CHAPTER SIX
S ummer could not believe she had spilled all the sordid details of her relationship with Ben to Teddy. Even Laney, her best friend, was in the dark about what had happened. Summer was ashamed. Embarrassed. How would Teddy be able to look at her again without seeing the pathetic, weak woman Ben had turned her into?
She could feel the sympathy coming off him in waves. He’d been glued to her side ever since he’d found out. Most women wouldn’t complain about having a beautiful man follow her around like a puppy dog. But she wasn’t most women. And Teddy McCallen certainly wasn’t most men. He was the man. The only man she’d ever wanted more than anything else in the world. So seeing the look of pity on his handsome face wasn’t exactly doing wonders for her self-esteem.
I am not a charity case.
No matter how many times she told herself that, one look at Teddy hovering around her, told her differently.
“Get out of here, Kels. Summer and I will finish up,” Teddy called over to Kelly, who was stacking the chairs onto tables.
The young woman smiled over to them both. Obviously worried Teddy would change his mind, she hightailed it to the back room to gather her things in record time. Less than a minute later, she was out the door.
Alone again.
“There a reason Kelly’s getting special treatment, Teddy? You’ve never offered to cut short my shift before,” Summer joked as she continued to wipe down the bar.
He didn’t answer. Instead, a large bottle of whiskey was plonked down in front of her. Confused, she looked up to see Teddy on the customer side of the bar, grinning.
“Time for a break, dollface. Grab some glasses and get your ass over here.”
Never one to turn down a free drink, Summer made quick work of gathering the glasses and rounding the bar. Teddy had already poured a generous amount of the muddy liquid by the time she’d settled onto the stool next to him.
“What are we drinking to?” She held up her glass in preparation to toast.
“To friendship.”
She beamed back at him and clinked his glass with hers. “To friendship.”
Yep, friends. Other friends want to rip the other’s clothes off and trace every hard ridge of their chest with their tongue too, right?
As the night went on, Summer undertook pouring duties while Teddy made small talk. And that’s all it was. Small talk. The topics were so mundane, they might as well have been talking about the weather. But that wasn’t the problem. Not really. The real issue was the not-so-innocent brown liquid warming her insides. Because it turns out, downing whiskey shots with this man, whatever she should call him—boss, friend, man she’d been in love with since she was twelve—was not a good idea. Hell, three drinks in and she was practically ready to strip naked and beg for him to touch her.
Desperate much?
“Doll? What do you think?”
Shit. What’s he talking about?
Teddy’s deep chuckle echoed around the empty bar. “Am I boring you, dollface?”
“No! I’m just ... uh, sorry ... I missed what you said. I’m listening now, I promise. What do I think about what?”
“I was asking if you were up for going over to Moonrock tomorrow? Ivy and Ace are having some sort of shindig.” When she didn’t immediately reply, he shrugged and continued. “I thought it might be cool. You’ve not been over to the ranch in forever, and Ivy’s really done a lot with the place.”
“Are you going to be there?” There was no way she was going without him to a shindig full of people she didn’t know or hadn’t seen in God knows how long.
He smiled at her question. A smile so distracting it should be illegal. “I’ll be there. So ... you up for it?”
“Sure.” She took another gulp of her drink, savoring the smoky tang. “You might have to remind me though, I’m a few drinks in and there’s a good chance I’ll forget this conversation entirely.” She was only sort of joking. She’d become a lightweight.
Teddy’s eyes lit up. “Is that so? So, I could say anything to you right now and you’d forget it in the morning?” He sniggered before draining the contents of his own glass.
“Let’s see, shall we ... Truth or drink? No harm if I’m gonna forget, right?”
“Hell yeah. That means I’ve got blackmail material for future use.”
She laughed right along with him while he lined up shot glasses and filled them to the brim. Maybe she was a little drunk. Teddy blackmailing her wasn’t very funny.
Shit. Was this a bad idea?
It was too late though. She’d have to chastise herself later. All she could do now was concentrate on not humiliating herself.
“Okay.” Teddy rubbed his hands together. He was way too excited. “We’ll start off with the easy stuff. I’ll go first.” Why wasn’t she surprised? “Best memory?”
A small smile tugged at her lips. “That’s an easy one. Senior year. Bobby Rhodes was spreading rumors about hooking up with me and I was about ready to lose my mind. You wanted to cheer me up, so you convinced me to play hooky and we spent all day driving around. We also ate a shit ton of junk and ended up in our spot, blasting Green Day and drinking some weird minty liqueur that you’d stolen from your pops.”
That was a good day.
Teddy stared at her so long she began to shift in her seat. His scrutiny was unnerving. She’d expected him to laugh, reminisce maybe, or at the very least crack a smile. He was doing none of those things. Instead, his eyes bore into her with such potency, she didn’t know where to look. Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore.
“What?”
He stayed quiet for what seemed like an eternity. Eventually, he managed to snap himself out of it. Shaking his head, he ignored her question and simply said, “Your turn.”
Did I miss something?
“Uh, okay. Fine. Biggest lie you’ve ever told?”
She watched his mind work as he contemplated her question. He did that thing he always did when he was unsure: he ran his hand over the top of his head, ruffling his short brown hair enough to make him look like he’d just woken up.
“Remember the day I left for the Navy, we had breakfast that morning?” He waited for her to nod. “You asked me if there was anything you could’ve done or said that would’ve changed my mind about joining up. I said no, but that was a lie.”
Summer’s breathing hitched. She remembered that day as if it were yesterday. The image of Teddy driving away, forever etched in her mind. She remembered asking him that question too. It was intended as a joke, even though a part of her was still hoping he’d change his mind.
Her heart pounded as she waited for him to continue. Suddenly she had to know the answer.
“Teddy ...” She trailed off, realizing she had no clue what to say next.
“The truth?” He paused for a moment. “You. The answer was you .”
“What?” Her voice was just a whisper. He wasn’t making sense.
“If you asked me to stay, Summer ... then I would’ve stayed. For you.”
Did he just say what I think he just said?
There was no playfulness in his tone. It was scarily serious. And back came that stare. She searched his features for a smile, a smirk, a lip twitch. Anything. But there was nothing there.
“Why?” The question was out of her mouth before she even had time to contemplate whether she really wanted to know the answer.
“You know why, dollface.”
“I do?” Has he lost his mind?
“You’re really gonna pretend that you didn’t know I had a crush on you?”
“What?” He had a crush on me?! “What are you ... I don’t understand ... how was I supposed to ... y-you never said anything? I mean, you dated other girls.”
Teddy let out a laugh. But there was no humor in it. “Dated? Who the hell did I date? Huh? Come on ... tell me? In all the years you knew me growing up, name one girl I supposedly ‘dated’?”
“Becky Matthews.” Summer didn’t even hesitate to throw the name out there. The day she’d heard Teddy had slept with Becky, she’d locked herself in her room and cried all day and night.
“Becky Matthews?” he repeated, giving her an incredulous look. “I did not fucking date Becky Matthews.”
“Okay. Fine. You didn’t date her, but you did sleep with her.”
“What the hell are you talking about, Summer? I didn’t fucking sleep with her. I didn’t fucking sleep with anyone in high school! I went into the Navy a goddamn virgin. Did you not hear me when I said I was gone for you? Why the fuck would I sleep with some chick when I was into you?”
She couldn’t breathe. Her head was throbbing. He hadn’t slept with Becky. Or anyone. He’d actually had feelings for her, the same feelings she had for him. None of this made sense.
“She told me you slept together. Were sleeping together.” Her voice remained quiet while the pounding of her heart felt anything but.
“She lied, Summer.”
What the ever-loving fuck?
“I have no idea why. Probably the same reason Bobby Rhodes lied about you two hooking up.”
Their eyes locked as she processed his words. She wouldn’t have been able to look away from him even if she wanted to. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“About Becky?”
She watched Teddy’s head tilt.
“No.” Her head shook profusely, losing his eyes for a moment. “About how you felt. All those years and you never said anything. Why didn’t you say anything?”
At her words, he stood. His barstool scraping against the vinyl floor. Suddenly, he was in her space. One of his meaty thighs slipped between her and opened her jean-clad legs to him. The next thing she knew, his hand was at the back of her neck, gently tilting her head up while holding her firmly in place at the same time. The other hand was cupping her face, a callused thumb lazily stroking her cheek. What was happening?
“I tried once.” His face edged closer until his breath was tickling her lips. “After my first deployment. I came back here. To you. But when I got here ...”
“Colt,” she whispered.
Stupid Colt. No one was ever going to measure up to Teddy. But after learning about Becky, she figured he just didn’t see her like that. After, of course, he went and joined the Navy and left her in Bluestone. Alone. And then, at her lowest, in swoops Colton. It wasn’t her proudest moment.
His green eyes flared at Colt’s name. She watched in fascination as anger quickly dissolved and was replaced by lust. Seconds later, his pupils dilated and darkness overtook. His gaze darted to her mouth where she’d had the sudden urge to run her tongue along her lower lip.
Before her brain fully understood what was happening, his mouth was crashing down onto hers. There was no way she was going to waste any more time thinking now. Not when the taste of Teddy was sending her into sensory overload. His teeth scraped and tugged on her lower lip until she gasped. Once her mouth was parted, his tongue swept inside. Slowly, he explored, gliding back and forth, easily taking control of the kiss.
The more he teased, the more goosebumps broke out across her skin and the foggier her mind became. To keep herself steady, her hands went to his sides, inadvertently pulling him closer to her. When his thigh moved and pressed into her core, she couldn’t help but whimper.
His hands didn’t move, they simply kept her in place, occasionally tilting her head so he could take her deeper. Her hand movements though were less controlled. They slid to the front of his shirt, her fingernails digging into the hard ridges of his chest, as if she was checking to see if he was real. Going by the guttural groan vibrating from his stomach, Teddy seemed to approve.
His thigh pressed into her again. This time it was harder. She had the sudden urge to rub herself against him.
No. Bad Summer. Control yourself, woman.
She swallowed another growl-like noise Teddy made and knew right then she was in deep shit. Teenage Summer may have been smitten, but thirty-four-year-old Summer was screwed. This man had the power to break her, as in crumble into a million tiny pieces that no amount of superglue could fix.
The minute her brain switched back on, in time for her to contemplate just how screwed she was, Teddy’s exploration had slowed. As soon as his lips left hers, she drew in a deep breath. Now very aware of just how oxygen-deprived she was. That’s why she was breathing so hard, right?
With one last gentle caress of her cheek, he not only pulled away, but he also took a step back. Damn if that didn’t hurt. The instant loss of his heat made her shiver. At least that’s what she was telling herself.
“We have to stop.” His voice was gravelly. Harder. Rougher than she was used to.
Of course. They’d been drinking. This wasn’t a good idea. Oh God, was she taking advantage of him? Suddenly mortified, she scrambled up and off her stool. She didn’t miss how wobbly her legs were when she stood. It would take a while before she recovered from that kiss. There was also a possibility that she wouldn’t. Not ever.
“Uh, yeah, I should—” Summer started but was soon cut off.
“No, dollface. Don’t run.” His arms wrapped around her as he pulled her back into his big body. She found herself looking up again, staring back into those mesmerizing eyes. “Don’t think for one second I want to stop, Summer. I don’t. But if I feel you moan into my mouth one more time while I’m feasting on those cherry lips ... I’m not gonna be able to control myself.”
Oh. Well, shit.
“Yeah, oh,” Teddy grunted out. Wait, had she just said that out loud? Apparently whiskey was hell on her filter.
She didn’t know what to say. Talking in her head clearly wasn’t safe either. She needed to get out of there. Pull herself together. In private.
Carefully unraveling herself from his hold, Summer attempted to take a step back, but Teddy was right there. He didn’t touch her, simply moved with her, his gaze holding her in place.
“I mean it, Summer. Don’t run from me. You think I’ve waited this long to taste you, only to let you leave?”
She involuntarily gulped at the hunger she saw in his eyes.
“It’s late. Go to bed. I’ll come by at one tomorrow to pick you up and take you over to the ranch. We’ll talk. I’ll kiss you. We’ll enjoy our day. And then I’ll kiss you again.”
Well, all righty then.
The smile he graced her with made her wonder if she had just said that out loud too. Yes. It was definitely time for her to go to bed.