Page 13 of Hot Summer Nights

Chapter Five

Three months later…

“Why are you so gloomy?” Carrie-Ann looped her arm with Brooklyn’s as they entered Night Shift, a hot new club for local singles. “Your sister is in for a week, and you can’t even give me a smile and pretend you’re actually happy to see me here? What’s wrong with you?”

Brooklyn took a deep breath. “Nothing. Everything is fine.”

But deep inside she knew everything wasn’t fine. After being home three months, Brooklyn still thought about Channing. She’d left him a bare-all note saying if he ever chose to find work in Boston, he should look her up. She’d given him her phone number and home address just in case he happened to be in town. She felt like a complete idiot nearly begging for him to call or come by. And the more she thought about it, the more she cried over him.

“You never were able to lie to me, Brook. We share the same DNA.” Carrie-Ann dragged her through the crowd to the bar where she ordered them both drinks. “Spill it to me.”

“I think I’m in love,” she blurted.

Carrie-Ann whipped her head around. “What?”

Brooklyn proceeded to tell her about the trip and Channing. “I don’t know what it is, but I didn’t want it to end so abruptly. I even wrote him a goodbye note telling him I wanted him to get a job in Boston. Damn, he probably thinks I’m a copycat from Fatal Attraction or something.”

Carrie-Ann drank from her glass, carefully watching her sister. “Ms. Career Girl finally fell head over heels, and the guy doesn’t even like her? Something doesn’t add up here. He sounds like a jerk.”

“He’s not a jerk.”

“Oh, really? Did you evaluate his qualities when his dick was in or out of you?”

“What’s your problem?”

Carrie-Ann narrowed her eyes. “My intelligent sister fell in love with a guy who only wanted a piece of ass. He’s a jerk. It’s not love, Brooklyn. You just liked his cock and hadn’t had anything to compare it to in a long time. I say fuck him and move on.”

Brooklyn wished it was that easy. Coming to the bar with her sister was a mistake. Everyone at work was convinced her she needed another break because all she’d done was busy herself with work ever since she’d returned. But she couldn’t think of him. She needed to get over him.

“Sorry, sis. I know it’s hard.” Carrie-Ann reached out and touched her arm. “For you to be this torn up over him, you must have really liked him.”

Brooklyn tipped her glass back and drank the contents in one gulp. “Yeah, well, I knew going in that it would never become of anything. This is what I get for thinking I could have casual sex without the strings going along with it.”

“Come on.” Carrie-Ann grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the dance floor. “We’re going to find some hot guys to dance with, and soon you’ll forget you even know what’s-his-name.”

The dance floor was too crowded with sweaty bodies rubbing against each other. Brooklyn went along with her sister, thinking after one dance she’d fake an illness and leave. But the last person she expected to see on the dance floor was none other than the one she’d been missing all along.

“Oh, my gosh.” Brooklyn grabbed Carrie-Ann’s arm and pulled her close. “It’s him.”

Carrie-Ann turned her head in the direction Brooklyn pointed and then narrowed her eyes back at her sister. “Really?” She nodded her head. “Well, you’re not in high school. Go talk to him.”

“I can’t talk to him!” Brooklyn squeaked. “It was a one-time thing. I’d look pathetic if I walked up to him expecting more.”

“Honey, pining after him for three months is pathetic.” Carrie-Ann pushed her sister toward Channing, who stood chatting with a few other men. “If you think it’s something, then go for it. If not, then quit wasting my vacation talking about him. That’s all I’ve heard, Channing this and Channing that. And oh how I miss his cock—blah, blah, blah.”

“I never said that.” Brooklyn glanced back at Channing who had yet acknowledge her presence. “Did I?”

Carrie-Ann snorted. “Either talk to him or forget him. Hell, forget it. I’ll talk to him.”

Brooklyn grabbed her sister’s arm before she moved. “Don’t even think about it.”

“Go then.” She tilted her head toward him. “He’s looking this way.”

Brooklyn’s heart skipped a beat. In the darkened club with the music blaring, she slowly turned her head and met Channing’s eyes. For the past three months, she’d dreamed about them, the smoky depths so mesmerizing she could get lost in them. Even in the harsh lighting, Brooklyn saw the way his eyes lit up when he saw her. It could just be her imagination or a pent-up desire, but it seemed as if he never wanted to look away.

She started through the gyrating bodies, making a path to meet him halfway across the dance floor. He stopped in front of her and leaned down to press his lips against hers. Fireworks went off behind her closed eyes when his tongue touched hers. In that moment, she felt as if she were back on Exotica Island, just the two of them.

When he pulled away, Channing smiled. “I wondered when I’d get to see you.”

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