Killer Summer, Lynda Curnyn [books suggested by bill gates .txt] 📗

Sage was the one who sealed the deal.

It hurt to see Tom take Sage’s side time and time again, whenever the heat rose up between us and we turned to him as a mediator. Hurt to realize that outside of my solid budgeting sense, I had little to offer in terms of creative inspiration. But I tried, Lord knows I tried. Which only earned me Sage’s animosity.

But what Sage didn’t know was that there wouldn’t have even been an Edge if it hadn’t been for me. Edge was my baby. My first child with the man I loved.

Chapter Thirty-nine

Nick

Who says I don’t have a conscience? I just hope I don’t have to live with it.

There’s nothing like waking up to the feel of the ocean breeze in your face. Breathing deep, I opened my eyes. And nearly swallowed my tongue.

“Maggie?”

I sat up, glancing quickly at Tom’s bed, which looked like it hadn’t even been slept in, then turned my gaze once more to the apparition in my doorway.

I needed to lay off the dope, I thought, shutting my eyes. Only to open them again and see Maggie still standing there. Wearing a blue silk robe and a smile that could only mean one thing.

“Uh, Maggie, what are you—”

She laughed as she approached the bed.“Thought you were rid of me, did you?”

I shrank back against the headboard.“No! I mean, that is—well, yeah. You’re supposed to be dead.”

“Thought you were going to run that label all on your own, did you? Squandering my money—”

“I didn’t squander your money. It was Les, I swear. He’s a fuckup.”

“Shhhh,” she said, sitting on the bed next to me, one hand going to my face.

God, she felt real. I looked at her eyes, which seemed bluer than I remembered. Even her hair looked longer, almost wild. And her mouth…

Before I knew what was happening, that mouth was on mine, her tongue moving so hotly against mine, I would swear to it that Maggie was very much alive. I mean, a ghost couldn’t give me a woody like the one I was growing right now.

“Make love to me, Nick,” she said, sliding out of her robe.

My eyes went from her breasts, small but firm—not bad—to her face, then to the door, which stood half-open.“What about Tom?”

She laughed, pushing me down on the bed and pulling down the sheet to stare at my erection. “I see you’ve been waiting for me.”

I looked down, surprised to discover that I was naked. I never slept in Tom’s room naked. Not if I could help it, anyway.

Then all my thoughts flowed south as she climbed on top of me and began to move. And to moan. God, I loved a screamer. Who would have thought Maggie was a screamer?

But when she leaned in close, her breath hot against my ear, I realized that wasn’t a moan I was hearing.

“You’re gonna pay,” she ground out, over and over again.

Suddenly the door flew open and I pulled away from her, just in time to see Tom standing over me. With what looked like a giant…fish hook?

“Ahhhhhhhhhhh!”

“Nick!” came Francesca’s voice,practically in my ear. Oh, Francesca. Only she could save me, I thought, opening my eyes to find myself staring into her sleepy blue eyes. I blinked at her as she smiled at me. “You must have been having a nightmare.”

Jesus. What a nightmare. “I guess so,” I muttered, dropping my head back to the pillow with relief and staring up at the purple ceiling fan, which must have been the cause of that “ocean breeze” I’d been feeling.

Purple ceiling fan? Shit, I had spent the night in Francesca’s room.

I sat up, spotted Francesca’s bra and panties on the floor.“I gotta get outta here,” I said, scrambling from the bed.

She grabbed my arm. “Relax. It’s only ten-thirty at night. We must have fallen asleep after that marathon fuck session.” She bit my shoulder. “You were amazing, by the way.”

A memory floated through my brain of me and Francesca, clinging to one another between the sheets as a Britney Spears song belted out from the CD player.

Holy fuck. The nightmare clearly wasn’t over. I think I might have had the biggest orgasm in my life. To the tune of “Oops… I Did It Again.”

“We gotta get outta here,” I said, leaping up from the bed and reaching for my jeans.

“What for? I don’t think my dad’s even home yet.”

Then I remembered where I was supposed to be tonight. Watching a band at The Inn with Sage and Zoe. And though I wasn’t sure what kind of band The Inn had to offer, it had to be better than Britney Spears.

Mother of God, what was happening to me?

“C’mon, Francesca, get dressed. We need to get to The Inn right away.”

Before I lost my mind. Because between my nightmare and the nightmare that was Britney Spears, I had to be losing it.

Besides, knowing Sage, she’d probably kill me if I didn’t show up.

Chapter Forty

Zoe

I need a life preserver for my heart.

“Myles, it’s me,“ I said into my cell phone.

“Hey, Zoe, where are you?”

“Out in front of your house.”

A shadow moved past the windows, and then Myles appeared at the front door.

“What are you doing out there?” he asked, looking at me through the screen.

“Cracking up.”

He opened the door, closing his cell phone and pocketing it as he stepped outside.

Concern filled his eyes once he stood before me. “Jesus, Zoe, what’s wrong? You look like you just lost your best friend.”

“I think I may have done just that.”

“What happened?”

I blew out a sigh. Then told him everything. How I came to believe that Maggie’s killer was her lover, not her husband. How I had first zeroed in on Donnie Havens, only to learn that Donnie wasn’t even on Fire Island that night. How I had then practically accused the man Sage was half in love with of murdering his best friend’s