What He Wants (Second Chances #1.5)(20)
“Seen who?” Galen asked. Korinne’s husband came up behind her and engulfed her in his arms, kissing her on the cheek.
“Brett,” she answered, smiling mischievously at me. “It appears my match making skills weren’t needed this time. Melissa already met the man I wanted her to meet.”
Galen’s eyes lit up and he beamed. I could tell he and Korinne were happy, and for once I found myself envious of her. They had the type of relationship I wanted: one of love, respect, and honesty. Galen was handsome with his ash blond hair and eyes almost the same gray as Brett’s, but his smile was nowhere near as enchanting. Why do these men have to have such amazing eyes?
“Brett’s a good man,” Galen acknowledged. “I hired him to take over the West Coast accounts. I think he’d be a good one for you. You should give him a chance.”
Half-heartedly, I huffed and tried to appear unfazed, but my insides were blazing warm with just the mention of his name. Yep, I was in trouble. “I’ll think about it,” I ended up saying.
“Okay, ladies,” he said. “I need to make more rounds around the room, so have fun. Don’t get too wild and crazy.” Chuckling, he kissed Korinne’s cheek and winked at me before leaving us to ourselves. Korinne’s gaze followed him as he made his way around the room.
“You’re a lucky woman, Kori,” I said softly, meaning every single word.
Beaming, she turned to me and nodded. “Yes I am. Your time will come, though. Everyone deserves a second chance at love, and I know it will find its way to you.”
I hope so.
I still needed to think about what I was going to do when Brett found me at the end of the night. He said he would, and I had no doubt about that. As if my thoughts summoned him, and even though I couldn’t see him, I could feel his penetrating gaze on me. He was watching me and I knew it.
Korinne must’ve sensed my unease because she gave my hand a squeeze. Her beautiful green eyes gazed at me with nothing except love and concern. Softly, she murmured in my ear, “Mel, I know you’re scared of getting hurt, but you have to let it go. Your ex was a complete ass and not all men are like that. Trust me on this, you need to let it go and move on.”
I sighed and squeezed her hand back. “It’s not that I’m scared per se, Korinne. I can’t deny the chemistry that Brett and I had that one night, and much to my dismay we still have it. Believe me, I want to give it a go, but it’s the trust I have an issue with. I married Daniel on a whim. It was wild, fun, and wonderful until his head got in the way. When he cheated on me I was hurt, and I refuse to let it happen again.”
Korinne shrugged. “It’s a chance you have to take, Melissa. I, for one, know what it’s like to run away from someone you care about. I regret every moment I spent running away from Galen when all he wanted to do was be there for me.”
Korinne had been married before, right out of college, and her husband at the time had died tragically in a car accident. I didn’t know all of what had happened because Korinne and I hadn’t talked in years at that point, but she was afraid of pursuing a relationship with Galen after that. Now look at them … they were happily married with a baby girl.
When my eyes wavered from Korinne’s, I spotted Brett across the room, staring at me as he was talking to a group of men. Taking her by the shoulder, I turned her around so she could look at him with me. I didn’t care if he knew I was talking about him.
“All right, Kori. I know you have to see what I see when you look at him. He’s gorgeous, and you can feel the arrogance flowing off of him in waves. He’s confident and he knows it. Do you honestly think a man like that could stay faithful when he could have any woman he wants?”
Shaking her head, Korinne scoffed and turned her attention back to me, “Yes, I do think he could stay faithful. All you have to do is get to know him and judge for yourself. There’s no harm in that. If in your gut you don’t feel like he’s an honorable man then don’t date him.” She placed her hands on my shoulders and stepped in my line of vision so my gaze would be on hers instead of Brett’s. “And yes, I’m sure he could have any woman he wants, and right now he wants you. I can feel it from across the room, and I’m sure he wants me to move so he can look at you from afar.”
Indeed, I could certainly feel it. Against my better judgment, I glanced over Korinne’s shoulder at Brett. He tilted his lips ever so slightly at me before directing his attention back to the men he was talking to. Groaning, I flung my arms dismissively in the air, giving up. “Okay, I’ll give him a chance. But I’m not going to have another one night stand with him tonight.”
Korinne snickered and rolled her eyes. “Maybe you two could just talk and get to know each other? That’s typically how this works.” Taking my hand, she pulled me over to the bar and grabbed two glasses of wine, handing me one. “Okay, bottoms up, darling. I think we’ve talked about men enough already, now it’s time to have some fun.”
Smiling, I agreed and tapped my glass to hers, the high-pitched clinking noise being music to my ears. “I do believe you’re right. Bottoms up, baby.”
AS THE NIGHT drew on, I said my good-byes to Korinne and her husband before making my way to the elevators. I didn’t know if I could deal with Brett yet, so I did what I thought was best and snuck away as fast as I could. When I got in the elevator, I breathed a sigh of relief when the doors started to close. I thought I was in the clear, but then a hand broke through the middle, stopping them from making the final seal.