All the Wrong Choices

by C. A. Harms

  "I can't," I expect him to argue and to tell me all the reasons why I should give him a chance and blah blah, but he surprises me instead.

  Pulling his hands from his pockets, he moves faster than I have time to prepare for, and suddenly I'm in his arms. His hands are on my hips, his body pressing firmly to my own. His lips are hovering only inches from my own. "I know the last thing you're looking for is a relationship, and I get it, I understand. So instead of falling for me, how about you take what you need."

  I arch my brow, and he smirks. Had Addison prepped him?

  "Are you pimping yourself out to me?" The way he holds me, the look in his eyes, makes it hard to relax and think straight. I feel my nipples harden, and the urge to rub my thighs together is overwhelming.

  "You're beautiful, sexy, and any guy would be an idiot not to take what he can from you. I'm offering you what you need, without all the complications. I'm not losing here, Danielle," he brushes his lips against my own, and I whimper. "The way I see it, any amount of time with you makes me a lucky guy." The way my body is reacting to his, surprises me. It usually took me a while to get in the mood; it's never been an instant reaction.

  "Have dinner with me on Friday," he kisses me again, this time a little more seductively, and I lean into his body more. Gently he sucks on the tip of my tongue, exploring my mouth with his tongue before pulling away much too soon. "Or I could make you dinner at my place instead."

  He's playing a game, devouring my mouth in between each offer, making it difficult for me to say no. The promise of what could happen between us, the lust rising in my body is all making it impossible to resist him.

  "No promises of anything more, no commitment of next week or even next month, just two people having dinner, and if something else takes place, well that's your decision."

  His hand rests on my lower back just above the top of my ass, the other gripping my hip as he looks at me intensely. Can I be casual? I said I could, but can I? Could it be possible for me to do what he is asking, sex with no commitment? I've never ventured into that type of arrangement, never focused on the physical, and left feelings aside.

  "I'll think about it," I hold his stare, his lips still so close if I move just a tiny fraction, they would once again touch. He nods, just slightly, but still doesn't release me. "I'm sure you have plenty of women waiting in line to do the exact thing you're offering me." Or begging to be more than that, why wouldn't they? Jonah is amazing. Or at least from what I can tell by the little time I've had with him, he's a catch.

  "It's you I'm offering this to," lifting his hand, he glides his thumb over my bottom lip. Something about the gesture seems so intimate, he focuses on the movements as if memorizing how it feels and looks to touch me. "Think about it, Dani. I know the attraction is here; it's been there since I looked up to see you standing at the side of the booth." Before that, but I keep my mouth shut. Somehow telling him I'd already imagined what his bare ass would look like as he was thrusting his hips forward was a bit much.

  What the hell is wrong with me?

  "I'm not asking for anything more than two adults deciding to spend a little time together." He presses one last kiss to my lips, and as he starts to back away, I fight the urge to grab him and pull him back to me. Reluctantly I let him back away. "It was nice spending time with you tonight, Dani."

  My lips still feel tingly from his kisses, the tickle of his stubble along his upper lip and chin making my face feel raw. I've never had someone kiss me the way Jonah did. It was almost like he was making love to my mouth, memorizing everything about it, and committing my taste to memory. A kiss I felt throughout every single inch of my body.

  Kissing has never been something I've greatly enjoyed. It was always something I rushed through to get to the good stuff. But the good stuff was never all that good, so if I'm being honest, it was nothing more than a means to get things moving. Long after Matthew fell asleep, I would finish myself off without him knowing, biting the pillow, trying not to shift around too much, and have him notice as my body stiffened in orgasm.

  I've never had an earth-shattering sexual experience, never felt completely satisfied after my partner and I had finished.

  After a while, I stopped expecting it to ever be more.

  Something tells me with Jonah; there is so much more.

  I'd be lying to myself if I didn’t admit I'm intrigued. My body is most definitely interested. It's my mind that isn't sure.

  Would I be capable of keeping my heart out of it?

  Chapter Nine

  Jonah

  "How much longer," Todd asks as he sits in the chair and looks back at me. "I was hoping I'd have them off before summer."

  "Have you been wearing your rubber bands like you're supposed to?"

  "I hate them," he mumbles, and if I wasn't already in a mood from a lack of communication with a certain woman, I might have joked along with my patient.

  "You may hate them, but without them, you'll be wearing your braces into the summer."

  I glance over at his mom, who sits in the corner, and she rolls her eyes, feeling the same frustrations I'm feeling, only for entirely different reasons. Todd has been a problematic patient from the beginning. When he first came to see me, he had such a massive overbite I knew it would be a long road for him. Now we are rounding toward home, and the kid refuses to wear the rubber bands that attach to the hooks of his braces.

  "Fine," he grumbles, and again I continue with our visit without telling him all the things I usually would say.

  With a new package of rubber bands and a visit scheduled for next month, Todd and his mother walk toward the door, his mom offering me a wave as they step outside.

  "Bad day?" I glance at Betty, my receptionist, and find her wearing a knowing smirk. She knows my moods well, and she has a motherly way about her that can pinpoint things before I have gotten the chance to accept them. She's been with me since I started this office. It's an easy transition from college to owning my practice due to my father's successful standing dentistry office in Greensboro. Everyone knows him, he is one of the best, so it's easy for them to trust me too.

  We took a small section of the building my father owns, and I set out independently. Within the first six months, I had more patients than I could count. My small practice consisted of me, Betty, and one dental assistant, which has now turned into a twelve-member team. I find there are things in my life I'm missing outside of my accomplishments. Someone I can share my success with, someone to relax with after a long day.

  I've recently hired another orthodontist, each of us having our own receptionist and one financial advisor handling all our accounts. I'm proud of how far I've come, and that path has left me very little time to focus on the things I don't have.

  But then Addison, my best friend's girl, invites me to dinner to meet her best friend, and now I can't stop thinking about Dani.

  She's beautiful, and I'm talking about the kind of beauty that makes your chest hurt and your heart race. But it isn't just that; she's also exciting and intelligent. Just one dinner with her, and I'm intrigued. The attraction is thick, the way she gave in to me kissing her, pressing her body to mine, Jesus, it was incredibly sexy.

  So when I saw the fear in her eyes as I asked to see her again, I reacted. I pretty much offered myself up like some piece of meat to get more time with her. I probably freaked her out. I mean, who in the hell does that.

  Use my body, please. What the fuck!

  "Your next appointment had to reschedule for next week, so you're free for a bit since it's lunchtime." It dawns on me I have yet to respond to Betty. She doesn't call me out on it, knowing me better than I seem to know myself. She's been around since I was a kid. She and my mother grew up together, so hiring her was an easy choice. I could trust her.

  "Why don't you go take a break?"

  I don't argue. Instead, I give Betty a nod and do just as she suggested.

  Instead of leaving, I walk around the building and
into the front entrance of my father's practice. Amelia sitting behind the front desk looks up, and her smile widens. "Well, to what do we owe this visit?"

  She has always been a little flirty, and from what my sister has told me, she is very interested in me taking the bait. Her being the bait, but I'm not going there. Not that Amelia is bad-looking by any means, but it's entirely too close for comfort. If shit goes wrong, I'll have both my father and sister down my throat.

  “I'm looking for Avery," offering my sister lunch is something I don't often do, but she is one of my best friends next to Anthony, so I'm hoping maybe she can offer up some words of advice to help me out of this funk.

  "She's in with a patient, but she shouldn't be too long," I nod my head and walk past the counter toward the back office. I can practically feel Amelia's eyes burning a hole in me from behind. I refuse to look back; again, the girl does not need any encouragement.

  "Hey you," Avery is stepping out of a room as she looks up to see me walking in her direction. "What, slow day?"

  "Cancelation, and it's lunchtime," throwing my arm over her shoulder, I drag her along with me. "I thought I'd offer my sister lunch."

  "Wow," she pinches my side, and I release my hold on her, jumping out and away from her. "Free lunch, how can I pass up that offer?"

  "Jonah," the sound of my name came from my father's office only a few feet away, and both Avery and I start in that direction. "I thought it was you." Setting down the tablet in his hands, he leans back in his chair and pulls off his glasses. "What's going on?"

  "My next patient had to cancel, so I thought I'd stop by and see if this one wanted to get lunch." I point to my sister as she takes a seat opposite my father.

  "I don't think you have anything else until after lunch anyway."

  "So it's set, you're buying me lunch," I say as she swivels around, staring at me with her mouth hanging open in shock.

  "You invited me," it is so easy to trigger a reaction from Avery. "Which means you're buying."

  I ignore her argument and offer my father a knowing smile. Without waiting, I start down the hall toward the front and can hear the shuffle of Avery's feet behind me. Ignoring the gawking stare of Amelia, I look back at my sister, and she narrows her eyes. "You are buying. You make the big bucks."

  Avery gets paid well for a hygienist; my father makes sure she's taken care of, so she is doing just fine.

  "I'm going to lunch," she informs Amelia, still following me out the door in a hurry. After we get outside, she looks back at the office. "I wish you would bang the girl or tell her you’re gay because the dreamy eyes she offers every time she sees you is nauseating."

  "I'm not telling her I'm gay."

  "So then—"

  "And I'm not banging her either." Avery laughs, and I grab my keys from my pocket as she moves toward my car. "Let's go, I'm hungry."

  We wrestle for the keys, and quickly I regain them, holding them high above her head out of her reach. Glaring at me, she turns around and goes to the passenger side instead.

  Once we are inside my car and on our way, she waits just a few minutes before she starts questioning me.

  I knew it would only be a matter of time before her curiosity won out. "What's going on with you?"

  "What, I can't take my sister to lunch?"

  A few more seconds pass before she speaks again.

  "I can tell your pouting."

  Unable to stop smiling, I look over at her, and she crosses her arms over her chest.

  "What's her name?"

  "How do you know there's a her?"

  "Because I'm a genius, and I know you. You have the dream job and a killer house most would die for. You have a ton of friends, but the one thing you don't have is a lady friend, so like I asked, and you've attempted to avoid, who is she?"

  I turn toward my sister's favorite restaurant since I equally enjoy it. I park in the first available space. Killing the engine and pulling the handle of the door, I glance over at Avery. "Her name is Danielle, and I think I scared her off."

  With that, I climb out of my car and start toward the front entrance of Gia's.

  "Did she find out you have three balls or a tiny member?"

  Hanging my head, I ignore the comment from my sister and hope there is no one close enough who overheard her. She is like a guy sometimes, and I know it's because she was always surrounded by my friends and me while growing up. I never let her out of my sight. We are close enough in age that it meant she grew up around many of the same people I did. I know what guys are like, so keeping her close meant I could shelter her. It also meant she had been exposed to a lot of things girls shouldn't.

  My sister had no problem talking about booze and sex, and sometimes that's more than I need to hear coming out of her mouth.

  At this point, I should have gone to lunch on my own.

  Chapter Ten

  Danielle

  It's Saturday, and one day past the date that Jonah had asked me to dinner. Every day since he asked, I've thought of it. I've battled with the idea of giving in and asking Addison to give me his number, and every day I've managed to talk myself out of it.

  I'm intrigued; who wouldn't be. But everything gets complicated, and I'm not ready for complicated.

  Walking into the kitchen, I start coffee and pick up my phone off the counter, scrolling through emails to waste time until it's ready. A new email arriving a few hours prior to an itinerary change caught my attention, and opening the email, I scroll over the information and feel my stomach sour instantly.

  Ten days, nine nights in an over-the-water Villa in Fiji. As I read over the information, I feel the nauseated feelings grow stronger.

  Cathryn M. Abbott and Matthew D. Harrington, leaving in four days from the Piedmont Triad International Airport, with a check-in time of six forty-three a.m.

  My email is still connected to his account. We'd set it up that way during our honeymoon plans, and apparently, it has never been changed. More proof their lives are moving on without any thoughts of me is another kick to the stomach. I'm the pathetic girl who’s alone. I'm the one left behind while Cathryn is living the life as my replacement.

  I don't know what comes over me, but the next thing I know, I'm dialing Matthew's number. My hands are shaking, and my heart is racing so rapidly I feel lightheaded—anger boiling inside of me, the need to lash out overpowering every other emotion inside me.

  "Dani," he practically whispers my name, and I can hear the sounds of a chair being scooted across the floor. "Is everything okay?"

  I laugh, a completely involuntary reaction to his words, but at this point, I have no control over myself. "Everything is great, Matthew. Perfect actually, and from the email I just got, I'd have to say things are really looking good on your end too."

  "Email?"

  "Oh yeah," I can feel myself losing the battle of control with each passing second, so I know I need to hurry this along. "Fiji, impressive," he says nothing. "If memory serves me correctly when I brought it up as a possible location for our sham of a honeymoon, you turned it down so fast I don't think I even got the full sentence out. It says on this itinerary the original booking date was six weeks before our wedding date, so that explains everything. You had it planned all along to take my sister, didn't you?"

  I don't wait for him to respond; I'm boiling mad, on the verge of violence. When I get angry, I tend to cry, and the last thing I want him to think is I'm sitting over here, still reeling at the loss of our so-called relationship.

  "The two of you deserve one another Matthew, you're both pathetic, and you both make me sick."

  "Dani?"

  "Don't Dani me, you piece of shit," my voice cracks, which only makes me even more pissed off. "Remove me from your account. I don't want a reminder every time you and my slut of a sister decide to plan another trip together."

  "I never meant to hurt you."

  "Now I think we both know that's a lie.” I'm the joke in all their conversations. "Unless
you want me to go in and cancel your luxurious trip and reroute it to my own name, I suggest you do it now."

  I hang up the phone, and without thinking, I throw it at the door and watch as pieces fly out to the left and right. Bracing my hands on the counter, I focus on taking one deep breath after another. No tears, I chant over and over; I refuse to give him any more of my tears.

  Stepping outside of the cellular phone store, I take out the new phone from the bag and press the button on the side. When the screen comes to life, I tap out a message and wait.

  Within seconds my phone rings just as I knew it would.

  Answering the call, I lift my new phone to my ear and brace myself for the backlash I know is coming.

  "I've been calling you all day!" Addison isn't happy. She practically snarls the words, and I can almost picture her with her hand on her hip, her nostrils flaring with irritation. "I thought you ran away or worse. I stopped by your house, your car was gone, you wouldn't answer your door, and every call went to voicemail. Do you know how worried I've been?"

  "I smashed my phone against my front door."

  She stops yelling at me, and silence fills the space between us. I know she is still there because I can hear her breathing. She’s patiently waiting for me to be ready to tell her more.

  “I got an email confirmation about an upcoming trip. He’d forgotten to change the email address on the account. Can you believe he's taking her to Fiji?" I step off to the side, ignoring those that pass me by as I lean back against the brick wall behind me. I focus on the pink nail polish on my toes, peeking out of the open-toe sandals I’m wearing.

  I can still hear her breathing on the opposite end of the line, but still, she waits. I know without seeing me, she understands what this meant, how this has affected me.

  "I didn't cry," I add, taking in a slow, calming breath, "I wanted to, I was so close, but I didn't cry."