Taking Chances (The Chances and Choices Duology - Book 1 of 2 - Contemporary Romance) (6 page)

When I showed him the kitchen, he grabbed a
half-empty package of Nutter Butters. “I’m starving,” he admitted. “We snuck
out of the auction before they served the rubber chicken.”

I had seen the menu and knew it entailed filet
mignon and other fancy-
schmancy
cuisine, but was
happier to be sharing stale cookies with Seth. As I poured us each a glass of
milk, I decided that this was a great time to ask about his family. “So, Seth
Davis, are you a part of the Davis family who put on that fabulous shin dig
tonight?”

He seemed almost embarrassed, but he nodded and
answered. “Yes, it’s my mom’s pet project. My grandmother died of breast cancer
when I was young, and my grandfather lost his battle with throat cancer a few
years ago.” He sighed but continued. “It really took a toll on mom. She became
depressed, to the point that we were concerned that we were going to lose her
too. Then one day, she decided to fight back. She came downstairs to breakfast
dressed and enthused about stamping out cancer. She started planning the first
fund-raiser that morning. It was a huge success and since then, she makes sure
it gets bigger and better every year.”

It was the most he’d shared with me about his
family, and I was impressed by his mother’s perseverance. “What a way to turn things
around. You’re mother must be quite a lady.”

He smiled with pride. “She is. My whole family
is amazing. You met Jessie and Sam. They are the best siblings anyone could ask
for, and Jessie’s little girl, Katie is the light of my life. I call her
Katiedid
. I can’t wait for you to meet her.”

Thoughts were flying through my head as he
spoke. I was surprised to learn that Jessie was a single parent. The way Seth
spoke of his niece made me fall for him even more. I was touched that he wanted
me to meet her, and thrilled by the confirmation that he assumed we would keep
seeing each other. I noticed that he didn’t mention his father. That seemed a
little odd; but I was even more curious about Sam, and I thought this might be
a good time to fess up about my risqué incident with him in the restroom.

“I’d love to meet Katie,” I answered honestly. I
paused for a few seconds, and then I dove in. “I can’t imagine having an
identical twin.”

Seth smiled. “I can’t imagine not having one.
Sam and I give each other a hard time, but he’s my other half.” He shook his
head. “That sounded weird. We’re not soul mates or anything.” He grinned before
continuing. “I don’t know how to explain it, but there isn’t anyone who is
there for me or understands me like Sam does. He even saved my life once.
That’s how he got the scar on his shoulder.”

I was completely intrigued and wanted to know
more. “Go on,” I encouraged him when he stopped.

“When we were in college, we were partying with
a group of friends on a boat by a little island out on the lake. The waves were
really starting to kick up, so we decided to head in. The anchor was stuck and
we couldn’t get it to come up, so I dove in to swim down and loosen it. I
didn’t realize the place where I dove was a shallow ridge, and I hit my head
hard enough to knock me out. The rest of the people on the boat were too wasted
to realize I didn’t come right back up, but Sam knew something was wrong. I
don’t know if it was twin intuition or what, but he jumped in and grabbed me.
When we surfaced, a big wave was rolling in. Sam put himself between
me and the boat,
and he was body-slammed into the ladder. If
he hadn’t sensed that something was wrong that day, I wouldn’t be alive. I feel
like I owe him everything.”

The conversation had taken a serious turn, so he
lightened the mood by adding, “Doesn’t stop me from teasing him about being
younger, though. He hates that,” he chuckled.

I smiled, but couldn’t get the picture of that
pig of a man jumping in to save his brother out of my head. Seth obviously
thought of Sam as a hero, but I wasn’t willing to think that highly of him. I
wanted to think of him as the ass that I knew him to be.
Anyone would jump in to save a sibling,
I told myself.
It doesn’t mean he’s not a jerk.

“Well, I’m glad he was there to save you, or I
wouldn’t be able to do this,” I said as I leaned over to give Seth a sweet,
slow kiss. I was trying to think of a way to say that I had almost fucked Sam
in a public bathroom, but my mind couldn’t focus on anything but Seth when his
tongue began swirling around mine.

Seth pulled back and asked, “Do I get to see
your bedroom?” I ran for the stairs and giggled as he playfully grabbed my rear
end, following close behind me.

We slammed my bedroom door shut and grabbed each
other, groping to remove clothes as we fell into my bed. I didn’t give Sam
another thought, as I spent the entire night rolling around naked with Seth’s
glorious body in a tangled mess of sheets.

I awoke alone and immediately missed the feeling
of Seth’s warm, bare skin against me. I turned to find a lavender Post-It note
on the pillow beside me. It had a giant heart drawn on it and was signed simply
“S”.

He had obviously been in my bathroom and seen my
circle of encouraging reminder notes on the mirror. A wave of embarrassment
overcame me as I realized how silly that must seem to someone who had every
reason to be completely self-confident.

Shaking my head at myself for not remembering to
take down this humiliating display of my inferiority complex, I padded into the
bathroom and added Seth’s heart to the mirror. He had seen one of my quirks and
hadn’t left the room screaming. In fact, he had added a sweet note for my
collection, so I decided to do my best not to worry about it.

I stretched and grinned at my mussed reflection.
I looked like a woman who had spent the entire night cuddling and screwing;
which is exactly what I was, and it felt grand.

I was in such a great mood that I had to share
it with someone, so I went to Courtney’s room and pounced on her bed. Tabitha
scampered off the bed as soon as she saw me coming, then whirled around to give
me a quick hiss before stalking out of the room.

Court pulled her pillow over her head and told
me to go away unless I had brought caffeine with me. I chuckled at her morning
grumpiness and burrowed under the covers beside her. When she finally opened
one eye to look at me, she said, “You look like you’ve been well-fucked.”

I had never heard that term before, but it
described me perfectly. So I responded, grinning. “Very well.”

Court grunted as she flopped over on her side,
“I haven’t been well-fucked in over a week. Or even
decently-fucked
.
Or so-so-fucked,” she grouched. “I guess my
vajayjay
has to live vicariously through yours now.”

I smiled at her. “You know a one-week dry spell
isn’t really that bad.” I decided this might be a good time to delicately bring
up the Joe idea to gauge her reaction. “If it really bothers you, though, maybe
you should look for a longer term relationship where you get well-fucked by the
same guy on a regular basis.”

“I can’t seem to find a man that I can put up
with for any length of time. Besides,” she added, “spend too long with one
person, and it quickly transforms into getting boring-fucked. I’m not
interested in the same old, same old for the rest of my days.”

I decided to jump in with both feet. “Yes, but
if you’re with someone you really care about, that can keep the spark alive.
For instance, what if you were with someone like Joe?”

I watched her reaction closely and was surprised
to see her eyes soften, even though her words contradicted them. “Joe
?!?
He’s my boss. That would be totally inappropriate.
Besides, he would never be interested in someone like me.”

“Since when do you care about inappropriate? And
what do you mean someone like you? Someone who is kind and loving and generous
and gorgeous and funny and smart and sweet? Yeah, why would he be interested in
someone like that?” I rolled my eyes to emphasize the sarcasm of my last
comment.

“You’re biased because you love me.” She shoved
my arm playfully, but then turned serious. “Joe deserves to be with someone
better than me. Someone who is pure and good and solid.” She paused to look at
me. “Someone like you. I’m white trash from the wrong side of the tracks, and I
have the physical and emotional scars to prove it.”

“Sweetie, I wish you could see yourself through
my eyes. I hate that you have this warped view of yourself. You are the most
amazing person I know.” We both had teary eyes, so I grabbed the tissue box
from her bedside table and sat it between us. “Joe sees it.” I nodded in
confirmation, at her questioning look.

As we hugged, I decided not to ruin this great
conversation with any talk about my lewd encounter with Sam at the museum.
There would be plenty of time to tell her about that fiasco later.

Lightening the tone of our conversation, Court
said, “If you’re going to wake me up at the butt-crack of dawn, the least you
could do is bring coffee.”

I shook my head at her, as I got up. “9:30 is
hardly the butt-crack of dawn, Lazy Bones.” I tossed the words over my shoulder
on my way to make her brew. Then I ducked and easily avoided the pillow she
threw my way.

I had just delivered Courtney’s coffee and
returned to the kitchen to scrounge up some breakfast when Seth called. “I know
it’s short notice” he started, seeming almost nervous, “but would you have any
interest in joining me at my family’s weekly brunch?” He paused a second then
added, “You really don’t have to if you don’t want to. I wouldn’t go if my
presence wasn’t required.”

“I’d love to,” I responded. “When?”

“Pick you up in an hour?”

“Sure.” I tried not to let the panic ring
through in my voice as we said our goodbyes. As soon as I touched the End Call
button, I screeched up the stairs, “Court! What does one wear to a fancy Sunday
brunch?”

“Hell if I know,” she grouched. Clearly her
caffeine hadn’t kicked in yet. I took the stairs two at a time, so we could
have this discussion in person.

I peeked around the corner of her doorway.
“Help. His whole family will be there, and I have no idea what to wear.”

“He must have the serious
hots
for you, calling for another date half an hour after he leaves,” she mumbled.
“You
gonna
be back in time for girls’ night?” She looked
accusingly at me.

“Of course! I would never bail on you for a
boy.” It was usually Court turning away men to maintain the sanctity of our
weekly girl time. This was the first time I had the choice. Not that it was a
choice. I loved spending time with Seth, but Sunday nights at Joe’s with Court
were our sacred ritual.

She seemed to think about it for a second, then
she huffed, “all right then,” and she started digging in the back of her
closet. She was so far back into her closet that I wondered what relic she was
going to pull out. “Don’t laugh,” she ordered as she surfaced with a dress that
shocked me. It was white with a flared skirt, which was covered with brightly
colored flowers. The low cut bodice was a deep purple and it had a large,
bright pink belt. It was perfect for my brunch, but so not Courtney.

“It’s beautiful!” I said honestly, smiling and
trying not to laugh at my mental picture of Courtney wearing this ensemble. “It’s
just not exactly your style.” I tried to be tactful.

“I went through a phase,” she rolled her eyes,
“but I’ve never actually worn it.” She dove back into her closet and this time
came out with a pair of strappy sandals with jewels that matched the flowers on
the dress.

I shook my head at her. “Perfect. Thank you. I’m
so glad I gave you the room with the big closet,” I said, giving her a quick
hug. Then I grabbed my goodies and ran to my bathroom to shower.

Forty-five minutes later I came downstairs
looking like someone who brunches. My hair was in a cute topknot and I had even
put on makeup. I had the pink lips and cheeks to prove it. The dress and shoes
really were perfect, except for one tiny problem. Well, not so tiny. Courtney’s
chest was nowhere near the size of mine. I had managed to squeeze my upper half
into the dress, but all of the extra flesh had to go somewhere, and it had
chosen to billow up and out. I had fidgeted with my boobs for five of the
forty-five minutes, and then tried to convince myself that no one would notice.

“Whoa, your cup
runneth
over,” Courtney grinned.

I whirled around and started to head back up the
stairs, humiliated. My clothes weren’t nearly as cute as Court’s, but at least
my tits stayed in them.

“Wait! You look fantastic. I’m just jealous.
He’s not going to be able to pry his eyes away from you or your fantastic
jugs.”

I turned. “Are you sure it’s not too much?” I
asked, grabbing them.

“It’s just right,” she reassured me. “Now lets
go sit on the front porch swing because I want a front row seat when he sees
them. I mean you,” she quickly amended when she saw my concerned look.

She wasn’t disappointed. When Seth hopped out of
his Jeep and walked up to greet us, his eyes nearly popped out of his head. I
was embarrassed, but then he smiled a huge, sweet, happy, sexy smile; and I was
truly grateful for my bodacious
tatas
for the first
time in my entire life.

“You look fantastic,” he said sincerely. “Ready
to roll?”

“Lets go,” I said. Deciding to enjoy this a
little, I bent down pretending to fix something on my shoe and looked up to see
him openly gawking down the deep cleavage I had just bared to him. I stood and
turned to grin at Court and give her a thumb’s-up before walking hand-in-hand
with Seth to his Jeep.