The women each wore smiles, but no one said anything. Summer started getting nervous that they didn’t like the idea even though they seemed pleased. “We all work so hard and I thought it may be nice to combine forces. I know there’s more to work out and it wouldn’t be a full-time thing. Only when we have boudoir clients. What do you guys think? Danni’s already going to be on the Bare Sophistication Miami website, but I could add you both, as well. Profiles, pictures, bio...the whole shebang.”
“Summer Dupree,” Danni said, shaking her head. “You are a genius. I love this idea!”
“You do?” Summer asked clapping her hands. “I was hoping you liked it.”
“She isn’t the only one.” Aaliyah leaned over to hug Summer. “I was feeling out of sorts after I lost my client. Especially when they didn’t give me a viable reason why they didn’t want to utilize my photography skills. I’m definitely down for being a part of Bare Sophistication’s boudoir studio. Not only is the message one that will resonate with women everywhere, but I think we just figured out why we all came into each other’s lives.”
“I’m in, too,” Nicole said cheerfully. “I was already fine with helping you with the boutique, but now I have even more invested. I have a feeling we’re onto something great.”
Summer finally relaxed and released the nervous breath she’d been holding since she’d arrived at the lounge.
“So, now that we’ve covered the business portion of the night, can we talk about how you know Aiden Chase?” Aaliyah asked.
Danni raised her hands in the air. “Finally, someone asks besides me. I’ve been dropping hints for the past few days and Summer hasn’t said a peep.”
Nicole ordered a cocktail from the waitress before jumping into the conversation. “Yeah, I’m dying to know the story, too.”
Summer sighed as she fidgeted with her notebook. With the exception of her sisters, who treated Aiden like a little brother, she couldn’t recall the last time she’d had to talk about him to anyone. That’s because you never talk about the things that are close to your heart. When it came to meeting new people, Summer was a social butterfly. When talking about business, Summer could go on for hours. Those who just knew her on the surface would have said she was an open book. Yet, the truth was, whether bad or good things, Summer was private about more than a few aspects of her life.
“Aiden and I grew up together in Jersey, so I knew Aiden Chase before he was the Aiden Chase.”
Danni nodded her head in understanding. “And he was in that picture you boxed back up, wasn’t he?”
“Yeah, it was a picture from when we were in high school.”
“So, did you guys date?” Nicole asked.
“No, we never dated. We were best friends growing up, so it wasn’t like that.”
The ladies shared a look that didn’t go unseen by Summer. “What’s that look about?”
“Of course we have to take your word for it that you never dated,” Aaliyah said. “But the way he was looking at you wasn’t in a best friend sort of way.”
Summer’s cheeks warmed immediately at Aaliyah’s words. Since Summer and Aiden were of opposite sexes, they’d been teased most of their friendship. She was sure most of the people in their hometown wouldn’t even believe they had never actually dated.
“Well, I guess, in a way, we were always more than friends. But not in the way that you’d think. We didn’t really have the easiest time when we were growing up, so I guess you could say we were each other’s security blanket.”
She glanced at Danni, who gave her a sympathetic smile. Even though Summer hadn’t talked to Danni about her mother, she knew Winter and Autumn had told her a few things.
“We all need someone like that in our lives,” Danni said. “I’m glad you had him to lean on.”
“Me, too.” Her eyes drifted to the dance floor as she smiled at a memory of herself and Aiden. “Being as close as we were, for as long as we were, never seemed strange to me. Looking back, I see how confusing it must have been for the people we dated.”
Nicole laughed. “How long have you known each other?”
“Oh, goodness. We met in kindergarten and immediately became friends.”
“Wow, that’s a long time. I don’t think I know anyone from kindergarten.”
“My family had just moved to the area and Aiden was one of the first kids I met. Since he was a boy and boys had cooties back then, I didn’t pay him much attention in the beginning, but we eventually bonded over coloring. When it was time for lunch and everyone pulled out their lunch boxes, all the kids would talk about how much they love ham-and-cheese sandwiches. Aiden and I both said we hated ham at the same time. According to him, he knew we would be friends when we first started coloring together, but that was the moment he knew we were meant to be best friends.”
She thought about the way the other students had looked at them that day. They’d spent the rest of that afternoon together and every day after that. They both had other friends, but none of their friendships were as close as the one they shared.
“The first few years of school were a breeze in regard to our friendship. By the time we hit middle school, things weren’t so easy.”
“Don’t girls and boys start actually liking the opposite sex by then?” Danni asked, looking around at the women. “I would’ve thought things got easier.”
“Quite the opposite,” Summer said with laugh. “Since we began noticing the opposite sex, that’s exactly what made things more difficult for us. By sixth grade, most of the girls had a crush on Aiden. That meant with the exception of a few of our close friends, the girls who liked Aiden really disliked me.”
“Kind of like how all the boys in sixth grade had a crush on you and would spend basketball and track practice asking me questions about you rather than playing the sport.”
Summer’s head whipped over her shoulder at the sound of Aiden’s deep, melodic voice. She’d seen him a few days ago, but the way he was looking at her made her feel as though it had been much longer.
“Um, how? What?”
Aiden laughed at her incomplete sentences. “Relax, Dupree, I didn’t follow you here. My hotel just so happens to be next door and I heard that tonight this lounge was playing live reggae music.”
He glanced around at her friends. “Hello, ladies. It’s nice to see you all again.” They all responded with different versions of hello. Summer would have laughed at the dreamy tones in their voices if she hadn’t been so caught off guard by how good Aiden looked in a pair of navy blue pants, crisp white shirt, complementing blue shoes and a navy blue NY Yankees hat. He’d always had style, but while some stuff that Aiden wore would look average on any other man, it was sexy on him.
Girl, you have got to remove the word sexy from your vocabulary when thinking about Aiden. It was bad enough she almost checked him out in front of her friends, but now he was staring at her, clearly waiting for her to respond to something he’d asked.
“What did you say?”
He winked at her and smiled. “I asked if it was okay if I joined you ladies.”
Danni cleared her throat. “Just for the record, we already told him it was okay if he sat with us.”
Of course y’all did. “Yes, that’s fine with me. The more the merrier. We have plenty of space. You can sit wherever you want. Any place is fine.” Crap, I sound way too happy. And why in the world am I still talking?
Not surprisingly, he chose the seat right next to her. His arm brushed against hers as he adjusted himself in his seat. She bit her bottom lip as she glanced at the dance floor. The reggae band took the stage and started playing. Summer had always loved reggae music, so when they sang a Bob Marley jam, she couldn’t help but sway in her seat. Soon, she was so wrapped up in the music, she almost forgot that Aiden was sitting right next to her. Almost.
> “You always did have some great dance moves,” he whispered into her ear. She froze in her chair, but continued looking out at the band. “They weren’t as good as my moves, though.”
“Yeah, right,” she whispered back. “You used to wish you had moves like this.” She stood from her seat and did a slow hip roll to the beat of the music. She’d never been a shy person, nor did she ignore a challenge.
“You may have been a good dancer back in the day,” she said, not bothering to whisper any longer. “But I’ve always been better.”
She finally turned from the dance floor to look at Aiden. When she locked eyes with him, she froze once again.
“You’re right, Dupree.” He looked her up and down. “Your moves always were better.”
She quickly sat back down and tried to ignore the swarm of bees buzzing around in her stomach. This was probably one of those challenges she should have ignored because Aiden Chase didn’t play fairly...he didn’t play fairly at all.
Chapter 6
For the umpteenth time since she’d arrived at her boutique, Summer wondered how in the world she’d agreed to Aiden’s offer to help get the shop ready for the grand opening.
“Stop thinking so hard,” Danni said when she walked past Summer. “Since he’s going to be including Bare Sophistication in his Miami photo showcase, it seems fitting that he’d help.”
After the band had finished playing at the lounge a couple of nights ago, Summer and Aiden had told the women about his idea to feature Bare Sophistication in his exhibit. As expected, they were excited.
“And we need a man around here to lift some of the heavy boxes,” Aaliyah added. “It helps that you guys are best friends.”
Summer groaned loud enough for all the women to hear. She knew they needed the help, but she would prefer if the man they’d recruited didn’t make her lady parts suddenly develop a naughty mind of their own. “We were best friends. Now we’re just more like two people trying to rebuild a friendship.”
“We get the picture,” Nicole said with a laugh as she stepped on a stool to wipe the high shelves on the wall. “Why did you guys stop being friends, anyway? No matter what you say, you still seem close.”
Without warning, Summer’s mind drifted to a bad memory. A time in her life that she tried not to think about. A moment when everything changed in the blink of an eye.
“Um, we just grew apart,” she lied. “When we were at the lounge the other day, we just fell into old patterns.”
“Well, whataya know,” Danni said, walking toward the front door. “Mr. Prince Charming has arrived.”
Summer only had a moment to glance at Aiden walking through the door before her iPhone rang. Her condo’s management was calling her.
“Hi, Mr. Yale.”
“Hi, Summer. I’m sorry to bother you, but we need you to come to the office. There’s an issue with your condo.”
“What’s wrong?” she asked in a worried tone.
“I’d rather explain it in person, but unfortunately, you’ll have to be displaced for a little while we fumigate your place.”
“Fumigate my place?” Summer glanced at Danni who looked equally as concerned before glancing at Aiden who was studying her intently. She had no doubt he could read the panic on her face. “I’ll be right there.”
She made it to the management office in twenty minutes. Although she’d told everyone they could stay at the shop, Aaliyah, Nicole and Aiden had accompanied her and were waiting in the lobby of the office. Danni was standing right next to her looking as surprised as Summer felt.
“So, you’re saying that I have to leave my condo for five weeks? Mr. Yale, I’m opening a boutique in eight weeks. I can’t be displaced for that long.”
“I’m so sorry, Summer, but we have to fumigate all three residences in your section of the building. We’ve never seen an infestation this terrible. Bedbugs, earwigs, centipedes, fleas, ants.” Mr. Yale started scratching his arm. “I itch just thinking about what I saw.”
“And it all originated from Mr. Higgins apartment?”
“Yes. Apparently, the bugs traveled to your condo and the other one, as well. According to pest control, there are quite a few things living in the walls you share with Mr. Higgins.” Now it was Summer’s time to scratch her arm.
“Look at that.” Mr. Yale pointed to small marks on Summer’s and Danni’s arms. “You’ve both probably been getting bit at night and didn’t notice.”
They both glanced at their arms before looking at each other. Just yesterday morning, they had been discussing a few random bites on their arms and legs.
“Oh, my goodness,” Summer said scratching profusely, “I didn’t think anything of the bites.”
Danni lightly hopped from one foot to the other as she began scratching her neck and arms. “I can’t even stand still thinking about it.”
“Can we at least pack some of our stuff?” Summer asked.
“Yes, but we have to be really careful. Pest control is still up there and I mentioned that you both would want to gather some things. You only have about thirty minutes. An hour tops. They have already started the first fumigation process. Some of your belongings are already in plastic bags, but you’ll have to wash all your clothes before you do anything to avoid infesting wherever you’ll be residing for the next five weeks.”
Defeated, Summer filled out some paperwork that Mr. Yale needed her approval on and walked out into the lobby to tell the others what had just occurred. They all immediately agreed to help her pack up as much as they could.
When they reached her floor, Summer’s anxiety rose as she saw the commotion in the hallway outside of Mr. Higgins’s condo. Summer asked the others to head into her place to see what they could do while she spoke to her neighbor. She wasn’t surprised that Aiden stayed by her side.
“Mr. Higgins?” Summer called into his apartment trying to get his attention. Her eyes roamed over all the stuff in Mr. Higgins home. Either he was a hoarder or he just happened to have a lot of old junk.
“Wow!” Aiden said from behind her. “No wonder no one knew about the infestation. There’s so much junk in here, you can barely see the floor.”
“Mr. Higgins,” Summer called again when she spotted him. “What is all this stuff?” She waved her hand across his home.
Mr. Higgins shrugged. “My belongings. My nephew collects old furniture that people throw out. Old, worn furniture helps me think when I play my music.”
Is this man for real? Just glancing at some of the furniture made her skin crawl. “Listen, Mr. Higgins. I’m not upset about the pest infestation. Things like this happen all the time. What I am upset about is that when you noticed the bugs you didn’t say anything to management right away. Preferably before they made a home in our walls.”
“They weren’t bothering me, so I didn’t feel a need to say anything. Besides,” he said in an irritated tone. “I don’t have to answer to you or anyone else. Whatever I do in my condo is my business. Don’t you have anything better to do than harass an old man? Run along, now.”
“There’s no use talking to you.” Summer shrugged off his comment and walked away with Aiden right behind her.
“Is it just me, or does that old man sound like he just walked out of a Shakespearean play?”
“That’s exactly what I had thought,” Summer said with a laugh. Within twenty minutes, she’d talked to the pest control team, bagged up most of her essentials and gathered all the clothes she could.
“Thank you guys so much,” Summer said when they were back outside by Aiden’s rental SUV and Nicole’s eco-friendly car.
“No problem,” Nicole said, before looking between her and Danni. “Where are you guys going to stay for the next five weeks?”
“Well, I’m thinking we can both stay in the loft of the sho
p. There’s a bathroom up there and everything. I was already planning on buying a bed for future boudoir photo shoots.”
“How will we get the loft together before the grand opening if we’re living up there?” Danni asked.
“You both could stay with me,” Nicole suggested.
“I would offer my place,” Aaliyah said, “if I wasn’t already staying with my sister, her husband and my niece.”
“Thanks for the offer, Nicole, but wouldn’t we be in the way of your makeup business? And what about your roommate?” Nicole stayed in a huge, luxurious loft with another makeup artist. She definitely had the space for their belongings, but her industrial loft wasn’t equipped to handle two more people.
“I can do business anywhere. Clients only come to my home for consultations. One of you could sleep in the bed with me, while the other sleeps on the couch. It’s only temporary, so I’m sure Carlos wouldn’t mind.”
“Or you could always stay with me, Summer.”
All four women turned to look at Aiden. “You mean, stay with you in your hotel room?” she asked. “Isn’t that weird? If I were going to do that, I could just book a hotel room myself.”
Aiden laughed. “Well, I actually just moved into a beach house yesterday, since I’ll be in Miami for the next six months.”
Summer swallowed her gasp. “You’re in Miami for that long?”
“I sure am.”
“And you have room at your beach home?”
He smiled. “I sure do. It’s actually a town house with two bedrooms. So I can technically accommodate both you and Danni.”
“Oh, I can stay with Nicole,” Danni said quickly. “But Summer, you should stay with Aiden.”
“I agree,” Nicole said. “I’m sure having your own room would be way more comfortable than staying on my couch.”
Waiting for Summer Page 6
