by Natalie Ann
Copyright 2019 Natalie Ann
All Rights Reserved
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without a written consent.
Author’s Note
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
The Road Series-See where it all started!!
Lucas and Brooke’s Story- Road to Recovery
Jack and Cori’s Story – Road to Redemption
Mac and Beth’s Story- Road to Reality
Ryan and Kaitlin’s Story- Road to Reason
The All Series
William and Isabel’s Story — All for Love
Ben and Presley’s Story – All or Nothing
Phil and Sophia’s Story – All of Me
Alec and Brynn’s Story – All the Way
Sean and Carly’s Story — All I Want
Drew and Jordyn’s Story— All My Love
Finn and Olivia’s Story—All About You
The Lake Placid Series
Nick Buchanan and Mallory Denning – Second Chance
Max Hamilton and Quinn Baker – Give Me A Chance
Caleb Ryder and Celeste McGuire – Our Chance
Cole McGuire and Rene Buchanan – Take A Chance
Zach Monroe and Amber Deacon- Deserve A Chance
Trevor Miles and Riley Hamilton – Last Chance
The Fierce Five Series
Brody Fierce and Aimee Reed - Brody
Aiden Fierce and Nic Moretti- Aiden
Mason Fierce and Jessica Corning- Mason
Cade Fierce and Alex Marshall - Cade
Ella Fierce and Travis McKinley- Ella
Love Collection
Vin Steele and Piper Fielding – Secret Love
Jared Hawk and Shelby McDonald – True Love
Erik McMann and Sheldon Case – Finding Love
Connor Landers and Melissa Mahoney- Beach Love
Ian Price and Cam Mason- Intense Love
Liam Sullivan and Ali Rogers- Autumn Love
Owen Taylor and Jill Duncan – Holiday Love
Chase Martin and Noelle Bennett- Christmas Love
Zeke Collins and Kendall Hendricks- Winter Love
Troy Walker and Meena Dawson – Chasing Love
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Her childhood crush. His best friend’s little sister. There’s nothing wrong with that, right?
Meena Dawson has always been loud. Always been wild. Always been bold. And she always thought she loved her brother’s best friend. She’s an adult now. Not so loud. Not so wild, but still bold and definitely in love with Troy Walker. It’s time to make her move now with the hopes of not scaring him away or ruining the family connection they’ve always had.
Troy Walker has always been serious. Dull and even boring. He knew that because he’d been told it enough in his life, especially by all his exes. At least that was the reason they’d given him for leaving every time. But now that Meena Dawson is back in town, he’s wondering if he could find a way to not be all those things and maybe catch her eye. Only he has to find a way to make sure his best friend—Meena’s brother—doesn’t find out.
Table of Contents
Prologue
Damn Lucky
Hurry to Leave
Might Be a Mistake
Not Enough
Plan in Place
First Moves
In a Routine
Push My Buttons
Leading Her On
Shock Factor
Have That in Common
Feet on the Ground
Important in My Life
Our Little World
Betray Her
Say Something
Playful and Reckless
Putting Her Feet Up
Acting Stupid
Ready to Talk
So Crazy
Epilogue
Prologue
“Meena, stop following us everywhere.”
Meena squinted her eyes at her older brother. She was bored and there was nothing to do. “Why can’t I play with you and Troy?”
“Because you’re ten and we’re fifteen and we don’t play anymore,” Brian said.
“Meena,” her mother said from the kitchen where she was baking cookies. The smell of ginger was awesome and she couldn’t wait to eat some, but she didn’t want to help make them. Baking wasn’t her thing. Neither was cooking or doing arts and crafts, coloring or playing with dolls. All the things her mother wanted her to do. “Leave your brother and Troy alone.”
“But I want to go outside with them,” she argued.
Her mother’s sigh could be heard loud and clear. “You can go outside but don’t go chasing them around. Let them be.”
Meena would take it as a win and rushed out the side door her brother and his best friend Troy just exited. Brian was lucky that his best friend lived in the same development as them, even if it was a few streets over. He was old enough to ride his bike around on his own with his friends, but she had to stay in the cul de sac where she could be seen.
When she was adventurous—which was often if her mother could be believed—she pushed her boundaries by going to the end of the street. Her mom could still see her if she craned her neck out the kitchen window more and that had been Meena’s answer.
Brian turned when Meena ran into the garage and got on her bike next to the older boys. “What are you doing out here, clown?”
“I’m not a clown,” Meena said, looking down at her rainbow tutu that she’d had on over neon green leggings. “You just wish you had my fashion sense.”
“She has you there,” Troy said to Brian. “I’d like to see you pull off that look.”
Meena giggled. If she was always chasing them around it was because she wanted to be by Troy and not Brian. Troy was always nice to her and made her giggle more than normal. He made all these funny feelings erupt in her belly a lot too.
“At least I can match my socks,” Brian said, laughing.
“It’s the style,” Meena argued. “You’ve got none, that’s why you can’t pull it off.”
“The style is to make sure you wear the brightest, boldest colors and nothing matches?” Brian asked, smirking. “I’ll stay out of style if you don’t mind.”
Meena shrugged. She was used to the comments that she received. Not just from her brother or her parents—who were too dull and boring in her eyes. Her parents were probably closer to most grandparents’ age and they looked it. Except when her mother went to work at the hospital. She was thinking those ugly black scrubs would always be around for the nurses.
Her father still wore a suit and tie to work every day to the insurance firm he owned. A black or blue suit with a white shirt and a solid-color tie. Usually red or blue. Lame! She hadn’t once seen him wear one of the ties she’d picked out for him. Her father didn’t believe her when she said pink and purple stripes looked good on him.
“That’s because you boys are boring,” she said back. Both of them were just wearing athletic shorts and some T-shirt with a logo on it. Neither Brian nor Troy ever wanted to really stand out and she didn’t understand that. Standing out from the crowd was fun and e
xciting.
How come no one thought like she did?
Troy laughed at her. “I like boring just fine, Meena. But you look cute dressed the way you are. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”
Her smile lifted even more. Troy never picked on her. He never made fun of her. He said she looked cute. She wondered if he felt all those warm fuzzy bunnies hopping around in his belly like she did too.
“Thanks, Troy. You’re a lot nicer to me than my brother.”
“That’s because you’re not bugging him twenty-four seven like you do me.” But Brian brought his bike closer to her and tugged on her ponytail playfully. She wanted to be annoyed at him but found she couldn’t be. He’d never been really mean to her. He just wanted space that she didn’t feel like giving him.
“Can I go with you two, please?” she asked, trying one last time.
“No, Meena,” Brian said. “You’re too young and we’re going to hang out with our friends at the park.”
“Maybe another time,” Troy said, and the two of them started to pedal away.
“Why would you say that to her?” she heard her brother say to Troy. “Don’t encourage her to hang around us even more.”
“She’s just a kid looking for attention,” Troy said. “She only wants a friend to play with.”
Meena narrowed her eyes at the boy’s retreating back, then whispered to herself, “A friend, Troy? I don’t think so.” She giggled to herself. “You’re going to be my husband someday.”
Damn Lucky
Sixteen years later
“Brian, I need a favor,” Meena said into the phone. She hated asking anyone for anything, but she was getting desperate and it was too early to call a service. Or if she did, she’d get charged double time when she was hoping it was something Brian could fix.
“Sure, what do you need?” he asked on the other end. It was Monday morning, barely seven. He’d be leaving for work soon and she felt horrible calling, but she had clients that would be showing up at nine. And not just her clients either. Being a business owner was a lot more difficult than she thought.
“I’ve got no hot water for some reason. I don’t know why.”
“Is your furnace working?”
“I think. It was cold when I came in, but then I turned it on and I heard it kick in.” She moved closer to the vent. “Yep, hot air coming out.”
She didn’t know the first thing about furnaces or heating, nothing mechanical. What she did know was hair. And she had close to fifteen of her twenty chairs that would be filled in two hours and she needed hot water and she needed it fast.
“I’ve got a meeting this morning at nine, so I’ve got time to run over quick and look at it. Give me about thirty minutes to get there.”
He was a lifesaver coming to her aid this early in the morning. Not many brothers would do that and she was damn lucky and knew it. Years ago, she wouldn’t have called him. Or she would have, but might have worried he wouldn’t have come. She’d pestered him enough when they were kids, doing what little sisters did.
She hung up and went about getting her salon ready to open. She had plenty of time, but she liked to make sure everything was just right.
Having only owned the business for six months, she was still trying to figure out what she wanted to do with the place.
It was huge, which was part of what she was looking for. It was located conveniently in Albany with easy access to major highways.
And it had high-end clientele.
That had been the biggest piece of the puzzle. Pulse catered to all ages, all styles, and most pocketbooks. But the deep pocketbooks were the ones she was trying to target the most.
If it was the newest rage in style, color, and technique, Pulse was the place people were flocking to. More so than ever.
Her own unique style and creativity had people piling in faster and requesting her. Her biggest problem of late was making time for everyone, which she couldn’t do. So instead, she started to train a few of the girls in the salon how to mix colors the way she did. How to be bold and vibrant and make the color last.
Some of the girls were good, but they just needed to learn a few tricks that she was willing to pass on. The more people in the salon, the more revenue.
Half her twenty chairs were rented out, the other half were her employees. Business was booming.
But that boom was going to crash if she didn’t have hot water for all her appointments this morning.
Less than thirty minutes later, Brian was walking in the door and he wasn’t alone. Troy Walker was behind him and he was carrying a bag of tools. Sexy? Hell yeah!
She hadn’t seen him in almost two years. Not since she’d come home for his father’s funeral. His beautiful girlfriend had been there with him and Meena had felt out of place, so she’d given her condolences and made a fast exit, driving back home to Manhattan where she felt like she belonged. She never felt like she belonged in her hometown just outside of Albany in the suburbs.
Suburbia living wasn’t for her. She wanted downtown and she wanted action. She got it all in the Big Apple.
When Brian let it slip shortly after the funeral that Troy’s girlfriend had decided to move on to someone else, Meena knew it was now or never and put her plan in place to move back home. All those years of excitement and big city living were out the window. Whatever she’d been looking for, she realized she just wasn’t finding it.
Not there but maybe here. Maybe coming back as an adult on her own terms would make the difference.
She hadn’t been able to find a way or a reason to see Troy since she’d been back. Looked like today was the day to make some progress.
“Thanks for rushing over, Brian,” Meena said, walking forward and giving him a kiss on the cheek. “My hero. I’m going to go get you some breakfast while you look it over because I’m guessing you ran out the door as soon as you hung up like the awesome brother you are.”
Brian laughed. “There used to be a time you didn’t think I was so awesome.”
She grew up. “And there used to be a time you wouldn’t have come over if I asked.”
Brian rolled his eyes. “I’d always come over, but I would have been grouchy about it.”
She gave Brian a little playful shove, then made her way toward Troy and opened her arms. He seemed to hesitate and she didn’t care. She was going to give her brother’s best friend a hug. “It’s so good to see you, Troy.”
He wrapped his arms around her and held on tighter than she thought he would have, then let go much sooner than she would have preferred. He still topped her five-foot-six-inch frame by half a foot, but he’d filled out plenty. “You too, Meena. You look good.”
She ran her hand through her long bright red hair. “Thanks. I decided I needed a change.”
“Her hair was silver a few weeks ago,” Brian said.
“Titanium. And though it’s popular right now, I kept thinking it was too close to Mom’s natural color and it freaked me out.”
“Nothing has ever freaked you out before, but whatever works,” Brian said. “Though I know a few things about a furnace or water heater, thanks to Troy, I figured I might as well bring him along since he was my nine o’clock appointment anyway.”
“Whatever gets me hot water, I don’t care. Just don’t make it hurt too much,” she joked to Troy. He actually blushed. Holy cow. She didn’t see that coming.
Troy now owned his father’s heating and cooling business that had fleets of vans covering a good hundred-mile radius of the Capital Region in all directions. Last she knew he didn’t do much hands-on work himself. Not after his father passed away.
Her brother, on the other hand, spent most of his time in a stuffy suit and tie riding a desk at his legal firm. Neither one of them really wanted to work for anyone else.
“Did you check all the faucets or just one?” Troy asked her.
Dang it, what an idiot she was. “Ah, just one. Maybe it’s the faucet and an easy fix.”
&
nbsp; “Could be,” he said, turning a few on. “But you’re out of luck because there’s no hot water coming through any of them.”
Her shoulders dropped. “I’m more concerned about canceling all the appointments than I am the cost to fix what is wrong. Though I still hope I’m not hit too hard.”
Revenue was high, expenses were actually decent. Her business was thriving, but she’d always been frugal when it came to money. Her only splurges were clothing, and even then, she still bought discount. Who needed brand names when half the time she was going for color and texture. She wasn’t one to follow the current trends or fashion. Jeans were jeans in her book. Especially if she decided to take a pair of scissors to them herself. Best to do that with ten-dollar jeans and not hundred-dollar ones.
“I’ll try,” Troy said, sending her one of those rare smiles he often did when she was a kid pestering him and Brian. It’d been way too long since she’d seen his smile in person. Just her dreams for the past several years.
“While we’re being your little slaves, how about some breakfast?” Brian reminded her.
“Can do,” she said. “There’s a bakery a street over. I’ll just run there now and grab a few things. How do you take your coffee, Troy?” she asked.
“He likes it black and strong enough to grow hair on his chest,” Brian said.
She smiled when Troy rolled his eyes. “Hairy chests aren’t really in, you know?” she told Troy.
Troy ran his hand over his jaw as if he was thinking. She’d never seen him with much more than a goatee now and again. Never hair on his cheeks. She wondered if he was one of those men that couldn’t grow a full beard, but she liked him clean-shaven just like now.
Brian snorted, then said, “His chest is as bare as a baby’s bottom. That’s why he drinks his coffee that way.”
“Ass,” Troy said, following Brian to the cellar door.
