The Mighty Quinns: Ryan

Was she just exaggerating or was this the truth? Did she have no friends of her own? She was sweet and funny and seemed as though she’d attract friends as easily as she’d attracted him. But then, Ryan could answer only for the males in the crowd.

He glanced over and stole a long look. She was dressed in a simple T-shirt and hiking shorts, her hair in a ponytail, pulled away from her pretty face. He studied her profile—the perfectly set eyes, the straight nose, the lush lips. She was Hollywood beauty. But yet, in this setting, without makeup and a fancy dress, she seemed normal...approachable.

He found the contrast intriguing. Who was this woman who could so easily exist in both his world and that strange, glamorous world of the movies? The more he got to know her, the more complicated she became.

They found the trail to the waterfall he’d researched earlier, and Serena pulled the car into a small clearing and switched off the ignition. Ryan grabbed his day pack and slung it over his shoulder, then picked up the picnic basket.

Since the waterfall was a local secret, the path wasn’t well-worn, and Ryan had to watch carefully so that they didn’t wander in the wrong direction. “What about your real friends?” he asked, reaching out to help her over a muddy spot. “You must have had someone you wanted to pick as a bridesmaid. A sister?”

“I’m an only child.” She glanced over at him. “And I don’t really have a lot of friends,” Serena explained. “I’ve always been a bit of a loner.” She shrugged indifferently. He could see that talking about the past troubled her. “I know. It sounds pathetic, but I grew up with parents who were always on one movie set or another. When I was with either my mom or dad on set, I had a tutor, and I hung around adults all day long. When I was at home, I played with the housekeeper. I just never figured out how to make friends. Or maybe I never wanted friends.”

“Who do you hang out with now? When you’re not working on a movie?”

“There’s Ben. But mostly my dogs.”

“And they don’t look good in the dresses?” Ryan teased.

“I have five dogs,” she said, giggling. “And I would have had them as attendants, but the wedding planner wouldn’t allow it. They’re all rescues. They live at my country house outside London. My housekeeper takes care of them when I’m gone. Do you have dogs?”

“One. Duffy. He lives with my sister, Dana, most of the time, but he stays with me or my brothers when we’re home.”

“You should get more dogs. One is not enough. Lots of dogs need adopting.”

He held out his hand to her again, to help her over a steep spot on the path. But this time, he didn’t let go. The track widened and they were able to walk side by side up a gentle rise, their pace slowing. In the distance, Ryan heard the sound of water.

“I think we’re getting close.” Serena pulled him along the path, and a few moments later, they emerged into a clearing. A soft gasp slipped from her lips and she sighed. They stood at the edge of a clear pool. Above him, water cascaded off a rock cliff and tumbled into the far edge of the pool. “It’s beautiful.”

Ryan had become a bit jaded when it came to natural beauty. He’d seen some of the most extraordinary sights in the world, and he’d always felt the need to rank them in order of perfection, rather than simply enjoy the sight. This was different. He could relax and enjoy what he was seeing. “It is bloody awesome.”

“Good job,” she said, bumping his shoulder with hers. She started toward the edge of the pond. “Do you think if we climb up there, we could jump into the water?”

“There’s supposed to be a spot for that on the right,” he explained, dropping his day pack. “But maybe we ought to leave the jumping for another day. If you crack your head, I’d have to carry you out of here and—”

“You promised me adventure. I want adventure.”

“All right, but first we should make sure the pool is deep enough.”

She tugged her T-shirt over her head, and to Ryan’s surprise, she wasn’t wearing a bikini—she was wearing a lacy black bra. Her shorts came off next, revealing a leopard-print thong. To his great relief, she didn’t remove anything else, and he drew a shaky breath as she walked toward the edge of the pool.

Serena turned around and motioned to him. “Come on.”

He had made a promise to himself, and Ryan Quinn always kept his promises. He yanked off his T-shirt and followed her. She grabbed his hand and pulled him into the water with her, gliding out into the center of the pool, their fingers still linked.

“Let me check the depth. I’ll be right back,” he said. Ryan dove beneath the surface, moving down, away from the light. The water was clear, though, and he could easily gauge the distance to the bottom of the pool. He came to the surface, beneath the rock ledge. “It looks good.”

She swam over to him. “I’m glad I have you to look after me.”

“Just doing my job, miss.”

“And you do it so well.”

Serena crawled out of the pool and began to scale the rocks to the right of the waterfall. Ryan climbed up behind her, watching to make sure her footing was secure along the way. She moved with an easy grace and a confidence that surprised him. That was becoming a pattern with Serena. She was always surprising him.

When they reached the ledge, Serena held out her hand. “We have to jump together,” she said.

“All right,” Ryan said. “You count it down.”

She drew a deep breath. “Three. Two. One.”

They leaped off the twenty-foot ledge and fell into the pool, the water rushing up and over them as they broke the surface. Ryan lost his hold on Serena’s hand but felt her body brush against his as he kicked toward the light. She was laughing when he came up in front of her.

Ryan stared into her pretty face, noticing the droplets of water clinging to her lashes. He reached out and smoothed a strand of hair off her cheek, and she turned into his touch, her eyelids fluttering.

Every instinct urged him to kiss her, to take advantage of the moment and forget all that was keeping them apart. But she was engaged, and until she told him differently, he intended to respect that.

“I can’t believe you made that jump,” he said, swimming away from her. “I guess you were right to ask for an adventure guide.”

“Uh-oh.” She reached beneath the surface and, a moment later, raised her hand, her torn bra dangling from her fingertips. “This didn’t survive the fall,” she said, tossing it onto the shore.

Ryan groaned inwardly. Was she tempting him on purpose? “You shouldn’t have done that,” he warned.

Serena looked at him, a quizzical arch to her eyebrow. “Everyone on the planet has seen me naked, Quinn. I’m sure you looked me up on Google and found the pictures.”

“What pictures?”

“The pictures. Of me and one of my former boyfriends, having a bit of a romp on a yacht in the Mediterranean.” She frowned. “You haven’t seen them?”

“Nope.”

Her gaze narrowed and she observed him suspiciously. “How much do you know about me?”

“I know that you’re an actress and you have a movie coming out after Christmas and you’re getting married before the movie comes out.”

“Have you ever watched one of my films?” she asked.

Ryan winced, then shook his head. “I plan on watching them all when I get home. But right now...no, not a one.”

“You’re lying.”

“I don’t go to the movies much. At least not in the last seven or eight years. I spend most of my time in places that don’t have television or movie theatres—or running water.”

“Turn around,” she said, pointing at him. “Right now. Turn around.”

Ryan did as he was told. He heard splashing behind him and he smiled. He didn’t have to see her; he could imagine exactly what she looked like, emerging from the pool, almost naked, her wet body gleaming in the shafts of sunlight that broke through the cover of the trees.

Though he had vowed to fight the temptations of her body, Ryan risked a glance, then immediately regretted it. She stood on the shore, her back to him. His gaze skimmed her body from her shoulders to the sweet curves of her backside, then along her shapely legs. She was like some water nymph, a creature from a magical world.

He felt his body react, so Ryan spun away and swam toward the waterfall. He dove beneath the surface and stroked hard until he reached the edge of the pool, trying to forget the image burned in his brain.