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“Why the heck did I even come to this shindig?” she said quietly to herself. She knew when it was time to make her exit. There was only one reason she’d come to the reunion. Only one reason she’d decided to throw herself into the line of fire with the couple who’d just walked away.
Although they still talked every now and then, Aiden Chase had once been her best friend. Her biggest supporter. Her trusted confidant. When he’d asked her if she was coming to the reunion, she’d told him that she wasn’t going to make it. But although he was usually traveling outside the country for his job as a fashion photographer, he’d informed her that he was attending the reunion even though he didn’t want to. Something about needing footage for a documentary being done on him.
It wasn’t like her to do surprises, but after some careful thinking, she’d driven back to town in hopes of having her first face-to-face conversation with Aiden in six years. Maybe we’ll finally meet up, like we’ve been trying to do for a while. Anything had to be better than staying at the reunion. She wasn’t even sure he was still coming.
Summer waved a few goodbyes and stepped out of the building—right into a guy with a camera.
“Sorry, miss. I didn’t see you.”
“That’s okay,” she said, before her eyes locked on a couple standing near the end of the parking lot. The couple had their backs to her, but she’d know that guy anywhere. Aiden Chase had finally shown up to the reunion, and by the looks of it, he was still dating the marketing director he’d told her he was no longer with.
Did they get back together? She didn’t know what to make of them being together, but he had never lied to her. Aiden Chase was truthful to a fault. The fact that he was also charming and a genuinely nice person meant that people often accepted his brutal honesty.
“Miss? Miss? Did you hear me?”
Summer shook herself out of her daze. “I’m sorry, what did you say?”
“I asked if you went to school with Aiden Chase.”
“Yes, I did.”
“Great! We’re doing a documentary on Aiden and we’d love to capture your interaction with him before he walks into the building.”
Oh, my goodness, do they know we used to be best friends?
“How well did you know Mr. Chase?”
Good. Mr. Camera Guy doesn’t know. She laughed out of nervousness.
“Fairly well.” She left out the part that most of the Claysville population assumed they’d dated in high school.
“Great! Let’s have you reconnect with Aiden on camera.”
Her heart dropped out of her chest and slammed into the pavement as she listened to the camera guy talk into a walkie-talkie. Wait! Reconnect with Aiden? On film? In front of a small filming crew and his ex-who-may-not-even-be-his-ex girlfriend? There was no way that was happening.
Luckily for her, she knew the school better than camera guy did. There was a janitor’s closet to the right as soon as you entered the school. She quickly opened the door and slid back into the building. She all but leaped to the closet and twisted the knob.
“Are you kidding me right now?” The door was locked. It was just her luck the school no longer kept it unlocked, like they had years ago.
Summer wasn’t surprised when people started gathering in the hallway. It wasn’t every day that a camera crew came to Claysville. The front entrance door opened and she immediately knew the crew was looking for her for whatever greeting scene they wanted to portray. She didn’t even see Aiden walk in, but she could feel her body heat with awareness. She needed to get out of this hallway, but she knew they would spot her. She looked around for possible exits.
Thank God for small corners. Summer slipped between a locker and the wall, praying that the cameraman who’d spoken to her didn’t see her. As the crowd grew larger, the crew quickly forgot about her and took interest in some other possible interactions with Aiden.
Taking advantage of her small escape window, she slipped through the crowd until she’d reached the door again. Just as she was stepping out, she glanced behind her shoulder and saw him. Right there, directly in her line of vision. Their eyes briefly locked and Summer wondered if Aiden would rat her out to his crew but quickly disregarded the irrational thought. She couldn’t think such foolishness about the one man in her life who knew more about her than even her own girlfriends.
His eyes cut right through her in a way that made her feel uninhibited. Man, I miss him. She’d missed him for a while, but the small glimpse of him made the feeling even more prominent.
His lips curled into a smile as he mouthed the word hi to her. She returned his silent greeting before slipping completely out the door. She didn’t breathe a sigh of relief until she was safely in her car, on the road with the music blasting.
She heard her phone ding indicating a text message. She knew who it was, but waited until she was at a stoplight to briefly glance at the message.
You didn’t tell me you were coming. I wish you would have stayed so that we could’ve caught up. I really miss you, Summer.
She placed her phone back in the cup holder and continued her drive out of town. Oftentimes she thought about how their friendship would be now if things had been different back when they’d walked away from each other. He might have missed her, but she missed so much about him and the friendship they used to have. In fact, she wasn’t sure there was anything in the world that she missed more.
Chapter 1 (#u89a5cdfa-d887-5d32-b9d9-e10a2ec16cc4)
Present day...
If she could pick one superpower in the whole world, there was no doubt in her mind that Summer Dupree would pick the ability to read minds. If she could read her friend’s mind right now, she’d know the best way to respond to her question.
“Summer, who’s the guy in the photo?” Or maybe a better choice would be the ability to erase people’s memories so that Danni could forget she saw the photo in the first place.
She glanced over her shoulder at her friend Danni Allison, who had arrived in Miami three weeks ago to help with the opening of the new Bare Sophistication lingerie boutique. The original location in Chicago, Illinois, was thriving under the watchful eye of her sisters, Winter and Autumn. As store manager, Danni had played a major role in the success of their Chicago store; however, Summer was hoping that opening another location in Miami would prove to her sisters that she could further their success. She’d made Miami her permanent home three months ago and had found the perfect Miami Beach location for her boutique. The white brick building had just the right amount of chic and vintage flare.
Although she was confident in her ability to make Bare Sophistication Miami a success, she was glad that Danni had agreed to stay with her until the grand opening the second week of December.
“I don’t know who he is. I must have accidentally taken the wrong box out of Winter’s storage room.” She quickly closed the box and pushed it to the side. “Guess I’ll have to ship that box back to Chicago.”
“Hmm, you only kept a few things in Winter’s storage room and photos weren’t in those boxes.”
“How do you even know what was in my boxes?”
“As manager of Bare Sophistication in Chicago, I had to know everything.”
“Or you were being nosey.”
Danni scrunched her nose. “When Winter asked me to help her clean her storage room, I may or may not have stumbled upon a few of your boxes. They were already lying open on the floor. And I’ve seen photos of Winter when she was a little girl. That wasn’t her.”
Summer shrugged. “Oh, really? Must be Autumn, then.”
“Not her, either. Autumn showed me photos of all three of you, so I know it’s you in the photo. What’s the big deal?”
Summer grabbed the tape from the counter and walked over to the box she’d just pushed away. The boutique was still under construction, so cartons were in an unorganized mess around the wooden floor. Of all the boxes she could have accidentally labeled for the shop instead of her condo, the one containing her photos was the worst one to make that mistake with. Danni was like the female Sherlock Holmes.
“Is he an ex or something? Is that why you won’t show me the picture?”
“No, he isn’t an ex. Just a friend.”
“If he’s only a friend, why are you being so secretive?”
After she’d finished taping the box back up, Summer stacked some unopened boxes on top of it. She admired Danni’s determination when it came to Bare Sophistication customers. However, in this case, she wished she’d drop it.
“I’m not being secretive. I just prefer not to discuss it.”
“Not being secretive?” Danni walked over to Summer and reenacted Summer’s reaction to the box when she first opened it. “If you hadn’t looked like your hand got caught in the cookie jar, I never would have asked who was in the photo.”
Summer was still trying to formulate a response when Nicole LeBlanc and Aaliyah Bai came strolling into the boutique.
“Hey, ladies,” Aaliyah said as she glanced around the shop. “Looks like you got a lot done this morning.”
“Here you go.” Nicole handed Summer a chai tea latte and Danni her usual cup of coffee. “We figured you both would need nourishment for the all-nighter we’re about pull.”
Summer and Danni only had two months to get the entire boutique ready for the grand opening. Luckily, Aaliyah and Nicole had offered to help. Since Danni had been born in Miami, she knew Nicole from high school. Nicole had been nice enough to meet Summer for lunch when she first arrived in Miami, and they immediately realized they shared a love for fashion and beauty. Nicole was an extremely talented makeup artist and Aaliyah was a beauty photographer who’d met Summer and Nicole at a beauty trade show. The three quickly formed a friendship, which grew even stronger when Danni arrived.
“What did we miss?” Aaliyah asked.
“Nothing much,” Danni said as she took a sip of coffee. “Only Summer refusing to tell me about her friend. Her guy friend slash ex-boyfriend. I’m not sure.”
“Recent ex-boyfriend or past ex-boyfriend?” Nicole asked.
“Is he cute, average or really attractive?” Aaliyah asked. “Or is he the so-sexy-I-still-see-him-in-my-dreams type of ex?”
Summer cut her eyes at Danni. “How is it that in less than ten minutes you’ve already started gossip circulating in the office?”
“Girl, please. It’s not gossip. I know you were the one in that photo. He looked cute, but I didn’t get a good glance. And this is hardly an office. Right now, the boutique is still under construction, and even after renovations are complete, the shop definitely won’t have an office feel.”
Summer sipped her chai tea latte and started unpacking another box. She didn’t want to talk about the photo. She considered all the women in the room friends, but she still didn’t feel inclined to be the topic of conversation. Thankfully, they moved on to another conversation and didn’t push her any further. This evening, they had to focus on organizing all the boxes, racks and displays, and develop some sort of unpacking system for the next few weeks. The guy in the photo had caused enough distractions to last her a lifetime. Even though Summer had Danni to help her, she still had a lot on her plate and none of the tasks on her to-do list included thinking about him.
* * *
Aiden Chase stepped into the building that Palmer Lane Photography was renting for the next year and breathed out a sigh of accomplishment. He’d been a fashion photographer at Palmer Lane for eight years. After having several successful exhibits in Los Angeles and New York, he was finally getting a chance to present his work at Palmer Lane’s debut Miami exhibit studio.
“I really like the space you’ve chosen.”
“Thanks,” Aiden said to his friend Daxton Perry. Daxton was Aiden’s business manager at Palmer Lane Photography. The two had been assigned to work together right after Aiden had joined the company. When Aiden called Daxton and told him he’d found the perfect Miami location for the photo exhibit, Daxton had agreed to fly in from Los Angeles and view the space.
“I got approval to fill out the contract if I agreed that the space was exactly what we were looking for. When we finalize the theme and reach out to the two other photographers, we can start getting everything else into place.”
Being one of the top fashion photographers at Palmer Lane had its benefits. Aiden’s exhibits in LA and New York had been considerably smaller and he hadn’t been the featured photographer in any of his showcases. This Miami showcase was his time to shine. His career was at an all-time high.
“Sounds like a plan. I was hoping you liked the place. Were you able to talk to the team about me residing in Miami for the next six months before I head to Qatar for International Fashion Week in Doha?”
“Yes, they agreed that you should stay in Miami and we’ll cover the cost of living and any travel expenses for photo shoots you may have for the duration of your time here. I’ll probably travel back and forth to Miami for a couple months, too, until we get the ball rolling.”
“Great, because I’m staying at a hotel now, but I already found the place I want to stay temporarily.”
“Why am I not surprised,” Daxton said with a laugh. “Ever since I approached you with this Miami opportunity, you’ve been more involved than I’ve ever seen you for any other project. What are you not telling me?”
Aiden appreciated Daxton’s friendship, but he valued his work ethic and keen business sense even more. At thirty-two, Dax was just as driven as he had been at twenty-four when they’d first met. Just last month, he’d been promoted to director of business development; however, he’d agreed to continue being Aiden’s business manager since the two had formed a tight bond. Dax was well on his way to becoming vice president of business development for Palmer Lane.
“Nothing to tell. Just excited to be the headline photographer for this exhibit.” That was only partially true. Yes, Aiden was excited about the exhibit, but he was even more excited about a certain someone who was opening a boutique a few blocks away from the location of the Palmer Lane exhibit space.
“I have a few calls to make so that we can lock in this property. Do you have dinner plans?” Dax asked as they stepped out the building into the fresh Miami air. It was nearing six o’clock in the evening, so it wasn’t as crowded in Miami Beach as it had been midday. Most people were probably getting ready for a night out.
Aiden glanced down the street in the direction of the one location he’d been thinking about since he’d arrived two days ago. “Umm, I actually do have plans.” Or, at least, I hope I’ll have plans. “How about we meet in the morning?”
“I’m on a red-eye flight tonight, so call me. I’ll be at the office.” Dax took out his smartphone and was already dialing away as he walked back to his car. Aiden didn’t feel like driving back to his hotel. In fact, there was only one place he felt like being and before he could contemplate his next move, his feet were already walking in the opposite direction of his car.
According to Google maps, the address Summer’s sister Winter had given him meant that their new shop was only four blocks away. Although he’d briefly seen Summer a couple years ago, when she was leaving their high school reunion, he couldn’t believe that he finally had the chance to really see her after all this time. There was a time in his life he’d spent every day with Summer. She may not miss him as much as he missed her, but she’d been on his mind a lot lately.
Man, who am I kidding? Summer Dupree hadn’t just been on his mind lately. She’d been on his mind constantly since the first day she walked into his kindergarten class.
Twenty-five years ago...
“Class, I’d like you all to meet Summer Dupree. She’s new to town, so I want you all to give her a warm welcome.”
Aiden looked up from the cartoon picture he was coloring to see the new student. It was a girl. A pretty girl in a pink floral dress.
“Aiden, Summer’s going to be your buddy,” his teacher said as she walked Summer over to him. “So be nice to her.”
“Yes, Mrs. Perkins,” he said as Summer took a seat next to him. There were six other students at their table, and until Summer had arrived, he’d been the only one without a buddy since Clarke’s family had moved.
“Hi, I’m Aiden.” Instead of returning his greeting, she turned to talk to the girls at the table. He was a little disappointed that she didn’t want to talk to him, but he kept coloring his picture. A few minutes later, he heard one of the girls asking her to repeat her name. When she did, they snickered a little. Aiden couldn’t be sure, but laughing at her name seemed wrong. Though Summer just laughed it off, before long, the whole table was repeating Summer’s name and laughing.
Aiden stared at the new girl a little longer. She may be laughing along with them, but her eyes looked sad. He stopped coloring his picture and leaned toward her.
“What’s your name again?” he asked. She looked confused.
“Summer.” Her voice was really low, as if she assumed he was asking for the same reason the others had. Aiden smiled as big as he could and made sure the other students were listening.
“You have the best name ever! Summer days are the best.”
All the other kids began to nod their heads in agreement before returning to coloring their pictures. To his surprise, Summer laughed and leaned over to give him a quick hug. “Thank you, Aiden,” she whispered to him.
“You’re welcome.” Her big round eyes didn’t seem sad anymore and that made him happy. She even scooted her chair closer to him.
“Want to help me color my picture?” Summer asked. Aiden glanced around the table noticing that no other kids were coloring together. When he looked back at Summer, he didn’t know why, but he wanted to do anything she wanted to do.
“Yeah, I can help you.” They colored for the rest of the time in silence. Usually around this time all Aiden thought about was recess and lunch. Not today. Today was different. Today he was more excited to learn about the girl sitting next to him than he was about anything else.
Chapter 2 (#u89a5cdfa-d887-5d32-b9d9-e10a2ec16cc4)
“Are we going to take a break and eat soon?” Nicole asked.
“Sure, how about we head down the street to that Cuban restaurant in an hour?” Summer suggested.
“That works,” Nicole responded. “There’s only so much coffee and tea I can drink. I need food. Or chocolate. Or wine. Hmm, maybe all three.”
The women shared a laugh.
“Speaking of chocolate, I almost forgot to tell you guys what I heard,” Aaliyah said. “I know we all frequently check out popular magazines for what’s hot and new in fashion, so you won’t believe who’s in Miami right now.”
“Who?” Danni asked.
“Well, he’s tall and milk chocolate with the type of body that all sex dreams are made of.”
Danni huffed. “That could be anybody depending on your type.”
