An Autumn Boyfriend Disaster

I kissed my boss, then I ghosted him.

I’ve grown up a lot since then, and things have changed. I’ve always wished I had a second chance with him, and now… Maybe I do.

Luke wants to bring our band to play at his celebrity brothers’ wedding. I’m moving to Alaska at the end of the week, so it’s my last chance to hang out with him. I’m a go-with-the-flow hippie, so I figured, Why Not?, but I had no idea what I was signing up for. Luke’s family makes My Big Fat Greek Wedding look tame.

It’s changing everything about the dynamic between me and Luke. The walls between us are falling down, and best of all, he’s not my boss anymore. Nothing’s in our way—except ourselves.

And my concussion. And the Twitch livestream. And a fake engagement. Oh, and his brother’s secret baby. Then there’s the paparazzi. I don’t know. Maybe we’re not meant to be. Maybe the universe is conspiring against us.

But maybe, just maybe, there’s a chance of salvaging this autumn boyfriend disaster before we ruin his brothers’ wedding for his entire family.  

This second-chance romantic comedy features plenty of pumpkin but no spice—just swoony kisses, baked apples, and warm sweaters. 

Chapter One: Andie

I have nothing better to do than stalk my ex-boyfriend on New Year’s Eve. Technically, it’s not stalking. It’s not my fault that Luke never turned off the location sharing on his phone. And technically, he was never my
boyfriend.

            But I’m not very technical. I’m more of the emotional, intuitive, I can’t-believe-you’re-working-again-tonight type, so I make a detour on Pearl Street and head to our office. I can’t count how many interventions I’ve had to make for Luke’s own good over the last four years.

            Except I’m not sure who the intervention is for tonight. He might not take my news as well as I hope.

            The cold cuts through me as I walk through the crowds of revelers. Snow dusts the sidewalk beneath me. This dress was a mistake, but it’s my lucky first-date dress. It’s the dress my mom wore when she met my dad, but the loose, flowing style doesn’t provide any warmth in the Colorado winter.

            The sandals? I have no reason for wearing them, except that I always wear them. And I didn’t think I’d be walking home from my date. Alone. Without a proper coat. 

            I swipe my badge and pull open the glass doors—metal handles should be illegal in Colorado during the winter—and skip up the winding circular stairs. Past the pool table. Past the bean bags and ping pong table. All the way to the corner office, where a lone light burns at eleven o’clock at night.

            Music blares through the cracked-open door. Luke’s high, clear voice sings along, and the lyrics tug at my heart. I know this song. It’s one of my favorites by Bread. 

            I pause in the hallway, swaying to the song. If he knows I’m listening, he’ll stop singing, and I love his voice. Not many men can hit those high, clear notes and make it sound effortless. But then the song hits the part about taking people for granted and losing them, and Luke’s voice cracks.

            So does my heart.

            That must be why I caught the vibe to check on him. He’s sad, and I could sense it. He needs me.

            So, I’d better cheer him up before I drop my news-bomb.

            I start singing along with the beautiful lyrics as I fling open the door to his office.

            Luke’s head whips up from the desk, and his eyes widen. He stares at me with an anguished expression. I’ve never seen him so raw. I can feel the pain radiating from him. 

            “Andie?” his smooth voice suddenly has a ragged edge. 

            I can’t tell him tonight.

            “Hey, Boss.” I lean over and check the music app on his phone. “What is that playlist? ‘Unchained Melody’? ‘Always on My Mind’? ‘Someone to You’? No wonder you’re depressed.”

            He scrambles to turn off the music, cutting it off before the song can finish, then straightens in his chair.  “What are you doing here?”

            It takes me a second to remember. I’ve never seen Luke like this. He doesn’t usually show his feelings, and here he is, oozing emotions all over the room. I toss my coat on the tiny sofa and shove a pile of papers aside to perch on the edge of his desk. “Happy New Year’s!”

            He clears his throat, then tugs a contract out from beneath my thigh. “Happy New Year’s, Andie.” Luke taps the papers and sets them neatly on the other side of his desk.

             I ease into the conversation. “How was your Christmas break?”

            Luke checks his watch. “This is going to take a while, isn’t it?” 

            “Yep. It’s not midnight for another hour.”

            He pulls out his phone and texts something before I answer. “I’m ordering food.” He slides the phone onto the other corner of the desk, the one where I’m not sitting.

            “And dessert.” 

            I pick up his phone and hand it to him.

            Luke texts again, then shoves it on the desk beside my leg, nudging me.

            I hop off the desk and drape my coat on one of his chairs. “I came to cheer you up.”

            Luke’s expression shutters, and I can’t see the despair and hurt anymore. He’s just—blank. “Who says I’m depressed?”

            I take off my lucky string of beads and position myself behind him. “Why else would you be at the office on New Year’s Eve?” I drop my hands onto his shoulders and start massaging. “I’m not leaving until you clear this negative energy.” So, I can’t create any. “Was your trip that bad?”

            Luke sits stiffly in his chair. “You’re here, too. Are you depressed?”

            I pause with my hands on his shoulders, and he squirms. I need his help as much as he needs mine. I rub slow circles with my thumbs. “I’m never depressed. Who can be sad in a world full of such beauty?”

            Luke gazes up at me. He doesn’t tease me about being a hippie, like he normally would. He eyes my lucky date dress and glances at the beads on the sofa. When his gaze locks onto mine for an uncomfortably long time, I tell him the truth. “Maybe a little sad. My date ended early.”

            And the shutters lower on his expression again. “Sorry, Andie.”

            I don’t want him to think that he’s my second choice or last resort for tonight. Even if he kinda is. I nudge his shoulder. “Why’s your world ending?”

            Again, no smile. “My dad offered me a promotion.”

            “And that’s bad?” I rub a thumb down his neck and along the top of his shoulders. He’s wearing a butter soft button-up shirt that’s not at all his usual style. He looks best in blue, but most of his geek shirts are black or white. My hands glide over the smooth fabric, and knots of tension ripple beneath my fingers. “You’re holding onto some serious stress. Let it flow out of you.”

            Still nothing. Sometimes I have to be painfully direct with Luke. “What’s up?”

            “No comment.” He closes his eyes and tips his head backward, resting it against my stomach. 

            That prompts the usual flutters, the ones I’ve trained myself to ignore. And Luke smells different tonight. Better. He doesn’t usually smell like anything, but tonight some new, delicious manly scent wafts upward. 

            Humor usually works with him. “Poor, spoiled millionaire baby.”

            Luke tenses again. “It’s not about the money. My brothers set a date for their double wedding.”

            “That’s awesome.” I keep massaging his shoulders, working on the knot beneath his right shoulder blade. “I don’t see the connection.”

            He shrugs.

            I gently push down his shoulders. “Release the stress.”

            Luke purses his lips, and from where I stand behind him, he looks amazing. My gaze roams over his face, a constellation of freckles on each cheek. His blue eyes are closed, and those lips look way too kissable.

            They’re not. I tried once, and it was a disaster. I rub the tense spots at the top of his neck, but mostly it’s an excuse to play with the curls at the bottom of his hair.

            “It’s a C-level position working for my dad in Boston. CTO. Do you have any idea what it’s like to live around five brothers and my parents? And now I’ll have sisters. Sisters who like me, and want to spend time with me, and buy me cologne for Christmas.”

            So, that’s what the delicious scent is. I dig into the knots on the left side of his neck. “I love Brie and Lindsay.”

            Luke snorts. “But do they have to love me so much?” He tugs at the collar of his shirt. “Lindsay was so excited to see me wear my Christmas gift that I couldn’t say No.”

            “I like this shirt. It must be wrinkle-free.” 

            Luke shrugs. “It’s slim fit, whatever that means.”

            My gaze darts to his abdomen. It does fit him well. Too well. “I like your usual t-shirts better.” The ones that hide his shoulders and chest. I run a finger around the smooth fabric, then tuck my thumbs beneath the collar to rub that part of his neck. His skin is warm to the touch, and he shivers when my cold fingers dip below the collar. “This one is obviously suffocating you.” 

            Luke undoes the top button. “Like my family.”  

            “You have a beautiful family who dotes on you and wants to be involved in every aspect of your life.” I pull my thumbs out from beneath the collar, missing the warmth of his skin, and go back to rubbing his shoulders. It soothes me more than it helps him. “Why did that inspire your super melancholy playlist?”

            I tip his head onto his chest to stretch his neck. Luke’s muffled voice replies, “I thought I’d be married by now. If anyone’s going to suffocate me, I’d rather that it were my wife.”

            His wife?