Finding Summer (Nightwind Book 3) Page 27

  “We’re going to have a problem if you keep looking at me like that,” he warned her.

  Summer blushed. She crooked her finger and asked him to come closer—

  lower.

  “What?” he grunted.

  “I’m not wearing panties.”

  “Excuse me?” he nearly shouted. Knowing she was out in public with her pussy laid bare was not okay with him.

  She smiled coquettishly, and whispered, “There’s a pair in my bag. I thought you might want to put them on me yourself.”

  What a clever but very wicked girl! Asking him to put her panties on was an open invitation to finger and lick her sweet pussy.

  “All you have to do is ask,” he teased. “Anytime you need my hand in your panties, you just let me know.”

  “Cocky shithead.”

  “Dripping pussy,” he growled against her ear.

  “On that note …” She giggled. “I think we should get to the car and spare me the embarrassment of anything dripping down my leg.”

  Her words acted like a blowtorch on his balls.

  He took her hand again and lifted it to his mouth. “Don’t underestimate how much I want you.”

  Feeling like a god with the whole world bowing before him, Arnie led his fair lady from the hotel and out into the California sunshine. It would take an entire year for him to learn their every move that morning had been scrutinized. If only he’d noticed Giselle lurking behind a large, potted fern, maybe some of the shitstorm hurtling their way might have been avoided.

  13

  Emotion clawed at his heart. A thickness in his throat made swallowing impossible. The deep, rich scent of flowering blooms filled the air. It was so heavy Arnie tasted it.

  “Your mother, Lianne, embodied all the best qualities a woman could have. She was sweet and full of life.”

  He was at the farm, walking alongside his grandfather as they toured one of the laboratory greenhouses when the conversation suddenly pivoted to the subject of Arnie’s dead mother.

  Just like that, it was hard to keep his shit together.

  “She taught me a song in sign language.” Darnell Senior steered his scooter to a rack of blooms in the back corner of the humid grow building.

  “The song was our private wink-wink. Sometimes when the strain of this family got on our nerves, we would send hand signals from the song and laugh.”

  Arnie’s heart boomed in his chest. It was highly unusual for anyone to bring up Lianne Donaldson Wanamaker, so his grandfather’s walk down memory lane rattled him.

  When the old guy began to sing and sign, there was a good possibility Arnie was gearing up for a boo-hoo moment.

  The sign language and off-key mashup of “You Are My Sunshine” and “Let the Sunshine In” hit him like a rocket blast

  He put a hand on his chest and struggled to take in enough oxygen to remain standing. The songs meant nothing, but something stirred inside him as he listened.

  “Lianne was our sunshine.”

  Yep, he was definitely heading for an episode. Arnie estimated how far he’d fall when he hit the ground.

  His granddad swiveled on the scooter seat, planted both feet solidly on the ground, and stood. He moved to a large plant and touched one of the rose’s petals.

  “I’ve been developing a hybrid tea rose. Buttery yellow with hints of dusty pink along the furled edges.” His grandfather bent to smell the lush blooms. “This one has taken years and three different botanists.”

  Arnie’s heart thumped heavily. Ba-boom. Ba-boom.

  “What do you think?”

  Were his eyes blinking? Arnie wasn’t sure, so he tried a nod and cleared his throat with an awkward-sounding gulp.

  “It’s, uh, nice.” He lifted one shoulder. “Pretty.”

  “I wanted something to look and smell like sunshine and sweetness.”

  Oh, shit. He was going to face-plant right at his grandfather’s feet. Numb fingers grabbed the edge of a table for an anchor.

  “It’s named for her. Sweet Lianne.”

  Whoa. His head swam. Gray encroached along the periphery of his vision, and for a few seconds, Arnie was sure he was about to go down.

  “Are you all right, Arnie?”

  “Fuck, Granddad. No! Warn a guy next time.” Tears and other uncool, unmanly shit threatened to cause an embarrassing situation.

  Darnell Senior chuckled and thumped Arnie on the back. “Son, your reaction is exactly what I was hoping for and why you didn’t get a warning.”

  “Well, at least now I know for sure where my dickish tendencies come from,” he finally managed to growl.

  The sly glint in his grandfather’s eyes when he handed off a monogrammed handkerchief got Arnie’s attention. What was on the old guy’s mind?

  “You’ve been working on this flower for years?”

  Granddad nodded. “Your grandmamma’s suggestion. Josie adored Lianne. She was everything a mama wanted for her son’s bride. They were very close. When we lost Lianne, I thought my Josephine would die of a broken heart.”

  “I wish I’d known them both,” he whispered. Honking into the handkerchief, Arnie fought to hold on to his self-control.

  “Yes, well, life’s a bitch. Something your dad found out when 1982’s Miss Succubus rolled him like a piecrust. If not for your brother, that horrible woman wouldn’t be allowed to spit shine my shoes.”

  The very last thing Arnie was interested in discussing was Stan or Giselle, so he took the conversation in another direction.

  “Why are you telling me about the flower now?”

  “Because I sense something. You’re different. It’s as if you looked up and found the sun shining.”

  His granddad was nothing if not a shrewd old fart. When Arnie paused to gather his wits, the sly senior citizen came back with a frontal push, leaving him slack-jawed and speechless.

  “Does she have a name?”

  “Er, uh, name?” He squeezed his eyes shut and marveled at how foolish he sounded. In a blinding flash, he knew now was not the time to run away or deflect. Instead, he stood his ground and let the chips fall.

  “Yes, Arnie. A name. You’ve met someone, and she’s scrambling that thing you talk about. What’s it called? Qi? Yes, that. You can fool everyone else, my boy, but not me.”

  He studied the rose named for his mother. His grandmother’s hand in the making of the tribute flower warmed his heart. Holy fuck. How could he explain Summer to a man who used sunshine and sweetness as ingredients?

  “It’s complicated,” he grumbled.

  “How so? Does she belong to someone else? Is that it?”

  “No.” He shook his head. His mouth tilted to the side, and he murmured, “There’s a situation.”

  Granddad hesitated for a second and then squinted.

  Keeping his top secret life top secret required upper-level management skills. The people he came into contact with professionally were close-mouthed by habit and not an issue. It was his private life where things got dicey. Only his father knew how deep the rabbit hole went. Granddad might not know a lot, but he had enough understanding to acknowledge the gravity of what Arnie was trying to say.

  A grim smile tugged at the old guy’s mouth. “Duty calls?”

  He made a gesture with his hands and grunted. “The leash has been yanked.”

  “Then why are you still here?”

  “Waiting for the call.” He grimaced. “And I can’t leave her. Not yet.”

  “Am I the only one who knows?”

  “Yes.”

  The ensuing silence was heavy and thick with emotions.

  “I don’t know what to do,” he admitted. “She took me by surprise. Falling for a California girl wasn’t high on my to-do list for this visit.”

  “May I ask who she thinks you are?”

  He smirked. “She thinks I’m a visiting trust fund baby with questionable taste in shoes.”

  “That wasn’t the question, my boy, and you know it.”

>   “NIGHTWIND,” he said.

  “So she isn’t aware of the Wanamaker connection? Or any of the other stuff.”

  “Not really. Not the family at all and just the skeleton of my government work.”

  “Is that wise, Arnie? You’re going to have some serious explaining to do at some point.”

  “I don’t know what to say, Granddad. It happened so fast and so completely that the real world hasn’t had time to weigh in.”

  “Ah, yes. It’s how the men in this family fall in love. The real men.” His domineering grandfather sneered. “It happens in an instant.” He snapped his fingers and chuckled. “Lovers in their own magical little world.”

  “Spot-on.”

  “Where is this woman, Arnie? Will I get to meet her?”

  Arnie’s conscience let out a heavy sigh, and in his head, the failure tune from The Price is Right rang out. He gritted his teeth and blurted out the facts as they were.

  “Um, first of all, don’t freak out, okay? This might sound bad, but it’s not.”

  Granddad rested his butt against a potting table and crossed his arms. He motioned with his head to the lush blooms. “Your mother and grandmother are listening. Go ahead.”

  He dropped his jaw and shook his head. “Did you really just play that card?”

  “I did. Only seems right since the subject is love. We are talking love, aren’t we? This isn’t some prefabricated actress and a case of kinky boredom, is it?”

  “No. Hydraulic tits and strap-ons don’t interest me. That’s more Stan’s thing. I’m a boring, middle-of-the-road kind of guy.”

  Darnell Senior barked with laughter and then immediately apologized. “Stanford is lucky I like him so much. That boy needs an ass whupping, though.”

  “Maybe therein lies the problem,” Arnie calmly suggested. “He isn’t a boy. Time to let life bite him in the ass.”

  “Point well made. Now back to this woman. Love or infatuation?”

  The moment required Arnie to be serious, so he cleared his throat and stood at attention. The yellow blooms hung close to the old guy’s shoulder and reminded him of eavesdropping neighbors.

  Okay. Here goes.

  “She’s a local girl. Currently employed as a waitress. She’s taking classes. Oh, and she has a green thumb.”

  He threw the green thumb comment in at the end, hoping to soften the man’s reaction.

  Darnell Wanamaker Senior—titan of business and master of the financial world—stared at Arnie so intently that a ring of nervous sweat dampened his shirt collar. It was important to have the old guy’s support, so he wasn’t sure what he’d do if his grandfather threw a fit.

  When he spoke, Arnie steeled himself for the worse.

  Holding up a finger at a time, Darnell Senior parroted Arnie’s descriptive words. Only he jumbled the order to make a point.

  “Waitress, student, green thumb. Girl?” The recrimination coupled with the expectation of a reasonable explanation was made clear by his tone.

  “It’s not as bad as it sounds,” he quickly interjected. “There’s nothing jailbait-y about her,” he grumbled with a frown. “But there are like a dozen years, and she’s not what you’d call worldly.” Saying the words made him cringe.

  His tone shifted, and he was ready to come back with a more assuring attitude when a hearty chuckle from his granddad cut him off.

  “Found a good girl, did you? Well, hot damn, Arnie! I don’t have to meet her to know she’s a keeper.” Senior’s chuckle turned to a wry drawl. “You surprise me. I’d expect you to have this young lady on lockdown if you’re so sure about her.”

  “Is a couple of amazing days enough to throw two lives into chaos?”

  Granddad’s laughter filled the greenhouse. “I approve of using the word chaos to describe what really happens when two worlds collide.” He pushed off the table, took another inhale of the pretty yellow flowers, and carefully made his way back onto the electric scooter.

  Arnie followed behind, conscious of every step the man took. He sensed discomfort but no pain.

  “How’s the hip? Does the water therapy help?”

  Watching the grandfather he adored and respected grapple with the limitations of aging was a bitch and a half. He remembered them going to one of his first Yankees games, and how Senior spent every Saturday that summer playing catch with him and Stan. The guy had limitless energy and always had stuff to do. This diminishing physicality was a part of the journey, though, so with true Wanamaker panache, his granddad redesigned every inch of the livable portion of the farm to allow for senior life accommodations. The scooter pathways, a small gazebo, garden benches, and walking paths with a handrail blended in perfectly.

  “I’ll tell you what helps,” Granddad hooted with a grin. “Having a pretty physical therapist with a charming laugh. Bethany doesn’t take any crap, and she isn’t interested in my money.”

  Arnie’s left brow shot up. “Excuse me, what? Money? Uh, dude. Sounds more like a relationship than a therapist.”

  His concerned reaction was blown off with a dismissive wave. “She’s a widow with plenty of funds,” Granddad explained. “Retired from nursing until she got bored with nothing to do, so now she takes on clients who she feels she can help.”

  “And you find her helpful?”

  “Well, between you, me, and the lamppost, she’s a right, royal bitch about the therapy. But she got me up and walking again. One thing led to another, and before I knew it, she brought in a nutritionist to manage things with the housekeeper. Before long, we were sharing meals, and now we cook together a few nights a week.”

  “Yep.” Arnie chuckled. “Sounds helpful to me.”

  The lighthearted moment was cut off when the phone in his pocket sent a vibration sequence intended to make him jump. The timing could not have been shittier. Tension rocketed through his system.

  They were on one of the scooter pathways. When he stopped walking to reach into his pocket, Granddad’s scooter also halted.

  “I have to take this,” he grated through a clenched jaw.

  Darnell Senior nodded. He knew the score. “Do your thing, my boy. Just be careful. You want me to cover for you?”

  “Yeah.” Arnie bent and swiftly kissed the old man’s cheek. “Let Dad know.”

  They looked at each other as emotions swirled around them.

  “Love you, Granddad.”

  He punched buttons on his phone, turned around, and walked away.

  “Go for Temple four-nine,” he said into the phone.

  The brunch shift Summer covered turned out to be lucrative tip-wise. A party of girlfriend coeds getting ready to head back to college for the new semester commandeered half her station and hung around for an extra hour. They were super cool and tipped with gusto because one of the gals said they’d all waitressed and knew the downside to clogging a table.

  Before clocking out, she’d been in the team room stuffing tamales into her mouth when the frazzled daytime hostess ran in, reeking of desperation, and begged her to cover a lunch shift. It was an easy decision. If she earned enough in tips today, then she might theoretically buy herself some downtime—time to spend with Arnie.

  She agreed, asked for fifteen minutes to finish eating and freshen up, and then suffered through the hostess’s groveling thanks.

  In the ladies’ room, she took her time getting ready and let her thoughts wander.

  Telling her lusty lover she’d foregone panties this morning had ended exactly the way she knew it would. Only with an amusing twist.

  Instead of driving away, Arnie circled back to the farthest, out-of-the-way corner of the hotel parking area and found a secluded spot. What happened after would make a great script for a porn video.

  The red-hot lust burning in Arnie’s eyes got her trembling in no time. Apparently, bare pussy hidden underneath a flouncy skirt ignited her man’s crude side. He made her lie back in an awkward front seat way and spread her legs for a thorough inspection. With narratio
n.

  With her shaking fingers holding the skirt out of the way, he made her watch what he did to her body. Holy hotness. She came. And came. It got messy. He laughed. She blushed.

  When the time came to don her undies, he grinned and spent an inordinate amount of time making sure the cotton crotch covered her adequately.

  Men! Sheesh! She giggled at her reflection and smirked.

  Then she remembered how he asked for her phone and made a production out of entering his cell number. He was tied up with family business, but she was to call him when work was over. They had tentative plans for dinner and a movie.

  Before heading out onto the floor, she stashed her purse in a locker and tied on an apron. Just a few more hours and they’d be together again. The thought was exhilarating. She was falling in love with the handsome, sexy sun god.

  A snap decision was made, one she vowed not to overthink. As soon as she had five minutes, she was going to research what was available in the New York City job market and check out college transfer options. She was close to nailing down her degree requirements, but with part-time as her only option, she still had more to do.

  Was she being foolish? Capricious? Summer didn’t think so. Yeah, the Arnie situation was extraordinarily weird, but it was also completely perfect at the same time. She wasn’t married to California, and let’s face it, making big life decisions was what people her age did.

  In the spring, she’d turn twenty-five—old enough to know what she wanted—and right now, she wanted to keep exploring the chemistry between her and the man turning life upside down.

  If she was afraid of change or fearful of the challenges ahead, now was the time to speak up.

  When she detected no naysaying or a doomsday Debbie moaning warnings in her head, her mind was made up.

  Arnie was her future.

  As she stepped into the busy flow of waitress and busboy traffic, Summer smiled at everyone she saw. Life was good, and she was excited to see what the fates had in store for her.