Love's Second Chance (Second Chances #1)(11)

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.

“Hello,” she huffed, sounding out of breath.

“Hey,” I replied casually. “What are you doing?”

“I just got through taking a run. What are you doing? I see you couldn’t wait until Friday to speak to me,” she bantered humorously.

“No, I couldn’t,” I agreed. She laughed as if she didn’t believe me, but it was the truth. I had wanted to call her the moment I left her at her doorstep. “I know we don’t have plans until Friday, but I wanted to know if we could do lunch today.”

The line went quiet for a few seconds, but then she answered. “When and where?”

I breathed a sigh of relief. “How about you meet me in an hour at the Rose Café?”