Summer's End (Wildflowers #5) - Jill Sanders Page 0,30

been together, he hadn’t denied her once. Not when she’d wanted to keep their relationship a secret from her friends. Not when she’d come to him after breaking things off and needed one more romp.

“Okay,” she finally answered him. “Thursday.” She reached for the door handle, but he stopped her by pulling her closer.

“Good, now that that is settled.” His eyes moved to her lips, and she had a temporary lapse in her strength to deny him as his mouth covered hers in a soft kiss.

She melted against him. God, she’d missed this. Missed being in his arms. Missed feeling his mouth move over hers. When she felt her entire body shake with want, she placed her hand on his chest and nudged him back. He leaned back easily and dropped his hold of her.

Yet another thing he willingly gave her.

“I’ll see you on Thursday.” She jumped out of the truck before she had second thoughts. She’d forgotten her umbrella at his place, which left her rushing through the drizzle towards the building.

Rushing into the front lobby, she hugged herself as she walked up the stairs and let herself into her apartment. The place was empty and dark, making her miss the times when it had been filled with the five best friends. Sure, it had been crowded, noisy, and there had been no privacy, but it had felt like home. Now, it just felt… lonely.

She peeled off her wet jacket and hung it by the door. Then she toed off her hiking boots and placed them in the shoe rack Liam had built.

Making her way back to her room, she decided that a hot bath would help ward off the chill and loneliness. She was soaking in the tub, totally relaxed, when her phone buzzed, shaking her from her thoughts. Seeing her father’s number on the screen, she thought about ignoring his call, but then sighed and answered. After all, it was past midnight. Maybe something was wrong?

“Hello?” She shifted in the water so she wouldn’t drop the phone.

“I’m throwing a party on the tenth and require your attendance,” her father said.

Her father had never been one for pleasantries. Or for kind words.

“I’m sorry.” She held in a sigh. “I won’t be going back to New York then.”

She’d made herself clear several times now, each time he’d called to request her presence or demand she stop the foolishness of not giving him what he demanded.

“It’s not negotiable. This party means a lot—”

“Harold, why can’t you understand it? It wasn’t just your obligation that ended on my eighteenth birthday,” she interrupted. “I won’t be coming back. There is nothing left in the city for me. I have my life here. My business, which needs me. I can’t simply take off every time you demand it.”

“This is your final answer?” he asked her.

“It is.” She relaxed slightly. It had taken her years to learn how to deal with the man. Pushing him away and keeping him always at least an arm’s length away was the only way to handle him.

“Fine.” When he hung up, she tossed her phone down and dunked her head under the water and screamed in frustration.

She tried to forget her father’s call over the next few days. Staying busy was easy since she had more classes to fill her time. Each day started well before sunup and ended close to midnight. She ached in places she’d never ached before.

She was actually looking forward to having an evening off. The fact that she’d be spending it with Aiden was the only issue she could foresee.

So much of her life had been kept from her friends. It wasn’t as if in the past few months, she’d tried to hide anything further from them. It was more like they’d each been so busy with their own private lives during their off hours.

The camp was doing better than the five friends had ever expected. They were booked solid for the next six or so months. With each new cabin finished, more guests signed up until they had to push reservations back. If they had a dozen more cabins, they could fill them.

River Camps was now more successful than any of them could have ever imagined. They had opened up the dining hall for dinners two nights a week so that even the locals could enjoy Isaac’s meals. They usually packed out on those evenings and were thinking about starting to take reservations.

Which had her wondering where Aiden was going to take