Текст книги "A Taste of Summer"
Автор книги: Beverly Preston
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Текущая страница: 17 (всего у книги 18 страниц)
Chapter Fifteen
‡
A constant beeping filled her ears. Hushed voices sifted through the darkness like a distant daydream. Carrie Ann tried to peel the lids of her eyes open, but they were too heavy.
The sterile smell of saline and antiseptic burned her nostrils. She drifted in and out of a deep sleep, listening to the sounds of chatter warbled together with footsteps and someone coughing in the far remoteness of her mind.
Blackness.
A low drone echoed in her ears as a band squeezed around her bicep, rousing her from hibernation. Her hands felt encumbered, too heavy to reach the object tightening and scratching her arm. She heard voices, men talking. I’ll give you today, but that’s it. I’ve been more than patient. Carrie Ann licked her parched lips. Holding her breath, she attempted to listen closer, but her ears were filled with the beating of her heart.
She felt a set of hands, warm and strong, slip beneath the covers at the end of the bed and close over her foot. The massage was light and loving, warming her ice cold toes. The strokes too soft for treatment, but blanketed her with comfort and assurance.
“Summer?” Her raspy voice, laced with panic, nearly inaudible. Her breathing turned quick and jumpy. Unable to raise her arms, she scratched her nails on the bedding.
“We’re right here, Red.” His sunny familiar scent floated into her breath, calming her alarm. The sound of his voice snuggled beside her ear as he pressed the side of his face to her temple. “You’re safe. Everything’s okay.”
Carrie Ann managed one little nod.
A while later, she opened her eyes. An older man with dark hair, sat beside her. His stubby fingers drew small circles over her foot poking out of the blue cover. She blinked the haziness from her eyes. “Dad?”
He lifted his head. Her father looked tired and worn. His typical tough, no-nonsense rigidness, softened by the exhaustion clinging to the lines covering his face. “I’m here.”
Carrie Ann peered around the cold white room. Her gaze lingered down her body making sure all of her pieces were intact. She stretched and shifted. Nothing was broken.
“Why am I in the hospital?” Before he could utter a word, her body lurched upright, adding in a voice of distress, “Where’s Summer?”
“Shh, it’s okay. You’re fine. He’s here. He just went to get coffee.”
A small bit of relief traveled through her rigid limbs and she sank back into the hard crinkly mattress. Her father scooted the small chair he sat in to the edge of her bed. He closed a hand around hers.
“Why am I in the hospital?” she questioned again.
“Do you remember being at the gym?”
Carrie Ann surfed her memory, but had zero recollection. Meeting her father’s gaze, she saw wetness clinging to his lashes. Fearing the worst she swallowed hard, whispering, “Did something bad happen to me?”
“No, no. Nothing happened. You got lucky.” Her dad seemed to be registering her reaction, unsure if he should go on. “Jason, found you…”
“Yes, yes. I remember seeing him at the gym. We argued…sort of. Did he drug me again?”
“He saved you.” Summer’s deep voice filtered through doorway.
Tears sprung in her eyes, obscuring the silhouette of his tall, muscular frame moving toward her. The edge of the bed dipped as he sat beside her, pulling her into his arms for a full embrace. She hid her face in the crook of his neck, letting him hold her. Easing back, he cupped the sides of her neck, swiping the pads of his thumb over her damp cheek.
“Love you, Red.”
Their eyes locked. Those were the only words that mattered. “Love you.”
“You remember seeing Jason at the gym?” Summer stated.
“Yes.”
“He was sitting in his car getting ready to leave when he spotted you staggering out to your car. He was going to see if you were alright. That’s when he saw the bartender approach you. Do you remember?”
“Not really. Maybe. I remember feeling woozy, like I’d worked out too hard.”
“Do you remember a man approaching you? The bartender? He worked for Take Your Best Shot the night of the auction.”
“That’s right.” She shifted uneasily. “He was there…at the gym. He rode the bike next to me. That’s the guy who drugged me?”
“Yes.”
“Are you positive?”
“We’re positive.” Summer’s jaw was set so taut, the muscles near the hollow of his cheek twitched. He remained outwardly calm, but she could feel his hands shaking as he combed his fingers through her dark hair, placing a kiss to the top of her head. His heart thumped so loud, it echoed between them. Summer looked away momentarily, making a brief but monumental connection with her father.
“We’ll talk about the details later.” Her dad remarked coolly. All traces of color washed from his face. “You don’t need to worry, honey. He won’t be getting out of jail in this lifetime.”
Inundated with a strong need to apologize and tell him thank you, she questioned, “Where’s Jason?”
Another shadow of concern passed between the two men. “They released him last night. I’m sure you’ll be able to talk to him soon.”
“Released? From the hospital? What for?”
“Carrie Ann, he was stabbed during the altercation. Don’t worry. Doctors were concerned about a concussion, but he’s going to be fine. He got lucky, the knife only grazed his side, but it required fifteen stitches.”
“Knife?” She heard herself ask in an unnaturally high voice. “He had a knife?”
“We’ll talk about everything when you’re totally alert and the drugs are out of your system. For now, you just need to rest.”
Carrie Ann didn’t have much choice, she could barely keep her eyes open. The next time she awoke, she was more alert. Her throat was sore and she suffered from a pounding headache. Thankfully both began to subside after eating a small bowl of homemade chicken soup that Summer had delivered for breakfast.
“The doctor said you’ll be released this morning.” Summer stated.
“Good. I just want to go home.”
Her father cleared his throat roughly, drawing her attention. “Summer, would you mind giving Carrie Ann and I a few minutes?”
She scowled. “Dad, whatever you have to say, you can do it in front of Summer.”
Summer pulled in a deep breath, exhaling a long drawn-out sigh. His amber eyes warmed to the color of cognac and were full of reassurance as he tilted forward brushing his nose to hers. “It’s okay, Red. I need to make a phone call. I promised Shayla I’d keep her informed.”
Leaving the room, Summer paused in front of her father. He stuck out his hand, locking eyes with her father as they shook hands. Both men gave a curt nod, acknowledging some sort of mutual truce.
Sitting at the edge of her bed, Carrie Ann couldn’t help but notice her dad looked older, drained from being at the hospital all night. The glow of fluorescent overhead lighting adding a greyness to his skin accentuating the dark bruising shadows beneath his eyes.
“I rushed judgment, accusing Summer too quickly.”
The muscles near her mouth softened detecting what sounded like an admission of guilt or an apology. Either way, it was a first. “I suppose we did the same, assuming it was Jason.”
“I’m hoping that you won’t judge me too harshly,” he paused. “When I say what I need to tell you.”
A shiver ran down her spine, hearing the unmistakable regret riddling his tone. “What do you have to tell me?”
“We all make mistakes. I’ve definitely made my fair share. I thought that boy was bringing you down. Holding you back from a vast future of possibilities. When he came to the house…I thought I was protecting you from a lifetime full of struggle and heartache. He was a rough-neck by California standards, no couth, no class, no future to speak of. He was sliding down a dark hole and I’d be damned if I was going to let him take you with him. You deserved better. I always thought your mother deserved better too. I never understood what she saw in me.” The last few bits, washed in recollection.
Searing heat climbed up her neck, turning her words to a near whimper. “What did you do?”
“It never entered my mind that you truly loved him. Or that he’d be able to give you a good life.”
“Those aren’t things you get to decide, Dad.”
“I know that now. He came to me that day,” His tone softened. There was no need to explain, she knew which day he referred to. It was the day she lost their baby. “I’d heard you crying, telling Shayla the whole story. I’d be damned if I was ever going to let him near you again.”
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.
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