Love's Second Chance (Second Chances Series) (17 page)

“Galen,” Korinne moaned. “I’m so close.”

“I … know …” I stammered out. Thrusting harder, she gripped her legs tighter around my waist, keeping me locked in place. My release came swiftly inside her tight body while she contracted from her orgasm. I held her in my arms, still wrapped around my body; with me still deep inside of her, we enjoyed the aftershocks of our orgasms. “I love you,” I said while gazing into her eyes. “I’ve always loved you.” I kissed her gently on the lips before lifting her off of my still hard cock. As much as I wished I could make love to her again, I knew I couldn’t. We both washed up as best we could, smiling and gazing at each other in the bathroom mirror the whole time, and headed back out to the departure gate. Thankfully, we were the only ones in the bathroom during that session, but it was a risk I was willing to take. We made it just in time for the attendant at the gate to make the announcement of my departure over the intercom.

“First class passengers now boarding for flight 1284 for Denver.”

“That’s me.” I sighed sadly. Korinne had a glow about her, and I couldn’t seem to take my eyes away from her. “You’re so beautiful,” I murmured in her ear as I held her tight. “When I come back we need to make up for lost time.”

Korinne smiled. “I look forward to it. Will you call me when you land? That way I’ll know you’re safe.”

I nodded. “I will, and I’ll call you every day so I can hear the sweet sound of your voice.”

Her face beamed brighter and she grinned. “That sounds like a plan. I know I have a lot of making up to do.”

“Yes, you do,” I teased. “And I’m going to enjoy every minute of it.” The sound of the attendant making the final announcement for boarding came over the intercom.

“You have to go,” she murmured softly.

I kissed her lips lightly and cupped her face in my hands. “I’ll be back shortly, I promise. I love you, Kori.”

“And I love you.” She smiled and let me go. Turning to walk away, I looked back once to see her trying desperately to hold onto her sweet smile. That smile was the last thing I saw before turning the corner, and it would be the one thing I thought about the whole time I was gone.

Chapter Fifteen

“Are you ready for Mr. Matthews to come home?” Rebecca asked in a sing-song voice. Laughing, I turned from my desk to see her with a huge grin on her face.

“Yes, I’m excited! I don’t see how this week could’ve gone any slower.”

“I know, honey, but all you have is one more appointment and then it should be time for him to come home.” I smiled thinking about that night and knowing that I’d be with Galen, no restrictions or reservations, just me and him. What I consented to at the airport was something I had never done or thought I would ever do in my life. Galen brought out the spontaneity in me, along with an insatiable drive to make love to him. I loved how exhilarating it felt.

“Korinne?”

I snapped to attention at Rebecca’s voice calling my name. “Honey, you need to stop that daydreaming and get on the road or you’ll be late.” Looking swiftly down at my watch, I saw that I was closing in on my appointment time with a new client.

“Damnit! I better get going then.” Rebecca giggled and went back to her desk while I hastily gathered my things. Thinking about Galen was going to interfere with my work if I didn’t watch it. If he was there that week in the office I probably wouldn’t have gotten anything done. Packing up my things, I headed out on my way. The traffic wasn’t too bad, so the drive to my client’s house took less time than I expected. At least I arrived ten minutes ahead of schedule. The gated neighborhood was really nice and set around a golf course. My parents would’ve loved it there, since golf was their favorite thing to do. I tried to learn how, but I never got the hang of it. I pulled into the driveway and exited the car. Sometimes I never knew what to expect with my clients, but I saw that I was in for a surprise when the door opened and …

“Kori?”

Shocked into silence, I stared at what used to be one of my best friends in high school. Melissa was one of the sweetest and down to earth friends I had back then. She was still as beautiful as ever and looked exactly the same. Her red, wavy hair hung past her shoulders and her eyes were still the greenest I’d ever seen. We used to have some fun times together, but then we slowly drifted apart when we went to separate colleges. It was amazing how things like that changed.

“Well, what do we have here?” I squealed excitedly. It was wonderful seeing her again. She squealed right along with me and we tackled each other in hugs.

“Korinne, I had no clue it was you coming! I heard Korinne Anders was the best, but I didn’t know they were talking about you. Come on in!” She laughed while motioning me inside. Her house was amazingly built, and it looked like she had just moved in from how vacant the main room was. There did happen to be some lawn chairs scattered about inside, which I found kind of odd. Glancing around the room, I thought I could hide my skeptical look, but I don’t think I succeeded. Melissa burst out laughing so I turned to look at her, curious to know what she found funny.

“You used to have that same look back in the day when you were thinking about something too hard,” she stated humorously.

I shrugged, still looking at all the surroundings. “Well, I’m just a little surprised that you have this huge house and not much in it except those lawn chairs over there,” I pointed out and laughed.

“See, that’s the thing. I used to have a lot in here, but after my cheating husband and I got divorced he took most of the things from inside. The house was left to me, but I deserved it anyway after what he did to me. I
wanted
him to take all of his shit from inside here.”

“Wow,” I said, flabbergasted. “We have a lot to catch up on don’t we?”

She sighed. “Yes, we do.”

“Tell me what you want and I’ll see what I can come up with,” I said to her while pointing around the vacant room. Melissa took me through the house and gave me her ideas on what she would like and what I could do for her. After everything was completed, I honestly believed that it was going to be one of my favorite projects. Her ideas mixed with mine were going to make for a gorgeous house. I looked forward to spending more time with her.

“Now that business is taken care of, how about a glass of tea?” Melissa offered.

“Yes, thank you. That would be great.”

Melissa fetched us our tea and motioned for me to follow her. We sat at the patio table on the back porch of her house while we soaked in the sun. The cool, spring breeze was the perfect weather for a break outdoors. That day had been perfect in general. I’d been reunited with one of my childhood friends and I was going to see the man I loved within just a few short hours.

“How long have you been divorced?” I asked her.

She furrowed her brows in concentration. “About a month now, I believe. He had the gall to cheat on me with our neighbor. Can you believe that?”

My eyes went wide in surprise. “Wow! That is … something. What a douche bag.”

Melissa took a sip of her tea and nodded. “Tell me about it. Well, after I caught him in bed with her it was game on.”

“Did you know he was cheating?” I asked curiously.

“I had my speculations, so one day I decided to come home early from work just to see if I could catch him, and what do you know … I did. Talk about perfect timing.”

Melissa was a firecracker in school, so I could only imagine what she did when she found out. I moved closer to her, eager to hear the rest of the story. “What did you do when you found them?”

Her lips quirked at the corner and I knew very well what that quirk meant. It was her devilish smirk, the smirk that said ‘I don’t take shit from anyone and you’re going to pay’ kind of smirk. “Well, I went around the side of the house and grabbed the water hose. Our room was just off to the side of the first level so it was easy to reach the distance once I was inside. It made me sick to hear their grunts and moans, but I busted down the door and sprayed them with ice cold water.”

I placed a hand over my mouth to stifle the laugh that tried to escape. Melissa was laughing, but I could see the hurt that still lingered in her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Melissa. I know it’s not funny, but I can just imagine how terrifying you must have been. You have a temper just like me.”

She gave a small laugh. “And that is why no one messed with us in high school. Once I hosed them down, the whore ran straight out of the house bare-ass naked. It was funny watching her run around shrieking. Her husband wasn’t too happy to see her running to their house with no clothes on though.”

“Did they get divorced also?”

“Of course they did. Her husband went hysterical and threw all of her stuff out in their front lawn. Needless to say, it was the most excitement this neighborhood had seen in a long time. All right, so enough about me and my disorganized life. Tell me about you and what you’ve been up to. Are you married? Divorced?”

I took a sip of my tea before answering. Melissa smiled and waited patiently for me to speak. “I
was
married, but he died several months ago,” I told her.

Melissa gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh Korinne, I’m so sorry. You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

I waved her off and grinned. “It’s okay. I like talking about Carson. It used to hurt talking about him, but now I couldn’t imagine not talking about him. I miss him so much, but he’ll always be in my heart.”

“If you don’t mind my asking, what happened?”

“He died in a car accident. He had worked a load of extra hours at the hospital with no sleep. It was something he liked to do and never minded it. Being a doctor was his passion. On his way home he fell asleep at the wheel and ran off into a ditch. He died that same morning.”

Tears welled up in Melissa’s eyes as she reached for my hand. “If I would’ve known I would have made sure to be there for you.”

I smiled. “Oh I know you would have, but after he died I moved to Charleston for a while to stay with my parents. I just moved back here a couple of months ago. Not being able to handle the loss, I ran away, but at last I’m finally coming to terms with it.”

“Well, you look like you’re doing great. You work for an amazing firm and you have a wonderful and creative gift.” Before she had the chance to continue my phone buzzed with an incoming text. I looked down at the screen and my heart thrummed a million times over when I saw Galen’s name pop up. He was finally home!

Galen:
Pack a bag. You’re staying with me for the rest of the week.

“Ah, I would know that kind of smile from anywhere. Do tell my friend,” Melissa teased. I quickly texted Galen back.

Me:
I’m so glad you’re back. I’ve missed you. I’ll see you in just a bit.

The goofy grin on my face had Melissa giggling and shaking her head. I couldn’t help but smile when I thought about Galen. “His name is Galen. He’s the owner of M&M.”

“Oh wow! Dating the boss man, huh? How did that happen?”

“I knew him in college. We dated for a while, but then I transferred to another school. I loved him then and I love him now. After Carson died I thought I would be too afraid to love again, but Galen is just … Galen. I couldn’t help but fall back in love with him. It’s scary to feel this way but I couldn’t ignore what my heart was telling me. He’s my second chance at a new life.”

“I’m happy for you, Korinne. Maybe one day I’ll have a second chance at love. It’ll be difficult to trust someone, but I guess I need to believe there
is
someone out there for me.”

Squeezing her hand lightly, I looked into her bright green eyes with warmth and understanding. I could see it in her gaze that she was lonely, but Melissa was strong and she would make it through this. “There
is
someone out there that will love you with all their heart and that will earn that trust you seek. Everyone deserves a second chance, and your time will come. I never thought I would get one, but I did, and he’s the most amazing man I know.”

Melissa stood and took our glasses. “Thank you. I truly hope you’re right.”

“I’m always right,” I teased. “You should know that.” We both laughed and said our good-byes. Happy and excited, I left Melissa’s house and headed home to pack a bag. I had a lot of time to make up for with Galen and it was going to start that night.