went along with dating when everybody was on their best behavior.
What a woman she was, Ms. Summer Delaney. She took his breath in so many different ways, not the least of which was the way her ass wiggled against him as she woke up just now.
“You awake?” she whispered, and he pulled her closer and kissed the crown of her head in response. “Can we talk?”
He stiffened. “Uh-oh. The ‘can we talk’ thing, already?” What had gone wrong? The week had been wonderful, hadn’t it?
“Tell me about the nightmares,” she said.
He didn’t want to start the day thinking about them. “There’s nothing to tell.” He closed his eyes. Maybe he could doze back off for a few minutes.
“They’re every night, Rick.”
“But they don’t last long.”
Her sigh had a disgruntled edge. “They disturb your sleep...our sleep...every night. What’s going on?”
He’d never trusted a woman enough to talk about the story behind them. But Summer understood...or was beginning to understand. He cleared his throat. “I told you Dunk got shot.”
“Yeah.”
“He was covering me when it happened. I had an injured kid in my arms.” His stomach clenched at the words. God, he hated talking about it.
Summer pulled her arm from beneath his and laid it on top, guiding his hand to her breast. “Go on. Tell me the rest.”
“I couldn’t stop. The kid needed medics.” He closed his eyes and breathed through the pain. “I went back and got Dunk. But he didn’t make it.”
Summer rolled over to face him, sadness darkening her eyes. “I’m sorry.” She ran her fingertips across his temple. “Have you tried therapy? I mean, it might help to talk to somebody.”
“I can handle it. It’ll just take time.” He saw the crease form between her eyebrows. “And I don’t want to talk about it anymore.” That was the truth. It was better to leave it hidden in the darkness. He latched on to another subject. “Happy anniversary, by the way.”
“It’s been a week today, hasn’t it?” He could hear the smile in her voice, and he relaxed. She snuggled her forehead against his neck and kissed his collarbone. “Did I tell you how good you were last night?”
“Mmm-hmm. I think Kenny might’ve heard you telling me how good I was last night.”
She sighed. “We’ll need to turn the air conditioner on if you’re going to keep doing those yummy things that make me want to pant so loudly.”
“Or, if you want to continue sleeping with the windows open, we could stop doing those things,” he teased.
She looked at him under half-lidded eyes and gave him a lazy smile. “I’ll pant more quietly.”
“I thought so.” He kissed her eyelids, admiring the thick lashes that lay against her cheek. In the breaking light of dawn, they glistened like gold threads.
She opened her eyes slowly. “What are you looking at?”
“You.” His chest tightened as he used the tip of his finger to trace the side of her face, so delicate in its bone structure. It was difficult to think he’d ever found much wrong with her. “This is the only time of day I get to look at you. I mean, really look at you. During the daylight, I hardly have time to even glance at you, and that bulb—” he pointed to the bedside lamp “—doesn’t begin to do you justice at night.”
Her lips pursed. “The shadows it puts out make you look pretty hot.”
He raised on an elbow and tossed the sheet that covered them to the foot of the bed. “Stand up.”
“Why?” She propped herself on both elbows and tilted her face toward him. “Are you treating me to a stand-up quickie?”
Rick shook his head, then stopped to consider her willingness. She thought she was the one who was being treated? Her sexual appetite was like no other woman’s he’d ever known. But he felt satisfied right now, like the urge was there and it was good, but it would be even better if he waited. “It’s tempting, but I’m pretty mellow right now. I just want to look at you in the natural light...naked.”
A tender smile crept to her lips, and she crawled over him to stand at his side of the bed. Her hands swept her hair behind her shoulders, baring her breasts and her nipples, which were standing at attention. Then she dropped her arms to let them hang loosely at her side.
“You’re beautiful.” His eyes roamed over her slowly, for once taking in her beauty at his leisure.