Perfectly Able by Suzannah Daniels Read Free Book Online Page A

sometimes found myself in, times when I wondered whether my leg would keep me from winning the man of my dreams or make me so paranoid that I would sabotage those dreams. I knew it would only hinder me if I allowed it to, and I knew my battle right now was a mental one, not a physical one.
    “Yes,” I said with a voice loud enough that I hoped it would resonate within my own brain.
    “Is it because your leg can’t get wet?” he asked.
    That wasn’t the reason that I had refused to swim with him.
    “ If you’ve participated in a triathlon, then I know you can swim,” he said, his brow furrowed as he waited for me to give him some indication as to why I had refused to swim with him.
    “ I’m a pretty good swimmer, but I don’t use a prosthesis when I swim.”
    “Damn,” he said, standing akimbo and shifting his gaze to the floor.
    “What?” I asked.
    “ It sounds like you didn’t swim with me because…you just didn’t want to swim with me. First, you put a huge dent in my machismo, and now you’ve dealt quite the blow to my ego. What the hell are you trying to do to me?”
    I walked toward him, grinning like a peg-legged pirate who’d just found a boatload of booty . He had gone out of his way to make me comfortable, and the gesture endeared him to me. I could feel giddiness travel through my veins like a long swig of rum.
    “Don’t be frettin’, matey, I’ll go fer a swim wit’ ye,” I joked as I approached him, and it felt good.
    A crooked grin turned up one side of his mouth. “Alas, ye’ve made me a happy scallywag, me beauty.”
    “When do ye wants t’ go?”
    “As soon as me lazy arse gets back from me run.”
    I giggled, feeling more care free than I had in months. “You do a fine pirate impression, if I do say so myself.”
    He pointed at me . “There’s more where that came from. You and me. Halloween party. Wear your peg leg. Deal?”
    I nodded my head, my bun flopping with the motion. I’d have to figure out the peg leg thing later, but I was definitely up for a party with Ridge. “Deal. It sounds like fun.”
    “Awesome. I’m going to grab my towel and finish my run. Then, we’ll meet back here and go for a swim.”
    “Okay.”
    He stepped around me, heading toward his room, and I watched as he walked away from me, appreciating the way his broad shoulders tapered down to a narrow waist . Once he had disappeared down the hall, a tiny squeal escaped my lips. A chest-crushing weight had been lifted from my body. Ridge Sutherland now knew that I was an amputee, and other than a momentary blip at the unexpected revelation, it didn’t seem to faze him one bit.
    After he left to go on his run, I sat on the couch and applied sunscreen. I had planned on taking a short swim while he was out, but now that fate had intervened, I lounged on the deck and read, opting to wait on him before I headed toward the lake. The late summer breeze had a bit of a nip to it, and I used a spare towel to drape over my body while I waited for the air to warm.
    By the time Ridge returned, the sun perched high in the September sky. He stepped onto the deck in the same low-riding pair of red trunks he’d worn previously, his well-defined abs clearly visible.
    “How was your run?” I asked, positioning my bookmark before I shut the novel and laid it on the chair beside me.
    “ I’m glad it’s over.” He walked to the lounger and sat beside me, and after noticing his light, clean scent, I knew he had recently showered.
    “You still want to swim?” I asked, hoping he hadn’t changed his mind . While I knew that going for a swim was a small thing, I‘d been looking forward to it all morning.
    “ Abso-freaking-lutely.”
    A small smile tugged at my lips. I pushed the towel I’d been using as cover to the side and swung my legs over the edge of the chair. I hadn’t removed my tennis shoes, and I would leave them on until I’d gotten to the edge of the water. Scooping up the folded towel that I had