Page 4 of Irresistible Second Chance

“Chris, come on,” I said trying to snatch them out of his hand.

“I barely recognized you with these on. If it hadn’t been for your smile, I probably wouldn’t have recognized you at all. Your smile always lit up a room…it still does.”

I blushed. Chris had a way with words. He went out of his way to make others feel good about themselves. He had a way of making you feel like you were the only person in the room…or in the car.

“And you still blush really easily too,” he sent me a self-satisfied grin that made me want to kick him. “What would your husband think to see you sitting in the back seat of a car with a man that looks like me, making you a blush?”

I didn’t take the bait. “A man that looks like you? What’s that supposed to mean?” I loved verbally sparing with him. Teasing each other had been a favorite hobby.

He shrugged, “You know, insanely good-looking, 6’4, 225, all muscle. And apparently with a beard that you can’t get enough of.”

“I gave you one compliment about your beard, and you just won’t move on, will you?”

He shook his head, “First of all, you know moving on isn’t something I’d ever been good at. Second of all, compliments from you are like once in a lifetime. I take what I can get. The last time you gave me a compliment, I think I was nine.”

I rolled my eyes, and it was my turn to shake my head, “You’re too much.”

“That’s what all the ladies say,” he quipped popping my sunglasses on and getting comfy. His thigh brushed against mine and suddenly I felt like he was taking up way too much space.

I snatched my sunglasses from him and stuck them in my purse, subtly moving over an inch or two. I found myself needing a little space. First Mark, and now Chris. It was just emotionally a lot, and the week was just getting started.

“So, how’s Scott doing?” he asked.

“Mark,” I corrected automatically, even though I knew Chris had gotten his name wrong on purpose. I shrugged, not knowing what to say, “Fine, I guess.”

He looked curious, “You guess? Trouble in paradise? What happened did he fall in love with a book and leave you?”

I knew he was being facetious, but he wasn’t too far from the truth. Apparently, Mark’s new love was an archivist at a local library. I only knew because I started going through his phone records and stalked him on social media.

Not one to hide things from Chris, I said frankly, “Close. He left me for a librarian.”

“What the hell?” Chris said, looking angry and caught completely off guard.

His anger fueled my own. It really was as if we were kids again and mad at the neighborhood bullies. “Yep, walked into my office two days ago and announced that instead of getting sandwiches, we were getting divorced.”

“I never liked the asshole, anyway.”

“You never met him.”

“Because I knew I wouldn’t like him,” Chris said, still looking like he wanted to hit something. “I don’t know why you married him. Your dad said he wore pocket squares. What kind of man wears pocket squares?”

“He liked to be neat,” I sounded lame to my own ears.

“You married a guy because he liked to be neat?”

I felt immediately stupid. “No, I married him because---” I paused. Why did I marry Mark? Because I loved him, right? Then why couldn’t I just say that. “Listen, it doesn’t matter. Because he left me.”

“You’re better off without him anyway.”

I ignored that comment. I wasn’t sure if I agreed. Crushing loneliness was now my constant companion. I felt silly feeling that way, but I couldn’t ignore the fact that I could barely sleep at night. I tossed and turned, and looked at the space where Mark slept, immediately flipped over and cried. Two days. It felt like a million years.

“What about you?”

“What about me?” he asked, looking away, and out the window. I knew him well enough to know he was avoiding the question.

“Are you seeing anyone?”

He opened his mouth to speak when the car slowed down and he looked out the window and said, “I guess we’re here.”

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