Summer Catch (Four Seasons of Romance Book 1) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Mailing list

  Summer

  Koa

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by Elle Viviani

  Fiancée Forgery

  Lights. Camera. Fiancée.

  Summer Catch

  Four Seasons of Romance - Book One

  Elle Viviani

  Copyright © 2017 by Elle Viviani

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Editing by Proof Positive Pro

  Contents

  Mailing list

  1. Summer

  2. Koa

  3. Summer

  4. Koa

  5. Summer

  6. Koa

  7. Summer

  8. Koa

  9. Summer

  10. Koa

  11. Summer

  12. Summer

  13. Koa

  14. Summer

  15. Koa

  16. Summer

  17. Koa

  18. Summer

  19. Summer

  20. Koa

  21. Summer

  22. Koa

  23. Summer

  24. Koa

  25. Summer

  26. Koa

  27. Summer

  28. Koa

  29. Summer

  30. Koa

  31. Summer

  32. Koa

  33. Summer

  34. Summer

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Also by Elle Viviani

  Fiancée Forgery

  Lights. Camera. Fiancée.

  Mailing list

  For freebies, new releases, and bonus content,

  join Elle’s Mailing List

  To my Dad, who instilled within me a deep love and respect of the ocean

  1

  Summer

  “So, do you want to come back to my place?”

  Wow. That’s a thinly concealed dash for my panties. I scan the man in front of me as he adjusts his cufflink. Okay, right there, we have a problem. The man wears cufflinks. Read: NOT MY TYPE.

  “I’m really tired,” I lie. Even though my brain is exhausted from this blind date, my body is screaming at me to sprint away. “All that studying…” I trail off, praying that he gets the hint.

  He doesn’t. “For the bar?”

  I frown. Man, this guy doesn’t take a hint. “Excuse me?”

  “Your studying. It’s for the New York bar exam, right?”

  “Education board,” I answer dryly. It sounds like Mr. Cufflinks let his eyes and attention wander throughout this whole dinner.

  “Oh,” he says with a careless shrug, “I was close.”

  My frown deepens. Not really. You only have to spend two minutes with me to know I’m not walking down the path of corporate litigation and criminal prosecutions anytime soon. Though the salary wouldn’t hurt. The only thing more tiresome about being a public school teacher’s assistant in New York City is the pay. And that’s saying something when your days are filled with crowded hallways and awkward prepubescent adolescents. But that’s nothing compared with the parents. Just add one more “l” to “Helicopter parents” and you’ll know what I have to look forward to.

  But it’s all about the kids…right?

  “How about another drink, then? I know this club up on Ninety-Fifth.” My date leans toward me as he rubs his jaw with his soft hands.

  You may think I’m being snarky, but it’s the first thing I noticed about him when he shook my hand earlier this evening. Men with super-soft hands creep me out. I like a little roughness to them. Some callouses (even if they’re only from the gym) or scars or even a little grit in their nail beds. I don’t want to be shaking a baby’s bottom, okay?

  Although I guess I shouldn’t be too harsh on him. He’s a desk jockey on Wall Street, so I doubt he uses his hands for anything else than miraculously making money out of more money from the air-conditioned safety of his corner office.

  “Really, I’m fine.” I glance around the dense sidewalk for an exit strategy. Some of these guys really don’t take no for an answer. I should know. This is the fifth first date I’ve been on this spring.

  Maybe I should back up and explain myself before you think I’m some man-eating hussy. I’m not. Quite the opposite, in fact. My idea of a good night is getting cozy with Mr. Merlot and Mr. Orville Redenbacher on the couch. And before you get too judgy, I should tell you that there is romance involved. I get dozens of kisses from Hershey, and a certain Mr. Darcy and Mr. Rochester have swept me off my feet more than a few times…

  I’m hardcore name-dropping here, but you get the idea. I’m a magnet for infuriately charming British aristocracy. So you understand why it’s totally ridiculous that my mother has decided to foist a dozen blind dates on me this year.

  “It’s a really exclusive club,” what’s-his-name says. Let’s call him Rupert, a strong, British name.

  What? Is it my fault if these men all look the same?

  Rupert smirks at me. “But I could get us in. I know people.”

  I try, and fail, to disguise my utter repugnance at what’s clearly a Godfather obsession. He’s barking up the wrong tree with this tactic. Now, if he told me “I built a house with my bare hands” or “I know how to fix a broken [insert household item here],” then we’d be talking.

  “That’s great…” I begin inching toward the curb “…but I’m still going to have to decline.”

  “You sure?” he says, slightly disappointed. I’m sure he’ll get over it.

  “Oh, I’m sure.” I turn as a taxi flies by.

  “Come on, Summer. You won’t get this opportunity again.”

  “I’m okay with that,” I mutter under my breath. All I have to do is raise my arm and my carriage will take me back to the comfort of my couch.

  Rupert gives an irritated sigh. “Stop being such a house cat.”

  I ignore him. I go out. Sometimes.

  “Would you rather come with me to the hottest club in New York, or go home and drink wine with an Austen novel like you do every night?”

  I freeze. “Excuse me?”

  “Uh, nothing,” he says quickly.

  I laser in on him. I smell something fishy. Very fishy. “How did you know that?”

  “Oh, it was just a—a guess.”

  I scoff. “Yeah, right.”

  “Well…” He runs a quick hand over his hair. “I might have heard you tend not to go out.”

  I turn toward him. He’s got my full attention now. “By who?”

  “Uh…”

  “Who!” I demand.

  “My mother!” Now he’s the one looking around for an exit plan.

  “Your mother?” His mother could’ve only found that out from one person, and I know exactly who that is: my mother.

  That’s it—that’s the last straw. No more dates, no more setups. I’m finally putting my foot down and swearing off dating until I’m forty. By then, my mom will have lost interest in setting me up with Wall Street’s finest.

  I turn and hail a taxi. I’ve got one in seconds, the upside to squeezing into a very tight, very low-cut cocktail dress. I’m reaching for the door before the taxi’s even come to a complete stop.

  “So, uh, will I see you again?”

  I pause and glance back at my last date ever. Rupert looks about as crestfallen as a pampered boy can look. I feel sorry for him. Almost. I
’m sure he’ll rally the moment I leave.

  “I don’t know,” I say noncommittally. I’m a total wimp when it comes to these sort of things. “Why don’t I call you?”

  I yank open the cab door and hop in before I can hear his answer. I’m sure it’s something like “My mother will be in touch with your mother to set up another playdate,” or something equally ridiculous to really drive home how embarrassing this whole spring has been for me.

  I give a little wave to Rupert, and then turn to the driver. “Brooklyn, please. Clinton Hill.”

  “You’re back early,” my roommate calls from the couch as I walk in, throw my purse on the table, and kick off my heels. Maddison purses her lips when one of my Nine Wests hits the hallway wall. Of course it leaves a mark. “Guessing we can file this date under ‘do not resuscitate’?”

  I snort. “Definitely.” I stalk into my room and start the laborious task of getting out of this dress.

  Maddison appears in my doorway. “Well, what was this one like?”

  “Self-important, arrogant, spoiled, obsessed with money…basically like all the others.” I face her. “I have no idea why my mother thinks I want a lawyer-doctor type whose only goal in life is to make more money.”

  Maddison shrugs. “I think your mom is trying to set you up with your dad.”

  “Ew, what?”

  “He’s a doctor, right?”

  “A surgeon.”

  “And he makes a lot of money?”

  “I guess…?”

  Maddison throws up a hand. “So I think your mom wants the same thing for you.”

  I scrunch up my nose. “I’ve never cared about things like that, though. I much prefer the rugged types. Mountain men, to be precise.”

  Maddison laughs. “Well-groomed mountain men, hopefully.”

  “That goes without saying,” I say, twisting a bit to reach behind my neck. After more than a few unsuccessful attempts to get the darn zipper, I give up. I head over to Maddie and offer her my back. “Doesn’t my mom know there’s more to a relationship than how much your partner makes? Besides, I don’t need a man to take care of me. This isn’t the 1950s.”

  She grunts as her fingers slip from the zipper. “I know, Summer, but Upper East Side socialites like your mom have a different view of things.”

  It takes her a few more attempts until the blasted thing reaches the bottom. I wrench my arms out of the sleeves and peel the dress off my flushed skin. Everything’s going fine until I try to get it over my hips.

  “Do you need my help again?” Maddison asks, trying not to laugh as I hop around the room in an attempt to jump free of my Bebe straitjacket.

  “Help…would be…appreciated!” I give one final jump before waddling over to her. It takes two of us, and a little “adjustment” (okay, tear), but eventually I’m free. I ball up the dress and fling it into my hamper.

  “How did you even get that on?” Maddison demands, collapsing on my bedroom rug. She pushes her fringe bangs out of her eyes as I pull on some pajama bottoms and worn-in t-shirt. The best kind, if you ask me.

  “It wasn’t easy, but by the time I realized it, I already had it halfway on, and I wasn’t about to change.” I flop down on my bed and gather the comforter around me. “I don’t think all the wine and chocolate this spring did my hips any favors.”

  Maddison laughs. “I’m not one to judge. I’m just as bad as you.”

  I roll my eyes at my roommate’s obvious lie. Somehow Maddison manages to retain a pilates body despite being chained to her computer as a graphic design graduate student. In the two years that I’ve roomed with her, I’ve only seen her go to the gym once: the day after New Year’s like the rest of the world.

  I push up from the bed and stare down at her. “Actually, my date tonight accused me of being a house cat, of never going out.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with that,” says my equally homebodied roommate.

  “I know, right? So what if I prefer my living room and a steamy romance novel to going out?”

  “I’d prefer steamy romance novels to my textbooks any day.”

  “I don’t need someone else to make me whole. I’m perfectly happy being alone.”

  “You’re not alone,” Maddison reminds me, gesturing to herself.

  “Exactly!” I nod quickly, gathering steam. “Why is everyone so obsessed with dating? What’s so amazing about finding this so-called ‘real thing’? So far, the real thing has meant squeezing into uncomfortable dresses and meeting awkward men who are more interested in how you’d make them look to their partners at the next Christmas party than what you’re actually saying.”

  “You also can’t get hurt if you don’t put yourself out there,” Maddison says quietly.

  I watch her eyes go dim and distant. “I thought you were getting better?”

  She shrugs. “Some days are better than others.”

  “It was a long time ago. Maybe it’s time to move on?”

  “It was only two years.”

  I hold my tongue. Two years is a lifetime to me, but I know this is dangerous ground with Maddie. Plus, I’ve never been in love. How am I supposed to know how long it takes to get over someone who’s more important to you than chocolate and wine put together?

  I jump up from the bed and yank Maddison up with me. “No moping allowed! This is a night of celebration.”

  Maddison giggles as I twirl us around my bedroom. “Why?”

  “Because this was my last blind date!”

  “It was?”

  “That’s right!” I slow down and wait for the dizziness to fade. “I’m putting my foot down, Maddie. I’m telling my mother that I’ve had enough.”

  “Uh huh.”

  “I’m really doing it!”

  Maddison arches an eyebrow. “She’s not going to like that.”

  “I don’t care. I’m done letting her decide what’s best for me. I’m twenty-four, for Christ’s sake. I barely have my life figured out! The last thing I need is a guy to complicate this mess.”

  Maddison laughs. “That’s certainly one way to describe it.”

  “Describe what?”

  “Love,” Maddison says wistfully. “Love is very complicated and messy.”

  “And that’s why I’m steering clear. I’m not settling down and getting married and having babies like my older sister. I want adventure. I want excitement. I want—”

  My impassioned speech is cut short by the shrill cry of my phone. I was just getting into it, too.

  I hustle over to the front door and fish my phone out of my purse. “Well, speak of the devil.”

  Maddison comes up behind me. “Who is it?”

  “Charlene, that dear ol’ date-arranging mother of mine,” I say dryly, not taking my eyes off the screen.

  “Oh.” Maddison turns around and scurries down the hall to her room. “Good luck!”

  I sigh. I’m going to need it. I can’t imagine Charlene is going to enjoy hearing that I’m officially taking myself off the market. And I don’t think being in a relationship with myself is going to count in her book.

  Better get this over with.

  I tap the screen and hold it up to my ear. “Why hello, Mother.”

  2

  Koa

  I’m tying off the boat when it happens.

  We’d had an amazing catch that day, the kind of catch you usually get in late summer when lobsters are almost jumping into your pots, and our excitement made us hasty. Or maybe we were tired from the long hours in the hot sun. Whatever the reason, it made us reckless, and recklessness has no place on a commercial fishing boat.

  “Can you imagine if we have a whole season like today?” Captain calls out as he makes his way down the portside deck. I’m at the helm, maneuvering the boat into the slip. “We could shut down for the rest of the year and live in Hawaii!”

  That gets a laugh out of me. The thought of Gerry Boothe taking nine months off is pretty crazy. The old man takes Sunday mornings off to a
ttend church, but otherwise he’s at the helm, rain or snow, catching Maine lobsters by the bushel.

  “That’d be quite the season to get you to take a day off.”

  Captain grunts. “You never know. I am getting tired, sonny.”

  My eyebrows shoot up. It doesn’t surprise me so much that he’s getting tired, the man has to be in his seventies, it’s that he’s admitting it.

  I glide us into the crowded harbor and cut the engine, letting the boat drift gracefully into the narrow slip before it bounces against the dock bumpers. The boat rocks back for a bit before coming to rest in its bed, and I move around the wheel and hop down. “I’ll jump on the dock and tie us off.”

  Captain waves his hand at me. “I’m already up here. Let me.”

  I frown as I measure the space between the deck and the dock. The boat’s still rocking so it’s quite a leap. “I don't know, Captain…”

  “I’ll be fine,” he snaps. He hustles over to the railing, throws his left leg over, then turns back to me. “Just throw me the line once I’m up.”

  I nod and make my way aft, keeping one eye on my footing and the other on crazy Gerry. If he slips and falls while trying this stunt, his wife will filet me alive.

  Captain lets go of the railing, leans back, and launches himself off the deck. His rubber boots slam onto the pier with a loud thunk as he lands the jump. He turns around and grins at me. “See? I still have a little spunk in me!”