my favourite mistake by chelsea m. cameron - chapter sampler

7/22/2019 My Favourite Mistake by Chelsea M. Cameron - Chapter Sampler

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My Favourite

Mistake


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DID YOU PURCHASE THIS BOOK WITHOUT A COVER?If you did, you should be aware it is stolen propertyas it was

reported unsold and destroyed by a retailer.Neither the author nor the publisher has received any payment

for this book.

First Published 2012First Australian Paperback Edition 2013ISBN 978 174356483 7

MY FAVOURITE MISTAKE 2012 by Chelsea M.CameronPhilippine Copyright 2012

Australian Copyright 2012New Zealand Copyright 2012

Except for use in any review, the reproduction or utilisation of this work in wholeor in part in any form by any electronic, mechanical or other means, now knownor hereafter invented, including xerography, photocopying and recording, or inany information storage or retrieval system, is forbidden without the permissionof the publisher, Harlequin Mira, Locked Bag 7002, Chatswood D.C. N.S.W.,Australia 2067.

This book is sold subject to the condition that shall not, by way of trade or

otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the priorconsent of the publisher in any form of binding or cover other than that in whichit is published and without a similar condition including this condition beingimposed on the subsequent purchaser.

All rights reserved including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in anyform. This edition is published in arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A..

This is a work of ction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either theproduct of the authors imagination or are used ctitiously, and any resemblanceto actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is

entirely coincidental.

Published byHarlequin MiraAn imprint of Harlequin Enterprises (Aust) Pty Ltd.Level 4, 132 Arthur StreetNORTH SYDNEY NSW 2060AUSTRALIA

and TM are trademarks of Harlequin Enterprises Limited or its corporateafliates. Trademarks indicated with are registered in Australia, New Zealand,

the United States Patent & Trademark Ofce and in other countries.

Printed and bound in Australia by Grifn Press


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CHAPTER1

The first time I met Hunter Zaccadelli, I punched him in the

face. Granted, he completely and totally deserved it. He also

asked for it, in so many ways.

When our fourth roommate bailed on us three days before

school, Darah, Renee and I assumed housing would take care

of it and shove some poor unfortunate in with us. Probably

some poor girl who had decided to switch colleges at the

last minute to follow a boyfriend, or someone who had

their apartment plans fall through. We werent sure what to

expect, but come move-in day, I did not expect who was

waiting outside when I opened the door. I knew the upper-

class housing was coed, but never in my wildest and craziest

dreams did I think it would actually happen to us.

Instead of a desperate and frazzled girl, he showed up with

a footlocker, a backpack and a guitar. It was so beyond clich

that I didnt say anything for the full three seconds it took for

me to assess him. Dark hair buzzed so short his head was al-

most shaved, purposeful f ive oclock shadow, piercing blue eyes


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CHELSEA M. CAMERON8

it all off. He might as well have had Trouble tattooed on his

forehead. Speaking of ink, I could just make out some on his

arm, but I couldnt see what it said. His thin T-shirt huggedhis chest in a way that didnt leave much to the imagination.

Maybe hed borrowed it from his little brother.

Are you Darah, Renee or Taylor? You look like a Taylor

to me, he said, looking me up and down.

I wasnt at my best, considering I was dressed for moving

heavy objects in a blue UMaine T-shirt and black soccer shorts,and I had my light brown hair in a haphazard bun against the

back of my neck. His eyes raked up and down twice, and for

some reason the way he assessed me made me blush and want

to kick him in the balls at the same time.

There must be a mistake, I said.

He adjusted his bag on his shoulder. Thats a creative name.What do you shorten it to? Missy?

Thats not what I meant.

His grin somehow got wider. Either his dad was a dentist,

or he was really into f lossing because those teeth were pretty

perfect. I noticed things like that, having gone through my

own dental saga between three years of braces and nightheadgear. I still had to wear a retainer every night.

Is that her? Darah called from her room, where she was

arranging her photo frames so they were exactly level. She

was neurotic like that.

Im Hunter, by the way. Hunter Zaccadelli.

Of course his name was Hunter. The only Hunter Id everknown had been a complete douche. Looked like this guy was

going to carry on the tradition.

He pointed to his footlocker. So, should I bring my stuff

in or?


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MY FAVOuRITE MISTAKE 9

Whos that? Darah f inally emerged. Our other roommate,

Renee, was still unloading stuff from her car.

New roommate, hey, he said.Youre the new roommate? Her eyebrows migrated so

they were nearly hidden under her dark bangs. She gave him

the same up and down as I did, but he didnt do the same to

her. He was still looking at me.

Yeah, my housing plans fell through at the last minute.

My cousin was going to let me live at his place, but that didntwork out, so here I am. Do you mind if I come in now?

You cant live here, I said, crossing my arms.

Why? This is a coed living facility, last time I checked.

He flashed his grin again and shouldered his way into the

room, completely ignoring me as his chest brushed mine, and

I got a whiff of cologne. It wasnt that cheap crap that punches

you in the nose. It was spicier, almost like cinnamon. I stood

my ground, but he had height and weight on me. But I had

surprise on my side.

Well, its better than sleeping on my cousins couch,

he said, plunking his bag on the floor and surveying the

room. The suites were small, with a kitchen and tiny nook

for a dining table on one side and a tiny living room for

an apartment-size couch and a recliner on the other. The

bedrooms were the worst, with two lofted beds crammed

perpendicular to each other along the wall, the desks crammed

underneath, and room for only two small closets.

Can I see some identif ication? Darah said, propping her

hands on her hips. How do we know youre not some random

creep?

Do I look like some random creep? He spread his arms


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CHELSEA M. CAMERON10

A number seven in curling intricate script. My eyes moved

up to his face.

How are we supposed to know? Darah moved closer tohim, using her stature. They were almost the same height.

Look, all I know is that I submitted an application and they

sent me an email with a room number and your names. Here,

I printed it out. Do you treat all your guests like criminals?

He drew out a many-times-folded sheet of paper and handed

it to Darah. She glanced at it, sighed and handed it to me.

Why wouldnt they have notif ied us? I said once Id read

it. There it was in black-and-white.

Who knows? Darah said, still eyeing him warily.

Oh my God, I swear Im never moving again, Renee said

from the top of the stairs, her arms full of boxes and two bags

dangling from her arms. Who left their crap in the hallway?

She stepped over the footlocker and guitar case, giving them

a look of disgust. Has our new roommate showed upoh,

hello. Her voice changed from irritated and dry to sweet and

sugary the second she saw Hunter. Im guessing thats your

guitar in the hallway. She dropped her stuff and proceeded

to pop her hip out and lean to one side. Oh, please.

This, I said, pointing to Hunter, is our new roommate,

according to housing.

No way. Renees eyes got wide in her tiny face. Renee

looked like a blond-haired, blue-eyed china doll you plucked

off a shelf and put in a Victorias Secret tank top. Are you

shitting me?

What a reception, Hunter said.

Shut up, I said. He just smiled again. God, I wanted to

smack that smile right off his face.


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typed in the number. Darah and Renee whispered to Hunter,

but not quiet enough so I couldnt hear them.

Its best to let her go when she gets like this, Renee hissed.I wouldnt mess with her, he said as I listened to another

ring.

Finally, a message picked up, telling me what the hours

were and giving me some extensions I could try. I punched

in the first one. No answer, but a message machine picked

up. I left a short message, explaining the situation in the mosturgent of terms, and then called back the original number. I

didnt stop until Id left messages for all five of the contacts

on the housing voice mail list. I slammed my phone down

on the counter.

Feel better? Hunter said.

No. I chucked the phone book on the couch. Darah andRenee were looking at me like they were worried I was going

to explode. I was on the verge. If you were a gentleman,

youd offer to sleep on the couch, I snapped.

Well, Missy, youll come to find out that Im not a

gentleman. I plan to take full advantage of this situation.

My mouth dropped open in shock. No guy had ever talkedto me that way.

Is it hot in here? I think Ill open the window, Renee

said, scurrying over to our one window, located at one end

of the couch.

Darah looked at me and then Hunter and back. Well,

theres nothing we can do right now. Lets get his stuff in, andthen maybe we can go down and see if anyone is at housing,

she said. Darah was always the peacemaker.

Sounds good to me, Hunter said, walking right into my

bedroom as if he owned the place.


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MY FAVOuRITE MISTAKE 13

I heard Back in Black by AC/DC coming from my room.

Hunters ringtone.

Hey, man. No, I just got here. Room 203. Yeah, thatwould be great He nudged the door shut, and I glanced

at Renee and Darah.

I didnt think we were going to have to do this so early,

but I think we need a roommate meeting, I said. Wed agreed

that we would have weekly roommate meetings to air our

grievances. I was all for getting that shit out in the open so wedidnt end up hating each other. Id had a horrible roommate

last year, and I didnt want to deal with that again.

I listened, but it sounded like Hunter was still on the phone.

I could hear him rummaging and prayed he wouldnt break

anything. Then I would kill him.

I dont see what the big deal is, Renee said. I mean, itwould be the same if one of us had a boyfriend staying over.

Paul stayed over all the time when Darah and I lived here last

year.

But that was because you were sleeping with him, I said.

Maybe Ill sleep with Hunter, she shot back. Renee had

broken up with Paul extremely recently and was on the prowlfor a rebound. We all knew she and Paul were meant to be

and that they would eventually realize that, but Renee was

still in the anger stage.

Are you uncomfortable with staying with him, Taylor? Its

okay if you are, Darah said.

I cant imagine why I would be uncomfortable about shar-ing an extremely small room with a guy Ive known all of a

half hour who keeps making creepy comments. Cant imagine

why Id have a problem with that.

If you want, Renee and I can switch. Ill stay with him,


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Why cant he stay with me? Renee whined.

Because youll rape him in his sleep, I said.

You cant rape the willing, Tay, she said, winking.Youre disgusting.

How about we draw straws? Darah said.

Do we even have straws? Renee said. How about we do

numbers or something? Here, she said, grabbing a UMaine

notepad that someone had left on the kitchen counter, along

with a pen. Ill write our names down and well put it inShe grabbed the baseball cap Id discarded earlier. And Hunter

will pick. There you go. Problem solved.

My door opened and Hunter emerged, another grin on

his face.

You werent talking about me, were you?

Like he didnt know. I rolled my eyes as Renee wrote eachof our names on little bits of paper and tossed them in my hat.

She put her hand over the top and shook it up.

Pick one, she said, shoving the hat in his face.

Okay, he said, sticking his hand in and pulling out a

folded slip of paper. Renee slowly unfolded it. We all waited

as she paused dramatically.

Taylor, she said, turning it around so we could all read

my name in black-and-white.

Shit, I said.


12/12

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