“Bigger than here, but still pretty boring.”
They both laughed.
“You like working in construction?”
“It’s a job. I went to college for a couple of years, got a degree in marketing. I’d like to use that, someday.” He reached over and brushed a strand of hair from her forehead, and Summer’s skin sizzled. He left his hand resting against her cheek, and she wanted to lean into it, to feel the impression of his palm deep down, where she’d felt cold and empty for so long.
“You’re...” He didn’t finish the thought. Instead he leaned over and lifted her chin. Hungry lips met hers, and she wasn’t sure in the next instant whose hands moved first. All she knew was that she couldn’t get close enough to him.
Their legs tangled. His fingers twined with hers. One thumb stroked the skin of her palm before reaching down to caress the small of her back. She ran a hand over his hair, then his ear and the bulk of his shoulder. Solid muscle, every inch of him. She caught on fire, imagining him without clothes, his massive body beside hers while she let her fingers explore all the parts of him she could only see right now. He murmured something into her skin, and she let her head fall back, let him move his mouth from her ear to her neck to her collarbone in steps so slow and sweet she thought she might die from anticipation.
One broad hand fell to her thigh, then moved upward, and the pressure nearly undid her. Summer moaned and arched into his touch. Everything thrummed. She felt herself pulse with him, rock against his hand. It was exquisite, the storm he pulled her toward, his voice in her ear urging her on. She hadn’t let herself go, let herself just be, with a man in so long. Not like this. Maybe not ever like this.
Finally she opened her eyes.
“You are amazing.” He ran one hand over her face, from her forehead to her chin.
“I, um, can’t say that’s exactly what I had in mind...when I, ah invited you to dinner.” Breathless, her words came out in ragged pieces.
His gaze dropped to her shirt pulled up a few inches, exposing bare skin. He traced her stomach from her hipbone to above her navel. “Me either. But that was one hell of an appetizer. I can’t wait for the main course.”
SUMMER’S EYELIDS DROOPED with pleasure. Her cheeks were still flushed, and it was all Damian could do not to carry her inside and peel off every layer of clothing. He felt like a rock star. Like a teenager, on a hormonal high the likes of which he’d never imagined. He wanted to taste her. Hear her cry out his name. Spend the next few hours, maybe the next few weeks, learning all her details.
But her cell phone buzzed in her pocket, and she leaned away to check the message. Within seconds, the expression on her face changed. She straightened her shirt and tucked her hair behind her ears.
“Everything okay?”
“Yes. Just a text from Gabe.”
“Roberts?” Desire left him, just like that. “Your boyfriend back in high school?”
“Well, yeah, but that was forever ago.” She gave him a puzzled look. “You heard about that?”
“Small town. Stories and rumors, remember?” Damian laced his fingers behind his head and asked the question he didn’t want to know the answer to. “Something still there?”
“No.” She stood and started carrying dishes inside.
He hurried to follow. “Summer, come on. I’m not a bad guy for wanting to know.”
“I guess not.” She ran water in the sink and arranged pans to soak. “Gabe and I have a history,” she added.
Yeah, Damian knew. But he was a red-blooded male. So sue him for being a little jealous. “I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to be a jerk. I just heard a few people talking and wondered what was true.”
She turned around and leaned against the counter. Her guarded expression relaxed a little. “I don’t know. I haven’t heard what people are saying these days. But small towns stir up stuff that never existed. And they ignore what’s right in front of them. Yeah, Gabe and I go way back. We’ve known each other since we were kids, and we dated in high school. What else do you want me to say?”
Did he really kill your brother? Was he so drunk when the cops cuffed him he could barely stay on his feet? Damian had heard varying reports about Gabe Roberts and his role in the car accident. But he didn’t dare put those questions into words. If half of it was true, he couldn’t believe Summer would give that guy the time of day.
He shook his head and turned away. She was leaving town in a matter of days. She had an ex she was still in touch with, and he had his own demons to fight. End this now. Before it goes anywhere. “Maybe we should call it a night.”
She took his hand. “I’m sorry. I don’t mean...it’s just—it’s complicated, things with me and Gabe.” She paused. “He was there the night my brother died.”
“I know.”
“And there are things I still need to sort out about it.” She chewed her lower lip.
“That means seeing him.”
“I think so.”
He cleared his throat. “Then I think you should do that first and call me later.”
Together they walked down the porch steps. Damian stopped at the bottom and stood below her. From here they met almost eye to eye. “Thanks for dinner.”
“You’re welcome. Thanks for coming over.”
He gave her a chaste kiss on the cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Sure.”
The sun sank another inch below the trees. He wanted to say something else, but everything he worked up inside his head sounded stupid. “’Night, Summer,” he finally said and headed for the path that led back to the farmhouse.
“Goodnight.”
Chapter Twenty-four
Summer woke early the next morning. The sheets were twisted around her waist, her pillow tossed to the side. Mourning doves cooed outside her window. She sat up. Perspiration dotted her forehead and her upper lip. Her back ached. She heard no sound of Damian or Mac. They aren’t here yet. Good.
She crossed her arms and closed her eyes again. A breath of air escaped her lips and she let the night play behind her eyelids. Damian’s touch. His kiss. His kindness, his smile, the way he’d saved her from injuring herself more than once. But despite the obvious chemistry between them, he hadn’t let it go any further. He made it clear that he didn’t want to get involved. In fact, he’d as good as spun her in Gabe’s direction with his blessing.
The sun snuck its way over the horizon, and Summer reached for her robe. She couldn’t be in the house when the guys arrived. As much as it hurt her ego, she supposed Damian had a point. Yes, she had things to talk about with Gabe. And yes, she had a life on the other side of the country. Why would he want to get involved with someone who was still trying to figure out her past, someone who was leaving town in less than a week?
She dug some running clothes from her suitcase and skimmed her hair into a ponytail. She didn’t want to be angry with him. But she didn’t like saying goodbye in darkness. She didn’t like waking up alone and wanting something she had no business asking for. And because she wasn’t sure what she would say when she saw him, she thought she’d better just avoid him altogether.
She fastened her watch, double-knotted her laces and slipped out the back door. Mac had installed a new dead-bolt, but she didn’t bother to secure it. Everyone in Whispering Pines knew the house was in the middle of renovations, and if anyone snuck in, there wasn’t much to steal. She closed the door firmly and jogged through the backyard. She paused at the path that led to the farmhouse and then turned toward the sidewalk and shaded her eyes against the sun.
No sound. No cars. Only her own thoughts echoing inside her head. Summer headed away from the house and started to run.
DAMIAN LEFT THE FARMHOUSE early to pick up nails and screws at the hardware store over in Silver Valley. He didn’t mind the drive, despite the fog that hung over the mountains. He needed to clear his head, anyway. On the way back, he stopped at a gas station on the long stretch of road between the two towns. Insi
de, he managed to spill a stack of plastic cup lids, drop his change and slosh coffee onto the counter.
“You okay?” The tattooed teen at the register asked.
“Yeah.” But he wasn’t. He hadn’t slept much, just stared at the ceiling above his bed, where the memory of Summer looked down and asked him to stay for dinner. He’d wanted to kiss her instead of leave. He’d wanted to do much more than that. But his stupid integrity had opened its big fat mouth and gotten in the way.
Did I make the right decision? Or just sound like an idiot with a twisted-up head? What guy told a woman to go back to her ex-boyfriend?
Back at the worksite he sat in his car for almost ten minutes. His coffee had cooled to lukewarm by the time he joined Mac in the foyer.
“You’re late.”
“Sorry.” A glance at Summer’s bedroom door revealed nothing. “She here?”
“Nope. Saw her jogging down by the school ’bout twenty minutes ago with Roberts.”
Damian strapped on his tool belt and tried to ignore his jealousy. She hadn’t wasted any time getting in touch with him, that was for sure. “Are all the stories true?”
“All what stories?”
“About him killing Summer’s brother.”
“Happened a long time ago, man. No good comes from digging it up.”
“But?” Gabe pressed.
Mac shrugged. “He was DWI, word is, and didn’t slow down at the flashing yellow. Didn’t even try to fight the sobriety test the cop gave him. But the other driver was drunk too, and according to Gabe, he ran the flashing red. So maybe it was more the other guy’s fault, you know? That guy died later at the hospital, and Summer never gave a statement, so it was Gabe’s word about what happened. He had a good lawyer, so he got a minimum sentence.” Mac hefted a box onto his shoulder. “Some people around here hang onto blame, sure. They think he should’ve moved someplace else instead of coming back to Whispering Pines. They don’t like to see him walking around alive and well while Donny’s lying in the ground.”
Damian shook his head. No wonder Summer had stayed away for so long. He couldn’t imagine how he’d feel if he lost Dinah, and in such a terrible way. He still didn’t understand why Summer would be burning to spend time with her ex-boyfriend considering all that had happened, but he might as well give up guessing. Loss and forgiveness came in all kinds of packages.
He just wished he could get her out of his head, instead of dwelling on the shape of her mouth or the taste of her skin or the way he wanted to be with her despite every rational thought that told him to run in the opposite direction.
THEO CRADLED HIS BLEEDING hand and jerked the borrowed pickup into a space in front of the Heartland Medical Clinic. This place was farther away than he’d originally thought, closer to Whispering Pines than Silver Valley, but apparently it was the closest thing to a walk-in urgent care center.
“What a hick town.” He spat out the open window and hoped it didn’t take half the day to get his hand looked at. He suspected these backcountry places had a couple of nurses and one doc who drove in from Albany once a week. The parking lot was almost empty, but a cop stood talking to some old lady in a Cadillac a few spots down. Theo took his time driving to a spot at the other end. He pulled in as the cop waved goodbye to Grandma and pointed his cruiser in the opposite direction. Good. The last thing Theo needed was some local boy nosing around his business.
He peeled the blood-soaked rag away from his left hand. Less than a week on the job, and he’d managed to fall off a scaffolding and take a stray piece of metal through his hand. Wrenched his back something good too. He cursed his stupidity. If he didn’t watch it, people would start paying more attention to him than he liked. With most injuries, he could pop a few aspirin, swig some bourbon and sleep it off. Not this one.
He elbowed open the door and limped through the clinic’s lobby. A lady with a dirty brat kid sat in two of the vinyl chairs. Balancing a clipboard on her knee, she filled out a form while the boy whined and rubbed his nose. One hand looked as if it had been badly burned.
Theo propped one elbow on the desk at the reception area. His back screamed with fresh pain. Perspiration trickled down his temples. Behind a glass window sat two women, one with white hair who looked like she was about to kick the bucket, and the other a good-looking girl in her early twenties. Neither looked up at him. After a minute, he rapped his knuckles on the glass. “Hey.”
The old lady glanced up through glasses an inch thick, nodded and returned to her paperwork. The blonde spoke into the telephone receiver and held up one manicured finger in his direction. Behind him, the brat began to cry full-scale. Blood leaked through Theo’s makeshift bandage and dripped onto the counter.
“Hey!” This time he used his fist to pound. It worked. Blondie hung up the phone, saw the blood and jumped from her chair. Despite the pain clouding his head, Theo admired her firm, full breasts and the creamy skin that flushed as she handed him a towel. She grabbed a clipboard from the stack behind her.
“Nature of your injury?”
“Fell off a scaffolding,” he said, gritting his teeth. “Landed on some metal, put a piece through my hand.” Just give me some Vicodin and I’ll be fine.
“Any other injuries?”
“Yeah, my back don’t feel too great right about now.”
She added that to her form.
“Insurance?”
“Don’t have any. But don’t worry, I’ve got cash to cover it,” he added, when he saw her pretty features frown.
“Well, we’ll take care of that after the doctor sees you.”
A nurse came into the waiting room and led away the lady with her screaming kid. Finally. Theo closed his eyes and let out a breath. The pain in his back receded a fraction.
“Sir, are you okay? Would you like some water?”
Theo nodded. “That’d be good.”
She led him to a chair, then patted him on the shoulder and took her clipboard and her fine ass back behind the desk. A minute later, she reappeared with a paper cup of water. Theo drained it in one gulp.
“It’ll just be a few minutes,” she promised.
“Miss?”
She turned.
“What’s your name?”
She smiled. “Joyce. Let me know if you need anything else.”
Theo nodded and closed his eyes. Might as well catch a nap. A waiting room was as good a place as any.
“How’d you make out?” Joyce asked as he left the curtained treatment area two hours later.
Theo held up his bandaged left hand in response.
“How’s your back?”
“They x-rayed it. Nothin’ broken.”
“Well, that’s good.” She tapped the keyboard and studied the computer screen in front of her.
“Say, can I ask you somethin’?” Theo leaned closer and dropped his voice, though the old lady behind the desk had disappeared and no one else sat in the waiting room.
“Sure.”
“Any chance you know someone named Hannah Knight?”
Joyce stopped typing and wrinkled her pretty features in concentration. “I live over in Whispering Pines, so I’m not sure...oh, wait. I do know a Damian Knight. I think Hannah is his mom’s name.” She pinked with the confession, and Theo wondered if Damian had spent a night or two in Joyce’s bed. He wouldn’t be surprised.
“Oh, yeah?” He kept his voice as calm as he could. “He live in Whispering Pines or Silver Valley?”
She glanced down. “I don’t really, well...”
He’d come on too eager, he knew in an instant. She typed something and stared at the computer screen, and he knew he wouldn’t get any more out of her. Didn’t matter. She’d as good as spilled the fact that Damian lived in Whispering Pines, and Theo would put money on the fact that Hannah and Dinah weren’t far away. “Hey, you know, don’t worry about it. I think I got Hannah’s cell number somewhere.”
Joyce printed something out and slid the paper across the desk. He
r smile seemed a little less warm than before. “That’s the total. You can pay it all now, or we can set up a payment plan if you’d prefer.”
“Nah, I told you I got the cash.” He dug into his back pocket, pulled out his wallet, and separated some wrinkled hundred-dollar bills. “Here.”
She counted them carefully and handed him a few singles in change. “There you are.”
“Thanks.”
“Mm hmm.” Eyes cast down, Joyce returned to her filing without another word.
Theo lay rubber leaving the parking lot. The effects of the pain medication had already started to kick in. A few more hours on the job, and then he could lose himself in a bottle of Jack Daniels. Might take a drive over to Whispering Pines later on and see what that town looked like. And maybe tomorrow or the day after he’d stop in the local diner, ask around and find out where exactly Hannah was calling home. Or where Damian was working. At this point he’d take either one. Fact was, he almost welcomed the chance to stand face-to-face with Damian and remind him which one of them was in charge.
Theo gunned the truck through a red light. Patience, he told himself. That’s all I need.
Chapter Twenty-five
“I think your sister’s right about Summer.” Hannah dropped a second pork chop onto Damian’s plate. From the living room came the sound of Dinah’s favorite evening television show and the little girl’s laughter.
Damian ran a slice of garlic bread around his plate and sopped up gravy. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Please. Dinah adores her. Loves spending time at the house. She’s thrilled that Summer picked her up from practice the other day.” She cocked her head. “And it seems to me you keep some awfully long hours on that job.”
Damian reached for the peach cobbler his mom had made for dessert. “Don’t have much choice. Mac wants to have it finished by Labor Day. Even with the guys that helped out last week, we’re behind.”
Second Chance Summer Page 13