Then Summer Came (2 page)

“I have to get to Walden before the Barrett account expires.”  He pulled me in for one more kiss, and I milked it for everything it was worth. 

It was always hard letting him go.  I craved him always, and it sucked to go without his touch for so long, but he always made up for it when he found time. 

He pulled away, gathering some things from the desk.  “I wanted to tell you that my brother, Beck, is moving to town.  He's moving back from Hawaii, and he’s just going to stay here, since I don’t." 

I eyed him as he spoke down at the wooden top of the desk, like he was on autopilot and hadn’t even realized he was talking. 

"Oh, okay…"  I tried not to sound so disappointed. 

Beck was Derek’s twin…
identical
twin, which I always thought would be weird, but I’d never met him.  Derek didn’t really talk much about him.  When he did, he usually said good things, but I just don’t think they’d ever been close or anything.  No best-friend, in-sync, twin powers for them. 

Beck was apparently a drifter; he never stayed in one place very long, and he was a wild child, so to speak.  I could relate to that, having spent the first four years of my adult life and most of my teens in the “wild-child genre” myself.  

"Yeah, it's normal,” he added, finally looking up from his work to notice my thwarted demeanor.  “Don't worry.  He'll be gone again in a month."  He adjusted his tie, picked a book from his desk drawer and tossed it to the ever-silent and awkward Olivia.  "He's quite restless; he never stays in one place too long.  He'll probably be out of here and off to Chicago or somewhere else before you know it." 

“Alright…”

“Lis,” he sighed, resting his hands on my shoulders.  “You’re still as welcome here as you’ve always been.  It’s still as much your apartment as it’s always been, and you probably won’t even see much of him.”  He stopped to kiss me, a second longer this time, and then headed for the door, Olivia hot on his heels. 

"I'll see you tomorrow night," he yelled before the door closed, and I was alone in the apartment, again.  I couldn’t decide if it felt
peaceful
, like the quiet of winter, or
lonely
, like the quiet of winter.  I shook off the feeling by remembering our date night plans for tomorrow, and I was immediately excited and even more excited that I’d unexpectedly gotten to see him for a second.

I took my cereal bowl to the kitchen and then headed to work.  I had an anniversary lineup to release, and my mom was super anxious to see it before it was ready to roll out. 

Chapter Two

I presented my lineup to my mother, and as usual, she sang my praises and flooded me with compliments.  She was always proud of my work, and it just made my job that much easier.  I kissed her cheek, thanked her, and headed to meet Emily for coffee.

“Girl, Derek better find time for that wedding, or those legs are gonna land you a new man!”  Emily eyed me as I bounced toward her, excited to see her for the first time in over two days, which was a big deal for us; we’d been nearly inseparable almost our entire lives.

I looked my best friend over.  She was gorgeous, like always.  Tall, like me, and mostly legs, like me.  My mom always loved for Em and I to model her designs for her photographer.  Her clothes were always tailored to emphasize the legs and we were “the perfect leg models” she’d always said.  

Emily combed her fingers through her wavy, cola-brown hair, which spilled over her shoulders and into her sweetheart neckline.  Coffee-brown eyes matched her hair and lit up her face, and her usual earth-toned attire made her look like an ethnic force of beauty.

“I’m serious, Lis.  My God that dress is killing it!”  She eyed me from my blown out hair to my bronze calves. 

“You like?” 

“I
love
,” she emphasized.

“Well, you look amazing too. 
Tired
…but amazing.” I patted her chin in a perk-up manner. 

“Yeah,” she sighed, “working in parties around all-night cram sessions isn’t exactly a breeze.”  She slumped in her placated pouty, I’m-pitiful sort of way. 

“It’s always a party with you…even in college.”

“
Especially
in college,” she corrected me.  “Enough about my crap, how’s everything with Derek?”  She asked as we took a seat at our favorite outdoor table, at our favorite café. 

“It’s good.  I miss him, but I keep busy with work.”

“I know!  You’re all work lately.  You need to find time to make an appearance at one of my parties.”

“I will,” I promised, and we rambled off our usual order to the waiter. 

“So, when is the wedding?  Have you decided?” she asked as the waiter left to fill our order.

“No, Derek has been pretty busy lately, but he promised to make time so that we could discuss a date.  The stuff I’ve done with you is really the only progress we’ve made.”

Em had taken me to look at bride’s maids’ dresses and flowers, and my mom had gone with us to taste cakes.  I put most of it off because I wanted to wait until Derek knew when he’d have a few weeks off for our honeymoon. I’d hoped I could get him to stay home with me for a few days, just to enjoy the first week as a newly-married couple. 

Emily halfway rolled her eyes.  “I love Derek, you know that, but he needs to get his head out of his ass,” she scolded.  “There are successful ways to balance work and romance and he needs to find one that works for him.”

“It’ll settle down.  He’s new to the whole ‘heading a company’ thing.  He’ll figure it out.”

“Well, he could at least make time for dates,” she argued.

“We’re going out tomorrow!”  I exclaimed. 

“Awesome!  You better lock your claws into him and keep him for a few days.”

I laughed loudly as the waiter returned with our lattes.  “I do think we’re leaning more toward next winter, for the wedding.”

“
Next
winter?” she asked as if it sounded absurd.  “That’s, like,
eighteen months
, Lis!  Doesn’t that upset you?”

“Anyway,” I said, avoiding her habit of analyzing, “how’s school?”  She looked peeved that I’d just abruptly changed subjects, but she couldn’t resist. 

“There are
so many guys
,” she gushed.  “I try to get to them all but it’s just so hard.”  She stuck out her lip, pouting.  “There are so many of them, and there’s just not enough time in a day!”

I laughed at her placated exhaustion, as she fanned herself dramatically. 

“So, Derek’s twin is coming to stay at Wilshire…in Derek’s apartment.”  I changed the subject again.

“
Twin
!  I know nothing of a twin!” she shrieked.

“Yeah, they don’t really talk.  And he lived in, like, Hawaii or something.”

“Hmm…”  Her eyes narrowed in thought.  “And he’s coming to stay at Derek’s apartment?”

“Yeah, he and Derek decided on it.  Derek says he doesn’t stay there, so someone should.”

“You do…”

“Well, not really.  If I said that he’d just rub it in my face that I wouldn’t move in with him.  Hell,” I shrugged, “maybe that’s why he’s moving someone else in.”

“A twin…”  A wry grin spread across her glossy, pink lips. 

“Em, no! 
Identical, they’re identical
.
 
It’d be too weird…”

“Ugh,” she scoffed, crossing her arms.  “It would be kinda weird…damn.”  She sipped her latte.  “But,” she straightened a finger out at me,
“if you and Derek ever split up—”

I threw my hand up.  “He’s all yours,” I said, finishing her thought.



I got ready for our date at Derek’s apartment, where he’d said he’d meet me.  He was right-on-time.  He came in, shouting his arrival, and I slipped my dress over my head and grabbed my heels. 

He was sitting on the sofa when I came into the living room.  He seemed to be engrossed in his phone.  He was reclined back, his ankle resting over his knee as his fingers pecked the screen of his phone.  I stared at him, while he stared at his phone; I just wanted to look at him for a minute.  It’d been days since I’d seen him.  It made me wish I could see him sitting on the sofa like that every day.

"Ahem," I cleared my throat to grab his attention. 

He looked up at the sound, and his eyes lit up.  "Lis, you look amazing…" he admired, stuffing his phone into his coat pocket. 

"Thank you," I said and scurried to kiss him. 

He stood and pulled me into his arms.  A low sound rattled in his throat, and he leaned in and inhaled the scent on my neck deeply.  "And you
smell
amazing," he said in a low, husky voice and stamped soft kisses along my neck and back to my lips.  "I forget how much I miss you." 

"Well maybe we should stay here instead, and I'll remind you just how much you've missed me?" 

He jerked me into him.  "Normally, I couldn’t say no to that dress…" he trailed off, running his fingers across the edge of the bust line.  I shivered at the soft tickling as his fingertips grazed my breasts.   I pulled his mouth to mine and kissed him like I’d wanted him for a month—because I had.  It’d been over a month since I’d even spent a night in his bed with him, and I wanted him badly. 

“Lis…”  Our kiss died, and he held me at arm’s length.  “I wish I could, but if you want to do our date night, we have to go now.  I have an appointment afterwards, and I can’t be late.” 

I pouted dramatically.

He laughed and nudged me.  “Sorry, babe.  You know I wish I could.”  He kissed the corner of my mouth and tugged me anxiously toward the door, bound for his favorite restaurant.

Dinner was nice…for about twenty minutes, and then Olivia and Walden started blowing his phone up.  He took every call, of course.  Before our date had even reached a full hour, he drove me back home with some talk of an emergency, some crisis with a stock drop.

“Do you want me to walk you up?” he asked as the limo slowed to a stop in front of Wilshire. 

“No, it’s fine.”  I leaned in to kiss his cheek.  It was soft and made me feel a little weak and nostalgic.  I sucked in a breath as the driver opened the door. 

“I love you,” he said after me.  I returned my love and strutted inside…slowly.  Maybe he’d be watching me and follow me up anyway, not being able to resist the way I looked in that dress. 

I heard the limo speed off, and I tried to ignore the disappointment that settled in my stomach. 

I had every intention of just going on up to my apartment, but I missed him already.  So, I went into his apartment and changed into my shorts and tank top.  I considered going out, but it was late and I was already tired.  Plus, Em had to study so she couldn’t go anywhere with me.  So, I decided to work on some designs. 

I’d finally been so exhausted that I couldn’t hold my eyes open any longer.  I curled up in Derek’s bed and wrapped up in his blankets, welcoming the scent of him.  I’d made sure to tell Lidia, his housekeeper, to never wash his sheets.  She’d done it anyway, until I finally explained that I liked them to smell like him.  I honestly think she only stopped washing them because she felt sorry for me. 

I forced my eyes to open.  The light pouring into Derek's room was blinding to my unadjusted eyes.  I was so sleepy.  I shut my eyes for another second, enjoying the feeling of the mattress and blankets, soft against my weak, sleepy body. 

The only sound was the low roar of the fan in the corner.  I always turned it on when Derek was gone to drown out the quiet of the apartment. I reached out under the empty blankets, wishing Derek was there to cuddle up to.  I sighed at how lonely the room immediately felt, and then I decided to get the day started.  No since in moping; I'd see him soon enough. 

I slipped Derek's t-shirt over my head and headed to the kitchen for breakfast before work.  I made it halfway down the hall when I heard a loud moan followed by another.  My eyes immediately went to the sofa, where I caught the side profile of a completely naked blonde woman straddling a man’s lap, her hands gripped on his shoulders as she bounced rhythmically on his lap, moaning and screaming in pleasure. 

She was groping her obviously fake breasts, and his fingers were dug into her hips as he guided her on and off of him.  He was clearly enjoying himself; his head was thrown back against the sofa, eyes squinted shut, a wry smirk on his lips…his very
familiar
lips.

"Derek!" I screeched.  "Are you fucking kidding me?" 

It took a few seconds—painful, angry seconds—but the whore in my fiancé’s lap finally stopped and scrambled off of him, gathering her clothes quickly, but she hardly looked embarrassed.  In fact, she looked extremely irritated that she’d been interrupted.

Derek stood up, and I eyed his tattoos.  One ran up his right side, which looked like large, old, leafless trees, and one sleeved his left arm in sketchy words from his mid forearm to his shoulder; I assumed they were lyrics or quotes, maybe.  They were both gray wash and extremely sexy. 

"Oh God…" I said as it sank in.  He casually stuffed himself back into his jeans, and I covered my mouth with both hands as I realized that it wasn't Derek at all. 
Derek didn’t have tattoos
.  "I'm so sorry!"  I threw my hands up to shield my eyes from what we both knew I'd already seen.  "Y-you're Derek's brother!" 

The blonde sauntered past me and opened the door.  "I'll call you," she said over her shoulder to Beck and slammed the door behind her. 

He jerked his head toward the door and then in my direction.  "She doesn't have my number," he said, cutting his eyes back over at the door as if she'd been crazy for even suggesting such a thing.  “There’s
no way
she has my number,” he clarified.

"I am so sorry! I-I didn't realize—" 

"It’s okay," he laughed, and I lowered my hand when I noticed he was decent. 
Shirtless
…but decent.  "I'm Beck."  He walked over to me with his hand out, and I shook it, embarrassed.