“A little of this, a little of that, bottomless mimosas, naturally.”
Summer’s smile broadens as I shake my head at her with a hearty laugh.
“Well, I’ll be back after my meeting. It shouldn’t be more than a couple of hours,” I say to Summer while I put my phone in the pocket of my shorts.
Her eyes linger on my face for a moment before she replies. “Okay, we’ll be here.”
She lightly tugs on CeCe’s ponytail before she runs off to her bedroom, I’m sure to grab whatever toy she has in mind to start their day with.
While I’m reaching for my car keys, Summer comes around the island and I feel her fingers on my arm. The tips of them are warm and soft, sending a small reprieve of comfort through me.
“This always drives me nuts,” she says as she fixes the sleeve on my shirt where the hem was inside out.
She moves slowly, working her way around the entire width of the sleeve to make sure it’s all to her liking before she looks back up at me. Her lips are pressed together and perfect cheekbones tilted up to meet my gaze.
God, her eyes… they’re so fucking blue.
Bright and crystal clear, like some remote tropical waters out in the Caribbean. They’reimpossiblyblue—so much so that someone could assume they’re contacts. But I know better, that’s all Summer.
Both of us seemingly lost in a very brief moment are brought back to reality by the giggle of a three-year-old at the other end of the table, holding a bunch of paint brushes and her small easel.
“You can paint too? You’re a woman of many talents, Cecelia Hunt,” Summer says, shifting all attention from me to my daughter.
An interruption I’m glad to have had, because one more moment getting lost in her looking at me might’ve had me breaking my own damn rules.
I quickly redirect my focus to leaving—kissing CeCe on the cheek and heading out the door with no more than a nod to Summer.
“What the hell has got you so wound up today, Hunt?”
I lift the weights one more time for a hammer curl and a grunt leaves my chest when I place them back on the rack. I didn’t plan on doing a workout today, but the meeting ended early and I felt like I needed something to release some of this pent up energy.
“What do you mean?” I ask Nate, wiping my brow. “I’m fine.”
“You seem more… tense than normal, which is actually saying a lot. I didn’t think it’d be possible. Everything okay with CeCe?”
“She’s good.” I grab a towel from the clean stack in the weight room and swipe it across the back of my neck.
“Did something happen with Summer?”
“No,” I reply instantly, and Nate begins a low chuckle just as Ford approaches us.
Great. Someone else has entered the conversation.
“What’s so funny?” Ford asks.
“I don’t know for sure, but I think…” Nate starts, but before his imagination can get too carried away, I just fess up.
“Summer and I kissed. I kissed her. It shouldn’t have happened and won’t happen again.”
“Is it my turn now to get pissed at you for kissing my wife’s best friend?” Ford jokes.
“Believe me, I’m pissed enough at myself for the both of us.”
“So, is something going on with you two then?”
“No,” I quickly answer Nate’s question. “It can’t happen again. It won’t.”
“Just make sure she isn’t upset or anything, man. You know how she feels about you… don’t fuck with her.”
