Always(Time for Love Book 4)(2)

“That man’s not good for you, Bren,” Ash said. “He seems like a cold fish.”

“Hey, that’s harsh, Ash. He’s just shy,” she said, defending Lance. Funny, though, how a big part of her agreed with Ash’s sentiment.

Ash shook his head. “I should dunk you in the ocean to wake you up.”

Brenna snorted. “You wouldn’t dare.”

“I wouldn’t?” he asked ominously.

“No-o,” she said, her earlier confidence evaporating at Ash’s tone.

With fast movements she didn’t expect, Ash lifted her in his arms and headed for the water.

“Ash! Put me down!” she shrieked.

“You know better than to dare me, Brenna Ward.”

“It’s cold, Ash,” she said pleadingly. While it was a sunny day, the early spring weather was still too cool for her to want to go in the water.

“Even better. That would wake you up even more, wouldn’t it?”

“No!” she exclaimed, giggles bubbling out of her.

A gentle wave rolled up to them. “Oh, damn. It is cold,” Ash said as the water hit his legs, followed by a gust of cool sea breeze.

Her body shook as she tried to contain her mirth. Why she was finding this funny, she didn’t know. “See? Put me down,” she demanded.

“Your wish is my command,” Ash said with a grin, swinging his arms as if he was going to throw her.

“Ash! No! Don’t drop me please,” she said, her laughter ringing out with her words.

“But you just asked me to put you down,” Ash teased.

“Not in the water!”

“Well, since my legs are already wet, we might as well go all in,” Ash said, wading almost waist-deep. Any deeper and she too would get wet.

“Ash, don’t be silly! We don’t have a change of clothes!”

Ash lowered his right arm, which was supporting her legs, just enough so her feet touched the water.

She shrieked, extending her legs up and clinging to him like he was her lifeline, her arms tightly wound around his neck. She was giggling harder and she couldn’t stop herself.

Ash pressed her closer to him.

Whoa!

Frankly, the feel of Ash’s muscular chest, his strong arms carrying her and the nice smell of his short, dark hair was driving her to near hysteria. Apart from hello and goodbye hugs, she hadn’t been this physically close to Ash for this length of time before. And damn, it was making her... swoon. She’d always had a thing for hunky men and Ash most definitely was one. Even with his busy schedule, he didn’t miss his time at the gym.

She was getting warm and tingly. And her gaze focused on Ash’s lips. They weren’t far away from hers...

Panic surged through her. What the hell was she thinking? This was Ash, the guy who treated her like he treated his sister!

Stop, Brenna! And tug your earlobe!

Instead, she squirmed, trying to get out of his arms.

“Brenna, quit moving or I might drop you,” Ash admonished, turning and heading back for the shore. “It’s cold.”

“You’re a silly goose, Ash. What are you gonna do now? Borrow a pair of Connor’s jeans?”

“I guess.”

“You should. You wouldn’t want to catch a cold. Your patients wouldn’t want you coughing and spluttering all over the place while you operate on them,” she teased, knowing getting ill was the last thing Ash wanted. As a sought-after ophthalmologist, Ash had often mentioned he didn’t have time to get sick.

“Since I was nice enough not to dunk you in the cold water, maybe I could give you an eye operation which would make you see better instead.”

“My eyesight’s not that bad yet, Doc,” she answered.

“It could be much better,” Ash quipped.

She giggled, burying her head in the crook of his neck. Goodness, could she at least stop acting like a teenager with a crush? Seriously.

She sighed as Ash set her down on dry sand. Her hand slid down his muscular chest before she pulled it away, realising what she was doing.

“So tell me,” Ash said. “Why are you still with him?”

“Lance?” she asked, trying to ignore the fact that she felt bereft from no longer being in his arms. “Well, he’s nice and his family’s great. We just haven’t spent enough time together lately because he’s got too much pressure at work. Which is also why you thought he was a cold fish from your first meeting at the wedding yesterday. Apart from being the shy type, he was simply not in full party mode.”

“You’ve met his family? But you said you two are not serious.”

“Not yet.”

“So you’re expecting to be serious with him at some point?” Ash prodded.

“I guess.” No, she wasn’t sure at all if she would want a long-term future with Lance. But she wasn’t really thinking now. She was too busy mentally stopping herself from jumping back into Ash’s arms and making an utter fool of herself. Crazy.

“Let’s go.”

She glanced up sharply at the brusqueness in his tone. Hmm. He was probably feeling the cold.

*****

Ash forced himself to act nonchalant as he and Brenna trudged on the sand to rejoin the others. What the hell had gotten into him to do what he did? Holding Brenna that close for that long felt so good that it was bad. Very bad.