Bad Boy's Second Chance

by Conner, Jennifer

  They took his bike and he knew the back roads, explaining that the main roads were crazy and busy with tourists on the weekends. They usually rode in his car, but with the nice weather, it was a treat to take his bike and let the warm wind whip past them. She also didn’t mind at all being snuggled against his back with her arms wrapped around his muscled midsection. He parked behind a friend’s garage, and they walked the distance to the first field.

  There were strips of pink tulips, then it began again with yellow and then orange flowers which stretched for far as the eye could see.

  “It’s so beautiful,” Iris said, a little overwhelmed by the sight.

  He nodded in agreement. “I started coming here with my grandma when I was a kid. When I became an adult and she couldn’t drive any longer, I’d pick her up, and we’d still visit the tulips every season.” He stretched his back, and then turned to face her, his features dark. “I can’t let this lie any longer and continue to make small talk. When were you planning on telling me that you were moving out?”

  “I…what?”

  “Your friend Kara called while you were in the shower this morning. She said she’d found a few places online for you to look at. I should have told you she’d called, but I was trying to process it. Was I just going to come home tomorrow and find you gone? Or were you at least going to say goodbye this time?”

  “It wasn’t for sure.” Iris bent to run her fingers over the tulip’s petals. “I was scared.”

  “Scared of what?”

  “I was afraid of being hurt.” She stood and took a step closer.

  His laugh was sharp. “You were afraid of being hurt? Don’s the one who hurt you, not me. What have I ever done to make you think that? I’m not Don.”

  “I know.”

  “I think you have things a little backwards. I’m the one who’s afraid of being hurt…again. You broke my heart when you left. It took a long time for me to get over you, and now, here you are, doing it again. I don’t know what I was thinking having you stay with me. Being so close, yet so far away. You never said it was going to be a long-term arrangement, I shouldn’t have expected it to be anything more. Shit...” He walked over to an old barn and slammed his flattened hand against the wood. “All those years ago, if you’d ever answered any of my phone calls, I would have begged you to come back to me. But, that was almost seven years ago. I’m a man, not the brokenhearted boy you left behind and this time I have to make the decision that’s best for me. I won’t let myself be emotionally stripped. I can’t do it.”

  She took a step closer to him. “Do what?”

  “Fall in love with you again.” His eyes were filled with hurt as he violently shook his head. “I can’t. It took too much from me the last time.” He continued, “Let’s go. I don’t think this was a good idea. I can’t be all happy and cheery frolicking between the flowers. I’ll drive you back to town or wherever you want to go. If you want me to drive you back to Seattle, I can take you there, too.”

  “I don’t want to go anywhere else, I want to be with you.”

  “Don’t.” Thane turned partially and she could no longer see his face. “Don’t say things you don’t mean.”

  “Have you fallen in love with me again?” Iris asked as she stepped in front of him and placed a hand on his cheek.

  “Dammit. What is this? Watch poor Thane open a vein in his heart so you can watch it bleed?”

  “I need to know.” She left her hand against his face. “Do you still love me?”

  “We’ve always been friends. Friendship isn’t enough anymore. I loved you then, but it’s different now. Deeper. Friendship is no longer enough. I want all of you…or, I guess none of you. I’m not strong enough to be around you every day and not want you. Even though I’ve tried with every inch of my being, I’ve never stopped loving you, Iris. Don’t you know that?”

  “I think so.”

  “You need to know for sure. I love you. But walk away now, please, for my own sanity if you don’t feel the same way about me. Don’t drag my heart through the mud.”

  Tears streamed down her cheeks. But they weren’t tears of sadness, they were tears of joy. “I was afraid I was the one taking advantage of you. You’ve been so nice the last few weeks. I know how much I hurt you when I left for college. I never forgave myself. It wasn’t right. I was just stupid and much younger.”

  “And now?” he asked.

  She paused for a second and then her words flooded out, “I love you too, Thane. I never told Kara I was moving out, she thought she was helping me with options.”

  “Do you want options?”

  “No. You’re the only man I want. The year I spent with Don, there was always something missing in our relationship. He wasn’t you.”

  “I won’t hurt you, Iris.”

  “And I promise I won’t hurt you again. That is, if you’ll forgive me for all that I’ve done and give me another chance.”

  He lifted her wrist onto his shoulder, wound an arm around her waist, and pulled her against him. Dropping his head, he captured her mouth. Thane kissed her sweetly and softly, his tongue brushed along hers. And when he slid his tongue into her mouth, taking the kiss to a more sensual level, the ache of making love with him she’d felt for the past few weeks, became more desperate to satisfy.

  “God, I’ve wanted to kiss you like this for the last few weeks.”

  “Take me home,” she whispered in his ear. “You’re right. If I’m going to have you, I want all of you. I want you as a best-friend and a lover.”

  “You don’t need to ask me twice.” He smiled that sexy, devilish grin she’d come to love.

  “What about the tulips?”

  “What tulips?” she asked and kissed him again. “They’ll be here for another few weeks.”

  The ride back to the house seemed to take an hour longer than it did to get there. He slid down bypass roads, but never sped. For once, she wished he would. Thane drove the bike into the garage and then tugged her hand until they stood in the middle of the living room. He pulled her up on her toes and then kissed her within an inch of her life. A rough, tumbled, wet play of lips and tongue went on and on.

  He drew off her jacket and then kissed a heated trail down her neck. Iris loved the scratch of his beard along her sensitized skin. Breathless, she asked, “Bedroom?”

  “Mine or yours?” He chuckled deeply.

  “Screw the bedrooms!” Iris grabbed his leather jacket and pulled it off his shoulders. Then she reached for his T-shirt and drew it over his head. “The bedrooms are much too far away. I want you now. Here.” She grabbed his wrist and guided him down to his knees on the carpet on the living room.

  He held his hand palm out and looked at her through half-closed, sexy eyes. “Hold on! I’m a bad boy? You’re being a very bad girl. At least let me draw the curtains. Mr. and Mrs. Browning are probably home. I’m planning on having you naked in about thirty-seconds so let’s do this privately and not give them a show.”

  It took her a second to work through the sexual haze to understand what he was saying. She nodded and let go of his wrist. He hurried over, yanked the curtain close, and then came back. She watched as he unzipped his jeans and pushed them off along with his boxers and socks. Iris smiled with appreciation. From his chiseled chest to narrow hips…and more. He wasn’t a boy. Thane was all man. When he dropped to his knees, she ran a finger down the muscled division on his chest and stomach. “Wow. Where did you get his body? You didn’t have this in high school.”

  “I bought it on the Internet where everyone buys everything these days.” Then Thane laughed and proceeded to whip off her shirt and bra. He flipped her onto her back and crawled over her. He took her breast in his hand and then kissed the tip. “I’m happy to say that you haven’t changed a bit. Perfect. Like you always were.” He stopped an
d looked down at her. “God, you’re so beautiful. When I’m with you, even when it’s not…well, sexual like it is now. I can hardly breathe. You’re the only woman who’s ever done that to me.”

  “You seem to be breathing now.”

  “It’s an automated response to keep from passing out.” He grinned, and then helped her wiggle out of her jeans and panties. He trailed kisses over every inch of her until she was on fire. The path he forged back to her lips was sheer torture, but well worth the wait. Thane slid a finger over her and then inside her. She arched her back off the floor.

  “I want you inside me,” Iris said with a whimper.

  Thane grabbed his jeans, rolled on protection, and then was back nestled between her legs.

  She wrapped her hands around his neck and looked up into his handsome face. “I love you, Thane. You were right about that too. Since the day I met you at that high school basketball game, I think I always have. You were my first and now I hope my last. I love you.”

  He closed his eyes and smiled. “Say it again.”

  “I love you—” his name was cut off and instead she let out a sigh as he entered her. She kissed him ferociously as he picked up the pace. She grabbed the side of the coffee table to try and achieve some grounding, but it was pointless.

  The sensations hit her all at once and she shattered. A few last hard thrusts and he followed her.

  “Can you hear my heart?” she asked as he lay still on top of her. “Is it still inside my chest?”

  He nuzzled her breast. “Yes. But I think it’s melded with mine.” He drew up her hand and kissed her knuckles. In a quick move, he got to his knees and then scooped her off the floor. “That was great, but seven years have taught me a lot.”

  “Really? What?” Iris grinned as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed the sensitive area behind his ear.

  “Well…” With his free hand he grabbed a bottle of wine. “Can you get those?” he asked, tipping his head toward the wineglasses. “Seven years has taught me to appreciate what I have and what I can dream to have.” He kissed her again deeply as he walked her toward his bedroom. “One thing I’ve learned is that mattresses are much softer than the floor. It’s also taught me things that I think I’ll keep a secret. I’d much rather show you, than tell you. Good thing it’s before noon. I have a full day ahead planned for us.” He wiggled his eyebrows.

  “So who’s cooking dinner?” she asked with a chuckle as he dropped her on the bed and set the wine bottle on his dresser.

  “Neither of us. There’s only one thing I’m hungry for at his moment, and that’s you.” She squealed as he grabbed her ankles and drew her toward him.

  Iris found out the other thing seven years brought to the table was stamina and longevity.

  The delivered pizza which came to the house in the early evening was the best she’d ever tasted.

  Chapter Eight

  Six-Weeks Later

  “We’ve been having so much fun running around, I thought we’d better take Sunday and unpack my boxes,” Iris said smiling up at Thane. He leaned over and kissed her on the nose.

  He was still the same guy she fell in love with when she was a teen, but now, he’d matured. It was like he kept all the things she’d like before and added a whole new level. In the last weeks, he demonstrated an ability to love her that she’d never dreamed was possible. When she looked in his eyes, she could see he felt the same way about her as she did for him. So completely sappy that honeybees would flock to them.

  “Thanks for being there yesterday when Don’s case came up.” She sighed, happy that it was all behind her now.

  “I know it was difficult, but since you were the victim, you had to be subpoenaed. Since Don didn’t hurt you any worse, thank God, he won’t do jail time. But, as you saw, the judge slapped him with one-hundred and twenty hours of community service. He’ll be on highway trash pickup for quite a few weekends and he’ll get to wear one of those lovely orange vests. I’d love to drive by, wave, and say hi.” He grinned.

  “Let it go. It’s not worth a visit. He called me the other day.”

  “He did?” Thane stopped pulling the packing tape off a box and looked up.

  “He wanted to say he was sorry. I hope he means it and that the next woman he gets into a relationship with knows what she’s getting into, and he can learn to control his temper.”

  “I don’t know what guys gain from trying to control women. When will they figure out, it will never work? Love has to be based on balance and trust.”

  “I agree.” Iris stepped around the box on the floor and kissed him. She let her lips slide across his as he pulled her tighter and deepened the kiss. She let herself go and fell into the emotions flowing through her.

  Thane drew her tank top down and ran his tongue over the tip of her breast. Her breath caught, as she wound her hands through his thick hair.

  “I thought we were going to take this time to unpack boxes,” Iris said, out of breath.

  “Oh yeah…” He grinned up at her. “I’m easily distracted…at least when it comes to you. Especially when you’re wearing this sexy outfit.”

  “This?” Iris laughed. “You mean my tank top and pajama bottoms?”

  “You’re as sexy in this as you are when you come home with finger paint all over your clothes or when you’re wearing a cocktail dress. It doesn’t matter to me. I want you every time I lay eyes on you, no matter what you wear.” He wiggled his eyebrows and then worked his way up to her mouth to kiss her again.

  “I’ll make you a deal,” she said pulling his head up so he had to look in her eyes.

  “I’m a lawyer, we call ‘deals’ plea bargains.”

  “Okay, then a plea bargain. Let find places for the rest of my stuff in these two boxes so we have the spare bedroom cleaned out for when your sister visits next week.”

  “And…what do I get out of this deal?”

  “Me.”

  “You wearing exactly what? I need a visual in my mind.”

  “Your motorcycle helmet.”

  “And?”

  “You want me to wear more?” Iris grinned as she ran a hand up the bare skin of his arm.

  “Oh, hell no. That visual is enough for any man’s motivation.” Thane whipped the first box up and dropped it on the bed. He pulled off the rest of the tape and opened the cardboard lid. He lifted out a sprig of green. “What the heck is this?”

  “It’s a mistletoe headband.” She took it from his grasp and put it on. She shook her head to make the plastic leaves dance. “Kara and her girlfriends have this silly club called The Mobile Mistletoe. They claim it helped them with their love lives.”

  “I think it worked.”

  “I was skeptical, but now I wonder if it isn’t true. Kara started it and found Jack, and then so did the other girls. They passed it along from girl to girl. When all of them found their guys, they decided to bring in new recruits. I was Kara’s choice.”

  “It was to work with Don?”

  “No. Kara wanted me to dump him long before I did. I think she wanted this to give me the strength to follow through and find someone else. Or, maybe it was fate mixed with the magic of the mistletoe to find someone who was already a part of my life.”

  “If it’s true, I’m glad that it made you walk out in the crosswalk that night. Not that I almost ran you over, I still have nightmares about that, but that I found you again.”

  “I think you were always in my thoughts even if you weren’t with me.”

  “Yeah…” Thane grinned. His sexy smile always melted her down to her toes. With the tip of his finger, he flicked the little mistletoe sprig on the headband she still wore. “Are all the other girls in this ‘club’ married?”

  “Yes, why?” she asked

  “I’m just wond
ering if you can still be in the ‘club’ if you’re not married? Because, I’d be happy to remedy this.”

  Iris stopped and looked at him. “Are you asking me to marry you?”

  “Not at this moment, silly, we’re both wearing our pajamas. I’m a lawyer. I’m asking a few prelim questions to make sure it’s what you want.”

  “I love you, Thane. I hope to spend the rest of my life with you. No more gaps of time.”

  “I agree.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her to him. He drew the headband over her hair and then off. “Next time you’re with your girlfriends, you can give back the headband. You won’t be needing it anymore. This will also give me time to make a proposal you’ll never forget. I love you, Iris. I always have. Sometimes, a second chance at love is the best thing one could ask for.”

  “Thanks for giving me that second chance.” Iris kissed him, and said, “Suddenly, unpacking these boxes isn’t nearly as important. Come on, let’s go find your motorcycle helmet.”

  Thane found her mouth for another hot kiss. “It’s out in the entryway. I can’t wait to see you model it.”

  As he chased after her, Iris laughed. She never dreamed life could be this good. Iris realized in the past weeks she’d spent with Thane, she’d forgotten what being in love felt like. That was, until he came back into her life. Now she knew without a doubt what love was, and it felt good.

  Look for the other stories in

  The Mobile Mistletoe Series

  Love Comes for Valentine’s Day

  Story 1

  At Christmas, Kara Hayward makes a pact with her girlfriends She’s wearing a headband of mobile mistletoe until a man kisses her.

  The problem is it’s now Valentine’s Day. Will Kara be stuck wearing the headband of shame the rest of the year, or will she

  find Mr. Right in a place she never expects?