Prue sighed. “You know what…it’s okay.” She dipped her head, kissing Summer’s cheek. “You don’t have to explain or make excuses. I get it.”
“W-Wha—?”
Prue held up her hand, shaking her head. “Please, don’t.”
“Prue.”
“Look, I have somewhere that I need to be this evening.” Prue’s walls shot up around her. “I had a key cut for you for the annexe. I’ll drop it off at reception before I go out. You can come and go as you please then. I don’t need to be around for you.”
“I think we need to talk,” Summer said. “About everything. All of this.”
“Sure, yeah.” Prue shrugged, no longer willing to get attached to Summer. This, it was impossible. Summer would tell her that whenever she had the chance to. One thing Prue knew was that she couldn’t do it anymore. Summer had the potential to rip her heart in two, and lately, she was allowing that possibility. This wasn’t good for anyone, least of all Prue. Today, this moment…it was time to call it quits. “Some other time?”
“I-If that’s what you want, yes.” Summer felt a lead weight settle in her stomach. Prue was closing down on her, backing away. “Just…you’ll let me know when you’re free?”
“Yeah.” Prue smiled, running her fingers through her long, dark hair. “Come on, I’ll drop you off.”
8
A knock brought Prue from the stack of invoices in front of her. “Come in.”
Julianna, one of her servers, popped her head around the door. “Miss Michaels,” she started. “We have an issue out here.”
“Where?”
“The main lounge,” Julianna said. “A group of them but one man in particular.”
Prue selected the desired camera angle on the computer beside her. Watching carefully, her heart raced as an older man grabbed one of her girls. Rage took over, sending Prue from her leather office chair and out the door in mere seconds. Marching towards the man in question, her heels pounding against the black-tiled floor, Prue gripped him by the back of his shirt and pulled him away.
“OUT!”
“Get your fucking hands off me!” the man’s voice bellowed over the music in the club.
“You won’t come in here, touching my girls and throwing your weight around.” Prue caught the attention of the security guard.
“I’ve paid for her. I’ll do what I fucking want with her.”
“Correction.” Prue held up her hand, her other now fisted in the front of the man’s shirt. “You paid for a dance, not her.”
“Stripper. Whore. It’s all the same thing, darlin’.” The smug grin on his face only heightened Prue’s anger. “Unless you wanted me to show you a good time instead?” His breath washed over Prue’s face, that disgusting mix of alcohol and cigarettes almost making her eyes water. “Well?”
“I suggest you leave right now.” Prue stood tall, refusing to allow her anger to tip over. “And don’t bother coming back.”
“You’re all fucking whores. Every last one of you.”
Prue laughed, throwing her head back. “And I’m sure you have little dick syndrome, hence your reason for being here. Now… FUCK OFF!” Shoving him towards the security guard, Prue turned her attention to Rochelle. “Are you okay?”
“Sure, yeah.” Rochelle shrugged off Prue’s concern. “Fine.”
Prue followed Rochelle as she moved through the crowd, pulling her to a quieter area of the club. “Did he hurt you?” She gave Rochelle the once over. “You have a bruise on your arm.”
“Don’t worry about it.” She lowered her eyes. “I’m sure I’ll get used to it.”
“No.” Prue frowned. “You’re not here to get used to anything. My girls matter to me, you too, and I won’t have anyone coming in here and behaving that way.”
“I’m not sure you can say that when you run the kind of establishment you do, Prue.”
“Yeah?” Prue’s eyebrow rose. “Tell me that at the end of the week when you have your first wage.”
Satisfied that Rochelle was okay, Prue turned her back and made a beeline for her office. She hated being here, seeing men drool over women, but if she didn’t run this place…someone else would. Someone she couldn’t be sure would look after the women who chose to dance for money on the island. What they did outside was their own business, but Prue had a strict no sex policy here. Dancing was where she drew the line. She knew exactly the type of clientele this place brought with it—she was once a victim of the trade—but being here…she could ensure they were safe and cared for.
She dropped down into her chair, checking the cameras as she did. Prue didn’t often spend her evenings here, only hanging around when invoices and business needed taking care of, but she didn’t want to sit at home and she certainly didn’t want to be at the hotel. Being at the hotel only reminded her of Summer. The sooner she got the younger woman off her mind, the sooner Prue could return to her life. Her normal. Business. As she sat on the beach earlier today, barely two words spoken between them, Prue decided that she was out. As she spoke honestly for the first time in forever, Summer’s silence told her what she needed to know. The reason for Summer’s indecisiveness, her holding back, was pretty simple. She had no interest in Prue. It made sense now. Summer had already told Prue that she feared her, her dominance. If only she could have shown Summer a different side to her, this could have been avoided.
Prue inwardly scolded herself, once again spending her time thinking about someone who didn’t have a single concern for her. She swept the paperwork up in her hand and powered down her computer. The rest of this could be dealt with at home. As she took her jacket from the back of her seat, the office door opened.
“Hi, uh…would you mind if I took the rest of the night off?”
Rochelle stood before her, anxiety evident.
“No, of course not.” Prue offered her a sympathetic smile. “I’m about to leave. Why don’t you come back with me and we’ll unwind together?”
“Unwind?”
“I could use a large glass of wine. I’m sure you could too…”
“Yeah, that sounds great.” Rochelle threw her thumb over her shoulder. “Meet you outside?”
Prue smiled. “Meet you outside.”
Summer sat on the edge of the bed, glancing around the darkened room she was about to lease for the foreseeable. Prue wasn’t home—she’d already tried to seek her out when she arrived at the villa—so Summer decided to use the key she’d picked up from Vivian on the way here and view her new surroundings once more. Summer was feeling guilty about their conversation at the beach earlier today. Prue had been nothing but honest with her, and she froze. Her words…nowhere to be found. In her mind, she wanted to grab Prue and never let her go, wishing she could just get lost in her, but as with all the times before, Summer floundered. It was no secret that Prue Michaels made her feel a particular type of way, but if Summer didn’t make that known soon, she would lose Prue forever.
I don’t know how much longer I can do this, Summer. Prue’s words ticked over in Summer’s mind like a broken record. Prue had every right to stop all of this, and Summer had a bad feeling that she’d done exactly that, but the whirlwind that Prue was had thrown Summer completely. Jade had called, asking about any update with Prue, but Summer simply shrugged it off. Jade didn’t need to know that she felt like total chaos around her, and she didn’t need to know that she messed it up at every turn. But, as Summer sat here…she realised that she needed Jade’s opinion.
She dialled her best friends number, waiting for the call to connect. “Hey, it’s me.”
“Didn’t expect to hear from you so soon,” Jade said. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah, I think so.” Summer lowered her eyes, toying with the fringe on the Egyptian cotton bedspread Prue had purchased. “You know I told you it wasn’t going anywhere with Prue?”
“Yep. I remember…”
“Well, that wasn’t really true.” Summer sighed. “She’s trying, Jade. G
od, she’s trying so hard.”
“But?”
“I keep pushing her away.” As much as Summer hated admitting she was wrong, perhaps even a bitch, it felt good to finally be honest with her best friend. “She took me to the beach today. She was perfect…like she has been every time we’ve been alone.”
“And how many times have you been alone?”
“A few.”
“I thought you were into her,” Jade said. “I thought you wanted to get to know her.”
“I do, more than anything.”
“So, what’s the issue?”
“I don’t know.” Summer clenched her jaw. She should have had the answers before she called her best friend. This was pointless otherwise. “Everything?”
“That’s not an answer, babe.”
“Well, I don’t have anything else for you.” Summer’s forehead creased when she heard a splash outside the annexe door. “Oh, shit. She’s back.”
“Who? Where are you?”
“I’m at the annexe. Prue wasn’t home so I thought I’d just pop in and have a look at it.”
“How did you get in there?” Jade asked. “You didn’t break in, did you?”
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Summer rolled her eyes, standing and approaching the door. “She left a key for me at reception. I don’t suppose she’ll care that I showed up here, but I don’t want to scare her.” Peeking out of the closed blind, Summer almost gasped when a very naked Prue stood at the side of the pool. “Oh, my God.”
“What?”
“S-She’s about to get into the pool. N-Naked.”
“Wow, okay.” Jade laughed. “Maybe this is your time to join her.”
“I wish,” Summer said, barely above a whisper. “I just… God, I don’t know how to be around her, Jade. One minute I feel confident and I can talk to her like a normal human being…and then I’m backing off and giving her nothing. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. She’s perfect. She hasn’t once pressured me for anything, but I don’t seem to be able to get out of this mindset that it would be a bad idea.” Summer clenched her jaw, angry with herself for putting Prue through all of this. “What if I’m not cut out for this life with her, Jade? She’s so much more sophisticated than anyone I’ve ever met. She would see that and end this. I think that’s what I’m more worried about than anything. Loving her…only to lose her.”
“You two are worlds apart, Summer.”
“I know.”
“But Prue is clearly interested. Don’t you think you owe it to yourself to try?”
“Yeah.” Summer closed her eyes momentarily. When they reopened, tears formed. Prue wasn’t alone. Now pinned against the side of the pool, her lower half immersed in the water, Rochelle kissed her way down her gorgeous neck. “Oh.”
“Oh?”
“Never mind.” Summer’s voice broke. “I think I was too late…again.”
“What are you talking about?” Jade waited, getting nothing from her best friend. “Summer?”
“She was here with another woman last night,” Summer explained. “I showed up and caught them together. Well, I never caught them because Prue wasn’t doing anything wrong, but that same woman is here again right now…and by the looks of it, about to erase me from Prue’s mind.”
“You should leave, Summer. You don’t need to put yourself through this,” Jade said. “I don’t know where you go from here—it could work out okay—but you really don’t need to put yourself through whatever the fuck is about to happen. It won’t be pleasant.”
“I can’t leave. I can’t just walk out of the annexe right now while the woman I’m besotted with is having sex in the pool,” Summer whisper-yelled, wanting the world to stop so she could get off.
“Is there no other way to leave? A back door?”
“It’s not a fucking house, Jade. It’s effectively a huge room.”
“Okay, I’m just trying to help,” Jade defended. “You’ve got yourself into a right mess here.”
“This was a mistake.” Summer tore her eyes from the window, no longer willing to watch what was happening in front of her. “Spain. Everything.”
“No. Don’t say that. You’ve been looking forward to this, Summer. This was your fresh start.”
“And it’s turned to shit within a month.”
“And there is only one way to change that…”
“How?” Summer’s tone begging, she sounded like a child.
“Stop resisting her. Stop this back and forth…the worry. If you really want something with this woman, you’re going to have to do a hell of a lot better than you have been.”
“Wow, thanks.”
“I know you, Summer. You forget that. Instead of putting your heart on the line again, you would rather miss out on the opportunity to find happiness.”
Jade had hit the nail square on the head. As she often did.
“But it’s too late.” Summer wiped the tears from her cheek. “Far too late.”
“Maybe,” Jade agreed. “But you won’t know that until you try.”
“I think I’ll sleep on this.” Summer flopped down on the bed. “Here.”
“You really have no way of getting out?”
“No. But this is my own problem. I shouldn’t have come here unannounced. I’ll talk to you in a few days, okay?”
“Okay, but if you need me before then…you know I’m only a call away.”
“I know. Thank you.” Summer yawned, falling back onto the mattress. “Goodnight.”
“Night, Summer.”
She ended the call, throwing her phone to the bed beside her. Laughter outside caught her attention, a laugh she recognised to be Prue’s. Climbing from the bed, Summer pulled the covers back and climbed inside, curling into the foetal position. Tonight hadn’t gone to plan at all, so she pulled the cover up and over her head, blocking out the sounds of moaning and pleasure outside the door.
I don’t know if I can live here with her…
Prue delighted in the aroma of her second coffee as she brought her cup to her nose. Her body tired and aching, she felt marginally good…all things considered. Rochelle hadn’t spent the night. Prue suspected she was a little spooked from her ordeal at the club last night, but that was okay. Rochelle needed to process her new job at the club and what trouble it could rarely bring. Prue though, she was okay. She didn’t rely on women to spend the night to ensure her happiness; she’d gotten by over the last ten years sleeping in a huge lonely bed. Last night had been her way of acting out after the afternoon she’d spent with Summer, but that was all over now. She would no longer pursue the younger woman. As she lay in bed last night alone, she’d come to the conclusion that perhaps Summer was too young for her. She hadn’t thought about it before, and in her heart she didn’t truly believe that to be the issue, but she would use it as a way of coping and forgetting about the blue-eyed tenant she would soon house here.
Was it the best idea in the world to live on the same grounds? Prue wasn’t sure. However, she wouldn’t see Summer struggle in an unfamiliar country, no matter how much time she’d spent here over the years with her grandparents. Prue may be a bitch to the outside world, but here…in the comfort of her own company, she wished Summer the very best. If that meant she had to be a friend and help her out with a place to live, Prue could at least try to push down her feelings. It wouldn’t be easy, nothing in life ever was, but Summer had made it painfully clear that Prue wasn’t her kind of woman and she was slowly getting to grips with that. She’d never been turned down, but this was different. This wasn’t a “fuck me once and leave before sunlight” kind of situation. This was the real deal. At least, to Prue, it was.
The sound of coughing caught Prue’s attention, but where it was coming from, she couldn’t place. There were no villas close by, not even a main road, so it seemed odd to her that she would hear other people this early in the morning. Yes, it was only eight am…and the weekend, but she enjoyed the early morning quietness. She enjoyed sitt
ing out on the terrace doing absolutely nothing whatsoever. She had been out here since six-thirty, her body showing no signs of moving. Another cough caused Prue to stand, but the direction she was going, she didn’t know. Where the hell is that coming from? Prue followed the sound of movement, anxiety settling in when she realised it was coming from the annexe.
Her hand landed on the door handle. As she turned it and opened the door, she found a half-naked Summer slipping her leg into her skinny jeans. “O-Oh.” Prue turned her back. “Sorry.”
“No, I’m sorry.” Summer quickly shimmied into her jeans, pulling her T-shirt over her head. “I’m decent. You don’t have to turn away.”
“No, I know…” Prue sighed, slowly turning back around. “I didn’t know you would be here.”
“No, me neither.” Summer offered a half-cocked smile, embarrassed to have been caught. “I should have been up a while ago. You wouldn’t have known I was here.”
“I thought you would be moving in later in the week.”
“Yeah, I just came by last night to see you,” Summer said. “I hoped we could talk about yesterday at the beach but you were out.”
“Yeah, I had somewhere to be.”
“With Rochelle, I know.”
Prue’s heart sunk. Her knees trembled. Everything within her recoiled. “Y-You were here last night?”
“Unfortunately, yes.” Summer turned her back, taking her half-dead phone from the bed and gathering her shoes from the floor. “I should really get going.”
The Heat of Summer Page 8