“You don’t have to be nervous while I’m here,” Derek told her impatiently.
She shot him a pointed look. “I can’t tell you how comforting that is,” she murmured, taking great pleasure in the small revenge.
He scowled and shut up.
“WHY DONT YOU take Connie’s things on into the guest room,” Derek suggested to Summer as they entered his house. “I’ll pour us a drink. I have a feeling we’re going to need one.”
“Fine,” she said, leaving her own things in the den with him. She had no intention of sharing the guest room
with Connie that night, though she planned to make Derek crawl a little before she pounced on him. She figured he needed it. One thing about these hero-types, she thought smugly, they tended to be a bit overconfident.
When she returned to the den, Derek was waiting with a glass of chilled white wine in his hand. He had removed his jacket and tie, unbuttoned the top three buttons of his shirt, rolled back his sleeves and taken off his dark-framed glasses, transforming himself from the conservative businessman into the macho ex-spy. Summer wondered how she’d ever believed he’d been anyone else. She forced herself to resist reaching out to stroke one powerfully muscled arm as she took her drink, though she made herself a promise that, before the night was over, she’d test the strength of every muscle in his body.
“About your former line of work, Derek,” she began when they were seated on the sofa, Derek rather stiffly, Summer completely at ease.
He sighed. “What about it?”
“Why?”
He shrugged, not pretending to misunderstand. “For the excitement, the adventure. Because I was good at it, and because I wanted to make a difference for my country.”
“Why did you quit?”
“Lots of reasons. I got tired. What once looked exciting and daring began to look sordid and ugly. I was ready to trade adventure for normality. As I got older, the daily routine of the regular business world began to look pretty good to me. I’ve always had a certain, er, talent for giving advice, so I decided to go into the consulting business. The government provided me with the references and credentials I needed to get started.”
“And you’re doing very well at it.”
“I’ve enjoyed it.” He glanced over at her. “When did I give myself away? When I reached for a gun that wasn’t there?”
“That was part of it.”
Looking contrite, he set his half-finished drink on a table beside him and turned to her. “Summer, I really am sorry that I kept my past from you. I didn’t understand that it would hurt you. It’s a part of my life that I want to put behind me, a part that I wasn’t sure that you would admire or respect. And I’m sorry that I didn’t trust you enough to recognize that I’m no movie hero, despite my background. I didn’t want you to expect something from me that’s just not there.”
“Oh, Derek,” she breathed fondly, struck again by the vulnerability that occasionally appeared in him to surprise her. “Don’t you know you’re all the hero I’ve ever wanted? You’ve shown me that I never have to worry about being bored with you. That you’ll play with me, yet you’ll be there for me to lean on in a crisis. I had already discovered all those things about you even before I found out what you once did for a living. My only concern was that you would try too hard to change me into something I’m not, something I couldn’t be.”
“Summer, I don’t want to change you,” he rasped, stroking her cheek with one unsteady finger. “Don’t you know that I think you’re absolutely perfect, exactly as you are? I only want you to be happy.”
“I know that now, Derek. And I promise that I’ll listen to your advice and then I’ll use my own judgment about my decisions, just as you’ll do when I make suggestions to you.”
“Of course I will.”
“Think you can handle being involved with a college student?” she asked him, lifting a hand to touch his cheek.
He caught her hand in his. “You’re going back to school?”
“I want to work with those kids, Derek. Full-time,” she confessed. “I haven’t enjoyed anything that much in five long years.”
“You’ll be great with them. You’ll make a difference, Summer.”
“I hope so. I’m a little scared. I’m not sure that I can do it. It’s been a long time since I studied for a test.”
“Oh, love, I have no doubt that you can do it,” Derek crooned lovingly, cradling her face between large, capable hands. “And I’ll always be there for you, anytime you might need me.”
“I’ll always need you,” she whispered, looking up at him with eyes like liquid sapphires. “I love you, Derek Anderson. I’ll love you for the rest of my life.”
“And I love you,” he grated, sweeping her into his arms, heedless of the white wine that spilled over both of them. “Let me show you how much.”
“Yes, Derek. Show me. Now.” She put her arms around his neck and flashed her most brilliant smile for him.