The Pleasures of Summer

by Evie Hunter

  Poor little rich girl left on her own again. How Flynn would enjoy that one. Summer shrugged, feigning boredom. ‘You have no idea, Flynn. You don’t know me at all.’

  To her surprise, the expert teaching them about archery was a woman. Summer felt a moment of guilt for assuming it would be a man, then forgot it as she found herself being included in the class. So much for her vision of herself as a fairytale princess, ready to bestow a kiss on the victor of the competition. Eleanor Grimes, middle-aged, petite and brisk, assumed that everyone was going to shoot.

  Before she handed out bows, however, Eleanor took them through the basic movements and muscle groups used in drawing the bow. Summer caught Molly’s eye and the pair of them tried not to giggle. It felt like they were doing bust exercises at the gym.

  It felt good just to have fun, Summer realized. It was too long since she had wanted to laugh. The sight of Flynn, a long-suffering look on his face, stoically copying the instructor, did make her chuckle.

  They followed Eleanor through a series of exercises which she insisted would improve muscle memory, before they were handed their bows. Molly got a dainty one, but Eleanor checked Summer over with an experienced eye and handed her a much bigger one.

  Robert looked at his weapon in disgust. ‘A pyramid bow? Really? I have shot before, you know.’ Without a word, Eleanor handed him a traditional medieval longbow.

  Then she gave them more co-ordination movements to tie the techniques together. ‘Tilt the bow,’ she told them. ‘You need to be able to see the target with both eyes.’ Summer was mortified when Eleanor told her to hold her bow at an even more pronounced angle. ‘It has to come up under your armpit or it will hit your breasts. You don’t want the string catching you.’

  Mike chortled and made rude gestures with his hands. What had she ever seen in him? Summer wondered.

  ‘Now, draw back on the string as the bow comes up. Anchor your hand against your cheek,’ Eleanor told them. ‘Don’t look at the bow or arrow, look at the target.’

  The targets were about twenty feet away. They had looked a perfectly reasonable size when she had helped set them up. Now they looked tiny and distant.

  Flynn was going through the motions, but his attention was on the others. Even so, Summer couldn’t help noticing the definition of his arm and shoulder muscles when he drew the bow. His loose T-shirt had tightened enough to reveal that his torso was solid bone and muscle. There was nothing elegant about him, but the raw strength had a unique appeal.

  The Australians were paying more attention than Summer had expected, and Molly was a picture of concentration. But Natasha and Maya were complaining about the damage to their nails, and Robert looked bored.

  Robert’s iPhone cheeped. ‘Excuse me, I have to take this.’

  ‘Turn it off,’ Eleanor snapped. ‘You should know better than that.’ Robert closed his phone with a bad grace.

  Summer nocked her arrow under Eleanor’s direction, surprised at how solid it felt.

  ‘Make sure you have the cock feather pointing in the right direction. Otherwise you’ll find you’re making a cock up.’

  Gavin snorted with laughter, and even Maya cracked a smile. Robert winked at Molly and ran a possessive hand down her back. She leaned into his touch, purring with pleasure.

  Flynn leaned in towards Summer and murmured, ‘Bet I know who’s going to have a cock up soon.’

  She glared at him before turning her back on him.

  He laughed.

  They finally got to shoot, and although her first few arrows missed the target, Summer was delighted when she was the first of the beginners to hit the target. ‘Women are often faster than men at picking this up,’ Eleanor told the disgruntled Australians. After that, every one of her arrows hit the target and Summer was disappointed when Eleanor told them to take a break and go for a walk.

  ‘But I’m just getting the hang of it. Can’t I keep going?’

  ‘You’ll shoot better after a break.’

  Fielding took advantage of the break to make a series of phone calls. Summer didn’t intend to eavesdrop, but she couldn’t help overhearing. He was as charming and authoritative on the phone as he was in person, she decided.

  ‘I’m sure that can be arranged, Uri. No problem, and the best to your family, too.’ He stroked Molly’s hair as he talked on the phone and Summer felt a tiny twinge of jealousy. Even when Robert was busy, he was still paying attention to Molly. She’d love to have someone do that to her.

  She sneaked a glance at Flynn who, as usual, was right beside her. But his attention was never on her, and he only touched her when he wanted to make a point. She was glad of that. He wasn’t the sort of man she needed. She wanted a Dom, a real one, someone who was focused on her and who knew exactly what he was doing.

  The prospect of becoming involved again scared the hell out of her. You’re not getting involved, she told herself. You’re just … oh hell, she didn’t know what she was doing.

  Flynn’s expression caught her attention. God, the man never stopped working. He was listening to Robert’s phone calls, Maya and Natasha chattering about manicures, and Mike talking about the chances of Australia taking the Ashes.

  Robert finished his call and sent Molly off to adjust his target. Eleanor stopped her with a raised hand and a frown. ‘You were told in the safety briefing never to do this. Do not go in front of the shooting line unless all bows are down. Ever.’ Molly meekly went back to her own bow.

  When Eleanor gave the signal they started again. Now they were firing more arrows, and faster. Robert hit the target again and again with careless ease. Even though she didn’t have his style, Summer felt relaxed and managed a respectable number of hits. She decided that archery was something she could learn to do well.

  After a while, everyone had the hang of the basic technique and a competition was breaking out among the men. The only one not competing was Flynn. His arrows never seemed to hit, except as a fluke. Summer took great pleasure in gloating at his lack of expertise.

  Robert’s phone rang again. He answered it, frowning. ‘I told you, Uri, it’s under control. No, I have it all in hand. Another week and it will be sorted.’

  Finally, the lesson was over, with Robert the winner of their impromptu competition. Summer didn’t bother trying to hide her joy when she came a surprisingly close runner-up. They handed the bows back and Summer led the way into the house, promising champagne to celebrate. All in all, this had been better fun than being a fairytale princess.

  She realized that her shadow was missing and looked around for Flynn. Through the dining room window, she could see that he was still at the range, chatting to Eleanor. He was smiling at the other woman, a warm smile that lit up his face and caused a peculiar twinge in Summer’s stomach. Then, in one fluid motion, Flynn raised his bow and released an arrow. It hit the very furthest target dead centre. Reaching into his quiver, he pulled out an arrow and shot again, striking the target with ease. He nodded and handed the bow back to Eleanor.

  ‘Summer. Where are the champagne glasses?’

  She turned away from the window, and forced herself to attend to her guests, but her thoughts would not obey so easily. Flynn had been hiding his ability to shoot. Why? And what else was he hiding?

  Flynn grinned as the arrow hit the target with a satisfying thunk. During the lesson he had been concentrating, as usual, on Summer, her playmates and the open space around them. He hadn’t bothered trying to show off and possibly alert the others to his capabilities. But when he was chatting to Eleanor, he hadn’t been able to resist one decent shot.

  His reputation as a short-sighted wimp was a small price to pay to watch Summer when she was concentrating on her shot and forgetting to be a spoilt society princess. He was only a few days into the job, but sometimes she drove him so mad that he had to clench his fists not to shake her senseless. According to Niall’s background check, her father had spent a small fortune on her education and Summer had come top of her clas
s in business school.

  Someone with her talents and connections should be out there working in the real world. But the way she acted, it was hard to believe that there really was a working brain under the cloud of blonde hair. Could one bad experience have really had such a devastating effect on her?

  Despite the fact that she acted like a first class airhead, he had to admit that she was stunning. Those eyes, beautiful as a dark sky, and usually fluttering flirtatiously at every man except him, occasionally gleamed with intelligence.

  Out of habit, he watched the perimeter as he helped Eleanor pack up the targets. The security system was good, but nothing could replace a pair of watchful eyes and an alert brain.

  His phone rang. He checked the number and winced – it was his personal phone, the one only his family used. He answered anyway. ‘Hi, Mum. What’s up?’ he asked.

  ‘Flynn, you bad boy. Why haven’t you rung?’ His mother’s voice, thick with a Scottish burr, was the sound of home.

  ‘Come on, Mum, I rang last week.’

  ‘No, I haven’t heard a word from you for three whole weeks. And I doubt I would have heard then if the hospital hadn’t rung me. Were you planning to tell me you were injured?’

  No, he hadn’t planned to tell her a single word, and cursed the meddling hospital pen pusher who had taken it upon herself to ring his ICE numbers. Flynn resolved to put Niall Moore in as his In Case of Emergency contact in future.

  ‘Of course I would, Mum, but it was nothing, just a scratch.’

  There was a brief outraged silence on the other end. ‘You consider getting your ribs broken and spleen ruptured a scratch?’

  ‘When you say it that way, of course it sounds bad, but it was minor. A quick keyhole op and I’m good as new.’ Except for the pains that hit him when he twisted in certain directions and the fact that he was lifting half his usual weights in O’Sullivan’s well-equipped gym.

  Eleanor finished packing up. He waved goodbye to her and missed his mother’s next words. When he paid attention again, he heard, ‘Isn’t it great about David?’

  Flynn went on high alert. ‘What has he done now?’ he asked warily.

  Anything involving his half-brother was rarely great. David had a unique ability to get into trouble. When he was younger, it had been cars, gangs and the police. When he grew out of that phase, it had been women. Flynn still shuddered when he remembered David’s last terrible choice. It was one reason he had not been home in a long time.

  ‘He’s getting married. Isn’t it wonderful?’ There was no mistaking the joy in his mother’s voice.

  He clutched the phone tightly. ‘Who is he marrying?’ Surely David wouldn’t –

  ‘Lorna, of course.’

  Of course it was Lorna. Flynn closed his eyes for a second. Of all the women in Scotland, in the world, David had managed to pick the most unsuitable one. The one woman guaranteed to break his heart and tear the family apart.

  ‘They’re getting married?’ He tried to keep his feelings under control but his mother had no trouble hearing the lack of enthusiasm.

  ‘Now Flynn, I don’t know what you have against her. Give her a chance. Lorna is a lovely girl.’

  ‘I know.’ And he did. But how could he watch her marry his unsuspecting brother?

  Lorna, his former sub. The woman who had smashed his heart when she had walked away from him. He had always known that she would, that she needed a full-time Dom, someone who was there for her all the time, not a Ranger who was away for months at a time and who came home with injuries he couldn’t talk about. She had asked him to tear up her contract and he had. He hid his broken heart and wished her well.

  That had been hard enough. Watching her when she started to date David had been a special kind of torture, especially when he was certain that there was still a spark between them. Now he waited, wondering when David would find out that his angelic new girlfriend was a submissive with a need for what she called ‘Lovely ouchies’. And that Flynn was the man whose collar she used to wear.

  ‘When is the wedding?’ Please let it be a long engagement, one that would give David time to come to his senses.

  ‘The thirty-first of July, in the Canongate. You’re best man. Don’t think you can get out of it by saying you don’t have a tux, David said you can wear your kilt.’

  He murmured something incoherent before he hung up. Fuck, what a disaster. He had no idea what to do about this.

  With an effort, he dragged his attention away from his personal problems and back to the professional ones. He dialled a familiar number.

  ‘Hey Niall, check out a Robert Fielding for me, would you?’

  6

  ‘Girly day?’

  Summer watched as Flynn gave an almost imperceptible shudder.

  ‘Yes. You know, salon, waxing, facial, nails. Molly is coming with me. You’re welcome to tag along if you want.’

  ‘Which salon?’

  She rattled off the address and the phone number. Flynn would check. Summer was counting on it. She had booked the works. A range of appointments which would last an entire day. It would give Molly enough time to slip out and buy her something suitable for the club. And by the time she was finished, none of the paparazzi would recognize her.

  ‘I’ll drive you there.’ Flynn’s expression reflected his suspicion. His desire to keep her within his sights warred with his aversion to spending the day hanging about a beauty salon.

  ‘Great,’ she agreed readily. ‘I’ll grab my bag.’

  Flynn didn’t look happy but she pretended not to notice. At least he hadn’t tried to prevent her from leaving the house. As she hurried up the stairs, she could hear him on the phone to the salon. He didn’t trust her an inch.

  He was quiet on the drive into the city. Flynn was back in bodyguard mode. He kept within the speed limit and checked his mirror constantly. Her dad had said that he was used to looking after important people but he wasn’t like the other men her father had employed. There was a quiet sense of efficiency about Flynn that made her feel protected.

  ‘Give me your phone,’ he said as they pulled up outside the salon.

  ‘Why? I’ll need it for later.’

  He gave an impatient sigh. ‘I want to programme my number into your speed dial. If anything, and I mean anything, unusual happens, you will phone me immediately.’

  She almost said ‘Yes, sir’. ‘Fine, I promise.’ Handing over her phone, she watched as he flicked through the menus.

  ‘All done.’ He smiled and returned the phone. ‘I’ll call you later.’

  Summer tugged a sunhat from her bag and pulled it over her hair.

  ‘Good idea.’ He nodded approvingly. ‘Your hair is very distinctive.’

  Summer suppressed a smile. If her day went according to plan, no one would recognize her at Noir tonight. Flynn waited until they entered the salon before moving away. She was willing to bet that he wasn’t going back to the house. In fact, he was probably heading to the nearest coffee shop.

  ‘I thought he was never going to go,’ Molly giggled. ‘Are you sure this is going to work?’

  Summer crossed her fingers. ‘It better. Now, go find me something to wear and make sure you’re back before 3 p.m. for your facial.’

  It was almost 5 p.m. when the stylist sprayed enough hairspray on her to put another dent in the ozone layer, before spinning her chair around to face the mirror. Summer touched her hair. Her long mane had been replaced by a sleek, shoulder-length style in her natural brunette.

  ‘You like?’ he asked as he ran his fingers through it, smoothing the strands until he was satisfied.

  ‘Yes, I like.’ She really did. Gone was the blonde bombshell. She looked almost like her old self again. The way she was before she met Adam. Her dad would be pleased.

  Her phone buzzed and she checked the display. It was a message from Flynn. I’m outside.

  No greeting. No please or thank you. She was tempted to type something rude in response, but ther
e was no sense in annoying him. She tapped the display. Coming.

  Molly was waiting for her in the lobby. Her mouth dropped when she saw her. ‘I almost didn’t recognize you. Wait till you see what I’ve bought for you. You’ll wow them at Noir tonight.’

  She wished she was so sure, but she couldn’t back out now. ‘Are you ready for the next part of the plan?’

  ‘Absolutely,’ Molly agreed. ‘I can’t wait.’

  Summer pulled on her hat. Operation Defeat the Bodyguard was on.

  ‘Have a good day, ladies?’ Flynn was remarkably cheerful for someone who had spent the day hanging around waiting for them.

  ‘It was okay,’ Summer shrugged, ‘but I think I’m coming down with a migraine.’

  Flynn was all concern. ‘Do you need medication?’

  ‘No. I’ve got some at home.’

  ‘It’s such a pity you’ll miss the show,’ Molly said.

  ‘What show?’ Flynn asked, darting a suspicious look at Summer.

  ‘Robert called. He has tickets for the theatre – Phantom. He’ll be so disappointed that you can’t come with us.’

  Summer did her best to look disappointed. ‘I’ll have an early night. I’m sure I’ll be fine tomorrow.’

  Back at the house, she picked at her dinner silently before disappearing up to her room. She pulled the heavy drapes across the window and hurried into the bathroom to try on the clothes that Molly had bought for her.

  Sweet mother of god! It was lingerie! But not like any she had ever worn. The electric blue latex tube was designed to cover her butt or her boobs, but not both simultaneously. She would be more decently covered in a swimsuit. Summer tipped the contents of the bag onto the floor. Hold-up stockings and some leather cuffs with studs. There was a length of silver-coloured chain with a clip on one end like a dog leash. And a tube of her favourite lipstick, called ‘Vamp’.

  Summer carefully applied her make-up, paying particular attention to her eyes. The girl who stared back at her looked as if she belonged in a fetish club, even if she was shaking inside. Hearing a knock on the bedroom door, Summer hastily pulled on a bathrobe. She was relieved when it turned out to be Molly, already wearing her coat.