Summer of Love by Marie Ferrarella (easy to read books for adults list .TXT) 📕

Now that there was a glimmer of hope that they could get back together, that he could win her back, he could admit that to himself. Admit that the reason that every possible relationship that had loomed before him over the years had fallen through was because all the women in those would-be relationships hadn’t been able to hold a candle to Lila.

So instead of doing the noble thing and trying to talk Lila out of what she’d just suggested, Everett took her hand in his. And together they made their way out of the ballroom. And then out of the hotel.

Once outside, as the cooler evening air slipped over them, Everett looked at Lila for some sign that she’d had a change of heart about leaving. He didn’t detect any, but because he absolutely wanted her to have no regrets, he asked, “You’re sure?”

“I’m sure,” Lila answered breathlessly. All she wanted was to be alone with him. To be with him in every way possible.

“We both drove here separately,” Everett reminded her.

While he feared that if she drove herself she might change her mind, he knew that if Lila left her car here at the hotel, someone from the fund-raiser would take note of that.

Questions would be asked and gossip would spread. He didn’t want Lila subjected to any sort of talk or speculation as to why her car was still in the parking structure while she herself was nowhere to be found. He wanted to protect her from that sort of thing at all costs.

Although she didn’t want to be more than a foot away from him right now, Lila didn’t see any actual problem. “So? We can both drive our cars to my house. My driveway can accommodate two vehicles,” she told him.

Lila could feel her heart hammering with every word she uttered as a tiny voice in her head, barely audible above the beating of her heart, was telling her to take her car and make good her escape.

But she didn’t want to escape. One taste of Everett’s lips and it was all she could do not to beg for more right here, right now.

When the valet came up to them, they both handed him their tickets.

“Bring the lady her car first,” Everett told him.

The valet nodded. “Be right back,” he promised, heading into the parking structure quickly.

“Think anyone noticed you left?” Everett asked her as they waited.

“If they notice anyone’s gone, it would most likely be you,” Lila told him. “After all, you’re the man of the hour after that huge donation.”

When the valet brought her car up and held the door open for her, she handed him a tip and then slid into the driver’s seat.

She looked up at Everett, said, “I’ll see you,” and then drove off.

I’ll see you.

Her words echoed in his brain. She hadn’t said “I’ll see you later.” Just “I’ll see you.” Did that mean she’d had a change of heart and decided that she’d almost made a terrible mistake?

Now who’s overthinking everything? Everett admonished himself.

He put the original question on hold when the valet brought up his car.

“You car handles like a dream,” the valet told him enthusiastically and a bit enviously as he got out of the vehicle. Backing away, he left the driver’s door open for him.

Everett inclined his head, a grin curving his mouth. “She likes to be babied,” he told the valet as he handed him a ten-dollar bill and got in.

The valet’s eyes widened as he looked at the bill. “Thanks!”

Everett pulled away, eager to catch up to Lila’s car. But it felt like he was catching every single red light between the hotel and her house.

He really hoped that by the time he got there Lila hadn’t reflected on her impulsive decision and changed her mind about the night ahead.

If she did, he would have no choice but to go along with her decision. He would never force himself on her, but he decided that he was going to do everything in his power to convince her that they were meant to be together.

Because they were.

It was hard to stay focused on the road. All he could see in his mind’s eye was Lila. Lila, offering herself to him. Lila, making love with him.

Lila, who was and always had been the center of his universe.

How had he allowed himself to let her go? Everett silently asked himself. He wouldn’t have tied her up in the attic, but he could have tried to talk her out of breaking up with him, could have tried his damnedest to convince her to give him another chance.

Well, this is your chance, Everett, he thought as he turned onto Lila’s block. Don’t blow it.

Chapter Sixteen

What if Everett didn’t come?

What if he did?

Lila pressed her hand against her stomach, trying to quiet the butterflies that seemed to be wildly crashing into one another in her stomach. She’d never felt so confused before.

Back in the ballroom alcove, when Everett had kissed her, awakening all those old feelings, she’d wanted him right then and there. But now she’d had a little time to distance herself from that kiss, doubts had begun creeping in. It was as if she was playing a tennis match with herself in her brain.

Where was he?

Granted she’d flown through every light and gotten home in record time, moving as if her car was being propelled by a gale, but she hadn’t left that much ahead of Everett.

He should have been here by now.

Unless he’d changed his mind and decided to go straight to his sister’s house instead.

Or maybe he’d just decided to head back to Houston from the fund-raiser instead of coming over to her house.

To her.

Had she come on too strong?

But after he kissed her like that, unearthing all those old memories, she just couldn’t help herself. Any thoughts of hanging back or taking it slow had just incinerated right on the spot. All she could think of was how much she’d missed being in