Text Me.

Sh.e.l.ley K. Wall.

To my husband, Stan, for supporting all my dreams and desires throughout our years together. You are my inspiration, my kick-in-the-a.s.s, and the source of my laughter and joy. I look forward to the next years.

And to my children, Tyler, Kyle, and Grace-never fear change or failure, fear only inaction. Those who do as much as they can in life will leave this world knowing great satisfaction. And perhaps a little exhaustion.

Acknowledgments.

Thank you to all at Crimson Romance for seeing a spark in this series and helping bring it to publication. Thank you to good friends, Cindy and Megan, for helping me read, edit, and revise. Thank you to Dawn Dowdle of Blue Ridge Literary Agency for taking an interest in me personally and helping to develop my craft. I have learned a great deal from you.

Lastly, and most importantly, thank you to every reader who has purchased a book with my name on it and taken the time to delve in and read. You have my sincere appreciation if you also post a review. Without you, I would not be able to continue pursuing the projects of my dreams. I wish you great success in all your aspirations and goals.

Happy reading.

Chapter One.

Carter Coben arrived home after a grueling day at work and dropped his keys on the counter. He reached for a beer, then remembered his neighbor's dog, and grabbed a bottle of water instead. A quick glance at his watch showed enough time to get Ruckus to the park before dinner. Carter had no idea why he'd volunteered to help walk the dog while Maddie recovered from surgery. Maybe because there wasn't another tenant nearby who'd think to offer?

He retrieved the keys, stepped back out of his apartment, and trudged to Maddie's place. He rapped the keys against the door and announced himself before turning one of them in the lock, knowing she wouldn't-couldn't-answer.

"Hey, Maddie, it's me."

Crash. The tinkle of gla.s.s breaking surprised him only mildly. Without much exercise, the beast was bound to break something.

Drool flew from the ma.s.sive boxer/mastiff mix's mouth and plastered the hallway as he surged toward Carter.

"Jesus, Carter, watch out! He's wound tighter than a drum today," Maddie called from the next room. Her high-pitched squeak of a voice always startled Carter, mainly because the voice didn't match her appearance. She wasn't a small woman. Her German ancestry shone through in the tall and equally hefty stature. Which probably explained the size of the dog.

"Hey, Ruckus." The dog pinned him to the wall, and he rubbed between his floppy ears, staggering under the weight of his paws on his chest. "You ready to go outside, boy?"

Another string of drool threatened to land on his pants. Pushing the animal away, he peeked in on Maddie briefly before leashing Ruckus and heading to the park.

Half an hour later, Carter's patience was shot. If Ruckus didn't hurry up and get busy, he was giving up. The mutt had already watered every piece of gra.s.s in the park and only needed to take a dump. Normally the digestive reluctance wouldn't bother Carter, but he was not skipping his dinner plans with his girlfriend, Amanda. He sat on a rock and flipped his smartphone open to the message onscreen.

App installed, do you want to open now?

It had been a crazy idea to try Justchat now. It was a crazy idea suggested by his friend Roger, which should have been reason enough to trash it, but the idea of chatting with someone anonymously sounded-easy. G.o.d knows he needed easy at the moment.

"Sure, why not?" He clicked and made up a login and pa.s.sword. The lengthy questionnaire that followed almost drove him to exit. Why should they need his life history for anonymous chatting? When he finally received a "Congratulations and happy chatting!" message, there was a tiny disclaimer at the bottom of the screen that probably should have been attached to the first question.

We try to pair our members with people of similar interests and locale. Feel free to skip any questions you wish but answering helps us find better chatting friendships for you.

He stared at the open dialogue box. What would be a good way to start? Should he quote someone? h.e.l.l, no. The only quotes in his head were too obscene to get a response from anyone worth talking with. Politics or religion? Nah, that could get ugly. He shrugged and began clicking away on the letters.

For years, I've wondered if there's really anyone out there worth meeting. I mean, I see people once in a while ... and I think they're interesting. Then they're gone and the moment escapes me. My life is filled with escaped moments that I never seem to grasp until I've missed them. Does anyone else feel that way?

It was a little dumb but fit his mood. He really should think hard about what he'd written since he planned to jump into a long-term commitment in a couple hours. Sure, most people wouldn't consider season tickets a commitment, but for him, it meant consistency. Going to the same event with the same person regularly. Over and over again. Hmmm.

He dragged his fingers through his hair and caught a quick glimpse of the running chick. He laughed.

Now he remembered why he'd volunteered to walk Ruckus. Her. He'd seen her run in the park every night after work. Sometimes he'd been out for a few miles himself. Others he had just been with Maddie as she focused on her struggles with Ruckus and the boot on her foot. The girl always smiled and waved, even said "hi" to Maddie, and petted the mutt. Never a word his way, though.

He had wanted to meet her ages ago-before Amanda. And he wasn't above using the d.a.m.n dog to do so. She pa.s.sed and the air stirred. Maybe he wasn't all that wrapped up in Amanda after all. He couldn't decide. Most runners bounced or plodded. Not this girl. In her running pants and tight jacket, the only description that came to mind was glide. Yeah, she glided across the ground in an effortless stride that was so smooth it mesmerized. She giggled at her phone as she pa.s.sed.

Carter's phone dinged a response and he glanced at the screen. A message from She Hearts Dogs. How appropriate considering his legs were almost completely wrapped in a leash at the moment.

I know what you mean! For me, it's like I never know what to say before it's too late and the opportunity is gone. Then you want to kick yourself for not coming up with something really witty or interesting and not completely moronic.

Yes, that's exactly what it felt like. Ruckus yanked on the end of the leash and charged after the runner. Carter lifted his legs just as the leather tore loose from his fingers. "s.h.i.t." He'd been busy reading the message and hadn't bothered to grip the leash. The dog was bounding straight toward- The bloodcurdling scream surprised everyone in the park except him. He saw it coming. That was what happened when you wore earphones, turned your music up high while texting, and got attacked by an overly-friendly beast from behind.

When he'd noticed her before, this wasn't exactly the type of meeting Carter had intended. She lay on the ground, blinking at the sky and Ruckus, while struggling to right herself.

The drool didn't help. What the h.e.l.l was he thinking when he let go of the leash? Oh, right. He wasn't. He himself was drooling. Only Ruckus's s...o...b..r was close to landing right on her face. The tendril of spit strung lower and lower.

"Ruckus! Come." The dog turned his way just as Carter lunged and grabbed his collar. Whew. The slime dripped to the gra.s.s and he yanked him off. "I'm so sorry. He pulled the leash from my fingers before I could stop him. Are you all right? Did he hurt you?"

Running Chick sat up and squinted, blinded by the setting sun at his back. She gulped in air and opened her mouth to speak but said nothing. She sucked in air again and held up a finger.

Carter thrust his bottle of water down. "Here. Drink. It'll help you get your wind back. Can you stand?"

When she took the bottle, he opened his fingers to a.s.sist her. She remained silent. Hmmm. He'd never been within fifteen feet of Running Chick before. He and Jackson had made jokes she was probably ugly up close. Actually, Jackson made all the jokes. Missing teeth. Hairy moles. Cross-eyed.

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

Seriously wrong, in fact, and somehow that was a surprise. It was hard not to notice when she sucked in another gulp of air, forced a smile, and handed back the water. She was better than he'd thought. Sooo much better. Carter blinked and averted his eyes to the dog. You have a girlfriend, remember?

"I'm fine. Just got the wind knocked out of me. Don't worry about it." Great. Even her voice was nice. Unlike Maddie's, it sort of rolled out of her mouth. Nothing obnoxious about it. "You wanted to play, didn't you, Ruckus? Ol' Maddie knew what she was doing when she named you, huh? You sure know how to cause one." She leaned down and patted the dog then brushed leaves from her back. Should he tell her about the two mud spots on her b.u.t.t?

Probably not.

"Isn't that the truth. You sure you don't need some help?" Should he be totally embarra.s.sed or thrilled? It had taken four months to get this intro. Since before Amanda-the girlfriend he was about to take to dinner to celebrate their three months together. Maybe he should have thought of the dog before.

He glanced at the time. "Oh c.r.a.p. I need to get going, sorry. Can I help you get anywhere? Walk you home, bandage your knee, uh, strangle the dog?" Check for broken bones? He shook that thought out of his head.

She laughed. "No. Seriously. I'm okay. Go. Get to your date." She waved him off and jogged away before he could say another word.

Two hours later, Carter pulled at the collar of his shirt and tried to ignore the jitters in his fingers. He was about to make the first long-term commitment of his life and it scared the s.h.i.t out of him. Was it normal to be concerned? He thumbed a quick text while he waited for Amanda to show.

Hope ur right about tickets.

Between Carter's workload and his friend Jackson's busy travel schedule, he hadn't seen the man in a couple weeks and texting was their only communication. h.e.l.l, he hardly had time to see Amanda. Work always intruded, and he was d.a.m.n good at his job. Industrial Project Management hadn't been the path he intended but it worked out fine and he was a kick-a.s.s professional. His new boss apparently agreed because he was scheduled to go on four trips to Thailand over the course of the following year. Four trips for what amounted to a four million dollar project. A good feather in his cap, and hopefully a big bonus in his bank account. Thank G.o.d the job change had worked out. Getting fired over a crazy woman's temper tantrum wasn't easy to digest, especially when he'd never had a chance to resolve her mistaken a.s.sumption.

He needed the money sorely. When his dad died, he'd taken over much of the finances for his mom. Based on what he'd seen the past months, she was in dire straits, not to mention bad health. He'd tried to convince her to sell the house and stay with him for a while, but she refused.

He dropped his phone face up on the table and peered out the Starbucks window at the people walking by, none of whom were Amanda. It had been a dreary day, but meeting her was sure to brighten it. Actually, the entire week had been dismal, for March in Texas.

Ding.

He glanced down as a message appeared.

If she not like, u can take me.

He smirked and keyed a response as the door flew open and Amanda breezed in. She was beautiful, and it always caught him off guard. Too beautiful for him, if he were honest. He never quite understood what caught her eye, and he hardly blamed her when she often seemed disinterested. Which was happening more often lately-maybe that was the way things went in a committed relationship. Everything was going well for the moment, and he was simply glad to be with her. It was hard to believe he'd lasted more than a few dates. He'd come a long way on the trust scale and he was proud that he'd given it a chance.

He stood, pecked her cheek-mainly because she turned just before he reached her lips-and smiled. "Happy three month anniversary."

Amanda smiled and went through the order line before dropping into her seat. The gift sat on the table between them in a white envelope tied with a red ribbon. He had never been much for wrapping things but added the dash of color as a last minute whim. He was proud of the results of his effort.

Her eyes twinkled as she stared at the slim package. In fact, he was pretty sure there was a drop of water gathering in the corner of her eyelid. Aw, she's getting all sentimental.

Good, he was on a roll. Wait until she saw them.

"You bought a gift?" Her eyebrows dipped and her voice was stark, entirely void of the elation he'd expected ... the first indication something didn't fit.

"Of course. We're going to celebrate. I made reservations for dinner at Sotby's down the street." Carter kept his voice cheerful but, deep down, his gut had started to turn. She seemed ... apprehensive.

The crowds clip-clopped past on the sidewalk, but at his table, time stood still. Music blared overhead, crooning at them to "cha-a-ange the world." Ironic, if he thought about it too much.

Her face solemn, Amanda slipped a finger under the ribbon and drew it off before opening the gift. She didn't pull the tickets out; she just slid the envelope open and peered inside. A shiver went down Carter's spine.

Someone behind the counter announced the arrival of a cinnamon mocha latte. Amanda dropped the envelope, rose from the booth, and retrieved her drink. She slowly doused the beverage with condiments before stirring it with a stick and returning. Coffee steam wafted toward him.

Ding.

Carter glanced at the phone.

She seen them yet? What she say?

"You bought me baseball tickets?" She plopped back in her seat. Across from him. He should have noticed that earlier. Not next to him in the booth.

"Yeah, season tickets. We can go to all the games. It'll be fun."

"Season baseball tickets together." There was no smile, no gazing in his eyes in response to his incredible thoughtfulness and commitment. Yes, commitment. Season tickets meant he intended to take her to all the games. That was commitment, right?

Ding.

This time her eyes also went to his phone and the message.

Well?

"To the Astros," Carter explained.

"Yeah, I saw that." She took a sip of the latte.

"You don't like them. I thought you said you love baseball. You watched all those games like a true fan," Carter said as she pushed the envelope toward him and shook her head. Had he really misread her that badly? Should he have listened to his idiot friend?

"It's not that. It's just-I can't do this, Carter. I mean, I like you-"

Ding.

She frowned at his phone display.

Come on, tell me.

Carter chose not to respond to the message. "But..." There was a but phrase coming next so he offered the word. Silently he cursed Jackson for the stupid ticket idea.

"This just isn't working for me. I'm sorry."

Ding.

Before he could see the screen, she plucked the phone from the table and flung it to the floor, where the screen shattered like a broken mirror. He didn't even get a chance to read the message. Then she rose and left. That was it?

His mouth dropped open and he stared after her. Why?

Carter sc.r.a.ped the pieces of his phone from the floor and dropped them in his pocket. He s.n.a.t.c.hed up the envelope and ran behind her.

"You're breaking up with me because of the tickets?" The light turned and she stepped into the street.

She walked faster and flung an answer over her shoulder. "No, I'm breaking up with you because I met someone else."

Oh. Carter stopped and stared. She raced away then turned the next corner and disappeared. He pulled the ma.s.s of electronic debris from his pocket and cursed. His phone agreement still had six months left, and the only way he'd be able to replace it was-if it were destroyed. Now that was a commitment, a long-term phone agreement. Which he hadn't been all that satisfied with anyway.

"I was kind of hoping I could get an upgrade." He stuck his hands in his pockets and headed down the street to the phone store. An odd calmness settled across his shoulders. Why was he numb to the rejection? He had no idea. Maybe Jackson was right-commitment just wasn't his thing.

Chapter Two.