Hero in Disguise (Reed Sisters: Holding out for a Hero 1)

“I enjoy the paycheck very much, such as it is,” she answered glibly. When he didn’t reply, she prodded. “That was another joke, Derek. Should I cue you when to laugh?”

“I didn’t find it particularly amusing,” he replied. Actually, he’d been wondering what would happen if he tried to shut her smart little mouth with a kiss. He emptied his second cup of coffee, set the cup aside and straightened his glasses with a blunt fingertip. “I think we’d better talk about something else.”

And he’d better keep reminding himself that this infuriatingly attractive young woman was off-limits, he added to himself grimly. There seemed to be little chance of her being equally attracted to a man she found so annoying and amusing. She’d made it pretty clear that he wasn’t her type. Could he convince her that she was wrong? Did he want to try?

Talk about something else? Like what? Summer almost sighed, thinking of the many differences between them. One, in particular, was weighing on her mind. “Connie told me that you’re a real sports enthusiast. She says you’re quite a competitor. What types of sports do you enjoy, Derek?”

He shrugged, then realized that she was trying to make innocuous conversation and answered more fully. “I’m not quite as active as I used to be, but I still try to stay in shape. Working out bores me, so I get my exercise through participation in competitive sports. And I run every morning.”

“Do you still run in marathons?”

Derek eyed her curiously. “Connie has told you a bit about me, hasn’t she?”

Did he think his sister completely ignored her brother’s existence? Summer wondered. “Of course she has, Derek. She talks about all of her family.”

He looked thoughtful but answered her question. “I haven’t run in a marathon since I came back to this country. I don’t have the time to train properly since I’ve been so busy establishing my business.”

“Do you miss it? Are you sorry you didn’t become a professional athlete?”

“No. I’m doing exactly what I want to do. Sports are only a form of recreation for me. I get enough competition from the occasional tennis and racquetball game to satisfy my competitive urges.” He smiled a little, knowing how Connie talked about him.

Summer toyed with her fork, remembering Connie had mentioned that Derek usually dated women who were as athletic as he was. According to his sister, a typical

date with Derek usually consisted of working up a sweat on a tennis court. Connie had been sneering at the time, and Summer had laughed. She didn’t find it quite so funny now that she’d actually met Derek. She thought of the woman Connie had most recently mentioned in connection with Derek.

“Connie tells me that you’ve been seeing Senator Payne’s daughter since you’ve moved to Sausalito,” she heard herself saying, surprised that she’d actually brought the subject up. “I met her at a party once. She’s quite beautiful.”

He lifted one eyebrow behind his glasses. “Yes, she is. I took her out a few times, but we’re not seeing each other now.”

Summer leaned both elbows on the table and rested her chin on her linked hands, gazing at him. “Why ever not?”

“Summer—”

“No, really, Derek, I would think she’d be exactly what you’d be looking for in a corporate wife.” Her humor had resurfaced, for some strange reason, the moment he’d informed her that he was no longer seeing Joanne. She decided not to dwell on reasons as she continued to tease him.

“Summer, this is really none of your—”

Her face was all innocence when she interrupted him again. “After all, she’s cultured, refined, educated, athletic. Exactly what you’ve tried to mold Connie into being. She has a career. I’ve seen her paintings, and they’re quite interesting, though not exactly my style. Of course, she is thirty. Still, more and more women are having children after thirty these days.”

“Summer?”

“Yes, Derek?”

“If I promise to stop criticizing the way you live, will you shut up?”

She laughed, inordinately pleased that the suggestion of a smile was back in his silvery-gray eyes.

“Why, yes, Derek, that sounds like a fair deal to me.”

Derek kept a hand at her elbow as they left the restaurant soon afterward and walked to his tasteful gray Lincoln. A protective hand. Summer thought with resigned amusement. Of course he would be the type to want to assist the slender young woman with the bad limp—even if he did disapprove of her. So, as usual when something made her uncomfortable, she cracked a joke. “You know, with all its hills, San Francisco is a great place for me to live. I just keep my gimpy leg uphill and I walk almost straight. Of course, going the other direction is—”

“Don’t do that,” Derek cut her off sharply. “Don’t make light of your injury.”

Summer sighed. “Oops. I forgot to cue you again. It was a joke, Derek.”

“It wasn’t funny.”

She sighed again, wishing once more that she wasn’t so foolishly attracted to this man who seemed to disapprove of everything she did.