Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
Dash Crying in his Mojito in St. Bart’s
Chicago Rebels forward Dash Carter is currently licking his wounds at his family’s vacation home in St. Bart’s.
Sources tell us that what was supposed to be the happy couple’s honeymoon and a chance for Summer to become better acquainted with the Carter family, is now a somber affair.
A close family member revealed that even after several years, Dash’s fiancée was “somewhat of a mystery,” and there were concerns that she might not fit the Carter culture.
It looks like those concerns were well-founded!
The “enigma of Summer” deepens as no one has reported seeing her since her pre-wedding bolt to freedom.
Even the bridesmaids are keeping their lips zipped.
-@HotGoss
Hatch
Thankfully I was sleeping in the pool house. Distance was about the only thing preventing me from strangling my guest.
So, she thought she was helping me out. She’d witnessed the vibe between me and Ava, figured Ava might want to pick up where we left off, and saw an opportunity to give me an assist.
Only I didn’t know. And because I didn’t know, I thought Summer was kissing me for real, which made me so damn happy in that moment. To hell with Carter and the bro code and every reason kissing this woman was a bad idea. I had Summer in my arms, and all was suddenly right with my world.
Until it wasn’t.
Until I realized I was another one of her dupes.
The last thing I needed was to be letting a grifter like Summer Landry under my skin or into my bed.
Don’t think about bed. Or Summer in a bed. Or the things you want to do to Summer in a bed.
At just after seven in the morning, I had returned from a run that did little to excise this woman from my brain.
I could see her in the yard through the window in the pool house.
She wore a bikini, or the top part of one with shorts, and had Adeline’s bike turned upside down while she examined the tire.
A toolbox lay open at her feet, with various implements strewn about.
She didn’t look like she knew what she was doing. And all that bending over …
Her head shot up, our gazes clashed, and I almost ducked. In my own house!
She waved.
I refused to return it.
Realizing how ridiculous this was, I headed outside, along the path to the patio, and stood before her, hands on hips.
“You’re doing it wrong.”
“I am?”
“It doesn’t matter if you fix the tire puncture. You need to see if the inner tube has a hole in it.”
She pushed a finger through the slash in the tire. “I can’t feel anything else in here.”
“Of course you can’t. And you need to remove the wheel. Otherwise, it’s just guesswork.”
Her gaze coasted over me in my sweat-dampened T-shirt and my board shorts. I thought I saw appreciation there, but she was quick to look away. She lifted her hand to her brow and swiped, leaving a black smudge that I wanted to … nope, don’t want to do anything.
She pulled on the axle. “Should it just release here?”
“You can open and hold that lever and I’ll unscrew the nut from the other side.”
“Or you can just tell me how to do it.”
“It’s easier with two people.” It made no difference, but I couldn’t leave her now that I’d started even if the mansplaining made me sound like a dick. In a couple of minutes, we had the tire off.
“Now, we need to deflate it.” I pressed down on the center of the valve, and we heard a low hissing sound. I worked the tire bead loose to pull it away from the wheel and free the inner tube.
All this took a few minutes, and I was fully conscious of Summer standing there in her tiny, red bikini top and a pair of khaki shorts that must have been Aurora’s. But that bikini did not belong to my great-grandmother.
“Where did you find that swimsuit?” I knew it was a bikini but even saying it felt too intimate.
“I’m guessin’ it’s Adeline’s.”
I remembered now. “She wore that when she was ten.” The tiny triangles barely covered Summer’s tits, but because she was thin—too thin—it did just enough and left the rest to my overwrought imagination.
“I hope she won’t mind.”
“She won’t.” But I do. I mind a lot. “Could you get a basin of water? There should be a small tub under the sink in the kitchen.”
“On it!”
Off she went, and thankfully the shorts were loose on her, so I didn’t have to deal with that complication.
There was the butterfly tattoo on her shoulder, though, like I needed any more reason to be attracted to her.
Not that tattoos were instant turn-ons. Rosie had a whole sleeve of tattoos and while I’d had a crush on her when we were kids, it had never gone beyond that.
On Summer, even a cliché of a tat was getting me all worked up.
Or maybe I was just remembering the feel of her in my arms last night and the taste of her mouth. That kiss had kept me awake most of the night, and when I finally succumbed, my dreams were sweaty and sexy and filled with Summer.
I took a closer look at the tire damage.
It was a clean cut, not ragged at all, which meant Summer cycled over something sharp, like a piece of glass in the road.
I examined the tube and found no damage.
We might not need that water after all, but I didn’t regret sending Summer away for a few minutes so I could gather my wits and adjust my cock.
She came out of the house with the basin sloshing water over the sides, and by the time she reached me, her bikini top was soaked.
Nipples. Beautiful, suckable candy peaks I couldn’t even see. My imagination handily filled the gaps. Now I had the combination fantasy of Summer’s wet bikini and those pretty, pink nipples running a horny riot in my head.
“Just put it down,” I barked.
“Okay.” She sounded so fucking cheerful. Was this how she acted around Carter when he was in a bad mood? All conciliatory and soothing, the good little woman?
I went through the motions of putting the tube under the water, searching for punctures. As far as I could tell, it was just the main hole near where the tire was damaged.
“Want to talk about it?” she asked.
“It was just a kiss.”
“I meant Ava.”
I blew out a calming breath that had no impact on my mood whatsoever.
“Nothing to talk about.”
“You sure? I get the impression she followed us last night. Stalker vibes.”
I squinted, then stood so I could tower over her and tell her what was what.
“Ava’s not stalking anyone.” So she had been fairly aggressive in pursuing me last summer, but she understood the score now.
“She knew we were going to that restaurant, and then, hey, that’s where she got her take-out from. Are you still annoyed about the kiss?”
“I don’t care about the kiss. I’d just appreciate a heads-up next time you’re planning to dive into one of your many roles.”
She opened her mouth, but I was already gone, heading to the shed to look for a bike repair kit.
She had started this business with the tire, but she didn’t even have the correct supplies?
Annoyed at her effect on me, I rummaged around in the shed until I found what I was looking for.
When I turned back, Summer was standing at the entrance.
The morning light limned her figure, giving her a haloed silhouette.
She might be thin, but she had shapely hips, and lovely legs, and I was sick of the sight of her.
“One of my many roles?”
“Forget it.” I moved forward but she blocked the exit.
“No, tell me. What roles have I been playing?”
I shrugged, though my shoulders were so stiff the movement made me wince.
“Tell me.”
“Summer, the adoring fiancée. Summer, the perfect assistant to the GM. Summer, the good friend. Summer, the gold digger. Summer, the nervous skeleton bride. And now we’ve got a whole other part of your repertoire as you move into summer stock.
We’ve got Shelby Mae, the erotic novelist. And is it Summer or Shelby Mae who thinks it’s a whole lotta fun to lead a guy on with the best kiss of his life, the same guy whose teammate she just jilted? I guess you contain multitudes.”
She stared at me, dumbfounded. I only wish I’d lost my own ability to speak about twenty seconds ago. Had I really just told her that was the best kiss of my life?
“I-I’m sorry. I was only trying to help.”
“Well, don’t. I’ve got a bike tire to fix.”
After a moment, she stepped aside and I walked by her, ignoring the wide-eyed shock on her face. We certainly had enough of that to go around.