by Alison Mello
CHAPTER 12
Summer
Staring at the wall clock, Summer cringed. She had been here far longer than she planned. The sun had risen, and she dressed in her skirt and blouse. Glancing around the office, she stepped closer to the pull-out bed and removed the sheets for washing. As she held them, the scent of sex and Rafe stirred her blood. She threw them on the floor and pushed the base up to return it to its regular appearance of a black leather couch, but the memories of what had transpired lingered. Rubbing her forehead, she gave the room one last sweep to ensure she hadn’t left anything that belonged to her around. Collecting her purse from the table, a swell of panic rose as her heartbeat thudded in her ribs. She needed to leave. There was nothing to talk about. The sex was off-this-planet amazing, but Rafe demanded too much, and eventually, she would shatter. She couldn’t share her past with him.
“Not waiting to say goodbye?”
His tight, clipped voice at her back should have been enough to make her run out the door, but as she inhaled oxygen into her lungs, she steeled herself. Twisting around, she met his narrow, penetrating gaze as he stood there unabashed and gloriously naked. Her heart stalled inside her ribs and her breath froze as her gaze danced over his toned, sleek body she couldn’t get enough of. Jeez, he stood like the Renaissance statue of David. Absolute perfection. The only part of him that the statue didn’t do justice to was his dick.
Powerful arm and lean leg muscles joined by smooth steel abs made her quiver, knowing what he was capable of doing to her eager body. Her eyes roamed and hovered over the indented scars on his right leg. She had traced each mark with her fingers last night as he moaned her name.
“Summer, be careful. I can read your body like a book. I know what you crave, and I have no qualms in giving you what you want, but you’re about to walk out, again. Why?”
Even with his battered wounds, Rafe was an unstoppable and intimidating force, but she needed to break free of his tantalizing hold. Now. She puffed her chest out and straightened her spine. Clearing her dry throat with a cough, Summer pushed on.
“I need to speak to my parents. I call them every day, and,” she sighed, “they’ll worry if they don’t hear from me. It’s the fallout from the accident and one of the conditions of my staying here.”
A muscle in his cheek twitched, and she frowned. Yes, she was an adult at twenty-four, but if she argued with her parents, they would make life difficult for her, and this one condition was easy enough to comply with. He nodded as he rubbed the small towel in slow motion over his tasseled locks. Summer pushed out a breath. Having spent nearly twenty-four hours being pleasured by this virile beast whose energy never dwindled afforded him something, at least. She couldn’t see a relationship lasting between them, but as her sex clenched, she knew she was being irrational to run away. Instead, Summer stood on the threshold, unable to move.
He marched to stand in front of her and gripped her hand. “I’m glad we got that out of the way, because if I thought you were running away, Summer, I would have to punish you. Do you understand?”
He had mentioned punishing her before, and something about the tone and inflection of his voice told her he wasn’t joking. She jerked back, but his hand reeled her in against his rock-hard abs, and he cupped her neck.
“And I know you would enjoy it because I know you. Like I know, right now, as much as my words shock you, they arouse you.”
Summer squirmed as her heartbeat thudded in her chest. The sex marathon of the last twenty-four hours hadn’t reduced her thirst for him. If she denied his accusation, she feared he would ask her to prove it and that would be impossible. She clenched her thighs. His lust was insatiable, and his crude words stimulated her more. Rafe was an absolute master of seduction, and he knew it.
“Staring at you naked, it’s hard not to be affected. You’re easy on the eyes for sure, glorious and ravishing, but it’s only sex…”
In an instant, he let go as if she had punched him and marched away to slip his pants on, dressing fully in seconds. Rafe strutted up and down the length of the room with his hands on his hips when he shot his gaze at her she inched into the room more.
“Shit. You know it’s damn well more than that. There are things you don’t understand.”
Loud male voices boomed outside, and Summer eyed the door as it swung inward. Two lean men strode inside, dressed in jeans and casual shirts. They glanced at her first and then Rafe before sweeping their gazes back at her. The room smelled of hot sex, and she needed to escape to breathe in the fresh air. Her cheeks flushing at what they would imagine, which would be the truth. The taller of the two men raised his dark eyebrow and scowled.
“Summer…”
Before the stranger could speak any further, Rafe shoved him hard against the wall, and a tussle ensued. She recognized the other man with red hair as his friend from the other night. His friend tore at Rafe’s arm to stop the fight. Whatever was going on, Summer didn’t want to stay any longer. Everything merged together, and as the men shouted at each other, she slipped out of the room running away. She ran as angry voices bellowed from the office.
Charging out of the building, she didn’t stop until she reached her car, where she gathered a breath. Shaking, she forced the key into the lock and slid inside to start the engine. A curse escaped her mouth. She eyed the hospitality center, and when no one exited, she reversed the car. Turning the wheel, she drove as fast as she could to steady her rambling thoughts. The man had called her name. She shrugged. That wasn’t odd. Perhaps Rafe had mentioned her to his friends. No, what was curious was the fact Rafe wanted to fight him. That wasn’t the Rafe she knew. Brushing her hair away from her cheeks, she drove away. Rafe may know what her body craved, it was true, but that didn’t mean anything. They didn’t know each other at all.
***
Rafe
“What the fuck is going on, Rafe?” Niall yelled, standing in front of him.
Rafe sighed and stared at the closed door. He wanted to charge after Summer the minute he saw her vanish.
Damn it.
“What do you want me to say?”
“Say that wasn’t Summer!”
Gabriel cursed and stared around the office space. “Has she been here since last night?”
Niall shot his gaze at the other man. “What? You knew about this?”
Rafe strode to the front window, staring outside as Summer reversed, spinning her tires and driving away at a reckless speed.
Shit.
“Yes, it’s Summer.” Rafe stormed to the couch and sank down, cradling his head in his hands. The weight on the couch shifted as Niall sat down next to him.
“I thought I could stay away, but once I saw her at that damn diner, I couldn’t. Now, she’s starting to remember pieces of the past. I’ve been trying to help her.”
“Is fucking her the help she needs?” Niall shouted.
Rafe lifted his head to stare at the ceiling. “Not that it’s any of your damn business, but it was the one place we always connected, and I hoped it might—”
“When you’re fucking in the damn office, man, it becomes our business. Look, I don’t know all that went on between you and her parents, but didn’t you agree to walk away?”
Irritation burst inside, and he couldn’t stand it any longer. His head was shot, and he couldn’t think straight. Rafe rose and faced his friends. “Look, it’s fucked up! When I introduced myself as her husband that night at the hospital, I had no fucking clue what I was up against. Mr. Hamilton didn’t exactly welcome me with open arms.”
He strode away to recall that first meeting at the hospital. “At first, I thought it was shock. Shit, Summer was on life support and I was a mess. I was all over the place trying to keep it together, but her old man’s despise for me was obvious. To cut to the chase, he said he didn’t believe we were married because Summer had never told him or his wife. He questioned whether it was legal and threatened me with investigators.”
Rafe pa
ced around dipping his head. “Summer didn’t know about my past. She doesn’t know I’m responsible for my girlfriend’s death or that my fucking parents are as rich and fucked up as hers. She doesn’t even know my surname. I couldn’t risk that being discovered before I had the chance to explain. The more her dad went on, the more I knew I was fighting a losing battle.”
Niall stood and punched his shoulder. “Shit, man, you never breathed a word of this to me. You’ve made amends for what happened when you were a teenager, Rafe. You weren’t driving. We’ve been over this. You have to let go of the guilt. We’ve all made mistakes and wished we had made better choices.”
Rafe looked over at his friend, “I’m here—Ashley isn’t. If I hadn’t taken her to the party, if I hadn’t downed as many beers as I did, she wouldn’t have been driving. It goes on and on, but my parents’ involvement in keeping the incident out of the media and courts made me realize how messed up my life was. They didn’t care about Ashley’s death, just that their name would be ruined.”
He twisted away, remembering his parents’ faces of shock and horror.
“Look, man, Ashley made a choice too, one that cost her life, but you must let go. It was thirteen years ago. You’ve led an exemplary life since then as Officer in Charge. Leading men into battle, saving lives. Give yourself a break. As for Summer, I knew she had money, but she was never like those superficial bitches she hung around with. I get the part about the investigators, but you married her; that gives you rights. You’re her husband, aren’t you, Rafe?” Niall asked.
Rafe sighed and stared at them each in turn. From the moment he met Summer, he was hooked. A hot jolt of electricity shot through him, making him act on impulse, making him want something he never had before. Unbelievably, Summer admitted the same. After meeting in the Irish bar, he wouldn’t let her go, and for days they didn’t leave his apartment, having sex everywhere until they were exhausted and famished. He shook his head as if to clear the memory.
“We fell head over heels in love. I asked her to be my wife after eight weeks. She was it for me! When she said yes, I didn’t believe it, but I wanted her to be mine forever, and I pushed when I should have tread carefully. We didn’t really know each other.” Pressing his fist over his mouth, he watched as Gabriel sauntered over to him.
“Are you saying you’re not married?”
Rafe sighed and recalled the two days they spent in Las Vegas as though it were yesterday.
“We had everything prepared—rings, her dress, my suit, even the license—but I backed out.”
Rafe crouched down low, folding in on himself as he slumped to the floor. He remembered the complete shock on Summer’s face when he told her as they stood ready to take their vows. Remembering that look tore at his heart.
“Seeing her there looking like a goddamn angel, I wanted to do this properly, man. I wanted our families there. I also knew I couldn’t take those vows until Summer knew the truth about me. I couldn’t start a marriage with a lie.”
Rafe lifted his head as his friends stalked around the office. Gabriel picked up folders and papers that had slid to the floor while he had made love to Summer on the desk. Niall searched his face.
He had no clue how to make this mess better.
“I convinced her to go ahead with the ceremony anyway—we were dressed. By some miracle, Summer agreed, but I withheld the license, so it wasn’t legal. We wore the rings and spent the next twenty-four hours consummating the marriage. Summer was as hot for me as I was for her. She knew the marriage wasn’t legit, but it didn’t seem to matter. From that moment on, we acted and lived as husband and wife. I was going to see Kassandra and Henry David Peyton, my parents, to make my peace with them, but when we returned from Las Vegas, life intervened. The demons revisited, and I lost my job. It went downhill from there. Everything fell apart. Summer said it didn’t matter that she was the one paying the bills, but it fucking mattered to me…”
Niall strode over to him and held his hand out. “Look, man, no one said it would be easy leaving the teams, but you’ve accomplished so much. I also know—legal or not—you were married in every way that’s important. I saw you two. She stood by you, dealt with your crap, until you pushed her away. She would have come back…”
Rafe grabbed his friend’s hand and stood up, shaking his head. “I fucked up, like I’m fucking up now. At the hospital, the doctor’s news tipped me over the edge. Summer had been pregnant. I didn’t know. Early stages, about ten weeks. She miscarried. I turned my back on my pregnant wife. My world crashed. I saw her dad summing me up for the shithead and failure he believed me to be. Whether he knew or not, I have no clue, but all my insecurities flared up. I believed Summer would be better off without me, and I agreed to walk away. All that mattered was she lived. Nothing else existed.”
Niall thumped him hard in the arm, but he didn’t care. He deserved that and more. As a Navy SEAL, he hunted and killed the enemy in battle, jumped out of planes, strategized difficult missions with minute-by-minute strategic planning to ensure accuracy and belief in success. With Summer, there was none of that; he never believed he deserved her. She was the one mission he had failed and walked out on. She was his only weakness. In his bitter and twisted way, he told himself letting go was for the best. True, he’d visited every day. Each day, he sat, held her hand, and talked to her continuously. But when she regained consciousness, he’d stepped out of the room and her life. He’d watched as the doctors and her parents gathered around her bed before he slid away, unnoticed, just as it should be.
“You let go, Rafe. You fucking gave up. How could you?”
“I thought she would be better off without me,” he yelled. “I couldn’t believe it when I discovered she had amnesia. I read about it in the paper, and it seemed to confirm that what I had done was for the best. For Christ’s sake, Niall, I fucked up. That’s what I do. I knew that the moment I agreed to her father’s terms. They didn’t get along, but he was her father. It wasn’t until I saw her alone in Betty’s, I began to question fate all over again.”
Gabriel switched the coffee machine on, and the rich aroma jolted his memory of the astonishing moment he stepped inside the diner.
The bell tinkled, and he smiled at the colorful and unexpected décor and old-world charm. He wiped his mouth with his hand, thirsty and in need of caffeine after driving for hours, not in any particular direction after visiting the STEPS site. He drove into the quaint town of Bridgton, Maine, and couldn’t stave off his hunger. The need for caffeine called. It was late in August and peak season for tourists. He saw the diner right away on Main Street as customers filtered in and out.
Closing the door behind him with a bang that he hadn’t meant drew the attention of the only waitress he could see. Sliding a sideways glance at the young woman with dark brown hair tied back in a long, straight ponytail, he blinked twice, believing his eyes were playing tricks on him. He knew he needed food, pronto. The waitress inspected him from head to foot and smiled.
Rafe couldn’t move as a million thoughts converged into one. Summer. The ethereal vision approached him, and he knew one hundred percent she was Summer. At least, as he shook his head, a new version of Summer. Dumbstruck, he couldn’t manage a single word.
“You don’t need to wait for a table. First one gets it,” she said, giving a wide, natural smile.
She stared right through him, giving no hint she recognized him at all. The strange surge of feeling that gripped him was painful, at first. How could she not remember him? Was it a joke? But he studied her and noted why she looked different. Gone was the makeup, high heels, and designer labels. The Summer he faced looked younger, innocent, different, and it went beyond the pale-pink scar slashed across her forehead. Gathering his wits together, he swept his gaze around and crept toward her.
“Which tables are yours?”
A strange question but if it prompted her curiosity, she didn’t show it, and at that moment he didn’t care. He was here, and so was
she. He’d be damned if he didn’t sit where she would serve him.
“Um, these tables here.” She pointed at several in the top corner. “Would you like a window seat?”
He nodded as she led the way, checking over her shoulder to see if he followed. How could he resist?
“I walked into Betty’s Diner in Bridgton and she was there. I knew her family had a place on the lake nearby, perhaps that’s why I ended up there, but I didn’t know she would be there working. How could I?” He stepped toward the coffee machine and accepted the mug Gabriel offered before he continued. “Seeing her dressed in the cute Betty Boop polka dot outfit went beyond weird. I thought I had stepped into the twilight zone and she was Summer’s doppelganger. It was Summer, but it wasn’t, and all I could think was she didn’t remember me, the marriage, or the baby. I should’ve walked—left her alone, but I couldn’t.”
Rafe closed his eyes.
Last night was meant to be a new beginning. Now it feels like the end.
“Well, that’s fucked up. And you wonder why I steer clear of women,” Gabriel said.
“He’s a masochist. That’s what he is. Does she know who you are now?” Niall studied his face.
“Not yet,” he said. He stared down at the solid platinum band edged in black—her choice—that he hadn’t removed since they said their vows in the chapel. Now, as he rolled the cool metal, he wondered whether he should.
“Look, I don’t have any answers for you, man. Nothing in life is easy.” Niall knocked at his right leg and lifted his jeans up to reveal his prosthetic limb. “This isn’t easy, but you fucking know you don’t ring that goddamn bell. Ever. You pushed me when I wanted to give up. We stick together, count on each other, trust each other, and see it through to the bitter end. You need to learn to let her in, and if you can’t, you walk. If you want her, you have to trust her, explain everything, and she’ll forgive you or let her go.”
