Chapter Twenty-Two #2
Summer wondered how much Nikki knew about her time spent with M?rten.
It was likely that M?rten had confided in Jacob, and then he’d passed on every detail.
And it stood to reason that Nikki suspected they may have become intimate anyway; she’d been the first one to pick up on their sizzling attraction when they’d been staying at her house.
The woman had a knack for being candid, and she’d blatantly advised Summer to sleep with M?rten, even if it was just to get him out of her system.
But Summer no longer cared for her matchmaking attempts, didn’t want to be interrogated on her feelings for M?rten.
She’d put everything to do with M?rten—every emotion, every sensation, every goddamn image in her brain—firmly into a steel box inside her head, and she didn’t need anyone trying to pry it open.
She wanted to make it crystal clear that things were well and truly over with her and M?rten.
“Look,” Summer sighed. “We had a fling. And he is very sweet.” That was an understatement.
Sweet wasn’t an adjective she would use to describe M?rten.
Hot, driven, intense, fascinating, sexy as hell, distracting, frustrating, and nearly as stubborn as her were all better descriptions.
“But we are two very different people, who want different things, let alone the fact we live on separate continents,” she added with a smile, hoping that Nikki didn’t see how hard she had to force her lips to bend upward.
Nikki studied her for a few moments. “Oh, okay then.” She blew on the surface of her tea thoughtfully. And praise be, she decided not to pursue the topic when she added, “So what are your plans now? You know, after your arm heals.”
Forcing another fake smile, Summer told her about the upcoming wedding in four days.
She babbled, embellishing all the things that still needed to be done, all the fun they’d have, how much she was looking forward to it all.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Nikki glance at her more than once with what she thought might be pity in her eyes, but Summer plowed on, eager to get away from the topics of Tyrone and M?rten.
Eager for Nikki to see that she was fine and was diving back into her life with gusto.
They must’ve talked for another half an hour, because Summer was surprised when there was a knock at the door.
Feeling self-conscious answering the door in her pajamas for the second time that day—she still hadn’t found the time to get changed—she was taken by surprise when Bianca pulled her in for a hug, much like Nikki had done.
“Oh my God, Summer, what happened to you?”
Summer had forgotten that she hadn’t told Bianca or any of her other friends the exact reason she’d flown off so suddenly to Sweden.
Instead, fabricating a story about a job coming up that she just couldn’t turn down.
They hadn’t known her life was in danger.
Or that she was with M?rten, who was actually a police officer.
But maybe Bianca had guessed some of it, judging by her hard hug and her reticence to let her go, even as she studied her face.
“Did you get into a fight?” Then she noticed the cast on Summer’s wrist, and her frown turned into a look of full-blown panic.
“What the fu…?”
“Come and sit down,” Summer sighed. She figured she was going to have to come out with the whole truth now.
“This is Nikki, by the way.” Summer introduced the two women and then grimaced when Bianca looked at her with curiosity.
Because she’d been out in the desert when the break-in had occurred, poor Bianca didn’t even know Summer had stayed at Nikki’s house in those few terrible days when she’d needed somewhere safe to hide out and didn’t know how close she’d become to the other woman.
Summer had mentioned Nikki as a friend of M?rten’s—the man who had helped her after the burglary—but that was all.
She was going to have to start at the very beginning.
“You didn’t just go to Sweden for a job interview, did you?” Bianca accused.
“No,” Summer replied, shooting a quick glance at Nikki from beneath lowered lashes.
This would not be easy. Bianca was going to flip out, as were the rest of her friends when they found out.
And Bianca would read her the same lecture she always did, about how she refused to let her friends in, refused to accept help.
Only this time, Summer would agree; she’d been a terrible friend.
But that would change; she was going to be more honest and open now.
If this event had taught her one thing, it was that she couldn’t do everything alone, and it wasn’t a sign of weakness to ask for support.
Nikki gave her an encouraging smile, and Summer knew the other woman would have her back if need be.
“Was your unexpected trip something to do with the break-in at your apartment?” Bianca asked as she sank onto the couch beside Nikki.
“Yes. It turns out it wasn’t just a random crime,” Summer began, taking the armchair opposite. “The guy was after my camera and my laptop. Or rather, what was on them. An incriminating photo.”
“Wow,” Bianca breathed.
“And he didn’t get what he was looking for the first time, so he came back. Remember, I told you Mayte, Trent, and Serena helped me clean up. Then we went and had dinner?”
Bianca stared at her open-mouthed, eyes wide with disbelief, nodding her assent.
“Well, he was waiting for me when I arrived home,” Summer said, adding a slight pause for effect.
“Fuck,” Bianca whispered, hand over her mouth.
“But when he chased me, he fell down the stairs, and I got away. So then I ran to Nikki and Jacob’s residence around the corner, friends of M?rten’s.” She inclined her head toward Nikki. “They offered me a safe place to stay a second time, for which I am forever grateful.”
“God.” Bianca swallowed, her face a mix of confusion, surprise, and fear. “That must’ve been awful.” But then, the light of a different emotion crept into Bianca’s eyes. “And so what did the sexy cop have to do with all this?”
Nikki laughed loudly, surprising them both.. “He is rather sexy, isn’t he?” she agreed, and Bianca swiveled to look at her.
“I never met him,” Bianca admitted. “But from what everyone has told me, he sounded very nice.”
“He is quite yummy,” Nikki replied, shooting a subtle glance at Summer. “Some people don’t seem to see that, however.”
Now, wait just a second. Summer would not allow her story to be derailed like this. This wasn’t about her and M?rten, or how sexy he might be. It was about how her life had been in unspeakable danger. “Anyway,” she began. “I’ll get to M?rten’s part in the whole thing shortly.”
“Good, because I want to hear everything.” Bianca leaned back on the couch, looking as if she was settling in to watch a captivating movie.
Summer detailed how Jacob was an agent for the FBI, and how she and M?rten had found the incriminating photo later that night when she couldn’t sleep.
Bianca interrupted, wanting to know exactly where they were sitting on the bed and whether M?rten was wearing all his clothes.
Summer became increasingly frustrated as Nikki began filling in particulars that she believed Summer had left out, and soon it was Nikki and Bianca doing most of the talking, while she could barely get a word in edgeways.
Even though this was the first time the two women had met, they seemed to click instantaneously.
Maybe it was their shared concern over Summer that drew them together, because they were now discussing her as if she weren’t there.
Summer sank back into the armchair, wondering if her newfound promise to be more open with her friends was actually a terrible idea.
So much for Bianca flipping out; she was doing the exact opposite.
As she and Nikki bonded, it felt like they were ganging up on her, trying to force her to rethink everything she knew about M?rten. Well, it would not work.