All Mixed Up: A Second Chance Romance (Common Threads Book 8), page 1
ALL MIXED UP
COMMON THREADS BOOK #8
HEIDI HUTCHINSON
WWW.SMARTYPANTSROMANCE.COM
CONTENTS
Author’s Note
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Epilogue
PLAYLIST/CHAPTER TITLES
About the Author
Other titles by Heidi Hutchinson
Also by Smartypants Romance
COPYRIGHT
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, rants, facts, contrivances, and incidents are either the product of the author’s questionable imagination or are used factitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead or undead, events, locales is entirely coincidental if not somewhat disturbing/concerning.
Copyright © 2023 by Smartypants Romance; All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, photographed, instagrammed, tweeted, twittered, twatted, tumbled, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without explicit written permission from the author.
Made in the United States of America
Ebook Edition
ISBN: 978-1-959097-27-3
to Matilda
for showing me that fishnets and glitter
absolutely go together
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Dear Reader,
Up until now I have been exclusively a closed door writer.
The past few books I’ve written there were moments during the creative process where I was conflicted about closing the door. It felt like I was doing the characters and the story I had built a disservice.
But I was afraid of transitioning to open door. I thought it would be brand suicide.
Still, I couldn’t shake the idea that I was harming the depth of my storytelling. That I was pulling my punches so to speak.
And then I told myself I didn’t have a right to show up in that space and contribute to romance in that way. The subject matter was too important to get wrong.
See, I learned about sex through romance novels. Without certain books and certain brave authors, I wouldn’t know what I know. I’ve spoken to many people over the years that have expressed the same sentiment. Without romance novels with open door scenes, a lot of us would be very different people.
That’s when I realized I had a responsibility to be a voice in that space. To contribute to the genre with the talents I’ve been given. To hopefully be a meaningful and healthy influence. To pass it on.
I believe this is where my writing was always leading me and I’m excited for this next step.
I recognize that not everyone will support this transition. I didn’t come to this decision lightly. It has been on my mind and heart for quite some time. I wanted to be sure that I was making this change for the right reasons.
I hope you stick around, but I understand if you can’t.
I know this is a big change and I want to make it easy for you to skip the spicy bits if they make you uncomfortable. The chapters with open door scenes will have an asterisk after the chapter number. Just a small symbol to notify readers of what to expect so you’re not blindsided, but nothing too harsh to pull you out of the story.
Not every book moving forward will have open door. It will really depend on the story and the characters. I will be upfront in the blurb if there will be open door scenes so you can make an informed decision.
Thank you for reading my stories. Thank you for sticking with me. Thank you for giving me the chance to be a part of something greater than myself.
Love Always,
Heidi
PROLOGUE
CelebX
BREAKING NEWS
The indie rock band Winking Pete has canceled the rest of their tour.
Ticket refunds began showing up in emails late last night before the band had officially announced the cancelation.
Fans had been watching the ongoing antics of the band’s lead singer with some trepidation. What started as showing up late to venues culminated in an “allegedly” drunken tirade in the middle of the third song at the Electric Ballroom.
Shelby Mallory mumbled through the first two songs of the set before being pulled aside by her brother and bass player, Asa Young.
The band began the third song, only to have Mallory shove her guitarist, Nikki Harry, and then launch into an incoherent speech that seemed to touch on everything from the government to her parents’ divorce a decade earlier.
Winking Pete has seen nominal success over the past year with their breakout hits, “Bread Crumbs” and “I Hope You Lose Me.”
Labeled as “the ones to watch” earlier this year by industry insiders, it now seems that the band’s short career has come to a dramatic close.
We have not been able to reach the band’s publicist for comment.
CHAPTER ONE
RESOLVE
ANDRÉ
He glanced at the map on the screen of his phone even though he knew exactly where he was going.
In more ways than one.
He’d never been inside XY Records, but he’d driven past it more times than was healthy.
It wasn’t in the part of town where he lived. He didn’t work anywhere nearby. He had almost no reason to be in Avondale.
Except for those times when he’d find himself driving that direction, going past the unmarked brick building, past the row houses, taking a right, going down the short street filled with bungalows and single-family homes, looking for lights on in the upstairs bedroom of a very specific home that he had once spent more time at than his own apartment…
Yeah. He had no reason to be on this side of town.
No reason to turn down the alleyway behind the recording studio where his ex-fiancée worked every single day.
Except today. Today he had the best reason he could have hoped for.
The rush of hope and terror swept through him for the tenth time since he’d answered the phone call from Johnny Enamorado Torres, the owner/operator of XY Records.
Johnny needed someone to renovate a few spaces in the studio. He’d been given André’s number by a contractor that André had worked with a few times over the years. They had discussed Johnny’s needs and set up a time to meet in person.
Which was now.
André had no reason not to think he’d be able to get the job. He had excellent references and his work spoke for itself. Even if it was a little unconventional to hire an archeology professor to do carpentry work.
His emotions had nothing to do with the job itself.
They were all about the woman he’d never gotten out of his heart and mind.
He clenched the steering wheel.
He’d screwed everything up two and a half years ago. And up until last Christmas he’d been convinced that what was over was over forever. Then he’d seen how his sister and her now husband had navigated the rocky waters of their relationship and he’d begun to think something different. That maybe it wasn’t as over as he’d thought.
Maybe he could try again.
What followed that night was unknown to all but himself and whoever had answered the phone.
He’d gotten wine drunk and had called her.
Yes, he’d drunk dialed his ex on Christmas Eve like the complete numpty he was.
He didn’t have a very clear memory of what he’d said.
She’d answered. He remembered that.
And his phone said the call lasted twelve minutes.
What had he said to her in twelve minutes?
Oh, he could think of a lot of things.
The problem was, he wasn’t sure which things he’d said and which things he’d managed to keep inside his big mouth.
It could have been anything ranging from “I still love you,” to “I miss your tits.”
He groaned audibly as he made the left turn.
God, he hoped he hadn’t told her he missed her tits.
He did miss her tits. They were glorious. Best tits in the world.
But he hadn’t spoken to her in two years and that’s not what he’d wanted to say to her the next time they spoke.
What he’d wanted to tell her was he was sorry.
He was so damn sorry some days it was all he could focus on.
Hopefully he’d at least managed to apologize. It would make the next part of what he was about to do that much easier.
He turned the car into the alley entrance.
The studio was sandwiched in between a row of walk-up townhouses and an apartment building. It looked like nothing. No signage; no obvious indicators of what happened inside the brick walls.
Most of the people who worked there and the bigger artists used the back entrance because the parking off the alley allowed more privacy.
At least, that’s what he’d been told once upon a time.
And Nicole used the front door because her house was across and down the street.
It was late enough in the day that she should already be gone. He wanted to secure the job before seeing her.
His mind swam with vivid potential scenarios of how they’d meet again. He’d impress her with his growth, and they’d laugh about what an idiot he used to be.
“Your destination is on the right,” his GPS told him.
This was going to work. He could feel it in his bones.
It had taken him two years to apologize, and another seven months after that for him to have a reckoning in his own soul that came in the middle of the night in the Badlands of South Dakota.
But when Johnny Torres had called him and offered an open door, he knew it as surely as he knew the Jurassic Period was his favorite to teach.
He had a chance.
An opportunity.
Just a small one, but it was there, and he wasn’t going to run away from it.
Not this time.
Never again.
He turned the car into the parking lot, excitement buzzing in his veins.
Every decision in his life had brought him to this moment and he felt good about it.
He was finally ready to embrace life and stop being afraid to be happy.
It was going to be good from here on out—great even.
He hit the brakes as a flash of color and limbs hit his windshield with a loud thud. The car came to a hard stop and the colors rolled off the hood of the car and hit the ground.
“Oh God.” He slammed the car into park and undid his seat belt.
How had that happened?
“Please don’t be a person. Please don’t be a person.” His stomach turned and his hands shook as he shoved the door open.
The hot, sticky July heat engulfed him immediately as he ran around the front of his car.
It was a person.
He dropped to his knees, hands trembling.
He’d hit a person!
With his car!
“Are you okay?” he asked, not sure where to put his hands.
It was a woman in a bright dress. The fabric tangled around her legs, both of her shoes had come off, her arms were tucked under her body at an odd angle.
And the hair…her hair was blonde.
And she was utterly still.
He reached for her, knowing it was Nicole and still hoping it wasn’t.
Footsteps came racing toward him, but he didn’t glance up.
“Call an ambulance,” he said to whoever had joined them and he felt her neck for a pulse.
A flutter under his fingertips let him know she was alive.
Of course, she was alive. The car had barely been moving. It couldn’t possibly be that bad.
Please don’t be that bad.
He pressed his face to the ground to get level with hers and brushed her hair out of her eyes. She was unconscious. Or at least, she appeared to be unconscious. He didn’t want to move her, but he also wanted to be sure she could breathe.
He looked up to see that they were surrounded by some people he knew and some he didn’t.
A dark-haired man in a light blue Henley was on the phone with emergency services.
Sabine joined him on the ground.
Sabine?
He did a double take on his younger sister. Why was she there?
“What happened?” she asked.
“She got hit by a car.”
Sabine’s head jerked around as she looked from André to his car and back again.
Nicole made a noise and they both looked down to her before Sabine could state the obvious.
“Ow,” Nicole whimpered. She tried to move and cried out.
“Don’t move. Where does it hurt?” André placed a hand gently between her shoulder blades and lifted it again.
Nicole ignored his instruction to not move and rolled onto her back. She cradled her right elbow with her left hand, face contorted in pain. Water started leaking from her eyes.
“I’m okay,” she lied through her tears.
André skimmed his fingers along her hairline, brushing away flecks of dirt and gravel. He scanned the scrapes and marks on her face and arms and legs. His stomach twisted with guilt and fear.
“Please stop moving,” he whispered.
If he’d injured her to a point—
No.
He couldn’t go there. She was fine.
Her blue eyes flashed as they raked over his face. Like she was just now realizing who he was.
“What…?” she started to ask and struggled to sit up.
He sucked in a breath and held his hands out, palms facing her. “Stay there.”
She narrowed her eyes at him and all those fantasies that he’d had about seeing her again crumbled into dust like the guy from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade who chose the grail that wasn’t so holy.
Sirens grew closer and relief began to prickle in the back of his mind. “It’s okay,” he said, trying to reassure her (and himself). “The paramedics are almost here.”
He couldn’t stop looking at her.
It had been years since he’d seen her, and somehow, she was even more beautiful than he remembered.
Her hair was longer than she used to keep it but not by much. Just past her shoulders. And still blonde. No pink or blue tips like when they’d first met. And she had bangs, which was new.
Her pale complexion was tanned from summer sun, and she smelled like coconut and vanilla.
His gaze landed on her narrowed eyes, and he felt an involuntary smile tug his lips.
Fucking hell, André! Now’s not the time!
“André?” she asked. “What are you doing here?”
“I like your hair,” he blurted and then shook his head. “I’m sorry. Does anything hurt?”
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “My arm hurts.”
She was still holding it against her chest. Hopefully it wouldn’t be anything serious. He would never forgive himself.
She was speaking clearly though, so hopefully that meant no concussion.
“I’m going to be late for my date,” she said.
André swallowed the tightness in his throat.
Date?
In all of his various fantasies of them reconnecting, her dating someone else hadn’t factored into it.
But it had been two and a half years.
Of course she’d be dating someone!
“I’ll let him know,” Sabine said.
André glanced at his sister who had retrieved Nicole’s shoes, purse, and phone.
What the hell was Sabine even doing here?
“Thanks.” Nicole opened her eyes and looked from André to Sabine and back again. “Did you hit me with your car? Did that really happen?”
“You have a date?”
He hadn’t meant to ask that out loud. He regretted it instantly. He regretted it a second time when Sabine swatted him in the arm with the back of her hand.
And regret piled on top of regret when Nicole rolled her eyes and then didn’t look at him again.
Like she was dismissing him from her thoughts entirely.
This was not how he’d wanted any of this to go.
The EMTs and police arrived and he was shuffled out of the way.
He watched from a distance as the first responders examined Nicole.
How had this happened?
She’d come out of nowhere.
That’s what he said to the officer who’d come over to take his statement. He answered all the questions put to him and provided his identification and insurance information all while trying to watch what was happening with Nicole.
When she climbed into the back of the ambulance with only a little assistance from the EMT, some of his worry drained away. She seemed to be moving fine on her own and she even laughed at something Sabine said right before they closed the doors and drove away with her.
