Take a Chance on Me (17 page)

Somehow, I muddled through the workout session, but I spent all of it on the verge of tears. And when the DJ on the radio—Chance’s brother—played an Andrew Lloyd Webber love duet, “Only You,” I almost broke down in the middle of the Nautilus section.

When I got home, I barricaded myself in my bedroom and, like a high-school girl who had a crush on a boy who was playing hard to get, I tried calling his apartment. (No answer, of course.) Then his cell phone. (It went straight to voicemail.) And then texting him. (Which got no reply, even several hours later.)

And I had to face the horrible truth that I’d foolishly taken Chance for granted. I’d just expected him to be there whenever
I
was ready. Thought he’d be willing to wait for me until I said, “Hey, let’s talk.”

But he had every right to step away from me first—whether it was temporarily or permanently. And letting him do so was a stupid risk I hadn’t known I’d been talking.

Finally, Tuesday night I got a reply text from him.

I’ve been thinking about you a lot, Nia. And you’re right. We have some things we need to talk about. I don’t know when I’ll get home tomorrow, but it’ll probably be late, and I have to work early on Thursday. Are you free Thursday night?

I was so glad to hear from him, I would have made myself free ANY night…or morning…or afternoon…

I wrote,
Yes! Where? And what time?

Had to admit, I was hoping he’d say his apartment. Or the sauna at the gym. Some sign that he wanted our reunion to be romantic in nature. But he went for a more neutral location than either of those.

How about the lake? Barrett’s Pier. Six o’clock.

Barrett’s Pier was a popular teen make-out spot after dark. Not at six p.m., though.

Nevertheless, I agreed, and then had to spend the next forty-eight hours waiting to find out what the hell was going on inside Chance Michaelsen’s mind.

Chapter Twelve

~ Chance ~

Nia was waiting for me at the pier when I got there.

For a moment, before she saw me, I just watched her as she strolled along those wooden slats with the lake as a backdrop behind her. So beautiful. I took a mental photograph, hoped for the best, and walked toward her.

She turned and saw me. “Chance. You’re here.” Her voice was soft and almost surprised, like she’d been holding her breath.

“Of course.” I swallowed. For all the time I’d spent thinking about the exact words I’d say and their exact order, my throat closed up and my mind blanked out. I couldn’t remember my opening line, and I didn’t have a clue how to interpret the look she was giving me. It seemed wary and worried. But why? I was the one who should be nervous.

Then she said, “I’ve missed you.”

That I could answer. “I’ve missed you, too, Nia. A lot.” I paused and some of the phrases I’d planned to say started to come back to me. “I’m sorry about Saturday. I didn’t want to talk to you again too soon and make another mistake. So, I went up to Wisconsin to bike some trails and to think about us.”

“And, um, what sort of thoughts about us were you having?” she asked.

I noticed her hands were white and sort of shaky, so I reached for them. They were not only trembling, they were cold. “Are you okay?”

She shook her head. “Not really.” She paused but she didn’t step away from me. She still let me hold her hands in mine. “I’m very sorry about Saturday, too, Chance. But please just tell me what you’ve been thinking—so I know.”

“All right. Well, it’s simple, really,” I said, which was the honest-to-God truth. I’d known this part even before I’d left on my trip. “I’m falling in love with you.”

Her dark eyes grew wide, as if she totally hadn’t expected me to say that. But the hell with expectations. I wasn’t going to pretend this wasn’t true. I needed to tell her the rest of it, though, too.

“I’m not a person who talks just to hear the sound of my own voice, Nia, so I probably haven’t answered every question you’ve ever had about me. But I’ll tell you anything you want to know, and I won’t lie to you. Ever. The thing is, in my whole life I’ve never felt such a strong connection with anyone. And it scares me to feel so much for you, so suddenly. I’m terrified that you might not feel the same way or that I might do something stupid and lose you. So—” I paused to gulp some air and prepare myself for whatever her reaction would be. “So, if you want to back away from me…if you think I’m not the right man for you and that your family will never approve of me…if you’re looking for a completely different type of guy, then you should break this off now. Because my heart’s involved, and it’s only becoming more so.”

She abruptly let go of my hands and then wrapped them around my body, her head against my chest. She was crying. No, more like
sobbing
. Oh, God. Did that mean it was over?

“Nia, it’s all right. Everything will be okay.” I didn’t know how it would be okay for
me,
but she was so upset, and I was worried about her. I stroked her hair. “Please don’t be sad.”

She shook her head and finally spoke. “I’m
crazy
about you, Chance Michaelsen. Don’t you dare tell me that it’s all right if I just walk away from you. I don’t want to walk away, do you understand?”

Truthfully, I didn’t quite understand at first. All of those tears. All of that trembling. If I’d been forced to place a bet, I’d have guessed she wanted to sprint as fast and as far away from me as possible. Sometimes really emotional people just confused me. But she held onto me even tighter. And sort of pounded her small fists against my back in emphasis until her words finally sank in.

“You’re crazy about me?” I repeated.

“Yes,” she said to my chest. I was sure she could hear my heart pounding. It was so loud and insistent, even I could hear it.

This was a
good
thing. My heart pounded even harder. “When did you come to that conclusion?”

She dried her eyes on my shirt and looked up at me. “You remember the Easter Egg Hunt?”

I nodded. How could I forget?

“It started then,” she said. “It never stopped, even when I wanted it to. And every day that I got to know you better, any stupid arguments I had for why we shouldn’t be together began to crumble.”

“Which arguments?”

“Like that you’d dated Donna. I was kind of jealous of that. That you’d been with her before me. That you two were, maybe, intimate,” she admitted.

“I never slept with Donna,” I told her.
Why
would I sleep with Donna?
“And I had more reason to be jealous of that A-hole Grant Jordan than you did to be jealous of your old high-school friend.”

“I never slept with Grant,” she murmured. “I never even wanted to. You told me I needed to be honest with myself, so here’s the truth, Chance. There was never any competition between you and Grant. The second I started listening to what my heart was saying, I ended up texting you…in the sauna with you…and then in your apartment…and then here by the lake. This is where I want to be. You’re who I want to be with.”

“What about your family, Nia? If you stay with me, you need to know that I want it to be forever.”

“Forever is a long time.”

I shrugged. “Not as long as this week was without you.”

She laughed a little. “I’m a bit less worried about my parents’ opinion on this now. I just got done convincing my mother that I didn’t even want to think about getting married for a couple of years. And it’s true…I don’t. I’m not ready for marriage. With anyone.”

I’d already thought about this, too, so I told her the truth as I saw it. “Well, I am. With you. Someone else might think it’s too soon but, as my twin brother would say, ‘Screw them.’ When you’re ready to get married, Nia, you let me know. I’m not going anywhere.”

“You’ll just wait?”

This seemed like stating the obvious to me, but I guess I had to practice saying some things aloud. “Yes.
For you,
I’ll just wait.”

Then she stood on her toes and brought her lips up to mine, and we made out on the pier like a pair of teenagers. And when the sunset came, we stood side by side, holding hands and watching the golden rays kiss the lake.

“Tomorrow night is a Michaelsen family get-together at my sister’s place,” I told Nia. “Just beer and pizza. And, uh, maybe some baklava or something.”

“What?” She looked confused.

“I’d like you to come with me tomorrow,” I said. “If you’re free. And I’d like your help in picking out a few desserts at The Gala to bring along. Maybe a little basket with Greek pastries? I could use your advice. I know Shar would love it and…well, I’d like to try some of your family’s specialties, too.”

“You’re kidding me, Chance.”

“I’m not.”

And I proved it to her when, later that night, she led me into the bakery and—right in front of her parents and her brother and a room full of customers—Nia set out a platter of pastries for us to taste test.

“You don’t have to eat anything you don’t want to,” she whispered. But I did want to. I tried a forkful of every single one, selecting several types for the basket I was building.

I caught her parents exchanging a few cautious glances and her brother sizing me up. But then her mother smiled at me. I smiled back. Hey, it was a start. That was enough for now.

A few minutes later, her father offered me a complementary shot of this licorice-flavored booze, which was good but, man, it was strong.

“Ouzo,” he told me.

I nodded. “I’d like to buy a bottle of that for the gathering, too,” I said. I’d definitely have to keep a close eye on Blake while he was drinking it, but I knew my brother would be an instant fan of the stuff.

Mr. Pappyiannis grinned. He toasted me with the shot glass he was holding and said, “Opa!”

And much, much later, at my apartment with Nia, she brought one small piece of her family’s signature dessert into my bedroom.
Galaktoboureko
. I’d probably never learn to spell it, but I knew it was part custard, part phyllo dough, and coated in a light syrup.

She made me lie down.

Then she dipped her finger in the custard, ran it over my bottom lip, and kissed me. It was
all
sweetness.

Mmm. “This one’s my favorite,” I murmured.

“Mine, too,” she said. And she did it again.

~ End ~

Up Next:
Look for Julia Crane’s love story in the next Mirabelle Harbor book—
The One That I Want
—available July 26, 2015! Who will she end up with? **Visit the
Series Webpage
!**

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