Page 8 of Muskoka Blue

Sarah ducked her head, cowering back into position.

Be brave.

She blinked. That’s right. Courage. She lifted her chin, eyeing the instructor, who immediately barked, “Head down!”

Way to make a newbie feel welcome. Sarah pushed to all fours, rolled her eyes at Ange, and reached for a drink. She’d come to exercise, not be yelled at.

Sitting on her knees, she glanced around the room, avoiding the glare of the now not-so-perky Pilates instructor, and froze. Behind her was a man. A dark-haired, tanned man, whose T-shirt did nothing to disguise the rippling muscles she’d seen recently. Since when did Mr. Wilderness-types do Pilates? Weren’t they supposed to prefer fishing and hunting and the like? And guys his age—he had to be late twenties, like her—and with muscles like his usually did weights, not classes that emphasized balance—or the lack thereof. Her chest tightened. Oh no. What if he recognized her? She swiveled back to the front and sipped more water. Then started choking.

“Miss?” Miss Perky Pilates drew near. “Are you quite all right?”

“Yep,” she muttered. “I’ll be right in just a moment.”

She wouldn’t look behind her,wouldn’tlook. Wouldn’t!

“Sarah?”

She glanced up. “Oh! Daniel. Hello.” She held her breath, working desperately to clear her throat. By now, half the room was looking at her. She snuck another peek. Or maybe they were looking at him. Age was no barrier to admiration of the human form, it seemed.

“Would you like to leave?” the instructor asked—or was it pleaded?

“I’m fine.” Sarah pushed up to a sitting position. “I just need a—oh!”

Pain speared her side, felling her, and she was back on that plane, back in the water, as her hip protested the sudden movement. She gasped, dragging in deep breaths in an attempt to ward off the spasms. She glanced at Ange, who nodded and rose, apologizing to the instructor, who still hovered like a scrawny bird of prey.

“Can I help?”

“Thanks, Dan. If you could just collect her things, that’d be good.”

Sarah closed her eyes. Dialed her expression up to pleasant as she vainly tried to stretch out the cramp. Oh, this was ag-o-ny.

“Here.” The soft voice in her ear provided a mite of comfort. As did the arm around her shoulders as he helped her to her feet. She caught a whiff of Eternity, the clean scent one her dad used to wear, a subtle nod to his profession.

Sarah hobbled outside to where Ange opened the car, then collapsed into the passenger seat in a haze of heated-skin awkwardness. She peeked up to where Macho Man studied her with a frown. “Um, thanks for helping.”

“You sure you’re okay?”

Hardly. But, “The pain is improving, so I’ll be fine.” Maybe. She rushed to change the subject, shifting to look at Ange. “Guess we won’t be getting that cake and coffee now.”

“You really need to eat?”

Maybe not. But shereallyneeded to escape Mr. Wilderness’s intense perusal. “Since when did need factor into eating?”

Dan’s look of concern melded into amusement. “I can’t disagree.” His smile was just the same as she remembered from last week—wide, white, and disarmingly friendly. “You’re definitely okay?”

“Yes. Thanks again.”

He dipped his chin, and she drew her legs inside the vehicle. A minute more and she could escape, could head back to Pemberley and its associated gentlemen, could pretend this unfortunate episode had never occurred.

“Dan, would you like to join us for a coffee?”

Dear God, no. Sarah closed her eyes. God bless Ange’s gift for hospitality, but shereallydidn’t want to have to make small talk with the man who’d now rescued her twice.

“Uh, maybe another time.”

She snapped open her eyes. Had she appeared too rude again? “You can come. If you want. I mean, I didn’t intend to interrupt your workout or anything.” Heavens, that wasn’t exactly gracious. “I mean, you obviously like to keep really fit…” She faltered to a stop as his lips curled up in one corner. Yep. Foot-in-mouth disease. Had she really just said that aloud? She might as well just call him Thor and be done with it.

He swiveled a look she couldn’t decipher at Ange, then shrugged. “I think the class is close to finishing now anyway. So maybe I will, seeing as you’re so insistent.”