Page 7 of The Catch

Two more days.

Two

Drinking pink cocktails with littleumbrellas was never a good idea. Cat knew this. She was a gin and tonic girl—simple, sophisticated, suitable for all seasons. The drink had never let her down. Last night, however, she’d been coerced into a more vacation-worthy concoction that left her head pounding and her mouth tasting like it was covered in soap scum.

It also left her with the memory of someone slow dancing with a stranger, swooning over his charming banter like a schoolgirl, all the while calling herself Catia Roday. But Cat didn’t drink fruity drinks, and Cat certainly didn’t swoon.

She had, though.

Josh Rideout.He was almost too handsome to look at with his insanely blue eyes that practically glowed in the dark club, and that adorably out of place Northern accent that turned her knees to jelly. Swooning was an understatement. It was more like all of the oxygen in the room had deserted her, and she’d gone temporarily insane. She couldn’t stop staring at him, mouth agape, like a lunatic. He was so pretty, and there was something about the way he laughed that felt like Christmas morning, and chocolate cake, and the summer breeze all rolled into one. People should pay money to hear that laugh. That laugh could solve world hunger.

But heart-stopping laughs considered, her behavior had been entirely un-Catlike. What the hell was she thinking?Okay, she knew what she was thinking.Jesus Christ, those eyes.But what was she doing? She was at a sketchy beach bar, not Junior Prom for God’s sake. Holding hands and leaning her head on his chest—yup, girly drinks were the devil.

She knew better. She’d given Dani the same speech minutes before she met him. Men like Josh, with their perfect faces and sweet words, were nothing but trouble and heartbreak. Not to mention the fact that he only lived an hour from her. She hadn’t even given that little coinkydink her proper Cat freak-out yet. The low hum of her hangover started to surge into full-blown nausea. If there was one thing she did not need in her life right now, it was Josh Rideout.

Luckily, morning had come, and she’d come back to her senses. She would just put the whole thing out of her head and—

“Cat!” Sonya shouted, interrupting Cat’s self-flagellation. She was pacing around the living room of their two-bedroom suite with a clipboard, looking like a cruise director, while the rest of them were barely functioning.

“Sorry. I’m listening.”

“Good. On the agenda today is breakfast, the beach, lunch, more beach, then dinner and dancing.”

“You needed to print that out?” Dani asked. Her feet were slung over the arm of the loveseat, and her head was in Cat’s lap. Cat snickered quietly, careful not to disturb her own aching brain.

Sonya was taking her maid of honor duties seriously like she did everything else. She was a nurse manager, youngest in her office, and the helm of the ship was the natural place for her, but she had a tendency to take things too far. The clipboard was exhibit A.

Sonya flipped her braids over her shoulder, unfazed by Dani’s attitude. “I printed a list of restaurants to choose from, and tonight’s entertainment schedule for all the clubs around here. We are not missing a minute of fun googling places to go.” She turned her attention to Emma, who was leaning on her elbows, sipping water through a straw. “Right, Em?”

Emma groaned.

“I think that’s about all any of us have in us today, anyway,” Cat said, giving the bride-to-be a sympathetic look. A quiet day on the beach, no pink cocktails, no stunning blue eyes.

“Perfect. Everyone up and at ‘em. We’re meeting in one hour for breakfast.” Sonya glanced at her phone for the time, then scratched a line off her paper. “Make that brunch.”

Once they had all showered, changed, and forced food into their vengeful stomachs, Cat was starting to feel like she could actually make it through the day. The temperature hadn’t given up since the night before, continuing its climb toward unbearable, and the water and the sea breeze were calling her name.

The four of them made the short trek from the lobby to the beach, and Cat glanced down the sand at the hotel where Josh was staying. She pushed in front of Sonya, leading them in the opposite direction of the Comfort Suites, and kept walking until she could barely see it, before picking a spot.

“So, this is the plan until further notice right, Sonya?” Emma lowered herself onto the towel she had laid out and pulled her thick, black Wayfarer sunglasses over her eyes.

Sonya made an excited little shimmy with her shoulders. “Until the sun goes down and the night heats up, girls.”

Emma groaned at the mere mention of another night out, and Dani plopped down beside her, burying her blonde head in the crook of her arm.

“I’m feeling good,” Sonya said, crossing her long brown legs out in front of her. “You feeling good, Cat?”

“I’m feeling like a million bucks.” A greasy breakfast and a couple of Tylenol, and she was back to her old self. Of course, even with the fruity drinks, she did tend to pace herself a little better than Dani, and Emma was always letting their wilder friend influence her.

“I mean, I’m not jogging on the beach in the scorching heat good,” Sonya said, nodding down the sand with her chin. “But then again, I never was.”

Cat tipped her aviators up to see who Sonya was gesturing to, and her whole body flushed with recognition. Josh and Dylan were out for a late morning run and headed straight for her.

Josh spotted her almost immediately, his stride faltering as their eyes met. He grabbed Dylan by the elbow, forcing him to stop, and pivoted in the direction of their row of towels. Dylan was shirtless, but Josh wore a tight white t-shirt, soaked through with sweat. The moisture spread across his broad chest, tapering into the shape of a V on his abs, like an arrow drawing her eyes downward against her will.

“Hi, Cat,” he said.

“Hey,” she said. “What a coincidence.”

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