Second Chance Pass (Virgin River #5)(100)

Hoo-boy. You don’t talk about that, especially when it’s meaningful. “Vanni, I swear to you, I didn’t do anything to hurt her.”

“Didn’t you find her on the deck, crying, and kiss her and seduce her and take her to that little trailer?”

“Well… Yeah… I did that part….” And he was thinking, was there a felony in there somewhere? Because all through the night the only thing he had tried to do was show her how much she could be loved. And it was wonderful; she was wonderful. Spontaneous and aroused and ultimately quite satisfied. And happy. He’d heard her sigh, he’d heard her laugh. There was absolutely no crying.

“Didn’t it occur to you that after her heart had been broken, that was probably not a great idea?”

He got a little angry himself. He leaned his hands on the table, got a little bit in her face and said, “No. I thought it was a terrific idea, and so did she. I wanted to be good to her and I was. I treated her with absolute respect, and she consented one hundred percent. Now, give me her number. I need to talk to her as soon as possible.”

“She said absolutely no.”

“What? No, I have to get in touch with her. Vanni, this isn’t funny.”

“No, it’s not. I just don’t know what went through your mind.”

“Wait a minute here, I didn’t talk her into anything! I was a perfect gentleman, I swear to God!”

“Don’t you know anything about women?” she asked him.

“Apparently not!” he answered hotly.

“She’s just spent five years with a guy who wouldn’t come through. What do you suppose she thinks you’re going to do after one night?”

“She could give me a frickin’ chance!”

Vanni’s mouth was set in a firm line. “She said absolutely no.”

“Oh, for God’s sake. Vanni, this is cruel and unusual. Listen, I have feelings for her. Really.”

“After one night?” she asked, a definite superior tone to her voice.

“Before the night,” he said. “Will you ask her to call me? Please?”

“You knew her for what? Ten minutes?”

“Shit,” he said. “Okay, it was fast. Okay? I admit it. But by the time we’d spent a night together it seemed…” It seemed as if he’d been with her for years! Jesus, his voice was quivering. He was losing his mind. He should be saying, fine—if that’s the way she wants it, fine. But in his head, his heart, his gut, he was feeling desperate. Driven. He was not letting this woman get away.

His good sense said give it up. She’s a nutcase. A whole night of magnificent love, intimate talk, something deep and meaningful going on and she splits? Like that? Never wanting to hear from you again? Give it up. Let it go. Move on. She’s probably crazy. Joe had had one or two crazy women for excruciating but short duration, and he didn’t want another one.

But he said, “Vanni, I have to talk to her. I won’t do to her whatever he did to her. I won’t make any promises I can’t keep and I never did or said anything that wasn’t a hundred percent sincere.”

“Ha,” she said.

“Oh fuck,” he answered. “Where is your husband?”

“It won’t do you any good,” she said. “He’s under orders.”

“Where is he?”

She inclined her head toward the stable.

He left his coffee on the table and made fast tracks for the stable. Hadn’t they all just had a perfectly nice wedding and reunion? He had no idea what had gone wrong. It had been the luckiest chance meeting of his life—that beautiful, sexy, soft and sweet Nikki had been there. And she had opened herself up to him in ways that led him to believe she found it to be her luckiest chance meeting as well. In his mind everything had gone right and could reasonably lead to many days, weeks, months, years of more nice stuff. He knew he had to invest the time before he could get a clear picture of the future—he’d been as burned as Nikki had—but you don’t bolt when things are going right. And he looked forward to nothing so much as investing the time. With her.

He found Paul and Tom brushing down horses in the stable. He stopped short and took a few deep breaths. “Hey, boys,” he said. “Tom, you mind? Can I have a minute with Paul? I’ll take your brush if you want.”

Tom looked at him grimly, though there might’ve been a little sparkle in his eye. “I heard you did the maid of honor.”

“You know,” Joe said somewhat irritably, “I was busy keeping private things private. I thought she might’ve appreciated that.”

Tommy grinned. “I’d congratulate you, man, but I think you blew it.”

“So I’m hearing. But if you’d been there…”

“Kinky,” Tom said. “Sure I can’t stay? You could think of it as part of my education.”

“Take off,” Paul said.

“Killjoy,” he said, passing Joe the brush and leaving the stable.

“You gotta help me, man,” Joe said to Paul. “I didn’t do anything to her. I mean, I only did to her what she totally… She should not have left in tears. I swear to God.”

“Yeah? Yet, she did. She was all shook up. Vanni was worried about her driving like that—all messed up.”