Page 5 of Irresistible Second Chance

At that moment, the driver opened the back door. I slid out followed by Chris.

“Nice,” he said looking around, “I know Robert promised to make it worth my while, but I didn’t think he would pull out all the stops.”

We were standing in front of a large house that was on stilts directly above the water. Anyone could see directly into it because part of the home had floor-to-ceiling windows. It looked luxurious but also one with nature. I wondered if one of our partner groups had built it. In the far distance of the house, you could see beautiful green hills that were reflected by the surrounding water.

“If Atlantis wasn’t buried deep in the ocean,” Chris said, “I’m pretty sure this is what it would look like.”

“Didn’t you make a comic book about Atlantis back when you were in middle school?”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said a little too quickly.

“Oh, too cool to admit your nerdy behavior?” I teased.

“Nope, I’m just saying your memory is bad. It was a graphic novel not a comic book.”

I snorted, and Jesenia laughed when she heard me. “Please follow me.”

The driver followed behind us with our bags in hand. “This is beautiful,” I couldn’t help but say out loud once we entered.

Jesenia showed us to our rooms. The house was generously proportioned in sections, with each section having its own bathroom, private entrance, and patio. To my delight, each room also had a hot tub on the patio that led to steps if one wanted to go for a quick swim in the crystal-clear water that ran beneath the house. It was the fanciest and most decadent place I had ever stayed in.

Chris echoed my thoughts. “This is beautiful. Beats all the boring hotels I’ve stayed in for at least 150 days this year.”

“You travel that often?”

He nodded.

“You poor guy.”

He shrugged, “It’s part of the gig. I got used to it. Not to mention, I’m used to traveling a lot. It was all I did after college, remember?”

I nodded. It wasn’t a time of our lives that I wanted to talk about. I changed the subject, “I’m going to take a shower. I think our itinerary had dinner with the clients, so I need to freshen up.”

He seemed taken aback by the change of subject and didn’t say anything for a long moment. As if resigned, he looked away from me and said, “Sounds good, I’ll see you tonight.”

He looked back at me again, this time his eyes never leaving mine. It was unnerving. It felt like he was looking right through me. “It really is good seeing you again.”

It wasn’t until I let out a breath that I realized I had been holding it.

Mark had left me. Chris was here. It was official. My life was upside down.

Chapter 3

“You clean up really nice, Sydney,” Chris said as he walked up to me. He was wearing a different suit this time, and looked, dare I say…hot? Hadn’t he always been, though? I just chose to ignore it when we were teens, even though he insisted on walking around shirtless every time I came home to visit after college just to make sure I noticed how much he’d grown up. I pretended not to notice, but I had. I went back to pretending now.

“You look ok, too.”

He scoffed as he slid an arm around my waist and led me towards the car that waited for us. My dress was demure, a simple black maxi dress, but cut-outs accentuated the waist and bared a little bit of skin. I was surprised when his skin touched mine and it took so much strength not to pull away. I glanced up to see if he had noticed and of course, he had.

“Someone’s a little skittish tonight,” he said looking down at me with an amused expression.

“No, I’m not,” I said elbowing him away. I needed distance. Chris’ presence was starting to annoy me.

“Come on, Sydney. Watch where you swing that thing,” he said rubbing his side where I hit him.

Jesenia stood at the car watching the exchange with a look of amusement in her eyes.

“So, let me guess. You all know each other.”

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