“And you had breakfast with him Saturday?”
“That’s right. I’d have told you all about it last night, but you got in so late. I just couldn’t wait up for you.” Actually, Summer had not wanted to tell Connie everything the night before. She had needed the time to sort out her thoughts about what had happened between her and Derek yesterday. And she’d finally reached a conclusion. “Your brother is the most arrogant, high-handed, exasperating man I ever met in my life.”
Connie laughed shortly. “I hear that,” she muttered, using an expression she’d picked up from her Arkansan friend.
“Why didn’t you tell me that he takes revenge when someone manages to get the best of him?”
“I’ve told you that he hates to be bested. What did you do to him, and how did he get his revenge?” Connie asked curiously.
“All I did was demonstrate how frustrating it is for someone to try to tell a person how to live his or her life,” Summer explained rather obscurely, though Connie seemed to have no difficulty following the garbled explanation. “I thought I was helping you out, and you’ll be glad to know that I think he finally got the message about interfering.”
“If you’re right, I’ll owe you my eternal gratitude. But I take it you demonstrated in such a way that he felt it necessary to take revenge?”
“I’m afraid so,” Summer answered glumly.
“Gulp. How’d he do it?”
“He made a heavy pass at me—several of them, actually.”
Connie choked, then sputtered with laughter. “Joke, right?”
“No. Your brother assaulted me. The first time he said it was to shut me up, and after that I think he just did it because he knew I couldn’t think of a thing to say in retaliation.”
“He kissed you?” Connie asked in awe. “Not once but several times? And you were at a loss for words?”
Summer plopped her elbows on the table and cupped her cheeks in her hands. “Connie, your brother should be declared a lethal weapon. His kisses short-circuited my mental facilities. I mean, we’re talking smoke out of the ears and sparks flying and hair standing on end.”
“Wow!”
“You don’t have to look quite so proud of him,” Summer grumbled.
“It’s just… Derek!” Connie shook her head, dazed. “Who’d a thought it?”
Summer sighed deeply. “He must have had a good laugh when he got home last night. I was a basket case by the time he dropped me off here, and he knew it.”
“Maybe he was serious. Maybe he really is interested in you.”
“Connie, the man said I have an idiotic life-style, that I have kooky friends and that the Salvation Army would turn up its nose at our apartment and its humble furnishings. He also said that I have no ambition and that I’m wasting my life. Does that sound like he’s interested in me?”
“No,” Connie admitted. “It sounds like something he’d say about me.”
“Well, actually, he was talking about you, but it’s the same difference.”
“Thanks a lot.”
“Anyway, he told me himself that I’m not his type. So why else would he have kissed me except to punish me for being right about him not having any right to interfere in your life?”
Connie kept her answer to herself, choosing, instead, to ask curiously, “He’s a good kisser, huh?”
Summer turned soulful eyes at her amused roommate. “Connie, he’s the best. It’s a shame he’s your brother so you can’t find out for yourself.”
“Hmm. I have to admit that he’s earned himself a few points in my estimation of him. I would have thought he’d kiss as properly and conservatively as he does everything else.”
“Hah!”
“What are you going to do now?”
“I’m going to forget it ever happened,” Summer answered determinedly, wishing she believed her own words. “Maybe he will have forgotten it, too, by next weekend. Or at least he’ll probably have decided to leave me alone. The joke’s over.”