Summer Sizzle (17 page)

Morning had become afternoon. The movie they wanted to see started in an hour. He brushed a soft kiss across her mouth. “I’ll race you to the shower to see who gets to use it first.” His sexy grin spread across his face. “Unless you want to save time by showering together.”

“You know as well as I do that showering together may save water, but it definitely won’t save any time.” She flicked the tip of her tongue against his lower lip. “In fact, there’s only one place
that
can lead, and it’s not into the village to see a movie.”

“You’re right.” But instead of getting out of bed, he slipped a finger between her pussy lips and wiggled it inside her.

She let out a soft moan, closed her eyes, and allowed the sensation to wash over her for a moment. Then she batted at his hand. “That’s not going to get us to the movies, either.”

“Once again, you’re right. I’ll let you shower first.” He sat up and glanced out the window. “Looks like the storm clouds have cleared off. We can walk into the village.”

“I won’t be long.” She scooted out of bed and headed toward the bathroom.

****

Vicki and Blake casually strolled hand-in-hand the two blocks back to the house after enjoying an early dinner at a quaint little Italian restaurant following the movie. They talked quietly as they walked along the street. When they arrived home, he poured two glasses of wine and carried them out onto the deck where they watched the sky turn from sunset to night. Down the beach, the lights from the businesses along the pier shone brightly. Faint music floated on the air from somewhere up the beach.

She finally broke the silence, not because it was uncomfortable but because there had been something on her mind for the last hour.

“Tomorrow is Monday. I’m going to file a police report about Mr. Edwards then I’ll be in my office working. Do you have any plans for the day?”

“I really haven’t given it any thought. I guess I’ll work with my stunt kites and see if I can come up with a routine so I can enter the contest.” He glanced over at her. “Why do you ask?”

“No particular reason. It’s just that I’ve never spent time around someone who didn’t have a job or any type of standard routine during the work week. I wasn’t sure what you normally did with your time.”

Her words sent warning signals to Blake, setting his senses on alert. What kind of hidden meaning lurked behind her question? On one hand, he had to admit his life had become a daily routine in which he didn’t accomplish anything, as if he had no purpose anymore. But for two years he had been content to settle for that. Just get through today without thinking about tomorrow. Now, however, her question caused a ripple of something he couldn’t quite identify—part resentment, part guilt. It had been a valid question, but that didn’t mean he wanted to face it.

She had become more important to him than he’d ever believed anyone could, and at a lightning speed that literally boggled the mind and took his breath away nearly as much as she did. He had already lost someone who meant more to him than life itself. He couldn’t handle it happening again. Two starkly different realities poised on the brink of battle.

He stared out at the ocean, making it obvious to Vicki that she wouldn’t be getting any more of a response to her question than he’d already given, almost as if he were afraid to answer it. Something very personal remained hidden deep inside him, something he didn’t want to share. Intellectually, she understood and accepted that, but emotionally she felt shut out, as if he had closed a door on her and refused to share what he kept locked behind it.

A cool breeze wafted across the deck, sending a shiver rippling over her skin.

“It’s a little chilly out here.” She set her wine glass on the small table and stood. “I’m going to put on a sweater. I’ll be right back.”

Somewhere in the back of her mind she knew the shiver was due to more than just the temperature. Blake seemed to be suddenly pulling away from her, and she didn’t know why. Had their relationship been nothing more than hot, heavy sex, which he felt had run its course? Had he decided it had been a mistake to ask her to stay in his house for the summer?

She climbed the stairs to the second floor. An uncomfortable sensation of foreboding closed in around her. A sound from Blake’s bedroom interrupted her mounting panic. She stopped at his door and flipped on the light switch. “Ty-Ling! What have you done?”

The cat scampered from the top of Blake’s dresser and darted out the door, leaving the contents of an overturned box scattered on the floor.

Vicki rushed inside to clean up the cat’s mess. She grabbed the various papers, a video disc, several photographs, and placed them back in the box. All except one. The photograph showed Blake and a little boy who looked to be about six years-old. After placing the box on top of the dresser, she sat on the edge of his bed and stared at the picture. She turned it over to see if anything was written on the back. All she saw was a date indicating the photo had been taken two and a half years ago. Who was the little boy? A relative? A friend’s child?

“What the hell are you doing?” Blake’s angry voice sliced through the air, cutting off her thoughts. She jerked to attention and found an equally furious looking Blake standing in the doorway scowling at her. He crossed the room in several quick, long strides and grabbed the photograph from her hands. He placed it in the box with everything else, then put the container on the top shelf of his closet.

He whirled and faced her. “Why were you going through my personal belongings?”

“I—I wasn’t. It was on the floor—”

“Stay out of my things.” He snapped out the words as if not even aware she’d been talking, then turned and ran down the stairs. She heard the outside door open and slam shut…then silence.

Her insides collapsed into a jumbled mess, as if he’d slammed the door shut on whatever future they might have had together. Tears welled in her eyes and trickled down her cheeks. She wiped them away with the back of her hand. The last thing she wanted to do was cry. But she didn’t seem to be able to stop or control the tremors. A sick churning knotted in the pit of her stomach. She couldn’t have been more stunned if he had actually struck her. Nor could she have been suffering more anguish or been in any greater emotional pain.

She glanced at the box on the closet shelf. What did it contain that had caused such an irrational, angry outburst? More tears ran down her cheeks, only this time she didn’t make any effort to wipe them away. Wave after wave of raw pain crashed through her body, draining her of all energy. Whatever that box contained, it was obviously an issue for him. As much as she wanted to know what was in it, she resisted the urge to take it from the shelf.

She tried to assemble her thoughts into a pragmatic mode, to brush aside her pain and focus on the problem at hand. Somehow she had to force Blake to listen to her explanation, to make him understand she hadn’t been prying into his life or snooping in his personal belongings. But how?

She tried to stand up, but her legs had turned to lead. After finally struggling to her feet, she retreated to her bedroom. What to think? What to do? How to make him listen? She had too many questions and no answers. She tried to inject some calm into the sudden chaos that had erupted around her, but without much success. In the past, she’d been able to maintain her strong determination without any difficulty once she set her mind on a course of action.

She’d always known exactly what she wanted out of life and how to get there. Hard work and dedication to her chosen course of action had been her credo. Then suddenly this man had turned her carefully planned life upside down. Even thinking straight had become a formidable task. Whatever he had chosen to lock away inside him had to somehow be tied to the contents of the box.

After gulping in several steadying breaths, she squared her shoulders and set her resolve. One way or another, she’d make him listen to her explanation about why she was in his bedroom holding the photograph, even if she had to tie him to a chair. According to the standards she’d set for her life and had always believed were important, Blake Callahan was wrong for her in every way. So why did everything about him feel so right?

She had no intention of allowing him to slip through her fingers due to nothing more than some stupid misunderstanding. She hurried downstairs, adamant about forcing him to hear what she had to say. But, to her dismay, he was nowhere to be found, not in the house or on the deck. His car was in the garage, so wherever he’d gone couldn’t be all that far away since he was on foot.

Vicki returned to the deck, plopped into her chair, and picked up the glass of wine she’d left there before going upstairs. He wasn’t going to escape her that easily. He had to come home eventually, and she would be waiting for him.

Regardless of what kind of an attitude he chose to display, no matter how angry he seemed to be, she would make him listen.

Chapter Nine

Blake slowed his pace, then finally came to a halt. He bent forward with his hands on his thighs and gulped in deep breaths. He’d jogged down the beach on the bike path for over a mile, going well beyond the pier. Total confusion continued to swirl through his mind along with anger, hurt, guilt, shame, embarrassment, and some other emotions he couldn’t even identify. Lashing out at Vicki, losing his temper when he’d seen her holding the photograph of his son, had been a stupid knee-jerk reaction.

She had no way of knowing what the contents of the box meant to him. She had tried to tell him something, but he’d only compounded his fuck-up by storming out of the room without listening to her. He never should have done that, either. It was totally unacceptable behavior, especially toward someone he cared about as much as he cared for Vicki.

Cared about
. The words were wholly inadequate to accurately describe his feelings for her. But the word
love
still scared him. A little over a week ago, he hadn’t even known Vicki existed. No one falls in love in a week. They develop an infatuation, yes. Lust, most definitely. But love? Yet, he felt as if he had known her for a lifetime.

He straightened and stared out at the ocean. The full moon shimmered across the water, casting a silvery glow over everything. Thoughts of Vicki flooded his mind. Memories assaulted every fiber of his existence. Her touch, her taste, her scent, the sound of her voice, waking in the morning with her sleeping in his arms, just knowing she was near. Somehow he had to make things right. But could he do that without committing to a relationship? Just the thought of commitment sent a cold shiver rippling across his skin.

This compulsively organized woman with every minute of her life planned out and noted in her schedule book, this woman who thought only of tomorrow while sacrificing today, had done what no one else had been able to do. She’d forced him to think about the future. A future that included her as part of his life. But how far was he willing to go to make it happen? How much of a change was he willing—or able
—
to accept?

Or maybe the real question was whether he was even capable of changing. Had his future become firmly set in concrete? A lonely future without that special someone to share all the love he had locked away? A future without Vicki?

He headed back to the house, this time at a slow walk. He desperately needed to clear his head, to put things in proper perspective. His emotions left him torn between two extremes—his fear of the future on one hand, and his all-consuming need to have Vicki as a permanent part of his life on the other side of the equation. A permanent part of his life meant beyond the confines of only today without consideration for tomorrow. And it also meant telling her about his son, about what had happened. Revealing his most hidden secret, deepest pain, and greatest vulnerability.

And that required trusting her with his wounded heart.

He put one foot in front of the other, each step bringing him closer to the moment of truth, closer to facing his own demons. He forced everything from his mind, everything except the sound of the waves breaking along the shore. One step at a time until he saw the house. He came to an abrupt halt.

The only visible light shone from Vicki’s bedroom window on the second floor. The other windows and the deck were dark. A nervous jitter twisted in the pit of his stomach. Talking to her could not be put off any longer. He needed to tell her tonight even if he had to wake her up to do it.

The sudden realization slammed into his consciousness. The possibility of losing Vicki frightened him even more than exposing his pain.

Blake picked up his pace as he crossed the sand toward the stairs leading to the deck. But it wasn’t until he reached the top step that he realized she was sitting there in the dark. He hesitated, not sure what to say. The possibility of her being there had not occurred to him. He thought he had a few more minutes before he needed to face the truth. A few more minutes to choose just the right words to say.

Vicki took the initiative and spoke before he had a chance to say anything. “I’ve been waiting for you to get back. I want to explain—”

“There’s no—”

“Don’t interrupt me.” She snapped out the order making no effort to hide her displeasure. “You’re going to listen to what I have to say.” Nervousness clung to her words. She took a deep breath, held it, then slowly exhaled. “I was
not
snooping in your things. On my way to my room, I heard a noise in your room. I turned on the light and saw that Ty-Ling had knocked a box off your dresser, and the contents had spilled onto the floor. I shooed her away and put everything back into the box, all except that one photograph. It caught my attention, and I was wondering who the little boy was when you came in. That’s exactly what happened, nothing more. I would never snoop in your belongings.”

“I’m sorry.” He remained on the top step with his foot poised on the deck. Waves of guilt crashed through him. “I apologize for yelling at you. I had no right to jump to conclusions. And when you tried to say something…well, I was totally out of line.”