Love's Second Chance (Second Chances Series) (5 page)

“You haven’t changed a bit, have you? You used to say the same thing to me when we were in college,” he pointed out.

“I remember,” I said, laughing. “I felt bad for you paying all of the time.”

“I tell you what, next time you can pay. How does that sound?” Galen asked.

Shaking my head, I narrowed my eyes at him. “It’s no use. You’ll still find a way around it.”

“Not if it means I get to spend more time with you. It’s been so long, and I want to catch up,” he admitted.

“We’ll see,” I told him. “I’m sure you don’t want to hear everything about my life.”

“Actually, I do,” he said, looking deeply into my eyes.

I averted my gaze from his hypnotic stare and asked, “So what do we do now?”

Taking my arm, Galen directed me into another room where there were gray jumpsuits of various sizes hanging on the racks. “We need to get you fitted for your jumpsuit,” he advised.

“Do I have to take my clothes off in here?” I shrieked. I was definitely not going to undress in front of him.

Galen shook his head and laughed. “No, you put it on over your clothes.”

“Whew … thank goodness.” I sighed.

After getting fitted for our jumpsuits, Galen finally opened the two bags he brought in with us, which happened to be motorcycle helmets.

“Are you trying to tell me you ride motorcycles now, too?” I asked incredulously.

“Maybe. Would you want a ride some time?” he asked, giving me a wicked smile. It seemed like Galen had gotten a little more adventurous over the years.

“No, not really.” I shivered when I spoke.

“Very well, but I think you would like it if you gave it a try.”

“I don’t think so.”

As we waited for our turn to drive, Galen inched closer to me so our arms were lightly touching. It had been a while since I’d been this close to a man, and what made it more complicated was that Galen wasn’t just a man, he was a man that I had fallen in love with and become intimate with many years ago. There was a past there that I couldn’t escape from. The heat from his closeness sent tingles shooting straight through my body. Even the barest of touches had me yearning for more. How could I want the feel of a man so badly? Had I been deprived from a man’s touch for too long, or could it be that it was Galen’s touch I craved?

“So what are you going to do now that you’re back at home?” he asked, breaking me away from my dangerous thoughts.

“I haven’t really thought about it,” I confessed truthfully.

“If you want, you could always come to the firm and I could show you around. I think you would like it. Maybe it would inspire you if you saw some of the things I was working on.”

“If I didn’t know any better, I would say that you’re trying to persuade me to get my mojo back and go work for you.”

He smirked, “Maybe … is it working?”

“All right you two, you’re up!” We both turned to see the guy from the front counter waving at us and pointing to the cars. It was our time to race. When I climbed into the car, I had no clue how to strap myself in.

“How do all of these straps work?” I asked Galen. He rolled his eyes playfully at me and helped me fasten my harness.

“Our conversation isn’t over, Korinne. You may have dodged me now, but I’m not going to give up on you. You have a talent and I’m going to make sure you find it again,” he promised before leaving me to settle in the car beside me. His words sent chills down my body. If he could help me find what I’d lost that would be wonderful, but at what cost? My heart would surely be in jeopardy.

Glancing over at me, Galen smiled before he lowered the tinted visor on his helmet. Thinking of work would come at another time, right now I had to focus on one thing, and that was trying my best not to look like a moron by driving off the track. Lowering my visor, I gripped the steering wheel with all my might. Blisters were going to be all over my hands and fingers once we were done. When the green light appeared, we were off. I was shaky at first, and definitely took the turns with ease, but the adrenaline of the race had me pumped and squealing with delight. I never expected to feel that. Each second I got closer to Galen, he would go faster and take off without me. He kept taunting me by slowing down and letting me catch up, only to speed away and leave me in the dust. He was going to pay for that next time when I’d had a little more practice to get better.

With my arms crossed at the chest, I eyed him with a determined stare. “I
will
beat you the next time we go back,” I warned him.

Galen laughed. “I promise to take you back to give you another chance. You didn’t do too bad your first time. With more practice I think you could beat me.”

“I
know
I can beat you.”

We both laughed, but when we pulled up to my condo, the excitement I was feeling turned into full-out nervousness. I had never thought about what would happen at the end of our night, which was when normal couples usually kissed before ending a date. We weren’t a couple, but we used to be, which made it more complicated. My heart fluttered a million miles a minute when he turned the engine off. Clearing my throat, I intentionally avoided his gaze.

“If you don’t mind, I’ll walk you to your door,” he insisted.

Turning to him quickly, I said, “Oh no, you don’t have to do that. I’m sure I can manage by myself.” I could feel the heat rising to my cheeks.
Is it hot in the car, or is it just me?
I wondered. Breathing became harder when I realized what the problem was. I was afraid. Afraid of what this relationship would mean if I gave into it.

“I know you can manage by yourself, but I want to. I always walked you to your door before.” He gave me his enchanting smile, and like the idiot I was it lured me in.

“Yeah, but we were in college and it was never safe for the females to walk alone at night on campus,” I said, trying to open the door. Big Blue was always a pain to get out of. Exiting the car, he swiftly came over to my side to open the door. “Thank you. I don’t think Big Blue wanted to let me out.” I laughed.

“He never did,” he admitted softly. I could feel the hidden meaning behind those words, but I didn’t address it. We walked side by side up the steps to my third floor condo, and the whole way up I gripped the keys tightly in my hand to keep them from shaking. When we reached the door I made no attempt to unlock it for fear that if he came inside there would be a chance he wouldn’t be leaving anytime soon.

“What are you doing next weekend?” Galen asked. He leaned up against the door casually and crossed his arms. My eyes drifted to those muscular biceps and I remembered all too well how they felt when he was holding me close. His arms were one of my favorite parts of his body. Galen wasn’t a stocky man, but his arms were nothing except muscle. His T-shirt fit snugly around his biceps, and in that moment I craved to have those arms around me.

“Are you asking me out again so soon?” I teased.

His shoulders shook with silent laughter, and again he gave me that dashing smile. “Yes, I am. I had more fun with you tonight than I’ve had in a really long time, and I know you had fun, too. Your smile said it all.” Moving closer, he engulfed me in the pure, masculine scent of him that was all male. His voice dipped lower when he revealed his next thought, “And I’ve missed you. I’ve thought about you every day since you left.”

I didn’t know how to respond to his last comment so I tried to play it off. It was too soon to speak the words that were really on my mind. I couldn’t tell him that I wondered about him, too. “Are you going to be taking up all my weekends? Because I have to tell you, I might be busy on some of them,” I joked teasingly.

His lip curled up in a seductive smirk. “I’ll take my chances.”

“I’m not going to lie … I wouldn’t mind you taking up my weekends, but remember I want to keep this on a friend level. Okay?”

He nodded. “I understand. Well, how about this? You pick what we do next weekend. It’s your turn to pay anyway, since you were so adamant about paying at the track. I’ll leave it up to you to take this to whatever level you want it.”

“Agreed,” I said approvingly. Uncrossing his arms, he moved away from the door. He pulled me in for a hug, and at first I stiffened, but then the heat of his body had me liquefying where I stood. Relishing in the familiar scent of his cologne, and from him in general, I moved closer to breathe him in.

He made me shiver in response when he sighed in my ear. “I don’t want to overstep the boundaries you have, but I’ve missed this. I’ve missed the way you feel in my arms.” His warm breath tickled along my neck, sending goose bumps down the whole expanse of my body. He pulled back slightly from the embrace, and in my heart I wanted to protest. When I didn’t respond, he asked softly, “Do you not have anything to say about that?”

“I’m not sure what to say,” I whispered.

“You’ll know soon.”

Surprising me, he laid a soft, gentle kiss upon my cheek before releasing his arms around my waist. He made sure to let his fingers linger a little longer than normal on my hips. I smirked at him to let him know I caught it, and he smiled in response. Backing up slowly, his eyes never wavering from mine, he made his way to the stairs and started descending them one by one.

“Goodnight, Korinne!” he called out from down the stairs.

“Goodnight, Galen!” I hollered after him. I watched him get in his truck and drive away before I finally decided to unlock my door. The place on my cheek tingled from where he had kissed me, and I instinctively reached up to touch it. Deep down in my heart, I knew I secretly wished it was my lips he’d kissed.

Chapter Six

Seeing Korinne brought back a horde of memories, both good and bad. I could tell she wanted to keep her distance, but I already let her go once and I refused to do it again. She isn’t the same as she was before. It’s like she’s trapped somehow and needs to be let free. Hopefully, with time she’ll be the same Korinne I knew and loved eight years ago.

The day Brady told me about Korinne’s marriage to Carson I let the anger consume me. After all those years I thought I had moved on, but that day I heard the news it all came crashing down on me. Korinne and I had only been apart for two years at that time, and I
knew
she had moved on, but I never imagined the level of anger and hurt I would feel at the thought of her spending the rest of her life with another man. It made me sick to think of someone else holding her and touching her, even worse making love to her.

How could I get her to love me again? Ideas swam in my head, ways to break down the wall she had built up around her heart. Being at work and looking at the blueprints spread out before me, I couldn’t seem to find the time to concentrate. Not when Korinne was on my mind. The plan to find Korinne’s spark ignited into existence when I remembered the fiasco I went through a couple of months ago when a decorator completely botched a project. I knew exactly where to start with my plan and who was going to help me.

“Rebecca!” I called out. Jumping as if I’d scared her, she placed her hand over her chest.

“You startled me!” she gasped and took in a deep breath. “Is there anything I can do for you, Mr. Matthews?”

“As a matter of fact, there is,” I said, smiling. “I have an idea and I’m going to need your help. It’ll be the perfect plan in getting Korinne here if she cooperates. Are you in?”

Her face lit up. “Of course I’m in. Tell me what I need to do.”

I leaned over the desk and explained the situation to Rebecca. Her smile grew wider the more I told her, and when I was done she happily complied to follow through with my demands. “You must really fancy this girl to go through all this trouble,” she mentioned. “I wish my Edward would show this kind of effort, but you know how we old people are. I’ll head over there now and get to work.”

“Thank you, Becky. I really appreciate it.”

Rolling her eyes, she waved me off. “Go call your lady so we can get this ball rolling.”

Excited and confident, I headed back into my office to make the call. Taking in a deep breath, I slowly dialed Korinne’s number.
This had to work
, I said to myself.