Love's Second Chance (Second Chances #1)(14)
By the time I heard the knock on the door, I had downed two glasses of wine. My nerves weren’t so frazzled anymore, and I actually felt calm and relaxed. Galen was leaning against the door frame when I opened the door, and his smoldering blue eyes raked up and down my entire body, lingering on my breasts, before meeting my eyes. Just that gesture sent chills racking through my body, making me shiver.
He grinned. “You look amazing.”
Moving forward, Galen kissed me lightly on the cheek before he entered my condo. He whistled as he took in the disaster of my dwelling. “Do I need to find you a decorator?” he teased.
I rolled my eyes playfully. “No! I just haven’t taken the time to unpack.”
What Galen didn’t know was that I had a beautiful house but I was too afraid to go to it. My goal was to get the courage to go back, but until then I’d stay at the condo. “Are you ready?” Galen asked.
Nodding, I grabbed my bag. “Yep, let’s go.”
He saw my bag and smiled. “Are you going on vacation?” he joked. “I should have known you wouldn’t pack light. I guess some things never change.”
I narrowed my eyes at him, trying to look intimidating but all he did was laugh and walk past me out the door. “It’s not that much,” I countered, hoping he would hear me. Taking a deep breath, I picked up one of my bags and locked the door. The whole time descending the steps the butterflies fluttered away in my stomach. I was looking forward to the night.
“We’re here!” Galen announced.
My eyes went wide at the sight before me. He brought me to one of the most highly sought out museums in Charlotte. I had always wanted to come here, but every time Carson would try to bring me he would get a page from the hospital and have to leave. My throat tightened and I felt a slight twinge of guilt thinking about that. It made me feel like a traitor to Carson. He tried to take me to the museum so many times, and now I was there with another man. I loved my husband and always would, but in all reality I had actually fallen in love with Galen first. Was it bad that I never actually stopped loving him?
“I can’t believe you brought me here,” I said in awe. “I’ve always wanted to see this museum.”
“I know,” he admitted. “I remember you saying something about it years ago.”
Gazing over at him, I smiled. “Thank you. It means a lot to me.”
We exited the car and he took my hand as we made our way to the door. An elderly gentleman opened the door with a big smile. “Good evening, Mr. Matthews,” he then looked to me and said, “and to you, Miss Anders.”
“Good evening to you, James. Is everything to what we discussed?” Galen asked the elderly man.
James grinned. “Everything is set up, sir. Enjoy your evening.”
“I don’t see how I’m ever going to be able to top this date,” I said softly to Galen.
“I’m sure you can come up with something. You were always creative, and I mean that in every aspect,” he whispered gruffly in my ear. Just those words made my body tingle in all the right places.
Once James walked away, Galen led me up the stairs to what looked like different sections of the museum. Staring wide-eyed, I took in the glorious sights before me. “Are we alone here?” I whispered while looking around at the unoccupied exhibits.
Galen smirked devilishly and explained, “I rented it out for our date. I wanted to make sure you enjoyed it.”
“How in the world did you ever think to plan this?” I asked.
He shrugged. “I have my connections, but like I said before, you mentioned you wanted to come here so I made sure to bring you. Not to pry or anything, but did your husband not do things like this for you?”
I shook my head. “No, not this extravagant, but he had his ways of making things special.”
“Does it bother you to talk about him?”
“A little,” I confessed. “I guess it just feels weird talking about him with you.”
“Well, just so you know, I don’t mind if you do. I don’t want you to think that you can’t talk to me about him, okay?”
“Thank you for that. It means a lot,” I said softly.
Galen and I walked around the museum in silence. Looking around, I couldn’t begin to fathom how much it must have cost for Galen to do this for me. Everywhere I turned sculptures and art took me away. Chills ran down my body with each new piece I saw. The entire museum was a work of art, a place of peace, and it was all mine for the time being. Galen and I observed the museum for what felt like only minutes, but it ended up being a couple of hours.
“I have another surprise,” Galen murmured in my ear. His breath against my ear made my skin prickle with chills. Placing his hand on the small of my back, he led me to another room. Soft lighting adorned the ceiling, and in the middle of the room was a small dinner table decorated with a red and black tablecloth with covered dishes on top. Two glasses of white wine were already poured, and off to the side of the room were two waiters standing at attention.
“Galen, this is amazing,” I breathed in awe. “Thank you for this.”
He guided me to the table and pulled out my seat. “You’re welcome.”
Galen took the seat across from me and motioned for one of the waiters. The waiter came and removed the covers from the dishes. Steam released in one huge cloud, and once the smoke cleared there sat an Oscar styled filet mignon, a shrimp cocktail, steamed vegetables, and a loaded baked potato. The smell was pure heaven, and if I wasn’t trying to be a lady I would have devoured the food in just a matter of seconds.