Summer Nights by Christin Lovell Page A

spotted Ramon the moment we
entered the lobby. He was cozied up to Stella; they were leaning
against a wall. My friend was laughing, her face radiant. I’d never
seen her so carefree and in the moment. I wanted to hug him for
making her happy.
    Ramon broke away, greeting us the
moment he saw us.
    “Hola,
amigo .” He lifted his chin in an upward nod
towards Cruz. “Hey, Summer.”
    “Hi.” I smiled at both of
them.
    “Somebody has a healthy glow today,”
Stella stated. I rolled my eyes, shaking my head. Leave it to her
to announce what everyone already knew.
    “I could say the same about you.” I
nudged her with my arm. She looked at Ramon, heat in her
gaze.
    Cruz wrapped his arm around my waist.
“Let’s go.”
    CRUZ
    We found a spot on the beach near a
palm tree to set our stuff. Since I wore my swim trunks on
underneath, I carefully slid off my cargo shorts and neatly folded
them. As I placed them with our things, under the tree, I set my
shirt on top to conceal the pockets. I focused on Summer. I was
eager to watch her remove her outer layers. I couldn’t get enough
of her. Everything about her turned me on. She appealed to me on
every primal level as a male.
    She threw her jewelry and glasses into
her purse before tossing away her shoes; her bright red toe-nail
polish contrasted beautifully against the sand. She conversed with
Stella as they mindlessly stripped down to their suits. I only had
eyes for Summer though. Having removed her clothes so hastily
before, I didn’t have a chance to see her bathing suit. The dark
teal color looked luscious against her ivory skin. The swim bottoms
sat right above the roundest part of her hips, with the top piece
just connecting to cover her skin. My eyes drifted up the front
that seemed to whittle her waist to her breasts. My mouth watered
at the sight of her boobs pressed together and barely contained in
the halter. I adjusted my trunks, trying to disguise my budding
erection.
    “Mierda .” Ramon’s huffed curse drew my attention straight to him. His
face was a hard mask as he gazed down the beach.
“ Tenemos un problema , Cruz.”
    My gut twisted as my eyes traveled the
distance. Sure enough, Hector Rodriguez and his posse were lying
out on the beach, watching the female tourists prance around in
their bikinis. A cooler sat in the middle of them, but I knew it
wasn’t holding drinks. My eyes immediately sought Summer. I spotted
her laughing animatedly with Stella, unaware of the potential
threat.
    I was a well-known bondsman and bounty
hunter in San Juan and its surrounding cities. It was different
here versus in the states though. Criminals rarely worked alone.
When they didn’t follow the rules of their release, I had to hunt
them down and arrest them, regardless of who they were with at the
time. Their fellow group members never came down hard on them
though, they came after me for revenge like it was my fault their
amigo was behind bars again.
    A couple weeks back I’d captured
Hector’s brother, Victor. They were all part of an international
drug smuggling ring, but my job wasn’t to stop them from making big
deals, my job was to arrest the ones that were caught and jumped
bail. The day after I took Victor in, my tires had been slashed;
that was the nicest warning they would give. I knew worse was going
to come when Victor was sentenced next week. This was the biggest
reason why I hadn’t considered a steady relationship. These guys
went for the most torturous kill, the heart. Being seen here today
with Summer would put her directly in the line of fire. For the
first time, I was thankful that she was flying home tomorrow, but
even as I thought it, my chest tightened.
    “Should we bolt before he sees us?”
Ramon’s voice was low, but serious. His eyes shot back and forth
between the men and women.
    “They’re leaving tomorrow. If you can
take the heat, then so can I.”
    His resolve came through as he shook
his head once in agreement.
    “Are we