Summer's Landing (A Loving Summer Standalone Novel Series): Loving Summer Spinoff (Loving Summer Series Book 9) (6 page)

“Boy,
Nat sure got himself a feisty one, didn’t he?” Drew said under his breath.

“I
may be feisty and smart, but I can still please any man of mine in bed like a
girl from the Best Little Whorehouse in Texas,” I said.

Drew
laughed. “I’d like to see that!”

You
have. When I used to get dressed up in nothing but lace and garter belts, and
tie you up in silk stockings while I made you whimper in need for me with just
one touch of my feather wand.

“You
got more to you than you seem, Summer,” Drew said.

“You
betcha,” I said. “I also happen to know there is something my man truly can’t
resist and it gets to him all the time…”

“What?”
Drew asked, his eyes now taking me in from head to toe.

“Two
words,” I said looking into his eyes.

He
licked his lips. “What?”

“One…Feather. 
And two…Wand.”

Drew
visibly shuddered. “God, that seemed so naughty.”

“It
is,” I said. “Especially when I stick the wand in a place where it hasn’t seen
sun.”

“No
kidding,” Drew said.

“I
bet,” I said. “You would love it. It would drive you crazy.”

“Sounds
like something I would love to try, Summer,” Drew said.

“Haven’t
you?” I asked boldly. It’s time he remembered something of me. At least that we
had great and unbelievable sex.

“I
have memories of having sex using feathers,” Drew said. “I must’ve had so many
partners, I can’t remember which one, but yes, I believe I’ve experienced it.”

“I
bet you have,” I said. “Too bad you can’t remember the exact details. When
you’ve experienced it, you’d want to remember it for the rest of your life.”

So
many partners he can’t remember which one. Ha! As far as I know, it was only me
for the last decade.
Or did Drew lived a separate life outside of the one I
knew?

Having
him forget we were engaged was becoming more interesting.

“So,
Drew, you’ve had many partners? When?” I asked.

“Whenever
I could,” Drew said. “I’ve never just had one. It’s not like me. I’m not Nat. I
could never have settled for just one girl, especially for over 10 years.”

“Oh
really?” I said between clenched teeth. “You’ve always been a player? When was
the last time you were with a girl, Drew? The way you talked on the phone just
now, it seemed you were way out of practice. Any woman could tell.”

“The
way I talked on the phone? That was customized to fit Trixi’s language,” Drew
said.

“Customized?
Ha! It sounded like the worst type of cliché one-liners player types have been
throwing around since our great grandfather’s days. It sounds like a bad plaid
coat.”

Drew
shifted in his seat. “Tell me then, Ms. Been Around the Block A Few Times, what
would you know about dating? You’ve only dated Astor Fairway and then my
brother who wasn’t exactly very experienced back then.”

“I
know a lot more about dating the kind of guy you are than you know,” I said.
“In fact, there was one time when Nat and I had broken up, and I began seeing a
guy who was a lot like you, Drew. He always put on a front like he was such a
ladies’ man, but deep down, he only really wanted one girl. At least it seemed
that way. He did everything he could to win this girl’s heart over. Even
risking his life a few times, which proved to her his true love for her. But
then again, she would do the same because she had fallen in love with him too.”

“Boy
that must’ve been a bummer for you, Summer,” Drew said. “When he got together
with his true love, it must’ve ended your relationship with him. Was that why
you seem so bitter against guys like us?”

“Bitter
against guys like you?” I shook my head. “If you only knew.”

And
remember. The egg would be on your face, jerk.

We
arrived at my hospital faster than I anticipated, especially in Los Angeles
traffic. I had been driving faster than the speed limit, almost gunning it,
fueled by my anger at this new Drew.

“Hey
hey Ms. Two Left Feet,” Drew said as I swung into a narrow parking space,
nearly sideswiping the car next to it. “Watch the anger issue. I can’t have my
new baby car damaged already, can I?”

Better
the car than your smug face.

How
did I ever managed to be with a man this infuriating for so long? What did I
see in him?

I
took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Calm down. Calm down. Maybe this was
the medicine talking instead of Drew.

Drew
was already out of the car and stretching his arms. “So you had me cancel my
get together with the girls tonight. Hope you can entertain me while we’re
here. I hate hospitals. All that white gowns and clean smell.”

“We’re
here because you asked me about your blackouts,” I said. “It’s a serious matter
that should be checked out.”

“I
want to keep everything private and confidential,” Drew said. “If I check into
this hospital, can you guarantee that? I don’t even want Nat and Rach to know.”

I
thought about Drew having been in a coma, having been taken care of at Nat’s
medical facility instead of a public hospital. Maybe I should have brought him
to a private facility.

“Good
point,” I said. “I’ll say you’re hanging out with me as I check up on some
things. Technically, I’m on leave so I’m not even supposed to be here.”

“Then
how are you going to check me out?” Drew asked.

“I
need some equipment, but I could check you out myself,” I said. “Don’t worry.
No one else will be there. It’ll be private and confidential. I won’t put it on
record.”

“Alright,
Doctor,” Drew said. “I guess I’m in good hands.”

“Yes
you are,” I said, leading him through the private staff entrance.

I
was hoping no one would see me so I didn’t have to answer any questions, but as
I made my way to my office, the Head Nurse Sarah May pass me by and said, “Dr.
Jones? What are you doing here? Aren’t you on leave?”

“Hi
Nurse May, technically I am, but I have to stop by my office to get a few
things. Look, Drew’s here, too.”

No
one at this hospital knew about Drew and I not being engaged. Everyone outside
of Rachel, Nat, Luis, Hector, and Dr. Turk knew Drew’s memory loss basically
broke us up.

“Is
this Mr. Donovan?” Nurse May asked. “Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials.
We’re all so excited for you both.”

“Oh,”
I said. “Hasn’t happen yet, but when it does, I’ll let the staff know.”

“Alright,”
Nurse May said. “After hearing so much about Mr. Donovan, we all think you’ll
be very happy with him.” She smiled warmly at Drew and left.

I
reached my office and pulled Drew in, immediately closing the door.

“I
take it Nat doesn’t visit you at the hospital often,” Drew said. “Nurse May
thought I was Nat, didn’t she? And engaged? Are you two secretly engaged? Nat
and Rachel didn’t say anything about that.”

“No,
Nat doesn’t visit me here at all. And no, we’re not secretly engaged. No need
to get worked up about that.”

I
pointed at the chair across from my desk. “Sit there and take off your shirt.”

“Okay,
Doc,” Drew said, doing as I asked.

He
sat down, and took off his jacket first while I went over to a cabinet and
unlocked it. I took out a few basic medical equipment and turned around.

Drew
was sitting down, but his shirt was off completely, showing off his tanned skin
and gorgeous perfectly proportioned body. I couldn’t help taking in every inch
of him. I remembered every part of him from exploring his entire body
thoroughly for years as his lover and fiancé.

I
gulped. He was breathtaking.

Drew
seemed to know it. He smiled a slow sly smile. “Now now, Summer, I know how I
must look to you since you’ve been with my fuddy dud brother for so long, but
you are with my brother. I don’t think he would like how you’re looking at me
right now.”

I
blushed and turned around. What a cocky arrogant bastard.

“I
was not looking at you like…” I began.

“Like
you want to touch me? Put your mouth on my skin? Make love to me?” Drew asked
arrogantly.

“No!
Not at all, Drew. That’s all your imagination filling in some kind of fantasy
you have of you being a sex god.”

Drew
got up and walked up to me, backing me up into the corner. I tried to look
away, but his bare body was pressed against me. “Tell me, Summer, if you are
not tempted to touch me.”

“I
can’t believe you, Drew,” I said. “I will not.”

Drew
pressed harder against me. “Tell me you don’t want some of this.”

I
scrunched up my face in disgust. “Again with the 1980s sleazy man one-liners.”

“Suit
yourself, Summer,” he said. “I like teasing you and watching you turn pink
around your cheeks and nose. It’s pretty cute.”

“Not
funny,” I said pushing him back into the chair. I took out my first equipment
and began working on him.

He
was just another one of my patients I kept telling myself as I pinch, touched,
and jabbed at him.

“You
are taking out your anger on me, aren’t you, Doc?” Drew asked trying to look
into my eyes. “Why? Why are you so angry at me? What did I do?”

I
stopped fussing with my equipment on Drew and stood quiet for a few seconds.
How could I tell him that my whole world had suddenly changed because of him?
How could I tell him about a loss we have when he couldn’t even remember it?

“You’re
right,” I finally said. “I was angry at you, but it wasn’t your fault, Drew. I
think I was just frustrated at the situation. I’m sorry I took it out on you.”

“That’s
alright, Summer,” Drew said. “Is there any way I could help?”  He stood up and
wrapped his arms around me.

It
felt so good to have him hold me, to touch me again. I rested my face against
his chest and began crying. He was here with me, but he was also so far away.

“I
just need you to remember your life more, Drew,” I finally said, pulling away
and wiping my eyes. “I’m worried about you…these blackouts and memory loss. But
I have hope you will recover. I know you don’t even know what I’m talking
about, but I swear, Drew, I will do everything I could to help you. I will.”

Drew
hugged me tighter and said, “Thank God for you, Summer. You really are a
Godsend to the Donovans. Nat is one lucky guy.”

Don’t
you know it
, I thought sadly.

Chapter 10

Nat

I
t was bright and early in the morning when I
woke up Summer from her bed. Last night she came back to the compound late, was
quiet for the entire night before she went to her own room and fell asleep.

Seeing
Drew again and having him act like almost a stranger to her was painful to see.
No doubt she must’ve gone through a lot when she went back with him to their
place to pack up her things. I don’t know what happened, but she returned
empty-handed. So her belongings were still at Drew’s, which to Summer, must
have been a hopeful sign.

Considering
what happened between Summer and I, I was torn about Drew’s chances of
recovery.

Yes
I wanted Summer for myself. I always did, but when it came to making Summer
happy and wanting what I wanted, her happiness was more important to me than
anything. It tugged at my heartstrings seeing her so sad. Although I was happy
to be with her as lovers, even pretending to be, I knew she had a long history
with Drew. Probably happy ones too since they were about to get married before
Summer was kidnapped.

By
the Dragon, who had kidnapped her because he was trying to get to me.

Drew
loved Summer more than anything and anyone too. If Summer had not been
kidnapped…Drew would not have been shot, fallen into a coma, and subsequently
lose his memory of Summer.

I
poured coffee into my cup and prepared Summer’s while she took a hot shower to
wake up. It was an ungodly hour to wake up at 2 in the morning to fly out, and
I guessed she would be used to the lack of sleep, but she still stumbled out of
bed looking sleepy-eyed but adorable.

 I
took a sip and tried to focus. If this and if that had not happened, we
wouldn’t be here.  If I kept thinking about what led to this and what led to
that, I would be too immobilized with guilt and self-loathing that we would
never move forward.

You
didn’t cause Drew’s loss of memory. You would never have wanted that for
Summer.

But
you’ve always wanted Summer. She would always be the only girl you loved.

I
shook my head clearing all the negative and self-defeating thoughts out of my
head. Thinking of them now would only defeat me, cause me to lose my focus and
mojo.

This
mission was larger than Drew’s memory loss and winning the girl, it was about
preserving the brilliant talent and minds out there, who had been lost and
abandoned by the system because one program lost funding or someone had messed
up.

There
was a man out there called The Yeti whose talents were sought after, but by the
wrong people. Andrew Knight Hockings Industries or AKH would at least try to
recruit him so we could use his talents for good. At the same time, we would
delve deep into the coma drug he created to see how to salvage it. It was
miraculous if it worked perfectly…the drug had the ability to bring many of our
body and mind’s functions back near death.

It
even had the ability to wipe out memories, if we looked at what happened to
Drew in a positive light. Very useful in changing human behavior,
rehabilitating criminals and prisoners of war, and victims from traumatic
pasts.

The
question was, how do you reverse the memory loss or pinpoint what to lose?

I
packed up one of my small portable laptop, set the cameras outside my compound
to another frequency so only I could see the coverage, while playing another
footage for the main security quarters at the compound; and set up a random
timer to time a few events to go off while I was away.

Like
everything I do, I try to accomplish more by  killing two birds with one stone.
This mission was that one stone. To find and recruit a new medical fugitive for
AHK Industries, to find a solution to Drew’s memory loss, to find the mice in
the compound who had betrayed me and my men’s trust by trying to kill us with
the warehouse explosion, and to keep Summer close to me.

The
Dragon was out there, and although we had a gentleman’s understanding between
us to not harm Summer, I still didn’t trust him. He was obsessed with her. He
may have treated her decently while she was his hostage, according to her, but
he still kidnapped her. I’ve known him far too long to take a man like that on
his word.

One
thing I didn’t show Summer when I was going through The Dragon’s servers were
the thousands of footage he had of her from the time she was 18 years old
living at Aunt Sookie’s Pad to now. Everything that pervert stalker had of
Summer from her running on the beach, to her going to the Acting Academy, even
of her taking a shower, and of her with me making out on the porch of the Pad;
The Dragon had on those servers. The Dragon was the stalker’s boss at the top
of the food chain, which made his obsession with Summer even far more dangerous
than the stalker’s.

“I
could use a gallon of this,” Summer said, plopping down on the bar stool at the
kitchen counter and gulping down her coffee. She was dressed in the black
sweater, jeans, and black boots I laid out for her. With her hair swept off her
face into a wavy side ponytail and dressed from head to toe in black, she
looked very stylish despite her sleepy face. “I feel as though a truck hit me,
and I could barely get up.”

“It’s
all the emotional exhaustion,” I said. “You’ve been through and are still going
through a lot. On top of that, worrying about Drew could be exhausting.”

Summer
perk up when I mentioned Drew’s name so something must have happened between
them yesterday after dinner.

“How’s
Drew?” I asked. “He seemed chipper,” I said, “At dinner.”

Summer
sighed. “Drew had dumbed down 10 years, Nat. It’s as though he was back to
being the dumb jock guy who just cared about scoring it with the ladies, in
high school. I was concerned about how his mental illness could have affected
the coma medicine, and I took him to my hospital to check him out. I’ll get the
results in a few days when we get back, and I could go pick them up. Otherwise,
being with Drew yesterday was like being with a spoiled and arrogant teenager.”

I
laughed. Drew was still Drew, only when he had started going out with Summer
and had become serious about her, he grew up. He wanted to be the kind of man
she wanted to be with not just for a while, but for years and years to come. Being
with Summer changed him for the better. Anyone could see that. The question
was, did Drew see that now?

My
phone buzzed, and I saw it was Luis.

Luis
:
All Set.

Me:
Ready in 10.

Luis:
I’ll wait for your signal.

“Summer,”
I said, pouring her coffee into a steel canister shaped like a camera lens and
stuffing it into a black backpack, “we have to head out now.”

“But
I haven’t packed,” Summer said. “I’m sorry. I was planning to last night, but I
just…”

“All
packed,” I said, pointing to a black Louis Vuitton duffle bag next to another
one. Our black Loro Piana leather jackets were on top of them.

I
helped her with her jacket and slipped into mine while tugging on a black wool
newsboy cap on her head. “Cute,” I said, kissing her on the nose. My eyes laid
on her full glistening lips. I bent down again, pulled her tight against me and
kissed her mouth, plunging my tongue in to taste hers.

She
moaned as she pressed closer to me, lifting her leg to wrap against my thigh.

As
much as I wanted to go further, we didn’t have time. I pulled away from her and
picked up our bags before heading out of my quarters.

At
2 in the morning where we were close to the California coastline, a dense grey
fog covered the grounds of the compound, and we were able to head over to the
jet where Luis was rolling a large steel locker on board. On the side of the
locker, it had a sticker saying “Meals To Go”. 

We
walked alongside the rolling locker and was onboard the jet without being seen.

Luis
secured the locker, closed the jet’s door, and walked over to us.

“Sir,
we’re all fueled up and ready to go. Now if you’ll take your seat along with
Ms. Jones…”

“Summer,”
I said to Luis. “No need to be so formal. Just call me Summer.”

“Summer,”
Luis gave a small smile. “We’ll be on our way.”

I
led Summer to a cushy seat as wide as a love seat and said, “You can sit here. 
There are all kinds of movies, tv shows, games, music you could watch if you
press this button. And you’ll find cold drinks  in this wall in front of you,
underneath the tv screen.” 

Summer
looked around in awe. “This is like a posh luxury living room. I thought it
would be a military-like jet but this…”

“I
had it designed like the penthouse suite of a hotel,” I said, glad to show
Summer one of my favorite jets. I bent down and whispered into her ear, “I even
have a bedroom built in where you could sleep, take a full shower, have a
change of clothing. Some of your clothes are in there.” My voice became husky
as I watched Summer’s eyes light up. “And we can finish what we began back at
my place.”

Summer
looked down, blushing, but when she looked up, she said, “I was hoping you’d
say that.”

I
kissed her softly and went up to the cockpit, checking to see if everything was
in place. Although I had hired good people who knew what they were doing, I
always made sure to check things out myself, especially on critical missions
like this one.

Luis
was sitting in the cockpit next to Hector, who was the main pilot. “Hey, Boss,”
Hector said. “Everything looks good?”

“So
far so good,” I said, picking up the tablet next to him and checking all the
logistics. I checked all the gauges and reports.  The jet was constantly
maintained and was in top condition.

With
a lean team like this one, we all pull our weight, especially me.  “Let’s take
off. The fog is about to lift, and we can’t risk letting the rest of the guys
in on the mission. I checked the weather report, and there will be some strong
wind around the Pacific. Don’t worry about serving Summer or I anything. We’ll
get everything ourselves. When the weather is good, I’ll come back to brief you
on what I find.”

            “Yes,
Sir,” Luis said. “Go and do what you have to do. We got this. Don’t worry.”

            “Yeah,
don’t worry,” Hector said, starting to move the jet down the short runway. “You
better go take a seat now.”

            I
patted the shoulders of both my men and made my way back to Summer.

            She
was not watching a film or television show, but had a notepad in front of her,
scribbling away with formulas and charts.

            “Do
you need a tablet or laptop?” I asked, approaching her.

            Summer
looked up and smiled. “Nah.  I work best with these equations when I can write
them out.”

            I
went to get my laptop and sat down next to her, buckling up. “What are you
working on?”

            Summer
smiled and kept scribbling away, “I got back some test results from a patient
earlier than I expected. It came through on my phone just now, and I was doing
some calculations. That’s all.”

            I
glanced over at her paper. “That looks extensive.”

            “It’s
also formulations for multiple possibilities. Statistics and the probability of
a possible event.”

            I
nodded, opening up my laptop. Secretly, I was impressed with how smart Summer
really was, despite having the face and body of a Victoria Secret model. What
she was working on looked like the equations to some chemical formula.

            After
a while, and curiosity got to me, I turned to her and asked, “What are you
working on?”

            Summer
paused and faced me, saying, “What if the coma medication really isn’t the
medication we thought it was. I took a sample of the medication last night when
I got back, with the help of Dr. Turk. He asked me to help him analyze it
before meeting the Yeti and to see if his theory of the medication was right. I
myself was curious as to what could create such a side effect like Drew’s
memory loss with a medication meant to cure comas. So…” her face lit up with
excitement. “This is my area, Nat! I’m a neurosurgeon who specialize in brain
surgery, reconstruction, and function. Memory is a brain function, and if I can
figure out how this medicine works with the brain, whether or not it interacts
negatively and even severely with a pre-existing condition or medication; it
may not be the fault of this medication after all, but how we had used it.”

            Alright,
Summer had just proven to be one of the smartest women, no – one of the
smartest people I knew. “That sounds credible, Summer,” I said.

            “Look,
Dr. Turk is the expert on developing new medicines and biotechnology so I’d
leave it up to him, but since he asked me to represent him and his team on this
mission, especially when meeting the Yeti, I would try my best to represent the
team, which meant that I needed to understand the coma medicine as much as I
could beforehand.”

            “True,”
I said.

            Summer
laughed. “I even brought some of my medical equipment with me – my small
compact medical bag. I always fancy myself with a doctor’s bag, only this one’s
a nice smaller size, that I’d carry on housecalls when I first enter medical
school. Now I’ll get my chance to bring it.”

            I
laughed too. Summer’s enthusiasm even for non-sexy things was contagious.

            She
bent down to work on her paper once again, and I turned to my laptop, finishing
up a set of instructions to my top team handling issues and accounts all over
the world. I also did a check on my cameras placed around my quarters to see if
everything looked normal. It did.