Taking Chances (The Chances and Choices Duology - Book 1 of 2 - Contemporary Romance) (14 page)

I had never been so appalled with myself,
specifically with my lust-filled body.
How
could I have let this happen? How could I have made such a horrible mess of
things?

I had met two of the most sexy, amazing,
wonderful men on Earth, and I had managed to screw things up with both of them.
I was sure that the twins would fight, and I was also certain that once that
fight was over, they would realize that I wasn’t worth it.

I prayed that their relationship wouldn’t suffer
any permanent damage from my lack of morals. They were both better off without
me in their lives. I vowed to try to move forward with my man-free life, and to
try to forgive myself for screwing things up so royally.

I could be happy without a lover. I had a great
life before I met the Davis twins, and I would try to get back to that point.
It would take a while to forgive myself for my indiscretions, but I would work
on it.

Right now, I needed Court and Annie. I could use
some unconditional love, and I knew those two would dish it out, even if I
didn’t deserve it.

I had sat there with my mind spinning for so
long that I was now late for work. I was normally extremely punctual, so I used
our home phone to call Annie. “Sorry I’m late.” I started in as soon as she
picked up. “I’ll be there in a few.”

“Take your time, Love. I’m just glad to hear
you’re okay.” Annie was already doling out the unconditional acceptance. Most
bosses would at least want an excuse about why you were late. Not my sweet
Annie, though. All she cared about was that I wasn’t sick or injured.

My next call was to Court, asking her to meet me
at the shop in half an hour. “I’ll be right there,” she responded. Again, no
questions asked. These two ladies were truly there for me, and I was so
grateful to have them in my life.

I raced up the stairs to take a quick shower
before heading in to work. When I walked into the boutique, Courtney was
already there chatting with Annie. She had obviously already filled Annie in on
what she knew of the horny details of the last 24 hours because they both held
their arms out to me.

I rushed to them for a soothing group-hug. As we
stood there holding each other, I thought about how happy I was that the two
most important women in my life had begun to forge a solid, caring relationship
with each other. I needed both of these fabulous, nurturing, wild, lovely
women, and I wanted them to be able to lean on each other as well.

Courtney was the one who finally broke the
silence. “I can’t stand the suspense any longer. Did you tell Seth about Sam?”

We broke the three-way hug, but stayed close to
each other. It was my triangle of solace as I nodded in answer to her question,
unable to utter the word. Tears began to pool in my eyes as the guilt over what
I had done washed over me.

“Oh, Sweetie, it’s okay.” Annie put a hand to my
cheek as she said the words. Court grabbed my hand as she nodded in agreement.
I didn’t feel judged by either of these wonderful women, even though I knew
that what I had done was despicable.

“I know that I have ruined my chance of being
with either of them, but I just hope that I didn’t destroy their relationship
with each other.” I managed to get the words out despite my sniffling.

Annie reached for the box of tissues as she
said, “Honey, why in the cosmos would you think that you’ve lost your
relationship with both of them?” She seemed genuinely perplexed.

I knew that Annie was flighty, maybe to the
point of being occasionally ditzy, but I couldn’t imagine that she didn’t
understand this. Maybe Court hadn’t fully explained the situation to her. “I
slept with both of them,” I said simply.

She shook her head as if still not getting it,
so I continued. “Seth hates me because I slept with his identical twin, when we
hadn’t officially broken off what we had. Sam is furious because I told him
that Seth and I were finished, when evidently we weren’t quite done yet.”

Court was the one who answered. “None of that
was your fault. You tried to reach Seth, and he ignored you. You had every
reason to believe you and Seth were over when you were with Sam.”

Annie nodded her agreement with Courtney’s
words. “The way I see it, you have a monumental choice to make.”

I shook my head. They weren’t getting it. “No,
you don’t understand. Neither of them wants to be with me after what I did.”

“Are you sure?” Court was the one who posed the
question. “Maybe you should consider who you would choose, if they both want
you.”

“When they both want her, you mean.” Annie
tucked a stray brown curl behind my ear as she amended what Courtney had said.
“How could either of them resist her?”

I was still shaking my head. These two ladies
loved me too much to see the writing on the wall. I had let my lusty body take
over my brain, and I had ruined my chances of having a relationship with either
of the near-perfect Davis twins.

My thoughts were interrupted by the tinkling of
the bells on the front door of the shop. All three of us turned to look as Mr.
Finley, the owner of Treats walked in. His bakery was where Seth and I had gone
with the dogs on our first unofficial date, the day we met in the park. That
seemed like an eternity ago now.

Mr. Finley was carrying a pink bakery box, which
he handed to Annie when she floated, in her distinctly Annie way, over to greet
him.
He’s the king of impeccable timing
,
I thought, as I eyed the box, wondering what kind of delectable goodness it
contained.

Something about Annie’s reaction to him drew my
attention away from the pastry container.
Was she blushing?
Court and I looked at each other in surprise when we
heard Annie’s girly giggle as he kissed her hand with a flourish.

After he left, Annie swept back over to us, with
the pink box in tow. Court was the first to get the words out. “So, what’s
going on with you and the Fin-Man?”

“Harry?
Pish
posh.”
She tried to play it off as if there was nothing between them. “I’m sure he
makes the rounds delivering baked goods to all the local businesses. It’s good
TR or PR, whatever it’s called.”

Court and I raised our eyebrows at each other
over her use of Mr. Finley’s first name. Neither of us had ever heard it
before.

I thought about the idea of Annie being with Mr.
Finley. He was on the
shortish
side, but not too
short. He had graying hair and a slight belly pooch, but he was handsome in a
sweet, grandfatherly way. Somehow, it all clicked into place in my mind, and I
realized what a fantastic couple they would make. I was slightly annoyed with myself
for being too consumed by my own love life to notice before how perfect they
would be for each other.

Court saw it too. “Well, I think you two want to
TR each other’s PRs, and I for one, think it’s a great idea.”

Annie shook her head, but all three of us
erupted into giggles at Court’s play on Annie’s latest word jumble. When the
laughter subsided, we all three stood quietly for a moment, consumed by our own
thoughts.

Suddenly Court blurted out, “Joe kissed me last
night, and it rocked my world!”

I was so happy for Courtney and Annie. They both
deserved a happy, fulfilling love life, and it seemed like they were each on
the verge of achieving just that.

Trying to relax in a bubble bath later that
evening, my mind kept returning to my disaster of a romantic life. Somehow, I
had managed to screw up things with two amazing men.

The rap on my bathroom door startled me out of
my thoughts. Court cracked the door open and peeked in, “I’m heading in to work
the dinner shift because Grace called-in sick again. There’s someone here to
see you.”

She opened the door a little wider to reveal
Seth standing in my room behind her. I nodded at Court’s questioning look, to
let her know it was fine; so she quietly left.

Seth stayed where he was for a moment, then he
walked into the bathroom. I gasped when he stepped into the light, and I saw
the cut on his lip. “Are you okay?” I asked him.

“Physically, yes.” His answer made me wince with
the knowledge that I had caused his emotional pain. My face must have betrayed
my thoughts because he attempted to lighten the mood by saying, “You should see
the other guy.”

The thought of Sam being harmed made my stomach
roll and the burning watermelon was back in my throat. My face must have
crumpled because Seth tried to ease my concern. “He’s okay.”

He was looking down as he said the words, and it
made me feel even worse to imagine how it made Seth feel to see my concern over
his brother’s wellbeing. I had made such a mess of things. They really were
both better off without me.

It was kind of Seth to come back to give me
closure, but I decided that he had already done way more than I deserved. So, I
said, “Thanks for stopping by to let me know you’re okay. It was very
thoughtful of you. I’m sorry for any pain I’ve caused you, and I hope that your
are able to find happiness with someone who deserves you.”

He responded quietly, “You’ve made your
decision, then?” At my perplexed look he continued with a resigned, “You want
to be with Sam.”

“Decision?” I kept the question at one word
because I was so taken aback by his words. He seemed to be waiting for me to
expand, so I continued. “What I have done is horrible, and you both deserve
better.” I looked directly into his eyes as I said sincerely, “I wish you only the
best.”

“That sounds like a dismissal.” He moved to
kneel beside my bathtub even as he said the words. “Please don’t write me off
so quickly, Ab. I don’t like it one bit that you were with Sam, but I accept
the responsibility that it was largely my fault. I shouldn’t have left things
the way I did. We can work through this. I love you, and I’ll do whatever it
takes to make you happy.”

I was surprised by his words.
How could he still want me after I had
bedded Sam?
Then realization struck. I had become a pawn in their game of
one-upmanship. Neither of them actually wanted me. They just wanted to win, and
I had unwittingly become the prize, until they moved on to something else.

I said as much to Seth, who seemed shocked by my
accusation. “I can’t speak for my brother,” he responded, “but my feelings for
you have nothing to do with him. I want to live my life with you. If you’ll
give me the chance, I promise to do my best to make all of your hopes and
dreams come true.”

His
words were wonderful, perfect. A tear slid down my cheek and he gently brushed
it with his lips. “You don’t have to answer me right now. Work through your
feelings and let me know what you decide.” He rose to leave, but turned back to
say, “I’ll be waiting for you. It seems that you have stolen my heart.” Then he
quietly walked out of my bathroom.

I was still reeling from Seth’s visit. Normally,
sitting on our front porch swing, looking out over the water, drinking hot tea
relaxed me; but it was doing nothing to calm my frazzled nerves tonight. I
wasn’t even that surprised when the sleek, black Porsche eased into our
driveway.

When Sam reached the porch, I saw his black eye.
His brother had given him a serious shiner. It was already turning purple and
looked extremely painful. It made me wince just looking at it. Seeing my reaction,
he tried to play it down. “It’s not as bad as it looks.” He paused before
adding, “I deserved much worse.”

He looked like he felt as guilty as I did, and
it made me feel dreadful, knowing that I had caused all of this turmoil. He sat
down beside me on the swing, but made no attempt to touch me. Even after all
that we had been through, I still felt the electricity sizzle between us. My
physical reaction to him was undeniable.

We sat there like that for a long while. When he
finally broke the silence, his words surprised me. “You deserve a much better
man than me. You should be with someone like Seth. He will never let you down.
I, on the other hand, am known for loving ‘
em
and
leaving ‘
em
. I just came to tell you that I care
about you both, and I sincerely hope that you are able to work this out.” He
looked at me before continuing. “I’ll keep my distance until I’m sure that I’ll
be able to keep my hands off you.”

Anger flared inside me at his words. “So, you
feel guilty about fucking me, and you have decided to let Seth win this one. Am
I the trophy in this round of the competition?” I spat the words out with venom.

He seemed honestly stunned by my accusation.
“Abby, it’s nothing like that. How could you think that?”

I ignored his question, so he continued. “I’ve
never wanted any woman the way that I want you; and believe me, when I’m with
you, the last thing on my mind is my brother.” He flashed his crooked smile as
he said the last part.

I studied him to gauge his sincerity.
Could he be telling the truth? Does he want
me like my body craves him?
I wanted to believe that I was in some way
special to him, even if it was only physical.

“I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you
since that first night we met at the charity auction, and I didn’t even know
you were with Seth then,” he pointed out.

He paused for a moment and I pondered over his
last statement. It was true. At the time of our rendezvous in the bathroom, he
hadn’t known I was with Seth. He had been attracted to me sexually, just for
me, and not as another way to compete with his brother.

As if reading my thoughts, he continued. “I can
barely keep from touching you now, just sitting here next to you; but it’s not
just you’re body that I want, Ab. I want to spend time with you and laugh with
you and dance with you and dream with you and have a future with you.”

My mouth fell open at his last statement. Seeing
the surprise on my face, he continued on, as if trying to convince me. “Why
can’t you see how amazing you are? I’ve never desired anyone like this.” He
touched me then, for the first time, since arriving. He tenderly brushed the
back of his fingers down my cheek. Just that slight connection with him felt
amazing. I closed my eyes and leaned my head towards him, enjoying the
sensation.

He moved his hand down and gently raised my
chin, so that I was facing him. My eyelids felt heavy as I gazed at him. I
licked my lips, aching with desire. “There’s nothing I want more right now than
to kiss those soft, beautiful lips.” My lips parted slightly at his words,
ready to be taken. My eyelids drooped as I leaned forward, wanting him, but his
lips were not there.

He cursed and stood up. I could see his erection
straining for release from his jeans. My eyes were drawn to it, riveted, until
I realized what he was saying.

“You’re too good for me, Abby.” I started to
shake my head in disagreement, but he continued on, ignoring me. “Seth is a
good man, and you deserve to be with someone like him. I’m sorry that I’ve made
such a mess of things. I want to say that I will back off and pretend to hope
that the two of you are able to work things out, but I don’t think I have the
strength to give you up. It’s just too hard, and I’m evidently not that big of
a man. I’ll try to give you some space while you work through this, but please
don’t take too long.” His next words were so quiet that I wasn’t sure if he
actually uttered them or if my imagination conjured them. “Choose me.”

With one last burning gaze, he turned and left.