Mr. Mistake: A Fake Marriage Romance (Mr. Mistake Series Book 1) Read online

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Finding Love Excerpt

  About the Author & Contact Info

  BOOKS BY KARICE BOLTON

  Mr. Mistake

  (Mr. Mistake Series #1)

  Karice Bolton

  Copyright © 2019 Karice Bolton

  Edited by Valorie Clifton

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any printed or electronic form, or stored in an unauthorized retrieval system, or transmitted in any form without permission from the author. Please respect the author's creativity and hard work by borrowing or purchasing this title.

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

  Cover: AdobeStockPhotos: © studioloco

  Interior: B&B Formatting

  Adobe Stock: © Keya

  Contact the Author

  If you’d like to receive exclusive FREE novellas and epilogues, learn about preorders, and be notified about new releases, sign up for Karice’s newsletter! Click here to subscribe!

  To contact the author, please visit her online at www.karicebolton.com or via

  Instagram/Twitter/Facebook/Pinterest @KariceBolton.

  You can also text KariceBooks to 313131 to receive a text from her on release days!

  BOOKS BY KARICE BOLTON

  MR. MISTAKE SERIES

  MR. MISTAKE

  MR. ACCIDENT – SUMMER 2019

  MR. WRONG – SUMMER 2019

  ISLAND COUNTY SERIES

  FINDING LOVE IN FORGOTTEN COVE

  LOVE REDONE IN HIDDEN HARBOR

  TANLGED LOVE ON PELICAN POINT

  FOREVER LOVE ON FIREWEED ISLAND

  TEMPTING LOVE ON HOLLY LANE

  CHANCE AT LOVE ON MYSTIC BAY

  IRRESISTIBLE LOVE AT SILVER FALLS

  LUCKY IN LOVE ON HOUND ISLAND

  ACCIDENTAL LOVE ON MEADOW LANE COVE

  SILVER RIDGE SERIES

  HAPPY TRUTH ABOUT LOVE

  A LITTLE SECRET ABOUT LOVE

  A FUNNY THING ABOUT LOVE

  A SURPRISING FACT ABOUT LOVE

  BEYOND LOVE SERIES

  BEYOND CONTROL

  BEYOND DOUBT

  BEYOND REASON

  BEYOND INTENT

  BEYOND CHANCE

  BEYOND PROMISE

  BEYOND the MISTLETOE

  LUKE FLETCHER SERIES

  HIDDEN SINS

  BURIED SINS

  REDEMPTION

  MIA

  V MAFIA SERIES

  NEVERL REVEAL: BLAKE

  NEVER CONFESS: DEVIN

  NEVER SAY NEVER: JAXSON

  AFTERWORLD SERIES

  RecruitZ

  AlibiZ

  Zombie UprisingZ

  THE WITCH AVENUE SERIES

  LONELY SOULS

  ALTERED SOULS

  RELEASED SOULS

  SHATTERED SOULS

  THE WATCHERS TRILOGY

  AWAKENING

  LEGIONS

  CATACLYSM

  TAKEN NOVELLA (A Watchers Prequel)

  WRITING COZY MYSTERIES AS POPPY BOLTON

  KATIE CHANCE MYSTERY SERIES

  Rub-A-Dub-Dub There's a Corpse in the Tub

  Something Old, Something New, Something Buried & Blue

  Chapter One

  “You’ve got to be kidding me.” I looked at my three best friends from childhood and shook my head. “We’re not bringing that up. Not today. Not ever.”

  “Why?” Winter asked, wiggling her brows. “Think we’re onto something, Tessa?”

  Winter’s brown hair was swept into a braid, and her blue eyes sparkled with an intensity that told me I was doomed. She still had a trace of clay along her wrist, which told me she’d been at her potter’s wheel all day and needed an outlet.

  Nothing like being tricked into a dinner with friends, which was really a guise for another torture session to vent about relationships.

  Or the lack thereof.

  “I just think it’s silly stuff.” I waved my hand to dismiss the topic and summon the bartender. “I’m super happy. I have a super life. I have a super job. I have super friends, most of the time.” I eyed Winter suspiciously. “Things are super, and this other stuff is silly stuff.”

  “Silly stuff?” Winter laughed. “Well, that’s just super.”

  “Our love lives are not silly. Pathetic, maybe.” Samantha giggled. “But not silly.”

  “Okay, maybe I used the wrong word, but I think bringing something up from when we were sixteen is…” I chewed on my lip briefly and drew a breath. “Unnecessary.”

  Samantha pointed at me, and I tapped my foot nervously, wondering when the bartender would show up. The bartender and I had locked eyes minutes ago, and he gave me the nod, and now I was stuck listening to something I didn’t want to face because he got sidetracked. I had a bad feeling about where this little reunion Winter had so suddenly organized was about to go.

  “So, you’re saying bringing up dating stuff is not so super.” Samantha winked at me and nodded, giggling. She unclasped the top two buttons on her blouse and let her hair down.

  We’d decided to meet at this dive bar in the heart of Seattle, close to where Samantha worked as an executive assistant. Since it was Wednesday, I’d hoped it meant we’d all be acting like civilized adults and going home at a decent time for work the next morning. Or at least, that was what I’d hoped until I arrived and saw the mischievous looks on Winter’s, Arie’s, and Samantha’s faces.

  I glanced around the crowded Seattle bar and held in a groan. The exposed brick walls were splattered from decades of spilled drinks, and the smell of stale beer lingered in the air.

  Seattle was a fun town, but it always left me exhausted and wanting to go back to Fireweed Island, where I now lived.

  Fireweed was a short ferry ride from the city, but it felt worlds away, and I’d never been so grateful for being dumped and abandoned by a guy because it happened on a great island where I now taught high school and loved every second of it. I’d admit the place was short on single men, but I didn’t mind being a single woman. I had the freedom to do what I wanted when I wanted to do it.

  What was better than that?

  “All I’m saying is that digging up some childhood game is unnecessary because we’re above all that.” I sat back in the booth, feeling like I’d finally gotten my point across. “We’ve all moved on.”

  Besides, I really didn’t want to bring up what I’d written down so many years ago. It seemed so juvenile and perfectly thought out like a sixteen-year-old would write.

  “But have we?” Samantha asked with a smirk.

  “You don’t think it’s silly or unnecessary.” Winter sat back on the creaky wooden bench. “You’re scared. You’re scared that I’m
right. Besides, we promised each other that we’d bring it up if we turned thirty and were single.” She tapped the table as the bartender wandered over.

  His blue eyes caught mine, and I’d be the first to admit that he was good-looking, but he was a player. It was nearly stamped on his forehead.

  When I glanced at Winter, I realized either she didn’t see the stamp, or she was destined to repeat fate time and again.

  “What can I get started for you beautiful ladies?” He grinned, and I noticed the dimple in his left cheek.

  Winter’s weakness.

  Dimples.

  This night wasn’t looking good for her, or maybe it was looking great for her.

  She giggled and blushed. “I’d love a gin and tonic.”

  “Bringing back the oldies.” He smiled, and she giggled some more.

  Winter knew how to flirt. She knew how to bring a man to his knees. She knew how to leave them wanting more. And she also knew how to pick the wrong ones.

  Well, apparently, that was a common thread that bound us all, or we wouldn’t be sitting here about to dredge up an old teenage pact.

  Samantha and I traded a worried glance when the bartender kneeled in front of Winter and slid her a folded napkin.

  Here we go again.

  She opened it up, blushed some more, and grinned before he stood back up and took the rest of our orders. The moment he left, she leaned in and sighed.

  “He’s cute.” She sighed again, and Arie patted her back.

  “And it looks like you might get to do something about it,” Arie teased, and Winter rolled her eyes, knowing full well she was going to dial that number sometime soon.

  “Anyway, before we were so rudely interrupted,” Samantha picked up where Winter had left off.

  Winter had a habit of being easily distracted, but I never got distracted. I was just never interested.

  “I say we look back into history, our history, and figure out what in the world we’re doing wrong. Maybe that pact from all those years ago jinxed us.” Samantha reached for her purse.

  The mere mention of the pact made me cringe.

  “It’s pointless,” I assured her. “I don’t even remember what I wrote. I didn’t even remember we had a pact until you brought it up.”

  And I didn’t. Kind of. Well, I remembered it, but I didn’t build my entire failed-dating career due to those tiny vows. Only part of my dating career could be attributed to those, and I would never admit it to my best friends.

  “Well, I remember my part of the pact clearly.” Samantha cleared her throat and took a sip of her drink that the bartender dropped off. “Too clearly, and I think that I need to finally acknowledge that I might have been wrong.”

  I gasped. “Samantha Beau wrong? That’s ridiculous.” I giggled and looked lovingly at her.

  Samantha had the sweetest heart, and I cursed the men who trampled it. Repeatedly.

  Again.

  And again.

  “You’re saying your sixteen-year-old self might have been wrong about lifelong love and relationships?” Arie laughed. “Can’t imagine that.”

  “Don’t be a know-it-all,” Winter joked, and Arie laughed some more. “And for your information, we were smart enough to know that we’d need to revisit things by now if relationships hadn’t worked out for us, so here we are.”

  “And you’re giving me a week? My thirtieth is so close, I can taste it.” I glared at her.

  “I’m just glad I didn’t participate in your hocus-pocus of a pact.” Arie beamed, sitting proudly with a wine glass in hand.

  “Because not participating in the pact has clearly helped your love life,” I said sarcastically.

  “Clearly.” She grinned, scowled playfully, and let out a sigh. “I’m divorced. Yes. But I’m sure that Mr. Right is just around the corner.”

  “The only thing I saw around the corner was an alley full of homeless people and a bold assortment of brightly colored tents.” I grimaced. “So sad. Although you do like camping.”

  Arie scowled. “I’m not into finding an urban camper as my Mr. Right, but thanks.”

  Winter shook her head. “No. That’s exactly what I’m saying. What if we’re wrong? What if we’ve had dating and men wrong this entire time? We’re not getting any younger, ladies. What if Mr. Right doesn’t exist?”

  I rolled my eyes. “I don’t even know what you’re talking about. I’m happy with my life, and I don’t need a man to make me complete.”

  “Close your eyes,” Winter began, “and imagine waking up in the morning, rolling over, smelling coffee wafting through the air, and opening your eyes to see Mr. Wrong staring right back at you.”

  I shuddered, blinking my eyes open. “Sounds like a nightmare.”

  Winter laughed. “Yeah. It came out wrong.” She glanced at Samantha. “You try.”

  “I think instead of searching for Mr. Right, we need to start looking for Mr. Wrong.” Samantha pulled out yellowed papers from her purse and slapped the pages on the table, and every nerve in my body tingled with worry.

  “Still not buying it.” I smiled.

  “Here’s yours, Tessa. And yours, Winter, and… mine.” Samantha slipped us all the crinkled pages, but I refused to look down.

  “Go ahead, look at it,” Samantha prompted, and Winter’s eyes fell to her sheet.

  “What I can’t believe is that you still had all these.” I laughed, still refusing to look down at the pact.

  I knew what was on it. An ode to a crush I knew I’d never get, promised myself I never wanted, and had the wherewithal to show I could stick to my guns.

  Samantha shrugged. “I thought I might need them for a scandalous bribe or something someday.” She grinned mischievously. “You know, in case I needed someone to babysit my imaginary kids at a moment’s notice.”

  “Sounds about right.” I laughed.

  “What does yours say? What type of man did you vow you’d never marry?” Winter asked, staring at me with wide eyes.

  Even when she was annoying, she looked frustratingly cute, which was why I always got into trouble with these ladies. Each friend was so different, yet we’d all bonded over life events, goals, dreams, changing dreams, and heartaches. Winter was the Bohemian of us all, enjoying pottery and somehow managing to turn that into a business. Samantha was goal-oriented and enjoyed working in the corporate world. Last but not least, Arie went to vet school and worked in a local animal shelter as their vet.

  “Go on,” Winter tried again.

  I knew she already knew the answer, and so did I, but I didn’t want to say it out loud. Out of all my friends, I’d been the only one to share at the time what I’d written down. They’d all chickened out.

  “When I was sixteen, all kinds of things were going on in my life, and I didn’t know any better, and I seriously didn’t give this any thought.” I scowled, feeling a gnawing sensation in my belly. I didn’t want to believe that something I’d scribbled with my teenage friends could have impacted my entire dating life for the last fourteen years.

  “Fine. I’ll read mine,” Winter announced, grabbing her reading glasses from her purse and sliding them on. “Can you believe I’m at the stage where I need reading glasses?”

  Arie chuckled and grabbed her own pair out of her bag. “Why, yes, I can. It’s what happens when you’re heading in the direction we’re going.”

  I smoothed my blonde hair and let out a sigh of relief.

  “But there is a perk.” Winter grinned. “I can’t see my wrinkles.”

  We laughed, and she cleared her throat, looking down at the aged pages from a decade and a half ago.

  “I hereby swear I will never marry a man with tattoos, who drives a motorcycle, who loves to ski, who cooks, has brown hair, lives on a beach, has lots of money, or has kids.” She sucked in a breath. “I vow to never marry a man like my father.”

  Silence fell over our table, and Samantha reached for Winter’s hand.

  “I do believe I’ve manag
ed to avoid all of those pitfalls.” Winter looked at me and smiled.

  “Yes. God forbid you were to marry a man who cooks.” I smiled back, trying to make light of a rather serious declaration.

  “Or has lots of money and lives on a beach,” Arie added and pretended to shiver. “The horrors.”

  Winter chuckled.

  “But the father thing I get,” Samantha said sympathetically.

  “Me too.” I nodded, my eyes connecting with Winter’s. Just because my dad was great, didn’t make all dads equal.

  “Daddy issues are the worst.” Arie shook her head solemnly.

  “I don’t have daddy issues.” Winter laughed. “Do I?”

  I chuckled, putting my head on the table briefly. “We’re doomed.”

  Even when I was growing up, I was able to figure out that Winter’s home life was rocky. It wasn’t that she didn’t live in a spectacular home with her parents or have incredible cars parked in their driveway that carried expensive purchases from magnificent shopping sprees.

  The problem was that her parents fought like cats and dogs, but that was only when her father wasn’t busy staying with one of his many mistresses.

  And the reason Winter hated a house on a beach was that she and her mother had walked into their beach vacation home with Winter’s father in bed, ass up, with another woman. Winter also saw, for the first time, that her father had a tattoo on his butt cheek that had forever scarred her.

  No teenage girl should ever have to see her dad’s bare butt, especially up in the air where it doesn’t belong with someone who shouldn’t be clutching it, digging her bright red nails into his pale flesh.

  The image was bored into my memory almost as harshly as Winter’s because I was the first friend she’d told all about it, sobbing into the phone.

  Winter had stayed at my house for weeks after that. To say she was traumatized was putting it mildly, but even fourteen years later, I never knew what that tattoo was. It never seemed like the right time to ask, and now probably wasn’t the moment either, but I couldn’t resist.