AnotherKindofSummer

  Another Kind of Summer

  By Tressie Lockwood

  Copyright © May 2012, Tressie Lockwood

  Cover art by Mina Carter © May 2012

  ISBN 978-1-936668-61-8

  This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this novel are fictitious or used fictitiously. All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or portions thereof, in any form.

  Sugar and Spice Press

  North Carolina, USA

  www.sugarnspicepress.com

  Chapter One

  Summer lingered over the peppers and debated between red and yellow. Her recipe for chicken enchilada paillard called for red, but sometimes she liked to switch things up. Cooking was one of her favorite pastimes, and she was lucky so far it hadn’t added too much weight to her frame. Seeing that she was pushing thirty-five, she wondered if it would all change soon. The fact that she hadn’t had any kids might have slowed down the process that most women went through. I guess there’s always a silver lining behind every cloud.

  Since she hadn’t had much excitement or change in her life lately, she went with the yellow peppers. The decision was a small matter, but every little bit helped. She smiled at her silly thinking and wrapped the peppers in a plastic bag. Just as she was turning back to her cart, someone called out her name. She went still, not looking up. Memories and emotions raced through her mind. Chills assaulted her arms and zinged along her spine. His voice. There was no other like his, and even after all this time, she had the same reaction.

  Her stomach muscles contracted, and her mouth went dry. She forced her gaze up from the cart, and there he was. Summer’s fingers spasmed on the plastic bag, and all she could think was that she was glad they weren’t wrapped around her precious peppers at that moment. Damn, he’s beautiful. And sexy…exactly as he was back then.

  How long had it been? She chided herself. She knew damn well how long because she’d counted the hours, then the days and weeks at the beginning. As time went on, it got easier, but she never forgot. Even when she had the most fun rock climbing and flying around the world with her last boyfriend, Ian hadn’t been far from her thoughts.

  He strode closer to her, a friendly smile lighting his handsome face.

  She was wrong. He wasn’t exactly the same. There was a tiredness around his eyes like he hadn’t been getting much sleep. Other than that, he still wore his curly black hair cut short and his face clean-shaven. He must be turning thirty-eight this year, but he could pass for early thirties. Ian had kept his body in shape too. Just looking at his broad shoulders and big arms got her hot. She remembered all too well being cocooned in his embrace, not wanting to be anywhere else. I still don’t.

  “Oh my goodness, Ian, is that you?” She accepted his hug graciously but felt like a fraud. “I thought you moved out of town.”

  “Summer.” His pronunciation of her name sounded like a caress, but she determined it must be her imagination. “You look the same—

  beautiful.”

  She blushed. “Please, it hasn’t been that long. What three years?” She pretended to get the time wrong.

  “Four,” he answered. “You look fantastic.”

  “Thanks.” She lowered her gaze, unable to think of anything else to say.

  “And to answer your question, I did move out of town. I’m back. You can’t keep me out of Charlotte for long. This is where my roots are, and I love it here.”

  Summer listened to his words, but she found herself peering through her lashes at his ring finger. Bare. So he hadn’t married, or not yet anyway. “I hear you. I love this city too. I’m not going anywhere. I mean don’t get me wrong. I travel a lot. Or did. I always come back here. This is home for me.”

  He nodded, and she shifted from one foot to the other because he was staring. She didn’t need a crystal ball to see he liked what he saw. Ian had always been open about his attraction to her. She hadn’t broken it off with him because he wasn’t the perfect boyfriend. A twinge of pain tightened her chest, and she tried to pull herself together.

  “Ian, did you find it?” a woman called out to him.

  Disappointment almost made Summer cry out in protest, but when Ian turned to look behind him, she recognized the woman as his sister. “Kelly, hi,” she said. “It’s been a while.”

  The frown that crossed the woman’s face didn’t surprise Summer.

  Kelly had never liked her, and she’d probably shifted to downright hate when Summer dumped her brother. “Hey, how are you?”

  “Good thanks.”

  A plump baby boy cooed in the cart Kelly pushed. Summer remembered she’d been married with kids. Apparently, she’d had one more recently. The baby appeared to be no older than five or six months.

  He had the cute features of Ian’s family. Kelly and he both had dark hair like their mother, while their father had been blond.

  “He’s so cute,” Summer gushed, but she made no move to come closer and touch him like strangers were liable to do. Kelly’s brows went up, and she peered at her brother. When Ian said nothing, she seemed to force a smile and murmured her thanks. Yep, hates me, Summer mused. “Well, it was good seeing you both.”

  She turned to walk away, but Ian grabbed her hand. A shock of pleasure threatened to send her system into overload. She resisted the urge to jerk away from him.

  “What are you doing tonight?” he asked.

  All of a sudden he stood above her with a few inches between them.

  She could hardly draw a breath. Ian was six four to her five eight, and yet he made her feel much more petite. “A-Are you asking me out?”

  He smiled. She’d always been a sucker for that damn smile. “For old times sake, just to catch up.”

  Kelly cleared her throat, but Ian ignored her, and he wouldn’t let Summer’s hand go although she tugged on it. “I think…”

  “Tuscan’s at seven? I’ll pick you up.”

  She snapped her hand free at last and put both on her hips. “Who says I don’t have a boyfriend that will have a problem with me going to dinner with an ex?”

  “Do you?”

  Her palm itched to smack him. “I just ended it recently.”

  “Hm, makes a habit of that kind of thing,” Kelly murmured.

  “Excuse me?” Summer moved to step around Ian to confront his sister, but he blocked her path and grasped her arms. Her nipples brushed his chest, and she gritted her teeth. She raised her chin. Just to spite Kelly, she said, “Sure, I’d love that, but I’ll meet you there. Seven it is.”

  * * * *

  A million different times, Summer told herself she shouldn’t have come. She shouldn’t have let Kelly get to her and accepted Ian’s invite to dinner. Not that she didn’t want to spend time with him. Seeing the man in the grocery store had been like a balm to her wounded soul, and she didn’t even know her soul was still hurt over him. Talk about clingy emotions.

  She had thought she’d moved on, and she’d spoken the truth about just breaking up with her boyfriend. Tony was fun, but that’s all he was about.

  “You look amazing,” Ian said as she strolled up to him standing in the restaurant doorway. A tinge of pleasure passed through her system, and she tried not to let it go to her head.

  “Thanks.”

  He tried to take her hand to lead her inside, but she moved out of reach and walked ahead of him. Ian had always been honest with his feelings, yet it never made him look weak. Knowing where she stood had been a plus, that is until it was inconvenient when she ended their relationship.

  The hostess seated them, and Summer was glad Ian hadn’t requested their usual spot in the corner by the windows. Maybe he’d forgotten about it. The knowledge gave her a pang of disappointment, but
she suppressed it.

  “What will you have to drink?” Ian asked. Another plus, she discovered. He wasn’t being presumptuous.

  “Pomegranate martini,” she answered without hesitation. That was her usual. She loved the drink, and although her ex had gotten her to broaden her horizons and try many things in life, she always came back to her old favorites.

  “Still?” Ian chuckled. So he hadn’t forgotten. “I suppose you want a steak and veggies too?”

  She sucked her teeth. “You don’t know me that well.”

  Ian shrugged.

  “Fine, I want the steak.” Going to dinner with him to spite his sister was enough childishness for the evening. She couldn’t turn down a steak just to make him think he didn’t know her anymore. My damn heart still beats faster for him. I wonder if that will ever stop.

  They placed their order and were sipping their drinks when Ian pursued conversation. “So how have you been? Are you still working at the college?”

  She shook her head and took another swallow of her martini before speaking. The place made good drinks, that was for sure, and the food wasn’t bad either. “No, I’m doing freelance design. I left the college about a year and a half ago when I met Tony.”

  Ian’s mouth tightened. “Tony?”

  “My ex.” She looked away.

  “It didn’t work out with him?”

  She wanted to ask him if it was any of his business but dropped it.

  They hadn’t seen each other in so long, and all the emotions she thought she had buried came rushing to the surface. Why couldn’t he be safely married with two point five kids so her stupid heart couldn’t strain toward him like it was doing now?

  “No, it didn’t work out.” Her time with Tony had been fun though. He had opened up a whole new world of traveling and taking chances. Tony kept life interesting, but she’d never felt anything but affection for him. In the end, she’d broken it off—but for different reasons than those having to do with Ian. “What about you?”

  She needed to get the conversation off of herself, so he couldn’t see how unsettled he made her being back in town, sitting a few feet away.

  She gripped her glass to hide her shaking hands, and to keep from reaching over to touch him. Ian sat there leaning back a little in his chair, one large hand resting with casual ease on the tabletop. The fact that he didn’t appear to be bothered too much pissed her off. All she’d picked up so far was that tightening of the lips. That didn’t tell her a whole lot.

  “I’ve had past relationships as well over the last few years—one in particular I thought would go somewhere. Turned out I was wrong.”

  Again the shrug, but she sensed it went deeper. He didn’t appear to be nursing a broken heart, not that he’d ever been that open. He was still a man after all. After a few silent moments, he was the one to reach across the table and take her hand. Goose bumps broke out on her forearms when he stroked her skin with a thumb. She forced herself to swallow.

  “I’m glad to find you single.”

  Summer shifted in her chair. “I—” Damn it, she should have told him she was seeing someone. That was safer.

  “Come dancing with me,” he offered.

  “Yes.” No! “I’d love to.”

  They ate and talked about her career in graphic design. She’d taught a class at the college level but ended up leaving that to pursue freelance work. This path was much more satisfying, and it opened up her schedule.

  He nodded as she explained it to him. “I remember the way the college had you teaching so many classes, you scarcely had a chance to breathe.”

  She laughed. “Yeah, and we had a million arguments over it too.”

  That silenced them both. Damn. Talk about ignoring the white elephant in the room. Her working too hard was not what they’d disagreed on, and she knew it. She figured Ian would call her on the obvious lie, but he changed the subject.

  “Engineering has been good to me,” he said. “The project I headed up in Washington expanded, and the company actually acquired more holdings. That’s why I’m here.”

  Her stomach clenched. “You mean it’s just temporary?” She hadn’t meant to sound so disappointed. Ian grinned like he’d picked up on it. She gritted her teeth.

  “Oh no, it’s permanent. The holdings are a couple of small corporations here in Charlotte. I’m coordinating everything on this end.

  I’m evaluating the current staff, and if necessary, I can hire more.”

  “Sounds busy.”

  “It can be, but I’m motivated to clean it all up quickly.”

  She didn’t ask why he was so moved, not wanting it to be about getting her back. That was silly thinking. Ian was not back in Charlotte for 6

  Another Kind of Summer

  Tressie Lockwood

  her sake, so it was better she not even go there. The man had a life, and it didn’t include her. She couldn’t afford to let it.

  When she put her fork down for the last time and had drained her glass, Ian wiped his mouth and slid his chair back. “Ready?”

  She nodded.

  Chapter Two

  Ian’s arms. That’s where she’d always wanted to be, and moving on the dance floor, flowing with the music, let her know that hadn’t changed.

  His arms were strong and protective. To her surprise, the first time they’d danced together, she discovered he had a natural rhythm she’d seen in few white guys. Summer had always dated white men, so she would know. Ian defying what his brothers couldn’t seem to get right had been what drew her to him in the first place.

  “You remember?” he whispered in her ear. She shivered.

  “Remember what?” She pretended ignorance, but there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that he referred to what she was thinking.

  “The night we met.”

  “Vaguely.” Of course she did. He’d been in the arms of another woman, but Summer couldn’t take her eyes off him. She thought it was the fact that he was sexy as hell and that the woman he was with that night was also black, but there was more to it than that. Ian had a draw to him—

  something electric—that pulled her in his direction. His smile, his words, his touch damn him, all captured her and wouldn’t let her go.

  He chuckled. “Liar.”

  His hold tightened, and Summer was hard-pressed not to let her breasts brush his chest. The fight was a losing one since her panties were already soaked. Ian’s hips shifting side to side had her head spinning, and feeling the strength in his hold seduced her even if he wasn’t trying to do so. Then again, maybe he was. She glanced up into his face and was arrested anew at how sexy he was. His dark looks gave off a mysterious air, and the desire in his eyes made her weak.

  “She taught you to find the beat,” she said in a desperate attempt to distract herself. Ian slid his hand down her back, stopping just above her ass. She cursed him in her head and tried not to stick her butt out.

  “She did, but we didn’t connect.” He leaned down and let his lips touch her cheek. She clutched his shoulders and put her head back. Why did she want him to explore her neck with those magical lips of his? Ian picked up on her desire and traced around to her throat. She stretched higher on her toes and gave in to letting her breasts flatten on his chest.

  Even over the noise of the music, she heard his moan. “You and I have always been one.”

  “No, we can’t.” Move back, Summer. You know better than this.

  “I won’t ask for what you don’t want to give.”

  She frowned and pulling his hair, jerked his head up. “Now who’s the liar?”

  His eyes darkened. “I won’t deny I want you. I’ve always wanted you.”

  “I know.” Sadness washed over her.

  He was right though. They did have a connection, right from the start.

  He’d looked up from that woman and spotted her across the room. She’d thought it was funny, the old cliché about finding the one in a crowded room, but they’d been like that. She was
in the arms of another man at the time.

  “As soon as I saw you, I couldn’t remember how to dance,” she admitted.

  He smiled. “I wanted to be the one holding you.”

  She turned her head, trying desperately to find something of interest in that club and not fall deeper into Ian’s spell. He knew he wound a web around her. She had no doubt of that, but at the same time, she didn’t think he could have stopped himself if he tried. Just like she couldn’t stop herself from giving in to it.

  Summer closed her eyes. A breeze from the air conditioning stirred a lock of her hair. Ian brushed it away, and she trembled. The song playing couldn’t be the same one as back then, but it seemed so. All the feelings like they were brand new stirred in her. Ian twirled her in his arms so that her back faced him. Her ass brushed his thigh, and his arms came around her, palms resting on her belly. A swear dropped from her lips, but she didn’t think he heard it.

  She resisted as hard as she could not to continue the conversation of their meeting but found herself speaking anyway. “You whispered something to her.”

  “Mm,” he murmured. “I told her I had to go.”

  “Go where?” She knew.

  “To you.” He squeezed her, and she whimpered. “I didn’t let you go all night.”

  “I know.” The admission was almost a sob. They hadn’t even exchanged names yet, and they’d ended up tumbling into her bed together.

  His hands had been cupping her naked breasts when she gasped out the question. “I asked your name and if you were cheating.”

  “She was my dance partner and occasional lover. Nothing serious.”

  “I didn’t believe you, but I couldn’t resist. I’m ashamed.”

  “I want to be inside you.”

  For a few seconds, Summer couldn’t distinguish if Ian said the words now or if she was remembering his voice from back then. He’d said it hovering over her in the bed, her legs parted and skirt raised. She had given her consent, and he hadn’t waited to remove her panties. He’d shoved them aside and pushed into her. That night had been the best sex in her entire life.