Second Chance at First Love

by Mandy Baxter

  Emily craned her neck past Chance to see a group of women strolling down the sidewalk toward them. Being mowed down by a pack of fellow tourists definitely wasn’t how she wanted to go. “The front desk clerk told me there’s a cute kitchen store down the street. Mind if we hit it up to look for a gift?”

  Chance held out his hand. “After you.”

  Emily headed down the sidewalk. Chance must have been bored to death. So far he’d watched her humiliate herself in front of Brad and Amberly. He’d watched her rush through breakfast. Watched her swim. Watched her stand on the sidewalk like a fool. And now he was about to watch her shop for a gift that she didn’t even want to buy. She was a horrible friend.

  “You don’t have to follow me around.” She turned toward him and was taken aback by the dark clouds that gathered behind his eyes. “Not that you are. Following me around. I’m just saying. If there’s something you want to do—”

  He cut her off. “I know what you mean, Em.” The harshness of his tone made her cringe. “I just don’t understand why you’re going out of your way to buy them some ultra-fantastic wedding gift. Neither one of them was particularly nice to you yesterday. In fact, I don’t even know why they invited you to this dog and pony show at all. It feels more and more like someone wanted to rub something in your face.”

  #

  Emily’s shoulders slumped. Chance didn’t want to hurt her, but really, what did she expect? Nothing about this situation was close to normal. No one invited their ex to a wedding. Especially when the groom was marrying his ex’s former friend.

  “I know what this is about.” Her quiet, hurt tone made Chance want to grab her and crush her body to his in a bear hug. Damn it, he shouldn’t have been so harsh with her. “But that’s why I have to smile and play nice and buy them the best possible gift. Because I don’t want them to have any sort of ownership over my emotions. I don’t want them to think I’m affected by them at all.”

  “That’s the thing, Em.” Chance couldn’t seem to get it through that thick head of hers. “You may want to pretend like this isn’t affecting you. Like they don’t own your emotions. But almost two years later, it’s still getting to you.” His heart dropped into his gut as he said the words, “You’re not over him, are you?”

  “What?” She started walking and Chance fell into step beside her. “Of course I am. Why would you even say that?”

  She was kidding herself if she actually believed that. Chance didn’t want to argue. He didn’t want Brad’s name spoken in any conversation he had with Emily for the rest of the trip for that matter. Not that he could avoid it. They were at the jerk’s days-long wedding extravaganza after all. But when he and Emily were alone together, he wanted to pretend that Brad and Amberly didn’t exist. That what Emily had had with Brad didn’t exist. Chance wanted it to be him and her and no one else. His step faltered as he glanced over at her. Did she even know how breathtakingly beautiful she was?

  “I’m worried, okay?” If Amberly’s attitude yesterday was any indicator, Emily could expect to be on the receiving end of a few more catty remarks by the end of the week. Chance still couldn’t figure out what purpose it served to even invite Emily to the wedding. “I don’t want to see you hurt.”

  Emily reached out and took Chance’s hand in hers. He wanted to twine his fingers with hers and hold her close to him but she gave a light squeeze before releasing her grip. He held in the sigh he wanted to let loose.

  “That’s why you’re my best friend,” she replied. “You’re always looking out for me.”

  Why was it that “best friend” was starting to sound like a four-letter word? Something offensive he didn’t want to hear again.

  Down the street, Chance caught sight of an ice cream shop. Pizza got Emily through a rough day, but ice cream could fix her entire year. “Hey. Let’s get some ice cream first. The sugar high will help get me through shopping for a wedding present.” The truth was, Chance wasn’t a huge fan of sweets. Or pizza. But Emily was and that’s all that mattered. Her happiness was all that mattered.

  Ms. Icey’s fit the image of ice cream parlor to a tee with its frosted windows and red and white awnings. Emily’s smile grew as they approached. It was totally her sort of place. Her own bakery back in Coeur d'Alene had the same cutesy exterior. Very pastel. Very girly. Very Emily. Chance stepped up to the counter and ordered two scoops of chocolate peanut butter ice cream in a waffle cone for Emily, while he opted for a couple of scoops of vanilla in a dish.

  “You do realize that you make me look like a total pig every time we eat out, right?”

  Chance laughed. Emily wasn’t a “pig” by any stretch of the imagination. Her curves were absolutely perfect. Soft and feminine. She was lucky she had a metabolism fast enough to support her junk food habit. Chance, on the other hand, had to spend an hour a day in the gym to maintain. If he ate like Emily, he’d never pass the physical agility.

  “If you’re a pig, then I’m an elephant,” Chance said.

  Emily broke out into spluttering laughter. “What does that even mean?”

  Her laughter was infectious. “I have no idea.

  The bell above the door to the tiny shop rang and Emily and Chance turned at the same time. Brad and Amberly walked through the door and Chance swallowed down a groan. Emily reached across the table lightning-quick and grabbed his hand. She leaned over the table and put her lips to his in a quick, innocent peck that only made Chance hungry for more.

  “Hey guys!” Emily greeted much too cheerfully.

  “Hey.” Brad flashed a wide smile as he led Amberly toward their table.

  Chance pursed his lips. What was he up to? And why in the hell couldn’t he leave Emily alone?

  “Are you out sight-seeing?” Emily asked as she twined her fingers with Chance’s. The warmth of her touch felt so good he didn’t want to ever let go.

  “Yep.” Amberly looked at Emily’s cone with wide eyes before her mouth curved into a smirk. “I’m so jealous, Emily. If I ate that much ice cream, I’d never be able to fit into my dress.”

  “Oh, well.” Emily gave a nervous laugh. “It’s a lot of ice cream, isn’t it? I probably won’t be able to finish it all.” She looked around as though she wished she could put the cone down. Chance hated that Amberly made Emily feel self-conscious. There was nothing wrong with what she was eating. There was nothing wrong with her. Emily was perfect.

  “Hey, babe?” Chance gave Emily’s hand a squeeze. “Didn’t you want to hit a couple more shops before dinner?”

  “Oh, yeah.” She gave him a sweet smile that conveyed her gratitude. “Thanks for reminding me.”

  Chance pushed out his chair and pulled Emily up beside him. “We’ll see you at dinner tonight.”

  Brad’s expression became a little crestfallen, only adding to Chance’s suspicion. “Yeah,” he said with little inflection. “Have a good time.”

  “You too.” Chance flashed a wide smile. “Later.”

  They walked out of Ms. Icey’s hand-in-hand. Emily tossed what was left of her cone into a trashcan on the street. “Don’t let anything Amberly says get to you, Em. She’s just bitter that she has to work to be thin and you can eat what you want.”

  “Oh, I know.” Emily’s tone wasn’t very convincing, though. “I’m just full, that’s all.”

  Chance’s jaw clenched. It was going to be a long three days. Hopefully he could get Emily through it without too much emotional damage.

  Four

  “A scavenger hunt? How old are we, twelve?”

  Emily pursed her lips as she fixed Chance with a stern eye. “Come on, it might be fun.”

  He returned her optimism with a dubious stare.

  Chance had been in a mood ever since dinner with the wedding party last night and it carried over to this morning. It could have been that he was cranky about having to scrunch his body up on the couch all night. Emily had offered him the bed—she would have been fine on the couch—but he’d refused with a sour gr
umble and had gone straight to sleep. She’d hoped that he’d wake with a better attitude this morning, but obviously, whatever stick he had up his butt was still lodged firmly in place. She needed him to put on a good show today. A cranky attitude wasn’t going to help in her efforts to make Brad jealous.

  Ugh. What are you thinking, Em? He’s getting married. Maybe Chance was right. Her maturity level right now rivaled most twelve-year olds’.

  “What are we supposed to do? Follow a bunch of clues and gather sea shells?”

  “I have no idea,” Emily said with a laugh. “But don’t be cranky about it, okay. We need to be the carefree, happy, newly engaged couple. Remember?” A cloud passed over Chance’s expression. Emily sensed that he was having second thoughts about agreeing to their little deception. “I know you don’t want to be here,” she said, low. “But it’s only for a couple more days.”

  He let out a brisk chuff of breath. “You think that’s what I’m bent out of shape about? That I don’t want to be here?”

  Emily drew her bottom lip between her teeth. Chance’s brow furrowed and he looked away. “Well, yeah. Isn’t it?”

  He let out a rueful laugh. “I’ll be everything you need me to be and more. What time does this wild goose chase start?”

  Emily glanced down at the invite that had been delivered to their villa that morning. “Noon. On the beach.”

  Chance stood up and stretched his arms high in the air. His T-shirt rode up, giving Emily a peek at the washboard muscles that defined his six-pack abs. She shouldn’t have stared so openly, but she couldn’t help herself. His body was definitely impressive. Chance caught her looking and one corner of his mouth curved into a smirk.

  Emily cleared her throat and looked away. “Um, don’t use all the hot water.”

  Chance headed for the bathroom. “Gotcha.”

  Whether that “gotcha” was in reference to the shower, or the fact that he’d caught her staring, Emily had no idea. She might have gotten the plush king-sized bed all to herself last night, but the truth was, Emily had barely slept at all. Her head swirled with too many thoughts to settle down. She hadn’t felt so conflicted in a long time.

  Her breath caught in her chest as she glanced toward the bathroom and realized that Chance hadn’t closed the door all the way. He had his back turned to her, naked as the day he was born. Wow. Don’t stare, don’t stare, don’t stare… But how could she not take in every detail of his perfect body? Sweet mercy!

  Steam billowed from the shower and the moisture lent a sheen to his smooth skin. The muscles in his ass flexed, showing off their chiseled perfection and Emily sucked in a sharp breath. It was so, so wrong to be gaping like this. Especially when Chance probably didn’t even realize she could see him. He was her best friend for crying out loud! He was still a man, though. A man built like a freaking Greek god! Her gaze wandered up the length of his spine where the muscles bulged on either side of the deep groove. She continued her unhurried exploration, watching with fascination as his shoulder blades flexed and bunched. He stepped into the shower and the simple act possessed an artful grace that scrambled Emily’s train of thought until all that was left was a jumbled representation of sound that equated to: Ungh!

  He turned to face her. Heat rose to Emily’s cheeks and she spun on a heel, rushing away from the open doorway. She’d die of embarrassment if he caught her staring. Not staring, that was way too tame a word for what Emily had done. Leered, ogled, gawked…those words all pretty much covered the way her eyes had bulged right out of her head at the sight of Chance’s naked backside. She gave her head a shake. Nothing aside from a lobotomy was going to erase the memory of his body from her mind.

  She looked around the room for something to occupy her. Usually she tidied up to distract her overactive brain, but the room was spotless. No emails or text messages to answer, Facebook was uneventful as always. Instagram, Twitter, not even her favorite food and baking blogs could distract her from the image that was burned in her mind.

  “Seriously, Brad?” Angry voices carried through the open window, bringing Emily’s racing thoughts to a halt.

  “I don’t know what you’re getting so upset about, Amberly.”

  Emily peeked through the heavy black-out drapes to find Brad and Amberly on the path not far from her bungalow. They stood a good arm’s length apart, their expressions severe.

  “You don’t?” Amberly’s voice escalated. “You honestly don’t think it’s strange to have saved text messages from her on your phone over a year later?”

  Brad folded his arms across his chest. “And you don’t think it’s strange that you still feel it necessary to snoop around on my phone?”

  Holy crap. Emily leaned forward as if that would help her to hear the argument better. Were they talking about her?

  “If you didn’t have something to hide, I wouldn’t be snooping!”

  Brad raked his fingers through his hair. “For shit’s sake, Amberly. It was a few text messages. And nothing even remotely sexy. It’s not like I saved naked pics of her. I have texts from my brother from a year ago, too. Doesn’t mean I’m thinking of hooking up with him. Maybe you should cut the bridezilla act and enjoy this three ring circus your parents are paying for.”

  “Don’t try to turn this around on me!” If Amberly’s voice got any shriller, every dog on the island would be swarming her. “You’re the one who ruined my wedding week by keeping her texts.”

  “And you’re the one who went looking for them,” Brad said in an accusing tone. “So don’t lay this at my feet. It doesn’t matter anymore. I deleted the texts.” He looked away. “They didn’t mean anything anyway.”

  “Hey.” The sound of Chance’s voice behind her made Emily jump. She let out a shriek that drew Brad and Amberly’s attention. She jerked the drapes closed and turned to face him. His brow puckered with curiosity. “What are you doing?”

  #

  “Nothing. Looking outside. Why?”

  Emily looked as guilty as a kid with her hand stuck in the cookie jar. Chance had thrown modesty out the window when he’d noticed her watching him through the open bathroom door and had emerged from the shower smug, and wearing only a towel slung around his waist. It might have been a little on the nose, but it seemed like he wasn’t going to get anywhere with Emily this week if he didn’t get more creative in his tactics. Subtlety wasn’t getting it done, that’s for sure. Any smugness he’d felt at garnering her undivided attention melted away when he caught her staring out the window, front and center for what appeared to be a heated exchange between Brad and Amberly. What in the hell had they been bickering about anyway?

  “What are you looking at?”

  Emily’s cheeks bloomed with color. “Nothing. Just the resort.” Her eyes darted to the towel around Chance’s hips and her full lips parted as though in invitation. A zing of excitement rushed through his veins. It took every ounce of will in his stores not to rush across the room and put his mouth to hers. “I’ll um…” She cleared her throat. “I’ll jump in the shower so you can get dressed.”

  Chance crowded the bathroom door. She tried to sidle by him without making physical contact but he refused to budge. Her breasts brushed his bare chest and Emily nearly choked on her intake of breath. “Chance!” Emily’s exasperated tone coaxed a smile to his lips. “Do you mind?”

  His grin widened. What he hadn’t wanted from her was indifference to the physical contact. Exasperation was better than it not affecting her at all. He stepped out of the way but not before he brushed against her once last time. Her hazel eyes went liquid, so full of heat that it made him sweat. His groin tightened and he grabbed a corner of the towel, prepared to rip it away before Emily shut the door in his face.

  Well, hell. He might have lost the battle but the war was far from over. His chest tingled where the silky fabric of her T-shirt and lush softness of her breasts brushed against him. He wanted her so bad that it hurt. The sound of the shower coming on drowned out the silence a
nd Chance crossed the bungalow and fell back onto the bed. Emily’s fresh spring lilac scent clung to the sheets and he turned to bury his face in the soft cotton.

  They’d known each other for fifteen years. There were no secrets between them. Hell, she could have let one rip right in front of him and he wouldn’t have given a damn. Emily could do no wrong in his eyes. He found no fault in her save one: and the bastard was right outside their bungalow arguing with his wife-to-be.

  Brad was Emily’s only flaw.

  For a little over a year the guy had treated her like garbage. He’d made her doubt herself and Chance had been forced to stand by and watch her self-esteem slowly erode. It was like she couldn’t get over him because she was still desperate for his approval. It was impossible for Emily to move on because somehow, she still thought that their breakup was her fault.

  What a joke.

  Chance had known something was up way before Brad brought the hammer down on her. Wherever Brad was, you could bet you’d find Amberly close by. In fact, Chance had always suspected that Amberly had used Emily to get closer to Brad. The egotistical jerk and the manipulator. As far as Chance was concerned, they were the perfect couple. He only wished he could make Emily see that as well. Brad Harris wasn’t worth her time. He wasn’t even on the same level as her. Chance had put Emily on a pedestal a long damned time ago but she deserved to be there.

  He was in love with her. He’d been in love with her for as long as he could remember.

  “You’re not dressed yet?”

  The bathroom door swung wide to reveal a freshly showered and dewy Emily. The lush tropical beauty of the island didn’t have anything on her. She wore a rose colored tank top that was hardly classifiable as a garment with skinny straps and light flowing fabric and a pair of short denim shorts that showcased the curves of her thighs.

  “Is that what you’re wearing?” He didn’t mean to sound so shocked. Chance was far from prude. On any other day he would have applauded Emily’s choice in outfit but knowing that Brad was going to see her dressed like this—her pert breasts barely concealed by the plunging neckline—made Chance see red. Or more to the point, green. He couldn’t suppress the jealousy that surged within him. He wanted Emily to be his and all she wanted was to belong to someone else.