expertise of a man who knew exactly what he was doing. Nick had taught him all of that, she thought.
Then Zach pulled her close, and they walked across the lawn holding hands in the moonlight with no paparazzi to spoil the exquisite, shared moment.
He paused beneath the long shadows of the live oak trees to kiss her. She thought his kisses were different somehow, sweeter, and they filled her heart with joy.
Everything felt so right, so perfect-the way it had felt when they’d first fallen in love. It was as if they’d reclaimed their lost innocence and faith in one another. For the first time in years, it was easy to imagine them belonging to each other forever. A knot formed in her throat as she thought about the little girl she’d lost. She had to tell him. But when?
For Summer the evening had been magic. It had been nice to bring Zach to Gram’s, so nice to share this man she cared about with her family, especially since her controlling stepfather used to force her to sneak out to see him.
Summer had learned not to stand up to Thurman. It had seemed smarter to maneuver around him. Still, she’d felt like a spineless wimp not taking up for Zach. But if she had, Thurman would have gone ballistic. He would have stopped at nothing to destroy her relationship with Zach.
The only reason Zach had stayed in Bonne Terre that year after his graduation was to wait for her.
Her memories merged with her present need to find a way to tell him about the baby. But when he pulled her close and slanted his hard mouth over hers beneath the shadows of the oak, she sighed and wrapped her hands around his neck to better enjoy the kiss.
Time stopped. There was nothing but the two of them. Their bodies locked as they surrendered to each other in the magical pine-scented darkness. There was no Thurman to stop them now.
She could have kissed him forever, but she began to feel him, hard and swollen, pressing against her thighs. She opened her eyes and met the burning urgency of his gaze.
When he spoke, his voice was rough. “Let’s get the hell inside.”
Quickly, he took her hand and they ran to the back entrance. When they were in the house, and he’d locked the door, he kissed her again even more fiercely than before. Then he lifted her into his arms and carried her up the stairs into the enveloping darkness of his bedroom.
“Now, where were we, sweetheart?” Zach demanded as he set her on his bed. His eyes were intense as he began to undo the tiny white buttons on her dress.
“I can’t believe you want to make love to me after a big old dinner like that.”
“Well, I do. We played cards for an hour, didn’t we? Besides, do you have a better idea?”
“We could sit outside on the upstairs veranda, enjoy the moonlight and talk…maybe about the past.” About our baby…
“The past…” He frowned. “I’m in much too good a mood to want to go there. Trust me. We’re better off making love, enjoying what we have now. We deserve some happiness.”
“But aren’t we hiding from things we need to think about and resolve?”
“You expect me to care about what’s over and done with, when you’re so damn beautiful I hurt?”
But she felt so close to him right now, close enough to tell him everything… Even tell him about the baby. It would take more than a single conversation, she knew. But she felt a profound need to share everything with him. He had to know the worst.
She wanted him to listen, to hold her, to forgive her, to grieve with her and then to make love to her. Had she been wrong about their special bond tonight?
He grazed her lips with his mouth with such infinite tenderness he soon sparked a wild conflagration.
But he was a man, and he was aroused. So, now wasn’t the time to talk after all.
They could not get their clothes off fast enough. Then they took their time exploring each other. He took his turn kissing and touching her, and then she broke away and started kissing him everywhere, her tongue running down his body until she found his manhood, which was thick and engorged.
She took him into her mouth. He was too close to the edge to endure this for long. Soon he moved on top of her and slid inside.
That was all it took for her to explode.
He thrust deeply and then shuddered, too.
Afterward, as they lay in the darkness, while he held her close, she gathered her courage again. “Wouldn’t you feel better if you knew exactly what happened to me and why I might have failed you years ago?”
“What?”
Perspiration glistened on his brow as he rolled over to brush his hand through her tangled hair. “I can’t believe you’re bringing that up again. Now.”
“I just think we should talk. It’s a perfect time, after our lovely evening.”
“No. Let’s not tarnish tonight.”
He sat up so he could stare down at her. “Look, I’m not blaming you for the past any longer, if that’s why you want to talk about it. On Viola’s porch that first day we reconnected, I felt this terrible lingering sadness in you. It made it impossible for me to continue blaming you for everything. That’s all the explanation I need about the past. I hurt you, too. I know that.”
“But…”
“It’s over. I’m trying to forget it. I suggest you do the same.”
“But there’s something I really need to share…”
He ran a finger around the edges of her lips and shushed her. “Don’t ruin what we have right now. It’s too special. I want to hold on to it. We can talk later. I promise.”
When she frowned, he pulled her close and kissed her.
But he was so adamant, and she wanted this time with him so much, she let him have his way. So, when she left on Sunday, she still hadn’t told him about what happened in New Orleans.
“Why don’t I come see you next weekend, for a change?” he said as he put her on his jet. “It just so happens I have a few things to do in New York.”
“That would be wonderful.”
“I’ll come up on Thursday, rent a suite at the Pierre and take you anywhere you want to go.”
“So, you intend to spoil me hopelessly?”
“Absolutely.”
“Lucky me.”
“No. Lucky me,” he said as he kissed her.
Ten
Something was different about Zach, and Summer wasn’t sure what it was.
Their first three-day weekend together in New York was not as intimate as their previous weekends in Bonne Terre. But that was to be expected under the circumstances. He had business affairs to attend to and she the theater. Only at night could they make time to be together.
If his purpose in coming to the city had been to impress her with his grand lifestyle, he succeeded. His gilded suite was spectacular. Limos followed by the paparazzi whisked them to fabulous dinners and nightclubs where he knew people, some of them beautiful women.
“Zach has a thing for blondes,” Roberto, one of his top executives, whispered in her ear while Zach conversed with a beautiful woman during a business dinner.
“Good thing I’m a blonde, then,” she quipped.
For the first time since their reunion, Zach hadn’t shared details about his current project. She wondered exactly what he’d done all day while she’d rehearsed. When they were alone later, she grilled him.
“Where were you all afternoon? What business exactly do you have to do here?”
“I’m tweaking an important project.”
“Tweaking?”
“I’ll explain everything when it’s all in order.”
