Chapter 7
She shouldn’t have touched him. She shouldn’t have let herself feel how hard he was, how big he was. She shouldn’t have sat down on the bench and talked to him. She should have stuck to the phone.
And she should never have told him about her stepbrother.
Some of her stories were tall tales, some extensively embellished with just a core of truth.
But what happened with her stepbrother didn’t need any embellishment.
She remembered it so well; all the times they’d sneaked into each other’s rooms. She hadn’t been in love with Aiden.
He hadn’t been in love with her. It was just teenage hormones.
Experimentation. Sex lessons. He taught her how to come hard, how to come by herself, how to come when he was licking her, how to give a blow job, how to swallow and love it.
She’d never told her husband, not even when he made her suck him off while he watched a porn flick.
She just knew there’d be a double standard, that he’d somehow use it against her.
Some things were fine for a man, but not for a woman.
He’d never touched her while they watched porn.
Never even tried. But she’d still gotten off even if she had to put her finger to herself while she was riding him.
She’d never told anyone about Aiden, not even Lee, never even used it as a fantasy with Paul.
Yet she’d told Knox Turner. And he’d enjoyed it.
He’d have loved if she’d told him she’d gone all the way with Aiden too.
But she’d decided this story should be the truth.
She wouldn’t exaggerate to make it better. It was so damn good on its own.
God, how she’d wanted Knox to touch her. But he hadn’t. She’d been the one to do the touching. She’d been the one to turn the phone sex into something physical.
And she was the one sitting here all alone on a sunny Saturday afternoon in her townhouse waiting for him to call so he could jerk off to her voice.
But Knox didn’t call. She wondered if, in hindsight, her story about her stepbrother had horrified him.
She could tell him she made it up, that she’d searched for something that might get him going. But would he believe her?
What she absolutely could not do was sit here and ruminate, imagining the worst. So she called Lee. “How about a run or a hike or just a coffee?”
They skipped the workout and decided on coffee, meeting in their favorite café where the tables were far apart and the conversation was muted. And Summer told her everything about her walk in the park with Knox.
“That’s crazy.” Lee pressed a hand over her mouth to stifle a gasp.
“I know.” Summer had related the whole story—from the phone calls to the walk in the park, everything except her stepbrother. As much as she loved and trusted Lee, Summer had never told her about Aiden. “I’ve never felt more alive, never felt sexier or more desirable.”
Lee gave her a long, assessing look. “I thought we’d already decided he’s a dangerous man.”
Summer sighed, conceding the point. “But it’s not like I’m considering a relationship with him.”
“I’m not talking about that.” Lee leaned in, her voice low. “You work with him on this joint venture. He’s a VP. And you’re a—” She stopped herself.
“A lowly manager. I know.”
“I didn’t mean it like that,” Lee insisted. “You’re not a lowly anything. But there is a power dynamic in play here that isn’t in your favor.”
She was well aware. “And I’m just starting at a new company too.” Summer waved her hand, as if she were swiping the slate clean. “But we’re purely professional at work. No one ever has to know.”
Summer sipped her chai latte. The café hummed with background noise—the chatter of people in line at the counter, the clatter of cups, the rush of steam from the espresso machine, the occasional burst of laughter—but most of the tables sat empty.
Outside, sunshine drew people into the streets, walking dogs, shopping, shepherding kids to the park.
The park. Just the thought of it sent a little buzz through her veins.
“I’m just saying you should be careful with this guy. You have a lot more to lose than he does.”
“I know you’re right.” Summer nodded. “But it won’t come to anything like that. He wants to keep it on the down-low just as much as I do.”
Lee let out a sharp laugh. “That walk in the park was anything but on the down-low.”
Despite the seriousness of the conversation, Summer smiled. “Is it awful to say that I enjoyed the risk?”
Lee leaned back in her chair and reached up to tighten her ponytail, silky black strands sliding through her fingers.
Her mouth tilted in the faintest smile. “A little risk makes everything hotter. Don’t you remember the time Blaine and I did it in the airport garage when I picked him up from his flight? ”
The memory sizzled through Summer’s blood. “Boy, do I remember that story.”
“It was so hot,” Lee murmured, eyes drifting shut for a moment as if reliving it.
“But I’d never do it again. There could’ve been a cop.
We could’ve been arrested.” Lee leaned forward again, her tone gentler.
“I just don’t want you to come out on the short end of the stick with this…
’’ She waggled her hand. “…whatever it is.”
“I’m not going to. Because it’s not a relationship. Except for this morning, it’s all been on the phone. What could be safer?”
“But it’s escalating. Don’t you see that?”
Summer didn’t answer. She hadn’t told Lee that Knox was only reacting to the fantasies she spun for him—that she fed him those sparks. Just as she’d never told Lee about her stepbrother. Some secrets you kept to yourself, no matter how close you were.
So why had she told Knox about Aiden? The question still rolled around in her head. Maybe it was because he so loved her stories. Because she knew he would love that one the most.
After another sip of chai, she said, “I’ll be very careful. Promise.”
Lee laughed. “God, I sound like your mother, don’t I?”
“Yes, you do.” Summer smiled.
“Then go forth and enjoy. You deserve it after the asshole.”
They never used her ex-husband’s actual name.
He was simply the asshole. He hadn’t always been one, not really—just a man who wanted things exactly the way he wanted them.
Yes, he was controlling, and yes, he sometimes made her feel that their less-than-stellar sex life was her fault.
And while her life might have looked different if she hadn’t let him push her into doing what he wanted, her daughters had gained a stay-at-home mom.
That had been good for them. It had been good for her too.
“Thank you for all the support,” she said, the words heartfelt.
Lee blew her a kiss. Then she checked her watch and jolted. “Oh my God, where did the time go? I’d better take off.” A mischievous smile tugged at her lips. “Blaine’s taking me to the theater tonight in the city. We’re staying over.”
“What brought that on?”
Lee fluttered her eyelashes. “I told him I needed some hot screaming sex. And I didn’t want his mother to overhear.”
Summer burst out laughing. “I can’t believe she’s staying with you for a whole month.”
“I think she just wants to get away from Blaine’s dad. But she’s sending us off on a night on the town with her blessing.” Lee grinned. “She’s probably figured out about the hot screaming sex too.”
Summer smiled, genuinely happy for her friend. Lee had a fabulous job, a wonderful marriage, and an amazing husband.
But still—Summer wouldn’t have minded a little hot screaming sex of her own. Something real, not just on the phone.
Not that hot, screaming sex over the phone wasn’t very, very good. Especially when Knox was on the other end of the line.
“Did you jerk off thinking of me this afternoon after our walk?” she asked. Though she waited for him to call after the park, he’d waited until tonight.
Summer lay in the dark on her bed, a warm breeze blowing through the open sliding glass door. The feel of it was like gentle fingers on her bare skin.
“No, I didn’t,” he told her. “I was saving it for you and tonight.” Then he laughed. “But I admit to having blue balls all afternoon.”
She laughed at him. “Serves you right. You should’ve jerked off.”
“It’ll be so much better this way. I like it with your voice in my ear.”
Oh, how she liked it that way too. She might even be addicted. “All right. But now it’s your turn. Tell me about the first time you had sex.”
He chuckled. “I was a late bloomer compared to you. I didn’t do it until the night of the senior prom.”
“Oh, American Pie style. Did you and your friends make bets on who was going to lose their virginity?”
“You’re kidding, right? I wouldn’t admit to those guys that I’d never had sex.”
“You were probably captain of the football team too.”
“How did you know?” he asked with just a hint of snark or sarcasm.
“You just give off that vibe.”
“Yeah, I was captain of the football team. Which made it a double imperative that I never admit I was a virgin.”
“So, like, you never did anything? A blow job? Not even a hand job?”
He laughed, and it felt like caramel syrup on her tongue. “Yes, I got a hand job. My first one was from Sandy Holloway when I was thirteen. We were experimenting, learning how to get each other off.”
“Then you’re not a late bloomer at all. You started earlier than me. What about your first blow job?”
“That was Temperance Renshaw when I was fifteen.”
“Temperance?” She allowed himself a giggle.
“She was rebelling against her religious parents.”
“And you spread it all around that Temperance didn’t have any temperance.”
“I never told anyone.” There was a chuckle in his breath. “I wanted her to do it again and telling her secret would have screwed my chances.”
“She wasn’t your girlfriend?”
“I didn’t have a girlfriend when I was in high school.”
“Can you see my mouth gaping?”
“Why? You didn’t have a boyfriend.”
“Touché. But weren’t all the cheerleaders dying to date the captain of the football team?”