One Choice I'd Never Make Read online

  One Choice I’d Never Make

  A Romantic Comedy

  Remi Carrington

  Copyright ©2021 Pamela Humphrey

  All Rights Reserved

  Phrey Press

  www.phreypress.com

  www.remicarrington.com

  First Edition

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  .

  ISBN-13: 978-1-947685-53-6

  Created with Vellum

  Contents

  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

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Epilogue

  Bonus Epilogue

  A Note to Readers

  Also by Remi Carrington

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  The downtown streets were quieter than they’d been three hours ago. I hadn’t passed a single person in two blocks. Everyone else was probably tucked away in a fancy restaurant eating dinner.

  The thought of dinner made my stomach growl. Why hadn’t I brought along a change of clothes? I could’ve been enjoying dinner with friends instead of parading down the street like someone on their way to a Halloween party.

  I glanced back over my shoulder and saw my tail lying on the ground. Stupid tail.

  Keeping it attached to the back end of my costume was an exercise in frustration, so I shoved it into my oversized purse.

  Back when I was in high school, my father had suggested I get a part-time job to develop a good work ethic. So, I did.

  Bagging groceries seemed easy enough, but I was let go for being too friendly with the customers. Did they want me to walk around looking at the ground and grunting when asked a question? Apparently.

  I stepped into the fast-food world after that. We weren’t a good match. That was what every manager said.

  After that, I ended up working in the mail room at my daddy’s company. And I excelled. It wasn’t hard. The envelopes had names on them. Cubicles had names on them. It was like a giant matching game.

  My parents had laid out clear expectations for what I was supposed to do after high school. And I followed them . . . mostly. I went to a reputable university. I studied engineering. I graduated with honors and landed a job at a prestigious company.

  That was where their plan for me and my plan for me diverged. I hated the job. Then I dated my boss because I thought it would make the job more exciting. That didn’t work out. Being dumped during my lunch hour in my boss’s office was exciting, but not in the way I’d hoped.

  Then after flirting with his new assistant for weeks, the toad had the audacity to say he missed me and wanted to go out again. I quit.

  That was the short version of how I’d ended up dressed in a cat costume in downtown San Antonio. Posing as a model paid actual money. And I needed that to eat. Running home to Mom and Daddy was not an option.

  I’d do anything to avoid that. Well, maybe not anything. I never wanted to sever that relationship. I wanted them to be proud of me.

  Quitting my engineering job already had me on thin ice. And displeasing Daddy was a choice carefully made. Call me spoiled, but I liked my creature comforts.

  When he found out that I’d quit the engineering job, he’d suspended my fun money. Temporarily.

  My phone rang, and I dug it out of my purse. “Hello?”

  “Cami, are you sure you don’t want to come to dinner with us?” Nacha asked. “There’s a group of us getting together.”

  “Nah, I didn’t bring a change of clothes, and what I’m wearing isn’t quite dinner attire.” I hooked my purse on my shoulder and kept walking.

  “Where did you park?”

  “Not too far away. Up the stairs. To the left. Five stoplights to the right, then three stoplights left. Then down this alley type thing. Near that big shiny new building.”

  She chuckled. “Are you almost there?”

  “About halfway. Maybe.” If I hurried, I could make it back to my car before dark. “Have fun. Bye.”

  It was one thing to be dressed in a leopard costume when the sun was still blazing in the sky, but after dark, it sent a different message.

  And these high-heeled boots were not made for strolling down city streets. My choices were watching my steps to avoid breaking an ankle or watching my surroundings so I wasn’t snagged off the street.

  While I was fending off kidnappers with my x-ray vision, I missed the wad of gum on the sidewalk. I wrestled my boot free then dragged it on the concrete, leaving a faded pink smear behind me as I went.

  I’d have to get some peanut butter to get it off my shoe. Or was that what they recommended for getting it out of hair? Either way, it was worth a try.

  On Halloween when every teenager waited for the sun to disappear from view, it always took forever. But today, when I needed the sun, it dove toward the horizon like there was a prize for making it there before I reached my car.

  I stopped and scraped my boot a time or two before walking again. Footsteps sounded behind me.

  Speed-walking, I turned left. Had I passed five stoplights or only four? Definitely four. I turned right at the next light.

  Three more lights and then the alley. If I could stay ahead of the creepy shadow, I could escape downtown with my life.

  Even mostly broke, I liked my life.

  The shadow rounded the corner, and I sped up a little more.

  My heart thumped on my eardrums, making it hard to determine how close he was. I hung a left.

  The parking lot was just through the little alley. I needed to make it through there, then I could run across the street to my car.

  The footsteps sounded closer. Maybe they were just echoing off the walls. No one would see me in here if that shadow stalker grabbed me.

  Another man appeared at the end of the alley, and he was headed straight toward me. As he drew closer, I noticed the firefighter logo on his t-shirt.

  He had to be a good guy, right?

  Hope so. I needed a superhero, and besides the shadow stalker, the firefighter was the only one around.

  I broke into a run. He froze as I ran up and threw my arms around his neck.

  “Please help me. There’s a man following me.”

  His arms tightened around me. “It’s so good to see you.” He played the part perfectly.

  “Thank you. You’re my hero.” My lips brushed his stubble, and I regretted trying to whisper in his ear.

  He tensed.

  Of course he did. A woman wearing a cat suit just threw herself at him. He probably thought I’d kissed his cheek.

  Superhero guy didn’t let go, and I di
dn’t mind in the least.

  All the romance novels I’d ever read talked about a tingle when fingers touched. My body felt like I’d stuck my finger in a wall socket.

  I looked into his green eyes and swallowed. “Thank you.”

  “Ma’am, I’ve been trying to catch you. You dropped your jaguar tail.” The voice didn’t come from the man holding me. The shadow man had said that.

  Was there room for me in the crack in the sidewalk?

  After a deep breath, I stepped away from the hunky firefighter. “It’s a leopard tail.”

  Later, I’d tell Nacha and Haley all about the muscles under his shirt. Right now, I needed to gather the last shreds of my pride and escape.

  Shadow man was as old as my father but wasn’t in great shape. It wasn’t a wonder he hadn’t caught me. The poor man was still trying to catch his breath.

  Putting my escape plan into action, I stepped into the street. Running would seem undignified, so I marched—I was probably jaywalking—across the street, then climbed into my car.

  The firefighter ran after me, but he had to wait for a bus to pass, so I was able to get moving before he ran into the parking lot.

  When I looked in my rearview mirror, he waved.

  Crap! My tail was in his hand.

  Chapter 2

  There were times when I’d had a bit too much to drink or way too much dessert, and I woke up the next morning with an overwhelming sense of regret. The worst time was when I didn’t know the little cups of Jell-O were made with some sort of alcohol.

  They tasted good, but I felt horrible the next morning. Seriously. When I wanted to know if they were just Jell-O, I shouldn’t have asked the guy wearing the frat shirt who never strayed more than two feet from the keg.

  In hindsight, I should’ve known.

  Anyway, today, I woke up with regret. In my ongoing and unsuccessful hunt for a man, I’d stumbled on an ideal candidate. And what did I do?

  I tucked tail and ran. No. I hadn’t even thought to grab my tail. Now I couldn’t even use the costume. But the worst part was that I left that gorgeous green-eyed hunk of a man standing on the sidewalk.

  How many fire stations were there in San Antonio?

  I entertained the thought for a few seconds before deciding I definitely shouldn’t hunt him down.

  To ease my regret—or replace it with a different type of regret—I decided to get doughnuts with my coffee on my way to work. That was one perk of living in the tiny apartment in the back of the photography studio. The little bakery right next door was like a second home. That was both good and bad.

  I rolled out of bed, dodged the only comfortable chair in the room, then scooted past the small dresser stuffed with clothes. The rest of my wardrobe hung from a bar on the other side of the bed.

  The whole room was definitely bigger than a postage stamp, but I’d seen taco trucks comparable in size. My belongings stacked in boxes contributed to the lack of space.

  I pulled on a robe before trudging across the hall to the bathroom. With windows across the front of the studio, I never took chances. I was in the back, but still.

  Staring at the mirror, I inhaled, ready to give myself a lecture. Self-talk, especially with eye contact, helped me remember what I should and shouldn’t do when I was tempted to mix up those things on purpose.

  I sighed. “Cami, don’t hunt down the superhero. He thinks you’re nuts.”

  Clearly the shadow man thought that because he said as much as I walked away. I think his actual words were “She’s nuttier than a Mounds bar.”

  The joke was on him because Almond Joy’s got nuts. Mounds don’t.

  Both had coconut in them. Did that count as nuts? I’d have to Google it later.

  A quick glance at the time kicked me into gear. Working the front desk in my pajamas wasn’t allowed, and I still hadn’t bought my doughnut.

  I’d mastered the art of getting ready quickly.

  Fully dressed and ready for work, I slipped out the front door and locked it behind me.

  Right next door, the glorious pastries awaited me.

  Waving at Tessa the owner, I pushed open the door and was greeted by the most fantastic aromas. “Tessa, I think this might be my favorite place in the whole wide world.”

  Delaney lifted her coffee cup. “I agree.” She owned the lingerie shop in our little strip mall and came in almost every day.

  Coming in here each morning was almost as much for the friendship as it was for the food and coffee.

  Tessa, the best baker in the world, waved away the compliment. “It’s just food.” She settled the tab with a customer, then joined us at the end of the counter.

  “No, my dear. What you bake is pure magic. And I need two doughnuts this morning.” I hopped up onto one of the barstools. “And I should take a few photos and upload them to your page. Because your stuff looks as good as it tastes.”

  Delaney shook her head. “Uh-oh. Two doughnuts? What’s wrong?”

  Living the tail episode was embarrassing; telling it would be just as bad. “Remember how I mentioned I had a photoshoot where I had to dress up as a leopard? Well, when I was walking back to my car, there was a man following me.”

  Tessa gasped. “How scary.”

  “It was. Then I saw a guy in front of me on the sidewalk, and I’m not sure what I was thinking. My fear had me delirious. We were in an alley, and in the movies, horrible things happen in alleys.”

  Anyone who knew me knew that my crazy ideas had little to do with fear and more to do with impulse.

  “Anyway, I threw my arms around him, hoping the man chasing me would think . . .” I shrugged. I could only hope it made sense to them in the way it had made sense to me.

  Delaney nodded. “He’d think you weren’t alone. Brilliant plan.”

  “The guy I hugged was a total hottie. Completely. But the other guy, the one chasing me, was only trying to give me back the tail to my costume. It had fallen out of my purse.”

  They both winced.

  “Yep. So, I ran to my car. And now I need doughnuts because walking away from the hottie was maybe the dumbest thing I’ve ever done. And believe me, that says a lot.”

  Tessa leaned on the counter. “Did you even get his name?”

  “Nope. Somewhere out there a hot fireman has my leopard tail.”

  Tessa glanced up as the door opened. “What are you going to do?”

  “Nothing. I’ll probably never see that tail again. All I know was that my hero was wearing a t-shirt with a fireman’s logo on it. Shoot, I’m not even sure he’s single.”

  If he wasn’t single, he needed to rethink how he hugged strangers.

  “Are you going to the fire station after you have coffee?” Delaney laughed as she checked the time.

  “He probably thinks I’m nuttier than a pecan-covered cheese ball.” I made a mental note to buy one when I went to the grocery store.

  “Maybe he likes cheeseballs.” Tessa handed over two doughnuts, then went to wait on a customer.

  “It doesn’t matter because I’ll probably never see him again.” I sipped my coffee. “I’d love to chat longer, but I need to get to my desk.”

  “I need to run too. Inventory won’t unpack itself and mannequins don’t dress themselves.” Delaney slid off her stool. “I like our morning chats.”

  “Me too.” Tessa grinned. “A lot.”

  Moving to the small town had been unexpected but helpful when I quit my engineering job. The longer I lived here, the more I loved it.

  Mulling it all over in my head, somewhere between the doughnut shop and my desk, I decided not to breathe a word about my encounter with the hunky fireman to Nacha and Haley, my co-workers. Bosses would be a better description.

  They rolled their eyes at my antics all the time. But today, I wasn’t in the mood to deal with the head shaking and eye rolling . . . even if it was all meant in fun.

  I carried the coffee and doughnuts to my desk and turned on the computer, gett
ing ready for the day. While I liked working at the photography studio, the pay wasn’t anything like my old job. And now that Daddy had cut off my fun money, I spent a lot of time considering the idea of another job. Since I didn’t know what I wanted to do, it made searching a tad harder. And I liked working with Nacha and Haley.

  Thinking about job stuff would only make today worse.

  Haley ran in, her hair piled in a messy bun atop her head. “I’m so glad it’s Friday.”

  “You and me both. Have you had a chance to look at the pictures from last night?”

  She shook her head. “Nacha worked on those. What I saw on the camera looked good. You looked cute in your jaguar costume.”

  “It was a leopard costume.” I think I was the only one who cared about the distinction.

  “Whatever it was, you rocked it. I’m not brave enough to wear something like that let alone walk around downtown in it.”

  “That’s me. Brave.” What a laugh. I was so brave I’d run into the arms of a stranger to save me from someone trying to return my tail. “I had fun though. I appreciate y’all giving me extra work like that.”

  “Always happy to do it. Well, I need to get to work. I’m hoping to slip out of here early. I want to go shopping at the little store down the way. Have you been in there?” Haley leaned out the door and pointed down the sidewalk.

  “The lingerie shop? Delaney has super cute stuff, and that’s the end of this conversation. I need to be able to work with you.” I covered my ears for an added effect.

  Haley rolled her eyes and walked back to her office, laughing.

  Her timing was perfect because as soon as her door closed, the phone rang.