Authors: Alli Sims
Undone: A New Adult College Bad Boy Romance (Mature Young Adult Fun Contemporary Romance)
Undone
©
Copyright 2015 by Gallery Stories Publishing- All rights reserved.
In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.
Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.
Introduction
A Note From the Author
Thank you so much for downloading my book! I know you have so many options when it comes to choosing a book; I just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate you as a reader. I love putting down in words the stories and worlds I have swirling around in my head. You supporting my books allows me to keep doing what I love best, writing romance!
As a thank you, I’ve included a selection of my other books I think you’ll really enjoy. I’ve also partnered with some other Gallery Stories authors and am including some of their works (listed below) that you might enjoy!
I really hope you enjoy them!
Undone
Fiona tapped the toe of her shoe against the leg of the table. The gentle rapping was soothing, but it was serving another purpose. It was keeping her from slapping her date. She had gotten all dressed up for this night, put aside her homework for the evening just to meet him. Looking back, she wished that she'd stayed in, studying.
The man sitting across from her was worse than boring. He was desperate, sexist and rude. The more words that fell from his lips, the uglier he became. As far as physical looks, he wasn't a bad looking guy. He had brown hair, brown eyes and a thin body. Fiona had met him in class months ago, but only now had she accepted his invitation to go out together.
Now, she understood why. It must have been some internal voice screaming at her, warning her that he was no good. Fiona leaned forward, nodded absently as she pushed her straw around her half empty glass of iced tea. As she began to daydream, she wondered what was wrong with her. Why couldn’t she meet just one sweet, normal guy and settle down?
Fiona was in her fourth year of law school. Her grades were among some of the highest in the class and no one could argue that she didn’t have a passion for the field that she had chosen. When it came to her school work, she was a success, but that’s where the success ended.
She liked to think she was a good looking woman. Her long legs, olive complexion, chestnut brown hair and emerald green eyes had always been complimented. If it wasn’t her looks, she wondered if it was her personality? Fiona didn’t feel that she was exactly daring. She liked small gatherings, her law books and a quiet night out occasionally. The men around her all seemed to want either a wild woman or a wife. She couldn’t relax enough to show off the other side of her. And it was entirely too soon to be considering marriage in her opinion.
The man in front of her droned on. As the words spilled from his lips, she wondered if anyone had ever told him how awful he sounded? Fiona supposed he was no worse than Gabe, the guy who constantly corrected her speech, but was often wrong. Jack, the always late date. Michael, he only ever talked about sex. Or even, Austin, the guy who had called her an idiot in the first five minutes of seeing her because she admitted that she wasn’t good at math.
The only good prospect in her life had been Henry. He was a law student as well. As she thought of him, she couldn’t help but to picture his clever smirk. Why they had broken up, she couldn’t understand now. It seemed like no matter what little faults Henry had, they were nothing compared to the rest of the male populace.
“Are you listening?” The guy across from her was staring, fork poised in the air.
“Yes, of course,” Fiona answered quickly.
When he started up talking again, she sighed softly. Her food had been delivered, but she wasn’t interested in it anymore. The appetite that she’d worked up all day was gone. In its place was the overwhelming urge to run away.
This is the last date I’m ever going on.
She would live a life on her own, content with her career and her cats. That would be okay, she thought. Her mom had done it after she'd gotten divorced. She looked pretty happy.
Fiona glanced around the room they were in. It wasn't anything fancy, just an okay restaurant with boring dark brown furniture and cream accents. Her eyes shifted back to her date. She paused.
A few tables away, there was a man eating by himself. His phone was in his hand, but he wasn't looking at it, he was staring at her. Fiona found herself staring at him, her eyes following the strong line of his jaw. His hair was short, dark blond. She could tell he was in shape, the broad cut of his chest enticing. As she stared, he winked at her.
Fiona’s lips broke out into a smile. Now, that was the kind of guy that she needed. She could already imagine tracing her fingers through his facial hair. A shiver ran down her spine.
“You’re not listening, again. This is exactly why I said that women are hopeless. How can you be subjective in a courtroom, when you can’t even pay attention to your date? Why don’t we just call this a night?”
Fiona’s mouth fell open. She could feel her nails digging into her skin as she tried to keep from hitting him in the face. Not wanting to make a bigger scene than he already was, she said nothing. Her lips pressed together in a straight line as she glared at him. She winced as her date pushed back his chair loudly, the scraping of it enough to make her grit her teeth. He started to walk away.
“Hey! Aren’t you going to pay for your food?” She called after him.
The man kept walking as if he hadn’t heard her. She scoffed. Rolling her eyes, she reached between her feet for her purse before settling it on her lap. She wasn’t even sure if she had enough money to cover the bill. She hadn’t expected to have to pay for both of them. Her fingers dug through her purse for her wallet, when she heard the chair across from her scoot back once more.
Fiona gazed up to see the man from a few tables back, settling into the chair. She felt her heart skip a beat, before she returned the smile that was on his face. Her fingers finally grazed her wallet and she slipped it out of her bag.
“I’ll pay for it,” the man said holding out a hand, “I see you haven’t eaten yet. Still hungry?”
“Yeah, I am actually. That guy made me lose my appetite,” she said as she slid her wallet back inside of her bag.
The man nodded. “Painful date, I know those,” he chuckled. “My name’s Nick, what’s yours?” He asked as he held out a hand.
“I’m Fiona,” she shook his hand, “I guess it wasn’t completely his fault. I forgot his name before the date even started.”
Nick laughed until the server came over. He effortlessly explained to the man that they’d like different food, but he’d pay for all of it. The server nodded, took their orders, then disappeared back into the kitchen.
“It’s all your fault, you know,” Fiona said as she sipped at her tea.
“What? Your bad date? How was that my fault?”
“I kept looking at you and he got jealous,” she said with a grin.
Nick laughed before shaking his head. “Don’t blame that on me. I’m just as much of a victim as you are.”
“How do you figure?”
“I was minding my own business, playing around on my phone, when you distracted me from what I was doing. Good thing I was here though, you needed a replacement date it seems.”
Fiona shook her head vigorously. “No, this is absolutely
not
a date. I’m through with dating, it never ends well,” she said as her face took on a scowl.
“You’re giving up already? Not much of a fighter are you?”
Fiona’s mouth opened in surprise, making Nick smirk. “That’s not true! You don’t even know me.”
“You’re right, I don’t. Tell me who you are. Prove me wrong.”
Fiona tried not to smile at his teasing, but it held a quality that wasn’t threatening. She stirred her straw around her cup, gazing at him. Upon closer inspection, he had the sexiest gray eyes. They drew her in, held her. She looked away for a moment to compose herself.
“”There’s not a lot to tell,” she started.
“You’ve been on this earth for a while now, I think there’s plenty to tell.”
That time, Fiona couldn’t stop herself from grinning. “Okay, bossy person. I’m a law school student, I hate dating and I’m probably going to be a cat lady by the time I’m thirty-five.”
Nick shook his head. “Stop it! Tell me about the real you. Come on.”
Fiona started again. First dates for her were hard. She never knew what to say, how much to reveal. As for as she was concerned with Nick, this wasn’t a date. So, the words flowed from her mouth easily until she found herself talking even through dinner. Nick let her speak, only interjecting to ask her more questions or laugh. It was such a refreshing change of pace that by the time she was done, Fiona found herself completely relaxed.
“I haven’t talked to anyone like that in ages,” she said popping pasta into her mouth.
“I can tell, but it felt good, right?”
Fiona blushed at the question. It was true. Since she was done talking, she started to feel that old nervousness again. The little voice that kept her from doing foolish things was working overtime, but it was already too late.
“It wasn’t terrible,” she said.
“So, go out with me. What do you have to lose?”
“I don’t know a thing about you.”
“I’ll tell you all about me, this Saturday.”
Fiona laughed. “Insistent aren’t you?”
“You have no idea how big of a pain in the ass I can be. Check, please.”
Fiona bundled up in her coat, wrapped her burgundy scarf around her neck before they stepped outside. There was no snow on the ground yet, but it was already cold. Nick insisted on walking her back to her dorm. On the way, they stopped in a little coffee shop.
“Here you go, something to warm you up,” Nick said as he passed a hot cappuccino to her.
Fiona inhaled the scent of caramel. Steam rose and curled from her cup as they stepped outside again. She took careful sips from her cup to warm up.
“Thanks for the coffee and dinner. You didn’t have to do that,” she said.
“No big deal.”
When Fiona’s dorm loomed ahead of them, she almost didn’t want to leave. Nick had a sweetness about him that seemed to live just under the surface of his gruff edge. They stood at the outside, double doors.
“Saturday?” Nick asked.
Fiona smiled. “Fine, Saturday.”
She held her breath as Nick leaned in towards her. He didn’t try to kiss her like she’d assumed. Instead, his lips slipped past her cheek, his warm breath tickling her ear.
“You won’t regret it.”
Fiona no longer needed the cappuccino to warm up, she was hot all over. He wouldn’t leave until she was inside safely, so she slipped through the doors quietly. When she threw a glance back over her shoulder, Nick stood there, a grin on his face. She hurried down the hall quick, before ducking into her bedroom.
“Where have you been?”
Fiona jumped at the voice. She pressed her hand against her chest to still her heart before she glared at her roommate. The woman was sitting cross legged, a book in her hands. Their friend, James, was there as well.
“I said, where have you been young lady?”
Fiona groaned. “Sorry, mother. I wasn’t aware I had a curfew from you.”
“She’s just being difficult because we saw your date about two hours ago, without you. We kept trying to text and call you, but we didn’t get an answer. Aubrey thought you were chopped up into little pieces by now,” James said as he highlighted several lines in his book.
Fiona rolled her eyes. “Thanks for that.”
Although they were trying to act casual, Fiona could see the curiosity on their faces. She took her time. Once she’d slipped off her coat, she headed to the bathroom to change into her pajamas. Only when she came back did she grab two of her thicker books before settling on Aubrey’s bed too.
“He skipped out on the check and was a sexist jerk,” she said before they could even ask.
“You and your luck with men,” James said shaking his head. “Hell, I’m doing better than you in the guy department right now.”
“Again, thank you for that. I wasn’t finished though. After he left, I met a guy.”
Aubrey groaned. “Don’t you think you should take a little break for now? Focus on studying and stuff?”
Fiona narrowed her eyes at her friend. “You have a boyfriend.”
“I have a 4.0.”