What He Wants (Second Chances #1.5)(22)

“Wait,” I called out quickly. “You don’t even have my phone number or know where I live.”

Stopping mid-step, he glanced over his shoulder at me and winked, his full blown smile lighting up the night sky. “I’m sure I can figure it out. Sweet dreams, firecracker.”

I watched him disappear inside the doors and as soon as he was out of sight my heart finally returned to normal. Was it always going to be like that, with my heart feeling like it was going to explode every time he was near? He did win points for not wanting to come home with me for the night even though my body protested. My thoughts of Brett were put on hold as the valet guy pulled up to the curb and held the door opened for me as I got in. I think I’m going to need a cold shower when I get home.





IT WAS TEN o’clock the following morning when my doorbell rang, echoing throughout the house. I had to give him credit; he was right on time. I was about to answer the door when a text came through on my phone, which was sitting on a small decorative table in my hall. When I picked it up and glanced at the text, I rolled my eyes and groaned. It was my ex-husband.



Daniel: Hey, can I see you today?

Me: I have a date. Sorry.

Daniel: With who? Do I know him? Why won’t you ever talk to me?

Me: I have to go.



I turned off my phone and put it back on the table. One thing was for sure … I wasn’t going to be taking it with me. I had my bathing suit on underneath a bright green tank top and a pair of low cut denim shorts. I was ready to go and I was going to have fun. Thoughts of my ex-husband were going to be erased from my mind.

Butterflies fluttered in my stomach as I slowly made my way to the door. When I opened it, I had to try hard not to let my mouth fall open at the sight of Brett. He was masculine and sexy in his white T-shirt, which accented his perfectly brown tan, and blue swimming trunks that hung low on his hips.

Whistling, he took off his sunglasses, eyed me up and down, and said one word, “Wow.”

I had my hair in a messy ponytail with my sunglasses propped on top of my head and no make-up on. A lot of women refuse to go out without make-up on, but I wasn’t one of them. I loved not wearing it at times.

“You look amazing,” Brett said as he came through the door. “Are you ready to go?”

“Yes I am. I just need to grab my bag.”

Smiling, Brett’s gaze lingered over my living room and then back to me. “Let me guess … Korinne designed your living room for you. It looks like her style.”

I snickered. “Yeah, she did. That’s how I was reunited with her. I hired her not knowing it was the Korinne I grew up with. I gutted everything out of here and had her redo the place. When she got here I had nothing except lawn chairs in here to sit on. Her facial expression was priceless.”

“I would’ve loved to have seen that,” Brett remarked humorously.

“Korinne took plenty of pictures so I’m sure she’ll show them to you if you just ask. She thought it was funny, too.”

Cautiously, Brett nodded and turned to walk further into the living room and then over to the windows to peer out. With his back to me, he asked, “Do you keep in touch with him? Your ex I mean.”

I stumbled with his question because I didn’t know if telling him that my ex wanted me back was a good idea. Instead, I decided to skirt around the truth to avoid the question. The last thing I wanted was for my ex-husband to be an issue.

“I try not to,” I remarked quickly. “He calls and sends texts every once in a while, but after the divorce I made sure to never cross paths with him again. I saw him once not too long ago, but I’ve done pretty well with avoiding him at all cost.”

Brett’s eyes grew hard and protective as he turned his gaze to me. “Good. Then I won’t have to worry about him getting in the way. If I was him I’d be going crazy trying to get you back, but then I wouldn’t have been stupid enough to f*ck it up in the first place. Thankfully, I don’t know who he is.” He left the window and marched up to me.

Rolling my eyes, I took him by the arm, leading him back to the front door and replied, “Which is why I’m not going to tell you his name. I had my last name changed back to my maiden name almost immediately once everything was final. I wanted no ties to him when it was all said and done.”

I grabbed my tote bag and keys, ushering Brett out the door so I could lock it behind me. “All right, I think we’ve had enough ex talk for now. We need to find more interesting things to discuss, like for instance, how did you find out where I lived?”

“How do you think?” he replied incredulously.

Shaking my head—because I knew exactly who it was—I rolled my eyes and announced, “Yeah, I figured it was Korinne.”

With a wolfish smile, he opened up the door to his Jeep for me to slide in. Out of all the cars I’d owned, I’d always wanted a Jeep Wrangler. If I sold my Lexus I could buy several of them, and I was determined to do it one day.

“I love your Jeep. One of these days I’ll have one, except mine will have to be an automatic and not a stick shift like this one. I tried to learn once before, but failed miserably,” I admitted, feeling slightly embarrassed. I was surprised I never wrecked any of the cars I practiced on.

Brett put the car in gear and slowly backed out of the driveway. “It’s not that hard. I tell you what … when we come back from the lake I’ll teach you. It’ll be fun.”