Blazing Summer (Darling Investigations Book 2)

by Denise Grover Swank

I gave him a soft smile. “And sayin’ things like that only makes me want to sleep with you more.”

  He glanced around the room. “Do you want to go home with me?”

  I shook my head. “I’ve decided to move out here. Let’s sleep here tonight. And if Dixie agrees to live out here too, I’ll build her the best damn bedroom she’s ever dreamed of.”

  He smiled and cupped my cheek. “I love that you’re so certain you’ll find a way to prove her innocence.”

  “I refuse to consider anything less.”

  A strange look filled his eyes. “Do me a favor.”

  My eyes narrowed. “What?”

  “Put that same determination into us, because I suspect if you keep doin’ this, today’s fight will be far from our last. But as long as we’re stubbornly determined to make us work, we will.”

  My heart melted. “I promise.” I took his hand and pulled him into the bedroom. The room was barely large enough to hold a full-size bed, a bedside table with a lamp, and a dresser. The bed was made with an old-fashioned white chenille spread I’d seen on my grandmother’s bed when I was a kid. I turned on the lamp.

  “Are you sure, Summer?” he asked. “We can just sleep together, and I’ll hold you. I know you’re exhausted.”

  “No,” I said, reaching for the hem of his shirt. “I want to consummate our agreement. To make it official. Besides, I’m tired of waiting. I want you. All of you.” I slowly lifted his shirt until it reached his shoulders, and then he pulled it the rest of the way over his head.

  Smiling, I placed my palms on his chest, reveling in the feel of him under my fingertips.

  “I want to see you too,” he said in a husky voice.

  I took a step back and reached for the bottom of my dress. Luke brushed my hands out of the way and took over, lifting my dress until I was standing in front of him wearing only my panties and bra. His gaze wandered over my body, and my breath caught when I saw the lust in his eyes.

  “I’ve wanted you for so long,” he murmured, dropping his mouth to my neck, his lips brushing the sensitive skin.

  A shiver rushed through me, and my knees went weak. Closing my eyes, I rested my hands on his shoulders. How many times had I dreamed of this? Dared to hope to have a second chance with him?

  His hand cupped my butt, digging into my flesh. I reached between us and found the button of his jeans, then undid his zipper and began to tug.

  He helped me push them over his hips, then kicked off his shoes and jeans so he was standing in front of me wearing just his tight boxer-briefs.

  I lifted my gaze to his, and he grinned. “Do you know how sexy you are standing like that in your lingerie and boots?”

  I gave him a saucy look. “I had no idea you had a thing for cowboy boots.”

  He grinned. “I never did until just now.” He gently pushed me backward until I was sitting on the bed. He slid off his underwear but didn’t give me much time to look at him before he knelt in front of me and tugged off my boots. Resting a hand on my shoulder, he pushed me flat on my back. His lust-filled eyes held mine as he placed a light kiss on my calf, then blazed a trail up to my inner thigh with his lips and tongue.

  “Birth control?” he asked as he hooked his fingers on the sides of my panties. “I want this worked out before we get much further.” His hooded eyes lifted to mine. “Because once I get these off, I don’t want to think about anything else but your gorgeous body.”

  “An IUD.”

  “Do you want me to wear a condom too?” he asked. “Because I don’t have one.”

  “I haven’t had sex in two years, so no chance of getting anything from me.” I paused, surprised at the jealousy I felt asking, “You?”

  He shook his head. “It’s been a while. And I used a condom.”

  “Then we’re good,” I said. “We’ve had the talk.”

  He grinned, but his gaze darkened as he pulled my panties over my hips and down my legs. He rose slightly and placed a kiss on my abdomen.

  I sucked in a breath as his mouth skimmed down to my pubic bone. He moved between my legs, stretching his arms out on either side of me, and I rested my hands on his biceps, needing to touch him.

  It didn’t take long before I was dangerously close. “Luke . . .”

  His face lifted, and he kissed his way up my stomach to the underside of my breast. He undid the front clasp of my bra and let it fall to the side.

  I moaned as his tongue tortured one nipple and his hand fondled the other.

  My core throbbed with need, and I grabbed his arms and pulled him up so his face was over mine. “I want you,” I said in a husky voice I barely recognized.

  “I want to look at you,” he said, his gaze sweeping my face and then my naked body as he hovered over me.

  He leaned down and kissed me while his hand slipped between my legs. Soon I was squirming, and I lifted a leg and hooked it around the small of his back.

  Lifting his head, he watched my face as he probed my entrance and then slowly slid inside me.

  I closed my eyes, relishing the feel of him and desperately needing more. I arched my back, taking him deeper, and he groaned.

  “I’m trying to make this last,” he said through gritted teeth, “but you’re makin’ that difficult.”

  I captured his face with both hands. “I don’t want you to make it last. I don’t want you to go slow. I want you to make me yours.”

  My words set something loose inside him. He grabbed my hip and plunged in deep.

  I cried out, trying to take him even deeper as he continued to thrust into me. Something inside me coiled tighter and tighter until it finally snapped, and wave after wave of pleasure rocked through my body, stealing my breath as he gave one final thrust and groaned.

  When I came to my senses, I was lying on my side in his arms, and he was staring at me in wonderment.

  “I love you, Summer Baumgartner,” he said softly. “I always have, and I always will.”

  “I love you too.” As I said the words, I realized that it was true. But I couldn’t let my love life make me forget my priorities. Dixie’s freedom came first.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  I woke up with Luke’s arm wrapped around me and faint sunlight filtering through the window. I had to go to the bathroom, so I slid out from under his arm and grabbed my phone to check the time, but he pulled me back.

  “Where are you goin’? You said you weren’t goin’ into the office until eight.”

  “I have to go to the bathroom, but even so, I’ll have to go up to the house at some point to get ready. It’s already six.”

  “You can’t get up until I kiss you good morning.” He rolled me onto my back and gave me a soft kiss, but then it became more insistent, and his hand slid up my side to my breast.

  I squirmed as parts of me heated up. “I still need to go to the bathroom.”

  He groaned. “I have to get up anyway. I need to go home to shower and change before I head to the station. Willy was on call last night, and I’m takin’ the fact that I never heard from him as a good sign.” He tucked my hair behind my ear. “You gonna see if Teddy’s back?”

  Teddy had called me around eleven to say he hadn’t found Rick, but he planned to hang out at the Jackhammer to see if he turned up. I hadn’t heard from him yet. “Yeah, but part of me hopes he didn’t find him.”

  He gave me a look of surprise.

  “Look,” I said, getting out of bed and scooping up my underwear and bra off the floor, “we both know that Teddy was gonna go in like a bull in a china shop. A guy like Rick Springfield’s gonna take more finesse.”

  Luke sat upright as I padded out of the room. “And I take it you’re suggestin’ you have the smoother technique?”

  “I got all kinds of information out of Trent Dunbar. More than anyone else ever did,” I called to him before I shut the bathroom door.

  I quickly did my business, looking around the small room and thinking about how I could possibly remodel. When I op
ened the door, already dressed in my lingerie, I found Luke outside the door waiting for me, his shoulder leaning into the door frame and blocking my exit.

  “When you suggest you had a special way of getting information out of Trent Dunbar, which you plan to use on Rick Springfield, what exactly are you talkin’ about?”

  I ducked under his arm and headed back to the bedroom. “A girl has to use her feminine wiles.”

  He was hot on my heels. “And what exactly are those?”

  I picked up my dress off the floor and grinned. “Jealous?”

  “Yes,” he admitted with a dark look. “Very.”

  I walked over and gave him a kiss. “You don’t have to worry. All it takes is a little flirting.”

  His brow lowered. “Someone like Rick doesn’t stop at just flirting, Summer.”

  I tugged my dress over my head. “I know how to take care of myself. I took care of Elijah, didn’t I?”

  “Springfield’s ten times meaner than Elijah Sterling.”

  I pushed out a breath. “I’ll be careful. I promise.”

  He wrapped an arm around my back and pulled me flush against his naked body. “If you go to see Rick Springfield, I want you to let me know.”

  “Why? So you can babysit me?”

  “No. So I can be your backup. If I don’t hear from you in fifteen minutes, I’ll come and check on you.”

  “Oh.” That could come in handy.

  “That’s not something I want to make a habit of, but Lord knows we need all the help we can get to clear Dixie’s name.”

  I nodded. I starting to feel guilty over the time I’d spent with Luke. Dixie was lying in a hospital bed awaiting her arraignment.

  “Hey,” he said, lifting my chin, “Dixie’s gonna be thrilled we’re really together. You know she’s been wanting this since the moment you came back.”

  I gave him a weak smile. “Yeah. You’re right.”

  “Let me get dressed, and we can walk up to the house together. If you’d like, I’ll help you make a game plan for today.”

  I almost told him I could do it alone but decided to shelve my pride and accept his help. He’d done this a whole lot more than I had. “Thanks.”

  After Luke dressed and we started walking, we both agreed—although Luke was reluctant to admit it—that Rick was at the top of my list of interviewees.

  “I want to interview Rick’s cousin too. Not Herbert,” I quickly added. “I want to talk to the cousin no one seems to know about. Nash Jackson.”

  “The one who pushed you out of Amelia’s path?”

  “Yeah.” I turned to look at him. “What happened when you went to see her?”

  “I never found her. I need to get on that today.”

  “You should make Willy handle it,” I said. “He actually saw the whole thing.”

  “You’re right, but he gets tongue-tied when he’s around her. He couldn’t arrest her if she was robbing the Dairy Queen at gunpoint right in front of him.”

  “No offense,” I said, “and I don’t mean to judge, but why on earth do you have him on the force?”

  “Because until lately, it hasn’t been a problem. We’ve never had this much crime. If this keeps up, I’m gonna have to petition city council for another officer.”

  “Surely they’ll see that it’s justified.”

  “They probably will, but like everything else in city government, it’s a matter of money. The city of Sweet Briar is strapped.”

  “Oh.”

  He snagged my hand and laced our fingers. “You worry about Darling Investigations, and let me worry about the Sweet Briar Police Department, okay?” A sexy smile spread across his face.

  When he looked at me like that, I’d do almost anything for him, but I wasn’t stupid enough to admit that. “Okay.”

  “So how do you propose to find this mysterious Nash?” Luke asked.

  “It looked like he was stayin’ out at Rick’s house,” I said. “Maybe I’ll just ask Rick when I see him.”

  “You think he’s just gonna tell you?”

  I shrugged. “Stranger things have happened.” I was hopin’ he’d just be there. That would certainly make things easier.

  “Who else is on your list?”

  “I want to talk to Bruce. He showed up as some of the partygoers were leavin’ at midnight, which seems kind of fishy. I know he stayed until Gabby and Mark left, so maybe he saw who took Dixie. Plus,” I added, “I asked him to give me an interview about his house fire. I still need to set that up.”

  “I thought Connor Blake was handling the arson cases.”

  “He is,” I said. “I originally set this up just to tick off Connor. Now Bruce might have something I can actually use.”

  “Who else?”

  “I’d like to talk to Amelia too.”

  “You’re not gonna harass her about nearly runnin’ you over, are you? Because it’ll be safer to let me handle it.”

  “She’s an interesting . . . character,” I said. “So I think she might have a different insight into what happened at Trent’s party. Hey,” I said as a thought hit me, “I just realized that Elijah Sterling wasn’t on the guest list.”

  “He worked Monday night until I took over on call. And you said Trent was handing out drugs. Maybe Elijah had the sense to not be part of that.”

  I wasn’t so sure Elijah had enough sense to work his way out of a paper bag, but I suspected that was my bitterness showing. I shouldn’t underestimate him.

  Then a new thought threw me into a panic. “Oh, my goodness! I need to hire an attorney for Dixie. How could I forget?”

  He cringed. “Summer, it’s okay. I already called someone to handle the arraignment. You don’t have to use her for Dixie’s case, but she’s good and fair. The judges respect her, which is gonna be important. You can interview her later to see if you want to officially hire her.”

  I pushed out a breath of relief. “Thank you.”

  He gave me a sad smile. “I knew you were overwhelmed, and I have experience with the attorneys. Her name’s Lindy Baker. I’ll text you her number so you can set up an interview.”

  The house and barn came into view.

  Luke broke away and moved toward the barn, then turned and glanced back at the surveyor’s house.

  I put a hand on his arm and rubbed lightly.

  “I’m so sorry.” His voice broke.

  “I know.” I slid my arms around his waist and pressed myself against him, my cheek resting on his chest. He sank into me, his arms encircling my back. We stood like that for nearly a minute before he finally said, “I consider you a gift, Summer. A gift I won’t take for granted this time. Thank you for just . . . bein’ here.”

  I smiled up at him. “That’s what girlfriends are for, right?” Then I kissed him and stepped away. “Now I need to get ready for work, and so do you.”

  We started walking toward the house, and relief washed through me when I saw Teddy’s truck on the other side of the barn, but it occurred to me that we had no idea who had taken Dixie’s car and when.

  “Did you ask Meemaw if she saw anyone pick up Dixie’s car?” I asked as we walked to the back door.

  “No. She was so upset, and I didn’t want to press her when it could wait until today.” A sly grin lit up his eyes. “Besides, you know your grandmother. If she saw someone take Dixie’s car, she would have led with that last night when we walked in the door.”

  I knew he was right, but a surge of disappointment rose up. If Meemaw had seen the car thief, that would have made things too easy, and I’d used up easy at Trent’s last night. “Yeah, you’re right. I’ll ask her this morning before I leave.” I climbed a step to put me more on eye level with Luke. “Will you go to the arraignment?”

  “I’m gonna try my best to be there, but I suspect it’ll be more low-key and unimpressive than you think. The attorney will enter her not-guilty plea, and the district attorney will make a suggestion for bail. If it’s low enough and you can post it, D
ixie could be out of jail by this afternoon. But given the notoriety of your show and Dixie’s past . . . there’s a chance he’ll deny bail or make it so high that none of you will be able to afford it.”

  “On a simple drug charge?” Teddy asked in disbelief from inside the kitchen.

  Luke glanced up at my cousin, who now stood behind the screen door. “It’s Bixley County, which means it’s a crapshoot, but we’ll hope for the best, and Lindy will fight for her. I promise you that.”

  “Lindy?” Teddy asked.

  “Her attorney,” I said. I turned to Luke and gave him a quick kiss, then whispered, “Be safe today.”

  Luke seemed to realize I was talking low so Teddy wouldn’t hear, but he had other ideas. He hooked his arm around my waist and hauled me to his chest. “I want to see you after you finish for the day, but I know both of our schedules are crazy. Maybe you can stay at my house tonight.” He gave me a lingering kiss. “Bring a bag.” Then he released me and walked to the front of the house.

  I walked inside, ready for Teddy to pounce on me, but he didn’t say a word, just sipped his coffee while leaning his butt against the counter.

  “Have you seen Meemaw today?” I asked.

  “No. She’s still in her room.”

  “I need to ask her about Dixie’s car.”

  “I heard.”

  “No lectures?” I asked.

  “You’re a grown woman, Summer. You don’t need me to run your love life.”

  Something was off. “Teddy. What’s wrong?”

  He dumped his coffee down the sink and rinsed out the cup. “What’s wrong is that my sister was arrested for something she didn’t do. What’s wrong is that I couldn’t find Rick Springfield. And since I couldn’t find Springfield and beat the shit out of him to make him admit to kidnapping and drugging my sister, she’s about to be arraigned. Again.” His voice boomed throughout the room. “That’s what’s wrong.”

  So obviously an unfortunate choice of words . . .

  He set the empty cup in the sink and turned to me. “Once again, I have to stand back and let the legal system steal my sister from me.”

  “No. We’ll find him, and we’ll prove she didn’t do this. But first I need to get ready, then talk to Meemaw about Dixie’s car. What do you have planned for the day?”