Read Online Lasting Summer - [Loving Summer 05] by Kailin Gow, Kailin Romance - Free Book Online Page A

out there to take some photos. Which beach are you at?”
    “Malibu. I’m a few blocks from Errol
King’s Oyster House. Want to meet there?”
    “Good, ate there a few times before. I
know where it is,” Cooper said. “I’ll be there in half an hour.”
    “Okay,” I said, hanging up. For some
reason, I was smiling to myself after the call. Something about Cooper seemed
so comforting and familiar, he gave me the kind of feeling I felt when Aunt
Sookie was alive.
    I changed into white shorts, a black
tank top, and got ready to go to Errol King’s Oyster House, which was across
the street from the beach and a short distance away from the Pad, but I took my
SUV, an inheritance from Aunt Sookie just in case I needed to take off from the
restaurant.
    Arriving at the restaurant, I walked in
and found Cooper already seated at a booth, his text book from class laid out
in front of him. He was dressed in a grey non-descript t-shirt and grey cargo
shorts, with a dark zip-up hoodie covering his hair. “Hello Cooper,” I said,
sliding into the bench across from him. “Thank you for meeting me on such short
notice.”
    “Hey Summer,” Cooper said. “Nah, it’s no
problem. I was heading out to the beach anyways. I needed to get some footage
in for my project.”
    The waitress came by and handed me a
menu. I looked over at Cooper, and he took a sip from his soda drink. “I
already ordered,” he said.
    “Oh, then I’ll have the fried oysters
and clam chowder,” I told the waitress. “And a glass of water.”
    The waitress nodded, gathered my menu,
and walked away.
    “So Cooper,” I said, “what kind of
project are you working on at the beach?”
    Cooper smiled a slow smile that was
endearing and charming. “A documentary,” he said.
    “You’re a filmmaker?” I asked.
    “I want to be. I’ve always enjoyed
acting, but I’d rather work behind the scenes.”
    “What a small world,” I said. “I have an
acting school I inherited from my aunt…Aunt Sookie’s Acting Academy.”
    “No way,” Cooper laughed. “I took some
classes there when I was really young.”
    “You were probably there before Aunt
Sookie got the Donovans and me into it.”
    “Probably,” Cooper said. “I just
remembered what an amazing woman your Aunt Sookie was. She got me into acting
and now filmmaking because I had so much fun in her classes.”
    “Oh Cooper,” I said, feeling happy to
hear about Aunt Sookie’s positive influence on a child who had since grown up
into a fine young man. “You don’t know how much that meant to me.”
    “It’s all true,” Cooper said.
    “Even better,” I joked.
    “Yes, definitely better.”
    “So, what’s the documentary about?”
    “A bunch of things. It’s hard to talk
about it,” Cooper said. “I feel like once I talk about it before it’s finished,
I would lose some of the story.”
    “I see,” I said, not really seeing. He
was a true artist, like Astor.
    The waitress came by with his dish, a
lobster ravioli dish, and mine, the fried oysters and clam chowder.
    “Smells delicious,” I said when she
left. I pushed my dish towards him and said, “You can have some. I like sharing
with people when I’m eating.”
    “I noticed,” Cooper said, taking one of
the fried oysters and biting into it. “It’s good,” he said.
    “I know,” I bit into one piece and felt
the juices run down my mouth. I stuck out my tongue as far as it would go and
slowly licked the juices from my chin and the corners of my mouth. When I was
done licking my lips, I noticed Cooper had stopped eating.
    He was staring at me with such a wistful
expression…sad and soulful. There was something there, too, his aquamarine eyes
were gazing intently on my swollen lips with hunger.
    It made my stomach flutter with the
intensity he was staring.
    “Is there something wrong?” I asked.
    Cooper shook his head. “No, nothing. I
was just thinking about how much you remind me of my ex-girlfriend.”
    “Oh, I’m