Page 94 of Rush: Deluxe Edition

He stiffened. “This is hard for you?”

“Your family is wonderful, but it’s all a bit intimidating. I feel like a country bumpkin. I mean, Ava’s like a supermodel.”

“Don’t let her hear you say that unless you want an earful about sexism and women in the workplace.”

I turned in Noah’s arms. “You seem to be holding up well.”

“I guess. I didn’t treat them well for a long time.”

“I watched their faces as you spoke. They’re your family. All is forgiven.”

That cheered him, but I thought of the day Noah had a terrible migraine and wondered—not for the first time—what would have happened to him had I not been there.

Because none of them were there for him.

But the Lakes weren’t the cold, aloof rich people I’d built them to be in my mind. I could only guess Noah’s snappishness had been a thousand times worse when he was newly coping with his blindness.

We dressed in our bathing suits—mine an old two-piece I’d had since high school. It was faded by sun and chlorine, but it was all I had at short notice. Noah put on swim trunks, and I ogled his chest shamelessly until he put a T-shirt on.

“Tsk tsk,” he said, moving to take me in his arms. “Hardly fair when I can’t see you.”

“Take a look,” I said. The nightmare of what happened just last night was hanging over me, but so was the fact I’d slept with Noah for the first time too. I closed my eyes as he trailed his hands down my neck, my breasts, skimming down over my stomach.

“A bikini,” he said gruffly. “What color?”

“Faded pink and blue stripes,” I murmured. “Very chic.”

“I changed my mind,” he said, holding my hips against him. “Let’s not swim.”

He kissed me hard and deep, but Ava rapped smartly on the door right on cue.

“Come on,” she called. “The parents are waiting to see hownormaleverything is now. Mustn’t disappoint.”

Noah sighed and reluctantly released me. He found his sunglasses and cane while I threw on a sundress.

Ava inspected us as we emerged, a sharp glint in her eye. “Shall we?”

I tried not to stare but holy crap, she was stunning. She had to have been at least five-eleven; the first woman for whom I could apply the word “statuesque.” She wore an elaborately patterned sarong in gold and black around her slender waist, and her silken hair flowed in thick, dark waves over her bare shoulders. Her small breasts were perfectly ensconced in a black bikini top, while I knew I’d spend the entire afternoon praying my boobs wouldn’t pop out of my worn-out old suit.

“Our parents bought this house when Dad retired,” Ava was saying as we took the stairs down. “Overdone, if you ask me, though Mom’s had a field day decorating it.”

“When were you back here, last?” Noah asked his sister.

“February. The paper got shut down by bomb threats and they sent all of us home for a week.”

“Jesus, Ava.”

“Cowardly, really, but afterCharlie Hebdo, I can understand the reasoning.Marginally.”

“Where do you work?” I asked, wondering if she was a government official or a CIA operative. I wouldn’t have been surprised at either one.

“I’m assistant managing editor atWorld Voice. We’re in London. A political rag,” Ava said, though I didn’t miss the pride in her voice. “We report from the worst of the war-torn countries, trying to get the local people heard and bring attention to the injustices most other outlets only skim the surface of.”

“Oh, a journalist, like Noah,” I said. “That sounds like a very fulfilling job. But death threats? Is that common?”

“Yeah, Aves,” Noah said dryly. “Is that common?”

She smirked at him over her shoulder. “It’ll take a lot more than a scary phone call to shut us down.”

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