Summer Burns (16 page)

And there was my sister, sitting in the corner of the patio, watching Matthew. And I wasn
'
t very sure I liked how she was watching him.

Okay, there
'
s no doubt about it. I didn
'
t like that look at all. She looked ready to devour.

Especially when Matthew seemed oblivious as he fiddled with the grill.

"
Stop it,
"
I said, bumping her.

"
Stop what? I can admire a man
'
s form, can
'
t I?
"

"
No, you can
'
t.
"

"
Well, it
'
s not like you
'
re going to do anything,
"
Autumn said.

I opened my mouth to object when my daughter came to the door and yelled for her Auntie Autumn to help in the kitchen.

Whether Mom was watching or not, I don
'
t know, but I appreciated her timing.

Matthew glanced at me as I walked over.

"
Hey,
"
he said, smiling.

"
I don
'
t think we have any beer, but I could make you a drink if you wanted one.
"

He shook his head.
"
I
'
m fine.
"
He gestured to the little table near the grill, where a pop sat.
"
I don
'
t drink and drive.
"

"
I understand. I hope you don
'
t mind me drinking.
"

"
Rough day?
"

"
Yeah, how can you tell?
"

"
Your hair is in a bandana, and there are bags under your eyes.
"

I wiped my eyes, not that it would help but sheesh.
"
You sure know how to make a girl feel pretty.
"
I turned away, because I wasn
'
t sure if I should be insulted or laugh it off.

The sad thing was, he was right. That final color today about kicked my butt.

While I was happy that he came over tonight, the adrenalin that kept me going all day was starting to wear off and I didn
'
t want to actually sit down, because I might not get back up.

So I paced around, or at least tried to.

He snagged my arm.
"
Wait.
"

"
What? Are you going to tell me my bra strap is hanging out too?
"

His finger grazed the sleeve of my tee shirt.
"
I wouldn
'
t mind if it did.
"

I met his gaze, and I could tell from the way he looked at me that he meant what he said. His thumb caressed my skin, just at the edge of my shirt sleeve, sending shivers through me while I kept staring into his eyes.

He had such pretty blue eyes.

Very slowly, he stepped toward me and slipped his hand low on my back.
"
I
'
ve been thinking about you.
"

I nodded.
"
Me too.
"

"
I think we need a redo.
"

"
A redo?
"

"
Yes.
"
He leaned in closer and I could smell the cologne he had on. Heady, awesome smelling stuff, mixing with the smell of the charcoal heating up.

We sort of stood there, staring at each other. My gaze darted over his lips--even those were nice. Not too thick, not too thin. Soft looking.

Bet they
'
d feel really good against me.

Yeah
...
I think I need to feel those against me again.

I sighed.

Then Mother Nature had to join the party. A breeze picked up, sending a blast of smoke from the grill right in my face and up my nose.

I started coughing, and pulled away from him, because I could feel it in my chest. My breathing got harder, and the tingles started, the ones that signaled that I needed my rescue inhaler right now.

Seriously.

Now
...

I turned, and I must have been wheezing.

"
Summer?
"

I gestured to my chest.
"
Inhaler.
"

He took off like a shot, barreling through the back door, I smirked--or what I mentally considered a smirk, anyway, because I wasn
'
t in any positon to laugh. He slammed the door against the wall in the house, and I heard him yell for my inhaler.

You would have thought hellfire and damnation had landed in the back yard, the way he barreled into the house. I waved after him, trying to stop him.

This wasn
'
t a big deal
...

I could
...

I could
...

I had just made it to the door when he and Mom met me, and someone--not sure who--shoved the plastic tube in my face. I took a couple of hits to calm things down.

It took a few moments for the medicine to work, but like every time, those few moments felt like years as my chest started to open again and I could feel the air moving around inside.

I took in a deep breath, and glanced at Mom and Matthew.

"
I
'
m good,
"
I said.

Mom nodded, her brow marred for a moment with those worry wrinkles, but they disappeared after I gave her the okay.

Matthew, on the other hand, wasn
'
t quite as relieved.

He put his hand on my arm.
"
Are you okay? What can I get you?
"

"
I
'
m fine, now. Thank you. Really.
"

"
I don
'
t know about that. You have a seat. I
'
ll take care of this.
"
He glanced around, and pulled a chair across the patio.
"
This is downwind. You can sit there, and--
"

A switch had flipped in him, I could see it in his eyes. Not cold, exactly, but it made me think that suddenly I was the mission, and he would do whatever it took to make sure I was okay. Like he
'
d turned into a robot or something.

A soldier.

He
'
d shifted into Army mode.

I
'
d seen Jake do it a couple of times--I thought it was just him, still sort of detoxing off being in the war zone.

It must be a soldier thing
...

"
Matthew, stop,
"
I said, putting my hand on his arm, hoping the contact would snap him out of it.

He shook his head as he pulled a bistro table over, and sat my discarded wine glass to the side.
"
I have to make sure you
'
re okay.
"

Putting my hand on his chin, I pulled his gaze back to me.
"
Look at me.
"

For a second, I didn
'
t think that he actually saw me, his expression so far away, but it only lasted a second. He blinked, and then he seemed right back in the moment, and he said my name.
"
Summer.
"

"
I
'
m okay,
"
I said.
"
It happens. Too much hairspray all day, and the smoke? I am fine. I forget that it can be freaky for other people. But it
'
s not that big of a deal.
"

"
It is more than that.
"
From the look in his eyes, I was pretty sure this was much more than me just having an asthma attack in my own back yard.

Though what it was, I couldn
'
t imagine.

Chapter Twelve

"
Oh my god, yes, that
'
s amazing
..."
Summer moaned, her eyes closed and ecstasy all over her face.

Matthew felt her words all the way to his groin, and he started to burn with--

"
Yep, you sure do know how to cook a steak, Matt my boy,
"
Summer
'
s sister Autumn said, killing the momentary lust Summer
'
s moan had caused. He had ignored everyone while waiting for Summer
'
s first bite, tuning out the silverware clattering on plates, and the overall conversational buzz at the table.

He had to rein his thoughts in, before he said, or worse, did something completely inappropriate.

This is her family.

This is her family.

Behave
.

His gaze cut toward the neon-red haired woman.
"
Thank you.
"

Not that he planned to be so focused on Summer--he couldn
'
t help being drawn to her, regardless of the chaos around him. The way she brushed that blonde bang out of her face, a simple tick of hers he
'
d noticed, kept him mesmerized. She didn
'
t seem to realize she did it while she ate and talked with everyone at the table.

Nor did he bet she realized how her moans over the steak made him glad his jeans were loose.
"
Were
"
being the appropriate words.

Instead, she seemed oblivious to his ogling while the whole family talked at such a rapid pace, he wondered how they understood each other. Even little Emma was a part of the whirlwind conversation that the women carried on.

Matthew just kept his head down and ate, except when he glanced at Summer devour her steak. He tried to tell himself he was keeping an eye, to make sure that she didn
'
t have another asthma attack.

It was foolish, even to him--like just his will could prevent her from having one. He felt like a dork. No one seemed the slightest bit concerned about her asthma.

Of course, they all had lived together. They knew about that stuff.

Asthma was a new one for him. Even little Emma didn
'
t seem fazed by it.

Since they all worked at the salon, the events, including the gossip, of the salon
'
s business fired across the table so fast, he couldn
'
t keep up anyway.

So different from what he was used to. Men were so much more vulgar--

Burrrp!

Matthew glanced to his left. The table was suddenly silent.

"
Emma! Say
'
excuse me!
'"
Summer said.

"
Excuse me,
"
Emma said, and she grinned at him, sort of wiggling in her chair.

Matthew raised his eyebrow, pretty sure the little girl did it completely on purpose.

She winked at him.

He glanced at Summer, and smirked at her look of exasperation.

"
Well, that one was only a seven,
"
Summer
'
s mother said.

"
Mom, don
'
t encourage her.
"

"
It
'
s a natural body function, Summer. She would gain nothing holding in all that hot gas,
"
her mother said.

"
In Europe, belching at the table is a compliment to the chef,
"
Winter added.

"
So, really, that
'
s for Matt, here,
"
Autumn said.

"
Matthew,
"
Summer countered.

"
It
'
s fine,
"
Matthew replied. Though he wasn
'
t a fan of the shortened version of his name, he wasn
'
t about to correct her--could be considered rude.