The small lake came into sight. She’d spent hundreds of hours there with Cody and his brothers, fishing, swimming, racing to the pier… skinny-dipping. She passed the old boathouse she and Cody had used as a castle, spy headquarters, and army base. How ironic that her real father had actually been a spy, or something top secret, and Cody’s job was about as secretive. So was Jamie’s, for that matter. Maybe that was part of the reason she couldn’t commit to him. Secrets had nearly ruined her life.

Shay sank down on the white sand Ewan had brought in, making the shore kinder to tender feet. The sun and wind had dried the sand while she slept, but her jeans still chaffed with dampness.

The scenery made up for the discomfort. The moon hung like an amber globe over the glistening lake as the water gently lapped the shore. She took off her shoes, wriggled her toes in the cool, gritty texture, and leaned back, cushioning her head on her arms as she studied the stars. They were all still there, winking and twinkling, as if welcoming an old friend, or the prodigal daughter returning home. She felt the familiar prick of guilt for abandoning the place, abandoning the people she loved. Nina, Matilda, and Cody’s brothers had occasionally visited Shay in New York or Scotland, but she had never come home, not once. She closed her eyes, letting the smells and sounds of the place settle in, cedar and sand, water and dying leaves, bringing voices from another time.

“Get out, or I’m going home,” Shay said, wishing she had a rock to throw at Lachlan’s butt.

“Come on, Lachlan,” Marcas said impatiently. “Stop being a jackass.”

“What’s the big deal?” Lachlan grumbled, trudging back out of the water he’d just entered without a stitch of clothing. “She’s seen it before.” He joined his brothers, who were facing the woods with their backs turned.

“You said she could get in first,” Cody said.

“Okay, Miss Hoity-toity-now-that-you’ve-turned-fourteen,” Lachlan fussed. “Go ahead.”

Shay was too old for skinny-dipping, but mice had made a nest out of the swimsuit she had left in the boathouse, and she wasn’t going to turn down a challenge. If she lost, or forfeited the race, she had to clean all three boys’ rooms that night. She could almost smell the dirty socks already. If she won, they would have to do it themselves, which meant they wouldn’t be at the dance, hovering like bodyguards. The cute new guy in her science class hadn’t heard about the MacBains yet. He might ask her to dance.

When she was sure she was safe, she stripped to her panties and bra and darted into the water, not stopping until it lapped at her neck. “You can turn around,” she called. Within seconds, a splash covered her head, and Cody emerged, laughing beside her. She swatted him away and got ready for the race.

Shay opened her eyes and smiled. She won the race, but she suspected Cody had followed her to the dance anyway. That was the last time she went skinny-dipping. She wished she had a swimsuit now. After that encounter with Cody, her skin felt scorched. A brisk swim might cool her off. Compared to Scotland, this weather was balmy.

Why not? It was dark. No one could see her. Not many people would venture out for a swim in the middle of an October night, Indian summer or not. Cody was the only person around, and while she’d rather kiss a rattlesnake than see him there, she doubted he even came here anymore. Besides, he’d looked exhausted.

She started shedding her clothes before she could change her mind. She stepped into the lake, letting the water seep between her toes. It was chillier than she expected, reminding her of the ice swimming they’d braved every January. When the water reached her thighs, Shay dove in, gasping at the cold. With her head underwater, she swam until her muscles ached, feeling her fear and stress grow fainter with each stroke. Lungs burning, she swam toward the shore so she could rest before starting back. She stood up and saw Cody ten feet away, staring at her.

Shay squealed and dove back into the water, emerging when it was chest high. “What are you doing here?” she asked, struggling for a steady breath. Was he following her?

The water barely covered his hips. He stepped back so he was decent. “Same thing as you, I’d say. We always did think alike.” They stared at each other in silence, his expression shadowed.

“That was a long time ago.” And he didn’t have all those rippling muscles back then.

“Yeah,” he said, looking at the waves nudging the top of her breasts.

In the dark, his tattoos were a blur across his chest. He got them a year or so before she left, but didn’t like talking about them. He still wore the same necklace, a rectangular piece of metal suspended on a leather cord. Jamie wore a similar one. His chest was tattooed as well. It seemed as if every man she knew had tattoos, but the others hadn’t filled her with this strange longing.

“What you said back at the house, about no word from me. How can you say that? I sent letters.”

“What letters?” Cody asked.

“I wrote you two letters after I left. I sent them to the address your mom gave me.”

“I never got them.” His eyes narrowed. “Doesn’t make sense. I got mail from everyone else.”

“I don’t understand.” If he hadn’t gotten them, where were they? Her stomach twisted into sick knots. She needed to go somewhere quiet and think. “I should go. I didn’t expect anyone to be here.”

“You don’t have to leave.” He moved a few steps closer and touched her shoulder.

She jerked away, and her foot slipped off a rock, plunging her underwater. She flipped, trying to regain her balance. Strong hands grabbed her, setting her on her feet. She spat out a mouthful of water as Cody’s hands gripped her waist. His hand moved lower to her hip, gently steadying her. The front of his body brushed her back. His skin was warm and hard. Something touched her shoulder. Hair? Lips?

When she was eighteen, she had fantasies of this: him and her in the lake with no clothes. She wasn’t eighteen anymore, and she couldn’t risk another heartbreak. She pulled away, putting some distance between them, but her ankle gave out when she turned.

He steadied her. “You okay?” His voice sounded strained.

“I twisted my ankle. It’s no big deal.”

“I’d better carry you out.”

“No. It’ll be okay in a minute.” Up close, he was even more intimidating. Broad shoulders, well-used muscles, and tattoos that made her want to run her fingers over them, caress them with her lips.

His gaze moved from the water skimming her breasts to her mouth. His eyes darkened as a low rumble rolled from his throat. She was trying to decide if her head was spinning or his was lowering, when a stunned voice came from the shore.

“Hell’s bells… Shay? I thought you were in Scotland.”

Cody turned, shielding Shay behind him. “What are they doing here?”

Marcas and Lachlan stared, mouths open. Marcas found his voice first. “Uh… should we leave?”

“Leave?” Lachlan pulled off his shirt, and his necklace caught the moonlight. “We just got here,” he said, unsnapping his jeans.

“No,” Cody barked. “We’re getting out. I was helping Shay.”

Lachlan raised an eyebrow. “Helping her do what?”

“She twisted her ankle. What are you doing here?” Cody’s voice was curt.

“That’s a dumb question. You’re the one who asked us for help,” Lachlan said. “We had to come home and pack—”

“I mean at the lake?”

Marcas hooked his thumbs in his pockets, quietly surveying the scene. “Lach thought he heard someone in the woods when we got out of the car. Figured it might be a bow hunter scouting out a place to hunt. Probably heard you two.”

“Somebody run around to the other side of the lake and get Shay’s clothes,” Cody ordered.

Marcas nodded and trotted off.

Lachlan snapped his jeans and snatched up his discarded shirt. “What brings you all the way from Scotland, Shay?”

Lachlan was the daredevil with the mischievous twinkle in his eyes—and his foot in his mouth, although his laid-back attitude was partly an act. Marcas was the sensitive one, serious. He usually knew what people were thinking before they did, one of the reasons Shay had avoided him nine years ago, and one of the reasons she hadn’t come back. Marcas was twenty-nine, one year older than Cody. God, she’d missed them all.

“I was on my way to see Renee,” she said, shivering with cold. “I thought I’d stop by for a visit.”

Lachlan asked about Renee and Scotland as they waited for Marcas to return. “About time you came home. Hope you’re planning to stay awhile.”

“It d-d-depends.”

Cody’s arms were covered in chill bumps as well. He took a step back and stopped. He’d put his arm around her hundreds of times over the years to keep her warm, but they weren’t grown up and naked then.

“Why don’t you go help Marcas?” Cody said to Lachlan. “Never mind. Here he comes.”

Marcas trotted up, not even winded. All the brothers were fast, although she could almost keep up. Marcas dropped Shay’s clothes next to Cody’s. “Better get out of there before you end up with pneumonia.”

“How about some privacy?” Cody grumbled.

“Want us to leave?” Marcas asked.

“No,” Shay said, quickly. “You don’t have to leave.” The last thing she needed was to be alone and naked with Cody.

Marcas and Lachlan turned around, but Shay could hear them whispering. Cody scooped her up. She squealed and grabbed his neck, to keep from falling. She saw Lachlan start to turn, until Marcas kicked him. “What are you doing?” she whispered furiously, trying to cover all her pertinent parts.