Meant for Me (A Second Chance standalone) (3 page)

“Excuse me? You have got to be kidding me.”
What the hell
did he want me for?
“What do I have to do with any of this?” I questioned
suspiciously. “How am I going to be able to help you?”

Ryan paused for a second and took a deep breath. “Before I
go into those details I want you to answer me one question … what lengths would
you go through to find your friend’s killer? What if there was a way all of
this could come to an end with your help, would you do it?”

Closing my eyes, I laid my head on the desk and set the
phone down for a second. I would do anything to find out what was going on. I
didn’t have to think twice about it, but I knew what he was going to ask me to
do and it wasn’t going to be easy.
In fact, it was most likely going to be
one of the most dangerous missions I’ve ever gone on.

As soon as I lifted my head and opened my eyes, the image of
Austin’s broken body flashed in my mind along with the vision of his beautiful
wife who had gone missing. It was all the push I needed.

“I’ll do it,” I answered, putting the phone back to my ear.
“I would do anything to bring Austin’s killer to justice. Just tell me what I
need to do.”

Ryan breathed a sigh of relief and filled me in on
everything. After our conversation ended at three in the morning, I grabbed
Austin’s file and headed home to pack.

I had a plane to catch.

When I arrived in Dallas, Texas, a couple of days ago to
surprise Cooper, it was in the middle of the night when I knocked on his hotel
room door. His dark hair was mussed from sleep and his eyes were half open when
he answered the door in only a pair of blue, plaid boxers.

I couldn’t deny that he looked sexy as hell. Deep in my
heart, I honestly felt that with time I would be able to love him the way he
loved me, and there was no better time than the present.

The moment he realized it was me, he scooped me up into his
arms, and planted a firm kiss to my lips. He didn’t ask what I was doing there
and he sure as hell didn’t let me speak. His lips made sure of that. We spent
the rest of the early morning hours making love until it came time for him to
get ready for the game the next afternoon. I was afraid he would be too
exhausted to play if he didn’t get more sleep, but as I watched him run the
ball down the field, I was in awe of how wonderful he played. In fact, he
played the best I had ever seen him do, scoring three touchdowns, and putting
his team in the lead by twenty points.

Now we were in the plane on the way home, slowly descending
as the runway came into view. When Cooper took my hand and brought it to his
lips, I turned away from the window and met his intense blue gaze. I was glad
we were in first class with the bigger seats because with his six foot four
frame and muscular build there was no way he could fit in the smaller seats in
coach.

Leaning down closer to my ear, he murmured softly, “Thank
you for coming out to Dallas, Claire. You have no idea how much it meant to me
for you to be there.”

I lifted a brow and smiled. “Umm … I think you showed me
more than once how much it meant. I was so afraid you were going to play
terrible with me keeping you up all night.”

Chuckling, he put his arm around me and kissed the top of my
head. “If anything, babe, you gave me the energy I needed. You know you’ve
always been my lucky charm. I always play my best when you’re around.”

“Are you trying to say I need to be at all your games?” I
teased, elbowing him in the side.

“I wish you could, but I know you need to stick around until
Melissa has her babies. Next season, though, you better be at them all. I’m not
taking any more excuses.”

Grinning, he lightly grasped my chin and tilted my head back
before placing a gentle kiss to my lips. Even though he was an aggressive
player on the field, he had always been the most gentle of the men I’d been
with. Closing my eyes, I leaned into his touch and deepened the kiss. Taking my
hand, Cooper slowly lowered it to his lap where I felt the bulge of his
hardening cock straining against his jeans. Smiling, I rubbed my hand against
him, making a strangled moan escape his lips.

“Do you see what a simple kiss from you does to me?” he
whispered gruffly. “If you keep it up I’m going to have to take you in the
bathroom. Personally, I would rather wait until we get to your house. Trying to
fit me and you both in that small ass bathroom isn’t going to work.”

I laughed, taking my hand away from his lap so he could
adjust his pants. “I don’t think so either, but before you ravish me can you
drop me off at Melissa’s house for a while so I can check on her? I also wanted
to tell her how everything went.”

Cooper smirked, his blue gaze sparkling with mischief when
he replied, “That sounds good, babe. While you’re doing that I might throw us
some things together on the grill for dinner. I could eat a fucking horse right
now. Although, I think I might stop by my place after I drop you off at
Melissa’s and then come back by to pick you up. Is that okay?”

I nodded and waved him off. “Oh yeah, that’s perfectly fine.
Take your time.”

I had a lot I wanted to talk to Melissa about anyway.

My phone had died at some point during the trip home so I
couldn’t call Melissa to tell her I was back in town and coming over. When we
pulled into the driveway of my family’s Tuscan villa—which was now Melissa’s
home—I leaned over to kiss Cooper’s cheek before getting out of his brand new,
black Toyota Tacoma.

Before I shut the door, he smiled mischievously at me, his
gaze lingering on my breasts. “You know, I think you look sexy as hell in that
shirt. Maybe you should wear it more often.”

Shutting the door, I looked down at the fitted Oakland
Raiders jersey top then back over to him, rolling my eyes. He had some
specially made for me, and also had some made for Melissa and Brett. Mine
happened to be made a tad bit different, and it was the first time I’d ever
worn it.

“And why should I wear it more often?” I asked
sarcastically. “Is it because I have your name across my breasts and a slogan
that says that I’m your girl on the back?”

Chuckling, he shrugged his shoulders and said, “Hey, can you
blame me? I want people to know that you’re mine.”

“I think you’ve accomplished that already, Cooper,” I
remarked with a smile on my face. “Just come get me when you get done at your
place, okay?”

“Will do, babe. It shouldn’t be long,” he assured me.

I waved good-bye to him as he pulled out of the driveway
before walking up the path to the front door. Melissa’s villa was my mother’s
favorite retreat when she was alive, and when Melissa and her husband, Brett,
took it over they kept it exactly the same, not changing a single thing.

In a way, though, it was still strange having to knock on
the door when for most of my life I could just walk on in. When no one
responded to my knock, I rang the doorbell and waited … and waited. I was about
to give up and call Cooper to come pick me up when the door finally opened.

“It’s about time someone answered the door,” I teased as the
door opened. My smile vanished when I saw Melissa standing there, her eyes red
rimmed and puffy as if she’d been crying.

“Oh my God, are you okay?” I asked, afraid that something
was wrong. Taking her hands, I walked into the house, raking my gaze over her
body to make sure she wasn’t hurt. She looked the same, dressed in a blue
maternity dress with her hair in a bundle of red curls on top of her head. “Are
the babies all right? Did you fall? Do you need to go to the doctor?”

Melissa blew out a shaky breath and shook her head. “I don’t
need to go to the doctor. The babies are fine, Claire. I think the pregnancy
hormones are making me emotional.”

“Really? That’s it?” I asked in disbelief. She glanced
nervously over her shoulder before turning back to me. “For some reason I don’t
believe you,” I scolded her. “What’s going on?”

Nervously, she tried to usher me toward the door and that
was when I realized she was trying to get rid of me.
Did she really think I
would leave just like that?
She knew me better than that. “Melissa, you can
stop pulling me toward the door because I’m not going anywhere until you tell
me what’s going on,” I snapped.

Before she could answer, my gaze caught a movement off to
the side of the room. Someone was there, and out of the corner of my eye I
realized it sure as hell wasn’t Melissa’s husband, Brett.
Please, don’t let
it be who I think it is, please don’t let it be …

I chanted that over and over in my mind, and even closed my
eyes in hopes that it was just my overactive imagination playing tricks on me.
Nope,
the figure was still standing there.
Even if I couldn’t fully see who it
was I had no doubt in my mind I already knew. My heart pounded the same way it
always would when that specific person would be near. I had done so well with
moving on and now it was shot to hell. The anger I thought I had suppressed
over the past few months came flooding right back, rearing its ugly head, but
what was even worse was that deep down there was that little ping of excitement
of being able to see him again. My traitorous heart had screwed me over again.

Melissa squeezed my hands apologetically and whispered, “I’m
so sorry, Claire. I tried to call you.”

Closing my eyes, I took in a deep breath before mustering up
the courage to face the man who broke my heart. I didn’t have to wait long
because the moment I opened my eyes it was no longer Melissa standing in front
of me, it was Mason. He was dressed in a fitted gray T-shirt and a pair of
loose denim jeans that hung low on his hips with his favorite baseball cap
covering his dark blond hair. What made it even worse was the way he looked at
me with those piercing green eyes. It was the way he looked at me when we made
love four months ago, or better yet, when we fucked, since it didn’t mean
anything to him.

After all this time he had no right to look at me like that.
He had no right to even speak to me.

“What are you doing here?” I asked angrily, placing my hands
on my hips.

He moved closer and sighed. “I came to see Melissa and to
make things right with you,” he confessed. “Can we go somewhere and talk … just
me and you?”

Incredulously, I laughed in disbelief, thinking it had to be
a joke. When he stared at me, with not a touch of a smile, I knew he was being
serious.
Out of all the times for him to come back, it had to be now,
I
screamed in my mind
.

“Mason, you had four months to make things right with me,” I
hissed. “There’s nothing you can do to make up for what you did. I’m sorry, but
I have nothing more I want to say to you … ever!”

With those final words, I turned on my heel and stalked out
the door.

I didn’t realize how much she despised me until
the
moment I stepped into the doorway and Claire saw me, and I saw the outright
venom in her eyes. From that look alone I knew she wouldn’t take me back, but
it wasn’t going to stop me from trying.
I came here for a reason and I’m not
leaving until I do what I told myself I was going to do.
I was going to put
everything on the line.

As I watched Claire turn her back on me and walk away, I had
the deepest urge to handcuff her to a chair and
make
her listen to me.
However, forcing her would only push her away even more. When I handcuffed her
to anything it would be out of mere pleasure, not anger. I was determined to
get her back. Rushing out of the house, I grabbed Claire’s arm before she could
go any further and turned her to face me.

“Let me go, Mason,” she ordered through clenched teeth.

Her body was coiled tighter than a snake, but when I grabbed
her other arm and pulled her closer, I could feel the tension in her muscles
loosen and she noticed it, too. I wanted to kiss those lips of hers that tasted
sweet like honey with the hint of raspberries, and feel her bare skin on my
fingers. Seeing her now only reminded me of how stupid I had been to let her
go, and now it was too late.
Or was it?

“Please give me this chance, Claire,” I murmured in her ear.
“There are so many things I need to tell you. I know you’ve moved on to someone
else, and it’s kind of obvious with his name plastered all over your body, but
I can’t leave here without telling you how I feel.” I paused and took a deep
breath. “I’ve missed you, Claire. I missed you the moment you drove away from
me at the airport four months ago.”

“Why are you doing this now?” she asked incredulously,
pulling her arms out of my grasp and crossing them over her chest.

She stepped back, one small step after another, and the
further she moved away the further I could feel her slipping away. A tear slid
down her cheek and she wiped it away, whispering, “Things are finally going
good for me, Mason. I can’t have you screwing that up.”

Nodding, I lowered my head and blew out a shaky breath. “I
understand, and if you’re truly happy then what I have to tell you won’t matter
at all. I have to get this out or I may never get the chance again. Claire, I
…”

Unfortunately, that was as far as I’d gotten before the
sound of Cooper’s truck coming down the long driveway stopped me.
Are you
fucking kidding me? When am I ever going to catch a break?
It was perfect
timing on his part, but terrible for mine. Skeptically, he glanced from me to
Claire and then settled his gaze on me with a scowl on his face. It was obvious
he knew who I was, and if not it was obvious he didn’t care for me. Claire
glanced nervously behind her, and I knew my moment to tell her how I felt was
lost. Would I get a chance to before I left? I had no clue, but I had to try.
Before Cooper could get out of his truck, I stepped closer to Claire and let
her see the seriousness in my eyes.

“Meet me tonight,” I muttered quickly. “You know where.”

Past her shoulder I could see Cooper approaching, but she
kept her glistening blue eyes my way. If she didn’t agree to meet me tonight
there was still the possibility I’d never see her again. Any time I went
undercover was dangerous and I always had to accept the probability that it
could be the last mission I ever went on. It was the way it worked.

“I’m sorry, Mason, but I can’t. I can’t risk everything just
because you show up on my doorstep. If you want my trust or my heart you need
to fight for it … you need to earn it. Until you’re willing to do that I don’t
want to see you again,” she uttered boldly.

Cooper finally made it to us and put his arm around Claire’s
shoulders, pulling her into his side. “Everything okay?” he asked, gazing down
at her before turning a lethal glare my way.

Claire wrapped her arms around his waist and nodded, smiling
up at him. “Yes, everything’s fine.” Her smile disappeared when she glanced
back at me. “I was just telling Mason good-bye.”

With those last words she turned her back on me for the second
time today while Cooper stayed behind. We both watched her climb into his truck
and shut the door, keeping her gaze on anything but us.

“What are you doing here?” Cooper asked angrily, crossing
his arms over his chest. He was a couple of inches taller than me, but height
never mattered anyway. We were almost identical as far as body size, but I knew
without a doubt I could take him in a fight.

“Not that it’s any of your business,” I replied with a sly
grin on my face, “but if you must know I came to visit my cousin.”

Cooper scoffed. “Well, whatever the reasons are you better
stay away from Claire. I know who you are and what you did to her. However, I
guess I should be happy that you were such an idiot because now I have her and
you don’t. So thank you for that.”

“I don’t think you’ll be thanking me when I get her back,” I
warned with a smirk on my face. “I let her go once, but it was a mistake I’ll
never make again. I’ll fight for her no matter what it takes. You can count on
that.”

I was determined to get her back and of that I was certain.

“I still can’t believe Austin is gone and Summer’s missing,”
Melissa murmured sadly, catching my attention. I didn’t even know she was
behind me until she spoke.

“I know, but I’m going to find out what happened to them. I
can promise you that,” I vowed wholeheartedly, sealing up the envelope in my
hand.

For the past two hours I’d done something I never thought I
would ever do in my life … I wrote a fucking love letter, and also wrote down
everything Melissa would need to know if I didn’t make it back alive. When
Melissa showed me to the guest bedroom I’d be staying in for the night, I saw
the desk in the corner and went straight to it. The whole time I kept thinking
how pathetic it all was to write a letter, but I wanted Claire to know how I
felt before I left, in case I didn’t come back.

“What is that?” Melissa asked, glancing down at the envelope
clutched in my hand.

Releasing a heavy sigh, I passed it over to her and said,
“It’s a letter to Claire, and all the information you will need in case I don’t
come back. I need you to make sure Claire gets the letter after I leave.”

Melissa took the letter and papers cautiously, furrowing a
brow. “You’re not telling her good-bye, are you? Because so help me God you
better come back in one piece after all of this shit.”

Seeing my pregnant cousin looking at me like she wanted to
kick my ass made me chuckle. She threw a pillow at my head and huffed, “I’m
being serious, Mase. This isn’t a laughing matter. Fighters are showing up dead
and you’re going right into the middle of it. Promise me you’ll stay safe.”

Taking her hand, I pulled her up from the bed and hugged her
tight. “I promise I’ll be safe, Mel. I know what I’m doing.” She sobbed against
my chest and I hated that I was causing her pain, but I wanted to see her
before I left, and more so I wanted to see Claire.

“All right, Mel, stop crying.”

She released the death grip she had around my waist and
looked up at me. “Will you be able to call me when you’re out there?”

“Probably not every day, but I’ll make sure you know I’m
safe, okay?”

She sniffled and blew out a shaky breath before saying,
“Okay.”

After she left, I shut the door to my room and lay down on
the bed, staring at the ceiling. There were so many things running through my
mind that I knew I wouldn’t be able to sleep if I tried. From the information
Ryan’s sources had gathered for him there was a man who seemed to be the number
one key suspect in the deaths and who was possibly in charge of the illegal
underground fighting ring. He sent me over all the information before I left
home to come to California. No one had gotten close enough to get the guy’s
name, but there was one thing that would make him a little easier to spot … he
had a dragon tattoo on the right side of his neck and a jagged scar by his left
eye.

Finding him wasn’t going to be easy, but I had to try.