Finding His Unicorn Read online

  They say he’s the whole package because he’s smart, good-looking, and his daddy owns the company. I don’t think he’s too bright if he can’t remember the woman who greets him every day. Or he’s just a pretentious asshole that wears shirts two sizes too small. His muscles look like they are trying to break free and I almost feel bad for them.

  “Does that hurt?” I ask, nodding to his arm. I’m pretty sure his shirt is cutting off circulation to his bicep.

  “Nope. Got it inked on me last year.” He mistakenly thinks I’m talking about his tattoo. “I’ll show you.” He gives me a wink as he pulls his shirt over his head.

  I panic and look around for some kind of help. There are a few other guys standing close that I know are from his department. They are pretty much rolling their eyes at Mike as they go back to drinking their beers. As for the girls in my office, they all come running over.

  “That’s so sweet of you to give her a shirt to cover up with, Mike.” Shelly uses her hand to make a sweeping motion at my unicorn costume.

  “You told me it was a costume picnic.”

  Shelly bursts into laughter. “Have you ever heard of a picnic costume party before?” She gives me a look that says I’m the dumbest person in the world. Maybe I am, but part of me is hoping that I’m more trusting than anything.

  “Don’t look so upset about it,” Tiffany snips at me. “Count it as, like, an initiation.” It doesn’t feel like I’m being initiated into anything except a circle of mean girls. I’m going to keep my head down and stop trying to be friends with these people.

  “I think I’m going to leave,” I say.

  Now that Mike’s shirt is off I can see his tattoo. He should find a shirt with full sleeves to cover it up. Instead of putting his shirt on, he throws it over his bare shoulder and I secretly hope he gets a sunburn. Luckily all the girls start trying to get his attention and I realize this is my chance to sneak away.

  I turn to make a run for it but then jerk back as Mike steps his foot down on my tail. I hear a rip and realize the tail probably partially tore off, but then I hear the sound of a tick tick tick. Whatever weird device Rie put in there, it doesn’t sound too happy about being stomped on.

  Sparks start to fly out of the end of the tail and glitter begins to shoot out of it too. It almost looks like a 4th of July sparkler until part of the grass starts to catch on fire and I realize the tail is still connected to me with half my ass showing!

  I scream but everyone stands there in shock. Of course this is how I’m doing to die. I can see the headlines now. Unicorn Goes Up in Flames at Company Barbecue. At this point I don’t think things can get worse, but then out of nowhere pops up the most gorgeous man I’ve ever seen.

  I am in sheer panic mode but all I can see are the perfect dimples on either side of his cheeks. I’m starting to think maybe I’ve already caught fire and I’m in heaven because no man on earth should look that good.

  Chapter Four

  Blaze

  There’s smoke all around her and several people nearby stomping out the flames in the grass. Luckily it rained earlier today so I don’t think there’s chance of a wildfire, but we’ll still make sure. Chief grabs the equipment from the back and goes in spraying while shouting for people to back up.

  The sound of an ambulance blares in the distance as it gets closer, and I call in to dispatch to report what’s going on. As I get closer I see what looks like a mess of pastel paint and glitter at the center of it all. And if I haven’t lost my mind completely, it looks like a Roman candle is coming out of her barely covered ass.

  “I think…” I pause with the radio up to my mouth. “I’ve found a unicorn?”

  “What?” Wanda calls from the other end of the radio, but I ignore her.

  This isn’t the time to be unprofessional, but dear Lord this poor girl is a mess and I’m trying to hide my smile. I’ve always been told I’ve got a baby face because I’ve still got chubby cheeks with overly pronounced dimples and lips that would make a Real Housewife jealous.

  “Hey there, Officer,” a woman nearby offers as she looks me up and down. There’s a dude standing next to her with no shirt on and I’m not sure why. This doesn’t really seem like the place for it.

  Just as I get closer to the unicorn I see Chief blast her back end with the fire extinguisher and the flames from the tail dissipate. It’s then I finally see her face fully and just as soon as we lock eyes she bursts into tears.

  Suddenly the scene isn’t so comical anymore and I have this need to go to her and make it okay. I rush straight up to her and she practically falls into my arms as the crowd of people around her just stare.

  I’m angry that not only were they just looking at her while her costume was on fire, but no one is offering to comfort her while she’s obviously in distress. Who the fuck are these people?

  “Clear out!” I shout to the crowd and it only takes a second before they start to back away. “Shh, it’s okay,” I say as she releases big, heaving sobs against my chest.

  “What’s the situation?” I hear from beside me. The EMTs are on the scene.

  “Possible burn injury on her…um—”

  “Her ass,” Chief says as he sprays her once more with the fire extinguisher.

  “What the hell, Chief?” I say, waving away some of the foam, and he just shrugs.

  “Miss, what’s your name?” the EMT asks as they try to assess the damage.

  “R-Rosabelle,” she stammers as she continues to cry against me.

  Her body is so soft and small against mine, and I rest my cheek on her forehead and wrap both of my arms around her. I just have this overwhelming need to protect her and make her feel better. She sniffles a little as I rub her back and I think the immediate shock of what happened might be over.

  I look around and recognize one of the EMTs nearby. “Hey, April, can you grab me a blanket? I think we can do this in the back of the truck.”

  “Sure thing,” she calls out and pulls one out of her bag.

  I grab it with one hand and open it up to drape around Rosabelle’s body. She leans her head back to look up at me and her dark brown eyes are the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. They’re like hot cocoa on a winter night and as I look at her, I wonder what it would be like to cuddle her in front of a fire.

  “Rosabelle, I’m April. I’d like to take you over to the ambulance so we can check you over. Okay?”

  The words cause her to break eye contact and it startles me. What the hell was that? It felt like I was falling down a tunnel or going on a roller coaster. The way she looked at me made my stomach drop but in a way that thrilled me. Jesus, my cock is hard and I’m sweating and I think I feel faint. Maybe I should go in the ambulance too.

  “Can he come with me?” Rosabelle asks softly, echoing my thoughts.

  “I’m not going anywhere, little unicorn.” When she looks up at me through her wet lashes I smile reassuringly at her.

  “Sure he can,” April says as she helps put an arm around her and then winks over the top of Rosabelle’s head to me. “But don’t let his good looks fool you. Blaze here is a real piece of work.”

  “What?” I pretend to be offended but I’ve worked with April a long time. She’s what I imagine my mom would have been like if she were still alive. Tough as nails with a side of sass.

  “He spends all his time working,” April complains.

  “Don’t listen to her. She’s the one that won’t go home to that husband of hers,” I whisper to Rosabelle and I see a smile tug at her lips.

  “Frank can heat up his own damn dinner,” April grumbles as we get to the ambulance and I help Rosabelle into the back.

  There’s a cot inside and April gets in with her while I stand outside. There’s still a crowd of people having what looks like a party at the park, but they’re far enough away and the door is blocking Rosabelle as much as possible. I turn around and face away from her to give her some privacy, but I’m not ready to leave her. Besides, she did
just ask me to stay, didn’t she?

  “Okay, Rosabelle, lie back on the cot and tell me what happened. I’m just going to check you over and make sure you don’t have any injuries,” I hear April say from behind me. “Tell me if you’re hurting anywhere, okay?”

  “I think it’s just my pride at this point.” Her voice is so soft but the way she speaks is like a melody and I’m straining my ear to catch every syllable.

  “I’ll tell you something, honey,” April says, speaking quietly. “I’ve seen a lot of shit in my time, so no matter how bad you think this is, I’ve got a hundred stories to top it.”

  “I think my coworkers were trying to prank me by telling me this was a costume party. Long story short, my tail caught on fire.” She sounds so sad when she says it and I glare at the crowd, trying to find out who would do this to such a sweet person.

  I hear material ripping from inside the ambulance, and then April says, “I don’t think we can save the leggings, but I can give you something to cover up with until you get home.”

  “Nothing feels painful. Does everything look okay?”

  “Surprisingly, it’s just the tail and you didn’t get any damage from the sparks.” There’s more rustling and then I hear April lower her voice. “You know, if I was about thirty years younger I’d chase down that cutie outside waiting on you.”

  “Oh?” Rosabelle says, and I lean closer to the ambulance.

  “He’s too young to be working so much. He needs a woman to make him put down some roots.” April lets out a laugh. “A man like him ought to make about a dozen babies.”

  Rosabelle coughs and then April laughs. “Is there someone we can call? Boyfriend, husband?”

  “Rosa!” I hear shouted from nearby and a woman with dark curly hair comes running over. “Oh my God, are you okay? What happened?”

  “And you are?” I ask, holding out my arm so she can’t get into the ambulance.

  “Rie, her best friend,” she says, shoving my arm away. “Rosa, dear sweet drama llama, what have you done?”

  “Oh nothing, just the tail you pinned on me exploded!” Rosabelle shouts.

  Rie’s eyes widen for a second and then suddenly she bursts into laughter. I step forward thinking I’m going to have to stop her when I hear Rosabelle laughing from inside too, and then a roll of gauze comes flying out to hit Rie in the face.

  “You could have killed me!”

  I hear some rustling and think she must be about to come out but just as I’m about to see her, Chief walks up and slaps me on the arm. “Gotta go, Blaze,” he says before he takes off running toward the truck.

  “Shit,” I say as I look down and realize I turned off my radio after we got here. I hesitate for a second, but I hear the siren on the truck and I can’t wait. I take off running as fast as I can, and every step I put between us is a space that makes my chest pound.

  I don’t know how but I’m going to find her again.

  Chapter Five

  Rosabelle

  “I’m quitting,” I tell Rie as I drop down into the sofa. I cannot go back to that office. I had to wash my hair five times to get the smell of smoke out of it. “Also, are you sure this hair dye washes out?”

  I look down at my hair that still has shades of blue and teal in it. After spending over an hour in the shower it should have washed out, but it didn’t and now my towels are ruined.

  Rie picks up one of the discarded boxes out of the trash can and I know before she opens her mouth it’s not the kind that washes out.

  “We can run out and get something to cover it up,” she offers before dropping the box back into the trash can. “But I think it looks cute like it is.”

  “Doesn’t matter. I’m not going back to that place tomorrow.” I have no idea if there is even a work policy against blue hair or not but it can stay that way for now.

  “So you’re quitting? You’re going to let those bitches win?” Rie leans against the wall in the kitchen.

  “They didn’t even care that I was on fire! Why would I want to work with those people? They all stood there watching me as my life flashed before my eyes.” A life that was boring to say the least. I haven’t done much in life and the experience made me wonder what more I could be doing. This job is not it.

  “There are always going to be people like them in life. It is what it is.” Rie pushes off the wall and comes over to sit with me on the sofa. “They’re lucky I got there late. All of these bitches would have needed new nose jobs if I hadn’t been so focused on making sure you were okay.”

  Rie might be tiny but she can throw a punch. I saw her do it in the boxing classes she takes. She calls it “working out” but I call it hell unless you get to just watch. Her father hates that she does it, especially when she shows up with bruises on her face.

  “They aren’t worth the jail time.” I let out a long sigh as I drop back onto the sofa. “I won’t be seeing them again so it doesn’t matter.”

  “Yes, you will.” She hops up from the sofa and grabs us a couple of sodas. “This is part of being an adult; we don’t run from bullies. Hell, you don’t have to fight them, but you don’t let them push you out.”

  I know she’s right but God, it’s hard when no one likes you. “I just don’t see what they have against me.” I open my soda and take a long drink.

  I know I have to go back tomorrow and at least give my two weeks’ notice. And I have to start looking for a new job too. I don’t want to flake out on the company, but it’s telling since they haven’t reached out to make sure I was okay.

  I feel so aimless and unsure what I want to do for work. Every time I think about what I want in life nothing ever sparks inside of me. Well, I did find some excitement for the fireman I threw myself at. Although I’m pretty sure crushing on a mystery man isn’t a profession. I’ll probably never see him again, but even with everything that happened I can’t stop thinking about him.

  “What’s got that dreamy look in your eyes?” Rie asks, breaking into my thoughts. My cheeks burn from being busted. “It’s the fireman, isn't it?” I knew she’d know. Rie can always read me so well. “I heard someone call him Blaze. His name sounds pretty badass,” she teases.

  “I’m not into badasses,” I remind her. Those types of men have never been my thing, but Rie wants them as bad as they come. I’m not sure if that’s really what she’s into or if it’s another way to try and dig at her father.

  “They might have been calling him Blaze but he didn’t look like a bad boy.”

  No, in the moment he’d been my guardian angel. He saved my life and held me close while I wept in his arms. He was sweet and handsome. Probably the most handsome man I’ve ever seen. I didn't know dimples could look that good, but damn. Those rounded cheeks and his big smile with perfectly straight teeth. I can’t get the image of his full lips and how soft they were out of my head.

  “Then he took off,” I remind her—and myself—as the image of him dissolves.

  “He got a call, Rosa. It’s kind of his job.” She gives me a little nudge with her shoulder.

  I hadn't wanted him to leave, but I understood why.

  “We can track him down.” Rie pulls out her cell phone and starts clicking away. She’s killer at social media stalking. I should tell her to stop but there’s no point. She’s on a mission, but it’s not like I’m going to find him and track him down. What would I say? Thanks for saving my life and let me cry all over you. Want to go out sometime? I swear I won’t dress up like a unicorn and catch fire. My shyness would never let that happen. I’m still shocked at how I clung to him to begin with.

  “He doesn't have a social media account. What a weirdo.”

  “I don’t have one,” I remind her.

  “Yes you do.”

  I roll my eyes. She’s made me one but I never use it. I don’t think I’ve ever made a post or even logged into it. The only thing that would possibly show up is whatever profile picture she gave me and whenever she tags me in something.
/>
  “The firehouse has one.” She makes an evil smirk that says nothing will stop her now. “Found it.”

  She turns her phone so I can see the screen and on it is a picture of Blaze. He’s leaning up against one of the fire trucks smiling with one of those dimples on full display. I wonder what has put the smile on his face. I look at the date of the post and it says it was only posted a little bit ago.

  “I normally like them a little rough, but I’d make an exception for him.” I smack her arm, which sends her phone flying. “I was teasing!” she laughs, bending down to pick her phone up from off the floor. “You must really be crushing.”

  “It doesn't matter. I’m not going to see him again.” Rie starts to say something but I cut her off. “You’re not setting anything on fire.” I point at her, knowing what she’s thinking.

  “It was just an idea.” I shake my head at her with a solid no. “Okay. How about we make a thank-you basket full of your snickerdoodles and we take it down to the fire station?” she suggests.

  “I think I’ve embarrassed myself enough in front of that man.” I don't need to go another round, and being shot down by him would be killer. I’ve never come on to a man before and I know I’d end up in some crazy mess the same way I did when I dressed up like a unicorn. I can see it now. Rie would try and dress me up in heels and I’d fall flat on my face right in front of him.

  “You only live once,” Rie reminds me. “What if he’s, like, your one?”

  “You don’t believe in the ones,” I remind her, but she keeps on pushing.

  “Can you blame me? If there was one person for everyone, my dad would have found one by now with the number of women he’s gone through.” She scrunches her face, making me wonder if he’s found a new woman and brought her to their lunch today.