No More Secrets: A Small Town Love Story (The Pierce Brothers Book 1) (23 page)

“Balance and control became very important to me. So sometimes, when I feel my control slip a little or when I get to feeling an intense high or low, the dreams come back. It’s a weakness that I’m working on. I’m a work in progress.”

She pressed her forehead into his back. “Carter, it’s not a weakness. You’re healing. There’s a difference.”

He was calmer now. His heart beat slower, but she still felt the tension in his muscles. Remnants of the dream, shards of a memory so sharp it still bled.

And she knew it as the truth before she said it.

“I love you, Carter.”

She heard it. The intake of breath. And then he was pulling her around into his arms.

“I know it’s too early. I know we just decided to see where this will go. We’re supposed to wait months and really get to know each other before we say something crazy like this. But I love you, Carter Pierce. I love who you are and how you got to be you. Every story, every secret, everything I learn about you makes me love you more. And more weeks or months aren’t going to change that.”

He cupped her face in his hands.

Tears blurred her eyes until she couldn’t see him through them. “You trusting me with this —” she clutched at her heart, at the ache in her chest. She started again. “You are the best person I know and I love you.”

Carter gently wiped her tears.

“Summer.”

Her name on his lips carried so much emotion, so much weight she had to lean into him. She saw the scars on his chest and torso and gently laid her lips on them. Once, twice. And then she pressed them to his heart.

“What took you so long?”

“What?” She leaned back, looked up.

“I’ve been waiting for you to catch up.” Carter brushed his knuckles against her cheek. “I love you, Summer. I’ve loved you almost as long as I’ve known you. I loved you even before you let me put my hands on you.”

“You love me?”

“Baby. How could I not? You’re the one I’ve been waiting for.” He wrapped his arms around her, snugging her head against his chest.

They rocked, side to side, in the candlelight and Summer listened to the strong, slow beat of a heart that loved her.

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aturday morning Summer yawned mightily and snuggled deeper into her pillow.

“Oh, no you don’t.” The bed sank as Carter sat on the edge. “Open your eyes.”

“Mm,” Summer muttered in the very comfortable pillow.

Carter slapped her on the butt and she rolled over lazily. “Why are you torturing me awake at ...” she squinted at the bedside clock. “Why didn’t you wake me sooner?”

It was after eight. She needed to take her pills.

“Here.” Carter took her hand and dumped three capsules and a tablet into it.

She stared down at them, panic rising in her chest.

He handed her a glass of water.

She kept her gaze down as she washed down the pills.

“You slept through the alert on your phone, so I followed the instructions on it. You’re very thorough.”

Summer was still silent. He couldn’t know. Not after last night. He said he loved her. She wanted to hang on to that as long as possible. Maybe it was selfish of her, but if love turned into obligation and worry it would ruin what they found together.

She needed just a few more weeks.

“Hey.” Carter put his hand over the fist she had balled in the comforter. “You can tell me when you’re ready, okay?”

Summer let out the breath she had been holding. She risked a look at his face.

Those serious gray eyes studied her. Hair tousled from sleep. He wore his Pierce Acres t-shirt and a pair of gym shorts. The body of a warrior and the face of an angel. And he was hers. She could tell him and he would do what he thought was the right thing. He would stick. But she wanted more. Didn’t she deserve more than a sense of obligation? Didn’t he deserve more than an iffy future?

“Can I buy you breakfast?” she asked.

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I
t was closer to brunch by the time Summer finished getting ready. Sex hair was much harder to tame than regular bed head. And walking out the door in the city was a different story than in Blue Moon. She could probably walk into Overly Caffeinated or OJ’s in pajama pants and no one would blink.

But go out in last season’s “it” shirt here and she’d be labeled immediately.

Over the commotion in her head Summer had managed to pull herself and an outfit together and made herself Manhattan-brunch presentable.

Carter was sprawled on the couch in gray shorts and a tight black polo.

“Have you starved to death, yet?” Summer asked.

“I ate one of your throw pillows to take the edge off.” Carter sat up. “Come here.” He patted the cushion next to him, but when she got there he pulled her into his lap.

“Are you going to let things get weird because of last night?” he asked, resting his chin on her head.

Summer relaxed in his arms.

“There is no weirdness because of last night,” she promised.

“So you aren’t going to think of me as some sad, victimized head case?”

Summer wriggled in his lap to look him in the eye. “Carter Pierce!” Her laugh was genuine. “There is nothing about you that says victim or head case.”

“Are you regretting what you told me last night?” he asked.

“Hmm, I can’t quite remember what I told you.” She tapped a finger to her chin. “Maybe you can refresh my memory?”

Carter flipped her over his knee and Summer shrieked. Two well-placed smacks were enough to jog her memory.

“Okay! Okay! I remember!” she giggled.

Carter righted her. “I’m waiting.”

She took his face in her hands. “I love you, Carter.”

His grin was slow and sweet. “Let’s go get something to eat so we can come back and I can spank you some more.”

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he took him to a pocket-sized place that served up a nice vegetarian brunch. They ate inside to avoid the late June sizzle and swelter. Afterward, they braved the heat for the hand-in-hand walk back to Summer’s apartment.

“What would you like to do today?” she asked him.

His wolfish look told her exactly what he wanted to do.

“I mean in the city. Wearing clothes.”

“What do you like to do on your days off?”

Summer laughed. “My days off?” She didn’t have days off. If she wasn’t in the office, she was working from home. If she wasn’t working on magazine projects or attending events, she was blogging.

And if she wasn’t doing any of that, she was doing laundry.

All things she should be doing today. Instead, she was strolling down the sidewalk holding hands with the man she loved.

And not feeling the least bit guilty about it.

“How about this? You suffered through my work days,” Carter reminded her. “It’s only fair that I follow you around and mess up whatever you’re doing with my distracting sexiness.”

She hip checked him. “I was a great farm hand!”

“You were okay,” he winked.

“You know what? Let’s pretend that we’re regular New Yorkers with a Saturday all to ourselves.”

“And what would these regular New Yorkers do?”

A slow grin spread across her face. “I have a few ideas.”

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he took him to a Yankees game.

But not before they spent the afternoon enjoying the air conditioning of the American Museum of Natural History, where Summer let Carter the farmer educate her on the biodiversity of the New York State environment.

They took in a matinee at a second run theater that served beer and baked goods out of its concession stand. And then they carved out time for an early dinner at a crowded Irish pub around the corner before hailing a cab to their surprise destination.

Yankee Stadium.

Carter kicked back in his legendary blue seat with a prime view of home plate. A seven-dollar beer tucked into the cup holder.

“Very good surprise, Summer.” He riffed the bill of the baseball cap he bought her.

“I had a feeling you’d enjoy this traditional New York pastime.” She cheered with the rest of the crowd at the crack of the bat.

“I used to come here with my father and brothers,” he told her, eyes scanning the field.

“Really?” She settled back in her seat and sampled the wine that came in a little plastic bottle.

“It was Mom’s Father’s Day gift to Dad every year. Pierce Men Day, she’d call it. I realize now that it was actually a gift to herself getting us all out of the house at the same time.”

“Can’t really blame her.”

“We had some good times on those trips,” Carter said. “Once, Jax got lost on his way back from the bathroom. We spent the entire fifth looking for him. Turns out he was entertaining some big wig with a box and we got to watch the rest of the game from up there.” Carter pointed at the glass walled suites.

“Do you miss him? Your father I mean.”

“Every damn day.” Carter sipped his beer. “I barely made it home in time to say good-bye.”

“Were you deployed?” Summer asked.

“Yeah. The Red Cross got Beckett’s message to me.”
This is it. Come home.
“I was on the next flight home. They got me as far as Albany. Jax picked me up and drove me to the hospital going ninety in the car the whole way. That’s when it started to sink in.”

Summer linked her fingers with his and he squeezed.

“He looked so ... small in that hospital bed.” He sighed. “Nothing like the John Pierce who could take all three of us when we ganged up on him in the pond.”

“He must have been so proud of you, of all of you. The soldier, the lawyer, the writer.”

“I didn’t get to spend much time with him in his last years.” A regret he still carried. “Neither did Jax. But Beckett was there for it all. He kept it all together until I could come home.”

“And now you’ve all come home again,” Summer reminded him.

Jax’s brewery, Carter remembered. It was an idea that he’d put on the back burner. But it warranted careful consideration.

“I keep dumping all of my sad stories on you,” he said, changing the subject.

“I like understanding how you turned into the fascinating, sexy man before me.”

She said it without a hint of irony and he bit back a sigh.

Summer was hiding something. Something big enough to scare her. But he would wait. And when Summer was ready, she would share. For now he would enjoy a warm summer night with the beautiful woman who held his heart.

T
he fireworks lit up the East River in a showy shower of color and flash.

Another holiday, another holiday party. Summer had planned to take two days of vacation time and spend them with Carter in Blue Moon. The town’s Fourth Festival was apparently legendary.

However, when Katherine personally requested her attendance at the rooftop party hosted by a major department store, plans had to be changed. Especially when she mentioned that some senior staff members were starting to take notice of Summer’s work. Things were falling into place, and in a few short years she could follow her own dreams.

Carter was understanding.

But understanding didn’t make up for the distance. In fact, it made her miss him more. The summer was high season on the farm, which meant Carter’s free time was nonexistent. And combined with her renewed efforts to get back on top at work, they hadn’t seen each other since his weekend in New York.

The phone calls and video chats weren’t cutting it anymore. She missed him constantly and was surprised at the discontent she felt. This is what she had spent years working for, wasn’t it? And yet here she was, feeling empty and alone on a spectacular terrace while the rich and beautiful partied poolside.

It was just annoyance at having to change her plans, she told herself.

Thankfully, the photo shoot was next week. She would get to spend two days on the farm watching Niko get assaulted by goats, determining what, if any, progress Jax had made with Joey, and spending as much time as possible with Carter’s hands on her.

She could even extend it to three days if she planned carefully and used some vacation time, she mused.

Her phone signaled an incoming call and her heart flip-flopped.

“Hi, handsome,” Summer answered, her voice giving away her smile.

“Happy Fourth of July, beautiful.” Carter’s voice sent a rush of heat flooding through her.

She heard the booms and cracks on his end along with the oohs and ahs of the crowd.

“Where are you on this fine summer evening?” she asked.

“I’m in the square. Along with the entire population of the town,” he grumbled. “Mom’s idea, of course. It looks like a 1960s sit-in protest.”

Summer laughed. “I can only imagine.”

“I’d rather imagine you. What are you wearing?”

Summer laughed, glancing down at her festive red cotton minidress. “Stars and stripes underwear and patent leather red heels.”

He hummed at that. “Great minds think alike. I’m wearing the matching loincloth.”

“I’m really liking this mental picture.” Summer snagged a bottle of water off the tray of a passing waiter.

“I wish you were here, Summer.” His voice was low, sweet. She felt it like a caress and closed her eyes. For a second it was just them.

“I do, too.” She meant it. “I’ll be there in a week,” she reminded him.

“That feels like a year from now.”

She laughed, because it did for her, too. “I think we’ll survive. I love you, Carter.”

“I love you, honey. Here comes the finale.”

She heard the booms through the phone. They watched together as town and city lit up in a blaze of festive color and sound.

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hat night, as the fourth ticked into the fifth, Summer lay awake thinking. When had a week become a lifetime? When had she ever let her life revolve around a man? Not since her father, she thought with regret.

And look how that had turned out.

The tiny, mean voice in her head put in its two cents.

Summer could still feel the cut of his disappointment. Still see the anger and sadness in her father’s eyes. He had thought she was letting him down and wouldn’t even listen to her as she tried to explain that she was trying to make him proud.