The Pleasures of Summer (8 page)

She quickly wrapped her towel around herself. Flynn watched as she dried off, making her feel more self-conscious than ever. What was wrong with her? He hadn’t actually kissed her. She dragged a comb through her tangled hair before accepting the cup and taking a sip of her coffee.

‘He seems very attentive,’ Flynn said. She caught the disapproval in his tone. If she didn’t know better, she would have mistaken it for jealousy.

‘Robert?’ she asked innocently.

‘Just how well do you know him?’

‘I …’ there was no point in lying. Flynn could probably find out anyway. ‘We’ve only met briefly once before, but I’ve known Molly since college.’

‘And she doesn’t mind you flirting with her boyfriend?’

‘We were just talking.’

‘Like you were talking to Chester last night?’

She was tempted to snap back at him, but there was no point. Flynn’s opinion of her was obvious. He thought she was a shameless flirt. Maybe that was why he had challenged her last night. She had been foolish to think that it had been anything else.

Summer tried to sound flippant. ‘What’s the matter? Afraid of a little competition?’

His eyes narrowed. ‘I’ll do whatever is necessary to get the job done.’

‘Great. We’re having an archery contest later. Let’s see how competitive you are then.’

Grabbing her robe, she hurried into the house. As she passed the sitting room, she heard Maya laughing. At least someone was having a good time. She opened the door and was just about to wish her good morning when the laughter was suddenly silenced.

Summer backed out of the room quietly, trying not to disturb the kissing couple. Maya and Gavin? How had she missed that one? Gavin broke the kiss and stroked Maya’s face tenderly. Her friend hadn’t hooked up with anyone in months. She couldn’t wait to tell Natasha.

Racing up the stairs two at a time, she hurried to the guest room and pushed open the door. ‘Natasha, you’ll never guess …’

The rest of the words froze in her throat. Her friend was still sleeping, but she wasn’t alone and Summer recognized that particular mop of blond hair. She wished she had pulled it harder when she’d had the chance the
previous night. Mike bloody Chester. He hadn’t wasted much time. She wasn’t sure if she was jealous or relieved.

Back in her room she showered quickly and riffled through her wardrobe. This was turning into the weekend from hell. The humiliation of it. Her first house party and everyone had paired off except her. She could just imagine the knowing smirk on Flynn’s face when he realized.

Summer heard a truck coming up the drive and she pulled back the curtains. The entertainment had arrived. ‘Mircat Archery’ had brought everything they needed for an afternoon of archery including an expert to tutor them. It was expensive but luckily her dad didn’t bother looking at her credit card bill. He wouldn’t spend time with her, but he paid her Visa bill each month without a quibble.

Gavin and Mike had boasted about how good they were at sports and the girls loved a chance to dress up. She pulled out a silk dress she had bought when she was in the Far East. It was pretty and feminine and floated about her ankles. The perfect thing to cheer herself up on a less than perfect day. When she had organized the party, she had visions of herself wandering around like a princess. Now, she would be more like the ugly sister.

She hung around her room for as long as was decently possible, pretending that she was catching up on emails. Outside, she could hear the sound of hammering from the lawn. They were obviously setting up the targets. She was just being silly. She couldn’t mope about here any longer. It was time to face her friends.

Preparations for the party had already started. A bare-chested Gavin had unearthed the barbecue from one of the storerooms and was busy cleaning it. ‘Hey,
Summer,’ Gavin shouted. ‘We’re going to cook you some real food for a change. Mike and Natasha have gone to the village for steaks and more beer.’

‘Great.’ She tried to sound enthusiastic.

Maya arrived with an ice-cold can of beer. Sneaking up behind him, she pressed it against Gavin’s back. The Australian roared with surprise before he turned to revenge himself on his attacker. Maya fled, squealing. She was no match for Gavin’s speed or his flying tackle. The pair ended up in the pool, sending water flying everywhere. Maya made her way to the surface, spluttering and laughing at the same time.

Gavin caught her in his arms and gave her a hungry kiss. ‘You are going to pay for that.’

Summer wasn’t jealous of Maya; she had no interest in Gavin, but she envied that they were together and that they appeared to be happy. Like she had been? She shook away the memory. Adam Bayliss had no place in her life now.

‘Penny for them?’

She hadn’t heard Flynn arrive. The man defined the word stealth. ‘My thoughts? I doubt if they’re worth that much.’

‘What’s the matter? Are you annoyed that you’ve lost your admirers?’ He watched with amusement as Maya wriggled from Gavin’s hold and tried unsuccessfully to swim away. Gavin was after her in an instant and the pair disappeared beneath the water.

Poor little rich girl left on her own again. How Flynn would enjoy that one. Summer shrugged, feigning boredom. ‘You have no idea, Flynn. You don’t know me at all.’

To her surprise, the expert teaching them about archery was a woman. Summer felt a moment of guilt for assuming it would be a man, then forgot it as she found herself being included in the class. So much for her vision of herself as a fairytale princess, ready to bestow a kiss on the victor of the competition. Eleanor Grimes, middle-aged, petite and brisk, assumed that everyone was going to shoot.

Before she handed out bows, however, Eleanor took them through the basic movements and muscle groups used in drawing the bow. Summer caught Molly’s eye and the pair of them tried not to giggle. It felt like they were doing bust exercises at the gym.

It felt good just to have fun, Summer realized. It was too long since she had wanted to laugh. The sight of Flynn, a long-suffering look on his face, stoically copying the instructor, did make her chuckle.

They followed Eleanor through a series of exercises which she insisted would improve muscle memory, before they were handed their bows. Molly got a dainty one, but Eleanor checked Summer over with an experienced eye and handed her a much bigger one.

Robert looked at his weapon in disgust. ‘A pyramid bow? Really? I have shot before, you know.’ Without a word, Eleanor handed him a traditional medieval longbow.

Then she gave them more co-ordination movements to tie the techniques together. ‘Tilt the bow,’ she told them. ‘You need to be able to see the target with both eyes.’ Summer was mortified when Eleanor told her to hold her bow at an even more pronounced angle. ‘It has to come up under your armpit or it will hit your breasts. You don’t want the string catching you.’

Mike chortled and made rude gestures with his hands. What had she ever seen in him? Summer wondered.

‘Now, draw back on the string as the bow comes up. Anchor your hand against your cheek,’ Eleanor told them. ‘Don’t look at the bow or arrow, look at the target.’

The targets were about twenty feet away. They had looked a perfectly reasonable size when she had helped set them up. Now they looked tiny and distant.

Flynn was going through the motions, but his attention was on the others. Even so, Summer couldn’t help noticing the definition of his arm and shoulder muscles when he drew the bow. His loose T-shirt had tightened enough to reveal that his torso was solid bone and muscle. There was nothing elegant about him, but the raw strength had a unique appeal.

The Australians were paying more attention than Summer had expected, and Molly was a picture of concentration. But Natasha and Maya were complaining about the damage to their nails, and Robert looked bored.

Robert’s iPhone cheeped. ‘Excuse me, I have to take this.’

‘Turn it off,’ Eleanor snapped. ‘You should know better than that.’ Robert closed his phone with a bad grace.

Summer nocked her arrow under Eleanor’s direction, surprised at how solid it felt.

‘Make sure you have the cock feather pointing in the right direction. Otherwise you’ll find you’re making a cock up.’

Gavin snorted with laughter, and even Maya cracked a smile. Robert winked at Molly and ran a possessive hand down her back. She leaned into his touch, purring with pleasure.

Flynn leaned in towards Summer and murmured, ‘Bet I know who’s going to have a cock up soon.’

She glared at him before turning her back on him.

He laughed.

They finally got to shoot, and although her first few arrows missed the target, Summer was delighted when she was the first of the beginners to hit the target. ‘Women are often faster than men at picking this up,’ Eleanor told the disgruntled Australians. After that, every one of her arrows hit the target and Summer was disappointed when Eleanor told them to take a break and go for a walk.

‘But I’m just getting the hang of it. Can’t I keep going?’

‘You’ll shoot better after a break.’

Fielding took advantage of the break to make a series of phone calls. Summer didn’t intend to eavesdrop, but she couldn’t help overhearing. He was as charming and authoritative on the phone as he was in person, she decided.

‘I’m sure that can be arranged, Uri. No problem, and the best to your family, too.’ He stroked Molly’s hair as he talked on the phone and Summer felt a tiny twinge of jealousy. Even when Robert was busy, he was still paying attention to Molly. She’d love to have someone do that to her.

She sneaked a glance at Flynn who, as usual, was right beside her. But his attention was never on her, and he only touched her when he wanted to make a point. She was glad of that. He wasn’t the sort of man she needed. She wanted a Dom, a real one, someone who was focused on her and who knew exactly what he was doing.

The prospect of becoming involved again scared the
hell out of her. You’re not getting involved, she told herself. You’re just … oh hell, she didn’t know what she was doing.

Flynn’s expression caught her attention. God, the man never stopped working. He was listening to Robert’s phone calls, Maya and Natasha chattering about manicures, and Mike talking about the chances of Australia taking the Ashes.

Robert finished his call and sent Molly off to adjust his target. Eleanor stopped her with a raised hand and a frown. ‘You were told in the safety briefing never to do this. Do not go in front of the shooting line unless all bows are down. Ever.’ Molly meekly went back to her own bow.

When Eleanor gave the signal they started again. Now they were firing more arrows, and faster. Robert hit the target again and again with careless ease. Even though she didn’t have his style, Summer felt relaxed and managed a respectable number of hits. She decided that archery was something she could learn to do well.

After a while, everyone had the hang of the basic technique and a competition was breaking out among the men. The only one not competing was Flynn. His arrows never seemed to hit, except as a fluke. Summer took great pleasure in gloating at his lack of expertise.

Robert’s phone rang again. He answered it, frowning. ‘I told you, Uri, it’s under control. No, I have it all in hand. Another week and it will be sorted.’

Finally, the lesson was over, with Robert the winner of their impromptu competition. Summer didn’t bother trying to hide her joy when she came a surprisingly close
runner-up. They handed the bows back and Summer led the way into the house, promising champagne to celebrate. All in all, this had been better fun than being a fairytale princess.

She realized that her shadow was missing and looked around for Flynn. Through the dining room window, she could see that he was still at the range, chatting to Eleanor. He was smiling at the other woman, a warm smile that lit up his face and caused a peculiar twinge in Summer’s stomach. Then, in one fluid motion, Flynn raised his bow and released an arrow. It hit the very furthest target dead centre. Reaching into his quiver, he pulled out an arrow and shot again, striking the target with ease. He nodded and handed the bow back to Eleanor.

‘Summer. Where are the champagne glasses?’

She turned away from the window, and forced herself to attend to her guests, but her thoughts would not obey so easily. Flynn had been hiding his ability to shoot. Why? And what else was he hiding?

Flynn grinned as the arrow hit the target with a satisfying
thunk
. During the lesson he had been concentrating, as usual, on Summer, her playmates and the open space around them. He hadn’t bothered trying to show off and possibly alert the others to his capabilities. But when he was chatting to Eleanor, he hadn’t been able to resist one decent shot.

His reputation as a short-sighted wimp was a small price to pay to watch Summer when she was concentrating on her shot and forgetting to be a spoilt society
princess. He was only a few days into the job, but sometimes she drove him so mad that he had to clench his fists not to shake her senseless. According to Niall’s background check, her father had spent a small fortune on her education and Summer had come top of her class in business school.