Page 3 of The Billionaire's Second Chance
“So, did you rent a car, or is Pierce picking you up?” he asked, working to watch his words. She’d always been the girl to tangle his tongue and throw him off-balance. If there was the slightest possibility of embarrassing himself, it was when he was around her.
“I rented a car. You know me…”
“Independent and in control?” Two things that summed her up. For some reason, she’d always been driven to take those two traits and grip them tighter than anyone he’d ever known.
Shrugging, she nodded. “Pretty much.”
He so wished…
“But I could be persuaded if someone wanted to ride shotgun.” She smiled.
Close proximity. Two feet at most? If he had a tie on, he’d be pulling at it. If this situation were a cake, the salt would be mistaken for sugar.But Hadley, his heart sang with his head providing the backup singers.
“Okay.” The words tumbled between his lips, and he forced himself not to wince. Thenohe’d planned got lost between his brain and his mouth. Now he’d signed up for a two-hour car ride with a woman he’d never stopped loving.
Sure, he could pack up his life and move to be with her, but that wasn’t the issue that caused the breakup. She was dating her career when they were together. Now, she was married to it. The one thing his parents’ marriage taught him was that it would never work out as long as she was giving everything to her work and nothing to their relationship.
“Great. It’ll give us time to catch up.” She chuckled. “It’s funny. I doubt we’ll even leave the town, but I just needed the comfort of knowing I could leave if I wanted to.” She laughed.
“Me too. Plus, I would have needed a car to return to the airport since his honeymoon starts the next day.” Something he was supposed to have experienced with Hadley by now. Although, he could apply that statement to everything in his life since their breakup.
The gloom he was feeling had to stop. He was in South Dakota to help his friend get married and take a break, and that’s what he’d focus on.
Chapter 3
What had she been thinking, inviting Link to ride with her? He smelled good, looked good, and if she could, she’d pull the car over and kiss him until she couldn’t breathe. She and her big mouth had gotten her into plenty of pickles as a college student—Truth or Dare was not a smart game for Hadley—and now it had her in a confined space with a man her heart ached for.
“So, uh…” Link’s sentence tapered off as he scratched the back of his neck and shifted in the passenger seat.
“How do we make this not awkward?” They’d dated long enough that they could finish each other’s sentences. Even now, she could still read him. She gave him a glance and smiled.
Nodding, he grimaced. “Yeah.”
“Well, we’re both happy, right?” Her head begged him to sayyeswhile her heart longed forno. Her vacation was supposed to be relaxing, not filled with turmoil over her ex.
“Oh, yeah, totally.” He nodded. “I mean, living in Destin, Florida, was my dream, and I have a house on the beach now.”
“Really?” She spared a glance. If she wasn’t mistaken, there was a slight blush to his cheeks. Not surprising. He was always modest about his accomplishments, which was a character trait she’d lo—She cut the word off.Theywere the past. The best they could have now was friendship, and the only way to do that was to set her mind to it.
“As close as I could get to the water. It’s way bigger than I wanted, but I wanted privacy. It’s in a gated community, which I would’ve never even considered until thatForbesarticle.”
Hadley pushed on his shoulder with her hand. “Oh yeah? The ladies were beating down your door, huh?”
The silence stretched a moment. “Actually, they are. I know it’ll eventually stop, but all the attention makes me feel weird.”
“Have… Have you dated anyone?” She’d never asked a question unless she knew the answer, and not knowing the answer tothisquestion had her gut twisted in a knot.
Link took a deep breath. “No. I mean, I’ve had dinner with a few women, but it’s never made it past the first date.” He cleared his throat. “How about you?”
“No, I’ve been too busy. After closing that first big deal on that house south of Houston, remember that one?”
“Yeah, I was proud of you. No one was able to sell it until you came along. You were so happy.” Sorrow seemed to cover the last sentence. Or maybe, like her, it was attached to the last few weeks of their relationship.
Hadley swallowed back her regrets and continued. “After that, it was a roller coaster ride. I started my own office about a year and a half ago. I thought brokers had it easy, but lesson learned. They don’t.”
“But you’re the boss, and that’s what you were working for, right?”
Nodding, she took a deep breath. How many times in the last few months had she been asking that very question just to remind herself she had everything she’d ever wanted. Long days, longer nights, weekends, holidays, and every other day in between—she’d given everything she had to reach her dreams.
