Saving Forever (The Ever Trilogy: Book 3) by Jasinda Wilder Page A

shorts he wore were tied low enough that I could see the top of his V-cut. I resisted the urge to lick my lips. Holy shit, he was gorgeous. And the smell of sawdust? Intoxicating. I could see it dappling his skin, sticking to the sweat on his chest and forearms. I wondered what he did to get so covered in sawdust. I wanted to watch him work. I had a vision of him bent over a worktable, scraping at a piece of wood with long, slow strokes, his back muscles rippling and his arms tensing and relaxing with each movement.  
    He just stared down at me, his pale blue eyes roving over me. Oh, yes, he saw me. And he liked what he saw. I could tell that much. His mouth opened, and I felt myself anticipating the sound of his voice. It would be a low, powerful rumble like the sound of an engine. He’d ask me to go swimming with him. Maybe. I’d learn where he lived. Maybe.  
    But then he shook his head, closed his mouth with an audible click , and headed toward the water. His fists were clenched at his sides as he jogged toward the waterline. Now, what the hell was that? He’d been about to say something. I knew he had. And then he’d just…run off. Had I scared him off somehow? Although I couldn’t imagine what I could have done to do that.
    I watched him plow through the water until he was waist deep, and then he dove in and was gone. Just…gone. I kept watching, expecting to see him reappear a few feet farther away, near the dock maybe, or the boat. But he didn’t. He dove in and was simply gone. I stood up and moved toward the shoreline, squinting at the bright reflection of the sun on the water, hunting the orange-diamond surface for a hint of him. Where could he have gone?
    This was becoming a mystery. The man who never spoke, who appeared and disappeared on the beach. I couldn’t think of any explanation for his behavior except perhaps he had some far-off destination to which he swam, somewhere out of sight. It really was strange, and it made him that much more of an enigma. Was he just shy? Did he want to talk to me, but was too nervous? But I dismissed that notion right away. He didn’t seem like the shy type. His posture and his body language were that of a man who knew himself, who was comfortable in his own skin. He moved with powerful grace, athletic and in tune with his body. Yet he seemed unwilling or unable to speak to me. Maybe he was mute? But the way he’d opened his mouth just now made me think he could talk, but he just wouldn’t. For whatever reason.
    I waded into the water, dove under, and swam out to the dock, letting the blissfully cold water rinse the sweat off me and cool the heat from my skin. I tried to push away thoughts of the mystery man. It wasn’t easy, though. The scent of him was in my nostrils, a seductive mix of sweat and sawdust, all man, sexy and drunk-making. Yet I had no business thinking about him. Even if he did get the courage to talk to me, it couldn’t go anywhere. I could only hide my…condition…for so long, and then I’d be forced to tell the truth, and he’d be gone. No one would want to waste their time with someone like me. I’d be a single mom soon. And the story of how I’d come by my baby would be impossible to tell.  
    Where’s the daddy? they’d ask. How was I supposed to tell them the father was my twin sister’s husband? And that I’d conceived the baby while my sister was in a coma she wasn’t expected to come out of.
    God, that sounded more horrible every time I thought about it.  
    I dove off the dock and swam to shore, gathered my book and blanket and bottle of water. I jogged home, tripping on rocks and wincing as pebbles dug into my heels and arches. I barely made it home before the tears hit me.  
    What had I done? I couldn’t imagine how to fix this. How could I ever face my sister and Caden again? Just show up at their condo one day with a black-haired and amber-eyed baby in my arms? Hey, sis, meet your nephew. Oh, by the way, Cade’s the