Hero in Disguise (Reed Sisters: Holding out for a Hero 1) - Page 25

“I’m not going to bed with you, Derek,” she told him bravely. “Not tonight and not ever.”

He dropped a kiss on her nose, startling her into a gasp, then stepped away from her. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep, Summer-love,” he advised her with a note of humor in his gentle, deep voice. “Now get your purse and I’ll take you home. For now.” He crossed his arms over his chest in a gesture that seemed to imply the debate had ended and he considered himself the victor.

Well, he’s not, Summer told herself, straightening her clothes as she stalked away with as much dignity as her faltering walk would allow. It’s time someone teaches that man that he can’t have everything his way, she muttered silently. And that someone is going to be me!

The drive across the Golden Gate Bridge and on to Summer’s apartment was made in a silence that fairly sizzled with unspoken challenges and resolutions. Summer didn’t invite Derek inside but told him goodnight at her door in a crisp, dismissive voice. She would have marched straight inside and closed the door in his face, but he caught her to him for a hard, searing kiss that was too brief to allow her to struggle, yet long enough to leave a lasting imprint on her senses.

“Stop doing that!” she yelled when Derek released her.

“No way,” he answered imperturbably. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Summer.”

“No, you won’t.”

“Yes,” he answered very softly, “I will. Sleep well, Summer-love.”

“You—Ooh!” The door slammed very satisfactorily behind her when she bolted into her apartment.

“That… that man!” she fumed aloud. “That arrogant, presumptuous, pompous, swaggering, domineering—”

“You could only be talking about my brother,” Connie commented, tying the sash of a slinky gray robe as she entered the living room from her bedroom. “In which case you left out regimented, despotic, egotistical, condescending and self-righteous. I’ve been through the same list of adjectives many times. You can find them in the thesaurus under Derek Anderson.”

“What are you doing here?” Summer asked in surprise. “I thought you and Joel would—”

“He brought me straight home!” Connie interrupted incredulously. “He drank a cup of coffee, told me I was delightful and that he would like to see me again, asked me out for dinner Wednesday night and left with a kiss.”

“How was the kiss?” Summer asked, wondering if it could even begin to compare to Derek’s kisses.

“On a scale of one to ten—fourteen.”

“Not bad. He seemed very nice, Connie.”

“Yes, he is. I really go for him, you know? And I thought he felt the same way about me. But now I don’t know.”

“Connie, he asked you out. Obviously he does like you. For heaven’s sake, not everyone jumps into bed after knowing each other for only a few hours.”

“But…” Connie sank to the sagging couch, looking bewildered. “Well, all the guys I know seem to expect, well, you know.”

Summer sighed and ruffled her short hair, feeling suddenly old. “I keep telling you that men care about more than sex from a woman. Not many of them, it’s true, but there are a few men left who function with th

eir brains instead of their jockstraps. Your brother is not among them, I might add,” she finished darkly.

“Don’t tell me Derek made another pass at you.”

“Did he ever. Damn the man, Connie.”

“Oh, wow.” Connie shook her head, her green eyes dazed. “I can’t believe this is my brother we’re talking about. The man is so proper and straitlaced where I’m concerned that I’ve thought he should be a candidate for the priesthood. Now he’s trying to seduce my roomie. Did you tell him to take a hike into the Pacific?”

“He seems to have a hearing problem,” Summer answered dolefully, thinking of his patient refusal to accept her attempted rejection of him. She dropped her face into her hands. “Connie, the man is driving me crazy. What am I going to do with him?”

“Honey, I’ve been asking myself the same question for years. He was always kind of bossy, even when he was a teenager, but ever since he went off to Vietnam and then into that mysterious government work of his, he’s been like a stranger to me. That didn’t keep him from trying to run my life long-distance,” she added bitterly. “God, I get so tired of trying to live up to his expectations.”

Which was exactly the reason Summer was afraid to get involved with Derek. Like Connie, she was afraid she wouldn’t live up to his expectations. She could see firsthand how much it hurt to love him and not be able to please him. Still, she wished that Connie and Derek could find a way to live in some sort of harmony. After all, they were family. Reaching out a tentative hand to touch Connie’s shoulder, she said carefully, “Derek does love you, Con. Very much. I’ve seen it in his face, and I’ve seen how much it hurts him when the two of you fight. I don’t know why he is such a perfectionist about the people he cares for, but he must have his reasons. Maybe it’s a lingering result of his experience in Vietnam. It must have been horrible.”

“I know. But he won’t talk about it. Ever. In fact, he rarely talks about himself. Just hands out suggestions.”

Summer thought about Connie’s words for a moment, realizing they were true. Derek had asked a lot of questions about her past, but he had never volunteered any information about himself.

“It’s like he came home with a neat list of things to do,” Connie continued glumly. “Buy a house, establish a management consulting business, reform Connie.”

Tags: Gina Wilkins Reed Sisters: Holding out for a Hero Romance
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