Saving Summer

The early morning sunlight is bright and warm and as happy as my heart as I drive through Eden.

My little hometown is beautiful, just like I remember it. And my day is off to a perfect start.

I woke up excited. Ready.

Everything went smoothly. No mascara mishaps. No spilled breakfast. No spots on my fresh scrubs. No last-second delays. It’s just the kind of morning I hoped for on my first day of work.

Pride surges through me as I park and walk toward Eden Urgent Care. The glass door glides smoothly open and the first thing I see is a big banner that reads “Welcome Summer Lake, RN, DPT ft Jameson Scott, MDff”

“Good morning, Summer.” Callie, the receptionist is behind her tall desk, looking relaxed this morning, unlike when she was the high school’s P.E. teacher. Of course I’d have looked uptight too if I was dealing with a bunch of teenagers trying to skip gym class.

“Hello, Callie.”

I stand in the lobby, grinning like a maniac at the banner. “Thanks for the welcome. You guys didn’t need to do that, I’m just temporary help.”

She waves a hand dismissively. “Pfft, of course we did. There’s also coffee and pastries in the break room for you two.”

“Talk about rolling out the red carpet.”

“Dr. Sophia picked up the goodies. She’s a doll like that.”

“I really enjoyed meeting her at the interview. Is she here today?”

“She was in earlier, but has some appointments. I told her she needs to go home and rest.”

“I agree. Carrying around a baby that big in her belly has got to be work. Guess that’s what happens when a tiny woman and a gigantic mate make a baby.”

“A gigantic pain in the ass,” Callie mutters. “Now, before you run off, let me get your photo with the banner.”

She hustles around the counter, her bright red sneakers squeaking on the tile. Holding up her phone, she says, “Right there, turn this way a little.”

My cheeks heat as she turns her phone this way and that. After she snaps a few pics, I ask, “Will you send that to me? I want to share it with my folks.”

“I’m sure they’re proud as can be. Are they in town these days?”

“Coming in from the Bahamas for my brother Marshall’s wedding.”

She nods. “Ah, yes, I know all about it. That’s going to be a giant reunion for the whole town.”

Which reminds me, I’ve got a lot to do to help prepare for the big shindig. My to-do list is growing. Time is flying and, once the day starts, I expect to be busy. “Anyway, guess I will go get settled in.”

“Let me know if you need anything.”

I stroll down the newly tiled hall, passing by the treatment rooms that are filled with state of the art equipment. Compared to the run-down hospital where I just finished my training, this is going to be a great place to work, even if it is just a temporary stop-over.

My office door is standing open, a lovely little green plant sits on my desk with a note tucked in its waxy leaves. I pluck the card. “So glad to have you join the team. Sophia.”

I ease out the chair and take a seat at my first-ever desk.

On the wall above the desk hang my diplomas. The one on the left reads, Summer Marie Lake - Bachelor of Science, Nursing. The one on the right reads, Summer M. Lake, Doctor of Physical Therapy.

“Crazy,” some people said when I decided to continue on to school to become a P.T. after nursing school, but it felt right to keep seeking what made me happy. And working as a nurse let me pay for my second degree.

One day, these diplomas will hang in my own physical therapy clinic. A couple months at the Urgent Care will give me the time I need to get the clinic up and running. Thankfully, Liam and Sophia made me a great offer to work for them while the clinic is built out and while I build up the business.

I still wanna pinch myself because I’m done with school and back in Eden and having my own PT clinic is just a month or two away. Leaning back, I let my eyes wander over the diplomas. It’s really happening.

I’m a little bit happy-stunned when a male head with a dark blond buzz cut appears inside my doorway. “Morning, thereff”

I sit forward as my eyes do their own thing, looking over the thickly muscled tattooed arms that are stretching the black scrub shirt tight. “Hi.”

“We haven’t met. I’m Scotch.” His dark brown eyes take me in with a quick, sharp appraisal.

I extend a hand. “Summer Lake. So, is Scotch a nickname?”

He nods and grins, a rakish tilt of his handsome mouth. “Navy. Hard to shake after all those years. Anyway, today’s my first day working as a civilian.”

“Ah, well, my first day on the job, so we’re virgins together, I guess.”

He chuckles as he stares at me a beat. The vibration of his laugh is a deep masculine sound and reminds me how long it’s been since I’ve been up close and personal with a man.

His voice catches me before I fall into a rabbit hole of memories. “Wanna hit that coffee and box of pastries to celebrate popping our cherries?”

I roll my eyes. “Not gonna be boring around here with you on the payroll.”

“You either, sugar cakes.”

Shoving up from my desk chair, I laugh. “Sugar cakes? Please, do not give me that nickname. I’m not sweet.”

He motions for me to go ahead of him. “That remains to be seen. Could take some time but I’m sure I can come up with a perfect nickname for you. Unless you already have one.”

“Nope, no nicknames,” I say, even though it’s a lie. A quasi lie.

Carter Strong always called me Mighty—Mighty Summer. Mighty Sexy. Mighty Hot.

I shake off that disturbing, ancient, cobweb-coated line of thought.

Just because I’m back in Eden does not mean that Carter Strong is in my future.

Nope. That was the past and shall stay that way.

All efforts to forget the man come to a screeching halt when I walk into the lounge.

Doctor Liam Strong looks way too much like his younger brother.

Damn. I should have realized that working for Liam was going to stir up a whole boatload of memories.

Most of which I’d prefer to never revisit.

Liam glances up, lifting those cool, forest green eyes that are just a few degrees off from Carter’s, as he stirs his coffee. His gaze cuts to Scotch and back to me, and a grin cocks his mouth. “Well, if it isn’t the new kids on the block.”

Scotch laughs and, to my surprise, he beat-boxes out a tune like he’s some rapper. “We got the right stuff, babyff”

And the nuttiness doesn't stop there. The man does some kind of fancy dance moves, including a spin.

Liam groans. “God help us.”

I’m standing in disbelief, staring at the tall Navy doctor. “Did you just do some kind of eighties dance?”

Scotch laughs as he grabs an eclair out of the open box on the table. “Maybe.”

Liam raises a brow. “And now for you. Got some kind of old school talent show act?”

I shake my head. “Sorry, gonna have to work on that one.”

“Same here. I’m not a walking music trivia machine like Scotch.” Liam picks up a cake donut. “You kids need anything? I’ve got some research I need to do and I’ve got an equipment rep coming in today for a meeting. Shout at me if you need me.”

Scotch chews on a gigantic bite of eclair. He shakes his head no. He grins when he swallows. “This job is cake, man. Me and Nurse Summertime got things covered, no probs.”

I shrug. “Sounds like he’s got everything taken care of.”

“Actually, he probably does,” Liam says as he heads toward the door.

Scotch asks, “So, you an eclair kind of girl?”

“Um, not really. I’m kinda sugar lightweight. I get jacked.”

He tosses me a donut hole. “We’re gonna have to work on that.”

I stare at the crystals of sugar on the thing in my hand. “Did you wash your hands?”

He chuckles. “Not since I showered about an hour ago.”

I make an ick face.

“Obviously, you’ve never been in the Navy.”

“No. But I did study infectious diseases.”

Before I realize what he’s doing, he snatches the donut hole from my fingers and pops it in his mouth. I watch his broad shoulders as he strolls out of the break room bobbing his head.

Well.

Not sure what I expected this morning but that definitely wasn’t it.

I pour some coffee from the cardboard to-go box on the table and stroll through the clinic looking over the supplies and machinery.

Scotch’s voice carries through the hallway as he sings some song I don’t recognize. Doctor Personality is sure gonna make an interesting work companion.

Callie’s voice breaks over the loudspeaker. “Patients in room one and room three.”

Scotch wiggles his brows at me. “Flip a coin to see who gets which room?”

“Sure.”

He produces a quarter from somewhere. “Heads I get room one. Tails you get room one.”

He tosses the coin in the air and smacks it onto the back of his hand. The tail side is up.

He nods at the computer. “Alright, let’s see what’s cooking.”

The computer screen flickers and my patient’s information pops up on the screen.

I have the misfortune of gasping exactly as Scotch leans over my shoulder.

His brow quirks.

I groan.

Shoot.

Of all people.

I’m sure the look on my face tells far too much. “Dammit,” I mutter. “Sorry, I hope you don’t mind my foul language.”

He grunts, “Give me a break. Nothing you can say will ever shock me. I’m guessing since it’s not the fact that it’s a knee injury that’s got you gasping, cursing, and breaking your teeth off that it’s something more personal. And BTW, I’m not changing rooms with ya.”

“Ughff” I drop my head on the desk.

Room one patient name: Carter Strong.

He. Is. Not. My. First. Anything. Ever again.

Scotch is laughing as he heads off toward room three. I growl, “Paybacks, buddy, paybacks.”

I drag myself down the hall and pause outside door one.

Take a deep breath. You can do this.

I’m standing there, pinching the bridge of my nose, when Callie breezes by. “You okay?”

“Fine,” I grumble as I shove open the door.

My plan to never be alone with the man again obviously failed.

Carter’s standing by the window, a pair of crutches under his arms. He turns his head toward me and pins me with those mesmerizing eyes of his.

A slow, sexy-as-hell grin blooms on his angular face. And I want to throw something at him.

“Hello, beautiful. Saw the banner,” he says in a drawl that I never got tired of.

Wouldn’t you know it… Carter’s low voice sends a maddening shiver down my spine.

“Yep. First day.”

Ruined by you, I don’t add.

He turns and moves toward me, his crutches clicking softly.

A pair of soft gym shorts are all that cover his muscular thighs, leaving a clear view of a very swollen, very bruised knee.

I glance back at his clear green eyes to find him—without a care in the world—undressing me bit-by-slow-bit.

I puff my cheeks out to keep from yelling. When I get control of myself, I point at the door and bark at him. “Out.”

It was ridiculous to say that, really, but for some reason, my garbled brain thought it might be possible that he’d listen.

A small smile creeps onto his face. “I told Callie you might refuse care.”

I turn away, giving myself the space I need to get my fury-laced confusion in check.

Lord, give me control… even if that control is just long enough to tell Carter he can fix his own damn leg.

Then I remember that Liam is here too. “Your brother is in the back. I’ll go get him.”

“I don’t want to see my brother.”

“Of course you do. I’m not a doctor.”

“First, I need to see you,” he says.

A wake of heat passes behind me as he moves to the exam table.

Carter Strong is…

If there’s an angel up there, I could use some help right now!

He’s the one man who makes my brain sizzle with anger and hurt and heat all at one time.

“You look amazing,” he says. His voice is now low and rough, and far too intimate.

I pinch my lips together and pray that I, suddenly, spontaneously combust so I don’t have to talk to him.

After swallowing down my irritation like a shot of bad liquor, I find my voice. “What happened to your knee?”

He chuckles. That kind of warm, deep rumble that hums between us. “You really don’t know? Marshall didn’t tell you?”

I shake my head tightly. “Marshall doesn’t say a word about you. Thankfully…”

Carter’s big broad shoulders rise, then fall on his sigh. “So, are you kicking me out? Or are you applying that expertise of yours on fixing my leg? I’ve got things I need to be doing.”

I narrow my eyes and ask again, “What did you do?”

“That race you and your girl pal won Saturday… Remember that Marshall and I got a DNF? Well, this is the reason. Or should I say that Marshall wrecked in front of me and this was the outcome. I’d already left by the time you and Maria got your trophy.”

My eyes go wide this time. “Ooooh.”

He sighs again. “So, since your brother is the reason,” he points down at his swollen knee, “I’d appreciate you making up for it.”

I cross my arms.

Treating Carter Strong is the last thing on Earth I want to be doing. But I’ve got bills, and he’s gonna pay. Literally.

“No talking about...” I wave my hand in the space between him and me.

A small smile tips up his lips. “Us,” he says in that fricking panty-soaking voice of his.

“Let’s get this straight. There is no ‘us’. Get it? No ‘us’. Ever.”

He chuckles. “Ever again? Summer, you can’t deny what we had. What we did.”

He turns and lowers his hip to the treatment table as he looks me over. “I haven’t forgotten. And I won’t.”

I huff and stomp across the room. “You should. I have.”

The man stretches out on the exam table like he owns the place, even folds his long muscular arms behind his head. “We’re gonna talk about what happened.”

Infuriating man. I should use the pillow in my hands to suffocate him, but, instead, I shove it under his head. He watches me with his steady green eyes as I move around the table.

Just having his eyes on me is enough to make stupid things happen in my ovaries.

My skin heats and beads of sweat pop up on my chest. I tug at the neck of my scrub top as I turn away. Unable to stop the visceral reaction. God. What is wrong with me?

I reach to grab my tablet. Notes. Make notes. Mind off his body, nose in tablet.

He laughs behind me as I fan myself.

I growl, “Carter—”

“Summer—”

“You’re skating on thin ice.”

“I like danger. You forget?”

“If you don’t want stitches, then I suggest you straighten up.”

“So violent for a healer.”

“I wouldn’t say that to anyone else.”

“So, because I’m special, I get to see this side of you?”

When I cut my eyes at him, he laughs. It’s sultry and frustrating as hell. And I have to wonder what thoughts are in his irritating head.

But he is not winning. I move to sit on the stool next to him and give him my best clinic voice. “Tell me about your pain.”

His voice sounds just as it does in the morning when he first wakes. “The one in my heart or the one in my knee?”

I stand up and walk out.

Twenty minutes later, when I return, he’s still there.

I curse under my breath.

His eyes are narrowed with humor as I approach.

“Feel better?” he says with a slow grin.

“Actually, I do. So now, are you ready to tell me about your knee?”

“Sure.”

We spend the next ten minutes far too close. And my brain starts to short circuit from the pheromones the man puts out like waves of heat shimmering off hot pavement.

“Liam will need to make the diagnosis. But I’m going to put on my physical therapist hat here for a minute.”

When I touch his skin, he stills. His eyes trace over my face, my hands, my everything as I evaluate his knee.

“Liam should order an MRI. I’m guessing bone bruise but that’s not official. That’s between you and me.”

“How long before I’m back in action? I’m scheduled for lifeguard duty in California in fifteen days, and the fire department is down by two men.”

“Like I said, Liam will be the one to order the MRI and make the final diagnosis. If by action you mean running or that kind of thing, maybe a few weeks if it’s a bone bruise.”

His eyes glimmer for a second, then he says, “What other kind of action is there?”

My eyes cut to his. He’s toying with me. “Depends on who you are. And since I don’t know who you are anymore, it’s hard for me to say.”

“You know who I am.”

That voice. All soft and gruff, and sexy AF.

I stand and wash my hands. “I’ll get your brother.”

When I turn around, he’s laying back, staring at the ceiling. Even in his silence he takes up too much space inside my head.

I never wanted to be so close to him again. Not after I realized I can’t trust my judgement about the man.

I frown at him, and he says, “Your bedside manner isn’t much better than Liam’s.”

He sits up suddenly, with his legs hanging over the edge of the table. His hands flex as he grips the vinyl padded top.

We’re eye to eye.

Hummingbird wings take flight inside my chest.

Carter Strong is mere inches from me.

And I hate it.

The way my body remembers.

The way my heart aches.

It’s terrible.

And seeing him eye to eye like this… is a reminder I don’t need.

The only time I ever looked the six-foot-four man eye to eye was when he would lay me down to make love to me or when I was straddling his lap in the front seat of his pick-up truck.

I exhale a ragged sound, “Uh…”

Time stutters. The world flips into slow motion as his hand rises and curls around my neck. Carter’s fingers are scorching hot against the skin on my nape.

Everything in my body goes liquid and golden and magnetized.

I’m helpless to resist the pull. And it’s not because he’s gently moving me in as he leans forward.

Nope, even if he wasn’t, I’d probably be levitating on some magic carpet right into his reach.

Suddenly, I’m within inches of him, for the first time in four years.

When his mouth touches mine, my head explodes.

It’s the only way to explain why I open my mouth to the man I loathe and pretty much suck his tongue down my throat.

The sound that rises from his big, muscular chest is pure animal.

I remember that sound with my marrow.

Carter angles his head, the long fingers of his left hand cradling the back of my head, and kisses me so deeply that I almost faint from the sheer intoxication.

He flexes his other hand against the small of my back. And the heat from him soaks right through the thin cotton of my scrub shirt as he pulls me between his thighs.

His big, muscular thighs.

My knees turn to Playdoh.

And every part of me remembers him. It’s like his touch has been tattooed on my cells.

His hand always did that—curled against my back just before he would slip it lower, down to mold and flex around my hip bone. Before he—

Holy smokes!

This is not about to happen.

I plant my hands against his chest and leap back.

My heart’s running as fast as a sewing machine needle. My breath nearly matches its pace.

“Jesus,” I pant.

I try to step back, but the heel of my sneaker catches. Lightning fast, Carter’s hand grabs the front of my shirt and pulls me back upright.

His eyes are burning with the same fire I feel deep, deep inside of my core.

He growls and whispers my name, “Summer...”

I’m stunned and frozen, like a startled deer in headlights, as my body burns and shakes and my heart tries to squeeze out around my sternum.

His fingers find the end of my braid. He slowly twists the dark blond strands around his knuckles as my chest screams for air.

Just as calmly as can be, he says, “Talk to me. What happened to us?”

I, somehow, find my voice. “Carter, let it go.”

A squeak leaves my throat as he stands on his one good leg and drops his head so he’s right in my face. I’m nose to nose and chest to chest with him now.

His clean, warm scent wraps itself around me like a warm, seductive blanket.

“What did I do?” he asks softly.

My lungs are frozen. I swallow, trying to dislodge the hurt and confusion that’s snarled up around my throat. “You know what happened.”

He sighs. His breath stirs the hair that escaped from my braids. “If only I—”

Whap! I nearly jump out of my skin when the door bangs open.

“Well, well,” says Liam as he strolls in with Scotch on his heels. He glances at me. “Already fornicating on day one?”

Oh my god!

Please let this all be a bad dream.

My blood pressure does something weird. Spots fill my vision.

I back up against the counter and grip the edge for dear life. Please don’t let me faint from sheer mortification.

Liam throws his head back and laughs. “Just joking around.”

What?

Now I’m really confused.

I don’t know what I expected him to say, but that was not it.

Liam hikes his thumb at Scotch. “Sorry to interrupt whatever that was. Carter, meet my long time friend from the Navy, Jameson Scott, AKA Scotch.”

I’m still a little wobbly and stunned. The guys do a quick handshake and talk about something Navy related.

Scotch cuts me a funny glance and winks. “Be glad you got room one. Room three wasn’t nearly as good looking.”

“Oh, good grief,” I mutter.

I give Carter one last glare. Then I leave the three of them to their bro-fest.