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“Yes.”
“The three college grads were the ones who started Ryder?”
“They were. And while I was doing that, I was helping my business partners work on a medical company, a start-up within the finance industry, a consulting firm… My brother has spent the same years managing an already mature business. Sometimes, he’ll scout locations for new hotels. Sometimes.”
“You like the new,” she says. “The untested.”
“I like there to be stakes, and there are very few in managing the Winter corporation.”
* * *
I’m standing with my back to the kitchen, hands in pockets, when Ace’s claws against the hardwood floors signal Summer’s arrival. He’s rarely far from where she is. I keep my gaze on the sunset outside the window.
Ignoring the kiss between us had been difficult enough during the day. Spending the evening with her without demanding another will be torture.
But the idea of leaving feels far worse.
“You’re done with work?” she asks. “How did it go?”
“It went well.”
“Did you get something to eat?”
“Yes.”
There’s a soft rustle of fabric behind me. It’s not difficult to imagine her snuggling up on the couch, bare legs pulled up beneath her. One vulnerable ankle peeking out.
“Thank you for today,” she says. “Truly, Anthony, I don’t know how to thank you for this entire weekend. Letting me stay here, the windsurfing, I don’t… well. Thank you.”
“You shouldn’t thank me.”
“I shouldn’t?”
“No.” A low ache at my temples signal another migraine, an unwelcome reminder of what I’ll never forget. “I’ve never enjoyed being in this house. But I have this weekend.”
“Anthony…”
I turn toward her, unable to resist any longer. “Yes?”
She rises from the couch and covers the distance between us, bare-footed and with her blonde curls tumbling around her shoulders. Freckles dance across her nose and uncertainty is bright in her eyes. “Should I apologize for last night?”
“No, Summer.”
“Are you sure? You shut yourself into your office as soon as we got back from the beach.” She moves closer, and every nerve in my body lights up. “Anthony, I don’t understand quite what—”
I kiss her.
Her soft gasp ricochets through me and a rubber band of want pulls taut and snaps inside me. My mouth moves over hers, again and again, teasing her full lips open. Her hands lock around my neck and fit there like they were meant to be.
Like she’s always been made for my arms.
Her lips are too soft to tear myself away, but I do it, raising my head to meet her eyes. Needing to know how she feels.
She gives a dazed laugh. “Wow. So you do find me attractive.”
“Of course I do.” I shift my mouth to her cheek, wanting her soft skin beneath my lips. “It wasn’t about that. Never about that.”
“Then why… oh.” Her breath turns shaky when I move my lips down her neck. Her hair is still damp from the shower earlier, and the scent of shampoo and Summer mixed together is the headiest of perfumes.
