Impulsive (Reach out to Me)

by Christine McGreggor

  IMPULSIVE

  By Christine McGreggor

  Copyright © 2013

  Chapter One

  Kara sighed and tapped the end of the pen on her desk. She loved her job as the secretary to the Vice President of Marketing, but she would be really happy to see this day end. Michelle was going to be waiting, probably impatiently although her friend would never admit it, for her to go dress shopping. Kara was feeling more than a little impatient herself.

  It seemed silly to her that Michelle and Hayes had waited even this long to have the wedding Kara had seen coming a mile away. He had proposed after one date for heaven’s sake! That proposal had come last year, as winter was slowly turning into spring. Now spring had come again and it was clearly going to be one of the warmest, mildest springs they’d seen in a long time. The apple trees in the backyard were in bloom and so were the pretty flower borders around Michelle’s big house.

  It was definitely the perfect time to kick wedding preparations into high gear as far as Kara was concerned. Hayes and Michelle might be able to be laid back, but it was April now and the wedding was in June and she was only just now picking out her dress! Even if Kara was the spontaneous one in the friendship, this last minute dress shopping was cutting it too close for her comfort. Her friend didn’t seem concerned about the possibility that the dress might need to be altered. Of course, she wasn’t as fashion forward as Kara, but still!

  She tossed the pen into the small drawer in the front of her desk when she heard her boss sigh at the sound of the rapid tapping. She moved on to thinking of less stressful things. Hayes was perfect for Michelle. His all American good looks more than complimented her friend’s honeyed loveliness and he was sweet on top of all of that handsome.

  Kara should know. She lived with them. That situation, so perfect six months ago when she had still been raw from the awful breakup with Jeff, was starting to get more than a little awkward. Michelle was much too sweet and thoughtful to ever think of complaining, but Kara felt like she was in the way.

  She frowned as she realized that her less stressful line of thought had not turned out like she had planned. If she had still had the pen it would have been tapping a mile a minute. She frowned again and tried once more to force her thoughts on to happier things. Happier things like finding the perfect wedding dress for Michelle.

  Her friend had promised to give Kara free reign in all the bridal boutiques in a fifty mile radius as long as she ended up with the most beautiful dress in the world for the most beautiful day of her life. Kara smiled as she thought about how dreamy and far-away Michelle always looked when she thought about her upcoming June wedding. They might not have the amount of time Kara wanted to shop but she had been thinking about the kinds of dresses her friend would look good in pretty much ever since Hayes had showed up to work on the McIntosh.

  Of course, some details had already been worked out. For example, the venue had been set for months. The ceremony would take place under the beautiful, now impeccably groomed, McIntosh apple tree. It was too perfect to pass up and Kara would have been more than happy to point it out if the lovebirds had needed the insight. She still remembered the soft look that had danced into Michelle’s hazel eyes when Hayes had mentioned it over their pasta dinner three months ago. It would have been a perfect, romantic moment for the young couple if Kara hadn’t been slurping down vermicelli noodles and marinara right across the table.

  It was definitely time for a new place. There was no way she could ask her friends to continue to host her once they were married. She should have been working on finding an apartment or a house to rent months ago, but she just loved the house so much! There was a cozy comfort in that house that she knew she would miss when she moved into a sterile apartment.

  She would miss the openness and light that the big windows brought into the library she’d slept in since she moved in with Shell. She would miss the orchard and garden in bloom. She would miss the easy camaraderie between her and Michelle and Hayes. Most of all, to her surprise, she would miss Mrs. Turner.

  A girl had to visit someone while her best friend was getting her romance on with an extremely handsome arborist didn’t she? Betsy had seen her wandering the garden forlornly one evening, halfheartedly trying to teach Killer to fetch, and invited her for a walk. After that, it had been an evening ritual that had grown to be very meaningful to Kara.

  That reminded her, she would have to tell Mrs. T all about the dresses. Maybe she should take pictures with her camera phone. Of course, then Mrs. T would say that the screen was too small. It might be a better plan to drop by the house and snag her digital camera. Then she could be one of those people who did weird things like take pictures in a dress shop with a real camera. Kara shrugged and grinned to herself. It wouldn’t be the weirdest thing she’d ever done.

  “Ms. Steward?” her boss called from her small office off of the main one that Kara’s desk was in.

  “Yes?” she asked as she bounded to her feet and hoped that she hadn’t been thinking out loud. It was a habit she was working really hard to break.

  “Go,” the woman said, glancing at Kara over the rims of her glasses. “I think I can handle the rest of the day by myself.”

  “Are you sure?” Kara questioned. Ever since the ordeal with Jeff, her boss had been extra nice, but she had never expected permission to leave work three hours early.

  “Of course I’m sure,” Ms. Watson said patiently. “It’s obvious that your mind left hours ago anyway.”

  A smile softened the words and Kara grinned back at her. She dashed over to her desk and tugged open the bottom drawer so she could gather her things.

  “I’ll come in early tomorrow,” she promised quickly. “And the next day, too!”

  “I don’t think you will,” Ms. Watson said dryly.

  “What? “ Kara protested; she assumed that her boss was referring to her chronic lateness. She usually managed to be no more than 5 minutes behind schedule, but Ms. Watson has spoken to her countless times about it. “No, I promise I will! I’ll catch up on that filing and I’ll—“

  “Today is Friday,” her boss reminded her patiently. “You can come in early on Monday if you’d like though.”

  “Oh.” Kara blushed a little and slung her fully stuffed purse over one shoulder as she stepped toward the door. “Right. Sure thing, Ms. Watson! Early Monday morning it is then! You have my word! Thank you so much!”

  Ms. Watson gave her a wave and a small smile, accompanied by a slight shake of her head. Kara grinned and returned the wave before she opened the office door and stepped out.

  She was proud of herself for managing to walk sedately across the office floor, but the minute the door was shut and she knew Ms. Watson couldn’t see her anymore she began to run. She was so excited to have a few extra hours in her day for dress shopping that she didn’t even mind the clatter her heels made on the tiled hall floor or the looks of astonishment from people in other departments. The way she saw it, they should be used to her being a little bit different by now. What was wrong with having a high level of enthusiasm for life anyway?

  She took the stairs at a run and, since she was really excited and not paying even the slightest bit of attention to where she was going, she managed to run head-long into a tall man with a cup of iced coffee. That would have been embarrassing enough, but he’d neglected to put a lid on the drink and she gasped when the coffee tipped and spilled directly down the front of her brand new peach button up and light gray pencil skirt.

  “Oh no!” she wailed as she quickly pulled the freezing cold material away from her skin; she could see that the coffee stain was huge and that it was rapidly spreading.

  “Are you
all right?” the man asked.

  He glanced around the stairwell, clearly looking for somewhere to put his black leather briefcase and the newspaper under his arm. He was probably also trying to locate a trashcan for his now empty coffee cup.

  “No, I’m not all right!” Kara said emphatically. “I’m clearly in danger of hypothermia! Oh, I just bought this outfit and now…well, let’s just say I don’t think the Tide stick in my purse will do much for this.” She was also quickly burning through the extra hours she’d been so thrilled to take advantage of just a few short minutes ago. “I’ve got to get home and change!”

  “Can I…” he trailed off as she doubled her speed and pushed the office doors open with a bang. “Help?” he finished to no one.

  Obviously there wasn’t much he could do to assist her. The unknown woman was probably furious with him for spilling his drink down such a pretty outfit. He should probably be upset with her for running like they were still in grade school and ruining the drink he’d brought back. His intention was to use it to help him feel more awake after a long night of studying for his Master’s degree before a long day at his brand new job, but he couldn’t work up the necessary emotion. Instead, he found himself thinking that she’d looked quite pretty with her cheeks flushed from her jog down the staircase. The way that the coffee had molded her clothes to her slender frame had been attractive, as well.

  He sighed and went on up the stairs. It was an odd encounter for his first day at the office. He shook it off and went into his office. Maybe he’d run into her again. Hopefully not quite so literally this time, but he found that either way would be fine with him.

  Chapter Two

  “What are you doing home so early?” Michelle asked happily when Kara barreled through the front door. “And what on earth happened to you?” she continued when she saw the stains down the front of Kara’s new outfit.

  “I had a run in with a cup of iced mocha,” Kara said as she ran into the bathroom to strip away the wet, clinging fabric. “You can see who came out on top. I’m thinking that if I wash it right away I might just have a chance of not ruining my new favorite outfit. Oh, it really did get almost everywhere,” she groaned in disappointment when she held up her button-up to the bright bathroom light.

  “Here,” Michelle said quickly from outside the door. “Hand it out and I’ll put it in the machine right away.”

  “Thank you so much,” Kara replied in relief as she handed the clothes out to her friend. “I can’t believe this had to happen today of all days!”

  “Why? I mean, I’m sorry it happened, but is this why you’re home early? If it is, maybe it’s a blessing in disguise,” Michelle said with a teasing tone in her voice. “You don’t know how many times I’ve checked the clock today to see if it’s time to go!”

  “No,” Kara called with a laugh as she heard Michelle walk down the hall to the washing machine. “Ms. Watson got tired of my fidgeting and actually let me off early so we could go shopping! Of course, then I had to run into coffee man and get a freezing cold caffeine bath and now I need to shower. If I don’t, I’ll smell like caramel coffee all day long. It’s not bad, but I wouldn’t call it my signature fragrance.”

  “Go ahead,” Michelle said with a smile. “We’ve got plenty of time. Now aren’t you glad I let you take the car this morning? Otherwise you’d have had to sit there dripping coffee until I showed up. By the way, who doused you?”

  Kara twisted her hair up quickly so that it wouldn’t get wet in the shower and thought deeply.

  “I actually have no idea. Now that I think about it, I don’t remember seeing him before.”

  “Oh?” Michelle questioned. “Was he a client?”

  “I hope not,” Kara said with a groan. “That would be just my luck.” She pitched her voice louder as she pulled back the blue shower curtain and stepped into the steamy shower. “I don’t think so though. He had a briefcase. Not that some of our clients don’t carry briefcases, but I know they were trying to hire an accountant. He could be the accountant type for sure. He had that studious look, you know? He barely said two words to me.”

  “Did you give him a chance?” Michelle asked wryly as she leaned against the bathroom door to hear her friend more easily.

  “Yes,” Kara answered defensively. “Well, actually, no. I was so worried about the blouse and the skirt that I wasn’t really thinking about having a conversation. He asked if I was okay,” she remembered out loud.

  “That was nice of him,” Michelle commented.

  “Yeah, he seemed nice,” Kara admitted. “But not as nice as this warm shower. You have no idea how icy iced coffee actually is until it pours down your chest! Anyway, now that I think about it, I guess it could have been worse. It could have been hot coffee.”

  She heard Michelle laugh before she called, “Enjoy your shower, Kara. Just don’t enjoy it too much, okay? We do have dresses to shop for and I’m really eager to get started!”

  Michelle walked down the hall and Kara sighed. She wasn’t sure whether she hoped the guy worked there or not. If she saw him she would have to apologize for running out of the office like a maniac. If she didn’t see him she would have to feel bad for not being able to apologize for running out of the office like a maniac. It seemed like the type of no-win situation she typically got herself into with guys.

  At least he was a different type of guy. Her type was the typical tall, dark, and handsome bad boy and this man hadn’t really lived up to that. He had been tall; she might even call him dark, with that deep brown hair and those melted caramel eyes. He could fit the criteria of handsome too, actually. However, he could never, in any way, shape, or form be considered any kind of a bad boy. Not with his briefcase and suit and clean-shaven good looks.

  Jeff sure hadn’t carried a briefcase and neither had any of the other guys she’s been serious with. Mysterious coffee man had been the professional, career-driven type. She was surprised to find herself thinking about his eyes again. He’d had really nice eyes. The melted caramel color had been quite alluring, actually.

  Kara shook the thought from her head and concentrated instead on the scent of her hibiscus body wash as it cleansed the coffee smell away from her skin. When the thick white lather rinsed away she saw that she had turned the heat up so high that her skin had become pink. The warmth had been delicious after the chill she’d gotten earlier, but she knew that she really needed to hurry so she rinsed and got out quickly.

  She forced her mind away from the memory of the man’s deep voice asking her if she was okay. He might be the nicest guy in the world, but she wasn’t into nice guys. After Jeff, she was done with bad boys, too. That was the whole reason she hadn’t been on a date since she had filed the paperwork on her restraining order. It had been sort of a lonely year, but at least she wasn’t brokenhearted.

  None of that mattered though. Today was going to be a fun day! She’d gotten off work early and now she was going wedding dress shopping with her best friend. It couldn’t have shaped up better if she’d planned it herself.

  Determinedly cheerful, she brushed powder over her face and carefully applied a shiny gloss to her lips. Today was a good day to take a light hand with the makeup and really let her gorgeous friend shine as a blushing bride. Well, a blushing bridal shopper. Kara decided it was the same difference as she put on a light coat of mascara and dusted some blush over her cheeks.

  When her simple makeup was done to her exacting standards, Kara hurried into her room to grab some clean clothes. She kept it simple in that area as well, dressing in a pair of dark jeans and a bright pink tee shirt and doing her thick dark hair in a casual side braid before she slid her feet into a pair of soft brown leather boots. She was proud of herself when she remembered to grab her small, pink digital camera from her desk drawer and slide it down into her bag before she dashed out of the room. Mrs. T would be so happy to get to be part of the experience in even this small way.

  “Okay Michelle!” she called dow
n the hall. “I’m ready to head out…oh. Sorry!”

  Apparently Hayes had come home for a late lunch. He had pushed Michelle gently back against the kitchen counter as he kissed her passionately. Michelle had wrapped her arms tightly around his broad shoulders as she surrendered herself to the kiss. Hayes stepped back reluctantly when he heard Kara’s surprised voice.

  “It’s okay!” Michelle said with a blush. “Hayes just forgot something he needs for a project he’s doing this afternoon.”

  “No, hey, it’s fine!” Kara said lightly. “I know you’re in that wedding planning induced lovey-dovey state. And I also know that you were crazy in love from the beginning,” she hurried on when Michelle opened her mouth to defend herself.

  It was so easy to tell that they were; it was so easy to tell that it was the kind of love that would last until they were as old as Mrs. Turner and her husband Gerry next door. The way Michelle lit up around him, or even just when she talked about him, was adorable. He treated her like a queen as well. Kara was surprised by the sharp pain she felt in the pit of her stomach when she thought about that. It wasn’t jealousy. It was longing for something like Hayes and Michelle had found. She wanted that effortless love, that total commitment, that comfort of being with someone and knowing it would last a lifetime.