Dirty: The Complete Series (Secret Baby Romance Love Story) (90 page)

“Sit at my table, little brother.” I hoped
my flinch at the sound of my sister’s voice wasn’t apparent.

“Hi, Chrissy.”

“Hi.” My pretty sister smiled at me and
then looked at Summer. “Hello, I don’t know you.”

“Summer French, this is my sister Chrissy
Spencer.”

“Hello,” Summer said with a nervous smile.
“It’s nice to meet you.”

“And you,” my sister said. She slung her
arm through Summer’s free one and said, “I love that dress! Did you get it at
Felton’s Boutique?”

“Yes.”

Chrissy started walking. Summer had no
choice but to go with her, and I followed. “I love that store. When I don’t
have time for an original, I go there every time. From across the room I
thought this one was multi-colored, but I see the sleeves are your own.” Summer
grimaced slightly before Chrissy said, “Where did you and my brother meet,
Summer?”

Summer glanced up at me and I tried to
hide my smile as I heard her say, “We were in the surf shop in La Jolla at the
same time one day…and the rest is history.”

“Isn’t that sweet? So, you’re a surfer? I
guess that explains the ink.”

We both ignored the ink comment as I said,
“I’m helping her get ready for a competition.”

“Oh, well, you’ve always wanted to teach,
so that worked out good.” My sister led us to her table. I was horrified to see
who was already sitting there. Her friends Paris and Searcy were sitting there
with a few others I didn’t know. Paris and Searcy are two of the biggest
stuck-up bitches I’ve ever known.

“Chrissy, I think we’re going to sit up
closer to the bandstand.” Chrissy kept her grip on Summer’s arm.

“Nonsense, it’s much too noisy up there.
You won’t be able to hear yourselves think.” She introduced Summer to her
friends. The whole time, Summer hadn’t looked at me. I suddenly realized what a
mistake this was. She looked better than all of them put together, but they
were all still looking at her like she was an outsider and for some reason, my
sister’s claws were already out. “Sit down, Summer, and tell us about yourself.
Where does your family come from?”

Summer did look at me then. I wanted to
pick her up and carry her out of there. I saw her pull on the hem of her dress
as she sat. Of course, Chrissy never misses a thing. I saw her rake her eyes
across the tattoos on Summer’s legs. I took a chair across from them as Summer
was saying, “I grew up mostly on Long Island, but we traveled a lot.”

“Of course,” Chrissy said. She thought
Summer was talking about the kind of ceaseless traveling we did as kids, one
vacation after the other.

“My grandfather was a professional
surfer.”

“Oh my! But what about your parents?”

“I never really knew them,” she said.

“That’s a shame,” Chrissy said. Paris
rolled her eyes and said,

“Oh I don’t know. Some days I wish I’d
never known mine.” They all laughed. Summer didn’t.

“Summer, why don’t we go get something to
eat?”

“You go get her a plate, Drake,” my sister
told me. I wanted to strangle her. “Be a gentleman.”

“I’m really not hungry,” Summer said.

“Go get her some appetizers, she can pick
at them.”

“Really, it’s okay…” Summer’s green eyes
had panic in them. She didn’t want me to leave her and I wasn’t about to.

“We’ll eat later. Do you want to dance?”
Her eyes got wider. I hadn’t thought to ask if she could dance. I’m an idiot.

“Sure.” Maybe she could dance. I got up
and went around and took her hand.

“We just started talking!” Chrissy pouted.
“You’ll come back, right?”

“Sure.” Summer scooted back her chair and
stood up. All three of the women were looking at her legs now. Summer looked
down and pulled on her skirt to cover the tats peeking out. As she did that,
she teetered on her heels and had to reach forward and grab onto the table. I
hoped she missed the subtle looks of amusement on my sister and her friend’s
faces, but I doubted it. I started to lead her towards the dance floor, but she
leaned in and whispered, “Maybe some air instead.”

“Good idea, I’ll take you out and show you
the garden out back.” I led her towards the French doors in the back of the
ballroom. I opened them for her, and she stepped out into the fresh air and
sucked in a breath.

“Thank you,” she said. “I suddenly felt
like I couldn’t breathe in there.”

“I’m sorry.”

She smiled at me. “It’s not your fault. Everyone’s
being really nice. I just never talk so much about myself. It’s a little bit
uncomfortable being the center of attention.” I wondered if she didn’t notice
the looks as we left the table or if she was choosing to ignore them. I wasn’t
going to bring it up, just in case.

“Let’s take a walk,” I said instead.

 
She
nodded, but stopped and gripped my hand tightly as she bent down and pulled off
those dangerous heels she was wearing. She slung them over her fingers and
said, “Okay, now I’m ready.”

I walked her through the beautiful gardens
that the hotel was actually famous for. There is a labyrinth of paths that wind
through the center of dark green plants and flowers blooming in a multitude of
vibrant colors.

“It smells so good,” she said. She stopped
to dip her face down into a rosebush.

“Yeah, it does. I like it here. Sometimes
when I’m home, I just come here to think where it’s so quiet and relaxing.” We
walked in silence from there, just breathing in the night until we came to a
decorative wrought iron bench surrounded by tall shrubs. “You want to sit for a
minute?”

She answered me by sitting down and
looking up at the sky. Earlier tonight when the sun went down, I’d noticed how
pretty it looked streaked with bright orange and purple. Now it was a vast
expanse of black, dotted with only a few small stars. The moon hung in one
corner like a crescent and the only other light came from the windows of the
grand hotel. It was a romantic setting and I was surprised at myself for
noticing that. My former idea of romance was Netflix and beer.

CHAPTER
FIFTEEN

SUMMER

I wasn’t exactly lying when I said Drake’s
family had been nice to me, but I also haven’t missed the looks they gave me
and each other as they perused my tattoos and asked questions I hesitated to
answer. Society girls don’t normally tat themselves up and it was the one thing
about me that we couldn’t “class up.” Most of these girls love talking about
where their money comes from, too. I told myself I wasn’t going to stress over
it, though. I loved being here with Drake and that was all that mattered.

“So, are you doing okay?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I’m a little nervous, but
I’m okay. I just felt like I couldn’t breathe there for a second. They have a
lot of questions about where I came from and what I do…those are the worst.”

“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry. We can go if you
want.”

“No! No, I’m okay. I’ll get some fresh air
and we’ll go back in and eat. I don’t know how to dance. I should have told
you.”

He smiled and put his hand on my thigh.
Goosebumps shot up my body and down my spine. This guy touching me is the
equivalent of touching a live wire while standing in a puddle wearing
steel-toed boots. “I should have asked you. But slow dancing is a lot like
making love and you have that down pat. Maybe just one slow dance?”

I started to agree when I saw the woman
step through the thick layer of greenery that surrounded us. She was wearing a
burgundy gown and her long blonde hair touched her waist. She was probably six
inches taller than me and her tits were big, high, and perky – just the kind of
girl that intimidates the hell out of me. Drake saw me look up at her and he
looked over, too. I could only see half of his face, but I swear he cringed.

“Hello, Drake.”

“Sabrina. Hi.”

“I’m sorry to disturb you two, I was just
walking by and heard your voice. I was hoping you’d be here tonight.” I
couldn’t help but wonder if she was hoping he’d be here alone. She was looking
at him like he was a piece of chocolate. I swear her mouth was watering.

“Um…it’s okay. We were just getting some
air. This is Summer. Summer, this is Sabrina.”

“Hello, Summer, I’ve heard a lot about
you.”

I looked at Drake who looked as confused
as me and slightly paranoid. “You have?”

She smiled a brilliant white, perfectly
straight-toothed smile. “Yes. Lance and I had lunch today.”

“Sabrina…” Drake’s voice had dropped. The
tone was low and warning.

“Oh, stop it, Drake. I’m not going to tell
anyone about your little friend’s…situation. Lance didn’t even want to tell me.
But, I could see that he was upset about something and I got it out of him.
He’s worried about you.”

I suddenly felt like I was caught in that
nightmare where they all pointed and laughed. I was frozen to my spot, though.
I didn’t want to hear any more of this, but I didn’t want to get up and walk
past this bitch who so badly wanted to see me upset. “He has no reason to be,
and who I choose to spend time with isn’t his or your business.”

She made a “Tsk-tsk” noise and shook her
head. She made eye contact with me then and I saw that she had
milk-chocolate-colored eyes with the strangest patches of blue. I wondered if
they were contacts, I’d never seen anything like it.

“You know why it is my business, Drake.
I’m supposed to be selling you to a Fortune 500 company. I have a meeting with
the CEO of Catalyst the day before Laguna. I can’t go in to something like that
blind. I need to know everything. I need to know if your picture is going to
pop up on some tabloid with your new friend and details about her background.”
I stood up. I’d heard enough. Drake reached out and grabbed my wrist and stood
up next to me.

“There’s nothing in her background that
would worry me,” he said. Although that was nice of him to say, he really had
no idea. I’d never been charged with anything, but there were a few times I
came close. Who knew what story anyone might be willing to tell for the right
price?

I cleared my throat. “If we’re going to
talk about me, then maybe I can have a chance to speak in my own defense.”

“You don’t have to defend yourself to
anyone, Summer.” Drake was glaring at the blonde. She was looking at me with
and excited look. She wanted to hear about my life, I’m guessing because she
knew that it would make her feel superior.

“You’re right,” I said to Drake, “But I’d
like to say this, anyways.” Turning back to the woman, I said, “I don’t know
who you are, but I don’t have anything to hide. My name is Summer French. I’m
eighteen years old. I grew up on Long Island in New York with my grandfather,
who was a professional surfer. My mother was a prostitute who used a lot of
heroin. She had no idea which John knocked her up and the only reason she
didn’t abort me was because she stayed so wasted that she caught the pregnancy
too late. My grandfather ended up with a drug-addicted infant, and he raised me
as well as he could until he died. I was fourteen then and they tried to put me
in a foster home. I ran away, and for the past five years, I’ve been living on
the streets. I’m homeless, but on a positive note, I haven’t killed anyone and I’ve
never been in jail, so you can rest easy that there aren’t any public records
that might pop up. I don’t know who this “Catalyst” is, but if it’s important
to Drake, you can be sure I’m not going to get in his way.”

Sabrina was still holding onto the shocked
look that crossed her face when I admitted my mother was a prostitute. It’s not
something I’m proud of, but it’s also nothing for me to be ashamed of. I’m not,
nor have I ever been a prostitute or a heroin addict. I had no control over her
issues. Drake slid his hand down and linked his fingers through mine. His
muscles were tense and when he began to talk, it was in a low, controlled
voice. “Listen to me, Sabrina, and listen well. I pay you to do a job, but that
job does not extend to my personal life. You deal with Catalyst and I’ll do
what I need to do for me. Lately, that’s been spending time with Summer. I
don’t have any plans to change that, either, so if it’s an issue for you,
that’s too fucking bad. We both know you don’t need this job, anyways. It was
just your way of keeping tabs on me.”

Her look went from shocked to haughty in
an instant. “Keep tabs on you? Are you kidding? You are still so full of
yourself-”

“I get the feeling I really don’t want to
be around for this part of the conversation,” I said. I pulled my hand away
from Drake’s.

“Summer, wait, I’ll go with you.”

“No, you finish here. I’ll wait for you
inside.” I looked at Sabrina. She was looking at me with those strange eyes. I
couldn’t really tell what she was thinking about me, but I’m pretty sure she
wants to be more than Drake’s “employee.” I got the feeling she had been more
than that at one time and she was not happy with the job change.

“I don’t have anything else to say to
her,” he said. He grabbed my hand again and we both pushed past her. As we
walked away I looked over my shoulder. The look on her face was pure evil and I
got the feeling that Drake was about to lose his chance with this Catalyst,
whoever they are. He led me in through the French doors and straight onto the
dance floor. I was still holding my shoes in my hand. He stopped and took them
from me, stuffed them into the pockets of his jacket, and took me in his arms.
He was right – just like making love. I followed the slow and seductive
movements of his body with my own and within seconds, I was lost completely in
him…and Sabrina was forgotten.