Summer Nights
Page 13
“No. I’m not coming into this. I will remain a neutral party and not get involved. I won’t be a pit stop; I won’t bend the law to accommodate you in any way. All I’m asking is that you and your people keep a distance from me and my people; in exchange, I will bail your brother out again, if he’s eligible, and I won’t let those pictures see a police desk.”
“And how am I supposed to know if you plan to keep up your end?”
“You don’t; the same way I don’t know if you plan to hold up yours.”
“So you want to bring trust into this?”
“I want to bring safety to this for both parties.”
“You know if you get caught with this evidence, they’re going to bring you down with us.”
I’d already considered all the angles. I knew the risk I was taking, but she was worth it.
“Then make sure your guys don’t fuck up and get caught,” I demanded.
“I’ll agree only if you agree to bail out any of my men who catch charges.”
“As long as you make sure they don’t jump, I’m good with that.”
“You screw me over and she’s the first one we go after.”
“You go after her and I’ll pull bond on every man I’ve posted for and do one better on the photos by hand delivering them to the FBI.” I narrowed my eyes at him, clenching my teeth.
He ran his hands through his cropped black hair. “Fine. Sam, escort him out.”
I felt the weight lift off of me. I was free; Summer was free. While I knew there would be others, I doubted any of them would come close to Rodriguez. He typically killed execution-style, showing no mercy, or so people claimed. The prosecutor had never been able to directly link him to any murders.
I couldn’t wait to call Summer later.
SUMMER
It’d been a little over a month since I’d seen Cruz. I still talked to him every day; my heart still fluttered every time I saw his name on the caller ID. Every day I looked forward to going home and reconnecting with him.
I shook my head, struggling to focus on the numbers on the screen in front of me.
“Hey, boss?”
“What do you need, Jerome?”
“You sure that ring’s real?”
My eyes left the computer screen to focus on him. I lifted a brow. “What does this have to do with work?”
Ever the flirtatious troublemaker of my team, he proceeded. “We’ve all been talking; and since you got the ring, you can’t produce a picture and you haven’t gotten any flowers; there’s nothing to show that he’s real.”
I tabbed over on my computer. “Jerome, you’ve been unavailable for eleven minutes and twenty-seven seconds and counting. I don’t think my personal life should really be your concern right now considering your available time has consistently been an issue the last couple months.”
“Alright, alright.” He threw his hands up in surrender. “I’ll get back to the phone so you can dream up a few more details to throw at us about your imaginary fiancé.”
CRUZ
I watched her interact with the employee. She looked better than I remembered, certainly more delicious and beautiful than the woman broadcast over my webcam nearly every night. She stood up, giving me a full view of her. My cock ached at the sight of her. It’d been too long. Her curves were hugged by a black skirt that ended at her knee and began above the normal waistline. She wore a long sleeved button up blue shirt. It was tucked into her skirt professionally despite the bust area being slightly snug. She wore the closed toe, black high heel shoes that, when combined with her hair being pulled tightly into a bun atop her head, screamed power.
“Jerome, shut up and leave boss lady alone.” A young girl a few desks down tossed a pen at him, which he effortlessly managed to avoid.
“I’m just sayin’, the situation seems a little suspect to me. I mean she goes away for a weekend without a boyfriend and comes back with a fiancé, but has no pictures of him. That’s too damn quick to go from single to engaged. I mean, who gets engaged and doesn’t have a picture of their fiancé.”
“Jerome, need I remind you that your unavailable time is climbing?” I loved the way she placed her hand on her curvy hip. I could see her scolding our children the same way. I decided it was time to jump in.
“Give him a pass this time, especially since you won’t need a picture now,” I said, coming into the line of view.
Her mouth flew open, her eyes watering immediately.
“You’re her fiancé?” Jerome’s eyebrows couldn’t get any closer to his hairline.
“Yeah, and if I hear about you giving her a hard time again, I’ll be knocking on your door. I’m a bounty hunter. I’ve got connections.”
He threw his hands up as he backed away.
“Hey, Cruz!” Stella waved from her desk a few aisles over from Summer’s. I waved back and then I redirected my focus on who I came for.
She smiled. “I can’t believe you’re here.”
“I flew over five and a half hours and-“
SUMMER
I closed the gap between us, yanking him to me. I claimed his lips and pressed my body into his, satisfying the longing I’d suffered every day for the past month. He felt even better than I remembered. His hands reached out and touched my face; he held me exactly where he wanted me.
I heard cheers and whoops sound off around us, but I was too caught up in him. He plunged his tongue between my lips, his flavor awakening my taste buds. My body immediately warmed up against him. His touch was electrifying and his scent was intoxicating. My heart clambered in my chest. He felt right. He felt like home.
He pressed a few more kisses to my lips before pulling back. He smirked. “Now that’s what I call a welcome.”
“You’ll get a proper welcome every time I see you then.”
“I want to see you every day.”
I thought of the distance between us over the past forty days. Phones and webcams weren’t the same as physically being with someone. “I’ve missed you.”
“We’re going to talk about that later. For now, we have a lot of different catching up to do.” He grabbed my hand. “Stella?” he called.
“I already took care of it. She’s free the rest of today and tomorrow.”
“You knew?” I couldn’t hold back my surprise.
“Of course. Have fun you two.” She waved us off.
“Ooh! Bye, boss lady.” Chenile waved.
“Bye, Summer.” Natasha turned towards us.
“She better come back in a good mood, man,” Jerome said.
“I better have nothing but good reports when I come back. No unavailable time above half an hour outside your scheduled breaks and lunches. See Stella with any questions or issues,” I stated. I grabbed my purse from my drawer, locked my computer and logged out of my phone.
Cruz pulled me in front of him. “Let’s go have some fun, mi amor.” He leaned into me, nibbling my neck.
“At least wait until we’re off company grounds.”
“This is nothing compared to earlier.” He kissed my neck as I pressed the elevator call button. I turned in his arms and kissed his chest.
He brushed his hands along my hair. “Are they gone?”
“Yeah.”
“Did you file the restraining order like I told you?”
“Yeah.”
There was some glint in his eyes I couldn’t identify. He gently kissed my lips. “I love you.”
That’s when I realized what it was. It was love; the single biggest thing I’d had to learn on my own in life. Now that I had found it though, I was never going to let it go. “I love you too.”
EPILOGUE
“Oh, dear Lord. Forgive me God for I am going to kill this girl.” Stella tilted her head towards the heavens.
“Oh stop,” I fussed.
“Summer, it is eighty-seven degrees in the middle of February. I’ve got a waterfall starting between my legs already, half a water bottle between my breasts, what feel
s like only water in my lungs and I haven’t even made it to the second median. I don’t know how the hell I ever let you talk me into giving up my life and moving here with you.”
“You are so full of it. You know it wasn’t me that sold you on the move; it was Ramon.”
“All I have to say is he better have air conditioning units in every window and fans plugged in every damn outlet. And they better not be those baby fans he tried to pass off for an adult before,” she grumbled.
“Are you going to be like this all the time?”
“Maybe. Take me to the Bacardi factory once a week and the crankiness should subside.”
We struggled under the massive suitcases and bags with our entire lives packed into them. “Buenos dias, senioritas. Hey! I remember you two.” I looked up, surprised to see Manny.
“Hey.” I smiled.
“I take it you forgot about the heat last time and had a good time.”
“More like we got stupid and fell in love with two locals,” Stella huffed.
I gasped. “You’re finally admitting to it?”
“I didn’t admit anything.” She tapped her foot. “He better have a good Valentine’s Day planned for us.”
I smiled knowingly. She was sunk.
Big and beautiful or thin and svelte, love isn’t exclusive to fairytales. It’s found in the most unexpected places, and worth every risk to pursue, especially if it happens to be with a sexy Puerto Rican.
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Dear Reader,
Thank you for purchasing Summer Nights. It’s my sincere hope that you enjoyed every word of it. I firmly believe that regardless of our figures, our flaws or our baggage, we all deserve to love and be loved.
If you haven’t found your prince charming yet, hold on tight, because I’m certain he’s headed your way. As Summer found out, you never know when or where he will pop up.
I always love to hear from readers and interact with them. Feel free to contact me via
E-mail: christinlovell@gmail.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/christin.lovell
Twitter: @christinlovell
Website: www.christinlovell.com
Remember, it’s not fat; it’s just excess sexiness.
Thanks again,
Christin
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