by L. P. Dover
by
L.P. Dover
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Amazon Edition
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Meant for Me
A Second Chances Novel
Copyright © 2013 by L. P. Dover
Editor: Melissa Ringsted
Cover Artist: Regina Wamba (Mae I Design)
www.maeidesign.com
All rights reserved.
Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the author of this book.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
Chapter 29
Chapter 30
Chapter 31
Chapter 32
Chapter 33
Chapter 34
Chapter 35
Chapter 36
Chapter 37
Chapter 38
Chapter 39
Chapter 40
Epilogue
About the Author
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Second chances aren’t easy to come by these days, but when you get them … cherish them. One thing I’ve learned in my years of being in this world is to never be afraid and to always fight for what you want. I know these aren’t exactly words of wisdom, but this series, my SECOND CHANCES series, is special to me in so many ways. I’m thankful and forever grateful to each and every one of you that have stuck by me and have let my stories touch your heart. You all gave me my second chance at a new beginning.
–L.P. Dover
I didn’t realize how empty my life had been until you slammed the door on my heart. Right then and there I knew I screwed up whatever chance I had to get you back, but I also knew something else … something I couldn’t deny any longer.
You were meant for me and I was meant for you. If it’s a fight you want, it’s a fight you’re going to get. I will win you back.
–Mason
The silence in the car was deafening. The beat of my heart pounding in my ears was all I could focus on as Claire drove me to the airport with tears streaming down her cheeks.
Claire.
What the fuck had I done? I knew it was a mistake to let things go as far as they did, even though we both promised none of it would mean anything. It was a lie.
My flight back to North Carolina would be departing in three hours, and it would put thousands of miles between us. My life was back in North Carolina with my badge and my gun while hers was in California managing her family’s vineyards. I didn’t belong there. We were completely different people, but there was a spark in her eyes that drew me to her when I met her through my cousin, Melissa, years ago. It was the same spark that ignited every desire, every hope of being able to touch her just once. One time was all I wanted, or at least that was what I thought.
The spark that I loved so much about Claire wasn’t in her blue gaze as I peered over at her from the passenger’s seat. She was pissed at me and I couldn’t blame her. Hell, if I was her I would’ve beaten the shit out of me for doing what I did.
My cousin was the reason I was in California in the first place, and if it wasn’t for her wedding I wouldn’t have stepped foot on this side of the United States. Melissa used to live in North Carolina, too, but she inherited part of the vineyards from Claire’s family when Claire’s mother died. Brett was her fiancé at the time, and once he had everything squared away with his job they both packed up and moved across the country. They had just gotten married a couple of days ago and were already on their honeymoon in St. Croix … hence, the reason why I had no one else to take me to the airport other than Claire. I could’ve called a taxi, but Claire insisted on taking me.
I wanted to make things right, but there was nothing I could say that would make up for what I did. I screwed up and let my dick take the reins on my behavior. I couldn’t deny the chemistry Claire and I had, especially the sexual tension, and every time she brushed up against me when we danced my cock immediately sprung to attention. It wasn’t until later that night—when I found her laying across my bed with nothing but a pink, lacy babydoll that I could see straight through—that I finally gave in to my desire.
I wanted to taste her, to feel her … to finally get her out of my system. What I got was an addiction, and what’s worse was that I craved her even now.
We finally passed a sign for the airport indicating we only had one more mile to go, and I knew I was running out of time. The tension hung heavy in the air as I turned to the blonde haired knockout clenching the steering wheel so tight her knuckles were turning white. She wore a bright pink tank top with exceptionally short denim shorts that showed off her long, tanned legs. She was beautiful.
“What do you want me to say, Claire?” I asked softly, hoping to get something out of her instead of silence. “I told you I was sorry. What can I do to make you talk to me?”
What I did to her was something I would regret for the rest of my life. After a long, wild night of sex, love making, whatever you want to call it, it finally came time to wind down. The look in her eyes when she told me she was falling in love with me would forever stay ingrained in my mind. My reaction would haunt me forever as well.
Being the asshole that I was, I told her I wasn’t good enough for her, grabbed my pants off the floor, and left the room. I realized my mistake as soon as I shut the door, but it was too late. The damage had been done. Claire cried for what felt like hours, or maybe it was my misery that made it seem longer. Meanwhile, all I did was sit there, leaning up against the door and listening. I wasn’t prepared to hear those words come out of her mouth, and I sure as hell wasn’t ready to face her this morning.
Holding her chin defiantly in the air, Claire kept her eyes on the road. However, I couldn’t miss the undertone of hurt in her voice when she said, “Look, Mason, I get it. You don’t do relationships. I was the one stupid enough to think that after the night we shared things would be different. I guess that’s what I get for thinking.”
I wanted things to be different between us, to be something real, except I knew it wouldn’t work with the way we lived our lives. Sighing, I tried to reason with her even though I knew it was hopeless, “We would never see eac
h other, Claire. I work long hours and the work that I do is dangerous. You deserve so much better than me. Someone you wouldn’t have to worry about all the time.”
She pulled up to the airport terminal and put her FJ Cruiser into park before crossing her arms over her chest. Her breasts peeked up over her tank top, and I could see on the mounds of her breasts where the stubble on my chin had rubbed her skin raw. I wanted to kiss her again and tell her everything would be all right, except the look in her eyes when she turned to me let me know I had missed my chance. All I saw was anger … and pain.
Leaning over my seat, she reached for the handle on the door and pressed it down, opening it wide. Closing my eyes, I breathed in her scent—which always smelled like raspberries—as her body brushed up against mine.
“You’re going to be late for your flight. It’s time for you to go,” she snapped.
I reached for her chin to get her to look at me, but she jerked away from my touch. Gritting my teeth, I released a heavy sigh. I slid out of her car and fetched my bags from the trunk. Before I went inside the airport, I leaned into the window of her car and let every ounce of regret I had pour into my words when I apologized, “I really am sorry, Claire. I need you to believe that.”
Pursing her lips, she nodded her head and met my gaze head on, narrowing those gorgeous blue eyes in disdain. “Yeah, well … I’m sorry, too. However, there is one thing you were right about in all of this.”
Knowing the final blow was coming, I had to ask, “What exactly would that be?”
A tear escaped the corner of her eye and she hastily wiped it away, ashamed at letting me see her pain. “It would be the part where you said I deserved someone better than you. Before I would’ve said you were completely wrong, but now … you were absolutely right. Good-bye, Mason.”
With those final words, she turned her face away and sped off out of the terminal, never once slowing down or looking back. I had lost her, and after today there was no way she would ever come back to me.
I was a fucking idiot.
Four Months Later
“How are things going with Cooper?” Melissa asked, lifting a curious brow when I peered over at her through the vines.
Her wavy, auburn hair was pulled back off her face showing off the glow to her cheeks. She rubbed her swollen belly soothingly, which in a couple of months would be a set of twin boys. She had on her favorite yellow maternity sundress which only added to her motherly glow.
Every day, first thing in the morning, we walked together through the main vineyard to inspect the grapes. It was always so peaceful to hear the birds sing and smell the richness of the land. When I needed to think or get away from life, this was where I retreated to. I always had, even when I was a little girl.
Melissa used to be the wife of my older brother, Daniel, and also a high school biology teacher. Now she was my business partner and friend. Even though mine and Daniel’s family were in California, he moved to North Carolina to go to college and decided he wanted to stay there, pursuing his career as a financial advisor to the elite of Charlotte. They were married for two years until Melissa caught him cheating on her. Soon after that they got divorced, and then things went completely downhill.
When my mother died about a year and a half ago, she left the whole estate and the vineyards to me, but also left Melissa the little Tuscan villa we had on the other side of our land along with the vineyards on that property. Needless to say, my brother didn’t like that and thought he deserved the inheritance, especially, since Melissa wasn’t family. He failed to realize that she was more family to us than him. Long story short, he made some bad business decisions and tried to steal the vineyards out from under me. When he got caught, he went off the deep end and kidnapped Melissa in a desperate attempt to get her back. He almost had her over the border to Canada when her cousin Mason, who happened to be a Detective Chief Inspector and also an ex-lover of mine, had tracked them down.
Mason ...
Just thinking about him made me angry all over again. I honestly thought he would come to his senses and show up on my doorstep one day, but he never did. Not that I was God’s gift to men or anything, but after the night we shared I felt a connection to him and I knew he did, too. What I didn’t expect was for him to completely disappear out of my life. In fact, I haven’t spoken to him since I dropped him off at the airport. The closest I had come to hearing his voice was when he called Melissa a couple of months ago to tell her Daniel was out of prison, and a free man.
He had hardly spent any time behind bars for what he did to Melissa and to the clients he stole money from. I guess that was the way the world worked these days. It seemed like anyone could get away with anything and not have to be punished for it. My brother tried to contact me soon after I found out he was out of prison, but I told him I no longer had a brother. It was harsh, but I honestly doubted he even cared. Melissa was my family now, not him.
“Claire?” Melissa asked, waving a hand in front of my face. “Are you all right? You blanked out on me there for a second.”
Rubbing my eyes with the palm of my hands, I shook my head and sighed. “Yeah, of course I am. I was just thinking about some things. So much has happened in the past year. It’s hard to believe that so many bad and terrible things could happen in so short a time.”
“You got that right,” Melissa agreed with a smile. “However, you never answered my question. How are you and Cooper doing? You seem to be doing well.”
Cooper Davis was an old friend of mine from high school who had just moved back to California after being traded from the Dallas Cowboys to be a running back for the Oakland Raiders. He was two years older than me and also the guy I gave my virginity to. I missed him when he went off to college, but I never regretted the time we spent together.
We had a couple of flings over the years when he would come home to visit his family, and when he showed up at my door three months ago telling me he was moving back I knew he was just what I needed to get over Mason. We’d been seeing each other ever since and we’d even talked about moving in together, except I wasn’t so sure on that just yet. I loved Cooper, and the sex was amazing with him, but in my heart I knew something was missing. I just hoped I figured out what it was before things got too serious, which I had a feeling they were about to.
Melissa narrowed her gaze, picking up on my hesitation by the concerned look in her eyes, but I smiled over at her and quickly answered, “Actually, Cooper and I are doing really well as a matter of fact. He wanted me to go with him to Texas to watch him play against his old team, but I told him I didn’t want to leave you here to manage everything on your own. I’ll watch the game on TV tomorrow night.”
Melissa scoffed and rolled her eyes. “What am I … fragile? I know how to take care of the vineyards, Claire, and besides, Brett is always here with me. I think you’re making up excuses. What’s the real reason you didn’t want to go?”
We’d finally arrived back to the main house and I took a seat on the wooden bench inside the gazebo, gazing out at the mountains and the long rows of grapes in the distance. Melissa sat down beside me and waved her hand impatiently in front of my face, waiting on my answer. I blew out a shaky breath and blurted out, “I think Cooper is going to propose to me.”
Melissa beamed and clapped her hands excitedly. “Oh, Claire, that’s great news. Cooper is a wonderful man and we all love him, especially Brett. I think he’s Cooper’s biggest fan. You two will make a great match. Not to mention he’s hot as hell.”
Nodding quickly, I bit my lip and averted my gaze. I didn’t want her to see my hesitation. Cooper was all I could ever want. He was tall with dark brown hair and the most majestic blue eyes I’d ever seen on anyone. With him being an athlete, his body was well chiseled and basically a haven of perfection. However, there was a part of me that couldn’t let go of the past I shared with someone else.
“Claire? That is great news, right?” Melissa asked uncertainly.
Whe
n my gaze lifted to hers, her smile vanished completely and was replaced with understanding and sympathy. She knew what was holding me back. Sighing deeply, she wrapped her arms around my neck and held me as close as humanly possible with her protruding belly in the middle of us.
She murmured softly in my ear, “I thought you were over him, Claire. As much as I think you and Mason would’ve been perfect for each other, I can’t help but think that maybe Cooper came into your life at the right moment. Mason has a stubborn head on his shoulders, but if it’s meant to be he will come back for you. Just don’t miss out on life because he was too stupid to realize what he had in front of him.”
After hearing Melissa’s words of encouragement, it finally became clear. I had been holding back and letting happiness slip by me. Not anymore.
“You know what, Mel, you’re right,” I claimed wholeheartedly. I pulled back out of her arms so I could look at her. I was not the type of girl to wallow in despair over a man, and I couldn’t let Mason hold me back anymore. It was time I started living my life.
With a renewed sense of determination, I looked at Melissa and smiled one last time before rushing out of the gazebo. “Where are you going in such a hurry?” she called, getting slowly to her feet.
Laughing, I looked over my shoulder and shouted, “I’m going to Texas, baby. There’s a sexy football player there who needs me. Besides, I think a little spontaneity will do me some good.”
It was way past time to move on.
Two Days Later
“Are you sure you want to look at that tonight, man?” Jason asked, standing in the doorway and looking concerned. Except, it was hard to take his concern seriously with him standing there in jeans, a plaid button down shirt, boots, and a large brown cowboy hat. He took trying to be a cowboy seriously and all the guys at the station gave him hell about it.
“Some of the guys are going to Coyote Joe’s if you want to come,” he offered. “You’ve been staring at that folder for hours. I think you could use a drink … or twelve.”