Behind the Curtain - Page 11

Asher had always appreciated his father’s infrequent disagreement with his mother on that topic.

“We were just discussing which local beach we should hit first this afternoon,” Eric continued, seemingly blind to Asher’s furious frown. “If I remember correctly from when we were teenagers, Crescent Bay South had the hottest tail.” His cousin flashed his million-dollar smile and waved back at the house. “We’ve got the whole place to ourselves this time, Ash. No sneaking girls into the guesthouse this summer, eh? I have to admit, though. The sneaking was part of the fun, wasn’t it?”

Jimmy’s sympathetic, concerned gaze helped Asher restrain himself from spewing a stream of vicious curses.

• • •

Two hours, a dip in the pool, the hot sun and a generous amount of premium Scotch later, Asher was feeling a little less rough around the edges.

“He’s not that bad,” Jimmy said quietly when he noticed Asher’s dark glance at Eric’s back as he went to take a call inside the house.

“He’s not that good,” Asher said, turning his face up to the intense sun and closing his eyes behind his sunglasses.

“How bad can he be? He’s even better-looking than you, Ash,” Rudy said brightly from Asher’s other side.

“You thinking of asking him out?” Jimmy wondered sarcastically.

“I know you saw him first,” Rudy countered quickly. “Seriously, I just meant that Ash usually draws the chicks in our direction like a magnet. With douchebag along, it’ll be like some kind of Gaites-Granville super magnet.” He made a sucking sound and zoomed his hand in the direction of his chest.

“Shut up, Rudy,” Asher mumbled without any heat.

He suddenly had an urge to run. From what, he didn’t know. His life, maybe. It was like he could sense more than see two giant steel doors starting to close in on him.

He stood from the lounge chair and reached for his tennis shoes.

“Where’re you going?” Rudy asked.

“For a run.”

“I’ll go with you. It’ll clear the Scotch fumes,” Rudy said, standing.

Asher didn’t really want a companion, but Rudy was harmless enough.

They’d made their way a half mile down a stretch of empty, white sand beach when someone called out behind them. Asher glanced back.

“Wait up. You didn’t tell me you were going for a run,” Eric said, his nearly naked, muscular body gleaming in the hot summer sun.

“I know it,” Asher muttered.

Eric caught up. Asher gazed straight ahead and picked up his pace, pulling slightly ahead of the other two men. Eric started describing to Rudy in detail his rigorous daily workout routine at his super-exclusive Manhattan club. Asher ran faster, until distance and the sound of the waves faded his cousin’s smug diatribe from his hearing.

He knew what he was running away from, of course. But until he reached a rocky embankment and the end of the beach, he hadn’t known what he’d been headed toward.

The secret lake.

He hadn’t visited it in four years.

He came to a halt next to the rapidly flowing stream. Kids always thought of a place they’d discovered as their own. That was how Asher had thought of the inland lake ever since he’d accidentally come upon it while hiking in the woods when he was eight years old.

“Fuck. The beach ends here? I don’t remember that,” Eric said in an angry tone behind him a moment later.

“Geography can be so damn inconvenient,” Asher said.

First Eric, then Rudy came to stand beside him. “Can we cross it?” Eric asked, nodding at the stream.

“I’ve tried it before. It’s deeper than it looks, and fast. The rocks are tricky. I got my ankle caught between two of them once and nearly drowned,” Asher said. He glanced over at his cousin speculatively. “You’re welcome to try it, if you want.”

Eric tensed, obviously sensing Asher’s simmering irritation at his presence. He abruptly grinned.

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