Page 1 of Summer Nights (The Kingston Brothers #3)

Chapter One

Ivy

My heart beat in time to the sounds of heavy footsteps on the wood floor as Cooper made his way down the hallway and into the kitchen of the house. "You need me to take a look around?”

I always felt a little breathless when I was with him. "That's right."

He wore the traditional navy-blue Kingston Construction T-shirt with the white stenciled logo, worn jeans, and work boots. There was nothing special about the outfit; it was how he filled them out that was distracting.

With a curt nod, he moved around the kitchen, checking the faucet, then crawled under the sink. I'd gotten into the bad habit of following him around the house. I wanted to learn from him, but I enjoyed being in his presence.

I was leaning against the counter when Cooper emerged from under the sink. He stood up, and he was close. Too close.

Cooper raised a brow. "You always hover around your clients?"

"I'm trying to figure out your secret. How do you find problems when no one else does?" I attempted to infuse confidence into my shaky voice.

Cooper stared at me for a second as if he couldn't quite figure me out. "You can follow me around all you want, but you'll never figure out my secret."

"And why's that?" I asked in a flirty tone to match his energy.

He cocked his head slightly as if he was considering my question. "I have a sense for these things. You'd probably call it intuition. But I can't teach it to you. You either have it or you don't."

"If I hang around long enough, maybe it will rub off on me.

" I prided myself on always knowing as much as I could about everything that would help my business.

I hated depending on anyone, and right now I needed Cooper to do these checks before the sale went through.

His advice had saved me in more situations than I cared to admit.

Cooper's eyes flashed with heat, and I wondered if it was my unfortunate choice of the word rub. Then he said, "Good luck with that," before heading down the hallway that led to the bedrooms.

In heels, I followed him at a slower pace. I always dressed professionally when I was working. I wanted to be taken seriously, and I'd found that the right clothes helped. I'd grown up poor, and I never wanted to be mistaken for that person again.

Cooper spent a lot of time inspecting the walls of the guest bathroom, moving items that the previous owners had left behind to get a better look. Finally, he stepped back, and sighed. "There's a water leak."

I moved closer, a little surprised. "No one mentioned anything about a water leak."

"The owners tried to cover it with paint and caulk, but if you remove it, you'd see that there have been multiple leaks." He nodded toward the front of the house. "I suspect it's the pipes leading from the house to the street."

I sucked in a breath. "That wouldn't be covered by homeowners insurance, and it's expensive to fix."

He nodded grimly. "That's why they covered it up. They want to leave this little surprise for the new owners."

Once again, I was impressed. "Can you write up the report for the buyers?"

Cooper nodded. "Of course."

He continued his inspection while I messaged my buyers to give them a heads-up.

It would be up to them whether they wanted to force the sellers to fix it, ask for a reduction in price, or walk away from the house altogether.

From my experience, the cover-up was a sign that more things could be wrong with this house.

"I'm going to check out the bedrooms." Cooper's voice was closer than I expected, and I teetered on my heels.

He reached out to steady me, his hand on my elbow. The heat of his palm seared my skin.

"You startled me."

"I thought you were supposed to be observing me." His voice had a nice low rumble that settled deep in my chest.

I shrugged. "I wanted to let the buyers know what's going on."

He let go of my elbow, and I immediately missed his touch. "Let's go."

He had a tendency to be abrupt, as if he didn't want to waste time on saying too many words. It only made me more intrigued by him.

He waited for me to precede him, and I wondered if I affected him the way he did me.

I prided myself on being in control of any interaction with a man, especially one I was interested in, but I didn't feel that way when I was with Cooper.

He had this way of throwing me off center.

It was exciting and scary at the same time.

I followed him through the bedrooms, studying him to see if I could glean anything from his method. But he worked silently, not telling me what he was thinking or doing. It was frustrating. I didn't want to rely on a Kingston.

The brothers were the subject of a recent magazine article which ranked which brother was the most eligible. The attention had only inflated their egos as far as I could tell. But Cooper was quieter than the others, so I couldn't get a read on how it had affected him.

Our friend group hung out together often, but I hadn't seen him flirt with anyone. If he had a personal life, he kept it quiet.

As he worked, the room grew darker. Thunder cracked, and I jumped.

"You okay?" Cooper asked.

I wrapped my arms around myself. "Yeah, I didn't realize we were going to get storms."

Cooper's hand landed on my lower back as he steered me out of the room. "You always work this late at night, alone with contractors?"

I scoffed. "You're a friend. I don't have to worry about you."

His forehead wrinkled as if my words hadn't alleviated his concern.

"I always let my assistant know where I am, and I never put myself in dangerous situations." I'd grown up navigating my mother's numerous boyfriends. I knew how to take care of myself.

He raised a brow.

"If you think I'd let someone take advantage of me, then you don't know me very well." We'd grown up together, but I wasn't sure how much he knew about me. As soon as I was old enough, I got a job. I saved so I could go to college. I moved out of my mom's trailer and never went back.

"That's probably the case."

I walked past him. "That you don't know me very well?"

"You don't exactly let people get close to you."

I paused in the hallway. "I could say the same to you. Shepard tends to get the attention."

He winced.

I immediately regretted my words. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."

"People assume we're the same, and I don't have the energy to change their mind."

I smiled softly, stepped closer, and touched his stomach. His rock-hard stomach. "Maybe you should let people get to know the real Cooper Kingston."

I turned away from him, not wanting him to see the desire swirling in my eyes. He was quiet as we made our way down the hall and to the foyer.

At the door, he said, "I'll get you that report."

"I appreciate that." I glanced out the front window where the rain was coming down hard. Puddles were already forming on the driveway. "You might want to wait to leave. Unless you're okay with getting soaked."

He hesitated, clearly unsure what he should do. Then he glanced back at me, a look of concern crossing his face. "I can wait until it passes."

Storms never lasted long in Florida. But the thought of being stuck in this house with Cooper had my throat tightening. I pretended my interest in him was purely professional, but I couldn't deny the physical attraction.

Thunder cracked, and the lights in the house went out. I sucked in a breath, my heart hammering.

Cooper placed a hand on my back and steered me deeper into the house, away from the windows.

Thunderstorms always reminded me of living at my mom's, huddling under my blankets, scared of the storm but reluctant to go in my mom's room. She usually shared it with a man I didn't know well.

I felt shaky with the memory of hiding under my blanket and trying to stifle the sound of thunder with the pillow. It never worked.

Cooper turned so that he was facing me. "Are you scared of storms?"

I laughed as if the idea was ludicrous. I made it a habit never to admit weakness to anyone. I was more than aware that it could and would be exploited by the wrong people. "Of course not."

He raised a brow. "It's okay to admit that there's a chink in your armor."

"I don't know what you're talking about." It was dark, but his face was laminated by the light coming through the window over the sink.

"I've always thought of you as wearing armor. Like you had to protect yourself from the world."

I sucked in a sharp breath. "That's ridiculous. I'm perfectly safe."

"Is that how you feel?" His voice was soft and gentle and threatened to unravel something deep inside of me.

I didn't want to admit it, but I'd been protecting myself for as long as I could remember no one had ever called me out on it before. My friends said I was strong, and I preferred to think of myself like that. "I don't know why we're talking about this."

Cooper glanced out the window. "Because we're stuck in this house without power while it storms, and there's nothing else to do."

It felt like he was probing, testing how far he could go. Instead, I did the one thing I knew would get his attention. I curled a hand around his neck and pulled his face down to my level. "I can think of a few things we can do to distract us."

He raised a brow. "And what's that?"

He was going to make me spell it out for him, but this is where I excelled. I didn't need anyone psychoanalyzing me. I preferred to keep things surface level, so I went up on tiptoe to press my lips against his.

For a long second, he didn't respond, and then his arm banded around my back, and he pulled me against his hard body. I almost groaned; the sensation was so incredible.

It was a mistake to think I had control of this situation.

My lips parted, and his tongue swept inside, claiming me. This was the kiss I'd always dreamed a man would give me. But I didn't usually pick men like him.

Cooper Kingston was different than any other man I'd ever been with. He had the power to blow through my walls and leave me vulnerable. I couldn't let that happen.

I pressed myself against his body and fought with him over control of the kiss. He lifted one of my legs so that my core was pressed against him. All thoughts of control fell away until I was soft and aching with need.

He kissed my chin. "Do you want this?"

"Yes," I gasped as he sucked on the sensitive skin of my neck.

"This doesn't mean anything."

I shivered at the promise. "Of course not."

"I won't call you for a second round."

I pulled back so I could look at his face. "You'd better not."

He grinned and lifted me with impressive strength, pressing me against the nearest wall. "I've wanted this for a long time."

I swallowed down my agreement. He already had too much of me; I wouldn't give him any more. This was a one-time thing, never to be repeated.

I'd allow myself one indulgence. One taste of Cooper Kingston. It would be foolish to ask for more. He was the perfect distraction from the storm.

He eased back slightly, allowing my feet to touch the ground.

I slowly slid down the zipper of my skirt while his gaze tracked the movement.

Once the skirt was pooled at my feet, I hooked my fingers on the sides of my panties and moved them over my hips and down my legs, letting them fall to the floor.

Before I could unbutton my blouse, he'd shoved his pants down and lifted me into position.

With one motion, his cock filled me. My mouth fell open on a gasp. I'd never experienced anything like this. He was so big. I felt like he was consuming me.

Then I remembered how he'd shoved his pants down and how impressive his cock had looked. He wasn't wearing a condom. "Protection."

He growled as he lowered me once again, digging in his pocket for one. I didn't want to think about why he had one ready. Was he generally prepared for sex on the go?

I'd never done anything like this. It was so unprofessional. If anyone walked in on us, my reputation would be in tatters, and he'd be hailed the hottest bachelor on the island once again.

The only thing that saved me was that this house was under contract, and the sellers lived in Canada.

With the rain falling on the roof overhead and the lights out, I could pretend that we were alone and that there were no consequences.

This time, I unbuttoned my blouse, shrugging it off my shoulders, before he lifted me in his arms, easily entering me. He set a steady pace, thrusting in and out of me as if he was claiming his spot deep inside me, and I wasn't about to argue with that. I'd never felt this taken before.

I'd never let him in emotionally. I only had this to give. No man was worth the cost of leaving yourself open. I had to protect myself at all costs.

No matter how good this felt, I wouldn't give in to the desire to do this again or to see what he'd be like in a bed. We only had this one moment.

There was a part of me that reveled in letting go, in letting someone else support me even if it was only for a few seconds. I gave in to the feel of his strong arms supporting me, his cock driving into me.

The sensations cleared my mind of thoughts, leaving me in the moment with him.