“I’ve participated in sports over the years because it was a good way to keep in shape for my work and to work off the tension that was an inherent part of my job. It also made a good cover. You can’t imagine how many deliveries I made in smoke-filled arenas and sweat-rank gyms. Even at checkpoints in marathon races. But I’m not going to leave you on the sidelines now that I’ve found you, my love. As a matter of fact,” he added, his hand straying to her breast, “I can think of several interesting sports we can take up together.”
“Mmm. I like the way you think,” she purred, finally allowing herself to be convinced that Derek did not see her as a burden or an object of pity.
“If it makes you feel any better, I’ll even tolerate a few gimp jokes. I still don’t think they’re particularly funny, but I’d hate for you to go back to thinking I’m a stuffed shirt.”
“Oh, Derek, I love you.” She rolled on top of him to cover his face with kisses. “I’ll never call you a stuffed shirt again.”
He laughed and hugged her close. “Didn’t I warn you once about making promises you might not be able to keep.”
A sinuous wriggle was her only reply. Derek’s grin faded as desire returned with breathtaking abruptness. He rolled on top of her and crushed her erotically into the pillows.
Summer murmured her pleasure and responded wholeheartedly.
When the telephone rang, Derek cursed softly and flopped onto his back, covering his eyes with his forearm. “My sister has lousy timing,” he muttered.
“You’re the one who demanded that she call,” Summer teased breathlessly, reaching for the telephone. “Hello?”
“Hi, Summer. Did I catch you at an inconvenient moment?” Connie’s voice asked hopefully.
“You might say that,” Summer replied dryly. “I take it you’re not spending the night here tonight?”
“You got it. Think Derek will be mad?”
Summer eyed her impatient lover. “Nope. Does this mean that Joel’s not still mad at you for almost being robbed?”
Connie sighed audibly. “Can you believe it? I had no idea I was getting involved with the Incredible Hulk. Remind me to try not to make him angry very often, will you?”
“You could always stop seeing him,” Summer suggested impishly.
“No way. I seem to have a weakness for bossy men. And if you tell Derek I said that, I’ll swear you lied.”
Summer laughed and promised to keep quiet. “Besides,” she added, “I seem to have the same weakness.”
“Yeah. Who’d a believed it?” Connie paused, then spoke again. “By the way, Summer, I think you and I need to have a talk with these two guys about what they used to do before they became respectable businessmen.”
Summer grinned. She’d known Connie wouldn’t be fooled for long. Derek had a tendency to underestimate his sister’s intelligence. “We’ll do that. Good night, Connie. Have fun.”
Connie giggled. “You, too, kid. Bye.”
Summer replaced the receiver and turned to Derek. “Connie’s staying at Joel’s tonight.”
“That decision,” Derek replied unconcernedly, “is entirely up to her.”
“My, my,” Summer drawled. “Is this Derek the Dictator speaking?”
“Umm. See what you’ve done to me?”
A tantalizing smile played around the corners of her kiss-swollen mouth as Summer looked at his tousled hair, which once again was displaying an endearing tendency to curl, his gleaming silver eyes and his almost boyish grin. She remembered the grim memories that had been in his eyes when she’d first met him, understanding now what had put them there. He had needed her in his life then, just as she had needed him. “I like what I’ve done to you,” she told him, no longer teasing.
“So do I, Summer-love. So do I.”
He pulled her down beside him and began to demonstrate quite thoroughly just how much he loved her.
“JUST LOOK AT the two of them standing there.”
In response to Connie’s grumble, Summer turned her head and looked across the room to where Derek and Joel stood in quiet conversation in front of the impressive glass wall of Derek’s living room. All around them the room was filled with chattering, laughing guests in brightly colored garments. Derek wore a beautifully tailored suit of a light gray fabric almost exactly the color of his eyes; Joel had chosen to wear navy. They looked exactly like two respectable, dignified businessmen. Summer turned back to her former roommate, tilting her head so that she could look up at the taller woman from beneath the small, net-trimmed brim of her white hat. “They look like a couple of stuffed shirts, don’t they?” she murmured with a laugh.
Connie sighed, straightening the full skirt of her emerald-green bridesmaid’s dress. “That’s exactly what we would have thought only a few months ago. What happened to us, Summer?”