretchy material hugging and molding, she almost couldn't breathe.
    His scars were wicked.  But his bare chest and shoulders had held much more fascination for her.  She'd never seen such a beautiful male physique.  Drops of water caught here and there in chest hair and rolled down his bronze skin.  There was one drop on his left cheekbone she'd love to taste...
    "Ben seems to be okay.  He said he wanted to do a few laps."
    Clay's words drew her attention to his mouth.  A very male, sensual mouth.  Hers went dry.  She swallowed.  "I don't want him to get overtired."
    "I'll keep an eye on him.  Anything I should know?"
    She walked