Another Chance (Lake Placid Series Book 7) Read online

  “Matt!” The two of them stopped and turned. There was an old classmate of theirs. He was working in the sporting goods store. “I thought I recognized you, but didn’t think it was possible until I noticed you with Dena. Holy cow. How have you been? Are you two an item again?”

  “Hey, Sean,” Matt said, reaching his hand out. “I’m doing good.” She noticed he didn’t address the comment on if they were an item or not, which was just as well.

  “Are you just visiting?” Sean asked.

  “I’m here for the foreseeable future,” he said, looking at her.

  She just grinned back and then looked at Sean. “How’s Michaela doing? You guys had a baby a few months ago, right? A little girl?”

  Sean pulled his phone out of his pocket. “Gabby. Yep, she’s three months old. Take a look at that smile. Just like her mother, huh?” Sean said proudly.

  Dena looked the pictures over, keeping her smile in place, though it was forced. Sure, she was happy for Sean. He was a good guy, but he had what she’d thought she’d have at this point in her life and it was hard to keep the big green beast locked up tight.

  “What a beauty she is,” Dena said, moving the phone toward Matt to look.

  “She is a cutie,” Matt said.

  “If you’re in town for a bit, maybe we can try to get the old gang together. Something to do on a cold weekend?”

  “I’ll let you know,” Matt said. “It was good seeing you again.”

  They left the store after that. “Sorry,” Dena said. “Part of living here. It’s going to happen. More so with people seeing us together.”

  “Why are you sorry?” he asked. “I’m not at all. Not that I planned this, but today is working out pretty damn well.”

  “You want people to see us together and talk?” Dena asked.

  “I hadn’t thought one way or another. If it makes you feel uncomfortable, then no, I don’t want that. If it gets you to relax around me, then I’ll walk all over town for days.”

  “I’m relaxed around you. Why would you say that?”

  He shrugged and they kept walking down the street. She stopped and pulled him to the side of a building out of foot traffic. “Tell me, Matt.”

  “It’s just we haven’t seen as much of each other as I would have liked.”

  “We’ve had dinner at a restaurant, dinner at your house twice, we’re on a date now. We’ve shared a few kisses. Is it because you want me in your bed and that’s why you don’t think I’m relaxed?”

  He cleared his throat. “I don’t remember you being this blunt before.”

  “Like you’ve said before. Times have changed. I told you, I’m tempted. I want it. I’d be lying if I said otherwise. I need to decide if I want it because I’m horny or if I want it to mean more.”

  His eyes lit up. “Can’t it be all of those things?”

  “You just want to get in my pants like you did when you were seventeen.”

  “Yep. I do.”

  She punched his arm, threaded their fingers together and pulled him back out onto the sidewalk. “Just like a man.”

  “Oh, don’t you be saying that. You were the one yanking me in hard the other night,” he said.

  “Let’s make a deal with each other,” she said. “We’re different people. It’s hard to push the past away, but some things it’s okay to. Let’s go with our guts moving forward. We’ve been on a couple of dates in the past few weeks. It’s a new relationship and we have to not focus as much on the past. I don’t want to get burned any more than you do and that will continue to be in the back of my mind. But I’ve decided to treat this like I would anyone I just started dating.”

  “Meaning?” he asked.

  She didn’t miss the hope and the heat in his eyes but he also looked like a little boy waiting in line for his first baseball game with his glove clutched in his hands as he rocked back and forth on his toes hoping to see his idol.

  “Meaning, I’d like to go home and shower and change and get ready for another date tonight. I’d like to stay the night at your place if you’d like me to because it’s more dates I’ve had with you than I’ve had with other people I’ve dated before and have slept with them. Not that I dated a lot or slept around, but you understand where I’m coming from.”

  “I do,” he said. “I don’t want you to feel pressured though. I don’t want to make any missteps or mistakes. I don’t want to risk anything.”

  “I understand that. We’re both going to make missteps and mistakes and we’ve got to get over it. There’s no pressure here other than what I feel deep inside. I’ve waited long enough for this next step. I think we both have. Who knows? Maybe it will be horrible enough for us to say this won’t work.”

  “Now that is just cruel. I mean downright malicious and putting huge pressure and expectations of high performance on my shoulders. Why would you say that?” he asked, whining like the little boy at the ballgame that had the pop fly snatched away from him by a greedy adult.

  “Payback, maybe?”

  ***

  Payback was a bitch if he did say so himself.

  He’d dropped Dena off at home, then went back to shower and wash the sheets, then clean the house.

  He was excited just as much now as he was when he knew he and Dena were going to lose their virginity together when they were seventeen.

  Sure, he knew what he was doing now, but it meant so much more this time around.

  Of course she had to go put all those thoughts and ideas in his head about it being horrible tonight and her saying they weren’t compatible. He wasn’t joking when he said that was a rotten thing for her to say.

  Deep down he knew it’d be fine. They’d always had a great active sex life before. Better than he’d had with other women over the years.

  Had he compared what he and Dena had? Yeah, he had. Even though it was a young love, it was still different than having sex with women for a physical need.

  He was looking to fill an emotional one now. He was hoping he could do the same for her.

  Once his house was ready and he was set to go, he sat down to check on some emails for work trying to kill time. Dena said she’d be back around six.

  When he opened his laptop he saw he had some messages from Randall and a few other colleagues at the firm on the cases he was working on. He clicked on the most recent one from Randall praising his work on finding some references and data on a case that was being tried this week.

  Randall was good at tossing the bones out and patting him on the head like the starving stray on the streets just looking for affection. He wondered why he never noticed it before. Now it just made him cringe to read it.

  There was no reason to reply so he didn’t. He was done with that case for the moment until Randall needed something more. Until then he was going to focus on his other cases and the malpractice suit.

  He decided to put work from his mind and popped over to his personal email. He very rarely checked, as most of the stuff was just advertising and junk.

  There was one from his mother sent to him earlier this morning. That was odd. She hadn’t emailed him once since he’d been back in Lake Placid.

  He clicked the link and opened it up to see an article on a local attorney who was retiring, his practice most likely going up for sale.

  Damn her.

  Took It to Heart

  Dena was all showered and full of anticipation when she pulled into the driveway of Matt’s place.

  She hadn’t meant to be that bold earlier today. She hadn’t meant to put it all out on the line like she did either.

  But she was thirty years old and she was sick of being safe. Sick of guarding her heart.

  Would she continue to do it? Yep, she would because she was smart that way. But she was going to go with her heart too. She was going to go with her brain. She was going to go with everything she felt and try to find a happy middle ground.

  If that middle ground was stripping Matt Winters naked and kissing every
part of his body, then so be it. She knew she’d be one happy girl by morning.

  She’d only been kidding with him with the payback comment. Teasing of sorts. She did that a lot with him and was shocked that he took it to heart.

  Guess it really went to show how much he felt he had on the line and she was a little remorseful that she might have put that added stress on him.

  Nah, she didn’t feel that bad.

  She just started to walk toward the front porch when she heard the garage door open, so she changed directions and went in that way. He was coming out of the door and walking to his SUV. She was glad she’d pulled to the side so they could get out in his vehicle.

  “You don’t even want to invite me in?” she said, smiling and walking to the passenger door.

  “Nope. I want to get to the restaurant and get this meal over with, then get back here.”

  The laugh escaped and she leaned over in the front seat and put her lips to his. “You’re too funny. Would it help if I told you I had something special planned for later?”

  “Now I know you’re doing this on purpose.”

  “Not really. More like I don’t want you to feel like there is this big weight on your shoulders. That I’m putting in the effort to make sure it’s pretty damn memorable myself.”

  He let out a breath as if he was relieved. “Really?”

  “Really, Matt. And I’m sorry if I made you stress over it. That wasn’t my intention at all.”

  They got to the Italian restaurant and went inside. It was on the tip of her tongue to comment on the fact that they’d come to this place a lot when they were dating. It was cheap and fast and had great pizza. She was guessing he was going for the fast part.

  “What?” he said. “No comment on the place? I put a lot of thought into this.”

  She didn’t understand. “Our old stomping ground?” she asked.

  “I’m hurt, Dena. You were all about romance and holding hands ice skating and you don’t remember this?”

  They were led over to a booth and when she sat down it actually dawned on her. They’d come here first after school for a slice of pizza on the day they’d lost their virginity to each other. They’d even joked about having garlic breath afterward as they planned to make out on the couch. How could she have forgotten that?

  Or better yet, points for him for remembering. “I remembered. Sometimes I’ve remembered more than I liked and pushed those memories away because they hurt too much. I guess you’re one up on me for the night. Well played,” she said.

  “I had to,” he said. “You had me all scared. I needed to pull out all the guns. I thought you’d appreciate this more than some high-end dinner.”

  “Don’t be pulling out any guns until later tonight,” she said, leaning in to whisper across the table.

  “Am I blushing? I swear to God my face just heated right up.”

  She laughed and winked at him. “This is fun,” she said.

  “You torturing me?”

  “No. Our banter. We used to be this way before. The words were different, but the context was the same. If we’re being honest, I haven’t had this with anyone else. I’ve been looking for it and I’ve missed it. I’m glad we’ve still got it between us.”

  “Me too.”

  Dinner went fast, just like she remembered it being. They’d gotten a pepperoni and sausage pizza, light on the garlic. They didn’t wait around for dessert, as both of them couldn’t get out of there fast enough.

  The drive back to his place didn’t take long, but it felt like an eternity. The nerves she had the first night she was going to have sex with him weren’t present, but the anticipation of how good it could be was.

  Once they were in the house she remembered her bag in her car and went out to get it. She knew her stuff would be cold, but she wasn’t about to change her mind about her plans.

  “What’s in there?” he asked her.

  “I thought I said I wanted to spend the night. We’ve never spent the whole night together. Unless you want me to leave after.”

  “No,” he said, reaching for her. “I want you to stay. I’m looking forward to holding you all night. We never had the chance to do that before.”

  They hadn’t. When they’d had sex it was normally when they had an empty house. More her house than his, but they’d never spent the night together either. That was one thing she’d thought of back then. Finding ways to visit him at college or him visiting her so that they could sleep together all night long.

  It never happened.

  It will tonight though.

  “I’m just going to change. Can we meet back in your bedroom?”

  “Oh, so there is more than clothes for tomorrow in your bag?”

  “Yes,” she said, dipping her head. It was another thing she’d never been able to do for him before. Time and money didn’t allow for sexy outfits. Not that this was overtly sexy, but it was something.

  She went to the bathroom, putting her bag on her shoulder, and saw that he went to the room at the end of the hall. Once she was changed, she walked down and stood in the doorway, all the bravado in the world coming forward like their first time together. She’d been terrified, but he’d been so good with her and easing her mind.

  “Holy shit,” he said, letting out a breath. “You are trying to kill me.”

  “It’s not much, but I did want to put some effort into tonight.”

  “It’s enough,” he said, walking forward and reaching a hand out, wrapping it around her neck and pulling her in. She thought for a kiss, but it was just a hug.

  Not just a hug, but one of comfort. One of warmth. One trying to ease her mind like he had in the past.

  His hands started to move over her arms, chills being left in his wake. Then they moved up her back, over the black silk material of her little baby doll slip that stopped just at her hips.

  “What is on under here?” he asked, his hands sliding under and feeling her bare cheeks. “A thong. Nice.”

  “Are you going to go slow tonight?” she asked him, marveling at how soft his hands were. How gentle they were. How tender. Tears wanted to form in her eyes but she was determined to not feel that kind of emotion tonight.

  What she wanted to feel was a physical release. Emotional releases were staying bottled away for the moment.

  “I’ve been waiting a long time for this. I don’t want to rush.”

  “Well, that is just too darn bad,” she said, stepping out of his arms and a foot back. Her hands went to the waist of his shirt and she pulled it out of his jeans. “Because I’m pretty worked up and wanting to see what is under these clothes. My guess is we’ve both filled out a bit more than before.”

  “I might have added a few muscles over the years,” he said smirking at her.

  “And I’m dying to see them.”

  There was no time to waste in her mind, so she pulled his shirt over his head and sent it flying, then started to attack the button and zipper on his jeans. She shoved them down his legs fast, her eyes just quickly catching sight of the scar on this thigh. She was more interested in the fact that he still favored boxer briefs.

  And yes, he had more muscle on him. Not just his thighs but also on his torso. He didn’t have a six pack, but it was damn close and she was thinking all that physical therapy was likely putting him in better shape than he’d ever thought he’d be in.

  He didn’t look like someone that rode a desk, but someone she was going to ride on right now.

  She gave him a little shove toward the bed and then climbed on top of him, straddling his hips and leaning down on her hands, her mouth going to his like a woman starving for chocolate on a bad day. She was beyond slow and steady.

  This was a need and a thirst that had to be satisfied. This was a desire she hadn’t felt for another male in... forever. She wasn’t going to stop to think or analyze that now. There’d be time for that another day.

  What she was going to do was find some satisfaction in making Mat
t squirm under her.

  His hands moved beneath the silk covering her body, lifting it up, forcing her lips off of his, and tossing it aside. “You’ve filled out a bit there too.”

  “They aren’t enhanced,” she said, eying him.

  “I know you guys are good, but I didn’t think you’d be one to do that anyway.”

  “I’m not,” she said. Getting implants had never been something she was interested in. She liked her body as it was given to her.

  “Okay, the way you’re moving, we better get rid of the rest of these clothes and get a condom out.”

  “Good idea.”

  She wiggled out of her little thong and he slid off his underwear, then reached over to the bedside table to pull a condom out of the drawer. She noticed the scars on his back along with the ones on his torso and pushed thoughts of them aside.

  His hands reached for her again, she knew it was to put her on her back, but she was having none of that. She didn’t want tenderness and she saw it in his eyes that he was leaning that way.

  “My way this time,” she said, reaching for the condom and opening it up, then sliding it on.

  “I don’t even get any foreplay?”

  She rose up and slid down on top of him, his eyes rolled back in his head, and she was sure hers matched. “How’s that?”

  “It works,” he said, but his hands went up to her breasts and started to squeeze then knead. Her nipples were pebbling and felt tight.

  He must have sensed that, just like he always sensed everything she’d felt before, and he leaned up, his mouth going to one and pulling it deep like a thirsty man walking the desert for days, his fingertips going to another.

  He was getting his foreplay in just fine and it was working out great, but her body needed more and she started to move.

  Slow and steady normally won the race, but today was fast and hurried. She wanted an explosion and she knew she’d get it with the way they were going.

  “God, you feel so good,” he mumbled.

  “Only good?” she asked.

  “Well, better than good, but I’m concentrating here,” he said.

  Her body just had a mind of its own and took off. His teeth grazing a nipple was probably part of it. The pressure building from any lack of orgasm added to the fullness filling her and she was ready to burst open.