Pick Me

By Erika Marks

Recently dumped by the man she’d planned to marry, no-nonsense attorney Thea Dunn has returned home to Magnolia Bay to mend her broken heart. But when she learns her new neighbor is Calder Frye, the bad boy who sets the pulse of every good girl at Magnolia Bay High racing, Thea’s verdict to swear off men is in danger of being overturned…

Fourteen years after graduation, Calder has traded his rebel lifestyle to become an ER doctor—but his sex appeal is every bit as powerful as Thea remembers. Could her short-term residence be the perfect chance to live out a teenage fantasy? Or could their reunion be a chance for something more?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tule Publishing
• Release date: Jul 2, 2014
• ISBN: 9781940296470

Erika Marks

Erika Marks is a women’s fiction writer and the author of Little Gale Gumbo, The Mermaid Collector, The Guest House and It Comes In Waves (July, 2014). On the long and winding road to becoming published, she worked many different jobs, including carpenter, cake decorator, art director, and illustrator. But if pressed, she might say it was her brief tenure with a match-making service in Los Angeles after college that set her on the path to writing love stories (not that there isn’t romance in frosting or power tools!) A native New Englander, she now makes her home in Charlotte, NC, with her husband, a native New Orleanian who has taught her to make a wicked gumbo, and their two little mermaids.

Book preview

Author

Dear Reader

Hi, friends!

I am so excited to be back in Magnolia Bay and back with the Dunn sisters and their fabulous men!

When I wrote BET THE HOUSE, I knew I wanted to tell oldest sister Thea’s love story next—and I wanted to give her a swoon-worthy hero so I decided to let her fulfil one of my personal favorite romantic fantasies (and I hope it’s one of yours too!)

I adore the reunion with the high school crush storyline—it gets me every time! And Calder is such a hunk.

We had a guy like Calder at my high school. He rode a motorcycle and he was such a dude. Best of all, he was smart and nice—but he was a total mystery. He came to class and no one ever knew anything about him—except that he was a total hottie.

Which leads me to our story, PICK ME. Here we have Thea Dunn, a take-charge attorney who thought she knew exactly where her life was headed—then heartbreak sends her reeling and back to her hometown of Magnolia Bay for a few weeks to get her ducks back in a row. Who would have guessed she’d find herself moving in next to her secret high school crush, Calder Frye, who’s now an ER Doctor, and even sexier than he was fourteen years earlier. But just like Thea, Calder’s got his own reasons for coming home to Magnolia Bay. Will this reunion offer them more than just the chance to live out a teenage fantasy—or something more lasting?

I hope you’ll read on to find out—and as always, I hope you’ll let me know what you think about their love story. In my opinion, hearing from readers is the most special part of what we as writers are fortunate enough to get to do—so promise me that you’ll share your thoughts with me if you so desire. I’d love to hear from you!

In the meantime, friends, come back with me to Magnolia Bay and stay a while—we so love your company!

Erika

Dedication

To Jane Porter and Meghan Farrell, who make all of this possible

And to Sinclair Sawhney, for her flawless, spot-on insight into the heart of love stories

My warmest thanks to you, lovely ladies!

Prologue

Magnolia Bay, South Carolina

May, 2000 

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Yards of violet tulle bunched in her fists as she walked, Thea Dunn squeezed her swollen eyes shut, but it didn’t make a difference—she could still see the horrific scene as plain as day, whether her eyes were open or closed: her boyfriend, Patrick Hogan, and fellow senior, Karen Kiley, braided together against the lockers like a pair of Twizzlers.

And what had she, Thea, done? Had she yanked the fire hose from the hall wall and doused them both with it, hoping the water pressure might be strong enough to send the cheaters sailing down the hall on a wave? No! Spineless, sniveling coward that she was, she’d simply gone mute, spun around and stumbled out the door without so much as a hiccup.

She’d seen enough movies to know that people in shock shut down, that their whole bodies turned off and that if they moved at all, they moved like someone in a dream, silently, numbly.

That was it. She’d been in shock.

Correction: She was still in shock.

Which was why she was now wandering down Spencer Road, a good half-mile away from school, in her floor-length, purple satin prom dress with a pair of blisters the size of quarters on her heels. After seeing Patrick and Karen glued to each other, she had walked straight out of the gym and kept walking, her feet swollen and aching, her immaculately applied make-up probably sliding down her face like a deranged mime.

Her three younger sisters would be crushed—well, maybe not her middle sister, Willa who at eleven despised all things romantic—but certainly Peach and Connie would be disappointed after having fluttered around Thea all night as she’d dressed and waited for Patrick to pick her up in his father’s Cadillac. What would they say if they knew her date had stolen away for a bathroom break  fifteen minutes into prom and been caught making out with Karen Kiley?

Thea scanned the view, trying to find her bearings but the watery glow of the street lamps wasn’t much help. In her daze, she’d been so fixed on getting as far away as possible from Patrick and Magnolia Bay High School, that she hadn’t been paying attention to her route. Which way was downtown? Did she even care? Maybe it didn’t matter if she ever made it home. Maybe she should be considering other destinations. She wondered if it would be possible to walk all the way to Charleston from where she was—or, better yet, to California. She could start over there, start a new life where no one knew her. She’d have to, because once the news of her humiliation spread through school, she’d never be able to show her face at Magnolia Bay High again!

A fresh flood of tears soaked her eyes. God, her feet were killing her! She spotted a bench at the end of the block and rushed to fall into it, uncaring if bird poop lined the weathered wood planks. She’d spent weeks looking for the perfect prom dress, and several more starving herself just to fit into it, and for what? So she could wander the dark streets in it, alone?

Thankfully, the traffic on Spencer had been light. The last thing she needed was neighbors and long-time friends of her family witnessing her walk of shame and spreading the gossip of her heartbreak before she’d even made it home.

Out of the quiet, she heard the nearing chug and growl of a motorcycle. She climbed to her aching feet and resumed her sad march, wanting the loud engine to pass her quickly. But instead of speeding up, the motorcycle appeared to slow, so much so that it pulled alongside her and stopped to an idling purr.

Startled, Thea turned. She recognized the bike before she recognized the rider. Even though his face was masked by his helmet visor, there was no mistaking the long, jean-clad legs that straddled the Harley. Everyone at Magnolia Bay High knew Calder Frye. Knew of him, more specifically—that he was part of the Frye family that owned the Pick-Your-Own farm a few miles outside of town—but the truth was no one really knew him. Just that every girl in school certainly wanted to. Badly.

He pulled off his helmet and set it on his thigh, revealing a thick tumble of wavy auburn hair and the smoldering turquoise eyes that Thea and her girlfriends all silently hoped might land on them in Chemistry.

His gaze raked over her. You okay?

He so rarely spoke in class, Thea forgot how deep his voice was.

Thea prayed she was hallucinating, and that the sexiest guy in school hadn’t actually pulled up to see her looking like a Barbie after an hour with a Sharpie-wielding toddler. Because if this was fate’s idea of a joke, she wasn’t laughing.

Determined to save face, she sniffed, pushed her sagging up-do off her forehead and threw back her shoulders. She might be the laughing stock of prom, but Calder Frye didn’t have to know it.

At least not until school started back up on Monday, anyway.

I’m fine, she asserted proudly. Never better.

Clearly. His mouth slid up into a tender smile.

His sympathy undid her; her confession poured out, unbidden. I’m not fine. I’m actually a mess. I got into a fight with my boyfriend.

Calder squinted. Isn’t tonight prom?

Yup. Thea wiped her eyes and frowned at the black streaks of mascara that came away on her fingertips. She sighed. Not the best timing, is it? she asked.

He shrugged. That all depends.

On what?

On whether or not you like cheeseburgers. He leaned forward on his helmet. I was on my way to get one at Al’s and I always feel badly taking up one of those big booths by myself. If you joined me, I wouldn’t have to feel so guilty.

Thea blinked at him through her blurry eyes, her lashes clumped and sticky with leftover tears. Was Calder Frye asking her out?

Maybe fate wasn’t the beast she’d thought!

Or I could give you a ride back to prom, he said. But either way you’re coming with me. I’m not leaving you walking this road alone.

The firmness of his claim touched her—and the heat of his gaze assured her he meant it. She’d never imagined herself the damsel in distress type, but at that moment, Calder Frye might as well have been riding a white horse instead of a Harley.

Suddenly all she wanted to do was climb onto that seat behind him and let him steer them off into the darkness.

And she was starving.

She sniffled. I like cheeseburgers.

Well, then—see? He leaned back on the seat and gave her the sexiest smile she’d ever seen in real life. Your timing’s perfect. Here. He handed her his helmet. She considered it a moment before pulling it down over her head, uncaring that it would crush the once-tidy sweep of curls she’d worked a half hour to perfect.

After securing it on her head, she tugged at the straps to close them but couldn’t.. 

He crooked a finger and beckoned her closer. Let me get those for you.

She came to him, but not near enough apparently, so he reached out and eased her closer, close enough that she had to slide against his thigh, her skirt rubbing against the worn denim of his jeans, the tulle beneath the satin crackling like a campfire. Her heart pounded—she only hoped he couldn’t hear the thrumming, but as he fingered the straps, his gaze dropped briefly to the base of her throat and she feared he’d seen the throbbing of her pulse there. She’d never been this close to him, never realized his eyes were the color of limes. She drew in a breath and caught the leathery scent of the motorcycle then the smooth scent of him behind it. A heady mix of earth and sun-warmed hay.

I might need to tighten it up a bit, he said, biting on his lower lip as he eased the strap more snuggly in its clip. Thea swallowed, aware that her hands had landed on his thigh to steady herself, the sensation of hard muscle under her fingers not helping to slow her heartbeat.

The strap tightened, his fingers deftly snapped the catch under her chin; the tips of his thumbs callused as they grazed her neck. Just an inch closer, a tilt of his head, and he could have kissed her before she’d had time to say—

All set.

He released her and she stepped back.

So I guess I just—what—get on? she asked tentatively.

That’s right—just climb on. But you might want to tuck all that under you to keep it from getting caught, he said, pointing to her skirt.

She nodded, sweeping the layers of tulle into a knot and twisting them high enough to reveal her thigh.

Hold on to me as tight as you can, he said.

Talk about a sentence she never thought she’d hear from Calder Frye! But then, nothing about this night was believable. One minute she’d been cast out by her boyfriend to shuffle and weep her way down a dark street, the next she was wrapping her arms around Calder Frye’s hard chest and pressing her nose into his shoulder, taking in deep, coppery breaths of him.

He revved the engine.

Where are we going again? she asked.

He smiled at her over his shoulder. Wherever we want.

Chapter One

Magnolia Bay, South Carolina

May, Present Day

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Her watery eyes never leaving the road, Thea Dunn reached across the buttercream leather seat of her Lexus for the box of tissues, yanked one out, and blew her nose one-handed.

No one would have believed it: a no-nonsense, thirty-two-year-old lawyer who never flinched in the courtroom, who stared down defendants without blinking, and she had been reduced to tears by a damn bug.

And not just any bug—a termite. Lots of them. Enough of the winged monsters that the term infestation had been used.

And not since Guilty had one word had such an impact on Thea’s world.

In fairness, she wouldn’t put all the blame for her breakdown on the bugs. It had been, after all, a grueling year. After recovering from the drama that had surrounded her baby sister, Peach marrying into one of their family’s professional rivals, the Lovelesses, Thea had spent the winter fighting her way through an exhausting case whose unfortunate outcome would now go to appeal. Then, a few days ago, Dennis Connolly, the attorney she’d been seeing for three years—the man she was certain was days away from proposing marriage—had unexpectedly dumped her at a friend’s crab boil.

And just when Thea was sure the bird of Life couldn’t crap on her head one more time, there was the discovery of termites in her Charleston townhouse. When the inspector had informed her she’d have to vacate the property for at least a week during the fumigation, Thea decided it was the perfect excuse to finally use the two weeks of vacation she’d been saving for her and Dennis’ romantic getaway—since it turned out the only thing Dennis Connolly wanted to get away from was her.

It was Thea’s younger sister, Willa, who’d found the condo rental in Arcadia Dunes and called Thea up—in typically-impulsive-Willa fashion at two in the morning—to insist she take it. At first Thea had balked, no more interested