A Taste of Summer

by Beverly Preston

  The tiny muscles of her nose twitched as wetness struck her hot cheek. She asked again firmly, “What did you do?”

  “When he showed up wanting my blessing to ask for your hand in marriage, I threatened to kill him. Undeterred by loss of limb and life, I bribed him to stay away.” His words, appalling and inexcusable, wrenched and twisted her gut, pummeling her with a wave of queasiness. “When he refused to take the money, I threatened to cut you out of my will…out of my life.”

  Her heart thundered painfully. “How could you?”

  “I was desperate.” He reached for her hand, but she recoiled, placing it in her lap. “All I can do now is ask for your forgiveness.”

  “I don’t think it’s going to be that easy, Dad.” A frigid warning clung to her voice. “Is there anything else?”

  “I guess you should know that Summer came to see me when you got back from Montana. He wasn’t asking for my blessing, but he wanted me to know that he planned on marrying you.”

  “And what did you tell him?”

  “I threatened to kill him.” A shred of orneriness rifled his tone. He sobered, surveying her emotions. “Summer gave me an ultimatum, either I tell you the truth or he would. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.”

  The beeping of monitors encompassed the deafening silence.

  “I think you should leave now, Dad,” she said flatly. “I’m not feeling any clemency.”

  Summer sauntered into the room, weighing the heaviness of the bruised air, stating, “I am.”

  Carrie Ann shook her head. “You don’t have to forgive…”

  “I don’t have to. I want to.” Summer’s eyes were bloodshot. “Life has a way of putting things into perspective. Your father and I nearly lost the most important thing in our lives. I think we can put our differences aside from now on. Obviously, I’m capable of taking care of your daughter, Mr. Lowell. I don’t need your blessing, but it would be nice to have it.”

  “Either way, Dad, I’m marrying Summer.”

  He pressed a fatherly kiss to the top of her head before rising to his feet. “I’d be happy to pay for the wedding.”

  Carrie Ann and Summer’s eyes connected in a brief glance. Money talked when it came to Mr. Lowell. It was the one constant thing he could control in his life. It was her father’s way of offering his approval.

  “Thank you, but I think I can handle the wedding.”

  “Fine.” Walking out the door, her dad turned back. “Do you golf?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Maybe you’d care to join me this weekend?”

  A deep-seeded satisfaction warmed Summer’s smile. His unblinking stare never left Carrie Ann’s features. “I’ve got plans this weekend, but we can pencil something in.”

  Waiting for the door to close, she asked quietly, “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

  “I tried.” Summer gently tugged her from the bed. “To be honest, I don’t want to think about it anymore. I’m tired of looking back. I’m more interested in the future. Paperwork is all finished. Let’s get out of here.”

  “Let’s go home.”

  Aspen greeted her with twenty puppy kisses, before rolling onto her back for belly rubs. Carrie Ann headed straight for the shower, needing to wash off the hospital grime and aftershocks of mental stress. Standing in the closet, towel clad with soaking wet hair, she rifled through her drawers searching for a pair of boxers and a tank top.

  She didn’t know how long Summer had been standing behind her, but she shrieked catching sight of him in her peripheral as the thin tank stretched over her head, making it past her eyes.

  Her pulse went crazy squashing almost every word in her vocabulary, seeing Summer propped against the doorway wearing a silver-grey suit. “Fuckity-fuck, fuck,” she panted breathily.

  A sexy smile sucked into the corner of his mouth. His faint laughter filtered through the closet as he ambled toward her. His arms came around her as his eyes locked on hers with an intensity she’d never seen him wear before. One hand spanned the small of her back, drawing an arch as the other coasted over the curve of her bare bum, giving a generous squeeze. Her slight giggle dissolved into a soft gasp.

  Carrie Ann’s fingers keyed up his white shirt front, giving a small adjustment to his crooked tie. The flat of his palms held her securely, molding her to the muscular terrain of his body. A low, pleasurable sigh rose in her throat, reveling in the tantalizing scent of his neck.

  “What’s going on?”

  “I know you’re exhausted, but I thought I might be able to tempt you in a little trip.”

  “A trip? Where?” she questioned amusingly, raising an inquisitive brow. A broad smile touched her lips. Even though she was tired, there was no way she’d turn him down.

  Following his gaze beyond the doorway, she noticed one of her dresses, a white strapless vintage-style cocktail dress laid out on the bed. Summer lifted their entwined fingers to his lips, and kissed her knuckles. His gorgeous gaze hovered behind the rock on her finger.

  “Vegas.”

  Epilogue

  ‡

  Being naked in front of another man was a place Carrie Ann thought she’d never find herself again.

  After Ryan Summer stunned fans by publicizing Ry-Ann had tied the knot in a secret ceremony at a private residence in Las Vegas, the Paparazzi stalked them relentlessly. The couple took painstaking deliberations to keep their relationship as tight-lipped as possible, blocking out all the white-noise. However, they wouldn’t be able to keep the rumor mongers at bay much longer. At sixteen weeks, she was already starting to show. Instead of allowing the press the power to ridicule the pregnancy of their first child, they decided to take the announcement of their baby-bump into their own hands.

  Posing nude in front of the white sheet, Summer stood behind her arranging the big red heart-shaped pillow. She gripped the red satin like a scared virgin protecting her innocence.

  “How much longer is this gonna take?” Summer growled nipping her ear. His semi-hard erection nudging her in the back, drew a sweet pull of desire at her core.

  “Easy cowboy.” Tony, one of Hollywood’s renowned photographers, sassed in a pleasant playful tone. “You’ve got about ten more minutes. That should give me enough shots to choose from.”

  Twenty minutes later Tony called it a wrap. Summer doted over her, assisting her into her silky robe, carefully slipping one arm into a sleeve and then the other. She bellied up to the kitchen table as Tony downloaded the images to his computer.

  Carrie Ann and Summer, JC and Reed, plus ten other expecting couples donned the pages of this year’s Bare Your Soul Calendar. After thirty minutes, she narrowed the cover image down to the last shot of the day. In the photo, Carrie Ann’s arms were tastefully crossed over her breast, as Summer held the satin heart over her nether regions. His chin rested on her shoulder as she twisted to face him, eyes closed, foreheads barely touching.

  *

  The next afternoon, she leaned over the kitchen counter, her arms pressed along the outside slope of her breasts, posing to show off her ever-growing cleavage in a new pink bra and panty set she’d purchased earlier that morning.

  Summer walked through the garage door and nearly skidded to a halt tripping over his tongue. His eyes, wide with delight, slid from her head to her toes. “Pink? Hmm? Not even a hint of red?”

  Biting back a smile, she shot him a look of feigned outrage. “Very funny. You should be lucky…”

  “Oh, I’m definitely lucky.”

  “That I haven’t given you a heart attack or sent you to the hospital or wounded you…”

  “I will gladly take all the sex you can throw at me.”

  Blush warmed her cheeks as a timid smile curled the edges of her lips. “The doctor said my out-of-control lust filled hormones…”

  “You mean your dirty-talking horn-doggedness?”

  “Probably won’t last the entire pregnancy and that you should prepare for random outbursts of crying and/or yelling.�
�� Carrie Ann smothered her brazen grin. “She suggested you take full advantage of me while you can.”

  “Is that so?” His eyes narrowed wickedly as he slinked toward her. His lips made their way down the curve of her neck, nibbling until goosebumps skittered across her shoulders. “Sorry I missed the appointment this morning. I was stuck on the freeway for three hours. What else did the doc have to say?”

  They’d already had several doctor appointments and this was the first time Summer hadn’t been able to go with her. He called, warning her to take a different route because the freeway had been shut down. He was so upset about not being able to make the appointment, she offered to reschedule, but he insisted she go.

  A pinch of guilt mingled with overwhelming joy. Carrie Ann untangled herself from his arms. Rising to her tiptoes in a slow pirouette, she modeled the pink underwear for him. She tugged her bottom lip between her teeth, hoping to squash the goofy lop-sided grin from covering her face, but it just continued to grow until she let out a soft giggle.

  Summer’s stare tapered in inquiry.

  “I’m sorry,” she caved. “The doctor knew that we wanted to know the sex and she blurted it out without thinking.”

  Summer shirked back in surprise, gawking at the lacy material. His literal shrill of excitement hushed her explanation. “A girl! We’re having a baby girl?”

  She blinked hard against the swell of emotions collecting in her throat, robbing her of a reply. All she could do was nod.

  Summer dropped to his knees, cradling her tummy in the palm of his hands, kissing every inch of the small bump. “Hey, baby girl. You need a name. Daddy needs to start calling you something besides baby.”

  She ran her fingers through his thick hair. “Actually, I was playing with our middle names on the way home.”

  “Let’s hear it.” Summer stood, scooping her up into his arms, placing her bum on the cool granite counter.

  “I put a little twist to them and I really love the name…Anna Blakely Summer.”

  “Anna Blakely Summer. Anna Blakely…”

  “Anna for my mom and my middle name and Blakely instead of just Blake for your middle name and your grandpa.”

  “I think it’s perfect.” Summer caressed her stomach, asking. “Anna, what do you think?”

  Seeing a glimmer of wetness pooling on his lower lids, Carrie Ann broke, dissolving into his arms. “I love you, Summer.”

  Summer’s mouth descended over hers. “Christ, I love you.”

  This man, so strong and tough, had the biggest heart and it was filled with love for his family. He was more than her best friend. He was her protector, her lover, her soul mate, the father of her children.

  Summer was her everything.

  Look for these other novels from

  USA Today bestselling author

  BEVERLY PRESTON

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  The Mathews Family Series Box Set

  No More Wasted Time

  After losing her husband to a sudden heart attack, Tess Mathews escapes to Bora Bora to lay her husband and sorrow to rest. What she doesn’t expect is a new beginning.

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  Reserving a private shark-feeding excursion to scatter her husband’s ashes into the lagoon, Tess is furious when Mr. Hollywood bribes his way onto the boat, leaving her no other choice but to share the boat ride.

  Tess is torn between tremendous guilt and zealous lust when their boat ride turns into a week full of romance and desire neither thought imaginable. Utterly smitten with a woman for the first time in his life, Tom casts his commitment phobia aside and whisks Tess off to Malibu where he introduces her as his “girlfriend” on the red carpet.

  As the paparazzi besiege, can Tess survive the media blitz that ensues in order to find her second chance at love?

  Shayla’s Story

  ~ People come into your life for a Reason, a Season or a Lifetime ~

  A Reason…

  Questioning her relationship with a man who worships politics more thanher, Shayla Clemmins escapes reality for the seductive sunsets ofGreece. There she finds exactly what she didn’t know was missing fromher life, but fears she’ll lose him to her past.

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  A Lifetime…

  With Shayla’s past catching up to her and an anonymous threat to her future, can she and John make a lifetime together?

  The Perfect Someday

  Tracy Mathews lives life by the perfect moral code. After graduating magna cum laude in Marketing, she travels to the fabled churches of Santorini to capture the picturesque sunset, only to find a masquerade wedding about to begin. Tracy is persuaded by her younger sister to crash the ceremony. While donning a mask in Greece, she encounters a magnetically charming, handsome Italian, who entices her deepest desires.

  After a brief and mysterious rendezvous with future promises made, she returns home only to realize her dreams of the perfect man have been shattered—until an unexpected job opportunity presents itself in Italy.

  Vincent is a fifth generation winemaker in the rolling hills of Tuscany. On the verge of losing his family’s estate, will Tracy Mathews, an up and coming marketing entrepreneur, be exactly what he needs to save his family heritage and his broken heart?

  Surviving Broken

  ~ Sometimes you have to go through hell to find your heaven ~

  Most women have a wish list when it comes to what kind of man they want to date. JC Mathews used a strict set of guidelines as a safety net to keep herself out of trouble and out of love.

  On hiatus from the bright lights and speculative gazes of her career in the fashion industry, JC lets her guard down…only to the wrong man. After escaping Italy and the hands of her abuser, she returns to Malibu to recover. The last thing she expects to find is a large, gorgeous intruder swimming naked in her pool.

  Reed Rider left Texas and his broken heart behind in order to settle his aunt’s affairs after her death. Seeking refuge from the California heat for a midnight swim in his neighbor’s backyard, he never expects to find the nude silhouette of a long-haired beauty standing at the water’s edge.

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  USA Today Bestselling Author Beverly Preston has been a stay at home mom for 21 years, although she prefers the title Domestic Engineer, raising her four amazing kids. As her children begin to venture out on their own, she’s left to shed a tear—for a minute—wonder what’s next in life, and embrace the feeling of empowerment that surely must’ve been wrapped in a present she received on her fortieth birthday.

  If Beverly isn’t at home riding her spin bike, you’ll find her spinning richly emotional and sinfully sexy romance stories.

  Laugh, cry, and fall in love with The Mathews Family one Happily Ever After at a time.

  Visit Beverly at:

  www.beverlypreston.com

  Come join Beverly’s street team on Facebook

 

 

 
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