Hot Nights Forever (Hot Summer Series) (6 page)

            Brian rolled over in bed and reached for
Stephanie, only to find empty space.  He sat up and looked around his room and
knew she was still in his apartment.  Brian heard the muffled sound of the T.V.,
smelling bacon, eggs, and coffee.  Swinging his feet onto the floor and
grabbing a T Shirt, Brian made his way across his bedroom. 

            Coming up behind her, Brian wrapped his arms
around her waist.  “Good morning.”  He nuzzled her neck with is mouth.

            “Hi.  Are you hungry?”  Stephanie turned around
and put her arms around his neck.

            “Mmm.  You smell good and so does breakfast.” 
Brian reached around and grabbed a piece of bacon.  Quickly turning away from
her hand that was trying to get the bacon back, he laughed and sat down at one
of the bar stools.

            “Glad to see you feeling better today.”  Stephanie
took the scrambled eggs out of the pan and put them on two plates.

            Brian finished the bacon and licked his fingers. 
“I am.  What’s your plan today?” 

            “Kara called and invited me to have lunch.” 
Stephanie turned to pour coffee for herself.  She opened the frig to get out
the orange juice for Brian. 

            “That should be interesting.  I got a call and
it went to voicemail.  It was the doctor’s office saying that they had an
opening today and could see me.”  Brian had already eaten half of his eggs and
bacon.       

            Stephanie took a sip of her coffee and smiled at
his returning appetite.  “Are you going to go today or wait?” 

            “I’ll go today.  It sounds like you and Kara are
hitting it off.”  Brian finished his breakfast and got up to take his plate to
the sink.

            “She was so nice and helpful when you were in
the hospital.  Kara has become a good friend in such a short time.”  Stephanie
thought of the no nonsense way Kara handled situations.  

            Brian walked around the bar and stood behind
Stephanie.  He lifted her hair away from her neck and began trailing kisses
along her spine.  “You are so sexy in the mornings.” Brian pulled away and took
a seat beside her so she could finish her breakfast. 

            “You’re not so bad yourself.”  Stephanie
finished her eggs and drank that last of her coffee.  “I need a shower.  Do you
want to join me?” 

            “Baby, I could never turn down an invite like
that.”  Brian took her dishes to the sink and followed her to his bedroom. 

Stephanie took an open trolley to
meet Kara at a local restaurant in Downtown.  When she arrived, Kara was
already seated at an outdoor table.  She smiled when she saw Stephanie coming
down the sidewalk.

            “Hi.  Glad you could make it.”  Kara passed her
a menu to order from.

            Stephanie opened the trifold card and laid it on
the table in front of her.  “I’m glad I could too.  Where are your kids?  I
thought they would be here too?”

            “I left them at the daycare center to get some
adult time.”  Kara smiled and rubbed her belly.  “This one is still easy to
take care of.” 

            “Your kids are sweet and well behaved but I know
you need a break every once and a while.”  Stephanie glanced down at the list
of foods and decided on a crab mango salad.

            They both placed their orders and handed the
waitress the menus.

            “I hope I’m not being too forward by suggesting
this but Aaron and I thought this was a great idea.”  Kara took a sip of her
water and looked carefully at Stephanie. 

            “You have my curiosity peaked.  What’s your
idea?”  Stephanie unfolded her napkin and placed it in her lap.

                   “Brian has been guy talking with Aaron
about you and we think that he is completely head over heels.  He mentioned to
Aaron that you didn’t get your contract renewed for this year and I was
wondering how you felt about teaching here in Savannah?” 

            Stephanie swallowed her water the wrong way and
began coughing.  “Wow.  I didn’t see that coming.”  She dabbed her napkin at
her mouth.  “Well I certainly love it down here and I really enjoy spending
time with Brian but we’ve only known each other a little over a month. 
Besides, I know how hard it is to get in a school when you’re from out of
state.”

            “Well it just so happens that a friend of mine
is a principal at a school for children with disabilities and she needs a
teacher before school starts.  I’ll be more that glad to give her your name.”

            “I really enjoy working with students with
disabilities but I’ll need to think about it.  Can I get back with you at the
end of the week?”    Stephanie’s mind was spinning at the possibilities this
could hold. 

            Stephanie and Kara finished their lunch and
began talking about the latest fashion and Kara’s house that was being
remolded.

            Brian had gotten the green light to go back to
work from the doctor but he would be on light duty for another 2 weeks.  He was
ready to get this accident behind him a move on.  Since he had been home from
the hospital, Brian had really been thinking about just how short life could
be.  He had also been thinking more and more about his feelings towards
Jennifer.  She was the most amazing woman he had ever met and his feelings for
her were real.  Just taking that first step in voicing those feelings to the
other person was scary as hell.

            He was meeting Jennifer at one of the smaller,
more secluded Squares in Downtown.  After making a few stops first, he made his
way down York Street and saw her outside the Liberty Square.

            “Hi.  What do you have there?” Stephanie asked
with a smile.

            Holding up the canvas bags and giving her a sexy
wink, he motioned for her to walk into the square.  “It’s a little something I
picked up on the way.”

            He set the bags down and reached in the larger
one.  Brian pulled out a navy blue fleece blanket and laid it out on the grassy
lawn.  From the smaller bag, he removed a bottle or wine, two small wine
glasses, and a box of chocolate covered strawberries. 

            “If you’re trying to impress me, it’s done,”
Stephanie said as she took in the thoughtfulness of what he had done. 

            Brian placed everything on the top corner of the
blanket and pulled her into his body.  “Baby, I’m trying to play catch-up with
everything you have done for me this past week.”

            “You would have done the same thing for me.” 
Stephanie rested her head on his muscular chest and breathed in his wonderful
masculine scent.

            “I don’t even what to think about you hurt even
a fraction of what I was.”  A shutter went through Brian’s body and he motioned
for them to sit on the blanket.

            He uncorked the wine bottle and poured them both
a glass.  Then Brian took a chocolate covered strawberry and held it up for
Stephanie.  She parted her lips and waited.  Brian took the strawberry and
traced her upper then lower lips before letting her have a bite. 

            “Mmm, that’s good.”  Stephanie savored the
sweetness of the chocolate mixed with the tartness of the strawberry. 

            “It’s so sexy to watch you enjoy food.  Those
lips of yours have me thinking of other things.”  Brian reached over and kissed
the corner of her mouth where there was a drop of strawberry juice. 

            “Well it’s still daylight so we won’t be able to
do anything here.  How was your appointment with the doctor?”  Stephanie
reached over for her wine and took a sip.

            Brian recounted to major highlights of the
appointment and that he would be returning to work.  “I need to call the
Captain and see when he wants me back.”

            Stephanie took a deep breath.  “I don’t want to
wear out my welcome but I need to tell you something.  At lunch today Kara told
me of a school that was hiring a classroom teacher.  She said the principal is
a friend of hers and she would put in a word for me but I told her to wait
because I wanted to talk to you first.” 

            Brian put his wine glass down and slid closer to
her.  “I wanted to talk to you about that too.  Aaron told me about the teaching
job and I wanted Kara to mention it to you.”  Brian held her hand and rubbed
his thumb across her knuckles.  “Look, I know that we haven’t known each other
very long but I have never cared about someone as much as I care about you.  I
want you to move here.  You don’t have to move in with me if it’s too soon for
you but I would be one happy man if you did.” 

            “I’ve had deep feelings for you since that first
night we met.  I would love to move down here with you!”  Stephanie couldn’t
believe what she was hearing.

            “Stephanie, I…I love you.”  Brian closed the
small space between them and sealed their lips together.  He poured all of his
feelings into this kiss.

            When they finally broke away, Stephanie looked
into his beautiful blue eyes.  “I love you too.  I didn’t think it was possible
to fall in love with someone this soon but I’ve loved you from the start.”

            “Baby, you are going to make me one happy man. 
I would love nothing more than spend days with you like this and have hot
nights with you forever.”     

I hope you enjoyed reading this book as much I enjoyed
writing it.

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