One Last Time: A Second Chance Romance Read online

  My nails dug into his shoulders, knees hugging tightly to his thighs as a hard shiver wracked through my body. Then, I was crying out as I came, shuddering, wave after wave of pleasure coursing through my body and making me think I’d shake apart. Abe’s chest rumbled in a growl as he fucked me harder and faster, then went still as I felt his hot come spurt inside me.

  I went limp against him, closing my eyes as I rested my head on his shoulder, panting for breath. Abe was about as still as I was, but after a few seconds, I felt him shifting around. I groaned in protest, but didn’t complain. He lifted me with the arm he still had around my waist, making me gasp as his cock slipped out of me. His come followed, and I could feel it trickling down my thigh, but then Abe was wiping something soft between my thighs. Where did the tissues come from?

  Abe got us both cleaned up and presentable by himself, my body felt too heavy for me to move to help. By the time we got to the airport, I felt like I could walk without stumbling, though there was still a light tremble in my thighs as I stood up. Once again, I kept my eyes on the ground, my face blushing, as I walked past the driver and into the airport.

  Thinking of the trip back was enough to sober me up.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Abe

  Finally, I thought with a sigh, leaning back in my chair.

  It was the end of the work day, and I was just about to step out of my office. First, I emailed the reports I’d just reviewed back to the managers that sent them to me. They still needed to be perfected, and that wasn’t my job. Once the emails were sent, I logged out of the company’s system and turned off the computer. My cell buzzed where I’d left it beside my key board, and picked it up, smiling when I saw it was a text from Brooklyn.

  “You don’t yet?”

  It had been a day since we’d been back, and already I missed her. I had gotten into work early both yesterday and today so I would have some free time to spend with her. I didn’t know what was happening with her friend and the wedding, but even though she hadn't said it, I didn’t think she had that many days left in New York. I let her know the time we would meet earlier, and I was running a little late.

  “Sorry. Work’s been hectic, but I’m done now.”

  “If you’re busy, we can put this off,” she sent back immediately.

  “It’s fine. I’m on my way out already.”

  I stood up as I typed, then sent the message off and picked up my coat from where it sat on the back of my chair. I pulled it on, put the cell in an inside pocket, then picked up my briefcase on the floor beside the desk. Then I hurried out of my office, barely sparing a goodbye for my secretary as I left work.

  There was a small café not too far from work where I’d asked her to meet me. It was a little too late for lunch, and still early for dinner at just half past three in the afternoon, so I figured it was the perfect place to meet.

  It was still early, so if I could get her to spend more time with me, we might just beat the rush hour and I could get her back to my place. Or Maria’s, since it was actually closer, and it might make Brooklyn feel more assured. I hadn't missed how she’d grown slightly withdrawn ever since our trip back, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it with how busy I was.

  There was no time to drop my briefcase off. It would mean going down to the underground parking to drop it off in the car, so I ended up taking it along. Thankfully, there were no important or confidential documents in it, because I didn’t think I’d be paying much attention to it.

  When I arrived at the café, I was breathing a bit heavier, and feeling hot even with the cold breeze that always seemed to be blowing through the streets of New York. After the heat in California, adjusting back was annoying, but better now than when I’d come back after four years under mostly sweltering sun. I tugged on my tie as I pushed the café door open with my shoulder, and caught sight of Brooklyn right away. She was seated at a small table with two seats, her eyes already looking at the doorway.

  Smiling, I hurried over to her. “Hey, there,” I said as I set the briefcase down and pulled the seat out so I could sit down. “Sorry about that, I hope I didn’t make you wait too long.”

  “It’s fine,” she said with a shake of her head. “I’ve barely been here five minutes, but I would really love something hot to drink right about now.”

  I looked her over. She had a jacket on that she had tightly wrapped around herself so I couldn’t see what else she had on, but she still looked like she was freezing, her body even trembled slightly. She really wasn’t used to the cold. I glanced around the café and caught the eye of a waiter, then raised my hand to beckon him over.

  “Good afternoon, sir and miss. Are you both ready to order?”

  I waved my hand at Brooklyn, who recited her order without even looking at the menu, which meant she’d been around long enough to decide what she wanted and then waited for me.

  “I would like a white chocolate mocha with whipped cream on top, please. And a cut of your strawberry shortcake, please.”

  The waiter jotted it down, then looked at me.

  I took a quick glance. “Black coffee and a plain muffin.”

  He wrote down my order then smiled at the two of us. “I’ll be right back with your order, please excuse me.”

  He gave a short bow with his head and turned to leave, but my attention had already shifted to Brooklyn.

  “You still drink your coffee black,” Brooklyn said with a slight wrinkle in her nose, even as her lips tilted up at the edges in a small smile.

  I chuckled, folding my arms on the table and leaning closer. “Of course. You’d be surprised just how much hasn’t changed over the past several years.” I paused, giving her a meaningful look. “Or how much has changed.”

  I tried to convey to her with my gaze just what I meant, that she could trust me this time not to hurt her. She held my gaze for a long moment, then looked down at the table.

  We were both silent until the waiter came back with our order. Brooklyn’s hands clasped around her mug the moment it arrived on the table, held it up to her mouth, blew a bit and took a sip.

  “How’s it taste?” I asked, drinking from my own black coffee.

  She smiled at me. “Way too damn sweet. Just the way I like it.”

  “You still like candy way too much,” I said disapprovingly.

  Still, I was smiling as I watched her pick up a fork and cut into her shortcake, then take another sip of her mocha, licking at the whipped cream on top. Some of the cream stuck to the top of her lip, and my hand was reaching across before I could even think about it. Brooklyn must have felt it, because she was just about to lick it off with her tongue, but instead, her tongue met my thumb. We both froze for a moment, our gazes meeting, and I swiped the cream on her lip and brought it back to my own mouth, licking it off before wiping my finger with the napkin.

  The atmosphere had changed again, and I almost cursed myself for my impatience.

  “Clearly something is bothering you,” I said, deciding to go the blunt route. “Why don’t you just tell me what it is so we can talk about it?”

  She sighed and stirred the top of her drink with a straw. “It’s not so much something is bothering me as… I feel concerned.”

  “About what?”

  She didn’t beat around the bush, either. “That you’re toying with my feelings again.” She met my gaze straight on, her expression serious. “That in the end, I’m going to be left with a broken heart and scrambling around to pick up the pieces before I don’t even have a heart left.”

  After she finished, she looked down again, and I picked up my muffin and took a bite of it, chewing slowly then washing it down with some coffee, thinking of a reply. There was a long silence between us, and I broke it with a heavy sigh. She looked up at me, and I gave her a sad smile.

  “I know this is my fault, so I don’t have the right to complain. I still wish you would trust me, though.”

  “You can't just ask that of me.”
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  I nodded. “Fair enough. Then, I’ll be honest. Brooklyn, I never got over you. My parents have no idea, I don’t know what they think about me still being single at twenty eight, but they think it’ll pass when I meet the right woman for me, and it was hard to tell them that I already had.”

  Brooklyn bit down on her lip, her eyes misting slightly as she focused completely on me, blinking her eyes to get rid of the excess moisture in her eyes.

  “My sister said I needed to see you,” I continued. “To know if I was going to stay the same or move on. I can't tell you right now what my choice is, but I know…in the few days since we met again, I’ve come to realize that I missed you so much more than what I’d originally believed, and I want more than just some fun. It was never like that between us from the beginning, and I wouldn’t have approached you if I wasn’t serious.”

  I had been doing plenty of thinking, and those were the conclusions I’d arrived at. I had no idea just yet what I was going to tell my parents, if they would approve of this, but my mind was made up.

  “You’re being serious with me, right?” she muttered.

  I nodded. “Brooklyn, I couldn’t be more serious.”

  We were silent again as she let that sunk in, eating as we waited for her to gather her thoughts. It wasn’t until we were done that she looked up at me again. My eyes hadn't left her the entire time.

  “Nora’s wedding with Paul is cancelled,” she said. Before I could wonder what that had to do with us, she continued. “Because there’s no more wedding, it means I can't keep stalling. I’m going to have to go back to Cali soon, I have a life, and I have work. I’m not sure I’m ready to give up on either one just yet.”

  “And you don’t have to,” I said quickly. “I swear I’m not asking you to give up your life for me, or anything like that. I’m willing to try and meet you half way, if it’s what you want. Is that okay?”

  Brooklyn’s lips pursed, then slowly spread into a smile. The waiter interrupted us before she could give any verbal confirmation, but her happy expression was all the answer I needed. I dropped some bills for the food and drinks, and a tip, for the waiter, then Brooklyn and I stood up. I waited for her to walk around the table, then wrapped an arm around her. I remembered to pick up my briefcase, and we went out into the cold. Brooklyn stepped even closer to me, but the coffee must have warmed her up because she didn’t shiver.

  “Where are we going now?” she asked, looking up at me with cautious trust behind her eyes.

  I smiled gently at her, tucking her close as I led her back to my office building so we could head to my car, still in the underground parking.

  “We’re going to my sister, Maria’s place. It’s close by and she’s supposed to be out of town, but she wouldn’t mind us using her place.”

  After all, I was technically the one paying for it while she refused to live at home or stay at her university’s dorms.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Brooklyn

  Abe drove his car through a gate to some overpriced apartment buildings. Driving into the space, I could hardly believe it was the same squished city, with four buildings, each with four floors, a parking lot and a lot of space to comfortable move around. He parked the car and we both stepped out, and I followed his lead.

  We went to the nearest building to us. There were steps that led all the way to the top, but we only climbed up to the third floor. Abe pulled out a set of keys from his pocket and unlocked the door.

  “Every floor goes to a single person,” Abe explained, letting us into the apartment. “There are several rooms and bedrooms, and Maria actually has this floor and the one above it. Sometimes, I come here even when she isn’t around when I can't be bothered to go all the way home.”

  “And is she home today?” I asked cautiously, looking around.

  “Well, she’s been out of town the past few days. Actually, I think she went somewhere on Saturday, before I even called you up, and she hasn’t said a thing to me yet, so she might not be back yet.”

  I scowled at him, but he didn’t see it. I moved farther into the apartment, anyway. Neither of us got very far, because we heard the sound of someone coming toward us. I froze in panic, but felt an arm around me before I could give into my need to run.

  “It’s just my sister,” he murmured comfortingly. “My parents never come here, very few people don’t come here, and you’ve met Maria before.”

  “Sure,” I muttered, “Over eight years ago when she was still a kid. She was barely twelve when we first met, in case you’ve forgotten.”

  I waited as she came into view. I remembered Maria, and how much she’d looked like Abe when she was younger. She had the same dark hair and hazel eyes. She should be a young woman now, but in my mind I had the image of an awkward pre-teen girl. She’s just been coming into herself when I last saw her, but it had been a while—six years to be exact, before I had seen her and vice versa.

  So, imagine my shock when she came into view in a baggy crop top and yoga pants, with bare feet, that showed off her very grown up body. Her thick hair fell around her with a bit of a curl at the ends, and she was running her fingers through the strands as she came toward us, only to freeze with one hand in her hair as she stared at me, her jaw dropping.

  “Maria, hey,” Abe said slowly, looking between the two of us. “Sorry for intruding, but I expected you to be gone for a while.”

  “What are you doing here?” Maria acted like she hadn't heard him, pointing a finger at me. “It’s definitely you, right? The woman from the event. What the hell are you doing here?”

  The expression on her face was complicated, and I wondered if she would thank me for unmasking Paul in front of her, or curse me out for it. After a long moment where I couldn’t figure out what to say to her, Abe cut in.

  “What are you talking about? What event? And how could you not recognize Brooklyn? I know it’s been six years, but your memory is usually a lot better than that.”

  “The wine tasting even out in California,” she said, glancing over at me. “Remember? You received an invite and you told me about it, but you said you weren’t going. I looked into it, and I had to be in Cali at the time, so I went.”

  Abe frowned. “Why did you go to California? And why not tell me?”

  “It was something to do with the wedding, so I didn’t think you needed to know,” she said impatiently. Then she froze and stared at me with wide eyes and her jaw dropped. “Wait, she’s Brooklyn?”

  Abe rolled his eyes. “Is that only registering to you now? Yes, she’s Brooklyn, and we went to the wine tasting event. How the hell did I not see you?” He turned to me with confused eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me you saw her there?”

  “I had no idea it was her,” I said awkwardly, shrugging my shoulder. “I told you already, there was no way I could have recognized her.”

  He turned his gaze to his sister. “Fine, then, you. How did you not recognize her when you’ve definitely met her plenty of times before? I know she’s changed, but it’s not that much. Or is it just that you haven’t seen her for so long?”

  “Well, it could be that,” Maria said defensively, puffing her cheeks up a bit. At Abe’s frown, though, she wilted. “All right. I was out there with my fiancé, and I might have been a little intoxicated from the wine. I was all over him until this woman came over and started spewing some stuff, I just…didn’t look at her closely.”

  I watched the siblings chat, still caught up in the cluster fuck this whole mess was growing into. So, not only was Paul two-timing Nora, but he was even using Abe’s little sister.

  “What exactly happened and how come I don’t know a thing about it?”

  “Uh, you might have actually sent them, you just don’t remember,” I cut in. “Remember that man, and the woman that was closer to him? I think you might have seen at least their backs before—”

  Abe frowned, and we both waited for him to figure it out. I knew when he did, because his eyes went wi
de open and he turned to look at me.

  “Wait a minute. Don’t tell me...Paul? And my sister. He was with her at the wine tasting event?”

  I nodded slowly, and he cursed.

  “Who the hell is Paul?” Maria asked, frowning. She still hadn't caught up, and she had her hands fisted on her hips as she faced the two of us. “What the fuck is going on here? And who the hell is Paul, anyway, his name is Chris.”

  Abe and I both looked over at her, surprised as if the penny was slowly, but surely falling and we were all seeing that something was wrong and it ended and started with the man that his sister and my best friend were supposed to be marrying soon.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Abe

  After the confrontation between Brooklyn and my sister, they shared info about Paul, or Chris as Maria and I knew him, and even Nora was brought into the conversation. Brooklyn didn’t stay as long as I wanted her to, but I knew she wanted to be there for her friend, so I drove her back. I parked against the curb, and waited for her.

  “Sorry about this,” she murmured, looking over at me. “But I think I need to tell her about this, now.”

  “You didn’t tell her before?”

  “I was still thinking it over. And I guess a part of me hoped Paul…or whatever his real name is, would call her and tell her everything, but I don’t think he has. She’s going to need me, so I don’t know when I’ll be able to see you again.”

  I sighed, already having guessed that much. It was regretful, because Brooklyn didn’t have a lot of time to stick around. I wasn’t sure if there was a possibility of me moving out to California, not unless we opened up a company branch there, and even then, it would take a lot of maneuvering before I could go and stay there. Before I considered that, I was going to try and ask Brooklyn to stay in New York with me.