“Yes, she is. And she’ll probably stay there until you leave.” Connie ran a hand through her tangled curls and yawned. “Why don’t you leave the poor girl alone, Derek? Stick to your campaign to reform me. I have to put up with you. You’re my brother.”
“Let’s you and I make a deal, Con,” Derek suggested casually. “You keep out of my affair with Summer, and I’ll stop giving you unwanted advice.”
Connie smiled brightly. “Hallelujah. Too bad you haven’t a prayer of having an affair with Summer, or I’d take you up on that very tempting offer.”
“I didn’t mean it quite that way, but don’t write me off yet. You never know what will happen.” He walked past her, moving in the direction of Summer’s closed bedroom door.
Connie frowned. “Derek…”
He glanced back without pausing. “Butt out, Connie.”
For the first time Connie noticed the way her brother was dressed, and her eyes widened. A brown leather bomber jacket, white knit pullover shirt, well-worn jeans and scuffed brown biker’s boots. Derek had come dressed for trouble.
Derek closed Summer’s door behind him and stood looking down at her for a long moment before approaching the bed. The doorbell hadn’t awakened her. She lay on her stomach, her head cradled on one arm, the other arm dangling off the side of the bed. The covers were tangled at her feet, and her legs were sprawled as carelessly as a child’s, the knit nightshirt she wore hiked up to reveal green-and-white-striped panties over a shapely tush. Derek fought down the impulse to jump on top of her and walked to the head of the bed, kicking aside the pillow on the floor. He knelt beside her, pushing a large stuffed bear out of the way, and examined the sleep-flushed face beneath the short, tousled golden-brown hair. The faintest purple rings under her long, closed lashes indicated that she hadn’t slept well. Had her rest been disturbed by thoughts of him?
God, she was lovely. His insides twisted with a desire so powerful that it rocked him back on his heels. He’d never wanted a woman this much in his life.
Very slowly he leaned forward until his lips just brushed a down-soft cheek. She tasted good. So very good. He touched his lips in a butterfly caress to the end of her adorably tilted nose. Her velvety eyelid received a fleeting salute before his roving mouth touched the corner of her slightly parted lips. Her breath was warm and soft against his skin, and he kissed her mouth again. She stirred, and the beginnings of a smile touched her face. “Derek,” she murmured without opening her eyes.
A wave of emotion surged through him, so intense that he nearly doubled over from the force of it. “Yes, Summer, it’s Derek,” he whispered, his voice hoarse.
Her smile deepened, her eyelashes fluttering on her cheeks. Blinking at the light, she squinted shyly up at him. “Hi, Derek,” she murmured, sleep still deepening her voice.
“Oh, God, Summer.” Unable to resist any longer, Derek leaned over the bed and took her in his arms, his mouth covering hers in a kiss that was as hungry as it was gentle. She made a sound like a purr deep in her throat and lifted her arms to slide them around his neck, her lips opening to his without hesitation. Derek knew she was still half-asleep but took full advantage of her momentary weakness as he lowered himself beside her and deepened the kiss.
Stretching like the cat whose purr she imitated, Summer snuggled into Derek’s embrace, luxuriating in his warmth and strength. His mouth moved against hers, his tongue stroking hers in a kiss that was even more beautiful than those that had haunted her dreams. Holding herself even closer to him, she silently begged for his touch. As if she’d moaned the request aloud, he gave her what she desired, his hand sliding across her back and around her waist to cup her breast. Summer whimpered and held him more tightly, arching into his palm. Derek lifted his head only to pull in a shuddering breath, then kissed her again. His hand moved feverishly over her scantily clad figure, discovering and stroking all her feminine secrets. Summer felt as if she were on fire. She wanted him. Oh, how she wanted him.
And then his hand moved over her hip and down her thigh, slipping behind her knee to lift her leg over his. Her right knee. She flinched as the mangled joint, always stiff in the morning, protested the movement with a twinge of pain.
Dismayed, she tore her mouth away from Derek’s and pushed against his chest, fully awake. “What the hell are you doing in my bedroom?” she said on a gasp, scooting back on the bed to put a safe distance between them.
Reluctantly acknowledging that the golden moment was over, Derek made no effort to detain her but lifted himself slowly onto his elbow, looking at her with a rueful smile. “I would think the answer to that question is obvious,” he told her huskily.
“You came here to seduce me?” she demanded, crossing her arms defensively over her chest. “In my own bedroom?”
Something about the outraged question struck him as funny, and he chuckled. Then, as her eyes narrowed in sudden fury, he realized that laughter was not exactly the most tactful response to this particular situation. “I only came in here to wake you,” he assured her gravely, pushing himself upright to stand beside the bed, easing his hands into the pockets of his painfully tight jeans as he did so. “I’ll admit that things got a little out of control, but I’m certainly not apologizing. I thought it was fantastic. You were enjoying it, too. Admit it.”
“I was asleep!” she protested, pushing her bangs out of her eyes with a trembling hand.
“You knew what you were doing,” he answered relentlessly. “You called me by name.”
Flushing vividly, she dropped her eyes from his, frowning as she took in his casual attire. “Your clothes.”
“What about them?”
“They make you look… different.”
“You asked me if I own a pair of jeans. You see now that I do.”
Thoroughly disoriented, Summer shook her head as if clearing the last vestiges of sleep, then glared at him. “What are you doing in my bedroom?” she asked again.
He just couldn’t help it. He chuckled again. “We’ve already been through that, remember? You look wonderful in the mornings. Even if your hair does tend to stand straight up.” His eyes made a lazy survey of the skimpy nightshirt that had proved so little barrier against his wandering hands. The words printed across the front of the orange knit shirt darkened his eyes: Motorcycle Mama. “That shirt is sick.”
“Connie gave it to me. I think it’s cute.”
“You would. Get dressed. We’re spending the day together.”
“The hell we are.”
He sighed. “Look, Summer, you can either get dressed and go out with me, or we’ll spend the entire day right here in your bed. Personally, I’d prefer the latter, but something tells me that you wouldn’t agree.”
“You’re damned right I don’t agree.”
“Then get dressed. I’ll go find some coffee and wait for you.”
“Derek, you can’t just walk into my bedroom and tell me that I’m going to spend the day with you.”
“I just did. See you in half an hour.” He winked at her as he walked toward the door.
Summer groped for her pillow, hoping to find it in time to throw it at his retreating back. Too late she remembered that she’d thrown it to the floor the night before. With one last insolent glance back at her Derek walked out of the room, quietly closing the door behind him.
Her head buzzing with conflicting emotions, Summer took her shower. A cold shower. Even that could not quench the fires Derek had started within her. Damn him! She’d never met anyone like him. Though she’d met some single-minded, intractable, persistent males in her life, Derek should win a prize. When he set his mind on something, he intended to achieve it regardless of the consequences. Not through flashy, ostentatious, creative measures, but by steady, thorough, relentless pursuit. No grand hero, this Derek Anderson, but a man who achieved his goals quietly. Not qualities she normally admired in a man. So why did she find them so utterly fascinating in Derek? And why was she beginning to resign herself to
the fact that an affair with him was fast becoming inevitable?
While she dressed in an oversize white fleece top and baggy stone-washed jeans, her rational side continued to remind her of the reasons she must resist the temptation to give in to Derek, even as her body throbbed with the remnants of passion he’d created upon awakening her. She told herself that she had taken an unusual amount of time with her makeup only to hide the aftereffects of her restless night, not to look particularly attractive for Derek. Sliding her feet into the stylish leather flats that she wore from necessity as well as fashion, she took a deep breath before heading for the door through which Derek had departed only twenty minutes earlier.
She found him in the kitchen, sharing coffee with his sister. Summer wasn’t particularly surprised to discover that they were talking about Joel.
“Did you know him before he hired you to look over his business?” Connie was asking as Summer entered the room. “Joel was a little vague about how the two of you met.”
“I’ve known him for a while,” Derek answered.
“Oh, great. You’re about as helpful as he was,” Connie complained. “Don’t you like him, Derek?”
Derek looked steadily at her. “Now how should I answer that? If I tell you that I don’t like him and wish you wouldn’t see him, you’ll throw yourself into his arms. If I encourage you to see him because he’s a decent guy and would be good for you, you’ll drop him like a hot rock.”
Summer swallowed a chuckle at Derek’s wickedly accurate assessment. He obviously had no intention of commenting on Joel Tanner.
“Well, you should be pleased to know that your friend brought me straight home last night and told me good-night without even making a pass.”
“That must have been quite a change for you,” her brother muttered into his coffee.
Connie started to bristle, but Summer interceded hastily. “Good morning, Connie. Sleep well?” she asked, ignoring Derek as she limped across the room to pull a coffee mug from the cabinet.
“Until I was so rudely awakened, yes,” Connie replied. “The sugar’s in the sugar bowl, Summer.”
“What a unique place for it. Usually we just dip it from the sack.”
“Don’t look at me. Derek’s the one who filled the bowl.”
“I should have known.”
“Stop talking about me like I’m not in the room,” Derek commanded them both, rising to his feet. “Here, Summer, take my chair. I’ll lean against the counter. Why the hell don’t you invest in some decent furniture? Surely between the two of you, you could afford some good used furniture that isn’t in danger of falling apart.”
“This furniture came with the apartment. Besides, we have other ways we’d rather spend our money,” Connie answered with a shrug. “It’s not like either of us makes that much.”
Derek sighed but resisted further comment on that particular subject. “Aren’t either of you going to have breakfast?”
Again it was Connie who answered. She lifted her coffee cup. “You’re looking at it, brother dear. How did you think we eat as much as we do on special occasions and still maintain our girlish figures?”
“But breakfast is—”
“The most important meal of the day. Honestly, Derek, you sound like someone’s grandmother.”
He only grunted.
“Isn’t it amazing how much meaning he can put into that one short sound?” Connie asked Summer, smiling across the table in a conspiratorial manner.
“You’re talking about me again,” Derek complained.
“It’s not the first time,” his sister retorted.
“I’ll bet,” he responded resignedly. “I’d ask you to join Summer and me today, Connie, but I know you and Mother are planning to visit Barbara’s newest grandchild.”
“I’m only going because Mother insisted,” Connie grumbled. “I dread spending even five minutes in the same room with Saint Barbara.”
“Connie—”
Again Summer jumped in before the Anderson siblings came to verbal blows. “I told you earlier, Derek. I’m not spending the day with you.”
“Yes, you are.”
“No, I’m not. I have plans for today, and I have no intention of changing them.”
He scowled. “You have a date?”
She considered using that excuse, but she wouldn’t lie to him. “Well, no, not exactly a date.”
His expression cleared. Rubbing his chin consideringly, he shrugged away her argument as unimportant. “Okay, I’ll go with you. Where are we going?”
“You weren’t invited!”
“I am now. Where are we going?”
Connie laughed. “You might as well give up, Summer. If you don’t take him along, he’ll just follow you.”
Derek nodded genially. “That’s right. Where are we going, Summer-love?”
Summer looked down at her coffee cup, her fingers twitching on the chipped handle.
Reading either her mind or her expression—Summer devoutly hoped it was the latter—Derek said softly, “I wouldn’t recommend it, Summer.”
Connie giggled, but Summer only glared at him. “I wouldn’t dream of wasting my first cup of coffee of the day on your shirtfront,” she told him loftily.
“Smart move.” His mouth tilted into the grin that was making an appearance with increasing regularity, the one that made Summer want to throw herself on him and taste it.
Dismayed and even a little frightened by the strange impulses Derek aroused in her, Summer decided to go along with him without further argument. She’d let him tag along today, she determined abruptly. Later he’d be sorry he insisted. Maybe today he’d get the picture that there could be no question of a relationship between them, regardless of how brief. “I don’t think I’ll tell you where we’re going,” she told him slowly. “You’re sure you don’t want to back out now?”
“I’m sure.” He tilted his cup, drained the contents and set the cup in the sink. “When do we start?”
“Whenever you’re ready.”
“I’m ready now.”
She pushed herself away from the table. “Then let’s go. See you later, Connie.”
“Bye.” Connie seemed to be holding in gales of laughter as she eyed the other two, her dancing eyes giving away the emotion she was trying to suppress. “Have fun, kids.”
“Yeah,” Summer muttered heavily. “You bet.”
Derek assisted Summer into the passenger seat of his plush gray Lincoln—as if she needed help to climb into a car, she thought resentfully. She watched through her lashes as he slid behind the wheel. “Where to?” he asked pleasantly.
She named the nearest shopping mall.
“We’re going shopping?” he asked without evidence of distaste.
“I have to buy a birthday present for Autumn,” she explained. “Her birthday’s next week, and I need to get the gift in the mail by tomorrow or it will never get to her on time.”
He nodded. “Is that all you have planned for today?”
“No,” she answered rather curtly. “I’ll tell you the rest later.”
“Fine.” Still he didn’t start the car but sat twisted in the seat, facing her as if he were waiting for something.
“Forget how to start it?” she inquired facetiously.
“Nope. But I’d really like to kiss you again before we leave. With you awake this time.”
She flushed. “Forget it,” she told him gruffly.
He kept his face suspiciously innocent though the corners of his mouth twitched. “Not even a little one?” he asked hopefully.
She sighed. “What is it with you and kissing, Derek? Don’t you ever think of anything else?”
She knew she’d asked the wrong question as soon as the words were out of her mouth. Derek laughed. A quick, unexpected laugh that seemed to startle him almost as much as it did her. “Yes, Summer, I think of something else. I could elaborate in great detail, if you’d like.”
“No, that’s not necessary,” she
told him hastily, cheeks burning, though her heart was fluttering crazily in response to his wonderful laugh. He’d actually laughed, she told herself wonderingly, and her own lips curved into an answering smile.
“Well?” he asked humorously. “May I kiss you? Or are you only brave in your sleep?”
He shouldn’t have made it sound like a challenge. Summer never could resist a challenge. “I’m not afraid to kiss you, Derek,” she told him flatly. “I can control my emotions.”
“Prove it.”
She reached out a hand and grabbed him by the shirt collar, tugging to bring him closer. She leaned forward in her seat to meet him halfway, stopping just short of completing the embrace. When he moved no further, she swallowed. It was clearly up to her to do the kissing this time, she realized nervously. Derek was calling her bluff. Hesitating only a fraction of an inch from his firm mouth, she inhaled, then pressed her lips to his.
Surely she’d only meant to give him a brief, friendly kiss, she told herself dazedly a long time later. It surely couldn’t have been her intention to extend the caress into a passionate clinch that had threatened to steam the windows of the car and melt all the plastic on the instrument panel.
It wasn’t even Summer who pulled away first. Derek was breathing raggedly when he pulled back and sat her firmly in her seat, running his hand through his hair as he turned back to the steering wheel. “I think we’d better go to the mall,” he said huskily, “before I think of a good use for that nice big back seat.”
Summer clenched her hands in her lap and stared down at them, grateful for small favors. At least he hadn’t teased her for allowing the kiss to get so wildly out of control.
If Summer had expected Derek to be disconcerted when she walked straight into a small boutique that specialized in expensive lingerie, she was destined to be disappointed. He strolled into the shop with the ease of a man who’d spent many pleasant hours in such places. Perhaps he had, Summer thought glumly. He stood quietly aside as Summer selected a luscious black nightgown for her fiery-spirited, auburn-haired sister.
“This is for the liberated sister?” he inquired with a lifted brow, examining the filmy scrap of froth.
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