Then Summer Came Page 11

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  A few hours later, I was working on some designs at the dining-room table, when Derek came in. I only looked up at him long enough to realize it was him, and then I went back to my sketch. I was glad to see him, since it was a rarity, and I was excited that he had actually come by, but I wasn’t sure if I could talk to him. I was so angry with him for missing my grandmother’s funeral, and then I’d gone and slept with Beck…again. I didn’t feel very good.

  ”Hey,” I said flatly.

  “How do you feel today?” He asked and pulled out a chair next to me.

  “I’m alright, I guess.”

  “Lis, I’m sorry I missed the funeral, but I was hoping you would accompany me tonight.”

  “Tonight?” I repeated, remembering my plans with Beck.

  “Yeah, it’s the investors’ dinner we have every year. It’ll be at the Blinn house.” He was talking about his home in Blinn, the subdivision down in Oceanside. It was a little too far from his office, and the only people that ever stayed there was his Dad, occasionally, and some of the office people. He mostly used it for company parties and dinners.

  I chose not to say anything. I really didn’t know what to say. I was really happy to see him, but it sucked that he wanted to see me at a work event. When would there be time for just us? I laid my pencil down onto the paper and turned to him. I tried to gather my feelings so that I could tell him everything I was feeling, but nothing came out. Besides, he already knew how much I hated his job, and what more was there to say?

  “What’s wrong?” he asked sweetly.

  “You mean other than the fact that my fiancé says his assistant has his schedule full for the next week and can’t make time to plan our wedding, but he can make time for ‘investor dinners’?”

  “Lis, this was one of the things on my schedule.”

  My sigh was ripe with exasperation, and I tried to keep the eye rolling to a minimum.

  “Well, do you have plans?” he asked in my silence.

  “Kind of,” I sighed. “It’s not a big deal. Beck and I were gonna watch a movie, but we can reschedule.” I smiled and climbed into his lap, kissing him excitedly on every handsome feature of his face. I was just suddenly so happy to see him that I forgot how mad I’d been.

  I’d thought Beck’s lips felt like Derek’s, but kissing Derek for the first time in days, I noticed his lips didn’t feel like Beck’s at all. Truthfully, I could suddenly feel a lot of differences that I‘d thought felt the same before: the way he touched me, his body pressed into mine, my hands in his hair, it was all different from the way it felt with Beck. I’d missed him so much.

  Derek left for a few hours to get some things together for the dinner. He came back right after dark and handed me a familiar gown bag. I unzipped it, revealing a gorgeous, layered, off-white gown.

  “You know my mother would want me to wear one of her dresses?”

  “Well, I wanted to buy that for you. I think it’ll look amazing on you,” he countered, and I suddenly felt like an asshole.

  I eyed the cream-colored gown, with its long, feathery, cascades and form-fitting bodice. It was gorgeous. I smiled at him and crushed myself into him, hugging him tightly. It felt good to have him there to just hug whenever I pleased.

  He began pulling on his tux, one piece at a time. I slid the gown on, and he helped zip it. We finished getting ready, and headed for Blinn shortly after.

  I felt bad canceling plans with Beck, but I knew he’d understand. He blew it off like it was nothing, telling me not to worry about it, but he looked a little disappointed in his eyes. He assured me it wasn’t a big deal and that I shouldn’t feel bad. He’d even decided to go to Derek’s company party, too.

  Chapter Thirteen

  I strolled around the party on Derek’s arm for way too long. My shoes were pinching my feet, and I was tired of forcing smiles for people I didn’t know or care about. And the worst part was that they were the people that kept my fiancé away from me all day, every day.

  I finally saw Emily, elegantly dressed in a white, tea-length dress. She was chatting up a group of men, touching the rim of her champagne glass to her lips in a flirty manner.

  She smiled when she saw me, and I slipped away from Derek, who barely even noticed and just kept kissing the asses of his invertors.

  Em kissed my cheek and whispered a slight at how little there was to drink there. “Is that what you’ve been living with for the past two months?” she whispered in my ear, and I followed her stare to the other side of the room. Beck was staring at me—dead in my eyes—and I felt my throat tighten. “I know you said it’d be weird, but at least introduce me. Jesus!” She fanned herself in that exaggerated, Emily way.

  I crooked my finger at him, eyeing him to come over. He looked like he was hesitant, but he finally smiled and nodded and began to walk toward us.

  I cleared my throat and gave him a sharp stare, reminding him that was the first time they’d ever met. “Beck, this is my best friend, Emily Marks.” Her lips twisted into a wicked, sly smile as she shook his hand, holding it a few seconds too long. She was staring at his face as if she was studying it, and then her smile widened.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Ms. Marks,” Beck said politely. “You look stunning.”

  His additional comment made Emily giddy, but it annoyed me. She did look stunning—she always did—but he needed to keep it in his pants, for once. There was no way I was letting him anywhere near her.

  “Oh, it’s so good to finally meet you!” Emily’s tone was strange.

  Just as I was getting annoyed at their flirtatious eyes scanning one another, his gaze fell on me. He eyed me up and down and then met my gaze, again. “You look great, too, by the way.” His voice caressed me, quiet and heavy, and I realized he’d never seen me dressed up that way—in a gown.

  “You’re…sort of dressed up,” I said, tugging the lapel of his unbuttoned coat. He was decked out in black and a leather coat. It looked really good on him. It was hardly a tux, but he looked nice. I’d only ever seen him in a suit once, that night at the club, and when he’d turned around, I realized it wasn’t really very much of a suit then either. I wasn’t even sure of how I’d mistaken him for Derek.

  He laughed, straightening his jacket back up, and Derek approached my side. “Lis.” He grabbed my arm and pulled me away, not giving me any time to excuse myself or talk to Em.

  He dragged me up the stairs, and I tried to keep up with how quickly he was pulling—almost dragging—me.

  “Derek,” I hissed. “What are you doing?”

  He didn’t answer; he just kept pulling me until we reached his ridiculously-huge bedroom. He locked the door behind us, and I adjusted my ruffled gown, awaiting his explanation. He sighed and leaned back against the vanity, crossing his arms over his chest. I strolled over and sat down on the bed, eyeing him, and crossed my arms to add to my look of irritation. He looked peeved, and I knew I was, but I couldn’t help but focus on the fact that we were alone together for the first time in weeks.

  “Look, Lis,” he said, rubbing his jawline. “I know I’ve been kind of shitty…” I stared at his rare loss for words with an I’m-listening sort of stare. “I just…I don’t want you to get too caught up in Beck.”

  I felt my mouth drop a little as I tried to find my breath. “Beck…?”

  “Yeah, Beck.” He just stared at me. “I know, Lis. I’m not an idiot. I’m never around and he always is. I get it. But you should know he’s always around because he hasn’t done anything with his life.”

  I felt a strange urge to defend Beck. He had plans; he was just living, unlike some of the rest of us. I wanted to blurt it out and tell Derek, but I held my tongue.

  “Lis.” He came over and took my face in his hands and bent down until his eyes were level with mine. His pale blue eyes were dark, pleading. “I don’t know…what you’ve done with my brother. I don’t know if you’ve kissed him…or slept with him, and frankly, I don’
t give a flying fuck. I know you have needs, and I know they’re strong ones, and I know I’m extremely horrible at tending to them, but you’re my fiancé, and I want to remind you why.”

  He yanked me into his arms, pulled my gown up, and tugged my legs around his waist. He gripped my hair and sank his lips into mine. His tongue slid against mine, and his hands slid under my dress, pulling at the thin strings of my panties. I kissed him back, remembering how much I’d missed him and throwing that emotion into our embrace with the force of a wrecking ball.

  He carried me into the bath room and sat me on the counter, beside the sink, his lips still moving violently against mine. He gripped the sequined bodice and ripped it down the center, kissing me where it opened.

  He pulled me close to him, his lips and tongue dancing across my breasts. His warm body against my chilled, bare breasts drove me wild. He ran his tongue all over my chest, stopping to tease my nipples with his teeth.

  He pulled his shirt off, exposing all of the hard work he put in at the gym that he hid under a suit all day. He unbuttoned his slacks and they hung at his hips. He picked me back up, and his finger nails raked across my legs as I wrapped them around him tightly. I clung to him, my hands in his hair, my thighs locked around his hips. He carried me over to the shower and stepped in. I reveled in his kiss as he sat me on the seat in the corner, his lips never leaving mine. He pushed against my chin, flinging my head back, and he bit and sucked on my neck aggressively and returned to my lips. I moaned into his mouth, and I felt his response under me.

  The cold water sprinkled over us as he flicked the water on, and it slowly warmed. He slid his hands under the fluffy cascades of my gown, which was only hanging on by the bottom half now. His fingers dug into me, and he pulled my legs until I slammed against him, feeling him hard against me.

  “Let’s wash Beck off you,” he said in a harsh, throaty voice. That was all it took: Beck’s face wouldn’t leave my head. His touch, the way he kissed my jawline and the skin over my collarbone, the way he held me, the way he looked at me with those clear brown eyes, all of it was flooding my mind.

  Damn it! Why? Why was I thinking of Beck when I was with the man I wanted? I thought of Derek every time I was with Beck, but now I was actually with Derek and Beck’s eyes, body, and lips were all I could think about. Derek’s hands became Beck’s. Derek’s mouth became Beck’s. With every touch, kiss, lick, and bite, I saw Beck’s face and Beck’s body, and I wanted him so badly. I craved him like the most addictive form of morphine.

  His hands went back under my drenched gown and rubbed across the silkiness of my skin, in an attempt to “wash Beck off me.” He had no idea that it was doing the very opposite. I could almost feel Beck all over me, and I reveled in it. He consumed me in a way I couldn’t explain.

  I tore into his opened, soaking-wet slacks and pulled him out of them, gripping him tightly. He gasped and squeezed my neck, and I pushed him into me. He groaned and pulled out and slammed back into me. I cried out, doing everything in my power to avoid Beck’s name. He pulled out, and slammed into me again. I screamed and yanked at his hips. I wanted him in me as deep as he could get. I wanted…Beck in me.

  Beck’s eyes flashed in my head, his lips, his smile and his groans. I could almost smell him, and Derek seemed so far away.

  The water had become hot, and I was so close to the edge. He sped up, and I was tense all over.

  “Fuck!” he yelled, and I imagined Beck’s sexy, casual voice, when he growled the same word and dug his fingers into my lower back. I imagined his teeth across the thin layer of skin over my collarbone. I screamed with him, and we came together under the pleasant burn of the scalding water. He growled against my neck, twitching slightly, and my senses came back slowly.

  Derek pressed his warm lips to my shoulder and neck and kissed me briefly. He dropped my legs and pulled his clinging slacks and briefs the rest of the way off. They splatted onto the shower floor and he regarded me, his chest heaving. My eyes scanned over his side where the dark, thistly branches of Beck’s tattoo would be, then to his arm where the random lyrics of a dozen enigmatic songs swirled around his arm. I sighed and met his gaze as he walked back over to me. He knelt down, his arm wrapping around my waist, crushing me into him, and he kissed up my bare side, groaning as he took my breast into his mouth, again.

  “I have guests to entertain,” he whispered against my ear and kissed me once more. Then, he stood, grabbed a towel, and padded out of the bathroom naked.

  I closed my eyes and tried to slow my breathing. I listened as he delved through the closet and redressed his self, but I never moved from the corner seat in the shower.

  A few minutes after he’d left the room, I climbed out of the shower and wiggled out of the soaking-wet bottom half of my gown. It was more than ruined.

  I toweled off the water and pulled a casual, blue, eyelet dress from the closet and slipped it on. It was the nicest thing I had at the Blinn house. I combed my hair back into a tight bun, hoping to conceal the wet look of it.

  After I’d decided I was mostly pleased with my fresh, after-sex attire, I resurfaced downstairs in the party room.

  I felt awkward knowing that everyone there would probably notice that Derek and I had both changed clothes after disappearing for over half an hour. There were far too many women gawking at him for no one to notice he’d changed, and my casual dress was a drastic change from the gown I’d been wearing.

  I walked around, looking for Em. Beck found me almost immediately. He eyed me from my wet hair to my change of dress, and when his eyes came back to mine, they looked dead, just…dead.

  I swallowed the lump in my throat and tried to apologize with my eyes, but I looked away before Derek could pop up and notice us, again. I didn’t know why I felt the need to apologize, maybe because I just felt bad knowing that Derek may confront him, too. Derek didn’t seem upset by it, but he definitely seemed to want to prove that Beck wasn’t going to be the man in my life. He didn’t really seem to care at all; he’d seemed extremely jealous but not hurt. “I don’t want you to get too caught up in Beck,” was all he’d even said. It really didn’t surprise me though; Derek had always been certain of his allure and his sex appeal, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t snap on Beck the first chance he got.

  I tried to avoid eye contact with Beck the rest of the evening, but I found myself locked onto him several times, and each time I found the same woman looped around his arm, laughing and caressing him, which I found to be beyond annoying.

  “Babe, there’s someone I’d like to introduce you to.” Derek’s voice startled me, and I hoped he hadn’t noticed me looking at Beck. He hooked my arm and trailed me through the crowd of well-dressed tycoons. I was introduced to every snotty, rich bastard there before I saw Derek’s mom, Joy. She smiled and made her way over to me. She, as usual, began gushing about her son’s accomplishments as the new CEO of her husband’s ever-growing company. I smiled and tried to act as excited as she was. However, I hated not seeing my fiancé, so it probably came off quite forged.

  I spotted Beck leaving the party with the same laughing, caressing woman on his arm that’d been there all night, and I wondered if they were going back to Derek’s apartment.

  “Lissa?” Joy tried to get my attention. I turned back to her and she was looking at the door, where Beck had just left, and then her eyes came back to me and narrowed as she scanned my face. I smiled and looked away, feeling like she had noticed I’d been watching the wrong one of her sons.

  “I’m going to find Derek,” I said and excused myself, needing to escape the scrutiny of her stare.

  The rest of the party was dull, and I was so glad when we got to go home, but then I was just stuck with my thoughts. Derek hadn’t even made a point to ask me not to be with Beck. It almost seemed like he was saying he knew why I was messing around with Beck and he didn’t really give a damn, as long as I knew I was still his fiancé and still marrying him, but was that any reason for me to go
on seeing him, cheating? Was it really a good idea to just sleep with another man because my fiancé seemed okay with it? I shouldn’t say he seemed okay. I mean, he did stop to pull me aside, but telling me not to get “too caught up” was basically saying, “Go ahead, just don’t leave me for him.”

  Could I just drop Beck? I knew that I didn’t want to; he made me feel desired, needed, sexy and…wanted. But it wasn’t right. I needed to be faithful to Derek.

  We would start our marriage fresh, and forget everything before it. I didn’t need to add to what I’d already done to him.

  I couldn’t understand why he was okay with what I’d done. I guess he just felt guilty about never being around. That was no reason to cheat on him, and it didn’t justify it, but I was only trying to understand where he was coming from.

  “I’m never around, and he always is. I get it.” I remembered what he’d said. Was I using Beck? Yes. But he was a man whore anyway, right? He couldn’t care less if I ever saw him again or not. At the risk of making myself sound sluttier, I was just an easy fuck for him.

  So, that was it then. I’d tell him tomorrow. I’d tell him that what we did—twice—wouldn’t happen again. We both knew it wasn’t right. I was engaged, and it was his brother. It was wrong, and it needed to stop.

  Chapter Fourteen

  I waited all afternoon for him to get to the apartment. I was beginning to think he wasn’t coming—maybe he’d found an easy floozy to stay the night with. I scoffed. Probably the same one from Derek’s party.

  Finally he stumbled in sporting the same leather coat and black jeans from the party the night before. I could smell him from the kitchen, and he smelled like a frat boy: like beer, sweat, sex, and beef jerky.

  I was leaning against the bar, my half-empty cup of strawberry yogurt in hand.

  He tilted his chin up at me as he collapsed onto the sofa.

  I scraped the plastic cup clean and tossed it into the trashcan. I grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and walked into the living room. “Here,” I said, looking down at him sloppily sprawled across the green cushions of Derek’s sofa, “I’m assuming you need this.”