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“Daddy always has said you like lyin’ to yourself.” Aunjenue shook her head, though her expression wasn’t in the least accusatory.
“Oh be quiet now,” Summer demanded, unable to hold back another grin. “I just have to figure out the right words to use, that’s all. They didn’t know about the parties—that will be the part that pisses them off the most.”
They didn’t know because her family hadn’t invited them. They had always received invitations whenever her mother threw a party for whatever reason. They’d be instantly suspicious when they learned they hadn’t received an invitation to these particular parties.
“Momma did notice when we saw their names on the list of men not to invite,” Aunjenue told her. “Momma was very amused and I believe Daddy called Davis Allen to see why such eligible men were bein’ blacklisted by you.” She rolled her eyes in amusement.
Oh, that was just wonderful. No doubt her daddy knew everything there was to know about Raeg and Falcon now. Especially the fact that they were prone to share their lovers. She couldn’t see her daddy liking that much. And she knew he’d have something to say about it. And sooner rather than later, no doubt.
“What did Davis Allen tell him?” she asked, almost afraid to know.
“Daddy didn’t tell me. He wouldn’t tell me,” she amended. “But he told Momma he should have locked you in your bedroom the first time you mentioned Raeg.”
There were times she wished he had, Summer thought whimsically. Raeg and Falcon were going to break her heart, she could feel it coming. And that was one of the reasons she’d run from DC as she did.
She was so weak, it was pathetic.
“I do still have friends in DC myself though, big sis,” Aunjenue said just when Summer thought she was safe. “And I know those boys have an intriguing little habit where their lovers are concerned.” She wagged her brows suggestively. “No wonder you can’t make up your mind which one you love. It’s one for all and all for one.”
Summer groaned, dropping her head before shooting her sister a look of retaliation.
“I said—”
“Oh phooey on what you said.” Aunjenue rose from her chair, obviously laughing at her. “I know you better than you think I do, sweetie. Now, I’m gonna go get ready. Aunt Mary and Calista will be at the house in a couple of hours, and Calista is bringin’ that little baby of hers. I can’t wait to just snuggle her.”
Their cousin’s newborn was only six weeks old, a black-haired, blue-eyed little darling Summer had been dying to hold herself.
“I’ll be there in a bit,” Summer promised. “I want to get my tablet and the notes I made.”
“Well, take your time,” Aunjenue suggested. “Mike Taggart was at the house when I left. I think he’s still tryin’ to convince Caleb and Daddy to sell him that piece of land he’s been after. Hopefully, he’ll be gone soon.”
Great. Mike Taggart wasn’t her favorite person. How the man had managed to remain friends with her brothers she couldn’t figure out.
“I’ll slip in the back,” Summer told her. “Just be watchin’ for me.”
Aunjenue gave a low laugh before walking quickly from the porch and along the walk to her parents’ back porch.
Gathering up the coffee tray, Summer carried it to the door and pushed into the kitchen to place it in the sink. Two cups were drying in the dish rack, and she could see that several pastries along with a good bit of the fruit had been eaten.
Raeg and Falcon weren’t really all about breakfast. Lunch and supper, yes; a heavy breakfast, not so much. Falcon did love his sweets though.
Washing the coffeepot and cups quickly, she dried her hands and headed upstairs to collect her tablet. She hadn’t heard Falcon or Raeg in the house, and she was sincerely hoping they were with her daddy as they’d planned the night before to check out the property’s security.
Having them there in her home was a bit problematic for her, she admitted. She hadn’t wanted memories of them there, nor had she wanted the temptation. Once she’d made up her mind about the course of her future, she’d put the fantasy of having the two men as lovers behind her as well.
There could never be anything more than that between them, she told herself. Raeg had already warned her once in the past that he would take her as a lover for a night or two but never as a wife.
She was a one-night stand, Raeg had decided years ago. And Falcon would never be truly happy with any woman he didn’t share with his brother, she’d known that. They did not take their lovers separately, and she hadn’t wanted to accept being nothing more than a single night of fun and games for the two men who meant far more to her than she was comfortable admitting.
The question now was whether she wanted to throw away the chance to pretend for just a little while that she had what she couldn’t seem to stop fantasizing about. They were here, and they were determined to stick around long enough to take Dragovich down, which would at least give her a little more time with them.
She could hold them, love them while they were here, and then she’d let them go when the time came. It would destroy her, break her heart, and leave her wounded forever, but she would let them go.
And she had a really bad feeling t
hat the reason for these parties was pretty much in vain. Once Raeg and Falcon were gone, she wouldn’t want another man or another man’s baby. She’d be alone, and that had always been Summer’s own vision of hell. Old and alone, with no one of her own to love her.
As bleak as such a future would be, and she knew “bleak” was a mild description, she also knew she couldn’t resist them. She’d already had a taste of them, their touch, their possession.
