Love, Again: A Second Chance Romance Collection

by Nicole Casey

  “Well whatever your deal is with Hottie McHotterson, you better get over it.”

  “I know. I am over it,” I replied quickly, moving to grab for the door. I wanted to put as much distance between me and Mal as possible and I needed some time to clear my thoughts.

  This was the universe sending Mal to me, yet again. He was the boy across the street. He ended up halfway across the country in the same college as me. He had fathered my child and now, he was back in my life again.

  I couldn’t escape him. Why was I trying?

  But I knew if I let him near me again, he would learn about Jake and he would be furious. I should have told him a long time ago but Grayson and Ella…

  When are you going to stop using those two as an excuse?

  “Are you sure you’re okay?” Meredith asked and I could hear the concern in her voice. I punched the up button for the elevator and turned to face her, exhaling slowly.

  “If I tell you something, you have to swear not to breathe a word of it to anyone. Not even your husband.”

  Meredith scoffed.

  “You think I tell that dumb ass anything? And even if I did by drunken accident, he doesn’t listen to a word I say. If he did, he would have moved out ten years ago.”

  “Promise me, Mer.”

  She saw the look on my face and nodded slowly.

  “All right, I swear,” she vowed. “What is it?”

  The elevator doors opened and we got on alone.

  “Mal is Jake’s father.”

  Confusion colored her cheeks.

  “Wait what? Are you sure?”

  I nodded.

  “And that bastard hasn’t paid you a cent in child support?” Her voice reverberated through the lift and I shushed her.

  “No he hasn’t…because he doesn’t know about Jake.”

  Meredith looked as if she’d swallowed something very bitter and she gaped at me.

  “Why?” she breathed. “Why would you do that?”

  “I have my reasons but you can’t say a word to anyone. If this gets out—”

  “Yeah, I can see the problem,” Meredith sighed, falling back against the rail of the elevator. “It won’t look good to know you have a love child with your immediate superior, will it?”

  13

  Mal

  It took me one full week to finally find a minute alone with Blake and that took stealthy planning on my part.

  She was purposely avoiding me, that much was obvious but she couldn’t ignore our new dynamic forever.

  I found her in the breakroom exactly a week to the day I had taken on my new role as head of developmental research and she jumped when I walked in.

  “I still make you jumpy?” I asked, trying to keep my voice light.

  “You’re my boss now,” she replied in a tone which matched mine. “The boss always makes me jumpy when I’m taking a break.”

  I reached past her for the coffee pot and poured one into a mug.

  “Still drinking it black like a sociopath?” I teased and she snorted, pushing her glasses up the ridge of her nose.

  She had matured so beautifully. Gone were the Britney Spears baby cheeks. Her cheekbones were high and defined, bringing out the solemnness of her dark eyes. She was gorgeous and my heart skipped with excitement just to be near her again. I’d missed her, regardless of how much time had passed. I thought about her all the time, wondering how she had made out as a single mom.

  Since Ella and Grayson had officially divorced, I had no way of knowing what she had gotten up to. I wasn’t even sure Blake was still in California to be honest.

  “Two sugars,” she replied and I arched a brow in surprise.

  “Oh. You’re sweetening the pot now?”

  She shrugged.

  “I developed a sweet tooth since…”

  She trailed off and shifted her gaze away from me.

  “Since you had the baby?” I volunteered. She jerked her head toward me, her face turning pale as quickly as it had turned red.

  “You know about Jake?”

  I shrugged nonchalantly.

  “Ella mentioned it when you were pregnant.”

  Her mouth parted and she studied my face. I could see the wheels turning in her head and I handed her the freshly poured coffee.

  “You don’t owe me an explanation,” I told her quickly, trying to give her an out. “It’s not like you and I were together or anything.”

  Her full lips moved but sound didn’t immediately fall out of them as she seemed to decide what to say.

  “I’m sorry things didn’t work out with you and the father,” I continued, seeing that she was struggling. To my surprise, relief flooded her face and she nodded quickly.

  “Yeah. It was one of those things,” she muttered, pressing the cup to her lips. I stared at her for a long moment.

  “Who was he?” I heard myself ask. “Is he around now?”

  She shook her head quickly.

  “No…not really.”

  She was extremely uncomfortable and I knew I shouldn’t be cornering her like this. I was her boss after all. It was inappropriate but we were so much more than that.

  “I should get back to work, Mal—er, Mr. Laurier.”

  I snickered.

  “You can call me Mal. I’m insisting that everyone do so don’t think you’ll get special treatment.”

  “Okay.”

  She shuffled past me and I reached out to touch her arm. She flinched but she didn’t try to break away.

  “Mal…”

  “Can I take you to dinner tonight?”

  She started to shake her head.

  “It’s only dinner,” I told her. “No strings attached. We can reminisce about our college days.”

  She looked at me.

  “Mal,” she muttered. “It’s not a good idea.”

  “Why not?” I demanded angrily. She bit on her lower lip and exhaled.

  “I have my son, remember?”

  “He can come too,” I insisted. “I’d like to meet him.”

  A look of worry crossed her face.

  “I’ll find a sitter,” she said suddenly and I felt my shoulders sag.

  “I’ll pick you up. Eight? Seven?”

  She seemed to consider my offer too carefully.

  “I’ll meet you,” she replied. “Give me your cell. I’ll put my number in.”

  “I already took your number from your personnel file,” I replied and she gaped at me. “What? I need my team’s number.”

  It wasn’t true—hers was the only one I’d taken but she didn’t need to know that.

  “Text me your number,” she sighed, whatever resolve she’d hung onto completely dissolving and I grinned happily.

  “Doing it now.”

  Two people walked into the breakroom and I dropped my hand from her arm but not before I caught the warning look she gave me. It read, “This is a bad idea, Mal.”

  I knew she was right but I ignored it anyway.

  Fate kept putting us in each other’s paths. That had to mean something.

  Ella and Grayson weren’t together anymore. We lived in California, away from the watchful, judging and bickering eyes of our parents.

  How many years were we going to pretend that we didn’t belong together? There was no excuse now…except for the small matter of me being Blake’s boss.

  The Whole Enchilada was a cute little spot that I would have never found if Blake hadn’t suggested it. As the name implied, it was an authentic Mexican restaurant which was amazing from the homemade tortilla chips to the guacamole.

  “You really should have brought Jake,” I told her as we struggled through the main course. We’d snacked so much on the nibbles, we were having a hard time getting through everything.

  “He’s got school in the morning,” she reminded me. “And I don’t invite him to meet strange men.”

  I knew she was kidding but the words stung all the same.

  “I wouldn’t have been a strange man if
you’d returned any of my emails.”

  She didn’t reply and pretended to be more interested in her tacos than they could have possibly been.

  “I’ve missed you, Blake,” I told her honestly. “I know we agreed not to contact each other but I was worried about you. I wish you’d messaged me.”

  “Mal, don’t make this complicated,” she sighed. “I’m happy to see you but let’s face it, this isn’t going anywhere.”

  She sounded so matter-of-fact, so sure of herself and yet so sad at the same time.

  “Why not?” I demanded. “We’ve got nothing holding us back from trying—”

  “Just stop it, Mal!”

  I was stunned by her outburst. I couldn’t remember a time when she’d ever raised her voice to me—or at all.

  “Why?” I asked. “Give me one good reason? It seems to me that fate keeps putting us right in front of each other.”

  “And obstructing us. You’re my boss. It won’t fare well for either of us if anyone finds out about this dinner even.”

  “I don’t care,” I told her firmly. “I can find another job—”

  “This isn’t about only you, Malcolm!” She threw her napkin on the table and sat back, her dark eyes flashing with anger. “It’s not only about you. Maybe my parents are right—you Lauriers are always thinking about yourselves.”

  “Oh no you don’t!” I snapped. “You’re not starting a fight with me on that premise. This is about you and me for once. You’re keeping me at bay because you’re afraid.”

  “You’re damn right. I’m afraid of losing my job. I’ve worked my ass off at Hendel. I’ve been there for six years and it hasn’t been an easy road. I’m not tossing all that away because you think it might work out between us, Mal. Sorry. I shouldn’t have agreed to this dinner at all.”

  She rose and reached for her purse, presumably to pay but I held up my hand.

  “The least I can do is pay for the meal. After all, I put your job at risk, right?” My voice was dripping with sarcasm.

  She eyed me but didn’t respond before spinning away and leaving me to stare after her.

  But this time, I wasn’t going to let her get away. We’d missed too many opportunities and I wasn’t having it, not this time.

  I dropped two fifties on the table and bolted into the parking lot after her. It took me a minute to find her. She was up against a Mazda, collecting herself as I approached.

  “You’re not leaving me in the middle of dinner,” I told her. “You’re not walking away again. There’s no good reason for it.”

  She laughed mirthlessly.

  “Only you would say something like that,” she retorted. “You’re a Laurier. You’ll always be okay. I like my job, Mal. I like my life. I don’t need you coming in here and upsetting everything—”

  I couldn’t listen to her, not when I knew she was lying to herself although why, I couldn’t say.

  I did what I’d learned to do to shut her up and closed the space between us, placing my lips on hers and sealing her hurtful words inside her mouth with a kiss. She gave a half-hearted attempt to resist but it was quickly thwarted when our tongues met and that familiar bolt of electricity coursed between us.

  We were where we were supposed to be, in each other’s arms and no matter how much time lapsed, no matter what got thrown at us, we were going to find our way back to the same place. I knew that now.

  I pulled back slowly and studied her face. There was confusion but it was overshadowed by the desire I knew she’d put to rest deep down inside her.

  “My place isn’t far from here,” I murmured in her ear. “You can drive.”

  She peered at me and I could see she was struggling with a refusal but she nodded.

  “All right,” she mumbled. “But just this once.”

  Neither of us believed that.

  I didn’t remember much of the drive but that my face was nuzzled in her neck as the GPS led us to my condo in North Beach, my fingers trailing over the space between her thighs.

  “I’m trying to drive,” she whispered.

  “You want me to stop?”

  She didn’t answer and I took that as a no.

  I couldn’t wait until we got inside my apartment and I pinned her to the wall of the elevator. The memory of the last time we’d been together flooded me and I pushed against her strongly and firmly. I wanted her worse than I ever had before, the years of build up making it impossible for me to keep me from fumbling with buttons of her blouse and she was half-exposed when the elevator doors opened at the penthouse level.

  I picked her up in my arms, our lips crushing into each other again and I have no idea how I managed to unlock the door to the condo but the next thing I knew, we lay on the floor in front of the unlit fireplace. She was more exquisite than I remembered, her naked form filled out in exactly the right places, her skin like silk. Had she always been so perfect or had I just been too young to appreciate the goddess she was?

  It didn’t matter—I would never again take her for granted.

  My mouth explored her, rediscovering every crevice I’d once tasted, the succulence of her skin melting on my tongue. Her little cries drove me to the brink, even before I managed to become as naked as she was.

  I flipped her onto her stomach, trailing my tongue along the line of her spine. She shivered, her body quivering with anticipation as I spread her apart and dove into her middle.

  Her ass arched upward, letting my face inside her and I drew her down on me as I lay on my back, suctioning around her throbbing nub.

  “Oh my God,” she breathed. “Oh God, Mal…”

  I sucked on her, teasing the clit with my tongue until I felt the inevitable gush of pleasure explode from her and soak my chin.

  She jerked upward and slid her soaked core along my abs until she was positioned over me. Our eyes locked and I bucked upward, my shaft ready and eager for her. Slowly, she lowered herself onto me and I groaned loudly. I had forgotten how tight she was, how wet.

  “You are incredible,” I told her, grabbing at her hands splayed over my chest. “I’m not letting you go this time.”

  She bit on her lower lip and suddenly, she was riding me in a frenzy. The look on her face was a combination of lust and worry, like she was afraid of what would happen after.

  I reached up to cup her breasts, my fingers manipulating the rigid skin of her nipples and she cried out, another surge of heat spilling over my hardness.

  I was at the edge myself and as much as I wanted to make her cum again, I had waited too long for this moment.

  I moaned, feeling my sack tighten beneath me and I drilled up at her from beneath, willing forth my own climax.

  In seconds, I felt my body jerk, the spasms overtaking me and I filled her with my seed in streams.

  My orgasm seemed to go on forever and Blake fell forward, burying her face in my neck, quivering endlessly as I spilled myself harder than I ever had.

  “Fuck,” I muttered as the end came finally and we were left in a pile of panting, trembling limbs. “Fuck.”

  Blake didn’t say anything but she didn’t move, our heartbeats synching despite their erratic thumping.

  We were like one person for those moments and neither of us wanted to break the spell between us.

  It was Blake who moved first.

  “I need to tell you something,” she murmured but I shook my head.

  “No,” I replied, pulling her back onto my chest. “No, not now. For once, I just want to lie here and forget about everything else, okay?”

  I felt her swallow but she didn’t argue. Whatever she had to say, whatever protests she had or doubts, they could wait. I would dispel them in the morning. That night was just for the two of us—finally.

  14

  Mal

  We started seeing one another after that, going on dates, spending the night at my place but never at Blake’s and I had yet to meet Jake.

  Blake didn’t talk about him very often either which tro
ubled me somewhat. I wondered if there was a reason she was keeping him from me, shame or if there was something wrong with him, maybe, that she found embarrassing.

  I asked her about it one night after dinner.

  “When am I going to meet Jake?”

  The question seemed to hang over us like stale cigarette smoke and she eyed me warily.

  “Why?”

  That wasn’t the response I was expecting.

  “Why what?”

  “Why do you want to meet him?”

  I stared at her and almost laughed but I saw she was serious.

  “Uh, he’s your son,” I replied, defensively. “Why wouldn’t I want to meet him?”

  She stared down at the tablecloth.

  “I need to tell you something,” she muttered in a voice so low, I barely heard her above the din of the restaurant.

  I leaned forward.

  Here it is, I thought. She’s going to tell me that there’s something wrong with Jake or that the father is still in the picture. God, is she married?

  A dozen terrible thoughts crossed my mind then, things I should have considered before that minute but before the conversation could continue, a shadow passed over the table.

  “Well isn’t this cozy!”

  I looked up and for a second, it took me a minute to identify the woman standing over us. She was completely out of context.

  “Mer,” Blake breathed. “What are you doing here?”

  Dr. Carver. Of course.

  So much for keeping our romance hidden from the office.

  “Date night,” Meredith replied, rolling her eyes and gesturing behind her at a wiry man in a grey suit who stared after them with annoyance from a nearby table.

  “So…?” Meredith drawled. “How’s everything going?”

  “Fine,” Blake said shortly, shooting me a look I didn’t quite understand.

  “All’s good on the home front then? Where’s Jake for this family reunion?”

  The hairs on the back of my neck rose and I blinked.

  “Mer, this is a really bad time,” Blake barked but her face had turned ashen. Meredith seemed to realize that she’d made a gaffe and slowly lost her smile.