Summer's Landing (A Loving Summer Standalone Novel Series): Loving Summer Spinoff (Loving Summer Series Book 9)

Summer’s

LANDING

kailin
gow

A Contemporary
Adult Loving Summer Novel

Summer’s
Landing

Published by Sparklesoup.com

Sparklesoup Inc.

Copyright © 2016 Kailin Gow

All Rights Reserved. No part of
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First Edition.

Printed in the United States of America

Note from Author

Although Summer’s Landing is a
standalone, to get the background on Summer, Drew, Nat, Rachel, and Astor; I
would recommend you read the Loving Summer Series and Free Fall, which takes
place 10 years after the Loving Summer Series. 

Summer’s Landing takes place that
same year, but a few days after Free Fall 3.

Prologue

Summer

N
ot in a million years would I
have imagined the predicament I was in now. The man I had been in love with and
was planning on marrying as my fiancé for years was staring at me with a blank
stare.

“Do
I know you?” Drew asked me. He looked around the hospital-like room he was in,
sitting up in bed. Rachel, his beautiful fraternal twin sister who was my best
friend sat next to him. Except for the purple tint in her jet black long hair,
and edgy fashion designer jeans and black tank top, he shared her good looks,
which ran in the Donovan family line. Striking blue eyes and jet black hair,
flawless skin, and the epitome of human beauty.  She was a bona fide movie
star, while Drew was the football star turned handsome and sexy billionaire
security tech firm CEO. The fact they had inherited enormous wealth from their
father who started the world famous security firm Donovan Dynamics along with
their genius older brother Nat Donovan, only added to the twins’ public fawning
and mystique.

“You’ve
got to be kidding, right?” Rachel asked, her jaw half-dropped. “You seriously
do not remember Summer?”

Drew
looked at me again and blinked. “I wished I could, but no. I don’t remember her
at all. Who are you?”

I
was speechless. After growing up with the Donovans, whom my late Aunt Sookie
took care of during summers at her Malibu beach house, and being lovers for
years since our teen years; Drew and I had never been separated.  Had never
been passionately not in love with each other or never been not all over each
other.

Having
him not remember me was something I was having trouble digesting. “Drew,” I
said carefully, “do you remember getting shot?”

Drew
started with a little jump like a nerve reflex, and stared out into space with
a dazed look. “I…I remember getting hit and then the pain. It was too much that
I black out. After that, I don’t remember.” He looked around. “I don’t remember
being brought here. How long was I out?”

Rachel
looked at me and then at him before pursing her lips and saying, “Enough to
worry you wouldn’t be coming out of your coma. It has been days.”

“Where’s
Nat?” Drew asked. “Is he okay? I remember meeting up with him to storm The
Dragon’s hideout...”

“And
to rescue Summer,” Rachel interjected. “She was being held hostage by the
Dragon because of something Nat did…”

“I
don’t remember exactly who we were trying to save,” Drew said, “but I remember the
woman was important to Nat.”

“That
woman is Summer,” Rachel said. “She’s right here in front of you.”

I
reached out my hand to touch Drew’s hand, but he slowly withdrew. “Summer,
you’re Nat’s girl. That’s right. I remember now. You two went out together when
Nat was 19 and Rachel and I were 18.”

“That
was about 10 years ago,” Rachel said. “Since then, Summer and…”

“Are
you my sister-in-law then?” Drew asked. “Surely the way you two were so in
love, you would be married by now with kids even.”

I
gulped. He didn’t remember. Drew didn’t remember that Nat had left all of us.
He went on an undercover business trip to save their father from cyber
criminals whom the U.S. government were trying to close down when he
disappeared. Everyone thought he’d died. I did at least, until I found out he
was alive but had assumed a different identity due to the danger he was in from
that mission. He could never go back to being Nat, and he had left, leaving me
behind and Drew to pick up the pieces…Drew, the irresponsible younger playboy
sex-on-legs bad boy brother who never wanted the responsibilities Nat had as
the brother who had to run Donovan Dynamics on top of taking care of their
mentally unstable mother.

But
Drew surprised everyone, especially me, by stepping up and becoming the man he
needed to be. Not to mention, becoming the hottest lover any woman could be so
lucky to get engaged to.

I
looked over at Rachel, and she looked almost as shocked as I was. “He didn’t
remember what happened to Nat,” I whispered to her.

She
shook her head once. “Drew, do you remember anything about you and Summer after
high school?”

Drew
shook his head. “I assume Summer went away with Nat. I don’t know what else to
tell you. I’m drawing a blank. I just know I’ve been incredibly busy working
like a workaholic all these years, I’ve probably just needed to take a break.”

“Speaking
of a break,” Rachel got up and pull me over. “Summer and I need to see Nat now.
See how he’s doing. He’s right next door. We’ll be back soon, Drew. Promise.”

Drew
nodded. I wanted to go to him to kiss him, to hold him like I’ve always done. I
wanted him to make love to me, as he’s always done when we were together. But
something about the way he looked at me…the passionate love he always had
burning for me…was gone. I was like a stranger to him now, and it burned me up
inside.

“Come
on, Summer,” Rachel said, tugging at my elbow. “We have to see Nat.”

Thank
God Rachel was a strong girl. Before I could turn back to go to Drew, Rachel
tugged at me again, and I was now outside of Drew’s room and in the corridor.
Right when a wave of uncontrollable tears swept through me.

Rachel
put her arms around me and hugged me. “I’m so sorry, Summer,” she said. “So
sorry.”

“I
feel as though I’ve lost Drew…again,” I said between tears. “First him getting
shot. Then him falling into a coma. Now this! It’s as though we would never get
to be together. It’s as though the stars would not align for it to happen.”

“That’s
not true,” Rachel said. “Drew will get better. He’s probably in shock with
everything, but he’ll remember. How could he forget? You’re all he thought
about since you were toddlers. He’s been in love with you for most of his life.
How could it not be ingrained in him?”

“But
you heard him,” I said. “He doesn’t remember a thing after Nat left. He doesn’t
remember anything about being with me.”

“I
don’t know much about psychology,” Rachel said. “But since you’re a doctor, do
you think he’s subconsciously block out the most painful memories?”

I
nodded. “Could be, Rachel. He was shot, and the pain was so unbearable, he
blacked out. He may have blocked out all the other painful memories…which
unfortunately had a lot to do with me.”

“Well,
Drew was always there when…that one time you were stalked and almost raped by
that pervert at your Aunt’s Acting Academy theater…Drew shot and killed him
before he could…”

“I
know,” I said. “He was seriously shaken up after that. We all thought he may
have psychological problems afterwards, but he seemed to handle that well.”

“Then
when he was shot, you had been kidnapped and held hostage for days…weeks, even
missing your own wedding date…Drew must have been so worried,” Rachel said.

I
took out a tissue from my purse and wiped my eyes. Then drew a deep breath.
“That’s probably what this is all about, Rachel.  I shouldn’t have to worry.
Drew will bounce right back, like always.”

Rachel
smiled and hugged me again. “Just like Drew,” she said. “Now let’s check on my
other Donovan brother.”

Chapter 1

Summer

W
e walked to the door next
door to Drew’s in the makeshift hospital. Although makeshift, it was quite
impressive for a private onsite medical facility kept on Nat’s high-security
compound in a facility near my Malibu beach house, or “The Pad” as Aunt Sookie
called it. She died when I was 17, at the end of summer, the summer the
Donovans and I reunited at The Pad to help Aunt Sookie with her Acting Academy,
while staying at The Pad for the summer, like old times when we were growing
up. That Pad was where the Donovans and I spent our time growing up, falling in
love, getting our hearts broken, and finally experiencing life.

Rachel
knocked on the door, and we both heard Nat’s deeper voice said, “Come in. We’re
almost done.”

We
walked in, and Nat was already out of bed, while his bandage dressings around
his chest and arms were carefully being cut off by one of the top doctors at
his compound. Although private, Nat had hired the best of the best from the
military to work for him, especially doctors who had worked on secret projects
but lost funding from the government when projects closed. Because he was able
to get the best from the military, his security firm Andrew Hocking Knight
Industry which dealt with cyber security, private security, missions, and even
forces for hire rivaled the very company he founded with his father, Donovan
Dynamics.

The
doctor snipped off the remaining bandage and Nat was now bandage-free and
stretching his arms as the doctor left.

“Why
are you not in bed and resting?” I asked, my doctor’s instinct immediately
taking over. “From what I saw earlier, you had wounds all over, and…”

Nat
turned his body towards me, and he gave me a wry smile. His blue-green eyes
smiled happily as he bent his head down to survey his injuries.  When he lifted
his head up, his long dark brown bangs with natural copper fell across his face
giving him a rakish rock star air, the same arrogant devil-may-care look I fell
for back as a teen. Without his shirt on, his muscles rippled like shimmering
sand on his bulk V-shape frame. While Drew was the sexy athlete, Nat was the
brilliantly smart and sensitive rock star handsome Donovan brother, who had become
as muscular as G.I. Joe. Again my jaws dropped for the second time today. 

I
couldn’t help admiring his body, but it was his skin that my eyes were glued
to. His skin was almost back to normal. Where there were burn marks before,
were just small scabs. I couldn’t believe my eyes.

I
walked up to him and without thinking, reached out to touch his chest, softly
tracing with my fingers where there was a burn mark. My fingers went to every
scab and gingerly felt each one. It seemed his body…his skin was healing as I
stood there in front of Nat. I was fascinated. This was beyond belief.

I
moved my head closer to try to see his wound closer with just my bare eyes when
suddenly I became very aware that my face was hovering over Nat’s pec. My mouth
was so close to Nat’s nipples, my breath was causing his skin and nipples to
harden.

I
looked up slowly to see Nat watching me, his eyes dark and even stormy. “I
would like nothing more than to go back to bed with you blowing on my wounds
like that,” he dropped his voice into a whisper just for my ears, “and me
returning the favor,” he raised his voice to normal again and said, “but I got
work to do.”

“I
don’t understand,” I shook my head, a little reeling from the sudden surge of
desire that hit me when Nat glanced at my breasts and said, “and me returning
the favor.” All these years we haven’t seen each other, and I’ve been with
Drew, the memory of Nat licking and sucking on my breasts among other very hot
images came rushing back.

Rachel
stepped forward from the doorway and said, “I agree. I don’t understand. How
the hell could you look so great when you were like a burnt marshmellow just a
few days ago?”

Nat
smiled. “Top secret and classified medicine…an ointment really some of my
scientists here have been developing. Finally got to test it out for real on a
burn victim…me! And I think it’s working better than we thought.”

“Nat…what
you have here is well…I’m impressed.” I was dumbfounded, suddenly struck shy
around Nat. I never expected he would be discovering miraculous medicine like
this. 

Nat
pulled on a black t-shirt over his bulging muscles and perfect abs, filling the
shirt out.  I almost gave a sigh watching him get dressed. He had the body of
the dream guy who graced every book cover, while his intellect and confidence
was far sexier than anyone I’ve met.

I
was suddenly that Summer from years ago, the one as a child who had an enormous
crush on Nat, the boy who always came to my rescue. The boy who fought off the
bullies for me. The boy who treated me like just a little sister, like his
sister Rachel, until that summer Aunt Sookie died. That was when he confessed
how he loved me, but I had already started dating Aunt Sookie’s wonder student,
the teen TV heartthrob Astor Fairway.

“You
and your miracle drugs, Nat,” I said. “You never cease to amaze, don’t you?”

“It’s
nothing,” Nat said. “But since you asked, all this, Summer, is for the purpose
of impressing girls…especially this one girl I’ve known for a very long time.
She seemed to know all about me so having one surprise or another once in a
while comes in handy when I really have to impress her.”

Rachel
coughed. “Nat…Summer and I’m here because we really need you to impress right
now.”

Nat
turned serious. “What is it, Rach?”

“It’s
Drew.”

“He’s
up and functioning right? Don’t tell me he’s relapsed into his coma while I was
out?”

“No,
he’s up alright, and acting bright and cheerful,” I said.

“Only…he’s
lost some memory,” Rachel said.

“Of
what?”

“I
think he’s erased painful memories after you left, Nat,” I said.

“He’s
forgotten that you left because you were in some kind of witness protection program,
but worse, Nat. Drew’s completely forgotten ever being with Summer. He thinks
you and her are together still, as the time before you left for Afghanistan,” Rachel
said.

“Really,”
Nat said almost matter-of-factly. “The drug the doctors used on Drew to help
him snap out of his coma was experimental. The doctors did say there would be
side effects. I guess this is one of them.”

“So
this isn’t something he is controlling subconsciously?” I asked.

“Probably
not,” Nat said. “Why would he want to forget everything about the woman he
loves? Summer, don’t ever think Drew would want to throw the love you two have
away. If I was him, I wouldn’t. So, it must be the medicine that has wiped away
his memories. These experimental drugs are banned for a reason. They’re
powerful stuff, and if something goes wrong with them, it can be drastic.”

“Could
you get your doctors to work on it, to see if there is a treatment?” Rachel asked.

“Wish
I could, but that drug wasn’t one we developed. It was one we found when we
raided The Dragon’s lair. It was medicine that would have been sold on the
black market.”

“How
could we have used that on Drew?” Rachel asked.

“Remember,
we all agreed…you, Summer, and I when Drew wasn’t waking up after surgery…when
we thought we’d lose him, and the only alternative was to try this drug,” Nat
said.

I
nodded, remembering how we all frantically agreed.

“So
now, we’ll have to deal with it,” Nat said.

“Since
we don’t know much about the side effects, will Drew ever remember Summer?”
Rachel asked.

“I
honestly don’t know,” Nat said. “The only one who would know would be the
doctor or scientist who created it.”

I
remembered Drew’s blank stare at me and how he said he didn’t remember who I
was. It hit me like a sucker punch how painful it was to lose that memory, to
suddenly become a complete stranger to someone you once would give your very
life for. Involuntarily, too. It wasn’t as though Drew wanted to, but it just
did.

“Nat,”
I said. “If it’s the last thing I do, I’ve got to find that doctor. For Drew’s
sake. Please.”

Chapter 2

Nat Donovan

I
was still getting my bearings when Summer and
Rachel walked in on me, getting my bandage changed. Only it wasn’t a bandage
change. My burns had miraculously healed. In days.

I
could hardly believe it had I not seen it myself.  Before Dr. Bonet could
examine my wounds and place new bandages on, I whispered to him to come back
later after my sister Rachel and Summer leave.

I
had a feeling they had come to give me bad news on Drew. They both had a
worried look on their faces as they walked in, and frankly I didn’t want them
to worry about me as well. I was a big boy, and after my disappearance act from
their lives, I think I’ve given them enough worry to last them two lifetimes.

So
I put on my best game face, and acted like this miracle was just an ordinary
thing in the life of Andrew Hocking Knight aka Nat Donovan. Only I couldn’t
help feel triumphant. The burn ointment my medical team have been working on
for years finally came through. My wounds had healed so quickly, it was what
science fiction novels would eat up.

Then
when Summer came to examine each and every burn scab I had, touching them
gently with her soft fingers…fingers I had countlessly kissed or sucked on
years before, I almost lost all of my cool. Man that woman. She still had that
hold on me. She could take my breath away with just one glance from her.

I
was holding my breath trying not to pant when she leaned in to take a closer
look at one over my pec. I was vaguely aware that Rachel was in the room so I
had to control myself. I couldn’t let Rachel see me give in to my strong desire
for Summer. I couldn’t let this happen although I very badly wanted it with all
of me.

But
DAMN, I almost lost it when Summer’s warm breath brush hotly over my chest. I
pictured her bending down towards my nipples and grabbing them with her teeth
while extending her tongue out to lick them while keeping her big beautiful
eyes on mine.

I
wanted to grab her long wavy copper hair, pull her closer while pushing her
head down towards the rock hardest part of me so she can suck the life out of
me. I pictured her naked, on top of me, in front of me, riding me, straddling
me… Lord have mercy she looked up and realized she was practically kissing my
nipples with her mouth so close to it as she watched how my scab healed itself
in front of her.

“Sorry,”
she said, looking away. It was barely a mumble so soft that I thought at first
I had imagined it.

She
was as flustered as I was turned on. I had to make a joke of it. Anything to
ease the thick tension. After all, she was still with Drew, and…

“Drew’s
completely forgotten ever being with Summer. He thinks you and her are together
instead, as in the time before you left for Afghanistan,” Rachel said.

Drew’s
completely forgotten ever being with Summer.

Could
that be possible? My mind tried to make sense of something so impossible. How
could Drew forget Summer when she was everything to him? It had to be the side
effects of the drug used on him to bring him out of the coma. It had to be. 
Otherwise, it would wreck Summer.

Following
our conversation about trying to locate the maker of the drug, I had to see
Drew for myself. To what extent had he forgotten Summer, and was there anything
else he had forgotten?

I
pulled on my clothes in front of Summer while Rachel walked out to the
corridor. I was so used to living without women around and hanging with just my
guys, I didn’t think twice about changing when I needed to or being modest.
That was my life…the life I had before making my appearance back as Nat for
Summer and Drew’s wedding rehearsal.

Before
things got fucked up with the Dragon showing up and ruining it for everyone,
Summer’s kidnapping, and then Drew’s coma. Not to mention that explosion in one
of my warehouses here at the compound I am still investigating.  It came from
within so now I have extra worries. Someone here at my compound had did it, had
set it up so that I and many of my guys would have been killed. Luckily, it was
mainly me who got the brunt of the explosion. Luckily we had this burn ointment
in development which made it possible for me to walk and talk as normally as
usual considering days before I was almost unrecognizable from burns.

I
walked past Summer and Rachel into the corridor and into Drew’s room where he
was scrolling through a tablet. 

“Hey
Drew,” I said.  It was like old times. I walked up to him and gave him a fist
bump. He fist-bumped me back.

“You’re
up, Bro,” Drew said grinning. “For a moment there, I thought you were the one
in a coma. Yup, the staff here filled me in. I take no offense to you not
visiting me earlier. Seemed like you were in pretty bad shape. But looks to me,
that was greatly exaggerated.”

“Not
really,” I said. “I was bandaged like the Mummy for days until today. Whoever
blew up my warehouse was out to take out as many men as possible, including
me.”

I
saw Summer and Rachel flinch.

Apparently
while I was out, no one had informed them about the gravity of the situation.
Good thing too or things would’ve gotten even more chaotic.

“No
need to be alarmed,” I turned to them. “Luis and Hector told me they combed the
entire facility for more explosives, but found nothing more.”

“Did
they catch who did it?” Summer asked, her eyes filled with fury. “I mean you
could’ve been killed.”