Not a Second Chance (14 page)

“And what else were you going to say?”

He wasn’t as nervous now, but he still wasn’t used to saying these things to a woman. It had been years since he’d admitted to having any feelings for someone. Feelings for
her
.

“I shouldn’t have left on Sunday. We should have finished the weekend together, and then…we should have kept seeing each other. That’s what I want now. To try again. Because I love you, and I think we could make it work this time. If you—”

“Yes.” She reached across the table and squeezed his hand. “I love you too.”

He’d wanted to hear her say those words for a very long time. When he was spending his days gambling on shady websites and being yelled at by his parents, this was the one thing he’d wanted. When he finally managed to turn his life around and vowed he was done with relationships, sometimes he still thought of her and wished she’d take him back. She’d receded to the back of his mind in recent years, but every now and then, he couldn’t help but think of her. And the thought of Allison was always accompanied by the dream of her changing her mind.

But in the past few days, she hadn’t been pushed to the back of his mind. No, in the past few days, Allison Wong had been all he could think about.

And now she really had changed her mind.

“That’s what I was coming over to tell you,” she said. “But you beat me to it.” She glanced down at her shirt; there was a smear of chocolate just below the collar. “I’ve been eating too much chocolate and barely sleeping all week because of you.”

“I always cause you so much trouble.”

“Yeah. You really do.” She laughed. “But I like it.”

“I’m glad.”

“Since I was getting sick of chocolate bars, I came here for chocolate cake.
Quadruple
chocolate cake. And Eliza told me you’d come in a few days ago.”

“I couldn’t help it.” He hadn’t expected to see her that day, but she’d been on his mind so damn much, and he’d felt this overwhelming urge to do something, to be close to her.

“Knowing that you were thinking about me—I don’t know. It made me happy. And I decided it was silly to wallow in heartbreak—I should at least tell you. Maybe you’d be a wimp and—”

“No,” he said. “We’re going to do this. Do it right this time.”

“We are.”

“I’m not the same now—”

“And neither am I. I don’t want to protect myself from what you might make me feel. I’m not afraid of being in love with you; I already
am
in love with you. When you’re not pissing me off, of course.”

He leaned over and kissed her on the lips. She kissed him back, unlike the last time he’d kissed her in the bakery. And unlike last time, he wasn’t trying to convince her of anything with this kiss, because they already knew what was happening.

“So what was with the bet?” he asked, leaning back. He could kiss her more later, when they weren’t in public. “Why did Kristy make it?”

“Oh.” Allison laughed. “She thought some forced proximity would help get us back together.”

“She wants us together?”

“Apparently.”

“I feel like I should have figured that out,” he said.

“When she told me, I was surprised, but later…Yeah. I should have figured it out. I mean, why she else would she want us to spend a weekend in each other’s company? It seems obvious now.”

Allison looked down at her plate. She picked up her fork and ate the final bite of cake, closing her eyes and chewing slowly, as though it was the greatest thing she’d ever tasted. He stared at her mouth, like she’d told him not to do last time, and admired her lips, her face, all of her.

“You want to get out of here?” he asked.

“I’m not done yet.”

“You just had the last bite.”

“There’s icing on the plate that needs to be scraped off.”

She proceeded to torture him by running her finger over the plate, then sucking the icing off her finger. In slow motion.

“That’s it.” He grasped her arm and pulled her up. “We’re leaving.”

“Fine. Your place or mine?”

“Yours. It’s closer. And the people above me are having a loud sex marathon and shouting stuff that does
not
turn me on. I don’t want you to get any ideas.”

She laughed again.

He’d get to hear the sound of her laughter—and her moans and groans and gasps—over and over. And the thought thrilled him to the core.

“Saturday,” he said, “we’re going to have another indoor picnic, and I promise to be the sweetest guy you’ve ever been with.”

“I know you will.”

“Was that sarcastic? It sounded sarcastic to me.” No, it hadn’t. Not at all.

“You are so much trouble,” she muttered, reaching up to cup his cheek.

He wrapped his hand around hers and led her out the door.

Ready to start the life he’d always wanted.

The End

Publisher’s Note

Please help this author's career by posting an honest review wherever you purchased this book.

Contemporary romance author Laura Jardine studied engineering and worked in mineral exploration, but always wanted to be a writer. She lives in Toronto with her boyfriend, and despite living in Canada her whole life, she hates winter.