Finding Summer - Suzanne Halliday Page 0,23

their stuff took a few minutes. He retrieved her Santa Barbara sunset painting and draped the two drugstore bags on his wrist. When he walked around the back of the car to join her at the passenger door, he got an eyeful of glorious female ass because why? Because his date was busily brushing cracker crumbs off the seat. Each swipe made her body wiggle and tested his swagger. If she kept shaking her butt in his face, he was going to have a hard time walking. Operative word? Hard.

“Summer,” he ground out. “It’s fine, honey. Don’t worry about it.”

“I hate leaving a mess.” She straightened quickly and made a face. “Oh, shit. My bag,” she suddenly squawked with a wave of her hands. “Where’s my mind?”

Whirling around, she leaned back into the car and stretched to reach the bag. What she brought to the skinny jeans party blew his goddamn mind. Her pert ass sent signals to his groin, and when she put a knee on the car seat to aid her endeavor, the sight of long, lithe legs made his eyes widen.

When she finally shut the door and turned around, her drawn-out gasp got his attention. With blinking eyes and a slack jaw, she was staring at the front of his pants. The casual trousers did nothing to disguise his raging hard-on. Wearing jeans might have helped him out but no such luck.

“That’s for you,” he boldly declared.

Her eyes swung to his, and his heart thudded in response. She moistened her lips and took a deep breath. “This feels bad.”

He searched her face. “Good bad or a bad bad?”

She gave his body a slow, raking gaze. There was a sparkle in her eyes when she looked at him.

“Bad as in, is this what feeling bad is like because it’s all kinds of wicked and hot.” She gestured at the building with a nod. “I’ve never brought a guy home to have sex. I see how you’re looking at me, Arnie.” Her smile was just this side of being a leer. “I’ve never let my bad girl side off the leash.”

The rose gold glow he associated with the California beauty pulsed to life and reached inside his chest.

“Ground rules are called for,” he stated with blunt precision. “Starting with you can change your mind at any time.”

“So can you.” She challenged him with a sly look.

“Yeah, no. Not happening.”

The way she giggled and snorted was happy music to his ears. Everything about Summer was natural and real. He liked being around her. Liked feeling her unique energy.

“How does this work? I need some help.”

Every man likes to think he’s smooth and has some sort of game with the ladies. Arnie’s game appeared to consist of sounding like Butthead. He not only sniggered, “He he he,” but he did so while wearing a cartoonish expression.

Man, he had to reel it in before things turned embarrassing.

“How about this.” He held up the stuff in his hands. “Let’s go inside and take a deep breath. There’s no rush, and we already did the paint-by-number thing,” he reminded her by waving her painting. “So we …”

“See what happens?” Her smile was amused.

“Sounds like a plan.”

“Let’s do this,” she chirped happily. “Come on, follow me.”

As she led him along the walkway to an interior courtyard, he watched her ass rock seductively. Nobody wore jeans like she did.

Out of habit, his gaze swept the area and noted every detail. There were twelve units, six up and six down, with a common courtyard in the center. The second tier had balconies, and each ground floor unit had a little patio. A walkway visible at the rear probably led to the tenant’s parking garage.

“This is me,” she told him at the door with a number five above a glass half-moon window.

While she unlocked her door, he took in her little outdoor space. Beneath a double window sat a waist-high, three-tier mini greenhouse. She told him previously how much she liked to garden. The thought gave him a reason to smile.

A vine-covered white trellis hanging next to the door plus a section of iron railing defined her “yard.” A single outdoor rocker told him she didn’t have a lot of company.

Stepping into her apartment was like crossing the reality threshold. The subtle aroma of vanilla filled his nose. The first thing he saw was a pink tree decorated in twinkle lights giving off a soft glow. Next to the door was the deep ledge of a long living