Coming Back To You (12 page)

Mark was in her heart, but he would never be
in her life again. She had to accept that. She had to find peace
with the knowledge that sometimes love isn’t enough. Sometimes the
pain of the past bears more weight, controlling those who can’t let
go and move on. And there was nothing—absolutely nothing—she could
do about it.

Finally she stood, replaced the lid on her
keepsake box, returned it to its place in the back of her closet,
and finished getting ready for her date.

When Brad arrived a half-hour later, she
opened the door with a smile on her face and hope in her heart.

“You ready?” Brad asked, his brown eyes
gleaming.

Karma took a moment to breathe and say a
final good-bye to the past. “Yes. I’m ready.”

Chapter 12

Despite wearing a heavy jacket, Karma was still cold
as she stuffed her hands into her sleeves. To make matters worse,
it was beginning to rain. Thank goodness the game was almost
over.

What had possessed Brad to think their first
real date should be a minor league baseball game? It was April. Not
the warmest time of year in Indiana.

“Sorry.” Brad pulled out his umbrella and
opened it. “I hoped the rain would hold out until after the
game.”

“No such luck.” She forced a smile.
Hopefully, this wasn’t a bad omen for their relationship, but she
couldn’t quite shake the feeling that something wasn’t right.

She dismissed her jitters. Her hesitancy was
just a symptom of her still getting over Mark. That was all. Once
she gave Brad a chance, she would see how silly all her worries
were and that Brad was really the perfect guy.

When the game ended with a loss for the home
team—under such nasty conditions they could have at least won to
make enduring the cold and wet worthwhile—Brad took her hand and
led her toward the exit.

“Your hand is freezing.” He wrapped his more
securely around hers.

“I forgot my gloves.”

The rain began coming down harder, and they
huddled under the umbrella as they scurried down the sidewalk in
the direction of the parking garage.

“Wow, it’s really coming down.” He was
practically jogging now.

Thankfully, she could keep up.

By the time they reached the parking garage,
they were breathless, and their sneakers and pant legs were
drenched.

He helped her into the car, shook out the
umbrella, tossed it on the floor of the backseat of his Camry, then
hustled around to the driver’s side and hopped behind the wheel.
Within seconds, he had the engine started and cold air blasting
from the vents.

“It’ll heat up in a few minutes,” he said,
putting the car in gear.

Karma’s teeth chattered for a couple of miles
before the engine heated up enough to shoot out warm air. She
finally began to thaw.

“Are you hungry?” Brad glanced across the
seat at her.

She shook her head. “No.” She was cold and
soaked. There was no room for hunger right now.

Twenty minutes later, he pulled into her
apartment complex and drove around to her building. The rain was
still coming down hard, so he snagged the umbrella from the back
and came around the car to help her out and shield her from getting
even more soaked.

Once inside, he set down the umbrella and
stood beside her at her door.

“Sorry about tonight,” he said. “I guess
going to a baseball game wasn’t the best idea after all.” He
offered her a sheepish, almost defeated grin that tugged at her
heart.

“It’s not your fault.” She faced him more
fully. Maybe if she showed she was still interested he wouldn’t
feel so bad about the disastrous date.

He took a tentative step closer. “I promise
to do better next time.” He placed his hands on her hips, and his
cheeks shaded pink.

She bit her bottom lip and rested her hands
on his arms. “Will there be a next time?” She tried to sound
flirtatious but felt like she was forcing it.

“I’d like there to be a next time. Would
you?” His gentle gaze caressed hers.

A quiet ache vibrated in her chest, longing
for the man who was no longer a part of her life and never would be
again. She shoved past it and took a trembling breath. “Yes.” Brad
deserved this chance, and she deserved to find happiness. If Brad
could make her happy, why not push forward with him?

“Then how about dinner tomorrow night?”

“Tomorrow’s Easter. Won’t you have Jade?”

He shook his head and pressed a little
closer. “Her mom has her this weekend.”

Karma could tell he was going to kiss her.
Any second, he would press his lips to hers. Did she want that?

“Okay then,” she said. “Dinner tomorrow
night.”

He grinned. “And maybe a nice safe movie
indoors. No rain this time.”

She giggled. “Yes…dinner and a movie. Inside.
No rain.”

“I’ll pick you up around six.” He began to
lower his face to hers.

“Okay.” She practically held her breath.

When his lips brushed over hers, she
felt…well…there was a little tingle of warmth that shot down her
spine, but the sensation was nothing like what she’d felt when Mark
kissed her. Mark’s talented lips had nearly blown off her toes.
Brad’s simply warmed her. But Mark’s lips were blowing off another
woman’s toes now. Karma needed to learn to be happy with what was
right in front of her, not yearn for what had once been.

And maybe Mark had simply affected her the
way he had because he’d been her first real lover. Perhaps
fireworks weren’t supposed to go off every time a guy kissed her.
Maybe the way it felt with Brad was normal.

Running her hand up Brad’s arm to the back of
his neck, she opened her lips and licked her tongue against the
seam of his mouth. She could use what Mark taught her to increase
the fire. Maybe that would help.

Brad moaned and exhaled through his nose as
he opened and slid his tongue against hers. His arms eased around
her back and pulled her closer.

Closing her eyes, she could almost envision
he was Mark. Almost. But it was enough to let her get a little lost
in Brad’s more excited good-night kiss and to feel a tiny burst of
arousal bloom between her legs.

Brad finally pulled back and took a heavy
breath. Karma opened her eyes and blinked up into his, which were
glazed yet smiling.

“Good night, Karma.” His hold loosened.

“Good night.”

He pressed a lingering, chaste kiss against
her mouth. Then he released her and pulled away, clearing his
throat.

“I’ll see you tomorrow night.” He backed
toward the stairs.

“See you then.” She pushed open her door and
waved as he started down the staircase.

Inside, she draped her jacket over the arm of
the couch and set her handbag on the floor before peeking out the
window at his retreating taillights as he drove away, the same way
she’d done when Mark drove away that last time. Only this time, she
knew Brad would return. This time, she didn’t have to worry about
Brad leaving her.

Maybe his kisses hadn’t pushed her toward
cardiac arrest the way Mark’s had, but they were safe kisses. They
still simmered even if they didn’t boil. Brad was a keeper. He
wouldn’t run away from commitment.

She glanced back out the window just as Brad
turned the corner and disappeared from view.

This would be good. It would.

Finally, she could say a last good-bye to
Mark. She had a new boyfriend, and she was moving on.

Part II

Together Again

Chapter 13

Five months later

September 4

In her car in Solar’s parking lot, Karma stared at
the diamond ring on her finger. She had never seen the proposal
coming, and yet, yesterday, at her parents’ Labor Day cookout, Brad
had asked her to marry him.

Everyone had just finished chowing down on
burgers, baked beans, and potato salad while sitting around the
large patio table when Brad addressed her dad.

“Mr. Mason, I’d like to ask you
something.”

“Please,” her dad said, “call me John.”

Dad liked Brad. At least he acted like he
did. Karma thought he was just happy that she’d finally moved on
from Mark, which was why he was overly welcoming when she’d shown
up at the cookout with Brad. Her dad had heard about him for
months, but this was the first time they’d actually met.

Brad offered a deferential smile. “John then,
I’d like to ask you something.”

“Sure, ask me anything.”

Across the table, her brother Johnny, whose
behavior was much improved from last summer, bounced his
one-year-old daughter on his knee. Johnny’s wife, Estelle, looked
on. Both had been surprisingly quiet and polite, but Karma knew the
peace could only last so long. Johnny would eventually show his ass
again.

Brad took her hand and squeezed. “John, I’ve
been dating your daughter for six months.” He paused as she turned
and gave him a quizzical look. What was he doing? “I love her, and,
with your permission, I’d like to ask her to marry me.”

Thud! Marry him? Where had this come from?
She’d never seen this coming.

Her mom uttered a soft squeal and covered her
mouth as her eyes lit up. Johnny stopped bouncing his baby. A slow
grin spread over her dad’s face as he clasped his hands under his
chin.

“Brad, I can think of
no one better
to
marry my daughter.” He pointedly met her gaze, his meaning clear.
He was ready for the Mark Strong chapter of her life to be
officially over. Marrying Brad would guarantee that.

Brad pulled a diamond ring from his pocket, scooted
back in his chair, and got down on one knee. “Karma, with your
dad’s blessing, and in front of your family…” His whole face beamed
as he poised the ring at the tip of her finger. “Will you marry
me?”

She stared at him, her hand in his.
Everything about this moment was perfect. Wasn’t it? She glanced
around the table at her family. This was what she wanted, right?
She wanted to be married. She wanted a husband, a family, and a
life where she was no longer alone.

As she took a deep breath and nodded, a tiny
burst of alarm resonated in her soul. She brushed it aside, forcing
herself to leap forward rather than stay rooted in the past. Even
after a year apart, Mark’s memory still rested in the back of her
mind. She was beginning to think she would never completely get
over him. But the Mark she still thought about from time to time
was the Mark she wanted him to be, not the Mark he really was. She
had to keep reminding herself of that. And she couldn’t let her
life stall out on a fantasy.

Case in point. Brad was offering her the
future she wanted. She would be silly to refuse.

“Yes, Brad. Yes, I’ll marry you.” She was
striding forward, furthering herself a little bit more from her
memories of Mark.

Brad had slid the diamond onto her finger and
hugged her. Even her brother had congratulated her. Surprise,
surprise. Maybe there was hope for him to grow up yet.

Karma broke from her thoughts when her phone
chimed, planting her back inside her car. She quickly gathered her
purse and bag and hopped out. She’d sat so long reliving Brad’s
proposal she was now officially late.

Oops.

She rushed up the sidewalk and into the lobby
as her phone began ringing again.

“Good morning, Nancy.” She rushed past the
receptionist.

As she took the stairs to the second level,
she fished through her purse for her phone. At the top of the
stairs, she finally pulled it free and checked the screen.

Lisa. Why was Lisa calling her?

Darting down the hall to her desk, she
slapped her phone to her ear. “Lisa, what’s up? Sorry it took so
long to answer. I’m running late. God, I need to talk to you.” She
had yet to tell Daniel and Lisa that Brad had proposed.

“Karma! Will you shut up! I need to tell you
something.”

Sheez! What was up with Lisa?

Karma dropped her bags on the floor at her
desk and booted up her computer. “Fine. Sorry. What?”

At that moment, the door to Don’s office
opened.

“Ah, there she is,” Don said, gesturing
toward her.

Lisa was still talking in her ear. “Karma,
don’t freak out, okay, but…”

Everything fell into slow motion. The earth
dragged to a near standstill on its axis. Lisa’s voice sounded like
she was talking through a layer of cotton. And Karma was sure her
chin hit her desk as her mouth fell open.

“Mark’s here!” Lisa hissed. “In Don’s office.
Right now.”

Karma almost dropped her phone as her gaze
met Mark’s for the first time in a year.

“I know,” she murmured and hung up.

And just like that, in the time it took for a
light to come on once the switch was flipped, all her hard-fought
efforts to get over him vanished.

He was back. Mark was here.

And didn’t her wildly beating heart know
it.

Chapter 14

Mark had to fight the urge to scoop Karma into his
arms and kiss her. She looked good. Different but the same. Her
hair was shorter, a little redder from the brown he remembered from
before. But gorgeous nonetheless. And she looked leaner, more
sleek, like she’d put on muscle but not weight.

He’d been prepared to come back for her two
months ago, on the Fourth of July, when the sign he’d been waiting
for finally came. How ironic was that? Just when he’d wrested back
control of his own fate, the universe had come through. How did
that saying go? A watched pot never boils. The phrase was spot on
in this case, because he’d all but given up on the universe
bringing him a sign when Don called him out of the blue at the end
of June.

Mark had been in Wisconsin, finishing his
assignment, making plans to come to Indianapolis and win back
Karma’s heart when he had received a call. He had been on a
conference call with Carter Mitchell’s management team at the time,
but when he saw the name on his caller ID, a zap of awareness shot
through his body.