Second Chance Dad

by Pamela Stone

She snuggled against him, reveling in his hot flesh as he rolled her beneath him and covered her mouth, his kisses deep and greedy. Large hands cupped her satin-clad bottom and held her tight against his long, masculine body. “Warming up?”

  She rubbed her hands up his back and thrust them through his rain-dampened hair. “You tell me.” Even in the dark, his eyes bored into hers. She relaxed into the soft pillows, enjoying his weight. Enjoying his closeness. And, whoa, those full lips and insane kisses.

  Rain peppered the French doors, accompanied by a bright flash of lightning and then thunder so intense the windows rattled.

  But the intensity of the storm held nothing to the passion of the man in her arms.

  As he slid her panties off, her hands explored his buttocks and legs, taking his tighty whiteys with them. Oh yeah, there was something to be said for a man who didn’t earn his living behind a desk. She thought of Richard for a brief second, then Vince was touching her, caressing her, making her forget…forget…whatever it was she’d been thinking about.

  Rubbing her hands down his arms as he rose, she sighed as his muscles flexed and tightened. He rolled away and the bedside drawer creaked open, then she heard the tear of cellophane. She giggled.

  He’d told her not to worry about anything. That he’d take care of all the details.

  Welcoming him back into her arms, Hanna ran her hands down his shoulder blades, thrilled at how well his body fitted against hers.

  Vince groaned and moved lower, kissing her right breast and sliding one hand down her abdomen and between her thighs. His tongue circled her nipple and drew it into his mouth.

  Instinctively she arched her back as his fingers penetrated her, sighing in contentment.

  “You have a gorgeous body.” He kneaded her breast and kissed his way down her stomach. Lightning flashed through the window and she smiled. She had a beautiful body? Vince was an Adonis.

  He adjusted his position and brought his lips back to hers. Hanna couldn’t get close enough fast enough.

  Wrapping her legs around his hips, she slanted her mouth over his and almost purred in ecstasy as they came together.

  He seemed to enjoy her participation as they moved in unison, the thunder and lightning barely noticeable compared to the tempest that exploded between them.

  It had been years since she’d felt as totally feminine and desirable as she felt in Vince’s arms.

  Slowly she drifted back to earth and relaxed against him. Smiling in contentment, she ran a hand down his chest, letting the hairs thread through her fingers. “So, what are we going to do if it’s still raining tomorrow?”

  “What are you worried about? You have a car. I’m down here on the bike.” His lips trailed kisses around her jaw and he gently nipped with his teeth. “Still, an excellent excuse not to leave the room all day.”

  VINCE WOKE SOMETIME during the night with his right arm tingling. Hanna lay snuggled against him, one bare leg thrown across his, an arm across his chest and her head nestled into his shoulder. Pretty comfy, except his arm was numb. He eased her head up, her dark curls tickling his left hand, then slid his right hand from beneath her and placed her head on the pillow.

  She was like a cuddly kitten. Playful and fun, yet there were claws waiting beneath the surface if he got out of line. He hadn’t been sure what to expect from this trip. More reluctance, maybe.

  He picked up one curl and watched it corkscrew around his finger. She worried about the gossip grapevine, yet she hadn’t let that sway her from this trip. Obviously Marble Falls wasn’t where she wanted to be, but that’s where she’d landed to pick up the pieces after her divorce. And since she’d opened Bluebonnet Books, he could only surmise she planned to stay.

  The storm from the night before had settled into a spring rain, and he perhaps had settled into a relationship of sorts. At least, he wanted more than just a hot and heavy trip down the river. It had been nine years since Belinda’s death, maybe it was time to move on. He was tired of not having a woman in his life.

  He rolled over on his back and closed his eyes. Had he been looking for more from a relationship than a temporary good time? Mrs. Haythorn and even Hanna’s mother had hinted for years that he was looking for a mother for Kenzie, or should be. They’d even kept him apprised of any newly single women in town. And twice lately Mrs. Haythorn had brought up how attractive Hanna was. But he had Kenzie under control, and adding a stepmom into that mix could go over like a lead brick. No, what he only now realized was that he was looking for a partner.

  He rolled over and watched Hanna rub her eyes and stretch. The sheet fell to her waist, and he trailed a finger from her belly button upwards and palmed her breast. Maybe they could stay all week.

  One dark eye opened and she smiled. “Exactly what do you have in mind this early?”

  Rolling her on top of him, he started a slow seduction of her lips. Soft, dark curls surrounded her face, brushed against her neck and forehead, and into her eyes. Hanna had no clue how disheveled and cute she looked as she leaned down for another kiss. “The sun isn’t even up.”

  He massaged her back and adjusted her against him. “But I am.”

  THE SKY WAS STILL GRAY when Vince crawled out of bed, took a quick shower and put the coffeepot on. Leaving Hanna snuggled beneath the covers, he slipped into his jeans and T-shirt and padded barefoot to the elevator. They needed sustenance. Once downstairs, he loaded a tray with croissants, bacon and glasses of juice from the buffet breakfast.

  By the time he returned, Hanna was coming out of the bathroom looking sexy as hell in nothing but a hot little yellow negligée. How was a guy supposed to concentrate on breakfast? He placed the tray on the bed and tossed beside it a worn copy of a celebrity rag that someone had left downstairs.

  Picking up the magazine, she cocked an eyebrow.

  He shrugged. “Thought there might be something in there about Elvis.”

  Laughing, she dropped it on the nightstand. “You think it’s funny that the town gossip’s daughter reads tabloids?”

  “Sort of.”

  “I guess the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree after all.” She didn’t look too upset by the discovery.

  He leaned in and gave her a quick kiss. “It’s charming.”

  She wrinkled her nose and filled two cups with coffee. “We could eat on that little table by the window.”

  “Or we could crawl back in bed and eat here.” He winked.

  Setting the coffee on the nightstand, she eyed him suspiciously. “Vince, I’m really hungry.”

  He shucked his jeans and propped the pillows up against the headboard. “Me, too.”

  Without further argument, she joined him. “Breakfast in bed, huh? Always seemed awkward and messy, but hey, this is my time to live dangerously.”

  Vince wondered if he needed to go down for another tray as they devoured every last crumb he’d brought up. He reached into the bedside drawer and handed her a small box of caramel chocolates. “Dessert.”

  Licking her lips before she even got the crinkly cellophane off, she opened the shiny gold box. “Chocolate for breakfast! Don’t tell my mom.”

  “After all this, it’s the chocolate you’re worried about keeping from her?”

  Selecting a rich chocolate morsel, she placed it between his lips. “Oh, she had you figured out way before this trip.”

  He fed her a chocolate in return. “She did, did she?”

  “Um-hmm,” Hanna said, setting the box on the nightstand and licking a dribble of sticky caramel off her bottom lip. “That was amazing,” She looked out at the rain. “I dread going home today.”

  He took both cups and set them aside. “You worry too much, woman.”

  “I probably haven’t worried enough the past two days. Facing my mother won’t be pleasant, and I hope she’s all we have to deal with.”

  He leaned back against the pillows and she curled into his side, resting her head against his chest.

  “Your mother and her gr
apevine of gossips can only make you as miserable as you allow them to.”

  “I’m just a bored housewife who couldn’t even manage to keep my marriage together. Unlike you—the loving husband who lost a wife and child. They’re sympathetic toward the horror you went through.”

  A lump blocked Vince’s throat and the nine-year-old nightmare resurfaced. She couldn’t know how much guilt he’d felt—still felt—over the accident. He stood and paced over to the window to stare out at the drizzle. “You don’t have the market cornered on guilt.”

  “Vince, they died in a car accident. There was nothing you could have done to prevent that.” Hanna stayed in bed, but her voice penetrated his soul.

  “Right! Hell, I was at work. Couldn’t have been my fault.”

  “Vince, I’m sorry.” Hanna bolted off the bed and came up behind him. “Bringing that up was totally insensitive of me. I didn’t think. I can’t imagine how devastating losing your wife and son must have been.”

  He walked back, sat on the edge of the bed and pulled on his jeans, needing to feel less vulnerable, less…exposed. “Belinda was my best friend. But…when she told me she was pregnant, I thought my life was over. I acted like an ass.”

  Sitting beside him on the bed, Hanna didn’t speak. He expected her disgust, but she just waited. He’d never opened up about this to anyone and he wasn’t sure he was ready to now. Hell, he could go to his grave and still not be ready.

  “See, I had a plan for my life. I was going to get my Masters in Engineering and Design, and the world was going to be my playground. I was going to design these masterpiece bridges, work all over the world and people were going to stand in awe.” He huffed. “A wife and kid didn’t fit into my plan, at least not until I had my career together. I figured maybe when I was forty.”

  Hanna slid her hand down his cheek. “Vince, having a dream is nothing to feel guilty about. Having it taken from you hurts.”

  “Belinda knew my dream, knew I wasn’t ready to get married. Told me to go on with my life. Said her family would be there for her and that she didn’t need anything from me. Left campus and headed home to Marble Falls.”

  Hanna shook her head. “I’m sure you aren’t the only guy who wasn’t thrilled with that kind of news.”

  “I stalked around my apartment for a day or two, just wanting her and the baby to…go away…not to exist. Then I went to Marble Falls and met her folks. Apologized to Belinda for acting like a jerk and asked her to marry me.”

  Hanna touched his arm but didn’t comment.

  God, he couldn’t do this. But when she looked at him like that, he couldn’t stop. He needed her to know the truth. “I honored my commitment. When we got married, I was in it one hundred percent. I had a wife and a baby and I did everything I was supposed to do, plus I worked on my Masters at night. We gave the marriage our all. She wanted a home, I worked overtime and bought her a house. She wanted a second child and we had Kenzie. She wanted a perfect family picture on the Christmas card, no problem.”

  Hanna wrapped the sheet around his bare shoulders and offered him the warmth of her body. “But?”

  “Belinda was a hell of a woman. I think I loved her from the day we met. Growing up with four brothers, she understood me too well. I couldn’t get away with anything with her.” He grinned, remembering the way she’d always had his number. “We thought alike. There were no bullshit games. Yet she could be totally feminine when she decided to be. The only problem was that I wasn’t ready to be married. Then, about the time it penetrated my thick skull that being married to my best friend was a pretty sweet deal, they were gone. Ironic, huh?”

  “Not your fault.”

  “After all, wasn’t that what I’d wanted in the beginning?” He forced his fingers to unfist. “She hated freeways. She was a small-town girl and Austin traffic freaked her out. I knew that. She didn’t even like to ride with me on I-35, much less drive. So that day I was supposed to get home and take Matt to soccer, but I got tied up at the office. She called, and I told her that I couldn’t get there and that she could take him, knowing full well that the only way to get him there on time was I-35 in rush-hour traffic. She left Kenzie with a neighbor and…” His eyes stung and he couldn’t even say the words.

  Hanna pulled the sheet fully around them both. “You had no way of knowing.” She kissed his cheek and hugged him tight. “Things happen. Nobody could blame you.”

  Except himself and he knew he was at fault. He could have taken the work home and done it after soccer. He could have done it the next day. He could have told Belinda that it was just practice and to blow it off. “Instead of belittling her fear, I should have taught her to drive on freeways and in traffic. Then they’d both be alive.”

  He felt tears against his bare shoulder, and Hanna rubbed her cheek. “It’s time to forgive yourself. Don’t beat yourself up over hindsight.” Through his blurry vision, her liquid brown eyes stared into his. She blotted the corner of his eye with the sheet. “You are a good guy and a loving father. You never intended anyone any harm.”

  Rubbing Hanna’s back, Vince buried his face in her soft hair and felt his body tremble. “I didn’t protect my family. For whatever reason, God left me one last chance. To be a good father to Kenzie. That won’t make it up to Belinda, but it’s something.”

  As Hanna held him and let him cry, he realized he’d never felt as close to another human being. At least not in nine years. But facing his own vulnerability scared the shit out of him. “I’ve gotta get outta here.”

  He lifted her away and yanked his T-shirt over his head. Shoving his feet into his cowboy boots, all he could think of was getting out of that room before he broke down completely and made a bigger fool of himself.

  “Vince, wait!”

  But he couldn’t face her, not right now.

  Chapter Twelve

  Hanna’s heart shattered for Vince. Would he ever not blame himself? It finally registered why he was so insistent on teaching Kenzie to take care of herself. It was his way of protecting her. Of making sure that what happened to her mother didn’t happen to her.

  Hanna crawled off the bed and wandered to the balcony doors. Could she help him? Could anyone heal that hurt? At loose ends, she showered and dressed, straightened the room. The drizzle had subsided into a fog as she stepped out onto the balcony for the third time to see if Vince was walking the river. The water taxis glided by on their endless loop, but no sign of Vince. She wanted to give him space to deal with his emotions, yet she wanted him to come back. She needed to hold him.

  She considered going down to the lobby, but wanted to make sure she was here when he returned. She picked up her camera and scrolled through the pictures from the day before. He appeared so happy and carefree on the surface. But it just proved you never really knew someone. He’d been living with this guilt for nine years. How could anyone get over losing a spouse and child?

  Laying the camera on the table, she thumbed through the entertainment rag, but not even the insane headlines warranted a smile.

  The room door clicked quietly shut. She turned from the balcony and her gaze met Vince’s. His navy T-shirt was damp and stuck to his chest. His hair curled over his forehead from the humidity.

  Holding back from rushing to wrap him in her arms, she slowly walked toward him. “You okay?”

  “Yeah.” Shrugging, he stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Chilled.”

  “Hop in the shower and I’ll make another pot of coffee.”

  “Thanks.” He dug dry clothes out of his bag and headed into the bathroom. By the time he padded barefoot out of the steamy bathroom, dressed in jeans and a gray plaid flannel, she handed him a fresh cup of coffee.

  Curling his long fingers around the cup, he took a sip. “I’m sorry for unloading on you.”

  She poured herself a cup and tried to find the right words for what she wanted to say. “My divorce pales in comparison to what you went through. But we all live with regrets. We all have things
we wish we’d done differently if only we’d known.”

  “Richard screwed around on you. Not sure how that translates into you being the guilty party.”

  “Men aren’t the only ones who get caught up in their roles and responsibilities in a relationship. I should have put more energy into my marriage and not put it all into Ashton, the house, charities, all those things that I thought equated to a perfect life. Then maybe my husband wouldn’t have needed another woman.”

  “That’s crap. If a guy wants to screw around, he does. He may blame the wife, but most likely that’s just because he feels guilty and has to transfer it to someone rather than himself.”

  She grinned. “I can’t believe you said that. I mean, it’s so obvious to women that men don’t handle guilt well, but I had no idea that you realized it.”

  “Oh, we realize it. We just don’t typically admit it.” He winked. “You caught me on an uncharacteristically vulnerable day.”

  “Men.” Hanna grinned. “See, I had a dream too, Vince. Richard and I had a beautiful home and two expensive cars. Ashton was in private school. We had tons of friends. Membership in the country club. I thought we had the life we both dreamed of. The life I left Marble Falls for, you know? Like you, I wanted something different than what I grew up with.”

  “Did he give you an excuse as to why he started running around?”

  “Said he’d fallen in love with someone else who fulfilled him as a man. Failed to mention that she was a twenty-three-year-old law student interning in his office and the daughter of one of the firm’s founders.”

  Vince leaned forward and touched her face. “So returning home to Marble Falls signifies the end of your fantasy? Not just the failed marriage, but all those things you’d dreamed about and obtained before he yanked it all out from under you?”

  “Pretty much. But at least I got to live it for thirteen years. And now I’m going to make this bookstore work and start over. It’s never too late. When I was a little girl Mom always bought me books or took me to the library. We both loved to escape into a good book. She and I would talk about opening our own bookstore, but she knew my dream didn’t involve spending my life in Marble Falls. She wanted me to be happy. Like you said, dreams change.” She sniffed. “Vince, you should finish your Masters. Take Mackenzie and work abroad. It’d be a fantastic experience for both of you.”