His Town

by Ellie Danes

“My what?” I snapped.

  “She confronted Becca, told her all about what a playboy you are.”

  “Wait, what?” I immediately knew whom they were talking about as I imagined Sara’s confrontation with Becca.

  “It was all too much for her. She just needed to go back home.” Melissa crossed her arms, her green eyes staring up at me. “She really liked you, and you totally played her. You’re a jerk and Becca is a million times better than you.”

  “She does deserve better than this.” I mumbled, not sure if I should even bother defending myself. “And for what it’s worth I really like her too.”

  “Just leave her alone Chance, it’s done. Let it be.” Melissa snapped and then turned to the other girls. “Come on let’s get going…and Chance, thank, but we can have fun in this city without all limo’s and clubs.”

  I watched as they turned to leave and I knew there was no use trying to tell my side of the story to them again. They would never believe it, especially after hearing Becca’s side of the story. Sara. It was obvious she was going to do whatever she could to ruin my life if she didn’t have me.

  Chapter Nine

  Becca

  The flight back was painful and long. It brought back the hurtful memories of my amazing trip out to Vegas. This time there was no champagne, no kinky dreams. There was no handsome man to save the day for me. Only coach and an older man sitting next to me that watched movies the entire time. His bright screen stole my ability to sleep.

  The day seemed to drag on. I always hated the flight back from Vegas and this one was especially bad. I felt like I had lost an entire day. I could barely keep my eyes open. Every muscle in my body ached and all I wanted to do was get home in my bed and sleep.

  After the long cab ride home I dragged my bags into the apartment and plopped onto the couch. All the gag gifts I was supposed to bring to Vegas were still on the counter where I had left them. A reminder of what I had left earlier in the day. My friends. My best friends in the world. I leaned back and looked out the window and watched as the sun dipped behind the tall buildings of the city. I was alone. Really alone. Soon, Melissa would be moving out, and I would be here by myself. Alone and jobless.

  My phone vibrated and my eyes were immediately met by photos of shirtless men. Courtney, in all her glory, was sitting on the shirtless man’s lap. Melissa’s text was simple. We miss you.

  I missed them too and couldn’t wait for the memories of the weekend to finally disappear. A dark part of me had wanted to talk to Chance one final time. I wanted to tell him just what he did to me. How he hurt me. I closed my eyes as the tears streamed down my face again, only to be pulled back to realty by my vibrating phone. I had hoped it would be the girls, just in time to cheer me up, but it wasn’t.

  I swallowed hard as I looked at the number on the phone. I took a deep breath and answered it. “Hey you, I’m glad you called.”

  Chance Encounter 5

  Chance Encounter Series, Book Five

  (An Alpha Billionaire Romance)

  By

  Ellie Danes

  www.Ellie Danes.com

  Chapter One

  Becca

  “Hey you, I’m glad you called.” I didn’t mean it but the words just fell out of my mouth. I wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone, especially him.

  “I kind of thought that I’d hear from you.” His voice was sexy and I remembered how hot he was, but I also remembered all of those bad things too.

  “I…I know…but I had Melissa’s trip and things just got busy.”

  “Oh yeah, How is the trip going? Hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

  “No, no, it was great. I’m actually back in the city now.” I paced around the room wishing I hadn’t picked up the phone, but also a bit happy I had something to take my mind off of the weekend.

  “Oh? I thought you wouldn’t be back for a few more days?”

  “Yeah well, I actually had to come back early for work.” I felt my eye twitch as another lie slipped out of my mouth. In my exhaustion, I had for a moment, forgotten I had lost my job.

  “Yeah? That’s too bad. You had fun though?” Great, more small talk. I had to fight back a sigh that lingered behind my lips. I walked over to the window, looking out at the light filled city.

  “Yeah, a lot of fun,” I lied again. My pace increased, I could feel my body tensing. I really didn’t want to talk about everything I went through with him. I mean he was nice, but we only went on one date. And what was worse was that I could tell he really liked me. But I just didn’t feel the same way. He was very attractive, but just too dull.

  “That’s good, I’ve never been to Vegas myself.” He said politely. “Always wanted to…”

  “Yeah you should go, it was really fun,” I drummed my fingers against the windowpane. I hoped my voice wasn’t revealing my boredom. Chris was a sweet guy, and I didn’t want to be overtly rude. I was surprised he was this full of conversation. He was barely able to make it through our date last time. My head tipped forward, touching the cool glass.

  I could feel myself falling to sleep. I walked over and sat down on the couch. I wasn’t in the mood for small talk. I wasn’t in the mood for anything really. Everything that happened in Vegas, everything with Chance, had just drained me completely.

  “Well, since your back early, would you be interested in maybe going out tomorrow night?”

  “Umm,” I hesitated for a moment. Immediately, I thought of turning him down. But then a lump formed in my throat as the image of Chance appeared before my eyes. His dazzling eyes, those soft lips. I wanted to forget him. I needed to forget him. I needed to just go out and have fun. It didn’t matter who with. “Ok sure, sounds fun. How about you pick me up around seven?”

  “Yes, that works for me. See you then, Becca.”

  “See you, Chris.” I leaned my head back, closed my eyes. I had a date, it was set. I knew it wouldn’t be as fun as the dates I had with Chance, but then again, there wouldn’t be the heartbreak that followed each date. That was worth something. Who needed passion? What I needed was a nice guy who cared about me, and wouldn’t hurt me.

  I knew going out with Chris would help me get over Chance. As I drifted off to sleep, I still couldn’t get the image of Chance out of my mind. His touch, the way he looked at me, like I was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. All of that lingered in my mind, and in my dreams.

  * * * *

  He picked me up at exactly seven and we decided to grab some dinner at this cute hole in the wall Chinese restaurant I loved. I had missed the city more than I had realized prior to my trip. Sure it was busy, and there were always people everywhere but it was good to finally get back into my groove here. No more limos, VIP lounges, or drama.

  I was a bit hesitant about this date. I knew I was jumping into it for one reason only, but I was fine with it, at least for now. Chris was dressed in casual business attire. I wore a cute, not overly fancy dress. He was polite, I laughed at his corny jokes and we held hands. We made small talk, asked all the getting to know you questions and did the standard second date things.

  Not exactly exciting, but it was nice. Chris was nice. He worked in the IT at Melissa’s company, and seemed to really enjoy it. Maybe enjoyed it a bit too much. When he talked about his job I could hardly understand all the computer mumbo jumbo. But it was kind of cute how his eyes lit up when he talked about what he did. It kind of reminded me of the way Chance’s eyes seemed to sparkle when he looked at me. In fact, Chris’s eye reminded me a lot of Chance’s. They were almost the same shade of blue, shaped similarly. Yet they lacked the intensity of Chance’s eyes. Or maybe they just didn’t affect me in the same way. All I knew was that I was on a date with a sweet, albeit slightly dull guy, and all I was thinking of was Chance. It was bad. Every nice gesture Chris did, like holding the door, pulling out my chair, every look, every smile, made me think of Chance. I knew I had liked Chance a lot. But I hadn’t realized how much I had really like him.
I caught myself actually considering a trip back to Vegas just possibly bump into him again.

  Getting over Chance was going to take more than a date with someone else. I looked across the table at the nice guy I was with. He had a nice smile, he was smart, he had a steady job. He wasn’t the normal loser or presumptuous guy I always seemed to end up dating. And best of all, he didn’t seem like a cheater. I knew for a fact he wasn’t married or engaged. Sure, he wouldn’t buy me a first class ticket, or surprise my girlfriends and me with a private room at some exclusive club. But that was probably a good thing. Guys like Chance were trouble. I was blind for not seeing it before.

  What I needed was a guy like Chris. I needed stability. I needed a guy who would give me more than just passion. But passion, I did need some of that. Maybe not as much as I had had with Chance but some passion was needed. And passion was not what I was getting from Chris. Though, maybe I just wasn’t giving him a chance. As I watched him struggle to pick up his food with chopsticks, I knew what I needed to do.

  “So,” Chris said, bringing me out of my thoughts. “What do you want to do after dinner? There’s this great frozen yogurt place near here.”

  “Well I was just thinking, why don’t we head back to your place?” I smiled and leaned forward touching his hand. “Maybe just have a drink or something there. What do you think?”

  “Oh.” He smiled but looked a little flustered as he stared at me. I guess he hadn’t expected me to be quite so forward. On our first date, I hadn’t even given him a goodnight kiss. “Yeah, yeah that sounds good. I’ll get the check.”

  He lived only six blocks away and the trip there went all too quick. I thought about what I needed to do. I needed to forget about Chance. This was the only way to do that.

  We barely got into his apartment and I kicked the door shut with my heel. He turned, startled and I stepped towards him, wrapping my arms around his neck and placing my lips on his. His lips were soft and supple and he immediately responded. His tongue darted into my mouth, awkwardly sweeping it from side to side. He quickly pulled me across the apartment to his room and pulled me onto the bed. Before I had even gotten my bearings and had gotten situated on the bed, his shirt was off and pants were down around his ankles. I closed my eyes and readied myself for what I was about to do in order to forget about Chance.

  * * * *

  The sound of the honking horn woke me up. I looked around the unfamiliar and still very dark room. The clock on the end table read five thirty. I groaned as I sat up. I stared into the mirror on the wall and could see the silhouette of my bird’s nest hair. I looked terrible and felt worse. My head was pounding, my throat was dry and I knew we shouldn’t have gone to the bar last night. Chris tried to talk me out of it, but I pushed, hoping it would loosen things up. Being unemployed wasn’t agreeing with me. I was just so bored.

  I looked at Chris, who was snoring away, with a large grin on his face. Who smiles while they’re sleeping? I crept out of bed quietly, and then grabbed my throbbing head. I had had way too much to drink last night. But after job hunting and getting rejected over and over, I needed a drink, or two. Actually more like four and some shots. Sure it had been a Wednesday, but when you’re unemployed did it really matter what day of the week you went out? I was so grateful that Chris even agreed to go out with me last night. Even though to be honest, I practically dragged him. I could hardly believe we’d been hanging out, or dating or whatever it was called, for a little over a week. He was a good distraction, for now.

  As I hurriedly dressed myself I looked over at his sleeping mass under the blanket. I wasn’t even sure if I liked him yet. But having someone like me was nice. Correction, having someone like me and only me was what was nice. Last night he had been very attentive. Sure the conversation didn’t really flow, but he was there supporting me. He even held my hair back when I got sick. Now that was commitment.

  I grabbed my shoes and made my way out to the street. I hailed a cab and was on my way home. It took thirty minutes to get there and I began to pray that Melissa hadn’t woken up yet. She had always been an early bird. I paid the driver and half jogged upstairs. I definitely looked like I had been out all night and didn’t want any of my neighbors to see my walk of shame. As I neared my door I slowed my pace, trying and failing to walk softly in my heels. I pressed my ear to the door hesitantly.

  I could hear Melissa already moving around on the other side of the door. Damn, just my luck. I still hadn’t told her I had started seeing Chris. I wasn’t sure if she would support me or give me that, you’re making a mistake look of hers. But more than anything I was in serious need of a glass of water. I took in a deep breath, paused, than opened the door.

  “Well, well, well,” Melissa said, turning to face me, her hands on her hips, “Look who we have here. Did you have fun last night? Looks like you did.”

  “Y- Yeah,” my voice cracked as I spoke. I didn’t want to be even standing next to her. She looked so nice and professional; I looked like a complete mess and probably smelled worse. My phone vibrated again. I looked at the text and smiled slightly.

  “Who are you texting at this hour?” Melissa said, her left brow raised slightly, a small frown clinging to the corner of her lips. I could tell she was a little worried about me. “Did you meet someone new last night?”

  “No, nothing like that,” my phone buzzed again. Melissa tapped her foot, pursed her lips. “Well, ok. You know Chris? You set us up on that date before, like a month or so ago.”

  “Yeah, the boring guy I work with?” Melissa asked tilting her head slightly.

  “Yeah, him,” I admitted letting out a heavy breath. “Well I sort of went on another date with him when I came back from Vegas.”

  “Seriously? You said he was the most boring guy you ever met!” Melissa’s tongue clicked disapprovingly against her teeth. “How come you didn’t tell me?”

  “Because I didn’t want you judging me exactly how you are right now.” I talked a bit too quickly and high-pitched, but I couldn’t help it. I felt like I was being interrogated. “Look I just need to get over what’s his name as soon as I can…and I feel like maybe sort of dating Chris will help.”

  “Maybe, sort of?” Melissa smirked shaking her head faintly.

  “I’m not ready to start up a serious relationship.” I said slightly annoyed. I was too hung over to be being judged.

  “I know, I know, I get it.” Melissa touched my shoulder. “So have you…” Melissa cringed as she continued her question. “have you slept with him yet? I’m not judging you, just curious.”

  “No, not yet,” I said with averted eyes. I could feel the heat rise beneath my cheeks. “We almost did after our first date, but I totally chickened out. We did kiss though. It was . . . nice. Though, slightly awkward.”

  “Ok, try not to rush into anything.” Melissa said smiling. “I think it’s a good idea to take things slowly. By the way, have you heard anything from Cha – I mean what’s his name?”

  “No, not since I changed my number.” I groaned, sitting down at the small kitchen table. I messaged my aching head. “His texts and messages were just too much. Like I have no idea how that guy became such a good liar. I almost found myself believing him again.”

  I laughed at my own stupidity. I couldn’t believe how long it was taking me to get over someone I had only known for a few days. Melissa looked at me with sad eyes. I knew she wasn’t judging me, but I couldn’t help but compare my life to hers. She had a job, was getting married, everything was going her way. And then here I was; a pathetic hung over lump.

  “Well, I have to get going, I hope you feel better.” Melissa grabbed her bag and keys. “Oh, and don’t forget about Jeremy’s event. You should bring Chris. You do have a plus one.”

  Melissa closed the door behind her as she left me sitting in the slightly dark apartment. I sighed, and made my way back to bed.

  Chapter Two

  Chance

  As I stepped through the fami
liar wide doors of the penthouse, I let out a sigh of relief. Finally I was back home, and she wasn’t here. I had decided to stay in Vegas for an extra week. I wanted to give Sara time to move out all of her things and the last thing I needed or wanted was another confrontation with her. After Melissa had told me about Sara showing up at the suite I had a few words for Sara. She was out of line, and outright lying. It was her attempt to manipulate the situation and it worked, but it would be the last time. Eventually Sara conceded and agreed to give me space, although she made it seem temporary.

  I dropped my bags in my room and then slowly strolled around the penthouse. Not much had changed. Only a few paintings were gone and of course, all of her clothes and the massive assortment of shoes.

  A small pile of neatly labeled boxes lined the wall of the foyer and another group of larger boxes where piled in the bedroom. I shook my headed and grumbled to myself. No doubt she waited until I was home to pick these up. No sooner had the thought entered my mind, the doorbell rang. I felt my heart sink to my stomach, not wanting another confrontation with her. I quickly swung the door open, ready for battle, but was instead met by two young movers in blue jumpsuits.

  I kept waiting for her to turn the corner, barking out instructions to them, but she never appeared. The short, stocky mover indicated they were instructed to pick up the remaining boxes and deliver them as quickly as possible. They were paid extra to sit out front and wait for me to get home. I couldn’t help but laugh. Another way for Sara to spend more money that wasn’t hers.

  In fact, Sara’s whole family didn’t seem to mind spending money on anything, no matter how frivolous. That was one of the things that I couldn’t stand. And what was worse was that

  Sara had picked up that habit from her parents, but didn’t have her own money to throw around. She would use mine. My fists curled as I remembered how many fights we had after she would spend hundreds of dollars without a second thought. She never thought of the future. All she cared about was getting the newest stuff, having the nicest dresses, and designer shoes. Anything and everything to impress her friends.