"What are you doing here?! Didn't Erik tell you not to come down here?"

He'd been in the middle of therapy and he'd fallen, lost his grip on the handrails and down he went.

"He did, but I wanted to see you. We just got in–"

"Get the hell out of my sight, Livvy!" He'd managed to get off his butt, at least, pushing Cassie, his therapist away angrily but Olivia wasn't budging. Instead, she continued to walk toward him.

"I'm not leaving, Josh Morin! I want to help you–"

"I don't want your fucking help, you bitch! When do you ever listen to me? Get the fuck out of here!"

She'd stopped then, her eyes wide, her expression shocked. Then it was replaced by anger. "Wait! What did you just call me?"

"Do you have to ask what I just called you, you bitch? Or do you want me keep going? Get out!"

Even Cassie had gasped but I was beyond caring.

"Well, fine, you asshole!" Olivia countered angrily, though I saw her eyes glisten with tears. "I'm leaving!"

"Fine! And don't let the fucking gate hit you on your way out, you cu–"

"Earth to Josh, come in! Come in!" Olivia called out, skipping and hopping from one flagstone to the next although she had stopped and was facing him, her hands on her hips. "Did you even hear a word I've been saying?"

Josh blinked his eyes, realizing he was heading toward the casita with Olivia walking ahead of him. Lunch was over and she'd managed to convince him to take her with him to the casita to talk. In the past, they used to take a hike around the property, but not anymore. He was a cripple and he might as well take up stamp collecting.

"No, I wasn't listening."

"I knew it," she said, shaking her head.

"Look, Livvy, I'm really sorry for what I said the last time you were here. I was being an ass and I am sorry. I really am."

"Thank you," she said before walking ahead of him and stopping before the hill sloped down. As soon as he caught up, she grasped the railing and started walking again, carefully watching her step.

Just like the rest of the fence surrounding the casita, the handrails were built from pieces of wood found along the property, treated with a finish that protected it from the elements. It made them blend with the landscape and he liked it that way. They were sturdier than they looked. No hollow pieces of wood here, no sir.

Josh shifted his cane to his right hand and gripped the railing with his left. He felt clumsy, even though he knew he was much stronger than the last time Olivia saw him. He may whine about his leg but he worked on strengthening it everyday, and in the afternoons, he'd sit outside and rub his leg with a lotion that had arnica and other homeopathic ingredients in it. Cassie said it helped reduce inflammation and reduce pain.

His foot slipped then and Josh cursed, his right hand releasing his cane to grab the handrail. But Olivia was suddenly next to him, her hands gripping his right arm. She had his cane on the crook of her elbow.

"I got you," she said. "This slope sure can get slippery. Maybe steps would be great here. What do you think?"

Josh didn't need to tell her that she was right. He'd make sure to double-check his to-do list, just as soon as he caught all the bad guys.

She let go of his arm the moment they reached the bottom of the slope. Then she handed him his cane and accompanied him to the patio.

"I'm a cripple, Liv." He took a deep breath as he turned to look at her. She was standing so close to him and he could smell the scent of jasmine in her hair. "Why are you even here?"

"Because we haven't seen or talked to each other for months, and I figured if you weren't going to make the first move, I might as well be the one to do it," she replied. "I don't give up easily, not on people I care for."

"I really am sorry for the things I said that day, Livvy. You have no idea," he said. "I was in pain. I was pissed. I was miserable. And I am very sorry I called you names. I didn't mean any of them, I swear. I wish I could blame it on the booze or the meds, but I can't. Hell, even if I could blame the pain, it would be another excuse if I did. I was just in a bad place, and I hated that you had to see that."

She frowned. "You were there for me when I came back from Italy... after Sebastian died. I was in a bad place then, too, yet you were always there for me."

"That's different."

"How is it different?" she countered angrily. "I'd just watched my husband die on TV and I had a newborn infant needing her mommy to be there for her. I was in a bad place when I returned to the US, but because of you and Erik, I suddenly wasn't. You furnished my house, remember? You were there for me. There. For me. And I wanted to be here for you, too."

Now that she put it that way, she did have a point. "Thank you for being there for me, Livvy. That means a lot to me."

"You're welcome." Her brow furrowed as her gaze drifted down his leg where he was rubbing a sore spot on his thigh. "Sit down, and let me get you some ice. I don't want that knee to swell in case you twisted it when you slipped up there."

"It's the heat that makes my leg give in on me," he said. "Or the dry air. Heck, what do I know? Between the two of us, I'm not the doctor. I'm afraid being back by the beach would make it hurt more anyway. Dampness... or something."

She thought for a moment. "I doubt it. It would make it feel better. Negative ions."

"What?"

"Negative ions," she repeated. "You know how good you feel after the rain? Or when you're near a waterfall? Or even at the beach?"

Of course, he remembered how good it felt. He wished he could go back there. His surfboard was still waiting for him.

"That's negative ions at work for you," she said. "I read about it somewhere, why people feel so much better when they're near a body of clean moving water. It's because nature releases so many negative ions and it counters the positive ions from all the electromagnetic waves we encounter everywhere, from computers and all that."

"That's good to know," Josh muttered, wishing there were enough negative ions to change his mood. "It still doesn't change the fact that I'm a cripple." As she disappeared into the casita to get some ice, he eased himself down on the chair and propped his injured leg on the low bench.

"No, it doesn't," she said when she returned. "I never saw you as a cripple, Josh Morin. But now that I see that you're so convinced of it, maybe you are."

Ouch.

Josh was quiet as she placed an ice pack along the inside of his knee, making sure it molded with his leg before letting go. Then she took one of the cushions from the deck chair and placed it on the floor in front of him. Facing his propped up leg, she knelt down on the cushion between his legs and reached for the tube of arnica that was sitting on the table.

"What are you doing?" Josh asked as she squeezed a dollop of arnica cream on her fingers.

"I'm rubbing this on your leg, you dork," she said, chuckling. "Now lean back and let me do this. God knows you're so squeamish about your scar. You probably don't even touch it."

"You're right. I don't," he muttered as he leaned back and closed his eyes. Like a kid too squeamish to look at something, Josh kept his eyes closed as she rubbed the cream on his leg, her fingers warm against his skin. It wasn't like Cassie at all who often used a portable ultrasound unit on him with a special gel to loosen up scar tissue in the area. No, this was different. This was Olivia, and it felt good.

Until it wasn't exactly good.

"What are you doing?" he demanded when her fingers traced the long scar along the inside of his thigh.

"I didn't realize the incision was so long," she murmured, her brow furrowed in concentration as she traced a part of his scar. "I understand they had to remove your saphenous vein on your other leg to replace the damaged femoral artery on this one."

"I wouldn't know. I was coding, I think." He meant to be funny but he saw her face turn pale. No, it wasn't funny. He almost died. But he could have also lost his leg that night if it weren't for the surgeons who happened to be on site. Josh wondered then, if being a cripple ate at him so much, what would have happened if he'd woken up from his coma with a leg gone? Would he really have eaten a bullet because he was missing a leg?

Thank God for little mercies, Josh thought as he felt her hand move up his thigh. She was rubbing his leg with a firm pressure, not too light to make it tickle and not too hard that it would have made him flinch in pain. He tried to relax as her fingers moved even higher. His body's reaction was instantaneous. Though he fought it the entire time, there was no stopping it now. He was hard.

Josh grabbed her wrist, his grip tight. "What are you doing?"

"I'm feeling for scar tissue, that's all," she said. "I'm a doctor, remember? Sure, I may not be practicing but I'm still a trained medical professional."

"I appreciate your concern, Livvy," Josh said. He leaned forward, his face close to hers. "But what are you really doing here?"

This time, Olivia avoided his gaze and her face turned pink. Even her chest turned pink, he thought, now noticing the dress she wore. It was white with red flowers, her chest rising and falling with her breath, her ample cleavage peeking from above the low neckline. Then there were her bright red hair, and blue eyes that often looked green, shielded by thick lashes resting on her cheeks when she lowered her gaze. God, she was beautiful.

"Nothing," she snapped. "I want to help you, that's all. I care for you, Josh. You're like a brother to me."

That was it. "Enough of this brother crap. That's a crock of shit and you know it." He brought his leg down on the floor and got up from the chair. Then he strode toward the casita.

"Then tell me what it really is, Josh," she said, following after him. "You and I both want this."

Josh stopped but didn't turn to face her. "Since when did I become an expert on what we both want, Livvy? How the hell do you know what I want?"

"Since you stopped looking me in the eye," Olivia replied. "You never used to be like this, so... so angry. We used to be able to talk about anything. Everything."

"Not everything, Liv." Josh took a deep breath and exhaled. "But I think we just made things more complicated right now."

"It got complicated a long time ago, Josh, long before you got shot and I thought I lost you." Her voice broke and Josh felt a tug in his chest. But he still couldn't look at her. "One day you were there and then the next day, you weren't."

"I'm still here."

She walked around him so she was standing in front of him. "I want the old Josh back. The one who always made me laugh, the one who was always there for me. My best friend."

This time, he almost laughed out loud. Josh ran his fingers through his hair, wishing he could rewind the last few minutes. Hell, the last ten years would be good, too, long before she met Sebastian and ran off to Italy. "Best friend? Is that why you did what you did back there with my leg? As my best friend? We're not kids anymore, Livvy. You don't get to pretend that I'm your Ken doll anymore."

She glared at him, her expression almost offended. Didn't their parents call them the blonde Ken and the redheaded Barbie a few times? While Erik would have died at the thought of playing house with his twin sister, Josh would ride his tricycle 'to work' at the far end of the driveway while she tended house on the patio. What had Josh been thinking then?

"I don't know why you have to be so stubborn, Josh Morin. And not to mention, clueless," Olivia muttered as she stood on tiptoes and grabbed his face, pulling him down toward her.

The kiss was deep, definitely one of those no-nonsense, I'm-taking-no-prisoners type of kisses. Holy hell, this was heaven, Josh thought as her tongue slipped between his teeth and his arms circled her waist, pulling her up to him. He didn't even care that she was the one taking charge. He actually liked it.

The strap of her dress slipped off her shoulders and Josh pushed it lower, discovering that she wasn't wearing a bra. He rubbed her nipple through the thin fabric of her dress, feeling it harden against his fingers. She pulled away from him, gasping for breath as he pinched and rolled her nipple between his thumb and index finger.

"This is not a game, Livvy," he whispered though he didn't let her go. "You don't get to tease me like this–"

Josh kissed her again, taking control this time. He lifted her against him, feeling her arms wrap around his neck and her legs circle his hips. He cleared the distance between the door and the kitchen in a few strides and perched her on the edge of the kitchen counter, grateful that it wasn't cluttered with paperwork, silverware, or worse, empty fast food wrappers. Thank God Erik showed up when he did to tell him to clean up the place.

With one hand still along the back of her neck, Josh moved his other hand between them, lifting the hem of her skirt. The feel of her smooth skin was heaven as he slid his hand higher, stopping along the lace of her panties. He could feel her wetness, soaking through the lace as she gasped, her body tightening.

In his mind's eye, Josh could see himself pushing her down so she was lying on the counter. He'd spread her legs and kiss her through the soaked lace, taste her and feel her squirm under his touch. Hell, he could be dramatic about it and rip her panties off her. But Josh didn't want to take her like this, not for their first time together, and definitely not when he knew it would be over in a few minutes and they'd be left with more questions and definitely more guilt than he could manage. Josh wanted the whole package–the girl he'd always had a crush on since eighth grade and now the woman he'd do anything for.

He withdrew his hand, caressing her thigh instead.

"What's wrong?" Olivia asked as he rested his forehead on hers. He was thinking too much, worrying about things he shouldn't worry about. He should take her right here and be done with it. But of course, he couldn't. She was also his best friend's sister. Wasn't that a no-no?

Still, his senses were in hyperdrive, his heart beating like a drum inside his chest. This was Olivia he was holding, he thought. His Livvy.

Olivia kissed him again, drawing him closer to her, coaxing him back out from the world he retreated into. Each breath she took seemed to draw one of his own with it. She was his world. She'd always been his world.

The sound of a twig snapping outside brought them back to the present and Josh lowered Olivia from the counter. He helped her smoothen her dress, pulling the skirt down her knees as he turned his head toward the window that faced the inn. A woman with a pixie haircut was carefully making her way down the slope, gripping the handrail for dear life.

"It's Julie," he whispered.

"I'll send her away."

He was suddenly angry with himself. How could he have allowed it to get as far as it did? She seemed dazed as Josh walked her to the front door, hating that things had to start and end so soon between them.

Julie spotted them and waved, saying something about the amazing view of the valley. He waved back. God, he needed a cold shower. He glanced down at Olivia, her face and chest still flushed, and there was something on her neck. Was that beard burn?

"This is not a game, Livvy," Josh muttered. "I want you. All of you. But I'm not about to settle for a quickie on my kitchen counter, or worse–being viewed as just a brother to you."

"Fine!" Anger flashed across her face and Josh saw the defiant lift of her chin. "So if those are your terms, here are mine."

"You have terms?" Josh frowned. He didn't expect this at all. But then that was Olivia for you. He watched her straighten her back, her hands moving up to her hips.

"If you want me, Josh Morin, you can have me. All of this." She waved her hand all along her torso like Vanna White showing off the boxed letters on the Wheel of Fortune. "But you better stop wallowing in that river of self-pity because I'm not about to dive in to save you."

Ouch. "Fair enough," Josh said, crossing his arms in front of his chest and watching her make her way to the gate. "I can handle that."

"Good. Oh, and one more thing," Olivia said as she stopped by the gate and pushed it open. "I don't want a cripple, Josh. I want a man."

Double ouch.