Affair of Honor Read Online Free PDF Page B

that!” she scoffed, letting herself be led outdoors into the still-cool mountain morning. She glanced to her left, automatically taking in her surroundings en route to the archery target, and gave a sudden gasp of appreciation.
    “Oh, you can see the lake from here! The rental agent was right. Isn’t it fantastic? It’s huge. Like an inland sea!”
    The dazzling blue depths, so deep the lake never froze even in the heart of winter when the region was converted into a skiing wonderland, reflected the bright morning sun.
    “It’s about twenty-two miles long,” Ryder told her. “And about eight miles across at this point. Do you gamble?”
    “I beg your pardon?” she asked in surprise.
    “I just wondered if you were interested in gambling, since you’ve elected to spend your summer on the Nevada side of the lake,” he explained as they reached the point near the target where he had been standing earlier.
    “Oh, I see what you mean. No, I’m not particularly interested. I saw the casinos as I drove through town last night,” she added. “I just happened to wind up here because this looked like the most attractive area available from the agent.”
    “Fate,” he suggested dramatically, loosing her hand to unstrap the leather arm guard from around his wrist.
    Brenna chuckled. “I’m afraid there is no empirical evidence to suggest that fate is a genuine factor in the world.”
    “Lively conversation like that must limit your dating to other faculty members,” he murmured, taking hold of her left wrist and attaching the guard. “So I can assume the ‘someone else’ is another member of your philosophy department staff?”
    “You do a pretty good job of lining up the evidence yourself,” she commended casually, examining the wrist guard.
    “He doesn’t love you, you know,” Ryder continued, bending down to pick up the quiver of arrows.
    Brenna swallowed in a wave of uneasy anger. She should not let herself be drawn into this kind of conversation. “That’s your opinion!”
    He put the bow in her hand and looked into her eyes.
    “That’s another deduction from empirical evidence,” he corrected.
    “What evidence?” she asked huskily.
    “He let you come alone to Tahoe for the summer.”
    “And from that you assume he doesn’t love me?” she challenged, amber eyes kindling.
    “I’m a man. Given what I know about being a man, that’s a reasonable assumption.”
    “You’re very sure of yourself,” she taunted, vividly aware of his closeness and the confidence in which he was enveloping her.
    “Want to hear another assumption?” he baited softly.
    “I doubt it!”
    “You don’t really love him, either,” he concluded inexorably.
    “You’d like to believe that so you don’t have to feel guilty when you make a pass at me,” she tossed back, proud of the coolness in her voice as she studied the weapon in her hand. Why was she standing there, letting him goad her like this? She should drop the bow and walk back to the cabin and lock the door. But that would be admitting that she couldn’t deal with him, wouldn’t it?
    “I won’t feel guilty when I make a pass, don’t fret.” He laughed far back in his throat. “I don’t feel even a pang about that kiss, for example.”
    “Why do you say I don’t love him?” She couldn’t resist the question, even though she was disgusted with herself for asking.
    “Because you are a woman who concerns herself with such things as honor. If you were in love you would not risk conversations like this with another man,” he told her simply. “Now,” he went on before she could find an answer, “this is called a recurve bow. The way the ends curve and deflect back give a lot more leverage. You’re right-handed so you stand with your left side toward the target. We’ll start with an open stance…”
    He knelt in front of her and guided her sandaled feet into the appropriate positions. Brenna found herself listening submissively for a while