by Jess Buffett
She paled, drawing in a sharp breath. “Cheap,” she whispered.
Summer staggered a little, the word echoing around inside her head. The humiliation was like a cold slap to the face. Unable to even stand the sight of him, she spun on her heels, running for the door. She could hear both Evan and her brother’s calls as she raced past, but ignored them.
Slamming the doors open, she came to a stop at the entrance of the building. She had no idea how she was getting home, but she knew she couldn’t go back in there. Summer couldn’t be anywhere near that ass right now. And to add insult to injury, she had forgotten her jacket, so now she was freezing, which was saying something about the weather given a shifter’s body temperature was naturally higher than most.
“Is everything okay, Summer?” Brad approached her, offering her a drink. Normally she wouldn’t accept, but under the circumstances, she felt it was needed. Chugging the beverage down in one go, Brad eyed her. “Impressive. Either that or well needed.”
“Both,” she laughed, though it sounded hollow to her ears. Her heart had just been broken and stepped on. All she wanted to do was go home and wallow.
“Do you need a ride? I am your date, so I really should see you home,” Brad asked.
Did she really want to get a lift home with him? Right now, she would take any chance to get away from the party.
“Thank you, Brad. That would be great. I’m sorry I wasn’t a good date. Maybe next time we can grab a drink together, as friends?” Summer felt like she owed him something. He had come with her knowing full well that nothing would happen and that she only had eyes for Evan, but she could have tried a little harder for him.
He shrugged. “Don’t worry about it.” His eyes darted to the front door then back to her. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”
Chapter Two
Evan called for Summer to stop, but she seemed determined to put as much distance between them as possible. Not that he blamed her. He still couldn’t work out what he had been thinking when those words had slipped out. Sure, he knew Bradley didn’t have a very good reputation, and naturally he wouldn’t want someone like that around a friend’s sister or daughter, but he didn’t need to be cruel about it.
“What the hell are you doing to my sister, man?” Chase seethed behind him.
Evan turned to face Summer’s older brother. Chase was a good man, and Evan enjoyed working alongside him and his father. When Evan had returned home after his father had passed away ten years ago, he had taken over his father’s role as partner in the firm. A few years later, Chase had come home to become a third partner, and with Richard Ashcroft leading the charge, they were a force to be reckoned with in this state.
He held a lot of respect for the men who ran the Pride of Tiger shifters there in New Hope. Chase’s brother, Sage, was now Alpha, but when Evan had discovered the truth about their little town, it had been Richard who had led things. A family affair, two of the other brothers, Rourke and Dominic, were now betas of the New Hope Pride as well.
Normally they were like a well-oiled machine when working and great friends outside the office, but at the moment the way Chase was looking at him made him want to run away and hide. The man had obviously heard what Evan had said to Summer, and he was none too happy.
“I’m sorry, Chase. I didn’t mean to act like that with her,” he grimaced. “Bradley is not someone she should be around and I kind of flipped.”
Chase stared at him, as if trying to work something out. “Brad isn’t exactly my choice either for one of my littermates, but that was a pretty strong reaction for you to have.”
Evan mentally stumbled over the word littermate. Hearing it always reminded just how different they were. Tiger shifters always had multiple births, and they referred to them as litters. Sage, the Alpha, shared his litter with the betas of the Pride. Chase and Summer were from the next one along, including their siblings, Ella and Lachlan. God, he couldn’t imagine ever having so many children.
Shaking himself out of the random thought, he narrowed his eyes on the other man. “What is that supposed to mean?” he asked, even though he was pretty sure he didn’t want to hear the answer. Apparently there was a malfunction between his brain and his lips tonight.
“I mean, perhaps you might want to rethink your reasons for reacting to Summer with Brad the way you did,” Chase drawled.
Okay, now he knew he didn’t want to go there with Chase. “I know what you’re getting at, but no. Summer is way too young for me, I just don’t see her that way.”
“Really. That wasn’t what that lip lock looked like before.” Chase’s eyes blazed with anger.
Oh shit. He hadn’t thought anyone had seen that. “I was trying to prove a point,” he said lamely.
“What, that you're awesome at tonsil hockey or that you’re an arse?”
“That she can do better than that little weasel, even at her age.” God, even to his own ears that sounded pathetic.
What was it about Summer that messed him up so much? She was so young. Hell, she was the same age as his little sister who he had practically raised as his own since their mother had passed away. Their father hadn’t been around much, having more or less checked out after his wife’s death, and Amber had become his responsibility. He had only been twenty at the time, Amber eight. When Ethan, their dad, died seven years later, Evan had become her legal guardian and sole parent. And when they had discovered Amber had stage three cancer, he became her main caregiver. Watching her die had been the most painful thing he had ever experienced, and he swore he never wanted to be responsible for anyone ever again. So how could he possibly be interested in someone her age?
“It really is about the age for you, isn’t it?” Chase asked softly.
Evan was thrown by the sudden change in tone from his friend. Just a minute ago he wouldn’t have been surprised if Chase had taken a swing at him. Now the other man just looked like he pitied him. He wasn’t sure which was worse.
“She is the same age as Amber,” he replied, his heart aching with the thought of his late sister. Amber had been the light of his life and losing her after losing the rest of his family had nearly crippled him.
“Yeah and Amber was your sister, not your daughter, man.” Chase shook his head. “Sometimes I think you forget that.”
“I don’t forget that, I’m just saying Summer is young and sometimes young people make mistakes.” Why couldn’t the other man see that?
“Like dating Brad?”
“Exactly like dating Bradley. That man can’t be trusted,” he sighed, feeling frustrated. “There’s just something about him.”
He couldn’t put his finger on it, but Bradley set off all his alarm bells. It made him uneasy and the thought of his hands on Summer made his stomach turn.
“You mean apart from the fact he had his hands on Summer?” Chase chuckled, as if he had read Evan’s mind. Damn cat was getting on his nerves.
“That’s not what this is about. She is far too young for me to be looking at her like that,” he denied, though something deep inside screamed out that he was lying to himself. That little voice he had desperately tried to ignore for years now.
“How can you say that? You work side-by-side with me every day. You’re also my friend. Do you see me as a child?” Chase asked him.
“No. Of course not,” he scoffed, feeling slightly uncomfortable.
Chase shrugged. “Well, she is my sister.”
“Yes. Your younger sister,” he insisted, the argument sounding weak even to his ears.
“Not by much. There isn’t really any difference between us in age.” Chase clapped his hand on his shoulder. “You keep comparing Summer to Amber, but they aren’t the same. Summer has it all over most of us in maturity. If you can separate me from Amber, then you should be able to do the same for Summer.”
Frowning at his friend, he asked, “Are you telling me to go after her?”
Did he even want to? Christ, he really did. When the h
ell had that happened?
From the time she turned eighteen and you realized how beautiful she was…you dirty old bastard!
“I’m not too impressed with how you have handled yourself so far, but I think you’ll just end up hurting the both of you more if you don’t do something,” Chase said, his eyes shimmering with some untold knowledge. “You feel more than simple attraction to her and I think that’s what scares you the most. I think that because she is a shifter, you’re afraid of falling in love with her, only for her to one day stumble across her mate and leave you.”
“It’s a valid point.” Granted, he knew a shifter finding their mate didn’t always happen, but that wasn’t a risk he was willing to take.
Chase seemed to be debating with himself, before sighing, “No, it’s not.”
“What do you mean?” Evan asked, furrowing his brow, at a loss to what his friend was saying.
“I think you know what I mean, but for some reason you don’t want to see what is right in front of you. I have no idea why, but you need to sort it out yourself before you end up hurting the both of you any more than you already have.”
Evan had to admit that apart from the age and being a shifter with some predestined mate out there, Summer was everything he looked for in a woman. She was kind and intelligent, resourceful and great with children, her beauty was like nothing else. Try as he might, he had not failed to see the woman she had become. He was mesmerized by the way her startling honey-gold eyes sparkled and danced when she spoke about something she enjoyed, or the way she would glide along to music that was playing only in her head. Her dark chocolate hair fell to curve around her voluptuous body and every sway of her hips left him breathless, but until this point he had vehemently denied any attraction.
He wasn’t an idiot, his previous actions notwithstanding. He knew Chase was suggesting that Evan was Summer’s mate, but surely she would have told him by now? Or had he truly pushed her that far away that she would deny him?
Fighting with himself, Evan decided the only thing to do was to go and talk to her. He at least had to apologize. “I’ll go find her in a minute, hopefully she will forgive me.”
“You might want to rethink that,” Chase smirked, eyes sparkling with mischief.
“Why?” He really couldn’t keep up with the man.
The smug looking tiger cocked his head toward the entrance. “Because she just left with Brad. I think he was taking her home.”
Oh, hell no. That weasel wasn’t getting anywhere near her place if he had anything to do with it. Without giving it a second thought Evan pushed past an amused Chase and several other partygoers, heading for the doors. Once outside he hightailed it to his car. He knew where she lived and he put his foot down trying to get there as quickly as possible. The thought of her being alone with Bradley made him shiver. There was something off about the guy and regardless of the outcome, he would make sure the man kept his distance from now on.
Pulling up to the curve, Evan shut the engine off and leapt out of the car. Racing up the path that led to the entrance of Summer’s apartment building, he pressed the code into the pin pad and then pressed enter, thankful for the one and only time before when he had brought her home. Closing the glass door behind him, Evan approached the steps to take him to Summer’s level, halting in his tracks when he heard an odd sound and glanced up. Evan stumbled to a stop when he saw Summer on the top step in an intimate embrace with the other man. His stomach clenched and he swore he felt his heart crack under the pressure of the weight that had suddenly settled there. He watched the slime ball wrap an arm around her waist as their bodies pressed together tightly, and Evan didn’t even want to think about what his other hand was doing. God, he was such an idiot. It looked like he had finally pushed her far enough that she had turned to another man. And just when he had been prepared to admit his feelings, at least to himself. He really was an arrogant prick. Guess the joke was on him.
Unable to watch any further, he turned to leave only to stop when he heard Summer speak.
“Get off me,” she slurred.
He whipped around in time to see her deliver a knee to Bradley’s groin before trying to push him away. Evan saw red when the other man shoved her against the wall, his clawed hand to her throat as he tried to reach into her purse.
Bounding up the stairs two at a time, Evan didn’t stop until he was close enough to cock his fist back and slam a punch straight into the arseholes face. Bradley screamed as he let go of Summer and clutched at his possibly broken nose. The fucker was a shifter, he’d heal.
“She said get the fuck away from her,” he growled, as the other man took a step back.
Suddenly Bradley took a swing at Evan, and because he hadn’t been expecting it, he caught it straight in the jaw. It unfortunately gave Bradley enough time to latch on to Summer and attempt to slip past him. Reaching out to grab him, Evan watched in detached horror as Bradley let go of a swaying Summer, her body tipping over the edge. Evan cried out, aware of every thump Summer made as she fell down the stairs.
Shoving the man to the side, Evan raced down the stairs and pulled out his phone to call an ambulance. After giving the woman on the other end of the phone the details, he tried to get Summer to respond. She was breathing, but he couldn’t get anything else from her. Even a shifter could die from a fall like that.
“Oh, God. Summer? Please, answer me,” he begged, desperation and panic rolling inside of him like an unrelenting storm.
“Is there anything I can do?” a voice from behind him asked. Turning slightly, Evan saw an older couple standing behind him, concern on their faces.
“She’s hurt, she won't respond. The ambulance is on its way,” he babbled. “He let go of her and she just...”
“We saw the whole thing, son,” the older man nodded. “My name is Frank, and this here is my wife, Rita. We know it wasn’t your fault and we’ll tell the police that. I’m afraid the one responsible took off though, and I wasn’t able to stop him.”
Looking around Evan finally noticed that Bradley was missing. Un-fucking-believable.
“You might also want to tell the medics when they get here to check for drugs,” Rita suggested.
He shook his head. “Summer would never take drugs, and besides, they wouldn’t work on her.”
“There are drugs out there that work on us shifters, but I don’t think she had a choice anyway, sweetheart,” Rita whispered, her voice pained by what she was telling him.
“He drugged her?” Fear knotted in Evan’s stomach.
Nodding solemnly, she said, “Summer was swaying a lot, and slurring too. That girl rarely has a glass of wine at a special occasion, no way would she have had enough to be drunk.”
“And I hate to say it, but I’m sure I heard him say something about the drug working too well as he made his getaway,” Frank added.
“Oh, God,” he whispered.
“We’ll call the Alpha and let him know about his sister. You just focus on her.”
Not knowing what else to do, he picked her hand up and cradled it between his two larger ones. He was too afraid to touch her anywhere else. When the medics arrived he was nudged out of the way as they checked her over and got her onto a stretcher. Thankfully, since it was a shifter town, the medics would be able to treat her properly.
Beside him, Evan heard Frank tell the police exactly what happened while Rita informed the medics they would need to check for the shifter enhanced date rape drugs. At the sound of that word Evan felt bile rise up to his throat. Stumbling off to the side, he groped at the wall, emptying the contents of his stomach. When he finally stopped heaving, Evan realized a strong hand was rubbing his back. Chase stood behind him, his jaw clenched and tears glistening in his eyes.
“I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.” His voice cracked, from fear or anger he wasn’t sure, as he and allowed Chase to pull him into a hug.
“It’s okay, man. She is gonna be okay,” his friend soothed. “Let’s go to the hospit
al. Mum and dad are already there and we can get more answers, okay?”
Evan didn’t say anything as Chase led him out to the other man’s car. The whole ride there all he could think of was how surreal everything felt. He had finally pulled his head out of his arse, and now he might lose her. It was a thought he couldn’t bear.
Chapter Three
Summer came awake slowly, the pain pulling her out of her sleep. She blinked up at the unfamiliar ceiling, not recognizing where she was. Her eyes roamed the room, and she was careful not to move her head that currently felt like it had a herd of elephants doing the conga in it. Summer grimaced when she realized she was in a hospital room. She hated hospitals.
Deep heavy breathing drew her attention to her right. Expecting it to be her father or one of her brothers, Summer’s eyes widened when she saw it was Evan who sat slouched in the chair beside her bed. What on earth?
The man looked ragged, dark rings standing out under his eyes and the heavy growth along his jaw suggested he hadn’t shaved in a while. What could have possibly happened to make the perfectly groomed and unshakable Evan MacKenzie look as if he’d been dragged through hell and back?
She racked her brain trying to remember what had happened. Summer recalled attending the Christmas party with Brad, and there was a vague memory of a conversation with Evan, but everything after that was a blank. It was as if everything had just stopped for a while. Given the fact she was now lying in a hospital bed, Summer had a feeling she didn’t want to remember.
Needing some answers, Summer tried to wake the man. “Evan?”
She barely contained a laugh as Evan’s head shot up, his bleary eyes trying to focus in on the room. When his gaze turned to hers, he sucked in a breath. Summer was shocked to see tears well in his silver eyes as he looked her over, as if making sure she was really there.
“Hey,” Evan’s hoarse whispers washed over her, sending frissons of heat through her body.