His Second Chance Read online

  Touching his contact, I held the phone up to my ear. It began to ring and I held my breath. Still walking to the kitchen, I entered to find Aimee sitting at the counter eating a slice of toast. She turned to say something but then stopped when she saw I had the phone to my ear. I held up my finger as I moved to the cabinet and pulled out a bowl. The whole time, the phone continued to ring. Finally, his voicemail picked up and I quickly hung up.

  “Who was that?” Aimee asked.

  “I was trying to call Brett,” I admitted. “I was going to tell him that I’d take the job but he didn’t answer.”

  “Maybe he’s just busy,” she shrugged as she crunched down on her toast.

  “I don’t know,” I said shaking my head. “More like I really upset him and he doesn’t want to talk to me.” I finished making my bowl of cereal and sat down beside her.

  “Tell me, are you trying to contact him for the job, or because you love him? Be honest,” she said as she pointed a finger at me. I paused at the thought. Which was it really? Was I wanting to get in touch just to talk about the job? No. I knew from the way my pulse would quicken at the thought of him it was so much more than just the job.

  “Honestly?” I asked. “It’s more than just the job. I do love him. I was so stupid to toss his feelings aside like that.” Admitting it out loud felt freeing, plus I felt the truth of my words down to my core when saying them aloud. I was in love with Brett. I loved the way he smelled, the glimmer in his eyes when he looked at me. The way his hand would feel when it slid across my skin. Just remembering what it felt like to be in his arms was like remembering being wrapped in a warm blanket.

  “Then you know you can’t just give up,” Amiee said.

  “But I really screwed up, Aimee,” I sighed. “I wouldn’t even want to talk to me after all of that. I was just too stupid and now he won’t take my call.” I was worried that maybe he’d given up on me. I couldn’t blame him if he had. There was no way anyone in their right mind would put up with my crap like he already had. I could imagine him on a flight back to London, glad to be leaving me behind.

  “Just relax,” she said. “You freak out way too much. Are you always this uptight? You might want to get a prescription for that ‘cause it seems clinical level to me,” she chuckled.

  “Oh, ha ha,” I said, grinning. “So I may jump to conclusions sometimes. So what? I’m only human.” I could feel my stress level starting to go through the roof. I quit my job so that I could work for him but now I was probably too late. I just hoped I could find something else fairly fast.

  “I know,” she nodded. “But just relax, okay. Trust me. If he had any sort of feelings for you, he would call. And no matter what, you found each other twice now.” She shrugged. “I think you guys are meant to be.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Okay, back up. You don’t need to jump in the deep end like that.”

  “Just calling it like I see it,” she said. We ate in silence as I thought about the whole situation. Maybe she was right. If I managed to not completely screw everything up, he would hopefully answer eventually. After all, I was still employed by him technically. Granted, he had every right to not want to speak to me and I wouldn’t have blamed him one bit. He had every right to ignore my call.

  “So I’m going to be patient,” I said slowly nodding.

  “You’re sure going to try,” Aimee said with a smirk.

  “So what have you got planned for the day?” I asked as I turned to my sister. “Anything fun and exciting?”

  “I don’t know,” she said with a mouthful of toast. “I thought about sitting around and reading a book but then I realized that didn’t sound like much fun. I considered calling Bridget or Holly but I haven’t yet. Besides, they probably aren’t even awake.” She shrugged. “What about you?”

  “Well, I need a job. I know I’m supposed to be patient or whatever but I do need an income. I’ll probably go online here in just a few to see what’s posted.”

  “Geeze, can’t you give the guy an hour at least?” she asked as she shook her head. “Dude does have a life you know.”

  “I know, I know,” I said.

  My phone began to ring, vibrating on the counter where I had left it.

  “It’s probably just work. Ignore it,” I said waving it off. “I quit this morning.”

  Aimee leaned forward and squealed. “It’s Brett!” she said. “Hurry answer.”

  I snatched up the phone and pressed the button. “Hello?”

  “Hey Leslie?” he said, sounding unsure of himself.

  “Yeah?”

  “Do me a favor and meet me outside of your house,” he said. I turned and looked at Aimee, sure I had to have misheard. What was Brett doing outside of my house?

  Chapter 19

  Brett

  I didn’t want to hear any more from anyone, so I shut off my phone as I climbed into the cab. I had no desire to explain anything to anyone at this point and needed at least 20 minutes to myself. Once I got to relax into my seat and the car started moving, I could hear my mother’s words echoing in my ear pressuring me to not give up on Leslie. Going back to London felt like giving up.

  It wasn’t like I wanted to. I wanted to have her here beside me, headed back to London. I didn’t want her angry with me. My only hope was that she was still willing to finish my place. Maybe I could salvage our relationship when she came back. No matter what I told myself, it didn’t work. My mother's words continued to fill my mind. She’d sent me a message after she’d left the mall and I’d climbed in the car. It had said to “not be afraid of grand gestures. Sometimes a girl needs help to see what’s right in front of her.” I wasn’t exactly sure what she thought I should do, so I had dismissed it.

  I shook my head, trying to push the thoughts away. I was going back to London and that was that. But the more my mother's words persisted, the more a plan began to form. It was certainly reckless, and most likely stupid, but maybe it would show Leslie what kind of man I really was. She apparently thought a relationship with me was risky, so I had to show her just what she meant to me. There were no words to express how I felt about her, but maybe, just maybe I could show her. Thankfully, on one of our long talks she had mentioned where she lived and her address.

  “Excuse me, driver? I changed my mind. I want to go see someone first,” I said as I leaned forward. I almost didn’t realize I was doing it until I’d started speaking. But once I had, I knew it was the right choice.

  “No problem. Just tell me the address,” he said as he looked at me in the rearview mirror.

  I quickly told him Leslie’s address and leaned back in the seat. This was it. My last chance. I had to try one more time. If she turned me down after this, I would know that I had done everything I could possibly do to try to win her over. I would be able to fly back to London with a clear conscience and start to try to forget her. Not that I would probably be able to. All those years before and I hadn’t managed. But maybe, just maybe, this time could be different. I hoped it wouldn’t come to that, though. I hoped that she’d been able to rest and think about things. I knew I had.

  The ride to San Jose felt like it was taking forever. The driver had thought I was nuts at first but once he got a good look at my face, he seemed to recognize me. After that, he was willing to go wherever I wanted.

  Soon we were pulling into town, and I felt a little more anxious. This was it. Either all would be forgiven or I would end up heartbroken and headed back to London alone. I really wasn’t even sure if she’d be willing to come back and finish the job if this didn’t go well. She just might tell me to find someone else and never speak to me again. I tried to tell myself that those were just the slivers of doubt pushing in and that she would never do that. But in reality, I wasn’t sure.

  “Almost there,” he said. “You want me to stick around?”

  “No, that’s okay,” I said shaking my head. “I promise I’m going to make this drive worth your while.”

  The guy nodde
d and seemed satisfied. I almost regretted taking the car back to my parents' house, but at the time I had thought I would be leaving the country. But with time to think, I knew my mom was right. If I truly cared about Leslie, I couldn’t give up. I had to give it one more chance.

  As the car pulled up in front of the simple home, I could feel my heart beating in my chest. It was pounding so hard I thought for sure I would collapse on the sidewalk. I leaned forward and gave the guy three times what my total was, which seemed to please him. I climbed out and pulled my phone from my pocket. Turning it back on, I swiped away all the notifications and opened my contacts. Finding Leslie’s number, I pushed it before holding it up to my ear. As it rang, I could feel myself shaking. Fearful she would be mad and yell and scream at me before I even had a chance to speak. I knew that wasn’t her, but that didn’t keep my mind from assuming the worst, anyway.

  It rang for longer than I expected and I almost wondered if she would just not answer when she finally did.

  “Hello?” she said.

  “Hey, Leslie?” I said, not liking just how unsure of myself I sounded.

  “Yeah?” she said, thankfully not sounding mad.

  “Do me a favor and meet me outside of your house,” I said. I waited, expecting some sort of answer. “Leslie?”

  Just then I saw the front door open and she stepped outside. I could tell she was confused as she looked up and down the street. “How?” she began. Her sister didn’t follow her out, but stayed in the doorway.

  “Listen,” I began. “I know you’re mad at me, and I understand that. But the thing is, I’m not sorry for what I said because it’s the truth. You mean the world to me Leslie Brown. You have ever since you were that shy little girl that lived next door. I would do anything to protect you. Give anything to make you happy and see you smile. When you left all those years ago, you took my heart with you. I was shattered into a million pieces without you in my life. I tried to put myself back together but I’d always felt like something was missing. That’s when I tried to fill it with drugs, booze and women. But none of it worked. I was just trying to numb the pain of losing you.” I paused, feeling myself getting emotional.

  “Brett,” she began as she moved closer.

  “Wait, I’m not done,” I said as I held up my hand. “The truth is, I love you. I love you more than I love my next breath. I love you more than anything else in this world. If I had to give everything up just to have you, I would do it in a heartbeat because that’s how much you mean to me. You complete me. I know this is sudden so you don’t have to say anything back,” I said shaking my head. “I just couldn’t go back to London without telling you exactly how I feel. I had to get it off my chest and put it out in the open. I wanted you to know.”

  Now that I’d said my piece, I started to rethink the whole thing. I didn’t know if I was brave enough to leave if what I said had angered her. I couldn’t even look her in the eye.

  “Are you done?” she asked and the softness in her voice made me look at her.

  “Y-yeah,” I nodded. “I’m done.”

  “Good,” she said simply. “Because I have something I want to say too. I should probably start with I’m sorry.” She sighed and I felt a chill run through me. “I was stupid. I know that now. You’ve been nothing but nice to me and all I have done is push you away. But now I know why I did. Because I was scared. I was scared of what I had been feeling for you. Scared of how close we were getting again. I was a mess after we left, too. I knew I had feelings for you back then, but I never understood just how deeply they went until you weren’t there anymore. Of course, I was too ashamed to reach out to you. I thought you’d think differently of me. But now I see that was just all in my head. You’ve always been my love. You are so much more to me than I was ever comfortable admitting to myself. But not anymore. I love you Brett.”

  I pulled her in my arms and lifted her in the air, spinning her around.

  “I want you to come back to London with me,” I said. “I already postponed my flight for today. I’ll book us both tickets so we can go together.”

  She nodded. “Yes,” she said happily.

  “Will you move in with me?” I asked. “I know it’s sudden so if you want space, I’ll buy you your own place. It’s not a problem. Whatever you need, just say so and it’s yours.”

  “Are you sure?” she asked. “I don’t want you to do anything you aren’t sure of.”

  “Baby, I’ve never been surer of anything in my life,” I said as I kissed her.

  “Why don’t you guys come inside before you get the stalkerazzi on our front lawn,” her sister called from the front door. Both of us laughed and headed inside.

  Eventually, her parents came home and we both told them the news. Leslie seemed nervous at first but I wasn’t sure why. Her parents were so delighted that they couldn’t stop hugging either one of us. They offered to let me stay at their place and her mom insisted that she cook me dinner. If anything as a thank you for flying Leslie home when Aimee was missing. I declined staying the night but accepted the dinner. I have to say, it was one of the best dinners I’d ever had. When I told her mother as such, she just giggled and waved me off. I told her if she ever wanted to open a restaurant to let me know.

  We were both able to get on the next flight to London, this time, both of us were seated in first class. Leslie had looked unsure of herself the whole time we were boarding. Almost as if she expected them to tell her she couldn’t fly.

  “How does it feel to be flying and not working,” I asked her as I kissed her hand after we took our seats.

  “You have no idea,” she said rolling her eyes. “I think I want to burn my uniform.”

  “I’d rather you didn’t,” I admitted. “That was one sexy outfit. It’d be a shame to see it go to waste.”

  She smirked and shook her head. “What am I going to do with you?” she asked.

  “Whatever you want,” I promised.

  Holding hands the entire flight, we began to talk about her redesigning the hotels. I was happy to see she was excited and jumping in with both feet. Leslie seemed determined to not hold herself back anymore, which was refreshing. It was as if all the walls she had put up had all come crumbling down and she was back to being happier and much more relaxed than ever.

  Finally touching down in London, we made it back to my loft and through the front door.

  “I can’t believe how many miles we’ve traveled in the past few days,” I said.

  She turned and faced me, tugging on the bottom of my shirt. “Are you saying you’re tired?” she asked.

  I arched one brow at her. “I didn’t say that,” I purred.

  “Good,” she said as she stepped closer and slid her hands up under my shirt. Our mouths met and her kiss seemed filled with so much more than it had been before. Full of passion and desire. I placed my hand on the back of her head, gently pulling her toward me while the other found her bottom and squeezed.

  Leslie’s mouth moved to my earlobe and sucked on it before nipping it with her teeth. I groaned as I felt myself growing hard. I wrapped my hands in her hair and tugged her head back, exposing her neck. Running my tongue down it, I came to where her shirt stopped me. Her hands reached up and began to undo the buttons as she looked up at me seductively.

  “You’re so goddamn beautiful,” I said to her before claiming her mouth again. She continued to undo her shirt until she pushed it back and let it drop to the floor. My hand slid down the snow-white bra that remained and I squeezed her breasts.

  Leslie pushed my shirt up and over my head before running her hands over my chest. Her fingers slowly moved over every tattoo and muscle I had, as if she were doing her best to memorize them all.

  “I’m ready,” she said breathlessly. She wrapped her arms around my neck and held me close.

  “Ready?” I asked. If she was trying to distract me from her body, it wasn’t going to work. I slid the straps down from her shoulders and kissed her bare skin
.

  “I want you. Tonight,” she said as she began to unbutton my jeans. “It’s all I could think about on the plane.”

  I felt my shaft push against my jeans. Rather than respond I simply showed her my answer. I tugged her breasts free and began to suck passionately. Meanwhile, she got my jeans undone and they dropped to the floor. Next, she made sure her jeans joined them. Both of us standing there in our underwear, I picked her up and began to carry her. Giggling, she kissed me. It was rushed but full of passion. Both of us eager to reclaim the other.

  Before long we were in my new bedroom, the blankets still wrinkled from where we had been sleeping when she’d gotten the call. I laid her down on them and then propped myself up next to her. My hand slid down her body and slipped under her white panties which were already sopping wet.

  “Someone’s awfully wet,” I said with a grin.

  “I told you I’m ready,” she gasped as my finger went inside. “I want you in me.” She pulled her bra the rest of the way off and then pushed her panties down. I originally had hoped that I could make her first time slow and passionate, but it seemed as though she had other ideas. As I tried to still take it slow, she started pulling on my boxers.

  “Easy there, tiger,” I said with a grin. Not that I didn’t want the same thing. Lord, I did. As she pushed them down and then laid back, I could see her wetness gleaming between her legs.

  “There’s a condom in the dresser,” she said with a wicked grin.

  I smiled and reached for the drawer, quickly pulling it open. Sure enough, there one was. I tore it open and slid it on.

  “Come here,” she said as she reached for me. I positioned myself between her legs and then lowered myself down on top of her. Our mouths met again and as our tongues moved together, I began to rub myself along her slit. She was so slick and warm, I had to pace myself. I moved slowly and carefully, not wanting to get in too much of a hurry. She needed me to be in control of myself.

  She moaned beneath me as my cock rubbed against her clit. Her hips began to move with mine and she wrapped her legs around my waist. With just a hitch of her hips, she soon had me positioned at her entrance.