The Summer Place

CHAPTER TEN



SUMMER HURRIED TO CHANGE INTO her swimsuit and work her hair into a braid. She wasn’t sure if she was hurrying because of excitement, nerves or fear Rick would change his mind. After all, if she was Cinderella, this magic would end in an hour and thirty-seven minutes.

Rick stood up as she came back into the front room. “Ready?”

Her body’s response confirmed she was indeed ready—for much more than a swim in the moonlight.

“Not quite.” She held his gaze as she made a pass around the couch and came to stand in front of him. “If you don’t kiss me again pretty soon, I think I might scream.”

Desire was evident in Rick’s eyes as he leaned close. “Well, we wouldn’t want to wake the kids.” He leaned closer.

In an English lit class, she once heard that the most blissful moments in life occurred the split second before being touched by someone we care for. If all those moments were totaled, they would only add up to approximately seven minutes out of an entire lifetime. The people depicted in Keats’s “Ode on a Grecian Urn” were fortunate to have been captured in that moment forever.

She closed her eyes in anticipation, wishing this moment, with the warmth of Rick’s breath on her lips and the sound of it in her ears and her heart threatening to gallop away, could be captured forever.

His mouth brushed against hers in just a whisper of a touch that caused her breath to stutter in her chest. She inched closer as his fingertips feathered up her arms, and the pressure of his lips increased ever so slightly. Her arms slid around his waist as his hands moved up to cup the sides of her face. The strength in the muscles she could feel beneath her palms was such a contrast to his soft and tender caress, an urgent need to respond to both tugged and coiled inside her. He captured her whimper with a delicate sweep of his tongue before he broke away.

When she opened her eyes, he was still holding her face close to his. The heat in his gaze zinged through her, down to her toes. “Now, you have to promise not to scream before I can let you go.”

Faced with such a compelling decision, her brain whirred, trying to decide on the best course of action. Finally, she smiled. “Then I think I want to scream, but I’m too weak.”

He laughed and gave her another quick kiss before he loosened his grip.

They were leaving her cabin when Kenny came strolling along the path from the dining hall on his nightly rounds.

“We’re going for a swim, Kenny.” Rick held up the towel as apparent proof of their intentions.

A sarcastic chuckle pierced the air as Kenny passed them. “Call it whatever you want. You’re on your own time.”

Rick’s hand reached for hers as they wandered down the path to the beach, and she relinquished it gladly. This entire night had been a reminder of how romantic holding hands could be.

“So, you’ve been practicing some fairy princess magic on the sly, haven’t you?” She punched a playful elbow to his ribs.

“Me?” The trees along the path obscured the light enough that she couldn’t see his eyes.

“How else can you explain ten eight- and nine-year-old boys asking ten girls to dance and not a complainer in the bunch?” For hours, she’d been wondering how he’d accomplished such a feat. Now another possibility came to her. “Or did you threaten them with some especially heinous KP duty?”

He waved his hand nonchalantly. “Oh, that? That didn’t take a threat or magic. That took good old-fashioned bribery.” He grinned, and she could see the line of his white teeth break across his shadowed face. “Did I mention that Charlie’s rounding up some hand-crank freezers for homemade ice cream tomorrow night?”

“Food! I should have known.” When they laughed together, he squeezed her hand, and the butterflies materialized in her stomach again and took flight.

For several nights, the moon had been approaching full. As they broke through the stand of trees and onto the beach, the sight stopped them in their tracks.

A full moon floated in a cloudless sky above them. Its reflection cut a swath across the cove directly in front of them.

Without hesitation, they ran hand in hand, plunging headlong into the moon glade.

* * *

RICK WAS IMPRESSED WITH THE way Summer kept up to him. He was a stronger swimmer and didn’t give it his all, but she didn’t lag too far behind.

Kentucky Lake’s temperature had reached bathwater stage, perfect for night swims. They swam across the cove and back.

“Want to go again?” he asked.

“No way. Gotta rest.” Hard breathing cut the ends of her words. He tried not to focus on the way the sound excited him or how the lake surrounding him warmed even more because of it.

He reached shallow water first and waded over to wait for her, offering his hand to help her up. With one arm, he lifted her to a standing position, then kept it around her for support—and because it felt so damn good to have it there. He could feel her muscles quivering with fatigue as they stumbled to the towels they’d dropped. She plopped down on the towel he’d spread out while he fetched a couple of the life jackets to use as pillows.

When he stretched out beside her, she rolled over on her stomach and tucked her hands under the life preserver, turning her face toward him. She closed her eyes dreamily. “If I weren’t so excited, I think I could sleep right here.”

“Why are you excited?” He needed to hear her say it.

“Tonight with the dancing. Being here in the moonlight.” She paused and opened her eyes. “You.”

Had a word ever sounded so sexy before? Breathy and hot and... His wet swimsuit molded to him, making an embarrassing spectacle of the word’s effect. He started to roll onto his stomach, but Summer’s knuckles brushed his arm. He remained on his side, enjoying her touch and what it was doing to him.

Her gaze slid down him boldly as her finger drew a light pattern on his bicep. “You really are quite a hunk, you know that?”

The flush her words caused didn’t stop at his face. His entire body suffused with warmth. “And you’re very beautiful...and very direct.”

She grinned. “You’re very diplomatic, too...which is a genteel way of saying ‘a tight ass.’”

The unexpected twist in the conversation jarred a chuckle loose from Rick. He relaxed and shook his head. “Gotta love Southern women and their gentility.”

“Yeah, we learn early that we can get by with most any comment if we add a ‘bless your heart.’” She paused, and a gleam lit her eyes. “You can be a real pain in the ass, bless your heart.”

Rick didn’t try to contain his laughter. Summer had such a cute way about her. “You are a mischievous little imp.”

Their smiles collided and Rick noticed the way the moonlight glinted from the braid that curved off her back and curled under her arm. He couldn’t resist touching it. Catching the end, he gave it a soft tug. She responded, rising up on an elbow and leaning closer. He wound the braid around his hand, reeling her in like a mermaid out of the depths until their lips locked in a kiss that was anything but genteel.

Their tongues entwined and he rolled her onto her back, sliding an arm under her neck and the other around her tiny waist. She shifted against him and the kiss deepened, lasting until they were panting so hard they had to come up for air.

Her hand brushed his cheek. “We have a lot of getting to know each other to catch up on.”

He nodded. “I agree. Getting to know more about Summer Delaney is high on my list. Especially that wild-child part I keep hearing about.” He grinned and was rewarded with a poke in his ribs.

Her mouth pursed, and then her bottom lip dropped into a sensuous pout that Rick couldn’t pull his eyes away from. She sighed. “But we’ll have to get back in the water.”

The woman was a master of the unexpected. “Why?”

“Because talking is going to be the farthest thing from my mind if we stay here.”

Rick protested her logic. “Mine, too, but we can’t talk if we’re swimming.”

She pushed out of his arms, and he groaned at the loss. “But we can talk if we float.” Grabbing her life jacket, she rose to her feet and held her hand for him. “C’mon. I’ve got plenty to tell you. And maybe the water will cool you off.” She cocked her head with a look of feigned sympathy. “Bless your heart.”

* * *

“SEVEN.” SUMMER COUNTED the flash that emanated from the lightning bug’s tail as it moseyed its way across her bedroom ceiling. She’d taken to counting them instead of sheep as a means of calming her mind enough to fall asleep. So far it hadn’t helped.

Every time she closed her eyes, Rick Warren filled her brain. She could still feel the scorching heat of his good-night kiss, although almost an hour had passed since he’d walked her back to her cabin. The vibrant sound of his laughter still danced in her ears, and the breath from his whispers still crept down her spine. Every part of her was filled with him, it seemed—every part except the part that needed to be filled with him.

The lightning bug flashed. “Eight.” She sighed and punched her pillow to fluff it up a bit from where she’d been wallowing.

She shouldn’t even be thinking about sleeping with Rick. They’d just scratched the surface of getting to know each other. A few kisses—even extremely hot kisses—a night of dancing, two hours of talking. None of that constituted a romp in the sack anymore.

A couple of years ago, she wouldn’t have thought twice. But she was beyond that now, and she marveled a bit at her growth in character. The aching need at her core said it sucked, but the bubble of pride in her chest reminded her that the first two letters in idiot were id.

“We’re within view of twenty kids, my godparents and a night watchman,” she confided to the lightning bug, who flashed his tail in response. “Nine,” she counted, which also reminded her of the number of times she and Rick had kissed. “And he is my boss, technically.” That thought might sting more tomorrow, but tonight his kisses had been a balm that soothed that particular pain.

He’d listened to the story of her five colleges and eight majors with impeccable diplomacy, barely even cracking a smile as she’d confessed to her worthless degree in philosophy.

But getting him to talk about his years as a marine was like pulling teeth. That haunted look when she asked about his tattoo? She shuddered again thinking about it. His best friend’s dog tags. What kind of person carried around a constant reminder like that?

Of course, he’d been just as reticent to say much about his ex-girlfriend. He wasn’t one who would kiss and tell. But, wow! Could he kiss!

Rick was an enigma. “Ten.” A deliciously, intriguing enigma. The quintessential Southern gentleman. The heroic marine. The oh-so-politically-correct diplomat. So many layers of shellac—such a polished exterior.

She’d seen the flame in his eyes, however. Experienced the heat in his kiss. Felt the pounding beat of his heart when he held her close. She recognized the rhythm...the same wild beat her heart danced to.

If they ever slept together, which she shouldn’t even be thinking about, but since she was, she might as well let her brain complete the thought... “Eleven, or was that twelve?” She gave up on the lightning bug and closed her eyes.

If Rick ever ended up in her bed, she would break his wild side out of his shell to come play with hers, and they would dance to the pounding rhythm of their hearts.

Sort of like they’d square danced tonight except that this kind of dancing would be far, far from square. And it would happen so naturally, Rick wouldn’t know his guard was down until it was too late...bless his heart.

* * *

“ONE TWENTY-THREE, one twenty-four, one twenty-five.” Rick eased his weight off his arms, enjoying the feel of the cool wood floor against his stomach. The push-ups exhausted his body, but still his mind wouldn’t let go.

Kissing Summer was a mistake.

After dropping her off at her place, he’d come straight to his cabin and taken a cold shower. That had helped ease his physical discomfort some, but as soon as he’d lain on his bed, she was there with him in his imagination.

He’d gone for a two-mile run, which required a second cold shower. Hell, he’d never been so clean. After an hour or so of reading, he realized he was merely scanning words and had no idea what had occurred in those chapters.

A hundred and twenty-five push-ups and all he could think about was how it would feel to be performing a different kind of push-up with Summer beneath him.

He rolled over and sat up. Hmm. Sit-ups, maybe? He shook his head, disgusted with his lack of self-control, and finally surrendered to the call of his bed.

Three weeks. He could do this. He’d gone without sex for two years when he was on tours of duty. He could certainly survive three weeks. And if this budding relationship with Summer continued to thrive, it would be good for them to wait. It would be a character-building exercise.

He wouldn’t entertain the possibility of making love to Summer here at camp. It wouldn’t be prudent and certainly wouldn’t be proper. He needed to remain focused on the kids. They were the reason he was here...they were the reason for this tour of duty.

But how was he going to keep his upper brain focused on the kids when his lower brain stayed focused on Summer? The feel of her body pressed against him had imprinted on both of his brains, it seemed.

Would it be better to go ahead and make love to her? Maybe that would get it out of his system for a little while.

Hell, who was he kidding? If just kissing her was doing this to him, what would sleeping with her do? Her kisses were so hot. Holding her was like pulling the pin on a live grenade. Only he was the one who was about to explode.

A lightning bug landed on his ceiling, flashing its tail to call a mate...or maybe prey.

Poor bastard. I know exactly how you feel. “Two,” he counted aloud as the soft green light blinked again.

The obvious solution to this dilemma was to stop kissing Summer and avoid being alone with her.

So do I want to avoid being alone with her?

“Nope.”

Then am I going to keep kissing her, knowing the state it’s going to put me in?

“Absolutely...every chance I get.”

The lightning bug’s beacon glowed.

“Three. So I have your approval, then?”

It flashed again in affirmation.

“Four.” Rick smiled. “That’s good to know.”