Meant for You Page 6

  “Tell me you want this, Summer,” he said breathlessly when he lifted his mouth from hers. His hands were anchored at her waist, securing her to him. “I need to know you’re not having second thoughts.”

  She smiled sexily at him. “I wasn’t the one who left earlier.”

  It was all the answer he needed.

  * * *

  Ethan woke up much later and felt immediately startled by his surroundings. There was loud snoring beside him, and at first he was certain he was hearing things; that noise couldn’t possibly have been coming from Summer. Then he realized it was coming from the pup. He breathed a sigh of relief because that kind of sound would have been hard to deal with coming from a human, let alone someone as sexy and girlie as Summer.

  Now that he was a little more awake, he settled in and felt Summer curled up beside him. He smiled into the darkness. It was so quiet and so peaceful and so unexpected that he almost wanted to pinch himself to make sure it had all really happened.

  Once Summer had reminded him that he had been the one to leave, it was like waving a red flag in front of a bull. It had released his inner beast, and while he’d worried he was being too rough, too demanding, he had scratch marks on his back to prove that Summer had been right there with him for the ride.

  And what a ride it was.

  Damn.

  In all the years he had known the Montgomerys, Summer had been outgoing and friendly but always very…feminine. She was athletic but didn’t play sports with her brothers or try to fit in that way, but for all of the outlandish career choices and hobbies, Ethan still pictured her as being a bit more reserved.

  Boy, was he wrong.

  Why had he never noticed the wildness in her? The passion? In his own head, his own fantasies, Summer was like that, but he had never expected it to be the reality. She had completely destroyed him over the course of the night. Rather than getting her out of his system, it had only made him hungry for more. With one arm around her, Ethan pulled her closer and grew hard at the feel of her naked body moving even closer to his. With no windows in the tepee, he had no idea what time it was. They could have been asleep for hours or minutes; he had no idea. All he knew was that he needed her again. Now.

  He let his hand massage its way up and down her spine until it came to rest on her bottom, where he gently squeezed. Summer let out a small moan. With his other hand, Ethan reached down and touched her leg entwined with his and ran his hand up until he reached her thigh. She squirmed a little bit and rubbed herself against his hair-roughened thigh right before letting out a little purr.

  A man could get used to waking up like this.

  Unsure of what his next move should be because his inner beast was ready to just roll her over and start again, Ethan was surprised when Summer seemed to come fully awake and took the decision out of his hands. With lightning speed, she straddled him. He was about to speak, but—although the tepee was pitched in darkness—it was as if she sensed it and placed a finger over his lips.

  Leaning forward, Summer kissed him thoroughly before making her way down to kiss his chest. She thought she could spend hours just licking and kissing and touching Ethan. His body was a thing of beauty. She was almost tempted to turn on the small bedside lamp just to be able to see him, and yet… She smiled wickedly as she moved. Feeling him in the dark and letting her imagination run wild was quite something. Talk about sensory overload. Every hiss of his breath, every time she made his body jump empowered her.

  They may only have this one night. When the sun came up and Ethan drove away, all she would have was this memory, so she’d be damned if she was going to waste time sleeping when she could be enjoying one of the sexiest men she had ever known, ever wanted. Ever had.

  Sleep was highly overrated.

  * * *

  Ethan was getting dressed as he looked down at Summer sprawled across the bed, the blankets barely covering her. He was exhausted, but it was the best kind of exhaustion he had ever experienced. He looked at his watch and saw that it was ten o’clock. If he was going to make sure the jet took off on time, he really needed to get to the airport and oversee things. There was no way he could afford to be away any longer. Luckily he was fairly organized and all of his packing for the climb was already done; he was just going to need to put some last-minute stuff together and grab a nap.

  He smiled. There had been a time when he had made fun of people who couldn’t handle a night out and needed a nap the next day. Now he was proud of the fact that he was one of them.

  “You’re looking pretty smug right now,” Summer said sleepily from the bed. At the sound of her voice, Maylene perked up and rose from her bed on the floor. With a quick shake and stretch, she jumped up beside Summer and began to bounce around her. “I wish I had her energy.”

  Ethan chuckled. “Don’t we all.” He thought it would be awkward, the whole morning-after thing, but as Summer rose gloriously naked from the bed, it seemed like the most natural thing in the world. “Let me,” he said and walked over to get the dog’s leash and got her hooked up. “We’ll be right back.” Honestly, the last thing he needed to be doing was taking her dog for a walk; he needed to leave and get to the airport. So what was he doing this for?

  “Because you’re trying to drag out the inevitable,” he muttered to himself once outside the tepee. He knew he had to leave; he just didn’t want to.

  The dog skipped along the grounds, happy to be outside. Ethan wished he felt that way. The weather was a little cooler than he’d expected, and Ethan was glad for his jacket. When the dog needed to stop and sniff practically every blade of grass, Ethan grew impatient. “Let’s go, dog,” he said firmly, and then could have kicked himself when her big, sad eyes looked back at him. “Sorry.”

  He was seriously losing it. He was a man’s man; he did extreme sports, for crying out loud, and here he was apologizing to a five-pound dog because he wanted to go back inside a tepee where it was warm.

  Yup, seriously losing it.

  Finally, the dog did what she had to do and, with a jaunty little hop, headed back in the direction of her waiting mistress. Ethan knew exactly how she felt; he wanted to be back there too.

  Summer was waiting for them in bed. She got up to fill the dog bowl, and once Maylene was off her leash and happily eating, Summer turned her attention to Ethan. “Thank you for taking her out. You didn’t have to.”

  “I was dressed,” he said, taking a step closer to her.

  “Well, it was very sweet of you and I appreciate it.” As she stepped closer, Summer wrapped her arms around Ethan’s shoulders and smiled up into his face. “Good morning,” she said softly.

  “Good morning,” he responded right before lowering his head to hers and kissing her the way he had been aching to do. In the back of his mind, Ethan knew it was wrong; it would have been better to make a clean break and not indulge in this again. The night was over and so was…everything. He needed to leave, to take the memory of last night and be thankful they had it. But her lips were so soft, her body so yielding…

  Summer was the one who pulled back first. “If we keep this up, you’ll miss your flight.”

  His gaze was intense as he looked down at her. “I’m the only passenger. They’ll wait.” Wait…what was he saying? What was he doing? For crying out loud, she was giving him the nudge he needed and he wasn’t taking it. Get it together, Reed! he chided himself. With a growl, his hands reached up and anchored themselves in her long, blond hair and tightened their grip as he gave her one last fierce kiss. It wasn’t fair. In a perfect world, this kiss would signify a temporary good-bye. He’d see her again, be able to make love to her again as soon as he got back from Denali.

  But this? This was a last kiss. One that signified an ending. They wouldn’t get another chance. There would be no reunion when he got back. Pouring everything he had into it, Ethan heard Summer whimper with her own n
eed. If she asked him not to go, if she simply asked him to stay, Ethan was certain he’d cave. The plane would leave later, and he would have another couple of hours with her to get him through a lifetime.

  But she didn’t ask.

  When he lifted his head, their breathing was ragged. Summer’s eyes were glazed with passion, and he was sorely tempted to scoop her up into his arms, walk back over to the bed, and lay her bare to him.

  But he didn’t.

  “I have to go.” The words felt wrong even as he forced them out.

  Summer nodded. “I know.”

  “Summer…I…”

  She placed a finger over his lips as she had earlier. “Don’t say anything, Ethan. I know you can’t make any promises, and I certainly don’t want to hear you have any regrets.”

  He shook his head. “No. I don’t regret last night. I’m only sorry that it’s all we have.”

  While it was killing her on the inside, Summer stood tall and refused to let him see how his words were affecting her. “I know. Me too.”

  They stood staring at one another for long moments.

  “Be safe,” Summer finally said.

  They weren’t the last words Ethan wanted to hear, but he knew better than to tempt fate. With a nod, he turned and strode from the room. Cramming himself into the tiny rental car, he pulled away and did his best not to look back.

  It was over; they’d had their night and no one had to know.

  But he knew.

  And Summer knew.

  Chapter 5

  The flight home was a breeze. Ethan was back at his own place a little before one in the afternoon, and after taking a quick inventory of what he still needed to do before meeting up with Zach, he crawled into bed for a short two-hour nap.

  During which he dreamed of Summer.

  “This is not good,” he muttered when he woke up. His head needed to be clear; he needed to focus on the climb and on getting back to business as usual. Zach knew him too well and would be able to tell immediately if Ethan’s head wasn’t in the game. The bedside clock showed it to be almost four. He was supposed to meet Zach at the airport at seven. The nap had refreshed him, but as Ethan climbed into the shower, he conceded that another twelve hours of sleep would have been better.

  The town car arrived on schedule and was loaded up. Everything was shut off and good to go in Ethan’s condo. One of his neighbors was going to keep an eye on things for the three and a half weeks he’d be gone. Looking around one last time, Ethan closed and locked the door behind him and headed to the airport. What had seemed like a relatively short trip now loomed in front of him with no end in sight.

  Why was he doing this? Did he even want to go? It was a little late to be having second thoughts now, but the more Ethan thought about it, the more he realized something. For far too long, he had simply gone along with things his buddies were doing rather than figuring out what he wanted to do. When had he become more of a follower than a leader? Resting his head back, Ethan sighed. This was so not the time for this kind of introspection.

  They made great time getting to the airport, and before he knew it, Ethan was standing with Zach and listening to how excited he was about the climb. Ethan tried to respond appropriately. From what he could tell, Zach was none the wiser. It wasn’t until they were actually on the plane that Zach asked about his sister.

  “So did Summer give you grief about this trip?”

  Ethan shrugged. “It was the same stuff she’s been saying for weeks. She’s just worried about you, Zach. Cut her a break.”

  “Look, I appreciate that she’s concerned, but she’s never paid any attention to the trips I’ve taken before or even the risks I’ve taken before. She’s just up in arms over it because this is the first time she’s been close by when I’ve been getting ready to go. Believe me, if Summer had lived closer to me in the last couple of years, she would have been all up in my business about my hobbies. The skydiving? The race car driving? Running with the bulls? If she had even been remotely aware that I was going on those trips, she would have been the exact same way. She’s a worrier.”

  Ethan wasn’t so sure. He’d known Summer for far too long. There were too many times when he and Zach had been around the Montgomerys and talked about their adventures with Summer right there, and she’d never once made a negative comment. If anything, she had been excited by the stories. This was different. He shook his head. Maybe she was onto something. Maybe this trip was more about ego than anything else. He glanced over at Zach, who was busy chatting up the flight attendant. Typical.

  Zach smiled appreciatively as he watched the curvy brunette walk away before turning back to Ethan. “Like I told you yesterday, I promise to spend some time with Summer when we get back. I’ll even try to be nice and not pick on her for being such a royal pain in my butt over this trip or pressure her about moving back east.” They were interrupted again by the flight attendant as she served them their drinks.

  “So was it awkward when you went in there all hell-bent on confronting a guy and ended up face-to-face with a puppy?” Zach barely contained his laughter at his own question.

  Ethan grimaced at the memory. “It wasn’t one of my finest moments,” he said with a shake of his head. He told Zach how Summer had tried to play it off as another woman before finally introducing him to the dog.

  “Is it wrong that I’m majorly relieved that it was a dog?” Zach asked.

  “Not at all. I can’t tell you how relieved I was.” He took a sip of his beverage. “Cute little thing; she’ll be a nice distraction for your sister.”

  “Remind me to buy it a hundred pounds of doggie treats if that’s the case,” Zach said with a laugh before holding up his glass to Ethan’s. “Cheers, buddy. Here’s to another great adventure!”

  Ethan toasted, but he wasn’t really feeling it.

  * * *

  It was after midnight by the time they checked in, and Ethan was alone in his hotel room, alone with his thoughts. After the conversation about Summer, Zach had talked nonstop about the climb. Realistically, Ethan knew he was prepared; he had been training for six months and had purchased all of the gear the guides had recommended. If there was anything he was missing, he’d be surprised. The problem wasn’t skill or preparedness though; the problem was him. He didn’t want to go. The prospect no longer appealed, and he couldn’t really be sure if this was something that had been building up in him for some time or just within the last twenty-four hours.

  Because of Summer.

  Pacing the confines of the plush hotel room, Ethan wracked his brain for a way out. There was no way he could fake an illness or an injury—Zach would see right through that. If he came right out and admitted he didn’t want to go, he had no doubt Zach would talk to him until his ears bled and he’d have to cave and go anyway just to shut Zach up. There was no way to fake a work emergency either, because they worked together. From every angle, he was screwed. And not just kind of screwed, but royally screwed. He was stuck going on a three-week hike up a mountain he really didn’t want to climb just so someone else would be happy.

  But are you deciding not to go on the trip for the same reason?

  He hated when his inner voice decided to chime in. There was no easy answer to this dilemma, but if Ethan had to choose, he’d say he felt stronger about not going on the climb than he did about going on it. That was saying something, right? Now he just had to figure out how he was going to break it to Zach.

  Cursing, he flopped down on the king-size bed. When had life gotten so damn difficult? How had he let things get this far out of control? If he didn’t go with Zach, Ethan knew he’d still need a little time away from work—time to try to get his head together and figure out what he was doing with his life and where he wanted to see himself in the next five years.

  The immediate answer was that he wanted to see himself with Summer. Un
fortunately, there were at least a half-dozen Montgomery males who were not going to be happy about it and even if he stood his ground, Ethan knew they wouldn’t make it easy for him. While he felt deep down that Summer was worth the fight, would the constant fight with her family be something she could survive? Family meant everything to her; that was one thing Ethan was certain about. He wouldn’t be able to live with himself if he caused discord between them.

  This was clearly a no-win scenario.

  “Nothing is going to get decided tonight,” he muttered, rising from the bed and going through his luggage for his toiletries. “A hot shower and a full night’s sleep will make things clearer in the morning.” Even he didn’t believe his own words.

  Within minutes, he was under the hot spray, and automatically his mind wandered back to Summer. He wanted to call her, to make sure that she and Maylene were okay. He worried about her making the drive back to Portland by herself. Why hadn’t she taken the company jet? It was lucky for him that she hadn’t; otherwise, he would have had to make the long drive solo, but it bothered him to know that, should anything happen, she was a single woman all alone with no one to protect her except a five-pound pug.

  Not a comforting thought.

  When the water turned cold, he stepped out, wrapped himself in a towel, and went in search of his phone. What harm could one phone call make? They were friends, weren’t they? Friends who had incredibly hot and wild sex less than twenty-four hours ago. “Oh, shut up,” he told himself. “Don’t think about the sex. Think of her as your best friend’s sister. She’s Summer Montgomery—a friend. Not Summer Montgomery, the sexy woman who blew your mind with her hands, her mouth, and her body.” Great, now he was hard. There was no way he could call Summer while sporting a raging hard-on. Cursing himself again, Ethan walked back into the bathroom, finished drying off, and crawled back into bed, all the while willing himself to focus on the ESPN show he was watching and not imagining there was a curvy blond sprawled out beside him, reminding him he’d been a fool to leave.