by Jill Sanders
Summer Fling
Jill Sanders
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
Text copyright © 2020 Jill Sanders
Printed in the United States of America
All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher.
Published by Grayton Press
ISBN-13: 978-1-945100-14-7
Paperback: 9798639252976
Contents
Summary
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Epilogue
Also by Jill Sanders
About the Author
Summary
Scarlett had learned to keep her head down early in life. Zoey, her older sister, had always taken the reins in life, even when it came to helping their mother get back up after their father stole everything and ran off with a woman half his age, leaving the three of them with only the clothes on their backs and Zoey and Scarlett’s inheritance. She’d been behind her sister one hundred percent in investing into River Camps. It had only taken one look at the sexy Levi to convince her that this was where she wanted to be.
* * *
After Levi had been raised by his grandmother, he’d searched high and low for the best job around. When he’d heard that River Camps was reopening, he’d jumped at the chance to stick close to his ailing grandmother. He hadn’t expected to fall so hard for the beautiful Scarlett.
Prologue
Scarlett stood on the banks of the river, looking out over the tall sea grass. She could see the small boat moving closer and walked to the end of the old dock to wait. She was fourteen, two years younger than all the other Wildflowers, but already she’d found the boy she wanted to be with for the rest of her life.
Levi Grant was the nicest, hottest boy she’d ever laid eyes on. He had beautiful blond curly hair that always seemed to fall in front of his sky-blue eyes. His skin was flawless, unlike her own, and he was tan and perfect. His smile, in her opinion, was his best feature and made her knees go weak.
She’d met Levi a week earlier, when he’d visited the camp with his grandmother, a personal friend of Elle Saunders’ grandfather. The man ran River Camps, the only place Scarlett and her older sister, Zoey, had ever felt truly accepted.
Scarlett and Zoey, along with Elle Saunders, Hannah Rodgers, and Aubrey Smith, their best friends, had called themselves the Wildflowers ever since they’d met four summers ago. They were now as close as sisters. They looked forward to spending their summers together and, when possible, talked on the phone with one another during school season.
Zoey and Scar, as everyone called her, were the only sisters in the group. Elle’s grandfather owned the camp, and Elle had been the one who had brought the five of them together that first summer. She was tall, blond, and the most outgoing and organized of the group.
Hannah, with her perfect style, hair, and makeup, had been the envy of most of them. Even though she was soft spoken, Hannah was the one who coordinated their activities.
Aubrey was the shiest out of them all, even more than Scarlett. Her fiery red hair and haunting blue eyes usually got her attention she didn’t want or ask for.
Scar was the youngest of the five of them and just a step behind them in most things—except for this one thing.
Being the first one to fall in love somewhat embarrassed Scarlett. The others could never understand how her heart hurt when Levi wasn’t around or when she looked at him. At this point, her heart hurt all the time.
Just watching the way that he moved and talked did funny things to her insides.
As the small boat bumped into the dock, she raced forward to catch the rope he tossed towards her.
“How was it?” she asked, eagerly.
Levi looked up at her with those sexy blue eyes, his blond hair, curls and all, tucked under a New York Yankee’s ball cap.
“Good.” He shrugged, then turned and helped his grandmother out of the boat. His grandmother smiled up at her through a large sun hat.
Levi was the complete opposite of his grandmother. The woman had straight dark hair, darker skin, and deep brown eyes that showed the woman had seen a few things in her life. Including sadness.
“Hi, Scarlett. My, you’ve grown so much since the last time I saw you.” The older woman looked much younger than Elle’s grandfather. If Scarlett hadn’t known, she would have thought that she was Levi’s mother instead of his grandmother. She’d met Mrs. Grant a few times before since coming to River Camps, an elite summer camp for privileged girls. The camp was tucked onto acres and acres of private land between Pelican Bay and the emerald waters of the Gulf of Mexico on Florida’s Panhandle.
Scarlett had been coming here since she was nine and hoped to continue coming back for the rest of her life.
“Thanks.” She smiled as she finished tying off the boat, her eyes skirting to Levi every chance she got.
“Wow, you’ve gotten taller too. You’re almost as tall as my Levi.” Her arm went around Levi as the boy rolled his eyes.
“Gran, everyone’s taller than me,” he complained.
“You’ll hit your growing spurt soon,” she said, patting him on the shoulder. Then she leaned forward and whispered to Scarlett, “Boys mature later than girls.”
Scar would have been embarrassed at that comment, but just then, a bunch of other girls from the summer camp came rushing up to talk to the only boy on campus.
News of his visits spread throughout the cabins. Stories of how cute he was had reached every single one of the almost hundred girls in attendance that summer.
Somehow, Scarlett ended up being pushed to the back of the group of admirers as Jenny Carpenter and her cronies, as the Wildflowers called them, surrounded Levi and his grandmother.
All of the girls threw questions at them as if they were celebrities.
She didn’t know who was responsible—after all, she was too busy watching Levi’s reaction to something one of them had said—but before she could grab hold of anything, hands shoved her from behind.
Falling sideways into the water was one thing—she’d taken plenty of jumps off this very dock on purpose. But this time it was in front of Levi and the others. She was completely mortified when she surfaced. Her long mousy hair blocked her view of everyone laughing at her. She may not have seen them, but the sound would stick in her memory for years to come.
Pushing her hair out of her eyes, she swam towards the ladder as tears stung her eyes.
“Here.” A hand appeared before her face. “Let me help you up.”
All the laughter died away as Scarlett looked up into the bluest eyes she’d ever seen. Her heart quickened at the feel of his warm skin against her own.
If she’d thought she’d lost her heart before, having Levi sh
ower attention on her for the rest of his visit that day sealed the deal.
To her complete joy, he was back the following day. The fact that he went out of his way to hunt her down caused her heart to skip a beat for the first time. She’d read about people falling in love in some books and had often wondered how it would feel to have her heart react like that to someone. Now she knew.
“Hey.” Levi caught up with her the following day, jogging over to her until he fell into step next to her. “Where are you heading?” Today, he hadn’t worn a ball cap, leaving his hair loose, allowing her to enjoy all those blond curls. He kept shoving it out of his eyes, a move that made her knees go weak again.
“I…” She stopped and glanced around. They were alone on the pathway. She was supposed to meet her friends at the pool for a swim, but now, she didn’t want to share Levi with anyone else. “Nowhere.” She shrugged.
“How about going to the beach with me?” he asked, shoving his hands deep into his short’s pockets. “Gran and Joe are having a meeting.”
“Sure,” she answered a little too quickly.
When he started walking towards the camp’s private beach, she fell into step next to him.
“You don’t think Joe and my grandmother are…” he asked as he glanced over at her.
Her dark eyebrows shot up. She hadn’t thought of the older couple in that way. Elle had mentioned that they were old friends, not romantic.
“I don’t think so,” she answered slowly. “Why? Would it be so bad?” she asked as they turned down the path that opened to the beach.
“No, I guess not.” His eyes scanned the beach. She glanced around and groaned when she saw Jenny and her cronies.
“Hey.” He took her hand and pulled her back a step before the group could see them. “We can go somewhere else?”
She thought quickly. “I know a place.” She tugged on his arm until they rushed through the trees together.
“Gosh, slow down,” he said, laughing. “Your legs are so long.”
She stopped, frowning down at herself. It was true. She’d grown freakishly tall in the last year. She’d let his grandmother’s comment the day before sliding off her, but hearing Levi say it today… stung.
“Hey,” he said, stepping closer. “That’s a good thing.” He nudged her chin up until she met his blue eyes. “I like girls with long legs.” He moved closer. “And hazel eyes.” He took another step towards her. “And soft hair the color of dark honey.” His hand reached up and brushed a strand of her hair out of her eyes, causing her breath to catch.
She’d never been this close to a boy before. Had never been kissed. Was Levi going to kiss her?
Just then, they both heard laughter nearby as a group of girls approached the pathway. Without thinking, she grabbed his hand again and pulled him towards Elle’s secret hideout.
Elle’s grandfather had built the small tree house a year ago. The Wildflowers used it every chance they could. They had even snuck out and slept up there a couple nights. But since her friends were all at the pool waiting for her, she knew it was a place they could be alone.
Pulling on the rope, she tugged the hidden ladder towards the ground.
“Geez, that’s cool,” Levi said, helping her pull it down so they could climb up. She climbed up first with him following close behind her. “Wow,” he said, stepping inside the small one-room tree house. There weren’t any windows yet, but Elle’s grandfather promised to install some later that winter.
For the next few minutes, Levi walked around the space, looking at all the things the Wildflowers had dragged up there—a couple of chairs, an old futon, and a bunch of books and magazines along with a camping lamp.
“Do you want some water?” she asked suddenly, unsure what to do or say. She walked over to the cooler where they kept bottles of water and warm soda.
“Sure,” he said, moving closer to her to take it from her. When their hands met, she felt her skin spark.
“Scarlett.” Levi set the bottle down. “I like you.”
She swallowed. “I like you too.” She smiled.
“Can I kiss you?” he asked as his eyes went to her mouth.
Her heart rate spiked, and she felt her palms go sweaty. She didn’t think she could talk, since her throat had closed suddenly.
Instead of answering, she nodded and closed her eyes. The moment Levi’s lips touched hers, she knew she would never love anyone else, ever.
Chapter One
Eight years later…
Scarlett would never hate anyone as much as she hated Levi Grant. The man infuriated her. Who did he think he was? God’s gift sent down to woo every woman and sweep them off their feet?
She held in a growl as she marched towards the main building. Her fists were clenched tight as she pushed open the back door, which opened to a long hallway leading towards her office.
When she saw Dylan come out of her sister’s office, she rolled her eyes.
“Men,” she said as she changed direction from her office to her sister’s and pushed by him.
“What did we do?” Dylan asked with a laugh.
Normally, she would have ignored him. After all, she liked her sister’s fiancé. Really, she did. But she wasn’t in the mood. Instead, she faced him, hands on her hips as she narrowed her eyes and assessed him. Sure enough, there were signs he and her sister had just been making out. His dark hair was ruffled and, was that a hickie on his chin?
“You only want one thing,” she finally said, causing Dylan to laugh again.
“I can assure you, there’s more to life than just sex,” he replied with a smug smile.
“Right,” she spat out.
“Cookies,” he said, shocking her. It was then that she noticed he held out a plate towards her. The pile of double chocolate chip brownie cookies sat there like a peace offering. No doubt the lot was missing from the kitchen where Isaac Andrew, the camp’s celebrity chef, controlled everything. She knew that if she was caught as an accessory… She glanced up and down the hallway before taking two of them.
“If Isaac catches you…” she warned.
Dylan’s smile grew. “I have his blessing.” He nodded and started to pull the plate away.
“In that case.” She grabbed another two cookies. When Dylan started to complain, she stepped inside her sister’s office and shut the door on his face.
“What happened now?” Zoey asked from across the room.
Scarlett’s eyes zoned in on her sister. Yup, she was right. Zoey’s hair was coming out of its long braid as if someone’s fingers had been messing with it. Her shirt was almost sideways, and her chin was red from Dylan’s stubbly chin.
Taking a bite of her first cookie, she plopped down on the chair opposite Zoey’s desk and rolled her eyes for good measure.
“Men,” she said again.
“Let’s be honest. You don’t have an issue with all men. Just one man.” Zoey leaned forward and handed Scarlett a bottle of water. “For the cookies. Tell me what Levi did now.”
“He…” She took a drink of the water and somehow the mix of the coolness and the chocolate helped dissipate some of her anger. “I caught him flirting with Andrea.”
Zoey laughed. “Everyone flirts with Andrea. Actually, scratch that. Andrea flirts with everyone. Elle even mentioned that Andrea came on to her once,” Zoey said, sitting down and glancing at her computer screen.
“Duh, Elle’s hot.” Scarlett shrugged. “I’d come on to her too if I wasn’t…”
“Totally infatuated with Levi?” Zoey supplied, glancing up at her and earning a glare from Scarlett.
“I am not…” She started to deny it.
“Oh please.” Zoey stood up and moved around the desk to stand in front of Scarlett. “Go ahead, deny it.” Her sister leaned closer until they were eye to eye. “You have been totally infatuated with him since that summer he swaggered into the camp with his grandmother.”
She wanted to deny that Levi swaggered but bit her lip inst
ead. He did have a sexy way about him when he walked. Sigh.
“I thought so.” Zoey chuckled and reached back to take another cookie from a smaller plate sitting on the desk. Scarlett watched her sister bite solidly into it.
“So, it’s less than three months before you and Dylan tie the knot.” Scarlett figured that changing the subject was the best way to combat her sister.
Zoey’s smile tripled, if there was such a thing. Her eyes sparkled and she did a little booty dance Scarlett had grown up making fun of.
“I’m getting married,” she sang as she danced around the room, munching on her cookie.
“And you won’t fit into your wedding dress if you keep eating that.” She stood up and snagged the cookie from her sister.
“Hey.” Zoey grabbed it back. “I’m filling in for Elle later today in her evening yoga class.” She took a huge bite, sending half the cookie to the floor. “So, leave me alone,” she added through a full mouth. “Besides…” She motioned to the cookies Scarlett had grabbed from Dylan. “You have more than I do.”
“These are for later,” she lied. She hadn’t gotten around to eating lunch that day. Come to think of it, she hadn’t eaten breakfast either.
Zoey walked back around and sat down at her desk. “What did he do now?” she finally asked.
Scarlett took a deep breath, after finishing off her second cookie and drinking some water. What she wanted was a huge glass of chocolate milk, but figured the calorie-free water was a good thing since she was having a gazillion calories with the four cookies.
