Stacey Joy Netzel Boxed Set (15 page)

She placed her other hand on my chest. There
was no doubt she felt the crazy thudding of my heart, but I didn’t
care.

“I liked you in high school,” I told her,
reaching up to thread my fingers through her hair and cup the back
of her neck. “I like you even more now.”

“I know the feeling.”

She didn’t resist as I drew her forward.

“Sucks that you live in Florida,” I
whispered against her lips.

I didn’t really give her a chance to reply
before kissing her. She didn’t seem to care. Not even when I held
her in my arms and dragged her over with me until we were lying on
the couch—her on top this time. I thoroughly enjoyed the advantage
of having my hands free.

Summer rested her forehead against mine. I
couldn’t believe my luck, from meeting her on the road to spending
time with her tonight and clearing the air. For the first time in
years I had a woman in my arms I never wanted to let go.

I ran my fingers through her hair, holding
it back so I could see her face. “How long are you here for?”

“My return flight is Sunday afternoon.”

“Hmm. Doesn’t give me much time to remind
you of all the good things about Wisconsin, does it?”

She laughed. “Are there positives for a
state that has snow in May?”

I skimmed my palms down her back, traced the
bare line between her waistband and sweatshirt, and then eased up
the hem of her sweatshirt. Compared to my rough fingertips, her
skin was so soft and smooth. “I can think of a few.”

“I don’t know…every time I’m in Wisconsin,
one way or another, I get ditched.”

Her light, teasing tone confirmed I’d been
forgiven and my chuckle was guilt-free. “Well, I can’t do anything
about your driving…”

“Careful,” she warned with a grin.

“…but I
can
promise the other
won’t ever happen again. Not by me.”

“I like the sound of that.”

She placed a quick kiss on my mouth before
shifting down to lay her head on my chest. Clothes did not detract
from the sensual slide of her body against mine. I tried to adjust
so my interest wasn’t so noticeable, but there was no hiding the
obvious with her sprawled out on top of me. Deciding she’d move if
it bothered her, I switched my attention to a back rub.

A few minutes later, she hummed her
appreciation. “What else you got? To sell me on Wisconsin, I
mean.”

I started with the easy ones: the Green Bay
Packers and Wisconsin cheese. Having grown up here, she was on
board with both of them. So I listed a couple more I was pretty
sure she’d appreciate after having gotten to know her tonight: the
House on the Rock in Spring Green, Summerfest in Milwaukee, county
fairs, and all the great hiking trails, lakes and beautiful
waterfalls.

I was going for the hard-sell, but when I
mentioned the goats on the roof of Al Johnson’s in Door County, her
low sound of agreement made me wonder if she wasn’t on the verge of
falling asleep.

“And someday I can take you to the Road Kill
Museum in Madison, or we could go to Wisconsin Dells to the Museum
of Historic Torture Devices.”

Wait for
it
…

Or not—

She slapped my chest. “Now you’re just
making things up.”

“No I’m not—I’ve been to both.”

“By yourself I hope.”

“What? Not a good date?”

“Oh, God. No wonder you’re not married.”

I laughed. Teasing her was so fun. I shifted
to a more comfortable position and kept talking until her even
breathing told me she’d fallen asleep. I lay awake awhile longer,
holding her in my arms, thinking back over the entire evening and
marveling at the unexpected outcome of a night I’d almost
ditched…

I woke to the feel of warm lips moving
across the stubble on my chin. Okay, good…last night wasn’t a
dream. I stretched, bit back a grimace from the crick in my neck,
and opened my eyes to find Summer watching me.

“Hey.”

“Hey yourself.”

I smiled. She smiled. Before I could do more
than think about kissing her, she leaned forward and kissed me
first. Pain faded into the background as I concentrated on the
sensation of her lips on mine.

Better than coffee. Better than sunshine.
Better than a shower…though I’d need a cold one if we kept this up
for much longer.

I downshifted with a few short kisses and
then said, “The Nelson Inn serves breakfast. You got any special
requests?”

She pushed off the couch and held out a hand
to pull me up. “Coffee.”

“That’s a given. Anything else?”

“Nope. I’m easy.”

“Yeah?” I waggled my eyebrows.

That earned me an eye roll and a shove back
to the couch. But as she headed out of the room, she tossed a smile
over her shoulder. I chuckled and went to start the coffee. When I
heard the shower in the guest bathroom, I hurried through one of my
own and made it back to start the omelets before she took a seat at
the island counter.

Our breakfast conversation was relaxed and
natural, though talk about the future was conspicuously absent. She
didn’t bring up Florida, and after my pointed comments last night
about Wisconsin, I resisted pushing the subject further. I’d made
my feelings clear, so the ball was in her court. For now, I simply
enjoyed her company. Enjoyed actually having company in the morning
instead of muttering to myself or the TV as I cleaned up alone.

We retrieved her rental car from M & M’s
and then met Jenna and Doug for lunch. Jenna gave me the evil eye
until Summer told her we’d put the past in the past. By the end of
the meal, it felt like four of us had been friends for years. So
much so, that when Jenna suggested Summer and I come over to their
house for dinner, I quickly interjected we’d already made plans and
then caught Doug’s understanding grin.

Well,
I’d
made plans. I just hadn’t asked
Summer yet. I held my breath as I waited for her response and
relaxed with a smile when she followed my lead with an apology to
Jenna. It was only dinner, but I wanted as much time with Summer as
possible.

Afternoon bowling was fun and infuriating at
the same time. I hadn’t kissed her since that morning and wasn’t
too sure how she’d react if I laid one on her right in front of
everyone. Besides, once I started kissing her again, I wouldn’t
want to stop, so it was best if I waited for us to be alone
again.

That said, you’d think dinner would’ve
dragged, too, right?

Nope.

And then there was dessert. She suggested we
head back to my place and I figured she meant hot chocolate again,
or maybe a dish of ice cream from my freezer.

Boy did I have it wrong.

She
had it right. As a rule, I don’t kiss and tell, so all I’m
going to say is I
love
Summer’s definition of dessert.

Sunday, she left.

Yes, that’s right,
she
left
. My
arms, my house, the whole damn state.

I mean, we said goodbye and everything.
Exchanged phone numbers and email addresses, but she didn’t say a
single word about wanting to see me again. I wanted to keep seeing
her, but figured I shouldn’t have to state the obvious. I hadn’t
bothered to hide how much I liked her. In fact I’d shown her quite
explicitly half the night and once more that last morning.

Which left me wondering if her silence put
the ball back in my hands, or if a fun weekend fling was her play?
Her own effective form of payback, maybe?

I fell prey to that line of thinking and
kept my mouth shut as she walked to security at the airport. The
rest of that day, and all of Monday, I have to admit I was a little
pissed and a lot hurt. She didn’t call. She didn’t text. She didn’t
email.

Lying in my bed, I replayed our
conversations over the past three days. With her scent lingering on
the pillow next to mine, I finally understood the Summer I’d gotten
to know was more honest than cheap revenge. There in the dark I
realized the fear of rejection was dictating my life the same as
back in high school.

The only difference was, back in high
school, I was stupid enough not to do anything about it.

...and back to
SUMMER

Either Josh wasn’t as interested as I’d
thought he was, or he wasn’t as smart as I’d thought he was.
Neither possibility thrilled me after the weekend we’d shared.
Surely he’d figure out that with our past, he needed to make the
next move, right? Or was I the stupid one here?

But then, Tuesday morning
I logged into my computer to begin work and found this in my In
Box:
Morning, sexy. I miss you. Have a
good day.

Hope was restored. In fact, I was so happy
it was downright scary how much power he had over my emotions
already. He called me that evening, and it was so nice to hear his
voice; we talked for almost an hour. Wednesday, he sent a text
before I even woke up—and remember, Florida is an hour ahead of
Wisconsin.

Saw it’s going to be a scorcher down
there—stay cool. Busy day at work, but will call later.

He called again that night, but it was
really late and I could tell he was tired so after a little while I
pretended I was tired so he could get some sleep. After we hung up,
a little voice reminded me nothing had been said yet about when
we’d see each other again. My heart ignored that stupid voice and
concentrated on the fact that he was checking my weather
forecasts.

Thursday morning his email
read:
I don’t want to wait until
tonight..okay if I call you at lunch?

Like I’d say no. I rescheduled a conference
call and we talked during his lunch and again that night. In fact,
laying on my bed in the dark, I got a little adventurous and
sparked the hottest phone conversation I’d ever had in my life.

Friday morning in front of
my computer, I grinned, even as my face warmed, and it had nothing
to do with the steaming cup of coffee in my hand. With no effort on
my part, snippets of
that
late night phone call whispered in my mind.
Josh’s low, sensual voice made even the most innocent of things
sound sexy as hell, so you can imagine when he purposely turned on
the charm and tossed out some clever double entendres.

My email loaded and I eagerly clicked to see
what greeting would start my day. The first five new messages were
work-related. A quick scroll through the rest of my emails dimmed
my smile. One email from Jenna, a Facebook message from Heather
Bensen, junk mail, but nothing from Josh. I picked up my cell
phone...

No text either. Not now, or the five other
times I’d checked.

I started to worry that my
uncharacteristically bold move initiating the sex talk had turned
him off. Not that he’d seemed anything but turned on at the time,
but what if after he’d had a chance to think about it, he decided
he didn’t really care for a woman who did that kind of thing? I
mean, what if he thought I did that with all my boyfriends?

Boyfriend?
Great. Maybe it was better I didn’t hear from him
this morning. I was becoming way too dependent on a relationship
that wasn’t even a relationship yet. Sure, things seemed to be
going great over the phone, but that annoying little voice pointed
out missing me wasn’t even close to suggesting I return to
Wisconsin for another visit.

I’d be on the plane
tomorrow if he’d only open that sexy mouth of his and
ask
.

Before I spent my whole morning worrying,
and before I gave into my impatience and sent the draft of the
email I’d composed asking Josh just where the heck all this was
going, I sipped my coffee and began sorting and prioritizing my In
Box. Not only had I overslept and had lots of work to do, but I had
to remain firm and let Josh take the next step on the relationship
front. Even if my tongue was sore from biting it to keep my mouth
shut.

Jenga heaved a sigh at my feet and laid her
head on her paws.

I reached down to scratch her behind the
ears. “I hear you girl.”

A half an hour later, my landline rang and I
absently reached for the handset while reading a return email from
a client in California. “Hello?”

“
What are you wearing?
”

Josh’s husky whisper sent a shot of heat
straight through me. My stomach quivered with excitement and I knew
I was officially a goner, no matter how many little-voice reminders
sounded in my head.

I snagged my coffee cup and leaned back in
my chair with a soft laugh. I’d quickly thrown on a pair of cut-off
jean shorts and a tank top because I was expecting a delivery and
made it a point not to answer the door in my pajamas if I could
plan ahead. “It’s nine o’clock in the morning—what do you think I’m
wearing?”

“Summer, you could be wearing a brown paper
bag and it’d still be sexy.”

“A brown paper bag wouldn’t cover everything
it needs to.”

“See? Sexy. Think of the money you could
save on lingerie.”

I laughed again, twirling the end of my
ponytail around my fingers. This was so much better than an email.
“So I should be thankful you have no taste?”

“I have impeccable
taste—I’m talking to you, aren’t I? In fact..” His voice dropped a
notch, just low enough to put that tremble of anticipation back in
my stomach. “I wanted to tell you I
really
enjoyed our talk last
night.”

My face warmed again. “I wasn’t so sure when
I didn’t hear from you earlier.”

I bit my tongue one thought too late and
abruptly stood and headed to the kitchen for a caffeine refill. Now
he’d think I was clingy because I expected to hear from him first
thing every morning.