And now he knew where she lived and would make it his business to get her to invite him over to her
place one night. It might take a while to work up to that, but he would get there. He wouldn’t see her
again until Monday, which was just as well since he of all people knew Summer was the type of woman
who could grow on a man.
She was the type of woman who could easily get under a man’s skin. And he had to admit that she had
gotten under his tonight. She had made sensations he hadn’t felt in years rush through him, reminding
him what it was like to lose control with a woman.
Darius headed toward the shower with a deep frown on his face. No matter what Summer evoked within
him, he was determined to remain immune to her charms. He had no intentions of making the same
mistake twice.
Six
“H ow did your meeting go on Friday?”
Summer glanced up and met Darius’s gaze. She had wondered if he would be dropping by the shelter
today. She hadn’t expected to see him Friday, but she hadn’t known for sure when he would be back to
complete the project he’d been hired by the TCC to do.
“I think the meeting went great. Mr. Novak appreciated the handouts and was very attentive to what I
had to say. He agreed that based on our occupancy log, it would be a good idea to consider expanding
the facilities sooner than later. He said he’d take his recommendations back to the other members of the
TCC.”
Darius nodded. “And how was your weekend?”
“Busy as usual. And yours?” she asked, watching him carefully. She used to have the ability to read his
thoughts, but now his expressions were unrevealing and she didn’t have a clue as to what he was
thinking.
“It was okay. After spending Friday at the refinery, I had to follow up several leads,” he said, stepping
into the room.
She immediately felt his heat, breathed in his scent and admitted to herself that she had missed seeing
him around. “And you’re still certain the fire was intentionally set?”
She tried not to notice how good he looked standing in front of her desk with a cup of coffee in his hand.
All it took was a glance at his mouth to remember their kisses right here in this office last week.
She refused to admit she had purposely left her office door open on the off chance he dropped by
Helping Hands today. On a number of occasions he had caught her unaware and she didn’t want that to
happen this time. She also refused to admit that she had thought about him a lot over the weekend,
wondering how he was spending his time—and with whom. The latter was something she had no right
to concern herself with, but she couldn’t help it.
“I’ll pick up the official report from the fire marshal this week, but so far, all evidence still points to
arson,” he said.
“Then I’m sure you’ll be the one to solve this case.”
Darius didn’t want to think about what effect her confidence had on him at that very moment. She’d
always had a way of making him feel that he could leap tall buildings with a single bound if he had to.
He used to tell himself the reason she felt that way was because he had been the one to save her from a
dangerous situation, and he shouldn’t put much stock into it. But he had anyway.
“So, what’s next?”
That was another thing that had drawn him to Summer, her interest in his job. She would ask questions
and seemed to understand his excitement about it as well as his frustrations. He would enjoy getting off
work at the end of his shift and dropping by her place to tell her how his day had gone.
“I’ll continue to conduct an investigation over at the refinery while working on the security and the
accounting systems here. Since the TCC wants me to personally handle both, I’ve delegated my other
projects.”
There, he’d just told her his plans which meant, whether she liked it or not, he would be hanging around
for a while. He wondered if she had assumed he would be moving on and assigning the shelter job to
someone else, but he couldn’t read her expression.
“Well, I’ll let you get back to work. I’ll see you at noon.”
He watched as her brow lifted. “Noon?”
He smiled. “Yes. We’re doing lunch.”
She stared at him. “Are we?”
“Sure we are, and I’ll even let you twist my arm into getting one of those salads you seem to like so
much.”
There was a pause, and Darius sensed she was trying to determine whether it was worth the effort to
start an argument with him. When she began speaking, she spoke her words slowly as if to make sure
they were understood. “I don’t want you to assume we’re going to lunch together every day, Darius.”
“Don’t you like my company?”
She hesitated, and he watched her nervously lick her top lip with her tongue before she answered.
“Whether I like your company or not has nothing to do with it. We have issues we haven’t yet resolved.”
They had issues yet to be resolved? She made it sound like she had been the injured party and not the
other way around. He hadn’t been the one to skip town with a man old enough to be her father who
could buy her all the things Darius couldn’t afford on his detective salary. They would resolve things all
right, but his way. Pretty soon she would see how it felt to have someone you assumed loved you turn
around and leave you high and dry with a broken heart.
“Some things can’t be resolved and are better left alone,” he said. “And in our case, maybe that’s the
way things should be, Summer. What happened between us was seven years ago. People change and
they grow to regret things they did when they were young and foolish.”
Darius maintained eye contact with her, assuming she was thinking about what he’d said. He made it
sound as if he was giving her a chance to redeem herself, and that he was willing to forgive her for what
she had done. Little did she know how far from the truth that was.
“Maybe you have the right idea,” she finally said. “It was seven years ago and we’ve grown a lot since
then.”
“I’d like to believe we have.” Deciding he didn’t want to discuss it any further, he asked, “So, do we
have another date for lunch?”
She hesitated and then said, “Yes, we do.”
After Darius walked out of her office, Summer couldn’t help wondering if she was making a mistake by
agreeing to put the past behind them. He evidently found it easy to do so, but he hadn’t been the one to
get his heart broken. But then, on the other hand, she couldn’t discount the fact that Darius had saved her
life. And then another part of her wondered if perhaps she had put more stock in their affair, and had
expected more from the relationship than he had.
She had gone a long time without getting involved with a man and she wasn’t so sure if she could handle
Darius—she wasn’t even sure if she wanted to. She had gotten used to being by herself. Why was he
determined to invade her space?
The only thing she was certain about was the way he made her feel whenever he touched her. To be
honest, he didn’t even have to touch her to make her hormones react. He could stand five feet away and
she had the ability to feel how the tension in the air surrounding them seemed to vibrate, emitting all
sorts of sensuous stirrings and l
ongings. He had been in her office less than fifteen minutes and already
her vital signs were at their highest peak.
But she was no longer concerned by the staggering degree of physical chemistry flowing between them.
It had always been there, from the first. What she was concerned about was how easily she wanted to
forgive him and believe that what Darius had said was true. Seven years ago, they had been different
people with different values, at a different place in their lives. People change. And they come to regret
decisions and actions of their past. Decisions and actions that they can’t change.
She knew some men didn’t like confrontation and Darius was probably of the mind that even if they
hashed the issues out, it would not change anything. But still, was it too much to expect an apology for
sharing something private and personal with his partner? Couldn’t he see that doing so had degraded
what they’d shared?
Even now she could vividly recall that day, after she and Darius had spent the night together. He had left
her bed that morning seemingly in a good mood, making plans for them to spend the day together. But
first he had to go home to get a change of clothes and stop by police headquarters to complete some
paperwork, and she had to work a few hours at the restaurant where she was a part-time waitress.
When she’d returned home, she had waited for Darius. When hours passed, she had gotten worried. That
evening, Walt had appeared on her doorstep with a message from Darius saying he’d had to leave town
unexpectedly on police business. After delivering that message, Walt had asked if he could talk to her
privately. That is when he’d told her how Darius had come to the station that day and bragged about
finally sleeping with her. He had made a bet with Walt that it would take less than a month to share her
bed. Discovering their one night together hadn’t been anything more than a chance for him to win a bet
had hurt her deeply. And then to know he’d gone back and told his friend had been another crushing
blow.
While listening to Walt level with her about what Darius had done, she had barely been able to maintain
her composure. Only after Walt had left did she break down and let it all out. She knew she had to leave
Houston immediately and did not want to see Darius again, ever. It had been bad enough with Tyrone,
but the hurt Darius had inflicted was even worse because in just a short time, she had fallen in love with
him.
She had been too ashamed to call her aunt to tell her what had happened, so in the days that followed,
she’d made some quick decisions. One of her regular customers at the restaurant, an author of academic
books named Jack Lindsey, would be spending a year in Florida with his wife while he penned his next
book. Jack had offered her the chance to accompany them as his assistant, to organize and edit all of his
notes. He had made the offer before, but she had turned him down because of Tyrone’s threats regarding
what he would do if she ever left town. But with no future for her in Houston, she had quickly packed up
and left town with the Lindseys.
The Lindseys had been wonderful and she had enjoyed the year she had spent with them on their beach
property in Miami. She had buried herself in her work, determined to put Darius out of her mind and go
about healing her heart. When she hadn’t heard from him in over two weeks, that had only verified
everything Walt had said. Their night together had been a conquest for him and nothing more.
Since both Mr. and Mrs. Lindsey were former teachers, they had encouraged Summer to pursue a
college degree, and Mrs. Lindsey had even tutored her on those subjects Summer had felt would hold
her back from getting accepted to any college. Using the money she’d made working for the Lindseys,
along with a very nice bonus they had given her at the end of the year, she had remained in Miami to
attend college there. She had poured all her time and energy into her classes, determined to reach every
goal she had established for herself and refusing to wallow in the hurt and pain Darius had caused her.
Summer got up from her desk and looked out the window, not sure how she would handle the one man
she thought she would never see again.
What she was up against now was how he could make her feel. Whenever she was around him, he was
capable of bringing out feelings and desires that she wished would stay buried. In seven years, no man
had made her remember how it felt to be a woman. A desired woman. It was something Darius could do
so effortlessly.
When he met her gaze, she could see the desire in his eyes, and on most occasions he wasn’t trying to
mask it. It was as if he knew exactly what he was doing to her, what buttons to push, what words to say.
She had thought about him a lot over the weekend, wondering how and what he was doing. And, she
thought as she bit her lower lip, with whom. She wished she could claim she didn’t care, but she did.
She couldn’t help but notice how ladies would glance their way whenever they walked into the café
together. There was feminine interest in their eyes and she couldn’t very well blame them for it. After
all, she was a woman, too.
She sighed deeply before checking her watch. It was time to make her rounds and greet everyone. She
would keep herself busy until lunchtime.
Darius stared long and hard at the computer screen, thinking he must have missed something while
setting up the billing system. He needed to go back and recheck. Or better yet, he thought, leaning back
in the chair and rubbing the bridge of his nose, it would probably be a good idea if he kept his mind on
what he was doing and stopped thinking about Summer. Having her on his mind was probably the
Deciding to give both his eyes and his mind a break, he pushed away from the desk and stood, needing
to stretch his body. He had been sitting at the computer practically all morning and the limited space
under the desk had been murder on his long legs.
He glanced at his watch. He had another hour to go before lunch and he couldn’t deny he was looking
forward to dining with Summer again. He tried convincing himself that spending time with her meant
absolutely nothing, and was just a part of his plan for revenge. There was no reason to think it was
anything more than that.
He breathed in deeply, truly wishing he believed that. But he knew if he wasn’t careful, he would be
succumbing to Summer’s charms all over again. And he didn’t want that. He had given his heart to her
once and what she’d done had almost destroyed him, made him unable to put his complete trust in
another woman.
He had asked her how her meeting with Kev had gone, but he’d already been privy to that information.
To say she had impressed Kev was an understatement. Besides stating the obvious about what a goodlooking
woman she was, Kev had been taken with her keen sense of intelligence as well as her concern
for the women who sought refuge at the shelter. Kev also felt she had a lot of good ideas that the TCC
should definitely take under consideration.
Sitting back down at the computer, he resumed setting up the Helping Hands account, trying to push
thoughts of Summer to the back of his mind. However, once again a few discrepancies within TCC’s
acc
ounting system popped up.
He pulled back when his cell phone went off. It was Lance. “Yeah, Lance, what’s up?”
“Kate’s fixing dinner tonight and wants you to come eat with us.”
Darius smiled. He liked Kate and would be the first to say she was just what Lance needed. “I’d love to.”
“Great. I’ll let her know.”
“Lance?”
“Yeah?”
Darius paused, not sure if he should mention anything about the discrepancies he’d found in TCC’s
accounting. Huntington and his band of tight-wads managed the accounting for the club—namely the
money they got from fundraisers and endowments. And everybody knew his group kept a tight squeeze
on TCC’s money supply. If there was anything wrong with the club’s funds, they would know it. But
still…
“Darius? What is it?”
Darius breathed in deeply. “Nothing,” he finally said, deciding not to jump to any conclusions about the
discrepancies until he’d had a chance to look at them more carefully.
“How are things going with you and Summer Martindale?”
Darius frowned. “You talk as if we’re a couple.”
“Aren’t you?” Lance countered.
“Not yet.”
There must have been something in his voice that gave him away.
“I don’t know what your plans are regarding her, Darius, but be careful. They can backfire on you. If
you’re going to pursue her, then you need to forget about what happened seven years ago and move on.”
Darius didn’t say anything for a moment and then admitted, “I can’t.”
“You should try, man. When the shit blows up in your face, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
“Today I came prepared,” Darius said, glancing down at his feet.
Summer followed his gaze and noted he had removed his boots and was now wearing a pair of leather
loafers. That meant he had come to the shelter today prepared to walk over to the café, and had assumed
she would have lunch with him. She wasn’t sure whether she liked the fact that he’d known she would
give in.
She returned her gaze to his face. “So I see. You’re ready?”
“I’m always ready, Summer.”