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  He did. He'd managed to get his trunks on, at least, and his jeans. "Can we please go now?

  "Can you make it?"

  "Yes, Laila, I can make it."

  "Just asking," she said.

  By the time they'd walked the distance to the outdoor whirlpool, Hal was shaking and he'd taken her hand. Of course, he'd taken it in response to seeing her brother Mark and his wife Debbie coming down the path toward them, but he hadn't let go even after they passed. At this time of day, the gazebo and hot tub were deserted, though Laila suspected more than one pair of watchful eyes peeked at them from the windows in the lodge.

  Hal sank into the water with a sigh of relief so great it was almost a sob. "Thank God."

  "I'm sorry, Hal," Laila said sincerely. "We didn't have to go on the ride this morning."

  The hot water seemed to be reviving him because he actually managed a smile. The sheer charm of it made her catch her breath. Laila looked away, concentrating on skimming off her clothes and dipping into the hot water before the cool air could do more than tickle her.

  "You mean you didn't tell them I'm a champion rider as well as a champion proctologist?"

  "No." Actually, she hadn't told them very much at all, though there'd been plenty of questions. She'd usually managed to duck the more probing ones. "You didn't do so bad."

  He raised one eyebrow at her. "If you call getting tossed into a vat of slimy, freezing water not too bad, then I guess you're right."

  He had a good sense of humor about himself. Laila liked that. Ian would never have admitted to being anything less than an athletic god. For him to do anything less than perfectly was impossible--at least in his own eyes.

  "I hope I'm not interrupting the canoodling," interrupted a booming male voice.

  "No, Uncle Ira. Of course not." Laila smiled weakly up at her grandfather's younger brother. "Are you coming in?"

  The massive man with the infectious grin chortled. "If you two love birds don't mind."

  "Not at all," Hal said. His voice had returned to normal.

  The hot tub must be working for him.

  "Hey, Myrna! Lou! Yetta! The kids aren't fooling around! C'mon in!"

  All at once, the empty hot tub became nearly overcrowded as Laila's aunts and uncles joined them. What had seemed like gallons of water between she and Hal had shrunk to microscopic drops as they were pressed closer to one another to accommodate the crowd.

  His thigh, delightfully rough with crinkly hair, slid against her smooth one. His hip nudged hers beneath the bubbling water. His calf--she could feel the muscles she'd so earlier admired--rubbed hers, slipped away, then snuck back again for another stroke. The water caressed them, tickled them, bubbled around and over them, bringing them together and forcing them apart.

  Dear Lord, Laila thought somewhat faintly as the steam rose all around her with her family's laughter. I am getting overheated.

  Chapter 4

  The stint in the hot tub's soothing wonders had done him a world of good, but Hal still winced as he bent to tie his shoes. The ache in his butt and thighs had faded, but his knees grumbled in protest with every movement. A lot of good all those LoveMatch sponsored workouts had done him.

  Laila came out of the bathroom, looking fresh in another pair of corduroy pants and a gold colored turtleneck. "Brrrr. Is it cold in here?"

  It was a little chilly in the room, but Hal didn't really notice. Looking at Laila made him feel a lot warmer. He finished tying his shoes. "We can check the radiator."

  She checked her watch. "We can do that later. It's just about time for the afternoon entertainment to start."

  Laila's Bubbe had come by the hot tub earlier and invited all of them to come down for the staff-run entertainment in the main lodge. Apparently, Bramblewood hosted games and ongoing activities to round out its menu of outdoor activities. This afternoon it was some sort of trivia game with prizes. Hal was pretty good at trivia.

  Now Laila looked at him and cocked her head to the side in the way he was beginning to recognize as her thoughtful pose. "You look nice."

  Her compliment pleased him. He looked down at his jeans, dark green turtleneck and heavy black sweater. "Thanks!"

  "You actually match," she said. "But let me see your socks."

  Socks. Darn. Hal lifted his pants legs and revealed the socks sticking out of his hiking boots. One black and one dark brown.

  Laila laughed. "Why not just buy them all the same color?"

  "I thought I did," Hal said ruefully.

  She cocked her head at him again, and her eyes drifted over his face, then down his body and up again. A smile formed on the mouth he'd begun finding himself thinking about at inopportune times. Her assessment stirred him in a way that might quickly become uncomfortable or awkward if he didn't do something fast.

  "Baseball," Hal blurted. Was that out loud?

  Laila's dreamy gaze snapped to clarity. Her brow creased. "What?"

  "Uh--baseball," Hal said. Well, he didn't have to worry his body's reaction any more. Embarrassment was a great way to quench desire. "Do you like baseball?"

  She shrugged. The mood, whatever it had been, had passed. Now she busied herself with slipping her sweater over her head and brushing out her hair. "I guess so. What brought that up?"

  Brought up, indeed. "I just wondered if there'd be any baseball trivia at that game today."

  "I doubt it." Laila finished her preparations and tucked the key into her pocket. "It's some sort of Bramblewood version of the Newlywed Game."

  At least he'd managed to cover himself. "Sounds fun."

  "You're being a really great sport about this whole trip," Laila said. To his surprise and pleasure, she reached out to take his hand. "Thanks, Hal."

  The touch of her fingers sent an electrical shock all the way down his arm. "I'm paid to please, Laila," he gibbered, barely aware of what was flying out of his mouth.

  She withdrew her hand. Her eyes, which had been clear just the moment before, clouded. "Oh, right. Well. Let's go. We don't want to miss anything."

  She left ahead of him. Hal allowed himself the guilty pleasure of watching her rear-end roll beneath the sturdy corduroy pants. She caught him looking when she turned unexpectedly.

  "What are you doing?"

  He had no answer that wouldn't sound just plain stupid. "Nothing."

  She hmmphed. The walk to the main lodge led them along a twisting maze of trails through gardens that now bloomed with mums and late fall displays of pumpkins and scarecrows. They passed the hot tub in its gazebo, empty now. The playground looked somehow forlorn with the swings and seesaws removed for the winter.

  Hal caught up to her and took her hand. Laila jerked at his touch, but didn't pull away. Ahead of them lay the main lodge, and they could see members of the group heading down other paths toward it.

  "Would you rather I didn't hold your hand?" He spoke in a low voice as they approached the steps to the front porch.

  "No, no," she said in a tone that sounded forced. "I guess you should. It adds to the realism."

  "That's what I thought." What he'd actually thought was that he wanted to feel her skin on his again. Now he was close enough to smell her perfume. Roses? As they climbed the steep stairs, he let her move just enough ahead of him that he could bend forward to sniff the fragrance again.

  "What are you doing?" Laila's tone was angry, but she was smiling. "Hi, Bubbe!"

  Hal turned and saw Esther and Saul on the porch's far side. They waved but didn't come over. Esther pointed inside and Hal nodded. "We'll be there in a minute!"

  As soon as Laila's grandparents disappeared into the house, her smile turned down. "Hal?"

  "You smell good."

  "Oh." His answer seemed to unnerve her. "So you had to sniff me?"

  Before he could answer, she'd grabbed him around the neck and pressed her mouth to his. Hal didn't question...he just reacted. Her body against his was solid but curvy beneath her heavy clothes. Her lips were softer even than