Lucky: A Love Lane Short

LUCKY:

A Love Lane Romantic
Short

By Olivia L.
Thomas

Copyright © 2015 by Olivia
L. Thomas

Smashwords
Edition

All rights
reserved.

This book is a work of
fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are
products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any
resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales
is entirely coincidental.

No part of this publication
may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by
any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic
or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the
author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical
reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright
law.

Editing by: C&D
Editing

Cover Design by: Natalie
Catalano

Dedication

To my husband and
children. I couldn’t have done this without your
support.

Kate Winters is down on her
luck. Dumped by her boyfriend and alone, she is faced with the
daunting task of moving into a new apartment. With no money to hire
a moving company, Kate turns to the one man she knows will never
turn her away.

Hiding behind black glasses
and a computer, Henry has spent each day at Klein Associates
silently pining over his very beautiful co-worker. Now that Kate is
available, Henry is ready to shed his quiet persona and go after
what he wants.

What starts off as a hard
day of moving furniture turns into a night full of surprises and
passion when Kate and Henry get Lucky.

Lucky is book one in the
Love Lane romantic short story series.

Each book can be read as a
standalone but are best enjoyed in order.

Prologue

Standing on the sidewalk in
front of 534 Love Lane, I have an overwhelming sense that
everything is as it should be. With my eyes closed, I tilt my head
back and face the bright, early morning sunshine. Rays of pink and
yellow dance behind my eyes as the cool summer air bathes my
face.

Dropping my head back down,
I open my eyes and look straight ahead at the three-story, brick,
20th Century Colonial Revival apartment building with its large,
columned entry and bright green door welcoming me to my new
life.

I can’t help thinking back
over the past few stressful months as I take a deep breath and let
out all of the pent up tension in one long exhale. This building
and my new apartment on the second floor are where my life starts
anew. No more loveless relationships, no more putting my job ahead
of my
happiness
.
No, this place is my new beginning. This beautiful building on this
pristinely quiet street in Brooklyn Heights is where I am going to
find my happiness.

Chapter One

“
Son of a bitch,” I yell
while banging my fists on the vending machine window. It is taking
all of my strength not to burst into tears or, better yet, kick the
fucking shit out of the damn machine.

“
For the love of God, all I
want is some chocolate. Give up the goods,” I wail again in
frustration.

Just when I thought my life
couldn’t possibly get any worse, here I am, hands gripping the
sides of a vending machine and fighting for a piece of candy that I
know will only lead me down a path of caloric destruction.
Chocolate today, my good friends
Ben and
Jerry
tomorrow and so on until I find
myself in a corner surrounded by empty bags of
Skittles
rocking back and forth and
mumbling about chasing rainbows.

God, I’m such a
mess
.

“
Hey, Kate, honey, how
about you take a step back. I think the poor vending machine has
taken enough abuse for one morning and I wouldn’t be surprised if
the whole office heard you yelling.”

I turn at the voice and
realize in my embarrassment that Mindy, my co-worker and best
friend, has been at the coffee counter this entire time, watching
me make a complete ass of myself. I can’t believe I just attacked
the vending machine. I am so mortified that if I could magically
make myself disappear right now I would. I have officially become
one of those people who bring their personal problems to
work.
What the hell is wrong with
me?
I briefly consider blaming it on my
period. That seems like a reasonable excuse for losing ones shit
right?

“
Sorry, Mindy, the last few
days have been shit.”

“
I noticed. Here, take
this.” Mindy hands me half of her chocolate chip muffin then walks
over to the communal table where she pulls out a chair for me with
a slight nod, indicating that I should take a seat. I follow and
slowly lower myself down into the chair.

“
So, what’s up?”

Hesitant to show my failings
yet desperate to talk to someone, I can tell just by the look of
acceptance on Mindy’s face that she won’t judge or criticize. She
is here to listen to me vent and nothing more, which is just what I
need.

“
Braydon and I broke up,” I
tell her with a mix of anger and sadness.

Mindy places her head on my
shoulder and snuggles in showing giving me the support I am
desperate for. “I never liked that asshole.”

“
You did too, stop trying
to make me feel better by lying.”

“
Girl code dictates that as
your best friend I am allowed to change my opinion of Braydon
without cause. It further states that it is my job to lie to you if
necessary in an effort to make you feel better. If you want I can
go get the codebook.” Mindy makes a move as if she is going to get
up from the table when I grab her arm and let out a strangled noise
that could only be considered a cross between a chuckle and
sob.

“
No need for the book. I
believe you. Thank you for trying to make me feel
better.”

“
Good, because the codebook
also says that I get to now make unending emasculating jokes about
the size of Braydon’s dick. What do you call a guy with a one-inch
dick? 
”

“
What?”

“
Braydon!”

“
Really Mindy? That’s the
best that you got?

“
Well what do you expect?
You just dropped the breakup bomb and I haven’t had time to
prepare. I promise that tomorrow I will be on my game and full of
cock jokes. Okay?”

“
Okay.”

“
All joking aside how are
you really doing?” Mindy asks in a more somber tone.

“
Honestly, not that great.
I just keep thinking that I have wasted the last five years of my
life. Everything I thought I was building, everything I have been
working my ass off for is gone. Poof! I have nothing to show for
it: no wedding ring, no babies, no mother-in-law to complain about,
no nothing. I busted my ass, working nights and weekends, gave up
family functions and date nights, drinks with friends, all for my
career. And where did it get me?” I say this with a wave of my
arms, indicating the small office kitchen. I end with a defeated
groan and drop my head on the table.

While it feels good to get
out all my frustrations, loneliness, and self -defeat, I still feel
horrible and want that damn chocolate bar. Only after I am done
purging do I realize we’re sitting in the small kitchen that is
open to all employees. God, I hope no one else witnessed my
meltdown. The last thing I need is people in the office talking
about me.

“
Who’s the whore?” Mindy
asks in true friend fashion.

I can’t help it. I begin to
laugh. Full belly laughs, complete with tears begin to spill out of
me, although the tears could just be left over from my pity party.
Still, while I appreciate the sentiment from Mindy, I quickly
correct her.

“
Braydon swears he didn’t
cheat on me, and for the most part, I believe him about the sex
part. I’m not stupid, though. I’ve seen what Candy looks like, and
I know how Braydon’s mind works, so I am pretty sure the two of
them have been physical in other ways.”

“
Candy? Are you serious? Is
she a stripper?” Mindy asks with an excited wide smile.

“
Right! That was my first
thought too but she actually works at the bar, fully clothed, with
Braydon.”

“
Whatever, I still don’t
like her,” Mindy says putting an end to talk about Candy and
turning serious. “You need to listen to me, Kate and listen good.
Your life has not been a waste. You have a successful career in
advertising, an amazing best friend who loves you, and a supportive
family. All of those late nights and extra work have put you on the
track to be a superstar in this industry, so don’t
ever
devalue your hard
work. Everyone goes through this at one point or another. As for
Braydon, it sucks that he gave up, and yeah, maybe you did, too,
but doesn’t that tell you something? Like maybe there is more out
there for you than each other?”

I know she is right. I have
been having this same conversation in my head for days now, ever
since Braydon sat me down and told me it was over. I honestly can’t
blame him. We grew apart, and he found someone else. That’s life—it
happens—but man, does it suck.

Braydon and I had some great
times in the beginning. Meeting just after I graduated from NYU, we
fell for each other quickly. He was the sexy bouncer at the local
bar with aspirations to one day own his own pub, and I was the
naive new graduate, living on my own for the first time and
thinking life was going to be one long episode of Sex in the City.
I was trying to act out every adult fantasy I’d ever
had.

There was no courting or
butterflies in your stomach with Braydon and I; it was more of a
Mack truck of lust directed right between my legs. We tumbled into
bed after only exchanging a few words, and it was months before we
came up for air. The sex was amazing; we couldn’t keep our hands
and mouths off each other. We fooled around everywhere, without
regard to who may walk in on us: in the bathroom of his bar, the
elevator in my apartment building, parked in his car on the side of
the street. It was a free for all, and we reveled in it. We fucked
and fucked and fucked some more until we were sweaty and sticky and
completely spent. But after coming down off the high of our
combined orgasms we had very little to say to each other. As much
as I wanted and as much as we tried, you can’t build a relationship
on sex alone.

I knew back then that, once
the sex started to taper off, the chances of Braydon and I riding
it out for the long haul were slim to none. We had very little in
common and were practically strangers outside of the bedroom, but
when he asked me to move in, I stupidly said yes, thinking we would
grow more alike with time. I wasn’t taking my future into
consideration. I simply wanted the freedom to be under Braydon each
night. Also, if I am being honest with myself, I may have also said
yes out of fear of being alone. I became comfortable and complacent
in our pseudo relationship.

Three years later, the
extent of our conversations consisted of, “What’s for dinner?” I
can’t even say we were ever truly in love. Part of me is glad
Braydon finally met someone who can give him everything we couldn’t
have together. He is a good guy, just not the guy meant for
me.

“
Ugh, I know you’re right,
Mindy. It just still really hurts and I may be feeling a tiny bit
insecure right now.” I say while pinching my thumb and index
fingers together.

Raising her eyebrows, Mindy
gives me a pointed look. The kind of look that tells me she knows
I’m full of it.

“
Ok, maybe a shit-ton
insecure. What if no one else wants me? What if I end up alone
forever? I can’t even become a crazy cat lady! I’m allergic. What
am I going to do?”

“
Damn straight I’m right,
so suck it up and stop your bitching. And don’t worry about the
cats, you can always get a bunch of birds or maybe even a ferret.”
Mindy retorts with a wink. With a more serious tone, she continues,
“You’re only twenty-four. It’s not like you’re me and have to start
over at thirty. Believe me, any guy worth a fuck in my age group is
already taken. You’re young and single in New York, with a killer
body on top of your stellar personality. You should be able to find
someone in no time at all.”