Picture Perfect Summer Read online

Genre of food? “I guess that means I should take you to Ten Blue.”

  “Are you trying to persuade me to do something?” She holds up both hands. “Don’t answer that. I was joking. Anyway, it was a really hard decision for me to make because I’ve lived in Royal Bay my entire life and when I went away to college for the first time... Freedom. Sweet, sweet freedom.”

  Man, what I wouldn’t give for some sweet, sweet freedom. “Wild child, huh?”

  “Not really. I’m one of those people who not only likes to get good grades, but also likes to keep her parents happy.” She looks away, like she’s embarrassed “Lame, I know.”

  “Nothing wrong with that, unless it puts you in a position that you don’t want to be in.” Like the one I’m in. I have to be in charge of everyone now, like or not. Want it or not. No amount of wishing is going to change anything.

  “That’s the problem. My parents are actually really great parents. I mean, they paid for me to go to Arizona. Go Wildcats!” She inspects the bag of ice on her shin. “But I’m an only child, and I think—no, I know—they would miss me if I permanently moved across the country.”

  Shit. I’d move across the country in a heartbeat. Hell, I’d move across the world, if I could, just to escape.

  If. If. If.

  I slice my gaze to the beach, finding Laird and Ophelia sitting together on a beach towel. His light hair a stark contrast to her inky black. Ophelia is fifteen to his thirteen, but for whatever reason, they’re best friends, maybe more. He’s protective of her, especially when the other kids around here start in on her living situation. Never occurred to me to give someone a hard time because they live in their family’s funeral home. Then again, it never occurred to me that anyone would ever live in a funeral home in the first place.

  In any case, I think I’ve bandaged up more bloody knuckles of his in the past month than I did in the past twenty-years.

  Not even Deacon gets in as many fights as Laird and that’s saying something because my brother is always looking for a good time or a good fight. Luckily, good times seem to find him more often than not.

  Laird, however, is only looking for a fight. Constantly. Ophelia is the only one who can get through to him now that our brother Knight is at boot camp.

  “Earth to Duke,” True says, waving a hand at me. “Come in, Duke King.”

  I blink at her. “How did you know I’m a King?”

  She blushes. “Aren’t all men?”

  I grunt.

  “Even those of us who live in Royal Bay have heard of the Kings,” she says teasingly, then turns serious. “I had no idea who you were when Sunny dared me to talk to you. Promise I only talked to you because I thought you were...are super hot.”

  That helps a little. “When did you get back home?” I ask, wondering if she’s heard the rumors about my family. I wonder if she’s heard the facts about us, too.

  “Yesterday. My parents are coming back from St. Thomas on Friday, so I have a five-day reprieve before they catch me up on everything that I’ve missed.” She lowers her chin. “Please tell me that I haven’t missed anything.”

  Her answer pushes the tightness away from my chest. She has no clue. “Not much.”

  “Good.” She leans back in her chair, turning her face toward the sun. “You can fill me in on the ‘not much’ I’ve missed because I’m pretty sure my parents will only talk about business and more business. As if Prince Shipping is the only thing in the world worth talking about.”

  “Wait. You’re a Prince?” That’s a damn surprise. I knew the Princes had a daughter, but I didn’t expect her to be so... sweet. Honestly, I had no expectations of ever meeting his daughter because we didn’t socialize in the same circles.

  She nods happily. “Yup. True Prince, that’s me. Girl with the weirdest name ever. Kids had a field day with it when I was younger.”

  “Try Duke,” I say flatly.

  “I think it’s a great name. Original.” She opens one eye. “Are you still on for dinner, or did my last name scare you away?”

  An image of True standing, one hand on her hip, hits me. The sun beating down on her while she gives me this look, both flirty and vulnerable. “Should I be afraid?”

  “Not a chance.” I move closer to her, lay my hand on her knee and wait for her reply. Her skin is warm under my palm, and I feel so fucking alive that I want to shout. “I’ll pick you up at six.”

  She licks her lips, her gaze bouncing from my face to my hand and then back again. “Five thirty, and drinks are on me.”

  “Done, but you’re not paying for anything,” I insist and lean in, the scent of peaches and sunscreen hitting me full force and making my dick take notice. “Anything else?”

  “Don’t be late.”

  Chapter 3

  True

  “I have nothing to wear,” I say with a groan and flop down on my bed.

  Sunny pats my leg. “Bless your heart.”

  I squint at her. “That’s not helpful.”

  “It made me feel better.” My best friend grins, then grabs my arm and pulls me to a sitting position. “Wear a dress.”

  “But what if he wants to do something that requires shorts?”

  Sunny considers this for a second or two. “What’s the name of the place he’s taking you?”

  “Ten Blue.”

  She grabs her phone. “Let’s see what Yelp reviews have to say.”

  I wait a beat, then flop back down again. “Doesn’t matter what it says because my leg looks hideous.”

  “Wear something low cut and he won’t be looking at your legs. Okay, so yelp says that it’s romantic and good for business.” She wriggles her pale eyebrows at me. “Which one will you two be doing?”

  “Romantic business? His surfboard did assault me,” I remind her.

  Sunny groans. “Promise me you won’t say that at dinner.”

  “I promise.” I move to my closet and stand in front of it, wishing that an outfit would start sparkling or glowing to let me know it’s the one to wear. “I’ll be on my best non-dorky behavior.”

  “Pfft. I said don’t say that specific phrase, not be yourself. Dorky you is adorable you.” Sunny comes to stand beside me, then bumps me with her hip. “Besides, tonight could be the beginning of an epic romance, or dinner to assuage Duke’s guilt for assaulting you with a surfboard.”

  “I vote epic romance... for the summer at least.” Closing my eyes, I plunge my hand into the closet and grab the first thing it comes in contact with. “I mean, it’s not like I expect to find ‘the one’ while I’m home and worse, I can’t have the additional pressure. My parents’ bribes are enough.”

  “That’s perfect,” Sunny all but squeals and I open to my eyes to find that I’ve pulled out a pale pink sleeveless jumpsuit. “I vote epic romance too. Everyone deserves to have one.”

  Easy for Sunny to say. She’s engaged to the most perfect guy ever. Like even his flaws are perfect for her. The fact that he’s easy on the eyes is icing on the cake. Our nickname for him is Dr. HotStuff. Yeah, maybe it’s not original, but he’s a legit doctor who works with kids. Sunny also works with kids, having started a nonprofit that has a fleet of bookmobiles that go to underserved areas to promote literacy. She used social media to get backers to fund the entire thing.

  So that means that my best friend, the same friend who flew all the way from Arizona to the southeastern coast of North Carolina to be with me, is already way ahead when it comes to adulting.

  “From your lips to the romance gods’ ears,” I chirp and hold the jumpsuit up to me. “Let’s do this.”

  ***

  My nerves get the best of me while I wait for Duke to arrive.

  Maybe I should have agreed to meet him there and saved myself the anxiety. Maybe he won’t show and save me the trouble of being ghosted altogether.

  Not my style. Duke’s rough whisper washes over me, bringing a smile to my lips.

  I hear the rumble of a truck on the quiet street and ru
sh to the window like I’m Juliet waiting on her Romeo—only without all the death and teenagers—to see if it stops at the beach house Sunny and I are living in for the summer.

  “He’s early.”

  “He’s on time,” Sunny counters and grabs my shoulders, turning me to face her. Her brown eyes search my face. “Deep breaths. Be adorably dorky. Don’t put yourself down. Have fun and fall in love.”

  “That’s a tall order, lady.”

  Sunny lets go of me and opens the front door, then all but shoves me out. “You kids have fun. Don’t keep my girl out too late, Mr. King.”

  Duke jogs up the stairs, looking so fine that I want to take a picture and post it on Instagram for the entire world to see. “Yes ma’am,” he replies in a thick drawl that makes Sunny sigh dreamily behind me. But he doesn’t even look her way, his eyes are on me. “You look pretty.”

  My cheeks heat and I all but twist my foot around in awkward celebration. “Thanks. So do you. I mean, not pretty. Good. You look good.”

  A smile pushes at the corners of his mouth, transforming his sexy good looks into positively sinful. I get so hot that I start fanning my face. “It’s a little hot this evening, isn’t it?”

  “No more than usual.” He offers me his arm and I have the presence of mind to take it before we walk to his truck parked on the driveway below the porch. “It’s a lot cooler in my truck, so you shouldn’t melt on the way to Ten Blue.”

  “That’s very considerate of you. I’m really excited about dinner.” I moan happily. “All the seafood.”

  He doesn’t reply right away, or at all until he opens the passenger side door. Maybe the happy moan was too much? I don’t know, but I make the same noise when I eat food I like, or at least Sunny accuses me of moaning like a ghost in church. Not really sure about that analogy. Sunny’s from SoCal, so who knows really.

  “I’m sure you’ll have plenty to choose from and if you don’t, we can ask.” He pauses as I climb inside and I take the opportunity to spend a great deal of time getting situated.

  “Fair warning. I like to eat. I really like to eat my favorite food, so if the happy moaning bothered you, I’ll try to keep it to a three.”

  His brow quirks. “Out of three?”

  I snort. “Five. Duh.”

  “You really are an odd duck,” he says, but it sounds more like a compliment than an insult, so that warm feeling he’s inspired in me grows. “Anything else you need to warn me about before we go?”

  I shake my head. “Not that I can think of.”

  “Damn. I was kinda hoping you did.” He winks at me and shuts the door on my shocked face.

  ***

  We don’t talk much on the way there, but that’s because Ten Blue is literally four minutes from my beach house.

  I crane my head, looking back at the street we’d just driven down to make sure I’m not hallucinating. “I didn’t realize. I could have walked here.”

  “Not in this heat,” he gets out and jogs around the front of the truck, opening my door as soon as he gets to my side. “I requested an ocean-view table so you can look for more dolphins. Hope you brought a camera.”

  I pat my pocket and hop out. “Right here, ready to go.” With a smile, I walk inside the restaurant with him and as the a/c hits me, I realize two things. One, this place is really fancy, and two, it’s really romantic.

  There are white tablecloths, fresh cut flowers, candlelight, and servers dressed up like penguins running around. I glance down at my outfit, specifically at the deep V of my top. I applied double-sided tape so the fabric isn’t going anywhere, but it’s not exactly the most conservative thing in the world.

  I don’t feel any better when the hostess greets us, or when she guides us through the maze of tables that have more appropriately dressed diners sitting at them. I feel positively naked.

  My heart sinks. This is not the look I want for tonight.

  Duke smiles at me while he holds out my seat at a table that does have an unobstructed ocean view. “As promised.”

  “Thank you.” I sit down, grateful not to be on display anymore, and the hostess places the cloth napkin in my lap. He takes the chair across from me.

  “Your server tonight is Xander. He’ll be with you shortly.”

  Duke leans back, reminding me of a king, no pun intended, on his throne. “You grew up in Royal Bay, yet you’ve never been to Ten Blue?”

  I nod. “Afraid so. My parents weren’t big on dining in Castle Beach.”

  “What were they big on?” he asks.

  I tilt my head to one side. “Are you trying to get insider information out of me because if you are, then you’ll be really, really disappointed to learn that I have nothing to do with the family business. At all. “

  “Actually, I’m not disappointed at all. Sometimes it can be a real pain in the ass to have anything to do with the family business.”

  “I take it you’re speaking from personal experience?”

  Our server stops by the table, the water and bread guy hot on his heels. He takes our drink orders and promises to return quickly.

  Duke frowns. “You don’t have to pretend that you don’t know.”

  I squint at him. “I don’t know what it’s like to work for family. My momma said a shipyard was no place for a lady and made arrangements for me to volunteer at one of the local camps instead. Joke’s on her, because now I’m a teacher, instead of a lady of charitable works.”

  Once again, Duke goes silent, but since I’ve gotten used to these bouts of quiet in a matter of hours, I dig in to the bread, making, as promised, happy moans while I eat. Only I dial it down to a two because I’m classy like that when the occasion calls for it.

  Xander comes back to our table, drinks in hand and we order. After he leaves, Duke stares out the window for so long that I start to fidget.

  Maybe this was a really bad idea.

  Maybe he’s only here because he feels guilty.

  Maybe he really only wanted inside secrets and now that he knows he can’t get them, is thinking of a way to extricate himself... except he ordered three courses.

  “Let’s play three truths and a lie,” I blurt.

  That gets his attention. “I thought it was three lies and a truth?”

  I shrug. “I like the truth better and I’m a horrible liar... so....”

  He tips his bottle of beer at me. “Ladies first.”

  I tap my chin, looking upward as I consider what to share. “Okay... I love seafood. I love Buffy The Vampire Slayer reruns. I once was dared to go skinny-dipping but chickened out because I thought a log was an alligator. And last... I have a thing for Patrick Stewart.”

  A ghost of a smile appears. “The lie is the one about skinny dipping.”

  “You think I have a thing for Patrick Stewart?” I mean, I totally do, but still...

  He nods slowly. “You went skinny dipping.”

  “I might have.” I sit up straighter in my chair. “How did you guess?”

  “You were so specific about that one,” he says.

  “Dang it.” I tap the side of my nose and then point at him. “The next one I’ll be super vague.”

  “I bet you’re bad at cards too.”

  “The worst,” I agree and he laughs. “Anyway, your turn.”

  “I don’t know.”

  Batting my lashes at him, I pretend to pout. “Oh, come on, Duke. You know my deepest dark secret of lusting after Captain Picard. The least you can do is admit you have a thing for Helen Mirren.”

  “All right. All right.” He holds his hands up. “Stop doing that stuff with your eyes and lips.”

  Triumphant, I grab another roll and spread butter on it. “I’m all ears.”

  “I like surfing. I’ve been skydiving. My first concert was One Direction and I have a thing for elementary school teachers who make happy moans while they eat.”

  My entire chest heats, starting from the bottom of my boobs and then racing up my neck to my cheeks. “Skydi
ving,” I croak.

  Please, please let me be right, or I’ll sink into the floor.

  “Correct, Ms. Prince.” The look he gives me is hot enough to scorch the sun and make me want to throw him down on the table and have my way with him.

  He bites the side of his bottom lip. “Any other games you want to play?”

  Oh. My. Word. And Yes. Please.

  Chapter 4

  Duke

  I’ve never been a believer in love at first sight, but I can understand how attraction can feel a lot like love. True Prince is adorably geeky, tenaciously cheerful, and hot in a girl-next-door kind of way.

  That might have been why I decided to play her game, to put it out there that I’ve got a thing for her just to see what her reaction would be. I don’t even think the tomatoes in my momma’s garden can turn the same shade of red True did.

  As for me, for the rest of our date, I was as useful as a shrimp fork. There, sometimes part of the meal, yet ultimately not needed. True carried the conversation while I simply listened and wondered how in the hell I’d get out of another date with her, and not because she asked me on one, either.

  I want to date this girl. I want to be with her, play her silly games, and take her out on my board. Those wants scare the shit out of me, yet on another level, it feels so right that it’s inevitable.

  I walk with True up to the front door of her place. She’s holding her shoes while I can’t manage to hold her hand. I know she would like it, and I know it would make up for me being such the damn silent type at dinner, but something’s holding me back.

  Something incredibly stupid like fear, rejection... the thought of getting burned again, but I can’t continue to live my life like that. Maybe, just maybe, I can be careless instead of careful, and this woman at my side won’t rip me to pieces in the process.

  I slip my hand in hers. “I had a great time.”

  True turns to me, her face lighting up in the glow of the late setting sun. “Really?”

  I nod.

  “Did I tell you I have a thing for the strong, silent type and for a guy like yourself, so handsome and athletic, to let me go on talking your ears off during dinner... I’m totally over the moon.” She winks at me, then sobers a little. “But maybe next time you could interrupt me or something. Let me know you’re at least thinking about what I’m saying. Or is this the last time I’ll ever see you?”