The Husband Hunt - Kat's Season (The Bachelor Series) by Kiki Abbott, Kim Hornsby Read Free Book Online

thirty-one.
    When they got to the pineapple island and anchored, she said, “L et’s just fix that virginity right now.” The catamaran’s ladder was lowered into the water. The instructor gave them gear and managed to stay off camera to make it look like the two adventurers were going off in the ocean completely alone with no supervision.
                 Kat had been to the Caribbean several times with her family, growing up, but hadn’t snorkeled in years and felt a little rusty as she fixed a mask on her face and grabbed the fins that fit her long feet. She was medium height, 5’7”, but had very long feet and had always been self-conscious of her size tens. Colton teased her when she told him this.
                 “You don’t need fins, your feet are long enough.” He poked her side and laughed.
                 She flashed him a reproachful look.
    Later , when they were drying off, she asked him about his daughter, Bug.
                 “She’s curious, feminine, stubborn as a mule and very protective of me.”
                 “She sounds perfect.”
                 “She is. Just like her Mama.”
                 Kat’s heart sank a bit, to hear him say that on their romantic date, although she wouldn’t have expected less. He’d been married and his wife died suddenly in a train accident. There was a lot of room for sympathy here. “You must miss her terribly.”
                 “I do, but I’ve learned to move on. She’d want that, and for Bug’s sake, I have to.” Colton told her that he dated here and there but his was a small town with little opportunity to meet someone new and it had actually been his in laws who suggested he go on the show. This new information stirred an emotion in Kat she couldn’t name.
                 The luau on the beach at Lanai was beautifully done, but the cameras had to stop and start a lot and they only got a few good shots before the beach was dark and it was time to go back to Maui. Kat felt like their beach date was more of an observance of how a TV show is made, than an actual date. Momentum had been lost. It had been impossible to have a good conversation with Colton as they were continually interrupted to change angles, seats and backgrounds. Making the show was a lot about visual and not as much about the relationship on screen, and by the time they motored back into the Lahaina harbor, Colton had fallen asleep in the hammock on deck.
    Later, t he opportunity arose to film Kat’s interview on how the day went and she regretted saying on camera that it was a lovely day and that Colton was good company. Words like exciting, adventurous and magical should have been used, but the fact remained that it was simply a good day. No big sparks had ignited between Kat and the cowboy, and if he remained asleep, she figured they wouldn’t.
     
    The following day Kat was awakened before dawn by a production assistant for the group date. “They’re waking the men now. Get up, get dressed.”
                 She knew the plan was to drive up the volcano Haleakala, and bike down at sunrise. She’d been excited the night before. Not just at the prospect of the adventure but seeing Ben, Tony, Blake and Sam again would be heaven after last night’s date with Colton, the sleeper. Everyone on that day’s date held some big interest for Kat, but with only three roses to give out, someone would have to be eliminated at the end of the day. Ben was a sweet guy, a great kisser, and they laughed well together. Tony was like a sexy wolf waiting to get her alone. Blake was a handsome athlete with a great job, lived a good life in Florida and made her laugh. And then there was Sam. He was different. Seemed older, more mature than the other guys, more worldly. She’d bet her money that Sam had been to Maui many times in the past.
                 In the dark van, they were served