Summer Burns (19 page)

"
I was just thinking that.
"

"
Were you really?
"

He smirked.
"
No.
"

"
Smart ass.
"

"
I am what I am.
"

"
And that
'
s all that you are,
"
I muttered.

"
I don
'
t eat spinach though.
"

This time I laughed.
"
You did at dinner. That green salad was pretty much all spinach.
"

"
Really?
"

"
Yep.
"

He stroked my brow, and I wrapped my arms around his chest. It felt so good to be curled up to a man again. I didn
'
t realize how much I missed it. I always wanted to stay strong, to be the best mother I could be for Emma. Show her that I don
'
t need a man to keep me happy, that I
'
m happy on my own.

But this--the companionship--I miss a lot.

I knew it wouldn
'
t last--what did he tell me, he was going back to Texas soon anyway. I should take what I have while I have it.

Appreciate the attention.

Savor it.

I wouldn
'
t have it again for a long time, because I wasn
'
t going to trust just anyone.

And that was it--I trusted Matthew. Whether it was nostalgia from our brief time in school together, or just this reconnection we
'
ve had, I didn
'
t know, but I trusted him.

If I was going to move on from Jake, I should do it with someone I trusted, not some guy in a bar on a random Friday night.

"
Matthew?
"

"
Yes?
"

I twisted around so I faced him.
"
Can we have sex now?
"

He blinked.
"
Is that what you want?
"

"
Yes,
"
I said, and I wrapped my arms around his neck and started kissing him. He pulled me tight and answered my kissing in kind.

Our body parts smashed together, and I could smell the remnants of the grill smoke on him, and it mixed with the warm musty man-smells, making this heady, earthy scent that made me purr.

He eased me back on the couch until he covered me, and I spread my legs, letting him rest between them. His hands slid under my shirt, and I moaned as he caressed my skin. I released him enough to tug my shirt up and off.

He paused, staring at me for a second, his finger caressing the edges of my bra.

It was strange, watching his calloused hands stroking the delicate edge of the lace bra.

"
Very pretty,
"
he said.

I shrugged.
"
I like the pretty bras.
"

He raised an eyebrow.
"
Do you like the pretty panties too?
"

I grinned.
"
You
'
ll have to see.
"

He raised an eyebrow, then slid his hands down my sides. It took him just a minute to relieve me of my shorts, revealing that, yes, I wore the pretty panties that matched the pretty bra.

He ran his hand over my stomach and I started sucking my gut in, because, yeah, a model I wasn
'
t.

"
Stop it,
"
he whispered.

"
What?
"

He leaned down, kissing my stomach just below my bra.
"
Stop sucking in.
"

"
Well, you know, I
'
m not exactly--
"
And I wasn
'
t. My sister
'
s quip about Pilates came back, and I wondered if I should take the classes with her.

"
You
'
re beautiful.
"
His hand ran over my hip, across my stomach, and even over the pooch that I carefully tried to hide no matter what I wore. Unfortunately, C-section scars are not easy to cover, and a flat stomach I
'
ll never have again.

I winced when his hand slid over the line.

"
Did I hurt you?
"

I shook my head.
"
I
'
m just uh, sensitive there.
"
I put my hand over the scar.

"
Don
'
t,
"
he said.
"
Scars are a part of us. They make us who we are.
"

"
So show me yours,
"
I said, wanting to get his attention off mine and back to what we were doing--I didn
'
t want to dwell on the one part of my body that made me feel the ugliest.

He ripped off his shirt, and sure enough, Mister Matthew had a few scars--battle scars, obviously.

Several marks marred his shoulders and back.

"
Good grief, what happened?
"
I asked, caressing his chest.

"
War happened.
"
He leaned down and started to kiss me again, his body hot against mine, and something dark must have crept into his mind, because he suddenly became desperate--needy.

He devoured me, kissing me everywhere he could. His fingers danced over my skin, caressing and tugging at all the sensitive spots and making me cry out with every stroke and tug. I came under his strokes, panting on his couch as he covered me with even more kisses and nips.

I could feel his gear pressed against my parts, and I really wanted to see how his gear fit into my parts. I thought he was about ready. I even did a quick, preliminary check when I pulled his shorts off, stroking him through his rather tight underwear.

He stopped me in the middle of my inspection, and pulled away from me.

"
What?
"
I asked.

"
You
'
re going to make a mess. And that
'
s not the kind of mess I want to make.
"

I blinked.
"
Oh,
"
I whispered.

He climbed off the couch and disappeared for a second, returning with a silver packet, the one thing I should have been thinking about as well. Good thing one of us had our brain working.

He stripped down and slid on the condom, and was back with me on the couch.

I shimmied the rest of the way out of my underwear and he got into position, and when he slid in, I felt my world fold in half.

"
Holy shit,
"
I muttered.

He grunted something that sounded like he agreed with me, as he very slowly started moving.

I matched his movements, and as he increased the pace, I managed to stay with him.

It didn
'
t take too long to take me to another orgasm, and for him to follow a few moments later.

After he disposed of his condom, we laid there, curled up on the couch.

"
Wow,
"
he whispered.

"
Yeah,
"
I said.

He muttered something, but I didn
'
t really hear him, because I nodded off to sleep.

Chapter Fourteen

Thursday

"
This was a great idea,
"
Emma said as she chowed down on her pizza.
"
I
'
ve never eaten outside in the rain!
"
The rain showers clattered against the metal roof that covered the picnic area at the park, making a tapping that was both loud yet soothing.

Summer laughed.
"
It is different.
"
She glanced at Matthew.

He grinned at her, loving this simple moment. He needed it after a trying last few days at work.

And he needed to spend more time with Summer. How she soothed him with just a look or a few words, he didn
'
t know. But it wasn
'
t something he wanted to give up any time soon.

This seemed the easiest thing to do. And with Emma chaperoning them, he wouldn
'
t be jumping her, like he really wanted to.

"
I knew you hadn
'
t ever done it.
"
He smirked as he ate his own pizza.
"
I love rain in the summer time.
"

A clatter of thunder shook the sky, and Emma jumped.

"
It
'
s okay, kiddo, it
'
s just thunder.
"
Matthew said, patting her arm--she
'
d opted to sit next to him on the old picnic table rather than sit next to her mother.

"
What made you think of it?
"
Summer asked as she took a bite of her pizza. They
'
d grabbed takeout from the pizzeria and he brought them here. The park wasn
'
t far from the house he
'
d had when he lived here with his parents.

For that minute he was in Barrum.

"
I used to do this with my mommy and daddy when I was a kid. We
'
d get a picnic together and eat outside somewhere when it was raining, and watch the rain and the lightning and the storms.
"

"
So you
'
re not afraid of storms, Mister Maffew?
"

He shook his head.
"
Nope, never have been.
"

"
We live in Tornado Alley, and when it gets hot, then it rains, we have tornadoes,
"
Emma said.
"
And those are scary.
"

He nodded.
"
You do need to take notice of tornadoes, but today
'
s not a tornado day.
"

"
How do you know?
"
Emma asked.

He glanced at the sky.
"
The clouds aren
'
t moving right.
"

"
How do they move?
"

"
In a circle,
"
Matthew said.

"
Okay, Emma, I think you
'
ve pestered Mister Matthew about storms long enough.
"

The little girl huffed and crossed her arms.
"
I just don
'
t want to see us get swept away in a tornado now that we
'
re being a family.
"

Matthew choked on his soda. That thought train wasn
'
t even close to his ideas.

"
Emma, we talked about this. We are all just friends. Mister Matthew is not going to be your new daddy.
"

"
Why not? Don
'
t you like me?
"
Emma asked, slumping in her seat.

"
I like you a lot, Emma,
"
he said, pulling the girl into his lap. She curled into him.
"
The problem is, your mom thinks I have stinky toes, and she doesn
'
t like boys with stinky toes.
"
He glanced at Summer, and she shook her head, smirking.

Matthew began to tickle the little girl, and she laughed and wiggled in his arms. He hoped he
'
d pushed the grown up idea of a family out of the little girl
'
s mind.

She pushed away from him.
"
Okay, that
'
s good,
"
Emma said, panting.
"
I want to finish so I can play in the rain for a little bit.
"