She looked startled by the invitation. “You want to spend time together? Are you sure you’re up for it?”
Ethan nodded. He knew it was probably foolhardy. He knew it would lead to speculation that neither of them wanted, but he hadn’t been able to help himself. Seeing that one little glimpse of a woman who had her own share of vulnerabilities, rather than the out-of-reach golden girl he’d imagined her to be, had chipped away at his defenses. At the rate that was happening, he figured he was pretty much doomed. He might as well enjoy the experience.
* * *
Samantha was no slouch when it came to running. She took it seriously. She’d raced in a couple of half marathons and hadn’t embarrassed herself. She doubted Ethan knew that. Even if he did, she hoped he didn’t think she’d cut him any slack out of pity. Her competitive spirit wouldn’t allow it. And losing must not take too bad a toll on him. Hadn’t he admitted just the other day that he’d lost a bet with Greg, who’d beat him on a run? Of course that loss had been to someone he knew well and obviously respected, not to a woman. She wondered if he was the kind of man whose ego could take that.
She was waiting in the driveway when he arrived just after dawn. It was a shock to see him exit the car in running shorts that exposed his prosthesis. But then her gaze traveled to his muscular shoulders and flat abs and her mouth went dry. The artificial limb didn’t detract from his masculinity in the slightest. That fiancée of his must have been a complete idiot if she’d looked on him as damaged goods.
Ethan met her gaze and she saw the hint of uncertainty in his eyes as he apparently awaited her pity or judgment. Instead, she gave him a beaming smile.
“You sure you’re up to this, Cole? I run to win.”
His uncertainty faded at the challenge. “So do I.”
Without so much as a hint about what she intended, she took off, then called over her shoulder, “I don’t fight fair, either.”
They ran for the better part of an hour, Ethan guiding the way, the lead changing hands a few times. Mostly, though, they ran side by side in companionable silence.
As they turned back toward Cora Jane’s however, Samantha deliberately pushed herself to another gear. Ethan regarded her with amusement, then sprinted ahead of her easily, his long-legged strides eating up the distance at a pace she couldn’t have matched on her best day.
By the time she reached the driveway where they’d started, he was leaning against the hood of his car, looking as relaxed as if he’d just returned from a casual stroll. His body, slick with sweat, gleamed in the morning sunlight.
“Not bad,” he commented.
She panted for breath and scowled up at him. “Next time I’ll remember that you’re sneaky.”
“How am I sneaky? You’re the one who picked up the pace and turned it into a race. I just accepted the challenge.” He held out a bottle of water. “You look as if you could use this.”
She accepted it without comment and took a careful sip. “Ethan, were you a runner before? I mean, before your injury?”
“If you mean did I enter marathons and that sort of thing, no, but I had to train for football, and there were plenty of long runs in the military.”
“Did you enjoy it?”
“Hated it,” he said succinctly. “Still do. During rehab, there was a time when I could barely stay on my feet, much less walk. Running seemed like an elusive dream.”
“Which made it an irresistible challenge,” she guessed. “You made up your mind to conquer it.”
“Something like that.”
“And if you’re going to do it, you have to do it well,” she concluded.
“Is there any other way?”
“That’s how I feel about my career,” she confessed. “If I can no longer do it well, maybe it’s time to walk away.”
He gave her a startled look. “Is that what you want to do?”
“No,” she said. “But it might be the only choice. Living in New York is crazy expensive. Emily’s suggested I come to Los Angeles and stay with them. She has great contacts in the movie and TV business.”
“Sounds like something worth trying,” he said, his tone neutral.
“I don’t know. Maybe a few years ago, I’d have been up for it, but now? I’m not sure I have the drive left to start over. Acting is not something you can do halfheartedly. It takes a huge amount of determination and drive. I had that when I first went to New York. I’m not sure I do anymore.”
“What are the alternatives?” he asked, sounding genuinely interested.
Since this was the first time she’d honestly confronted the situation, unfortunately she didn’t have good answers for him. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “That’s the scary part.” She met his gaze. “You were a surgeon, right? That’s incredibly demanding. You had to be a hundred percent dedicated to the job at some point. How did you know that opening an emergency clinic in Sand Castle Bay would work for you, that you wouldn’t be bored?”
He smiled, though his expression was tinged by a surprising weariness. “Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said simply. “I’d had about as much excitement as I could handle. So had Greg. When I was in rehab, we started talking it over. He didn’t want to go back into trauma medicine. It seemed as if we were in the same place. And his family was anxious to have him back home. I loved growing up here, so even though my folks had moved away, this felt like home to me, too. It just felt right.”
“Any regrets?”
He shook his head. “I don’t believe in regrets. If it hadn’t worked out, I’d have made a change by now, but it
