Catching Caitlin

For Caitlin Winters, losing her scholarship was the last blow to her ego. The thought of returning home to her alcoholic parents sounds impossible, but she has no choice.

For the last two years, she's been feeding her drinking habit. Keeping it out of sight and mind of others was the easy part, the hard part was facing herself everyday.

Back in her hometown she runs into an old flame, the one who got away, Hugh Evans. He isn't the high school boy she used to know, but a suave and wealthy executive helping run a successful power company in Nevada. His brash confidence and ego are exactly what Caitlin needs to remember the way things used to be, and the way things could be. When he invites her to join him in Reno, she accepts without a second thought.

She doesn't count on discovering his life isn't nearly the perfection she thinks it's made to look. Seeing a reflection of herself, in him, sends her on an emotional roller coaster she doesn't expect.

As their lives and passions become more entangled, so do their problems. Emotions and tempers rise in the desert heat, but will the shining light of the summer sun be enough to cut through their dark pasts?

Will they discover the keys to figuring out their problems in each other, or will the past push them apart again, keeping them from finding true happiness?

This New Adult Romance novel is recommended to readers over the age of 17 due to graphic language and sexual themes.

EXCERPT:

I scanned the crowd, having tuned out the roar of the club. The flashing lights were dancing over the ceilings, passing over the tight clothes of the other party goers. Most everyone looked pretty plain. I thought about my impromptu call to Aaron. What was he thinking when I called him out of the blue like that? It had been a while since we talked, and maybe something could blossom from that?

No one interesting was dancing, so I looked to the bar, taking big sips of my margarita. When I saw something that made my heart stop in my throat.

Hugh Evans.

The liquid in my mouth threatened to choke me. I couldn't believe I recognized him so quickly. But that pang I felt in my chest was sincere, and as real as it got. My eyes widened, and I felt my palm started to sweat as my heart raced. I forgot myself.

Had it really been five years? Even from that across the room, he didn't look like he had aged at all since we were teenagers. Of course, he had always been older than me, that was part of his charm. He spotted me between the passing people around us and approached me. I looked around for Aaron. Still gone. How convenient for him. Maybe it was better this way.

I slammed my drink, trying to act like I didn't see him. He didn't seem to fall for it. The whole room felt like it went silent.

"Cat," Hugh whispered. "I wasn't sure if that was you."

I nodded, swallowing my drink. I was wrong too, he had aged, but gracefully.

And not just physically either, I could already see the subtle changes in his demeanor, the slight lines on his face developing.

"It's good to see you, Hugh," I stood like a plank on end, barely staying upright. He must've noticed, moving forward and embracing me. Oh god that felt good.

I crumpled his shirt under my hands, holding him against me. He smelled like nostalgia, that faint and fleeting sensation. And briefly, I forgot why we broke up in the first place.

He pulled away and smiled, his eyes crinkling ever-so-slightly, that wiseness creeping in.