Lasting Summer - [Loving Summer 05]

Lasting
Summer

kailin
gow

A
New Adult/Contemporary Adult Loving Summer Novel

Lasting
Summer

Published
by THEEDGEBOOKS.COM

THEEDGEBOOKS.COM
is an imprint of Sparklesoup Inc.

Copyright
© 2014 Kailin Gow

All
Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any
form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including
photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage or retrieval
system, without the permission in writing from the publisher except in case of
brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

For
information, please contact:

THEEDGEBOOKS.COM c/o Sparklesoup Inc.

11700 W. Charleston Blvd., 170-95

Las Vegas, NV 89135

www.theEdgeBooks.com

First Edition.

Printed in the United States of America.

ISBN:
978-1-59748-076-5

Thank you!

Thank you readers for loving this
series and helping me mold it through the polls you answered on
theEDGEbooks.com. Also, a Big Thank You to the Betas who gave me feedback about
Summer’s decision before Lasting Summer was published. It is always hard to
make these decisions especially when both sides feel so passionate about their
favorites, but in the end, hopefully many of you will be happy.

Nat’s
Letter to Summer

My Perfect Summer,

I hope you will and can forgive me.

I never meant to hurt you, but sometimes
we do things because we thought it was the best or only way out.

I
don’t know where to begin. But if you are holding this letter in your hands,
then I know you already have a sense of what this is about.

Again,
I am writing you a letter not because I am old-fashioned, but because this
time, it was necessary. It was the only way I can get word out to you that I am
okay. That I am alive.

I
can’t have you suffering over grief for me, thinking I was dead. I am in the
sense I could not be with you in more ways than one.

I
will always love you, Summer. You are the world to me, but circumstances have
changed. I don’t know if I will ever be the same Nat as you loved. If I could
return to be the Nat that you could be with. Sometimes in the line of duty, you
are forced to do things that you would not be proud of. There were a few things
I had to do in order to get the job done. But I did it, and because I did, my
father will be on his way back home.

Will I come home soon? It depends. I
don’t know when or if, so that’s why I’m writing you this letter.

Please go on living life to the fullest
as you always have. Go on and be as happy as you can be, and don’t put your
life on hold for me to be happy. I know how you feel about Drew, and I know how
Drew feels about you. With me no longer there for you, please turn to Drew for
support. He knows why I’m doing this, and he knows how to comfort you best, as
well as how to protect you.

Life is too short to wait for love. I am
so grateful for the chance we had together. I take those memories with me
everywhere I go, but it is now time for me to let you go, and for you to let me
go. I love you with all my heart so I am letting you go to fulfill your
destiny, as I am doing so now.

Love
Your Nat in Shining Armor for Always

Summer

I’
ve read Nat’s
letter again hoping to find some clues as to his whereabouts.

I should be happy he’s alive, which I
am, but he’s put me through hell and back again when I thought he’d died. I
mean I was in such despair, Drew even found me sitting in a bath tub with a
razor blade nearby. I’ve never sunk so low to consider taking my own life out
of despair.

Me. Summer Jones, the one everyone turns
to for warmth and happiness. How can I be the Summer who have provided the
Donovans the sunshine and warmth they depended on me for when I was now filled
with darkness and pain?

Nat had deceived me. Drew had deceived
me, and now I was truly all alone.

Nat Nat Nat! Why did you disappear like
that? What are you hiding?

I know Nat. He wouldn’t pull something
like this on me unless he absolutely had to…which led me to believe he may have
believed there was no other way. But why? He knew I loved him with all of me
since we were toddlers. I handed him my heart on a silver platter everyday
hoping he would notice the love I harbored for him, believing he was my entire
world. How could he lead me to believe he was dead? How could he leave me and
take away my choice as to who I should love?

And Drew, the fact that he knew Nat was
alive, yet saw me cry and grieve for him, saw me sink to the point I nearly
lost my mind, so I can fall harder for him, choose him over Nat… I was so
furious with him, I told him I didn’t want to see him ever again.

I meant it too.

It’s been two weeks since I last saw him
in person, since I last spoke to him. Despite him calling me every day, texting
me, and even showing up to the Pad; I’ve shut him out. The old Summer would
have answered his texts and phone calls the first time and forgiven him, while
apologizing to him for something he did. The new and current Summer? I needed
time to step back, step away from his intoxicating sexy body and presence to
think, to clear my mind.

I’ve resisted the temptation to answer
him, to feel any contact with him through his words, his voice, or sight.

Until
now…

His text to me couldn’t have come at a
more opportune time.

DREW:
Summer? I’m through begging you for forgiveness. If you won’t believe me, maybe
you will believe Nat. I know you’ve been inquiring about him. If Nat is who you
want, I will find him for you.

I
took a deep breath before hitting reply.

ME:
This had better not be some kind of joke, Drew.

DREW:
It isn’t. I never meant to hurt you.

ME:
You did.

DREW:
I’m sorry. It seems all I wanted to do is protect you, but it has the opposite
effect instead. I hurt you. Can I see you at the Pad tonight?

ME:
Can’t.

DREW:
Why not?

ME:
Too many memories of us. Too many memories of Nat being here. When I see you
again, I want to see you with fresh eyes.

DREW:
I’m sorry I let you down, Summer. I will do whatever it takes to make you trust
me again.

ME:
Show me Nat is alive. That’s how.

I
sighed. Although it was just his texts, I imagined hearing his voice saying all
of this to me. I missed talking to him. I missed the close bond we’ve had since
we were kids. I missed feeling his hot skin next to mine as my lover, and I
especially loved hearing his voice. Loved how he said my name. Whenever he did,
it sounded like he cherished the name as much as he cherished me. He’d always
had a way of saying my name that made me get butterflies in my stomach.

DREW:
Come to my new place then. Meet me tonight?

I
hesitated again, but knew I had to see him, to finally get this out into the
open and talk. If he knew where Nat was, then I need to see Drew.

ME:
Okay, just to talk.

DREW:
I promise. We’ll talk. I’ll pick you up at the Pad at 5.

ME:
5 is fine.

DREW:
Wear your summer dress…it’s my favorite outfit, Summer.

ME:
We’re just talking.

DREW:
We’ll be talking, but that dress is so spectacular on you, and I love how it
brings out the sunshine in you.

I
had to smile. That was Drew. Can’t blame him for trying.

ME:
I’ll surprise you then. Maybe I will or maybe I won’t. See you at 5.

With
that, I turned off my phone and hopped into the shower. I’d nearly forgotten
how easy-going we were together and how he was my best friend with whom I could
talk to about everything before we became more than friends. Shutting him out
after what he did to me was hard. Not only was I losing the man I loved, but I
also lost one of my dearest best friends.

Now
I don’t know what we are anymore, but after what he did, it would take some
time before I could even trust him again. It would take some time before I
could trust anyone again.

Chapter
1

Drew

I
didn’t want to
be part of the “plan” that Nat and Dad cooked up to help Nat disappear. It
wasn’t even my idea, and I felt bad about the whole thing. I didn’t want to go
with it at all, especially about having to withhold the truth about Nat’s
whereabouts to Summer, who was going through so much grief over Nat. It killed
me to see how she took to the news that Nat was dead. Not because I was jealous
of how she loved Nat, but because I could see the light, the warmth of her, her
personality and soul dying. Although it was bliss for me to have her to myself,
at the same time, I felt and shared her pain.

If it was up to me, I would’ve told her
the truth when she first found out Nat was missing. That’s because I know
Summer. She wouldn’t want anything less than that, despite how much it would
hurt. Nat disappearing for her sake took the choice from under her…she never
got a fair chance on which Donovan Brother she wanted to be with since Nat took
that choice away from her by stepping out of the picture and wanting her to be
with me.

But I couldn’t tell her. It would
jeopardize the safety of Nat, my father, and even Summer’s mother.

As much as everyone thinks I would be
elated about having Summer be with me, I wasn’t. That wasn’t closure to her,
that only fueled her insatiable inquisitive mind to find out what happened. And
coming from me, she wouldn’t believe me. She needed to hear it straight from
Nat. That is how she is…she won’t accept anything less than that.

Nat? Thank God he was alive, but now
comes the complicated part…I can see Summer’s pretty mind working. If Nat is
alive, why isn’t he coming to see her? Why hasn’t he contacted her? It is worse
knowing he is intentionally and deliberately shutting her out of his life. Now
she needs to know why. She won’t move on until she finds out why.

So…I have to find my bastard of a
brother. Yes, he was a bastard even in the literal sense. Now I’m furious with
him. Furious for putting me in this situation with Summer. Furious for now
making himself incomparable to Summer. No man can live up to Summer’s memories
of Nat. No matter how much I try, no matter how much love I give her, how much
of my skills at lovemaking, how much I try to be more like Nat; it isn’t
working. Because I’m not him.

And now I realize, no matter how much I
tried to be Nat for her, I will never be Nat to her.

So, the best I can hope, if there is any
chance for me, is to be Drew. The real Drew. I’ve been trying to be everything
to everyone for so long, I don’t even know who the real Drew is anymore. I
guess I’ll find out soon because from now on, with Summer, I’m going to be me
so she will love me for me. And she will love me. I’m sure of that. Because the
real Drew Donovan is a no-holds barred, take charge, take no prisoners kind of
guy. The real Drew Donovan is a beast. He will take what he wants when he wants
it…including Summer. It’s the real me when I take charge on the football field,
it’s me when I take charge in the bedroom with women I’ve had, who are much
more experienced than Summer. I was holding back with Summer, but not anymore.
She wants to know the truth? She wants the older brother just because he seems
more in charge and more like a man in control, wait until she sees the real me.
Given the chance at being the big brother, given the chance at really running
Donovan Dynamics my way, I will unleash that part of me I’ve kept hidden. If
Nat or anyone challenges me on being the alpha, I will not step aside this
time. If it is true that Nat is Aunt Sookie’s son, then I am the rightful heir
and son to the Donovans. Not Nat. It had never been Nat, but me.

I looked around my new suite, which
reflected more of my tastes since I was made President of Donovan Dynamics. It
wasn’t the apartment of a college student. It was actually a penthouse in one
of the buildings we’ve had near Malibu used mainly to house enormous data
files. The whole setup with me here was for security reasons, because making me
President of Donovan Dynamics since getting Dad back, put me at a higher risk
for any attempts by the crime ring we helped dismantled. The building was near
USC where I could work as a satellite headquarter for Donovan Dynamics, but
also live on the top floor as a penthouse suite. Full security throughout the
entire building and a place where Nat can carry out his work for dad, while
maintaining his new identity as a student at USC.

Yeah, Nat was still in the picture,
which made me both uneasy and at ease. Uneasy because he could take everything
away from me, including Summer if he made himself known, and at ease because he
could help me keep Summer safe, which I know he will if he can. That’s why I
think he accepted his cover as a student at USC…so he could stay close to
Summer, watch out for her. That’s why, despite how hard he worked to build up
Donovan Dynamics, he was willing to give that all up, give up the billions that
could come with that inheritance, so he could be there for her.

In a way, I’m kind of jealous of his new
identity. He didn’t have to fit into anyone’s expectations anymore…no more
football hero, no more big brother to Rachel and I, no more caring son to Mom,
and Dad’s secret confidante about his ex-mistress. It’s like the burden of
being Nat has lifted, and he can be what he wants to be.

I haven’t seen him yet since his new
identity, but I will soon. For Summer’s sake, I’m bringing Nat back from the
grave so to speak…