This Time Around: A Second Chance Romance (Finding Love in Scotland Series Book 2)

by Gina Azzi

  He’s been drinking.

  I know it the moment the door closes, and I hear his footfalls in the hallway. They sound different when he’s drunk. Heavier. Angrier.

  It’s not uncommon for Corey to have a drink or two after a long day, but lately it’s more like five or six drinks. Every day.

  “There’s my sunshine,” he slurs when he enters the kitchen, wrapping an arm around my waist and pressing a kiss to my temple.

  “Hi babe. How was your day?” I ask, picking up tongs to toss the salad.

  “Why don’t you tell me, Ev?” He leans back against the countertop, his ankles crossed. But his stance is too defensive, his smile leering. Something is off.

  “I’m not sure what you mean,” I begin cautiously, keeping my eyes trained on the romaine lettuce.

  Corey laughs, the sound bitter. Hard. “You don’t?”

  I shake my head.

  “You don’t know that Mitch called me this afternoon and told me that you and his wife, Laurie, went out for drinks last week?”

  “Laurie and I are friends. She invited me to meet her. What’s the big deal?”

  “The big deal? God, Everly, are you really so naive? Everyone in this town knows Laurie cheats on Mitch. Do you want everyone to think you’re a slut, too?”

  I flinch at Corey’s harshness.

  “Or worse, that I’m not just fucking a slut but also shacking up with her? You’re so goddamn selfish sometimes, you know that? Did you even think about my reputation?” He steps closer, the scent of gin strong on his breath. His hand fists my hair and he pulls, yanking my head back so my neck is completely exposed.

  Shivering, I hate that I’m in such a vulnerable position. I hate that he’s made me as vulnerable as I am.

  “Did you?” he jeers.

  I shake my head, unable to form words.

  “I can ruin you, Everly. I can make it so no one in Nashville knows your fucking name. You were nothing before you met me, and you’ll return to nothing if you ever think of jeopardizing my reputation again. Do you understand me?”

  “Yes,” I whisper.

  “Can’t hear you, babe.” He pulls my hair harder and I yelp, feeling him growing hard behind me.

  “Yes.”

  “Good.” He releases me. “Now, what are we having for dinner?”

  Digging the heels of my palms into my eyes, I try to erase the images in my mind, block out the voice that disrupts my waking and sleeping hours, even now.

  Corey Hughes, country music executive and big shot, my ex-boyfriend, the man who beat me so badly I ran away to Edinburgh.

  He used to hang my career over my head all the time.

  But now look, I scored an opportunity to perform at the Grand Ole Opry without him. I did it on my own, with my reputation, my talent. I don’t need him. I never did.

  Except…

  The timing of everything causes my steps to falter, forces me to sink to the edge of my bed and think things through. Be logical, Everly. Remove all emotion and focus on the facts.

  Emotions trip people up, cause people to make stupid mistakes. And in my position, I can’t afford any mistakes. Ever.

  Corey’s sent me two messages in the past week, one of those messages today. Just a day after Addison and him ran into each other at Teddi’s. The same day Addison called me with news about the Grand Ole Opry.

  Is it really a coincidence?

  Or did Corey have a hand in creating this opportunity?

  Is he trying to lure me home?

  Does he even have that type of power, of sway, with the Grand Ole Opry?

  Does it even matter?

  How could I consider passing up this opportunity?

  Sure, going means I’ll have to see Corey again.

  But not going means losing more pieces of myself.

  And I’m not willing to compromise myself anymore.

  My time in Edinburgh, with Aaron, has reminded me of who I once was, has convinced me again that I’m still worth it.

  And this time, I’m not giving up on myself.

  Walking out of my room, I jump at a knock on the door.

  Pressing the heel of my palm into the center of my chest, I close my eyes and count to ten, inhaling and exhaling slowly. My nerves are scattered around my feet and suddenly, I’m petrified of what, or who, waits for me on the other side of the door.

  Is he here?

  Has he come for me?

  The knock sounds again, louder this time, and I shudder.

  “Everly? You in there?”

  “Dan?” I yelp, my relief overwhelming. Tears prick the corners of my eyes as I gulp the air, trying to get a grip.

  You’re fine. You’re fine. You’re fine.

  “You okay?”

  “Y-yes. One second.” Pulling open the door, I grin at Dan. “What’s going on?”

  “Just wondering if you needed me tonight?”

  “Oh, no, I’m all good, thanks. In fact, feel free to take a few days off, do some exploring, whatever you want.”

  “You sure? What about transportation?”

  “I’m covered.”

  “With Aaron?”

  I nod.

  “You’ve been spending a lot of time with him, boss.” Dan tilts his head, studying me.

  “And?”

  “I’m just saying, don’t forget your life is in Nashville. Nashville will always pull you back.” He says the words casually, but something about his word choice bothers me. Again. Does he mean Nashville or Corey?

  Or am I overthinking everything now that Corey has popped back up?

  Shaking my head, I offer Dan a smile. “I know. Just enjoying my time here while it lasts.”

  Dan shrugs. “Okay. Call me when you need me.”

  “Enjoy Edinburgh, Dan.” I close the door, leaning against it and closing my eyes.

  You’re fine. You’re fine. You’re fine.

  Because I like to torture myself, and because I’m looking for some type of reassurance that Corey isn’t luring me back to Nashville on his terms, I fire up my laptop and check his social media accounts. Scrolling through his Facebook feed and clicking through his Instagram photos teaches me two things:

  1. Corey Hughes is pretending that I’m still his girlfriend.

  2. He’ll never let me go.

  15

  Aaron

  “I have exciting news.” Everly’s eyes dazzle as she says the words, jade and sage and moss. But her posture, her fingers gripping the underside of the tabletop, gives me pause. Her words and her gestures don’t match, and the combination is jarring.

  “What is it?” I ask, palming her hips to place a quick peck against her lips. I love coming home after a busy day at work to find her already here, sometimes cooking in the kitchen, other times playing with Olivia. Walking through the door to her has become one of my favorite parts of the day, and I hate knowing that my daily bright spot is going to dim soon with her departure.

  “I’ve been invited to perform at the Grand Ole Opry!” She jumps up and down, her hands landing on my shoulders.

  “That’s fantastic, love,” I gush back, grinning at her excitement, even though I have no idea what she’s talking about.

  “You don’t know what that means, do you?”

  I shake my head, biting back a chuckle. She’s so adorable when she’s excited like this. I love seeing her passion for her work play out across her features. “Tell me.”

  “It’s, oh God, it’s everything. Here.” She pulls me over to the laptop sitting on my kitchen counter. Turning it on, she pulls up YouTube and begins to show me everything about her invitation.

  “Damn Lee.” I whistle low between my teeth. “I’m proud of you, love.”

  “Thanks!” She scrunches her nose, and I lean over to kiss it. “I’m really excited.”

  “This is incredible. You are so damn talented. I can’t even wait to see you perform live. When is your performance?”

  Her smile slips, as her eyes wander away from
mine. “November 30.”

  I breathe in sharply. Two weeks. In two weeks, she’ll be gone. “That’s soon.”

  “Two weeks,” she confirms.

  “It’s going to be incredible, though. You’re going to be incredible.” I rub the small of her back, dropping another kiss to the top of her head. Damn, I can’t not touch her, not kiss her, when she’s this close.

  “You’re not mad?” She glances back up, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth.

  “Mad?” I chuckle. “Lee, I’m so in love with you, I could never be mad. Proud of your success? Always. Sad you’re going to have to leave? Of course. But mad? Never, love.”

  “What did you say?” she asks, her eyes widening, her words breathless.

  “That I could never be angry with you,” I say, teasing her.

  “The first part.”

  “Oh that.” I grin, cupping her cheek. “I love you, Everly Pierce. Have for a long fucking time. And I’m not going anywhere, even when you have to. So take your amazing opportunities and invitations and perform your heart out. But then I want you to come home to me.”

  “I love you,” she says, dragging my face down to hers and kissing me with unexpected ferocity, like a claim. Her kiss pulls me under, soothes the disappointment I feel at her leaving so soon, and fills me with a hope for the future that I last felt with her, fifteen years earlier. “I love you so damn much,” she breathes into my mouth, and I nip at her lower lip.

  Lifting her in my arms, I move us toward my bedroom, kicking the door closed behind me. “Livvy won’t be home from ballet for another hour.” I’m unbuttoning my shirt as fast as my fingers let me.

  “I know.” She grins coyly, whipping her sweater over her head. Flicking open the top buttons of her jeans, my eyes zero in and she pauses. “Eyes up here, hot shot.”

  Chuckling, I force myself to look up, lingering on her breasts a moment too long because she clears her throat.

  “Yes?” I ask, finally meeting her gaze.

  “We’re going to be okay, right?” Her face is open, vulnerable, and something inside of me shifts.

  I give a solemn nod. “Me and you will always be okay. That’s a promise, Lee.”

  “Promise,” she repeats, raking her teeth over her bottom lip.

  “Now get naked,” I tell her, stepping out of my pants.

  Everly’s laughter rings out, musical. She tackles me onto my bed, straddling me. Reaching up, I cup her cheeks, staring into her beautiful, dazzling eyes, before sliding my hands down her shoulders and capturing her wrists. Tugging her forward, she collapses on my chest and I roll her beneath me. Slanting my mouth over hers, I kiss her until I’m drunk on her. I glide my lips over her neck, loving the way she squirms beneath me, desperate to hear the moans that fall from her mouth.

  Some of her sweetness morphs into spice, and when I tug her earlobe in between my teeth, she hisses. Settling between her thighs, she arches into me, groaning as I pepper open-mouthed kisses down the column of her neck, moving lower. Gripping her hip, I kiss her stomach, memorizing the dips and curves of her body with my fingertips. Everly bucks against me as I dip my tongue into her belly button.

  “Hold still, Lee.” I chuckle, rubbing the scruff of my cheek across her lower abdomen, fascinated by the goosebumps that appear on her skin. “We’re always in a rush, fumbling around in the dark, being quiet so Liv won’t hear. I want to take my time with you, babe.”

  “Olivia is going to be home in an hour.” She reminds me, a note of hysteria in her tone.

  “I plan to spend it savoring you.” I glance up, watching her eyes widen as I hook her thigh over my shoulder. “Let me take my time and enjoy this, Lee.”

  She shudders, dropping her head back and closing her eyes. Her hands grip my shoulders, her fingernails digging into my skin.

  Pressing a kiss to her hipbone, I yank her underwear to one side. Desperate to taste her, I drop my head, my hands gripping her thighs, my thumb grazing over …

  Everly flinches, and her entire body stiffens.

  Frowning, I glide my thumb over the crease of her groin again. What the fuck is that? Confusion rocks through me as I peer at her soft skin, horrified by the three circles branded on her. Three perfect dots, the size of a pen cap…or a cigarette. My eyes jump to her opposite hip, noting the ridges of scars there.

  “Everly?”

  Leaning up on her elbows, she shakes her head, her hair falling over her shoulders. “Don’t get distracted now.” Her voice is playful, but her eyes are terrified, searing into mine with a desperation that causes my confusion to morph into fury.

  And fear.

  Who the fuck marked my beautiful girl?

  Who hurt her?

  Searching for signs I may have missed, I balance on my forearms, my eyes scanning her skin, looking for confirmation. For proof. This isn’t the result of an accidental fall or a drunken run in with a doorframe.

  These marks were intentional.

  Someone did this to Everly.

  Lifting my eyes to hers, she shrinks back against the pillows and I wince.

  “Baby, don’t be scared.” I keep my voice soft, my words slow, even as wildfire spreads through my veins. “Who hurt you, love?”

  She shakes her head and I bite the inside of my cheek, trying to control my anger, hold on to my goddamn sanity.

  “Aaron, it was a long time ago, a misunderstanding.” She scoots back on the bed until her back hits the headboard. Folding her knees into her chest, she wraps her arms around them and looks at him, pleadingly.

  Fuck.

  Sitting back until I’m kneeling on the bed next to her, I take her hand in mine and squeeze her fingers. “Don’t lie to me, Lee. Not about this.”

  “I’m not.” Her voice is small, her eyes trained on the wall in front of her.

  She’s lying. Blatantly, to my face.

  Like Kate.

  All the right words in the completely wrong tone.

  Everly’s shoulders roll forward and she dips her chin, desperate to disappear into herself.

  I blow out an exhale, yanking on the back of my neck.

  Everly isn’t Kate. She’s not lying to hurt me.

  She’s lying to protect herself.

  She’s scared.

  Hiding out, is what she said to me the day of The Fringe.

  “Lee, who hurt you?”

  She flinches, her eyelids dropping, blocking the light of her eyes.

  “Love, please. I’m here for you. Whatever you need. But if someone hurt you, baby, I need you to tell me.” I shift closer, wrapping her tense frame in my arms and holding her against my chest.

  We sit in silence for long minutes as Everly’s body slowly relaxes.

  And it’s the hardest fucking thing I’ve ever done.

  Because while I hold her and kiss the crown of her head and run my fingers along her arm, my muscles are coiled so goddamn tightly, they ache. My blood is running hot, my mind clouded with scenarios and possibilities and suspects.

  Who the fuck hurt my girl?

  When?

  Has she told anyone?

  Is she scared to tell me?

  Was it a one-time thing or did he keep hurting her?

  Deep down, I know it’s Corey Hughes. I know it as surely as I know Olivia is my daughter and Finn is my brother. But I need to hear Everly say the words; I need her to tell me the truth.

  “Everly.” I whisper against her hair.

  Immediately, her body tightens up, her shoulders tense, on alert.

  “Aaron.” Her voice is broken, reverberating through the space between us like an echo.

  “Who hurt you?”

  “I-I can’t talk to you about this.”

  Closing my eyes, I drop my weight against the headboard, holding Everly tightly against my chest. “Can’t or won’t?”

  “I-I’m not ready.”

  “Baby, please. Let me in.”

  She sighs, turning slowly to look at me.

  And the pa
in in her eyes renders me speechless, turning some of my anger into devastation. For her. For what she lost. For what he took.

  “I want to. I will. But, I’m not there yet. Please, Aaron. I need you to trust me. There are things, things I want to tell you, that I want to confide in someone about but I’m not, I can’t.” She shakes her head. “Not tonight. Olivia’s coming home. We’re going to have dinner and make a plan for while I’m on tour. Please, let me tell you when I’m ready. Don’t force me.”

  Don’t force me.

  Those words, coming from her mouth, in that desperate, pleading voice, steals my retort from my throat. Dread spreads through me as guilt settles in my stomach. Her word choice is all wrong, implying horrors I hadn’t even considered. “Baby, I’d never force you to do anything you don’t want to do.”

  She nods, dropping her eyes and pulling the sheet tighter around her body.

  “I love you, Everly. And I’m here for you. Always. Whatever you want to tell me, whenever you’re ready to say it, I’m here.”

  “Thank you.”

  Sighing, I pull Everly closer. The silence wraps around us as we both travel in our own thoughts.

  How do I prove to Everly that I’m here for her?

  Is she really okay?

  Who the hell put his hands on her?

  What else did he do to her?

  Do I possess enough patience to trust her the way she asked?

  Why does she feel like she can’t be honest with me?

  Is this how the end started between Kate and me? An inability to communicate and trust each other?

  No, but Everly asked you for time and understanding. She’s still communicating.

  Fuck. Why is everything always so goddamn difficult?

  “Aaron, Olivia will be home in twenty minutes.”

  “Aye.” I untangle myself from Everly. “Take a hot shower, love. I’ll fix dinner.” Forcing myself to dress, I leave Everly alone and let my thoughts consume me.

  Please, please, please, let us be okay.

  That night, after Olivia is sleeping soundly and the kitchen is cleaned from our dinner, I pull the calendar up on my laptop, and Everly and I sit down at the kitchen table, ready to have the serious conversation we’ve been dancing around for weeks.