Connie screamed again.
“God, Connie, would you stop doing that? You can borrow my gray pumps.”
“They’re half a size too small. My feet will kill me before the evening’s over.”
“So what? I have it on the best authority that women who limp are incredibly sexy. Drives men crazy.”
“Judging from my brother’s behavior, you may be right. Give me the pumps.”
Summer went back to her room to find the missing notes, glancing anxiously at her watch. Clay was due in fifteen minutes. She stared around the room, then snapped her fingers and dived under the bed. After a few minutes of scrabbling she found the papers. “All right! Way to go, Reed!” she cheered herself aloud, clutching the scribbled notes in both hands, half of her body still under the bed.
“Is there something going on under there that I should know about?” a familiar male voice asked with interest from somewhere in the vicinity of her feet.
“Aaiii!” Summer raised instinctively and saw fireworks and stars when her head made solid contact with the underside of her bed.
“Hey! Are you all right?” Derek asked in concern, hauling her unceremoniously out from under the bed by her ankles.
Rubbing the lump that was forming beneath her silky hair, Summer stared at him as if she could not quite believe he was there. “What the hell are you doing in my bedroom?” she asked him.
Kneeling in front of her, he laughed. “Isn’t that the same question you asked the last time you saw me here?”
“Probably. So answer it. Why are you here and—why are you dressed like that?” she demanded, staring at his clothes. Derek had on the most disreputable pair of jeans that she’d ever seen, complete with holes in the knees and white fringe at the bottom above his grubby once-white Adidas. Over the jeans he wore a faded yellow jersey with the letters USC peeling across his chest.
“This?” he asked innocently, glancing downward. “I’m just dressed casually.”
“Derek, this is not casual. We’re talking major tacky here.”
“No tackier than a purple-and-yellow shirt and yellow overalls,” he pointed out politely, lifting an eyebrow at her own attire. Once again he’d left off his glasses, and he managed to look so sexy that Summer was tempted to drag him under the bed with her.
“What are you doing here?” she asked again. “I have a rehearsal at Halloran House tonight. Clay’s picking me up in five minutes. Would you like to go with us?”
“No, thanks,” Derek declined graciously. “I’m not supposed to see you this week. I’m taking the time to think logically and seriously about our relationship without being distracted by your gorgeous body. You’ve got a cute butt, by the way. It was the first thing I noticed when I came into the room just now.”
Summer choked on a gurgle of laughter.
“I just came by,” he continued blandly, “to ask if you’ve been getting the gifts I’ve sent the past two days.”
“Yes, you lunatic, and you’re about to get me fired.” She frowned at him. “Okay, my curiosity is getting the best of me. What was the empty envelope for?”
“That’s the other reason I’m here,” he an
swered, his expression suspiciously serious. “I had to make today’s delivery in person. I didn’t know how to send it by messenger without being jealous.”
Then he leaned over and kissed her so thoroughly that Summer was trembling when he finally released her. “Don’t let McEntire put a hand on you tonight, you hear? No friendly kisses. And don’t overdo the dancing. You’ll hurt your leg again. See you this weekend, Summer. I love you.”
With that he left.
Summer sat in the middle of her bedroom floor, her eyes glazed, her jaw slack, until Connie came in with a curious look to announce that Clay had arrived. “What did Derek want?” she asked. “Or is it none of my business?”
“He was just bringing me the contents of that empty envelope I received this morning,” Summer answered in a voice that sounded distinctly odd to both of them.
“Yeah? What was it?”
“Well, let me put it this way. Do you happen to notice this smoke coming out of my ears?”
“Oh, wow.”
“Yeah. Oh, wow.”