Page 10 of Irresistible Second Chance

“Are you ignoring me?”

“Yes.”

“You’re not very good at it.”

“Please just shut up, Chris.”

Luckily the trip from the restaurant back to our house was a short one. I slid out of the car as soon as it stopped, not bothering to wait for the driver to open the door for me. I marched towards the house, while Chris jogged a couple of steps to catch me.

“What’s the rush?”

“I’m tired and I want to go to bed.”

“Bed? It’s still early. I figured we could catch up. It’s been ten years,” he leaned against the wall next to the front door and looked at me, waiting for me to respond.

I entered the number into the security pad and the door swung open. I didn’t bother to say anything to Chris as he followed me in and closed the door. Apparently, he was still waiting for a reply since he refused to just go away.

“I know, Chris,” I said looking for an excuse to get away from him and clear my head. I felt like I couldn’t even think when I was around him. I was just feeling a lot of things, emotions that I really couldn’t keep track of. I was feeling overwhelmed by everything that had happened with Mark and seeing Chris again was really a shock. I just had a lot on my mind, and I needed time alone to process everything.

“Listen,” I said, “How about tomorrow morning, over breakfast, we’ll talk, catch up.”

He nodded, “I get it. You’re tired. My apologies for being pushy. I’m just happy to see you again.” He paused and said, “Can I hug you good night?”

“Of course, you can.”

He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me to him. I expected him to pull away first, but neither of us did. I inhaled the scent of him, remembering a night like this one so many years ago. I’d pushed him away that night too. I was all too good at pushing men away if my disaster of a relationship with Mark was any example of my ability to be happy.

I felt his chin rest against the top of my head and brought my hand up to his chest. He raised his head and took my hand in his.

I looked up at him, and already knew that we were about to get in trouble all over again. His eyes told me everything I needed to know. Nothing had changed between us. And I wanted him still.

I waited ten years for this. I closed my eyes and felt his lips press against mine. I felt his hands wrap around my waist and pull me closer against him. I leaned in pressing against him like we were one and I had found my other half. I sighed in pleasure when I felt his tongue touch mine, and his hand crept lower, caressing my backside.

His phone rang then, bringing me back to the present and making me realize exactly what we had been doing. Or what we were about to do.

“Shit,” I said, pulling away. He caught me, not letting me go.

“Whoever it is can wait,” he lowered his mouth to mine again but I moved away, putting distance between us and shook his hand off.

“Chris, I can’t. I can’t do this. I’m sorry,” I turned and walked away praying that he wouldn’t come after me. I couldn’t be near him right now. I needed space. I couldn’t believe I was going down this road again.

Chapter 4

“Whatever you’re making smells delicious,” I said as I joined him for breakfast that morning. He had his back turned to me as he stood at the countertop. He looked over his shoulder at me and gave me a wide smile.

“I cooked nothing,” he replied, joining me at the table with a glass of orange juice in his hand. “It was all here when I woke up.”

“Nice,” I said sitting down on at the table and tucking my feet under me. I tried to meet his eyes but couldn’t. I was still embarrassed about last night. I was coming to realize that time hadn’t changed anything between us. And that scared me more than the kiss did.

“Listen,” Chris said, sitting back. I reached for food and started to stuff my face to avoid the conversation. I didn’t like his tone. It was serious and matter of fact. It was a side of Chris I wasn’t used to seeing, but then again, I hadn’t seen him in a decade. People changed, right? “I’m just going to address the elephant in the room. Last night, I know I overstepped, and I’m sorry.”

I kept eating, not knowing what to say. I hadn’t expected an apology. Chris was full of surprises lately. Maybe I didn’t know him as well as I thought I did anymore. He seemed to be waiting for me to say something, so I scrambled to put together a coherent sentence that wouldn’t reflect just how conflicted and confused I was by what happened between us last night.

“Thanks for the apology, but I wasn’t exactly an unwilling participant,” I said after swallowing. I looked at my hands and continued. I figured the easiest thing to do would be to just be honest. “Things are very confusing for me right now, Chris. Mark’s betrayal is still very fresh in my mind. I’m sorry if I’m sending out mixed signals---”

“You’re not,” he said cutting me off. His eyes studied me again, “I’ll take full blame. But I meant what I said last night. I think we should take the time we have left here to get to know each other again. And this time, I’ll keep my hands and lips to myself.”

He smiled wickedly then, and I had to stop myself from thinking exactly how good those hands and lips had felt. Stop it, Sydney!

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