All the Right Things

By Audrey Harte

In “Love in All the Wrong Places”, Annie tried her hand at online dating, but it brought her nothing but a broken heart. This girl can't seem to catch a break in the dating world! While wondering what went wrong once again, she met an attractive, funny and sincere hip hop dancer in the parking lot at work. But just as Casey expressed interest in taking her out, he had to leave town to tour the country with an up and coming pop star. Annie was willing to wait for him to return, but then she received an apologetic text from Nate, the last guy she met on Craigslist.

Join Annie on her adventures in “All the Right Things” as she makes some of the biggest decisions of her life. While she thoroughly enjoyed the time she spent with Nate and is still attracted to him, he screwed her and then ditched her at the bar without a word. Will Annie accept Nate’s explanation and heartfelt apology and give him a second chance, or will she kick him to the curb? Or will Casey’s charm and determination to show her how a real man should treat a lady win her over? Or will both of these guys be left in the dust when someone from her past reappears?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Audrey Harte
• Release date: Feb 13, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311306234

Audrey Harte

A self-published author of romantic and erotic fiction, Audrey Harte was born and raised in Hawaii but spent her junior high and high school years in Scottsbluff, Nebraska before moving to Los Angeles, California on her own at the age of 17. She loves living in the City of Angels, which she has proudly called home for the past 18 years. She is currently working on a stand-alone F/F romance titled Sunset Stripped, tentatively scheduled to release in June 2017. The untitled book 2 of the Love in NYC series has been put on the back burner while she focuses on the new F/F romance. Her first book, Love in All the Wrong Places, was released on April 10th, 2013, and the second book in the same series, All the Right Things, was released on February 13th, 2014. The third and final book in the Love in L.A. series, The Winner Takes It All, was released on October 13th, 2014. Say Anything was released on April 3rd, 2015, with the cover featuring actor/model/former Harlem Globetrotter and Washington Generals player, Tyler White, and fitness model, Catherine Gontran. You can follow all three of them on Instagram (@audreyharteauthor, @tylerdashwhite & @_coryvegas

Book preview

All the Right Things

Copyright © 2014 Audrey Harte

Published by Audrey Harte

Smashwords Edition 2014

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All the Right Things

Copyright © 2014 Audrey Harte

Published by Audrey Harte

Smashwords Edition 2014

Cover art © by Christopher Neil

Interior Design by Angela McLaurin, Fictional Formats

https://www.facebook.com/FictionalFormats‎

All rights reserved.

No portion of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any print or electronic form without permission

This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to any person, living or dead, any place, events or occurrences is purely coincidental. The characters and story lines are created from the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The subject matter is not appropriate for minors. Please note this novel contains profanity, explicit sexual situations, and alcohol consumption.

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CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAPTER TWELVE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

AUTHOR’S NOTE

In Love in All the Wrong Places, Annie tried her hand at online dating, but it brought her nothing but a broken heart. This girl can't seem to catch a break in the dating world! While wondering what went wrong once again, she met an attractive, funny and sincere hip hop dancer in the parking lot at work. But just as Casey expressed interest in taking her out, he had to leave town to tour the country with an up and coming pop star. Annie was willing to wait for him to return, but then she received an apologetic text from Nate, the last guy she met on Craigslist.

Join Annie on her adventures in All the Right Things as she makes some of the biggest decisions of her life. While she thoroughly enjoyed the time she spent with Nate and is still attracted to him, he screwed her and then ditched her at the bar without a word. Will Annie accept Nate’s explanation and his heartfelt apology and give him a second chance or will she kick him to the curb? Or will Casey’s charm and determination to show her how a real man should treat a lady win her over? Or will both of these guys be left in the dust when someone from her past reappears?

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To every girl who has chased a dream. Those who dream strive to be better people. Don’t ever stop dreaming and always believe in yourself. You can do anything you put your mind to, if you want it badly enough.

***

Nate: Annie, I need to talk to you. I’m so sorry and I want to explain everything if you’ll listen to me. I can’t excuse what I did, but I did have a very good reason for it, and I miss you and I want to see you and tell you everything. Please say you’ll hear me out.

Annie stared at her cell phone with a perplexed expression as she re-read the message from Nate for the tenth time. Her mind was racing as she drove back to the valley after having coffee with Casey. Sure, she’d secretly hoped he would call and explain, but hadn’t really expected him to. Annie wasn’t convinced he could say anything to make her forgive what he had done, but she had to admit a morbid curiosity to know what kind of excuse he would offer for fucking her in the bathroom of a karaoke bar and then leaving without a word.

Instead of heading to her apartment when she got home, she found herself at Alex’s door, knocking insistently until he opened it. Her neighbor and BFF took one look at her face, and without a word, stepped back to usher her inside. She made a beeline for his kitchen and got a glass to pour herself some wine from the recently opened bottle sitting on his counter, drinking it all in a few big gulps. Wincing as the chilled wine gave her a bit of brain freeze, she set the glass down and poured herself some more.

Bad day? Alex asked with a raised eyebrow as he sat down on a bar stool, reaching over to extract the bottle from her hand and pour the remaining wine into his glass.

Not exactly… I mean, it was a pretty great day, all in all. I met up for coffee with Casey after work again, and that was good. The down side was when he told me that he’s going on tour tomorrow for a few weeks. He’s relieving an injured back-up dancer for some new pop star.

Cool for him, not so cool for you?

Annie laughed. It’s fine—I mean, yeah, I’m a little bummed that we were just starting to get to know each other, and now I won’t see him for at least three weeks, but he wants to take me out sometime when he gets back. And with the track record I’ve had lately, I think it’s a good thing if we can just talk for a few weeks and get to know each other before anything gets physical between us.

That’s probably smart.

Yeah… so then I’m driving home when I get a text message from Nate.

Say what? Alex’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, and Annie just nodded, her eyes widening slightly as she raised her glass and drained it again.

I know, right?

I think this calls for more wine, Alex said as he left his seat to retrieve another bottle of Pinot Grigio from the fridge, taking a quick moment to pop the cork. After refilling both their glasses, he slid her glass over and took a long sip from his own. By the way, I see that you got your hair did!

Oh, yeah—after work yesterday. Annie reached up to run her fingers through the short bob. It would take some getting used to.

"I can’t believe you cut off so much; it’s super short! What made you decide to do that? Not that it doesn’t look great—it’s totally chic on you."

Thanks, sweetie… I dunno… I just feel like I’m going through a change right now and trying to start fresh with my love life, which—as you know—has been a total disaster lately. Well, not just lately.

Alex nodded. You do have the world’s worst luck with men.

Ha, you’re telling me.

Not that my luck is any better in the men department.

I can still ask Casey to find you some men in tights, Annie said with a snicker as she grinned innocently at him. Alex looked like he was about to make a smart remark, but just then the doorbell rang, interrupting him. Looking a little embarrassed, she stood up and started to apologize. I’m so sorry… I just barged in here. If you’re expecting company, I can totally leave.

Stay right where you are; it’s just the pizza guy, Alex said as he got up from his bar stool and reached into his back pocket for his wallet, making his way to the front door. After paying the delivery guy and shutting the door again, he set the pizza box down on the counter and opened the lid.

When she saw what kind it was, she clapped her hands happily. Mmm, pepperoni, pineapple and green peppers—my favorite. See, this is why we’re friends. You have great taste in pizza.

Alex laughed. Dig in… I can’t eat the whole thing myself. At least my taste in pizza is better than my taste in men.

He didn’t have to offer twice. Annie took the plate he offered her and grabbed a slice, then swore as she immediately dropped the piece back into the box.

Holy shit, that’s hot! she exclaimed, sucking on her fingers.

Uh yeah, don’t burn yourself, sweetie.

After waiting another minute to let it cool, she tried to pick up the piece again and successfully transferred it to her plate before gingerly biting into the hot, cheesy goodness. Mmm, that’s good.

So, back to the text message from Nate, Alex said around a mouthful of pizza.

Groaning, Annie rolled her eyes and didn’t respond for a moment, taking another bite of her pizza and chewing it slowly before she finally responded. Right. Well, he texted back and apologized for ditching me the other night—said he had a good explanation, that he missed me and wanted to see me again.

Huh, interesting. So are you going to meet up with him?

Part of me wants to believe that he really did have a good reason, but part of me doubts that I can trust him again. Besides, I see some real potential with Casey. And I’m pretty sure that neither one of them is going to be down with me dating both of them at the same time, not that I would. But I do want to know what his reason was.

Me too.

Ugh, why do men have to be such dicks sometimes? she huffed.

Hey now, Alex protested.

"Why do straight men have to be such dicks sometimes?" she corrected, smiling at him.

Beats me, but I want to hear all about it after you see Nate. I’ll be waiting with a fresh bottle.

What? You think I should have him come over right now? Annie looked at him incredulously.

No time like the present, sweetie.

No! Are you crazy? I need time to mentally prepare for this meeting.

Alex shook his head at her. You’re stalling, Mami.

I’m not stalling. I just—I just need a night to think it through.

What do you need to think through? You just want to hear what his excuse is for now, right? Doesn’t mean you have to make a decision right away whether or not you believe him.

Annie chewed her lip, looking doubtful. I dunno… let me marinate on it for a minute.

Alex bit into another piece of pizza and nodded at her, indicating his mouth was busy for the moment anyway. She really did want to hear what Nate had to say, and she’d rather make a decision on what to do sooner rather than later before it affected her chances with Casey.

Alright. Annie got up from her bar stool and patted the counter decidedly. I’ll be back for more wine.

Atta girl!

Annie’s hand trembled as she dialed Nate’s number and put the phone to her ear, listening as it rang once, then twice, then he picked up.

Hello? Annie?

Hi.

Look, I can explain. I’m so sorry.

You should be.

I am, trust me. Can I… can I come over and speak with you in person about this? Please just let me explain.

Even though she’d already made up her mind to let him come over, she felt like she had to make him suffer a bit first. She waited for several seconds and then sighed. I don’t know if that’s a good idea.

Please. I swear I didn’t mean to hurt you at all. I just… I need to see you face to face and apologize and explain what happened.

Annie sighed and paused again for extra effect before finally agreeing. Fine… I mean, yeah, sure. Why not?

Great. I’ll be there in about half an hour.

Okay.

She ended the call and looked skyward. Please God, don’t make me regret this.

A moment later, she was knocking first on Alex’s door before letting herself in. He had her glass filled and ready when she walked in. She quickly downed the wine and held up her glass for more.

He’s coming over, she squeaked.

Alex smirked as he refilled her glass. Oh goodie, I’ll be listening for your screams through the courtyard again.

Okay first of all, I am not sleeping with that jerk-off, whatever he has to say. If I forgive him, he’s gonna have to work for it this time. Second of all, I learned my lesson the first time and I won’t be forgetting to shut the windows ever again.

Whatever you say, chica.

Annie rolled her eyes at him as she gulped down the rest of her glass and then set it down on the countertop. Thanks, hon. I needed the drink and pep talk. I’m gonna go freshen up before he gets here. Love you.

Love you more!

There was plenty of time for Annie to touch up her make-up and hair and tidy up the apartment before Nate got there. When she answered the door and saw him standing there with a bouquet of flowers in his hand, his deep blue eyes so hopeful and apologetic, Annie’s first instinct was to throw her arms around him and say she forgave him. But the amount of hurt he had caused made her cautious; she wasn’t about to cave that easily.

Hey, he said quietly.

Hey, she said back, eyes narrowed and wary.

You cut your hair.

Instinctively, her hand went up to touch the hair that was now gone. Yeah. You don’t like it?

No, I do. It looks good—you… look great.

Thanks, she said, letting her hand drop back down to her side.

I got you these flowers… kind of lame, I know. But uh, the florist told me that white roses can show apology while the lavender ones can express feelings of infatuation, delight or adoration. So like if I wanted to let a girl know that I’m so sorry I fucked things up and that I’ve fallen head over heels in love with her and hope she’ll forgive me and give me a second chance, this was what I should get.

"Well, Nate, I don’t really know what you want me to say. I mean, the flowers are a nice gesture, but you can’t buy me off with roses and a pretty little speech. You still haven’t explained why you just disappeared the other night. I’m pretty sure you knew you could’ve hooked up with me well before the night at the karaoke bar, but you made it seem like you were interested in more than just a casual fuck."

Nate winced as he glanced around the empty courtyard. "Ah, yeah, I know. I’m a dick. And I did—I do want more than that from you. But uh… can I maybe come inside and talk with you about this so we don’t give your neighbors a private show?"

Annie hesitated momentarily before nodding her consent, then reluctantly stepped back to allow Nate to enter the apartment. He handed her the flowers, then stood there waiting for her to close the door and sit down on the couch. He remained standing as he rubbed his hands together nervously, looking up at the ceiling and clearing his throat before finally looking her in the eye.

"Alright, let