Chapter 1
“Oh, this is a reallyclever one.” In the Banff Spa Resort’s bar, Shane McDermit cleared his throat and read the glaring headline on his phone. “‘The Nearly Man Nearly Makes it.’Gah-faw. Did someone seriously get paid to come up with that?”
Across from him, his good friend Michael Adams raised his beer in salute. “To media bullshit. May it live forever.”
Shane chuckled. Mikey hated the tags the media had given them too. As pro swimmers competing for the same titles, they were reportedly enemies, with Shane the Nearly Man—ugh—who begrudged the Cocky Canadian—that would be Mikey—for beating him to the finish line every time.
Never mind that Shane was one of Australia’s top athletes. Never mind that he’d won his fair share of races against Mikey. And never mind that when Mikey did win, it was usually only by the skin of his teeth.
“Here’s another one,” Shane said, tapping on the next article. “‘In today’s Icefields Parkway charity bike race, Australia’s Shane McDermitalmostmade it across the finish line ahead of Canada’s Michael Adams. But as per life in the pool...’” Shane raised an eyebrow. “As per? Why, this is some quality stuff.” He sipped his beer. “‘Butas perlife in the pool, Adams won by his usual fractions of a second.’”
“Fractions, eh?” Mikey shook his head. “It was a full two minutes.”
“Now you’re just rubbing it in.”
Mikey laughed. “We all know you were out front for most of the race today. If it hadn’t been for that collision when you made your pit stop, you’d‘ve been ten minutes ahead of me. You made an awesome comeback.”
“Funny how no one’s reported that here.” Shane tapped his phone.
“I don’t know why you’re even reading that crap.”
Shane didn’t know why either, but this past year, googling himself had become a form of self-preservation. The scars of the shit show back home in Sydney hadn’t completely healed, and he never, ever wanted to be caught unprepared again. Not when his life had gone so tits up the last time he hadn’t known what the tabloids were writing about him. Ever since, he’d taken control of what his fans and followers read. He often posted several times a week on his social media, generally leading the perfect life—even when he wasn’t.
Putting his phone away, Shane leaned back with this beer, shifted in his seat, and winced.
“You too, eh?” Mikey said, also shifting in his seat.
“Flaming balls of fire.” Shane grimaced for effect, making them both snicker like schoolboys. The race from Jasper to Banff had been a spectacular route, but three hours on a thin saddle hadn’t done wonders for the family jewels.
“Hey, guys. What’s so funny?”
Shane’s gaze caught on skintight jeans then shifted up past a bare navel and the swell of breasts beneath a bright-blue crop top. Zoey Shaw.
“Hi,” he said, a mixture of attraction and nerves swishing in his belly. She was the new fitness instructor at the aquatics center where he and Mikey trained, who—along with several others who worked there—had been recruited to help out on the bike ride. “How’s it going?”
“Good, thanks.” Her lips curled into a smile. “Are you guys sticking around to party?”
“Um...” Shane glanced at Mikey. Zoey and the rest of the team from the aquatics center had had the same idea to stay in Banff after the bike ride. Shane and Mikey had been invited to be part of their jolly group, but they’d opted to do a backcountry hiking and camping adventure instead. “Mikey and I are heading out to Lake Louise early tomorrow morning, but yeah, we’ll stick around for a couple more drinks.”
“Cool.” Zoey shimmied her shoulders, which made her breasts jiggle a little. “I guess I’ll see ya later, then.”
“Feel free to go on after her,” Mikey said when she was out of earshot. “I’ve gotta a few calls to make, anyway.”
“Nah.” Shane’s gaze followed the sway of Zoey’s hips as she joined her co-workers by the pool table then felt the weight of Mikey’s stare on the side of his face. “What?”
“You had a date with her last week, didn’t you?”
“It was lunch, not a date.” Shane studied Zoey’s ass as she bent to pick up the white ball out of the pocket. Unless he’d got it wrong, she’d been flirting with him for a couple of weeks and had been fond of stroking his arm whenever she was close enough. He’d never known a woman to do that before, but then, he’d been out of the game for a long, long time. Which was probably why he found her so tempting. But he’d moved to Vancouver six months ago as part of a new life plan. A plan that didn’t involve any women. “You know I’m not interested.”
With a crease between his eyes, Mikey studied his beer, and the wordFionahung around them like a bad smell. “It’s been a year, Shane.”
“Yeah.” Which was the other reason he needed this hiking trip. It fell bang smack in the middle of what would’ve been his and Fiona’s first wedding anniversary—if she hadn’t left him standing at the altar looking like a brokenhearted fool.
Shane took a long swig of his beer. His gaze followed the laughter coming from the pool table and landed on Zoey’s breasts again then up her long, delicate neck as she talked happily with Ryan Dubois, one of the sports therapists who worked at the center.
“There’s no harm in dating,” Mikey was saying. “You might be ready for it now. Give it a go.”
“Now that’s some piece of advice coming from you.” Shane shook his head and laughed. “Your schedule allows for women just as much as mine does.”
