Waltz This Way

by Dakota Cassidy

  “Nah, it’s okay. Take care, Callie,” he said as he headed in the other direction, his shoulders slumped and his stride slow.

  Callie beeped her car and slid into the seat, turning the key in the ignition with a slow hand.

  For fucks sake, this sucked.

  As she drove home Callie replayed her date in her mind and decided Mitch belonged in the “trying too hard” file. He was sweet and needy and Callie was caught off guard by his direct approach. Mitch was rushing to find a soul mate, skipping past the getting to know you part.

  Pulling into her garage, she saw that the time was seven o’ clock. You party girl, you. Callie was defeated, deflated and all of that after only one date. Mitch’s sad smile stuck in her mind’s eye and it wouldn’t let go.

  Aston greeted her with a slow shuffle and flopped at her feet as she peeled her coat off and headed straight to her bedroom to change. Aston followed closely behind, sighing as she shed her clothes and changed into her nightgown.

  Her heart felt bruised and sore over Mitch and quite frankly, it sucked, but she had a job to do and she’d have to set this experience aside in favor of the bigger picture. Mitch deserved someone who would love him totally and Callie just wasn’t that girl, but she hoped he found her soon.

  Callie flipped her computer on with a heavy heart and settled in her office chair. Last count she still had quite a few e-mails to go and the thought depressed her right now. Callie didn’t want to hurt anyone, she knew that kind of hurt and even in her most angry of moments she didn’t want to inflict any kind of angst. Mitch was hungry for something she just couldn’t feed him. It was something she never expected to happen so quickly, this connection thing Mitch talked about.

  Love at first sight just didn’t exist as far as Callie was concerned. It was better termed lust at first site. To know someone was to love them, faults and all. You didn’t know anyone if you’d just met them. Sometimes you didn’t know them if you were married to them for ten years either, she mused.

  Logging onto the site, Callie moaned out loud. Aston responded with a grumble, puffing his cheeks out. “Look, Aston, I have fifty more e-mails! Okay, it’s early. I’m going to answer every damn one of these and get it over with,” she said to the empty room. Determined to do that she started at the top of her inbox and began to work her way down.

  To: Writer66

  From: Leftcoastlover

  Subject: Can’t stop thinking about you

  Hi Writer66,

  I don’t want to sound goofy, but your lips look juicy. I just had to tell you that. I can’t stop thinking about you. E-mail me so we can write a love story.

  LCL

  Juicy? Juicy? Callie sat for a moment too astonished to type. And then, she responded before she could stop herself.

  To: Leftcoastlover

  Subject: Re: Can’t stop thinking about you

  Tell me, LCL, what about that doesn’t sound goofy to you?

  Ripe as a summer peach in sunny California,

  Juicy lips AKA Writer66

  Juicy lips. Callie caught a glimpse of her reflection in her flat screen computer and crossed her eyes at it. She did not have juicy lips and she didn’t even want to venture to guess what it would be like to go out with a guy who thought she did. Callie didn’t even care if she offended him with her reply.

  Next weirdo, please.

  To: Writer66

  From: Thefridge240

  Subject: Hello Angel

  Dear Writer66,

  You are simply the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen! Your eyes are gorgeous, dark and filled with mysteries I want to unlock. I am very intuitive and know you are a great catch! I believe in love. I am a professional businessman who owns a computer consulting company and support dental clients in the Minnesota area. I am a graduate student working on my Masters Degree in Information Systems and computers and have a very promising future. I am willing to invest in you because I know a winner when I see one.

  God told me to join this dating service because he knew I’d find you…I know great distances hinder us, but I am willing to invest in you because I know a winner when I see one. My motto is a quitter never wins and a winner never quits.

  I’m not a serial killer and I love ice cream. I know you’ll love eating some with me.

  I have a full plate, my life is very busy, but you are a buffet I just can’t resist!

  Jason

  God better quit talking to Jason, or he’d better start listening more closely to his Rice Krispies. Jason’s approach was rather like the WWF. Winners never quit and quitters never win? Bulldoze your prospective dates was more like it.

  Whoa, he was huge, Callie noted from his profile. My, hell, he was more than twice her size. His motto, quite frankly, frightened her. Inspiration struck in the form of a wisecrack as Callie shipped back an e-mail to Jason.

  To: Thefridge240

  Subject: Re: Hello Angel

  Dear Jason,

  I’m on a diet.

  Starving herself to death in sunny California,

  Writer66

  Callie rolled her head on her neck and moaned. She was over a week into this and already she could understand why people were so skeptical about online date sites. She wondered briefly if other women got this kind of e-mail. How the hell could you tell if someone’s intent was genuine when they called you a buffet? If only he’d mentioned her thighs, they were a veritable smorgasbord.

  Callie focused again on her task at hand. Answer as many e-mails as she possibly could tonight when the subject line Awesome flickered past her as she scrolled her inbox with her mouse.

  Her stomach did the Riverdance. Brian had responded again and so was she, responding that was, with a nervous anticipation and a giddy thrill. Callie found she couldn’t wait to open his e-mail. She glanced at his picture, thinking that each time she saw it he was more handsome than the last.

  Oy.

  To: Writer66

  From: Brian_SOF

  Subject: Re: Re: Re: Awesome

  Hey Callie,

  It’s nice to have a name to put with the face. No, I’m not in Iraq right now, but I do spend a lot of time there. I had a small injury so I came home early.

  I’m glad you wrote back. Tell me about your life. Tell me something no one knows about you and I’ll tell you something back.

  Brian

  He’d been hurt? Callie’s stomach revolted and she didn’t even think about why. She just needed to know what had happened and what “small injury” meant in Brian’s world. Callie responded without thought. It just seemed natural to inquire about how he’d been hurt and if he was alright now.

  To: Brian_SOF

  Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Awesome

  Oh, Brian! What’s a small injury and are you alright now?

  Let’s see…something no one knows about me? I’m a girlie-girl at heart. I love all things Victoria’s Secret and I really can use power tools.

  Your turn.

  Callie

  Callie clicked send without hesitation, and then slapped her forehead. Had she just told him her passion for silky nightwear? Well, who the hell did she think she was? All good girls knew it wasn’t appropriate to talk about what you slept in with perfect strangers. Leaning forward, Callie put her head in her hands and moaned for the third time that night. But then, she remembered that it was just a little harmless flirting and it was only e-mail…

  Her inbox sounded with the tinkle of another e-mail five minutes later and Callie looked up, then smiled. It was Brian again. Her heart rate sped and her hands couldn’t get to her mouse fast enough.

  She was an idiot. It was an e-mail, not the second coming…

  To: Writer66

  From: Brian_SOF

  Subject: Victoria’s Secret?

  Callie’s stomach sank. She’d revealed too much. He thought she was as slut. Of course she was a slut. She clicked open the e-mail with reluctance edged with fear over possibly seeing the word hussy in the text of Brian
’s reply.

  Hey again Callie,

  The injury was small by even a chicken’s standards. I’m fine now and all recuperated.

  I like that you can admit you’re, as you called it, a girlie-girl. There aren’t that many women I’d consider feminine these days and Victoria’s Secret rates high on my list of very feminine things.

  Okay, now for my deep, dark secret. I’ve read romance novels for lack of anything else that I can get my hands on overseas. It beats nothing and they’re not too bad. LOL

  Your serve.

  Brian

  Callie grinned and felt the rush of heat course over her cheeks. Brian thought she was feminine…she sighed, despite how lame it might seem to someone who got compliments like this on a daily basis and then, she tried to think of something interesting about herself that she could e-mail back. She was rather boring, all of her Victoria’s Secrets aside. Her thoughts strayed to what it would be like to wear something girlie for Brian.

  Whoa. What the hell was that about?

  Oh, man. This was uncharted territory and Brian wouldn’t want to see her in anything girlie anyway. However, she was feeling flirty, or she supposed that’s what this was. This light, easy banter, playing at cute and coy. It was easy on a computer screen because words were easy for Callie, on paper anyhow. Brian couldn’t see her and what she lacked in actual presence, she made up for in words. Words were her arrows, her hook, her safe zone.

  To: Brian_SOF

  Subject: RE: Victoria’s Secret

  Romance novels, eh? Can’t say I know many men who willingly admit to reading them, but I understand your predicament.

  Bubble baths…Sigh, I love bubble baths. It’s one of my favorite indulgences. Oh, and I’ve had a favorite pillow of mine since I was twenty that I still sleep with.

  You owe me two…

  Callie

  Note from Dakota

  I do hope you enjoyed this book, I’d so appreciate it if you’d help others enjoy it too.

  Recommend it. Please help other readers find this book by recommending it.

  Review it. Please tell other readers why you liked this book by reviewing it at online retailers or your blog. Reader reviews help my books continue to be valued by distributors/resellers. I adore each and every reader who takes the time to write one!

  If you love the book or leave a review, please email dakota@dakotacassidy.com so I can thank you with a personal email. Your support means more than you’ll ever know! Thank you!

  About Dakota

  Dakota Cassidy is a USA Today bestselling author with over thirty books. She writes laugh-out-loud cozy mysteries, romantic comedy, grab-some-ice erotic romance, hot and sexy alpha males, paranormal shifters, contemporary kick-ass women, and more.

  Dakota was invited by Bravo TV to be the Bravoholic for a week, wherein she snarked the hell out of all the Bravo shows. She received a starred review from Publishers Weekly for Talk Dirty to Me, won a Romantic Times Reviewers’ Choice Award for Kiss and Hell, along with many review site recommended reads and reviewer top pick awards.

  Dakota lives in the gorgeous state of Oregon with her real-life hero and her dogs, and she loves hearing from readers!

  Connect with Dakota online:

  Twitter: https://twitter.com/DakotaCassidy

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  Join Dakota Cassidy’s Newsletter, The Tiara Diaries: http://www.dakotacassidy.com/contact.html#newsletter

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  Visit Dakota’s website at http://www.dakotacassidy.com for more information.

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