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    Introduced by Karma
    Introduced by Karma
    Introduced by Karma
    Ebook131 pages1 hour

    Introduced by Karma

    By Kamaryn Kelsey

    ()

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    About this ebook

    Bailey can't complain about her life. She's accomplished many of her goals. Of course, she didn't plan on being the neighborhood cat lady at 32. That happened all by itself. 

    Enter handsome hunk, Ben, who's less than attracted to crazy Bailey and her house of cats. Unfortunately, his overgrown dog, Karma, has other plans in mind. Plans that put Bailey in his reluctant care.

    With her smart mouth and snarky attitude, it's no wonder she never found the right man... until he was introduced by Karma.
     

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherKamaryn Kelsey
    Release dateJun 2, 2016
    ISBN9781386637349
    Introduced by Karma

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      Book preview

      Introduced by Karma - Kamaryn Kelsey

      CHAPTER 1

      Icontemplated my life with a slight frown. Things hadn't completely turned out the way I'd always imagined. Growing up, I pictured myself, Bailey May Marsh, working at a job I loved, living in a cute house in a quiet neighborhood–several states away from my family–and owning a cat or two.  That's where the similarities of my young imagination and my current reality lost contact.

      At some point–before now–the man of my dreams should have entered my world and rescued me from my joke of a social life. I wasn't supposed to be the crazy neighborhood cat lady at 32 years of age. The fact that I own five cats shouldn't count against me. After all, I wasn’t crazy. I just underestimated the cat population in my formative years.

      I escaped the family asylum, also known as home, got my job, my house, and my cats. But the dream man never appeared. Maybe that's why I had so many cats. Okay, maybe not. But at least they loved me. The problem was that I couldn't take cats to social gatherings and I really didn't want to.

      To my mother's eternal dismay, I was never one of the beautiful, popular girls growing up. The closest I ever got to beautiful was an occasional cute on the rare occasion when it all came together and my hair cooperated, my face didn’t break out, and my clothes didn’t make me look ten pounds heavier..

      So overall, I was Miss Average at five feet four inches tall and 130-ish pounds with short wispy brown hair and green eyes. Apparently, that’s very attractive to cats but not men.

      I wasn’t looking for a man because I felt incomplete. I just wanted to share my life with someone special and be loved for who I was. And I hoped to find him before I was too old to appreciate him.

      My front doorbell rang and I looked out the front window. Well, it seemed  my fairy godmother was listening after all because standing on my front porch was the possible answer to my social woes.

      He was tall and nicely built, with dark blonde hair, intense blue eyes, and a well-defined jaw with close cut facial hair. Wow! I could take him anywhere and not worry he'd hiss at the other guests. To make things perfect, my fairy GM had even tucked a cat into his arms. 

      I opened the door with a smile, which slipped away when I did a double-take at the cat he held. I glanced up at his face. Uh, oh. It was obvious that I needed to get my fairy godmother some hearing aids.

      Is this yours? the hunk asked me with a frown, holding out a round brown tiger cat.

      I quickly reached out and grabbed my fat feline. He liked to sneak out the door and wander through the neighborhood. The problem was he could never find his way home, so he just helped himself wherever there was an open door. Apparently, the cutie on my steps had left his door open.

      I'm so sorry. Football likes to wander through the neighborhood, I'm afraid. I hope he didn't cause any problems, I offered apologetically.

      Maybe you should keep it at home then. He was irritated and didn’t bother hiding it. That thing is a nuisance and if you can’t control it, you shouldn’t own it.

      I glared and took another look, deciding he wasn’t a hunk after all but just another cat-hating male with no appreciation for the better things in life. Like my cat. Humph! I’d never be able to take a man like him anywhere. He probably hissed at and bit anyone he didn't like. 

      I took a deep breath, ready to give him a piece of my mind, when his cell phone chimed with an incoming text message. He yanked out his phone, read the message, and then said something entirely inappropriate considering I was a complete stranger.

      I have to go, he muttered, leaving me standing there with my mouth open, holding a squirming cat, and watching him retreat down the sidewalk.

      Hey, I yelled after him.

      He paused and looked back.

      This is a nice family neighborhood, I hollered. Let's keep it that way!

      To my surprise, his teeth flashed with a quick grin before he continued on his way.

      Still miffed, I headed inside and asked Football if the mean man had kicked him. He scrambled out of my arms and raced to the food dish. Well, his appetite wasn't affected by the ordeal. I chuckled, not surprised. I couldn’t think of anything that kept him away from his kibble, other than the weight-control cat food I was foolish enough to buy once.

      I headed to my workroom to pack up a special-order vase for a buyer in New York. I worked for years doing computer work for insurance companies but with a little luck, unlimited imagination, and a good amount of talent, I was able to support myself selling pottery. I had repeat customers and several shops that ordered regularly. Thanks to my recent website, I was even getting a few international orders. My pieces weren’t cheap, but they were unique and high quality.

      I live in what's been called the middle of the midwest. My parents live on the west coast and don't venture to the useless states–their words, not mine–unless it's necessary. I consider that a blessing.

      They live in a hoity-toity area where being an artist is frowned upon unless you are rich and famous. So they don't advertise the fact that their only daughter makes a living in such a lowly fashion. Plus, the fact that I'm over thirty and have never been divorced is an embarrassment to them as well. Anyone who is anyone has been divorced at least once.

      They prefer to talk about my three older brothers, all of whom followed in my father's footsteps and went into successful professional careers. They are all on at least their second marriages but I don't mind since it keeps my mother from meddling in my life.

      I used to wonder why my parents had never divorced. Then I realized by the time divorce became a sign of social prominence in their circle, they had too much invested to get a divorce. For my father it was financial. For my mother it was social. Still, I'm amazed that they produced four children and I decided they were drunk at the time. It would explain a lot. I'm positive they were high and drunk when they conceived me since they don't even like each other. I saw their wedding pictures once and I'm convinced they never liked each other.

      Anyway, I packed up the order and printed a shipping label, then spent a few hours working on pottery pieces for a local charity auction. I gave them the same time and attention I would a special order because I love the town where I live.

      It was so different from where I was raised. Here it didn't matter where you bought your shoes, who cut your hair, or what you drove. It was a friendly, warm community and I was always happy to help raise funds for a local cause.

      With a yawn and a stretch, I decided I needed a break and put on my tennis shoes to take a walk. It’s an easy way to catch up on all the latest news and gossip, even if it was only about the goat that got into the grocery store through the automatic door or that Mr. Smith was growing a suspicious-looking plant in his backyard.

      Out of curiosity, I headed in the same direction that the cat-hating hunk had taken, wondering if he was a visitor but when I turned the corner, I got my answer. The large historic two-story house that had been on the market for almost a year no longer had the FOR SALE sign in the front yard.

      I caught sight of the man briefly before he entered the house with a box. So we lived in the same square block, just on different streets.

      I wandered by slowly, my natural curiosity getting the better of me. Then I stopped to watch two moving men attempting to manipulate an enormous piece of furniture through the front door. Being totally distracted, I didn't notice the humongous dog happily trotting down the sidewalk toward me.

      By the time I spotted the beast, I couldn't run. I'm usually not afraid of dogs, but this dog was a stranger, a gigantic monster that could swallow Football in a gulp. I stood there in horror as it bounced toward me, gaining speed and reaching full gallop by the time it got to me. I expected it to run me over and keep going but it didn't.

      It pulled up just inches short of me and stood on its hind legs, trying to put its front paws on my shoulders. Not being prepared to brace myself, it knocked me over like a bowling pin. I went straight back onto the concrete sidewalk, with Gargantua riding me like a surfboard. Then I swear I saw stars.

      CHAPTER 2

      When I came to, I saw Blue Eyes hovering over me with a worried look on his face, mumbling things that don't get repeated in nice neighborhoods. I reached up to touch my aching skull with a groan.

      Don't move, he yelled at me.

      I looked at him in shock, then unexpectedly

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