The Truth About Ryan (Sweet Valley University(R)) - Softcover

Pascal, Francine

3.42

144 ratings by Goodreads

9780553570557: The Truth About Ryan (Sweet Valley University(R))

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0553570552 ISBN 13: 9780553570557

Publisher: Sweet Valley, 1997

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

Hot men and cool waves...is it more than a summer fling?

Ryan Taylor has gone back to his dangerous old habits.  Can Elizabeth Wakefield help him out before he's kicked off the Sweet Valley lifeguard squad for good?

Jessica Wakefield has sacrificed so much this summer.  In order to lure Ben Mercer away from brainy Priya Rahman, she's been hitting the books when she should have been hitting the beach.  But how someone new is tempting Jessica...someone forbidden.  Will Jessica give up her studies--and Ben--for a risky summer fling?

Life with surfer Stu Kirkwood is pure bliss--that's what Nina Harper thinks.  But will a woman from his past make her think again?

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

"Oh, Stu," Nina purred softly, avoiding his question.  "It was fantastic.  Thanks for waking me up for the sunrise."

Stu smiled and tucked his long blond hair behind his ears.  "And you said you thought mornings were a total bummer."

Nina giggled.  "They are, usually.  But I wouldn't have missed this for the world."

Stu reached out and pulled her toward him, kissing her softly on the tip of the nose.  "I was hoping you'd feel that way," he murmured, gazing deeply into her eyes.

Nina felt her insides begin to melt.  She took a deep breath.

"Hey, are you OK?" Stu asked, his forehead wrinkling in concern.

Nina laughed and fanned herself.  "A little hot."

Stu hugged her.  "I know what will cool you down.  We'll go for a swim.  Look at that water--hardly a ripple.  I love the ocean in the early morning.  That's when the sea is at its most gentle."

"And you call yourself a surfer?" Nina teased.

Stu grinned.  "That's different.  When I have my board and my wet suit, I want radical curls.  But with my ultimate babe"--he hugged Nina again--"I want it calm and peaceful.  Just the two of us floating around in Mother Nature's cradle.  See how it's almost calling to us?"

Nina turned her attention to the shore.  As a lifeguard she was used to studying the water, but as an adversary, not a friend.  Her job was saving lives; that meant constantly fighting the sea, always being wary.  But now she felt as if she were seeing the ocean through Stu's eyes.

He's right, she realized, watching the waves lap gently at the shore, leaving their lacy white foam behind.  A swim was an excellent idea.  Too bad I didn't come prepared, she thought, glancing down at Stu's attire.  He was always ready for a dip in the ocean, practically living in his old cutoffs and faded T-shirts.

"That sounds perfect, Stu.  I'll just run in and change."

"Why bother?" he asked, looking up and down the deserted beach.  "No one's around."

Nina giggled nervously and shook her head.  She might be developing a newfound spiritual awareness, but she hadn't changed that much.  Skinny-dipping in broad daylight was not about to become part of the Nina Harper repertoire.  "Like I said, I'll go change."

"Cool.  Whatever you're comfortable with," Stu said with a smile, dropping down cross-legged on the sand to wait for her.

What a sweet guy, Nina thought happily as she bounded up the stairs to her bedroom on the second floor of the beach house.  For an incredibly successful business tycoon, he's completely laid-back.  Who would believe he's a millionaire?

Some time ago Stu had created TubeRiders, a surfboard customized for his own needs, and unwittingly parlayed it into a business empire that had earned him more money than he'd ever dreamed of.  But he was hardly the businessman type; all he wanted to do was sit by the beach and commune peacefully with nature or go out on the waves and surf.  So he'd sold part of the business to a partner who would handle the dayto-day stuff while he lived the life of a king.  And for Stu, that was hardly anything more indulgent than the large, secluded adobe beach house he'd built for himself, complete with a private bridge connecting SeaMist Island to the mainland.

My dream man, Nina thought, starting when she suddenly heard Jessica and Ben's raised voices from downstairs.  "Sounds like a real fight to me," Nina muttered, running to the landing just in time to see Jessica storm out through the front door.  Ben followed close at her heels, laughing sardonically.

Nina sighed.  "There go two people who could use some energy transference," she mused, walking back into her brightly painted bedroom.  The sunny yellow walls always made her feel especially happy.  She opened her antique cherry-wood dresser and rummaged through the bottom drawer for her favorite bikini.

"I hope Stu isn't too calm, cool, or collected when he sees me in this suit," she murmured, envisioning herself in the gold two-piece.  The color beautifully set off her soft ebony skin and the cut showed off her toned, flat tummy.

"Oh, no," she gasped, stepping back and holding the bikini up in front of the bureau's mirror.  There was a huge tear in the bikini's bottom, and the top looked as if it had been chewed up by a Jet Ski propeller.

Did I put this in the dryer by accident? she wondered in horror.  She knew her mind had been occupied with thoughts of Stu lately, but she couldn't believe she'd become that careless.

"Oh, well." Nina sighed, tossing the bathing suit onto her flowered bedspread.  "I guess I'll wear the blue one-piece."  But as her hand went toward the familiar blue Lycra shoulder strap, she knew something was wrong.  Her blue bathing suit had been practically ripped apart too!

"What is this?" Nina cried, pulling her other bathing suits from the drawer.  All of them, even her red lifeguard suits, were in tatters.  "Is this some kind of perverse joke?"  Sure, she'd played her own share of practical jokes in her time, but this was sick.  She was just about to call a house meeting when she remembered that both Jessica and Ben had just left.  And she had gotten a message late last night from Elizabeth, who was going to be stuck at a garage for who knew how long getting the Jeep fixed.

Nina peered more closely at the damaged bathing suits.  "They look like they've been slashed with a knife...or maybe a razor blade," she whispered, examining them one by one.

Suddenly the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stood up.  If no one is here, she thought, then how come I have the distinct impression I'm not alone?

"Stu?" she called softly, tentatively.  But as she whirled around to check behind her, she felt loud crack reverberate through her head.  Then everything went black.

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.