Forever Summer (10 page)

Finally, he leaned back and looked into her green eyes and stroked her cheeks with his thumbs.  “You taste so good,
cara
.  Fresh and sweet.”  He leaned down for another taste, but Summer finally came out of the sensual daze he’d caused and put her hands on his chest, pushing him away weakly.

“Goodnight, Gabe.  It’s late.”

Gabe took a step back and looked at her.  “Yes, you’re right.  Goodnight, Summer.”  As hard as it was, he turned around and headed to his own door and heard her shut her door behind him.  He wasn’t feeling buzzed anymore, at least not from the alcohol he’d consumed earlier.  The only buzz he was feeling now had to do with desire.  Desire for Summer.  He could still taste her, and all he could think of was that he wanted more.  He wanted to kiss her more, to hold her more, to see more of her not only time wise, but more of what was hidden under her clothing. 
Diós,
he couldn’t remember the last time he’d been turned on by a simple kiss. 

Summer walked to the bedroom without seeing her surroundings.  Housekeeping had unpacked her clothes and she took out her silk, ivory nightie and got ready for bed.  After she turned out the lights, she touched her lips, where she could still feel Gabe’s kiss.  Good God, the man had skills.  She’d never been kissed like that before.  She’d had three brief affairs, two in college and one that had ended nearly two years ago.  All three men had been nice, and all three had wanted to continue seeing her when she’d called it quits.  The last man she’d been with accused her of having commitment issues.  None of them had made her feel a fraction of what she’d felt just now when Gabe had kissed her.

This was so not good.  Not good at all.  Gabe was her employer, and she never dated her bosses, despite several invitations.  Besides, he was obviously a player.  Good God, Celia was probably waiting for him in his room right now.  She hoped not.  The least he could do was go to her room, in case Marisol woke up.  Maybe he really was going to sleep alone, although the way Celia acted, the woman obviously felt possessive of Gabe.   Regardless, it was none of her business who he slept with as long as it wasn’t her, and there was no way she’d let that happen.  He’d obviously just had too much to drink and had probably confused her with someone else.  A lover type someone, rather than an employee type someone, which was exactly who she was.  For all she knew, he wouldn’t even remember the kiss tomorrow, having obviously over indulged himself at the bar.

But she would remember.  She seriously doubted that she would forget that kiss any time soon, say in the next decade.

Chapter Six

After a restless night with little sleep, Summer got up and went to early mass and got back in plenty of time to take Marisol on their Roman sightseeing trip.  She called Araceli and asked if she could bring the little girl to her room while she finished gathering her things.  In reality, she didn’t want to face Gabe after the kiss they’d shared the previous night.  She had no idea how she should act or what she would say when next they met.  If Araceli thought it an odd request, she didn’t say anything as she dropped off a very happy Marisol on Summer’s doorstep

The first stop they made was at a tourist camera shop where Summer bought a new digital camera to record their adventures, so they’d have something other than postcards to put in their scrapbook.  Then, they went to see the Coliseum and the Vatican Museum.

After eating lunch at a quaint sidewalk café, they returned to the hotel, and luckily ran into the nanny, so Summer sent Marisol with her.  The little girl thanked and hugged her, and Summer promised she would come by later that evening for some scrapbooking time while her daddy was giving his concert.

****

“Gabriel, why are you so restless,
mijo
?  You will wear a hole in the carpet if you persist in pacing like that.”

The words spoken by his mother finally penetrated his brain, and he stood still.  For a full thirty seconds.

“What troubles you, my son?”

“Nothing is wrong, Mamá.  I am just on edge about the show tonight?”

“Since when do you get nervous before a concert?”

“Do you think Summer would like tickets to the show again?”

His mother smiled a Cheshire cat smile.

“I only ask because we have extra tickets left to give away.  I know she just went a few days ago, but perhaps she’s bored.  On the other hand, perhaps she’s meeting Carlos on his motorcycle again.”  The sneer on his face brought a smile to his mother’s.

“Summer’s not meeting Carlos again tonight, Papá.  He was only able to see her yesterday.  Marcos is working, too.  Summer is coming over here tonight to work on our scrapbook.”

All eyes were on Marisol, most particularly her father’s.  “How do you know this
mijita
?  Did she tell you something about her boyfriend?”

Marisol was coloring a picture for Summer and after what seemed like a month of Sundays to Gabe, she looked up with a puzzled look on her face.

“Carlos is not Summer’s boyfriend, Papá.  Why do you think that?”

“He’s not?  Who is he then?”

She smiled her prettiest smile and responded, “Carlos is Summer’s cousin, Papá, not her boyfriend, silly.”

“Her cousin?  And Marcos?”

“He’s not her boyfriend either, Papá.  He lives with Carlos.  They’re roommates.”  The girl smiled happily and continued to work on her picture, so she didn’t see the big smile on her daddy’s face after he processed the information she’d just gifted him with.

“I’m hungry.  Anyone else hungry?  I think I’ll order room service.  Marisol, would you like some ice-cream?”

“Yes, Papá!  Do they have chocolate?”

“If they don’t, I’ll send someone out for it, how’s that?”

“
Muchas gracias, Papá
.  I love chocolate ice-cream.”

“You know what Summer says,
mi vida
.  Let’s not mix our Spanish with our English.”

****

Rome was the last stop on the European tour, and it was customary for the crew to have an after party.  Gabe had Pablo call Summer and the nanny to invite them both to the party.  The nanny accepted, and Summer declined.  No surprises there.  Summer did, however, agree to stay with Marisol, so the nanny could attend.  Perfect.

For the first time ever, Gabe made only a brief appearance at the party and slipped out rather than stay and hang out with his people.  When Celia asked Araceli where Gabe was, she responded that she’d just seen him, and that she was sure he’d be right back.  Araceli knew exactly what, or more aptly who, Celia was after.  The woman had wanted to sink her claws into Gabe for years.  Gabe should have set her straight long ago, but being an oblivious male, he continued to let her ride his coattails.  She didn’t like the woman.  Summer on the other hand …

Gabe grabbed a bottle of champagne on his way out and went upstairs to his room.  Using his key to let himself in, he found Summer on the couch reading.  She looked up as he entered the room and immediately tensed, closing her book.

“Gabe!  I thought you’d be at the party.  Is everything alright?”

“Sure, everything is fine.  I thought I’d check on Marisol and bring you some champagne.  It was so thoughtful of you to agree to babysit, I thought it was the least I could do.”

“Oh, no problem.  Marisol is asleep, of course, but by all means, go right in.  Not that you need my permission of course.  Of course you don’t.”

“Summer, you seem a little nervous.  Is everything alright with you?”

“Of course, everything’s fine.  Great, in fact...  I mean I’m a little tired, but I’ve had a busy couple of days.”

“Yes, you have.  I was surprised you weren’t meeting your cousin again tonight.”

“How did you know Carlos was my cousin?  He’s working, so I won’t be able to see him again this trip.”

“Family is very important to you, is it not?”  Gabe continued to advance toward the couch, and stopped across from Summer with only the coffee table between them.  “Shall I open this?”

“Ah, sure.  Didn’t you want to check on Marisol?”

“Yes, I will shortly.  We were talking about family?”

“No, you were talking about family.”

“Actually, I was asking about the importance of family and how you felt about it.  You seem very close to your grandmother and cousin.  I was wondering if the rest of your family was close, also.”  He popped the top off the champagne and went to the mini fridge and took out some strawberries he’d ordered earlier, carrying them over to the couch with two champagne flutes and taking the seat next to her.

“I don’t usually like to talk about my family.  I suppose I’m like you that way.  In all the interviews I’ve ever read, there’s very little information given about your family.”

“No, there’s not.  However, if you’ll recall, I shared the sad but true story of my brief marriage with you.  The least you could do is share a little of your story with me, ¿
que no
?”

“Not much to tell, really.  My mother died when I was eight.  My father remarried less than a year later, and I went away to Switzerland to attend a very exclusive boarding school for girls from affluent families.  From there, I went to college, and afterwards I started working.”

“When you tell it like that, there isn’t much to tell, you’re right.  What are you leaving out?  How did a little girl raised by a mother aptly named Sunny become such a serious woman?  Have you ever tried strawberries and champagne mixed together?  Here, have some.”  He held a dripping strawberry to her mouth, and she took a bite.  He watched a drop of champagne drip down her chin and caught it with his fingertip, bringing it to his own mouth.  “What do you think?”

“Think?”  Summer couldn’t take her eyes off of his mouth, even after he extracted his finger.  Damn.

“About the strawberries and champagne?  About how you became so serious?  About life in general?  Take your pick.”

Summer shook her head in an attempt to focus on the conversation, but for the life of her, she couldn’t string two words together, much less two thoughts.  No, the only thought she could concentrate on was how those very sexy lips had felt against hers the night he’d kissed her.

“Let’s try another question, Summer.  Have you been avoiding me today?”  He reached over and set his glass on the coffee table and dipped another strawberry into it, holding it up to her mouth once again for another sample.  This time he caught the falling drop with his tongue, licking his way to her mouth. 

Gabe traced the outside line of her lips and then their seam, with his tongue coaxing her to allow him passage inside.  When she opened for him, he sank into the kiss, tasting champagne, strawberries, and desire.  The hands she’d placed against his chest in an effort to hold him off betrayed her and rose to loop around his neck to pull him closer.

Gabe cradled her cheek in one hand and slid his other arm around her waist.  He kissed her deeply, and his lips wandered down to her chin, licking the remnants of the champagne and down her neck.  Summer closed her eyes and tried to find the strength to push him away without one bit of success.  It had been so long since she’d let anyone this close to her, and God, the man was good at seduction.