Page 15 of The Catch

Actually, shehadbeen doing that, and she’d come up empty, which maybe annoyed her more than if he’d just been a jerk from the start. Figuring out what lurked behind Josh’s nice-guy act was exhausting. Way too exhausting for vacation. “If I find something wrong with him, it will be because there is something wrong with him. Not all guys are like Adam.”

“Not all guys are like Micah, either,” Emma said, her voice melodic, as if she were explaining away the existence of the boogeyman to a frightened child.

Emma’s placation and the mention of Cat’s ex had her glancing at the railing and wondering if she could survive the jump. She did notwant to talk about Micah again.

“Adam’s not perfect,” Emma continued. “He can’t keep a secret to save his life, he likes playing video games, despite being a grown adult man, and he would probably order pizza every meal if I didn’t cook, but I saw the way Josh looked at you. That’s the way Adam looks at me. That’s why I’m marrying him. You can’t go wrong with being looked at like that for the rest of your life.”

“Now we’re talking about the rest of my life?” Cat laughed, genuinely amused. This was why Emma couldn’t be trusted for advice. Emma met Adam at freshman orientation and they’d been naming their future children together ever since. Her life was an all-you-can-eat buffet for the ravenous little romantic parasites that lived in her brain. When she’d told Emma where Josh lived, her eyes went all doughy, as if fate and a birthday wish had conceived a child and placed its little cherub body gently into her arms. That was ridiculous, though, as Emma often was when it came to these things.

Sure, finding out Josh lived an hour from her seemed like a bit of a mind blow when they were sharing a dance in some faraway bar, but that was fairytale stuff. Kissing him in the middle of the ocean was fairytale stuff. The real world was full of dirty little details that the fairytale leaves out. Promises get broken. Compromises turn to resentment. She knew what havoc love could wreak on your life. Anyway, the serendipity of it all was even more evidence to support Cat’s skepticism. Things that seem too good to be true always are. There’s always a catch.

“I didn’t come here to meet a guy, Em. It’s literally the last thing I want to do. We’re here to celebrate your wedding; to celebrate you. ”

“Nope,” Emma said. “You’re not doing that. I wasn’t kidding when I said I didn’t want a bachelorette party. This is just as much your vacation as mine. I’m not going to be your excuse.” She sighed. “Cat, I know you’re scared of going down that road again, but you can’t be alone forever. Take a chance. Have a little fun. Who knows? Maybe it will turn into something else.”

“I don’t want it to!” Cat felt her cheeks burn. Emma didn’t get it. None of them did. Taking a chance on Josh meant setting herself up to be disappointed and embarrassed when she put her trust in him and he eventually broke it. What wasfunabout that? She’d already done that with Micah, and she’d lost a lot more than just her pride.

So what was she doing? Why had she been scanning every place they went, looking for Josh? And why had she been picturing that lopsided grin of his while she was getting ready to come out tonight? It needed to stop. She was so close to putting her life back together. She couldn’t get pulled into another mistake.

“Don’t you remember what I gave up the last time I took a chance onsomething else,Em?” she asked. “You have your own practice, Sonya just got promoted, Dani’s on her way to making partner at her firm. Me? I’m still clawing my way back from the mess Micah left. I’m twenty-seven, and I just finished school. I’m studying for the bar exam while working fifty hours a week becausesomething elseruined my life.I’m done with men, and that goes double for ones I meet in a bar.”

Emma’s face fell. “Okay, Cat,” she said defeatedly. “I just don’t want to see you waste an opportunity to find happiness again. It won’t always be this way for you. You’ll catch up, and I’d hate to see you find yourself alone when you do.”

Dani and Sonya finally found them, crossing the deck with a round of drinks and matching secret smiles.

“I can handle alone,” Cat said to Emma before the other two could hear. “And I’m done talking about it.”

“Hey, Catia,” Sonya said. She handed Cat a cocktail, her eyes sparkling. “Don’t look now, but your man just walked in.”

Cat looked over Sonya’s shoulder, and there he was, his hand in the pockets of his shorts, an easy grin on his lips as he laughed with Dylan. After all of her protests and denials, her whole body sighed in relief.

Josh spotted her as soon as they walked outside, and he nearly pumped his fist in relief. It had only taken him two bars and one god-awful jazz club before he finally found her on the balcony, leaning her elbows on a high top table. Her fuchsia shorts glowed like the sunset against her warm brown skin, and she had a black silk blouse tucked into them, the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, and the buttons open low. The somewhat conservative top hung off of her curves so perfectly, it might as well have been a piece of lingerie. He licked his lips involuntarily, trying his hardest to be gentlemanly while undoing her remaining buttons with his imagination.

Emma, Sonya, and Dani were with her, and they all turned in his direction.

“Ladies, we meet again,” Shawn said, crossing the deck and throwing a friendly arm around Emma. Josh cringed as Shawn made himself comfortable, but Emma didn’t seem to mind.

Josh wasn’t interested in them, though. “Hey, Cat,” he said, touching her elbow.

“Josh.” She stepped toward him immediately, and her thick black eyelashes fluttered. He bet if the lighting were better, he’d be able to see her blushing again. “I guess it is a small place,” she said.

“Nah, this time I really was looking for you.” Her lips parted in surprise at his boldness, but if he was going to chase a girl, he might as well do it. “No paper umbrellas tonight?” he asked, pointing with his beer at the clear cocktail in her hand.

“That might have been a mistake.”

“They usually are.”

“Well, where were you when Dani was ordering them for us?”

“Probably talking Dylan out of the same thing.” She dipped her head to hide the girlish grin that spread across her face. He was going to get another one of those if it took him all night, but he really wanted to do it alone. “Can we talk?” he asked. There was a clear spot on the railing at the other end of the balcony, and he tipped his head to it.

Cat glanced at her friends, but they were all laughing at something Shawn was saying, paying them no mind. Josh could have kissed him.

She nodded and followed him. When they got to the railing, she leaned over and breathed the strong salty air through her nose.

“This is better,” he said, letting his hand fall next to hers on the railing. He fingered her bracelet while he spoke, turning the little beads with his thumb. “How was the rest of your afternoon?”

“Relaxing.” She reached up, brushing her fingers across his face. “You got a little sun.”

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