Second Chance (Lake Placid Series Book 1)

by Natalie Ann

  She just wanted to end this conversation, but it wouldn’t happen until she knew everything that went on while he was gone.

  “We talked. I gave her a generous severance package and she no longer works for me. Oh, and she wanted to get back together with me,” he added and smirked at her.

  “You’re joking, right?”

  He had to be…he had to be joking since she’d just said that was what she was worried about.

  “Unfortunately, no. But didn’t you hear me say she no longer works for me?”

  Oh yeah, he did say that. She waved her hand at him, “Go back to the reconciling part.”

  “Nothing to really say. Her explanation for not talking to me for over a month was that she wanted to tell me that she was okay with me not loving her the way I should. That she thought about it and she could live with that. She didn’t need any more than what she had been getting. But she wanted to tell me face-to-face.”

  Mallory knew her jaw dropped and there was nothing she could do to stop that reaction. “You’re not serious?”

  “I am. And now you can understand a little bit of why I called it off to begin with.”

  What was wrong with Kendra? Who would settle for so little in a marriage? And why?

  “So, was she upset when you ended her employment? I guess I’m not sure of the timeline of things. Did she tell you this before or after you gave her a severance package?”

  “She told me before. It did make things uncomfortable since I had all the legal documents drawn up beforehand.”

  “Meaning you wouldn’t have ended her employment if you’d known what she was thinking?”

  “Not at all. I knew before I returned home I was going to end it. That was part of the reason I left. I needed to close that chapter in my life, Mallory.” He reached for her hand and threaded his fingers through hers. “So I could start a new one with you, somehow.”

  She knew she was going to cry again but held it back. “Kendra had to be shocked then when you handed the documents over.”

  “Would you be surprised if I told you she had no more of a reaction than when I canceled the wedding?”

  “I want to say yes, but unfortunately, this whole thing makes no sense to me.”

  “Join the crowd. So, can we be done with this for now? I’m tired, and I’m hungry, and I want to get back to your place. Kendra and I are done. I’ve missed the hell out of you. There was nothing for you to worry about, and I hope you believe me.”

  She looked at his smiling face, saw the sincerity there and the hope in his eyes. “I never doubted it.”

  “I’m smelling smoke again.”

  “You’re something else,” she told him, leaning and kissing him loudly on the lips.

  Judging Me

  “I can’t believe you didn’t have a home-cooked meal ready for me,” Nick said as he followed Mallory into her house carrying the pizza they’d stopped to get on their way.

  “How was I supposed to cook and pick you up at the airport at the same time? We could have had dinner with Trixie. She offered to cook for us tonight, but I wasn’t sure what your plans were.”

  “This works. I’ll go see her soon. I talked to her before my flight and told her I was going to spend some time with you when I returned.” His grandmother actually laughed at him when he made that comment and he felt like a teenager being caught trying to sneak out the window past curfew. “No more pizza after tonight though,” he said, laughing. “I’ve had more in the last few days than I’ve had in the last year.”

  She turned suddenly after unlocking her front door. He’d left his bags in the car; she’d bring him back to his grandmother’s later. “Why didn’t you say something? We could have gotten anything.”

  “Because you already had this ordered. It’s not a big deal. Don’t worry about it.”

  “Why were you eating so much pizza? I know you don’t cook, but I thought maybe you would have spent time at your parents’. Your mother was always a good cook.”

  He was touched she remembered that. That his mother often brought over meals after Mindy’s accident, or had Mallory over for dinner to give her a break from caring for her mother when someone else was in the house.

  “Tuesday night she had court. Court nights were always pizza in our house. I thought she was going to ground me when I said it wasn’t a very good welcome-home dinner. And what do you know, here I am having the same thing with you.”

  It never crossed his mind that his mother and now Mallory did the same thing. Two women in his life that meant a great deal to him. He wondered if she’d catch on to the meaning of his comparison.

  “When else did you have it?” she asked, and he guessed she didn’t notice the irony of his statement.

  “Wednesday night I worked late with the team. I had dinner brought in and since that was something Kendra normally did—handled the food—the person I asked just ordered a bunch of pizzas. Then last night I worked late and went to my parents’ to say goodbye. I had leftovers since they didn’t know I was coming.”

  “How are your parents and Rene doing? I’m sure they missed you.”

  She pulled plates out and put them on the table, and then they sat down to start eating.

  “They did. I didn’t get a chance to see Rene last night. She has class on Thursday nights, but she stopped at my house bright and early to say goodbye to me before class. I still can’t believe she’s going to be graduating in May. She said this is it, no more school after this. She finally found her calling and I actually believe her this time.”

  “I still can’t picture her working as a physician assistant. I can’t see her even being a nurse, let alone having more responsibility.”

  “I find it hard, too. I’m so used to her with her nose in a book. Seeing her actually applying things is going to seem weird. But she’s smart and determined and knows what she wants. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen her this excited or happy before.”

  The sad part was, he was jealous over Rene’s life right now. He never remembered being that excited or happy in life. Not the way Rene was. Not talking about what she was learning every day, nonstop.

  “How about your parents? Are they doing good? I know you said your father retired, but now he’s filling in for you.”

  “Yeah, he retired last year. You know he’s five years older than my mother. I was surprised he retired at sixty. He’s always been so active, but he said it was time to support my mother. She’d been promoted to a partner in her firm a few years ago and was working more. She’d put the promotion off for years until life slowed down. I think it’s nice the roles were reversed. But he got bored quickly. This seemed like the best of both worlds for everyone. He doesn’t have much stress at my place and can come and go when he wants.”

  “That’s the way it’s supposed to be, right? Not one person always being there for the other and getting nothing in return.”

  He always thought so, which was another reason he started to have doubts about Kendra too. His parents had a partnership in their marriage; he saw that and wanted it too. He never had that with Kendra and was just realizing why it never occurred to him before.

  Kendra did everything for him, even when he didn’t want her to. At work yes, that was part of her job. But after hours, he wanted a normal life—teamwork of sorts—but they never had it, and it seemed they never would.

  Maybe Kendra couldn’t separate the two roles, and he didn’t push hard enough for her to try. Now that his grandmother was in his ear about seeing what was in front of him, he was finding things out about himself he didn’t like. Things he should have realized and not taken for granted.

  He wasn’t going to take anything for granted with Mallory. He was going to see what was in front of him, and he was going to work harder than anything he ever did before to let her know it was her he wanted. That they were meant to be.

  And he was going to stop worrying and stressing over his past with Kendra. They would both be better off in the long ru
n. He believed that completely. He’d learn from his mistakes.

  “That’s how I always thought a relationship should be,” he said, and he couldn’t be happier to know Mallory felt the same way.

  “What about work? Everything okay there too?”

  “Yeah. You don’t really want to talk about that, do you? It’s boring. Have you done anything at all other than write while I was gone?” He wanted to talk about her, not just him.

  “I did a lot of writing. It’s flowing really fast and I love when that happens. I’m waiting for the flame to flicker a bit, then I’ll take a few days off and reread everything I’ve written before I start back up again.”

  “Is that how it works with you?”

  “Yeah. I’m sure everyone is different, but I just keep writing until I can’t write anymore. Then I start from the beginning and edit the story some more. It all works out in the end.”

  “So all you did was write?”

  “No. Quinn came over for dinner last night. You remember Quinn from the first lunch we had together?”

  He remembered her now. Pretty girl, but almost sad looking. More like worn out, even though she looked to be younger than Mallory.

  “The waitress, right?”

  “Yeah. I’ve known her for about a year. I met her in a yoga class that Trixie dragged me to. Quinn’s a cook and a waitress. We try to get together for dinner or drinks. She’s always trying out new recipes and bringing them here.”

  “Well hell, anytime she wants to do it again, let me know.”

  She laughed and he was thrilled the turmoil of earlier seemed to be long gone. “I’ll think about it. I told her you and I were dating. I hope that was okay?”

  “Why wouldn’t it be?”

  “Well, I said it before I knew we were on the same page. I guess it’s a good thing we are, or else I would have put my foot in my mouth.”

  “I was always on that page. All you had to do was ask and I would have told you. So you talked about me, huh? Anything interesting? Did you tell her what an amazing person I am?”

  She giggled, then said, “No. We didn’t go into too many details about you. She just knows the basics. Actually we talked more about each other than ever before. I guess I’ve got you to thank for that.”

  He tilted his head. “How’s that? What did you talk about?”

  “I think since you’ve been here, you’ve helped me realize I don’t want to hide anymore. I want to try to let some of my past go. She doesn’t know anything about me on a personal level, really. I still didn’t tell her who I am, but I did tell her I was writing a book.”

  “Really?” he asked, reaching over and patting her hand. “I’m proud of you. I bet that was harder than you thought.”

  “Actually, it was easier than I thought. Which surprised me.”

  “What did she say?”

  “She was excited and wanted to know what I was writing about and couldn’t wait to read it. I didn’t tell her I already had more books published. Then I’d have to tell her who I was, and I’m not ready for that. The funny part is, I never realized it before, but there’s a fear about someone I know reading my work.”

  “Why’s that?”

  “What if they think it sucks? Would they tell me? Would they be too embarrassed to say it? It takes a lot to put myself out there while writing. It’s a part of me. My characters and my stories, they feel like part of my life at times. So it’s almost like someone judging me and my family. If no one knows who I am, then they can’t judge that. Don’t you feel that way with your software?”

  He never realized that with her writing. “No, I don’t feel that way with software. I don’t think it works like that. What I do is to help others in their life. It serves a purpose…a tool, really. What you do is provide entertainment. So I guess I could see where maybe it would be hard to put yourself out there.” He thought for a second, then said, “If you told me who you wrote under, I could read one of your books and tell you. I’d be honest.”

  “My books are for teens,” she reminded him.

  “So. It’s still a book. It’s still entertainment. I bet my grandmother has read them all. What does she think?”

  “She has and she’s honest. She tells me if one story didn’t reach her the same as another. But it’s never in a bad way. She gives me good ideas too.”

  “I want to read something of yours…whenever you’re ready to trust me with it.”

  He hoped it was sooner rather than later. He could see it was a big step for her to have said what she did to Quinn. An even bigger step to tell him about it.

  “I might be ready soon. Maybe, if you don’t mind, I’ll let you read the book I’m working on now. It’s geared toward adults. I’m a little nervous over it, so maybe I wouldn’t mind a second opinion. Even a man’s opinion.”

  “I’d be honored to read it. Any of it, whenever you want me to.” And that was a massive step for her, he understood that.

  He looked at her for a moment, then started to wonder why she only asked about his family. She’d finished saying that she was trying to come out of hiding, and he could see the effort she was making. Yet she hadn’t once asked about her stepfather.

  He was getting ready to say something when his phone went off. He pulled it out and saw a message from his grandmother, then replied back quickly.

  “Everything okay?” Mallory asked.

  “Yes. Just my grandmother telling me she’d leave the front light on for me. She figured I’d be late.”

  “That was nice,” Mallory said, her face turning pink.

  “Why are you blushing?”

  “I talked with Trixie the other day too. She’s not nosy in regards to us, but it’s still a bit embarrassing when it’s just her and I together.”

  “She knows we’re dating.”

  “Yeah, but I’m positive she knows we’re sleeping together, too.”

  “She’s not stupid, Mallory.” He couldn’t help it; he was trying not to laugh at Mallory’s reaction. “You’ve dated people before. Neither one of us was a virgin.”

  “It’s not that. Never mind,” she said, grabbing her plate and standing up.

  He stood up fast and walked to her, took the plate out of her hand and turned her to look at him. “No, tell me. What is it?”

  “You’re her grandson. She’s like a mother to me. It’s a bit awkward. Part of me feels like I’m taking advantage of that. Or betraying her.”

  That was crazy, but he didn’t say it. He couldn’t without insulting her and he didn’t want to do that. “Explain that to me.”

  “It’s like this is how I repay her for everything she’s done. Dating her grandson.”

  “I’d like to think she’s happy about it. She cares a great deal about you, and we know how much she adores me.”

  Mallory laughed and hugged him tight. “I know it’s silly to feel this way. It’s odd, is all. I need to get over it. It’s just sometimes Trixie is so blunt and the things she says are uncomfortable.”

  He knew that about his grandmother, but it was part of her charm. “What has she said?”

  “Nothing much. More like innuendos about us. I know she’s happy. Maybe that’s part of it. It’s early yet. What happens if things don’t work out?”

  He ran his hand up and down her back. “Don’t think that. Don’t go there. One day at a time. That’s what I’m doing.”

  Only You

  The next morning Nick walked down the stairs for breakfast to see his grandmother sitting at the kitchen table waiting for him.

  “I didn’t hear you come in last night. Must have been later than I thought.”

  He wasn’t sure he was going to make it home at all last night, but didn’t tell her that. “Sorry.”

  He was thankful that Mallory woke up when she did, woke him up, then drove him home. He’d left his suitcases by the door so he wouldn’t make too much noise once he got in the house.

  After they finished with their pizza yesterday and put the
leftovers away, he’d thought she’d offer to take him back home and was trying to figure out a way to coax her into bed first.

  He didn’t need to do any coaxing though. She’d turned to him, wrapped her arms around his neck and started to kiss his jaw, his cheek and then his ear.

  “Are we done talking now? I really did have a better homecoming planned for you.”

  Yep, he was done talking, but rather than telling, he showed her, picking her up and bringing her to the couch. He was too tired and too lazy—actually too eager—to walk up the stairs to her room. The couch would just have to do, even if it was way too small for his frame.

  He sat down, pulling her onto his lap, and just started to kiss her, his hands roaming everywhere they could. Up and under her shirt, over her shoulders, and unclasping her bra. Then he filled his hands with her breasts, pinching and squeezing, wanting to feel so much of her. Wanting to remember the feelings from days ago so he knew he wasn’t dreaming.

  That this was real, Mallory was real and on his lap and enjoying what he was doing to her as much as he enjoyed doing it.

  “I need to see you. I know it’s not a dream, but I want to see what I’m touching. I want to know it’s mine to touch again and what happened the last several weeks wasn’t something I imagined. That it’s not just a fantasy that will vanish when I open my eyes.”

  “I’m real. What we’re doing is real. What you make me feel is magical, but trust me, it’s real.”

  Magical. That was a word for it and one he wanted to give her more of.

  He lifted her shirt off her body and tossed it in the room somewhere, then stared at the perfection in front of him. So thin and compact, yet more than a handful too. Soft and firm, mixtures of textures, and he couldn’t seem to get enough.

  First with his eyes, he roamed over every inch he touched, then with his mouth, he tasted every piece of skin he could. If he had his way, this night would never end. He’d continue on and on until…forever.