The One who got Away_A Second Chance Romance

by Mia Ford

  Janice leaned in, replaced her foot with a hand that squeezed playfully, and whispered I my ear, “And I would most certainly fuck you.”

  “Now that sounds like a plan,” I whispered.

  Janice took my wine glass, placed it on the coffee table next to hers, and straddled me. Her lips locked onto mine as she slowly began to move against me, making me even harder, pushing her crotch against mine. My hands found their way around her waist, and slowly began pushing the hem of her shirt up.

  “You know,” Janice said, breaking the kiss but not the grinding of her hips, “your idea of staying in tonight? Brilliant.”

  I gasped, my eyes briefly closing. “I thought you might appreciate it.”

  “I do,” she whispered, her lips brushing against mine. “There’s just so much we can do, isn’t there?”

  “Got any big ideas?” I asked.

  She looked at me seductively and began unbuttoning my pants. “A few.”

  She raised her arms and let me push her shirt over her head, her breasts on full display and her nipples erect. I immediately went for them, devouring one after the other, sucking on them as she wrapped her arms around my head and brought me in closer. She moaned as my tongue swirled in circles between sucking and nibbling.

  “Just like that,” she breathed against my ear, driving me crazy. “That’s it, baby, just like that.”

  She began to grind harder against me, and with both hands on her ass, I pushed her down harder, feeling the warmth between her legs seep through the fabric of our clothes. Her body began to heat up, and I gently pushed her onto her back, kissing my way down. I pulled her pants off, slowly, kissing each inch of bare skin as I removed them, and then quickly got rid of her panties as well.

  I stood up, swaying a bit and making her laugh as I stumbled to take off my own pants. When I had finally managed to get out my clothes, she gazed into my eyes and with a finger, beckoned me to her.

  I slipped inside her easily, her warmth and wetness embracing me completely, her back arching as she moaned. My lips embraced her nipples again, and she ran her nails up and down my back, sending shudders through my whole body. I felt her clench down on me, her breath hot against my ear.

  “Love me, Alex,” she whispered.

  I began to move against her, slowly at first, only picking up the pace ever so slightly. I found a rhythm we were both comfortable with, something in between the insane lust I had for her right now, and the gentle love making we shared when we felt the world was barren except for us. I gazed into her eyes, kissed her lips, ran my hands up and down the sides of her body and felt her shudder with my touch.

  She wrapped her legs around mine, pushing her hips up to meet my thrusts, holding me close so that I was kissing her neck and she was moaning in pleasure against my ear. The feel of her naked against me made my head swirl, and I never wanted this to end. I prayed that it would go on forever.

  She rolled me over onto my back and straddled me, guiding me inside her effortlessly as she began to move. Her hips grinded against me, her fingers raked against my chest, and she threw her head back as her orgasm shook through her. She leaned in, kissed my neck, and quickened her pace. It felt like heaven, and I doubted that I could hold out much longer.

  She felt the muscles of my body flex, and knew that I was close.

  “Come for me,” she whispered in my ear. “Don’t hold back, baby, come for me.”

  And I did. I exploded inside her with such force, my entire body shook. I held her tight in my arms, breathing her in, feeling myself pulse inside her as she clenched against me.

  We stayed like that for a long time, and when she finally rolled over and snuggled against me, she was already half asleep. I held her close, felt her heart beating against my chest, and drifted away.

  * * *

  I woke up to the sounds of footsteps on the second-floor landing, and instinctively reached under my pillow for the gun that I had forgotten was not there. The lights in the house were out, and the only illumination came from the moonlight that found its way through the bedroom window.

  Kelly appeared at my door, hair disheveled, blanket in her hand.

  “Dad?”

  “What’s wrong?” I asked, frowning as she made her way into my bedroom and stood by the bed.

  “New house,” she said simply, and it was all the explanation I needed.

  I made space for her to crawl into bed next to me. She shifted and turned until she found a comfortable position, then pulled her blanket over her shoulders.

  I laid back and stroked her hair until her breathing slowed. I envied how quickly she could fall asleep sometimes, although it was a trait I wished she had had back when she was a toddler. Back when putting her down usually meant that I would fall asleep first and she would wake me up every few minutes, as if it were some kind of game to her.

  I rolled onto my side and closed my eyes. After her death, I had dreamt of Janice almost on a daily basis, and I usually woke up feeling a lot worse than when I had gone to sleep. It was no secret that I missed her, but the dreams made finding closure so much harder. Luckily, those dreams had become rarer over the years, but every now and then, that one memory would pop up. That night of wine and games and laughter, when we were our happiest. It was three weeks after that night that we had found out Janice was pregnant, and to this day, that night was the one memory that cut through me the worst.

  Kelly shifted beside me, and for the first time in a long while, I longed for Janice to be here with us. To see the beautiful girl her daughter had grown up to be. To take care of the idiot her husband had become.

  To keep the two of us from losing our minds completely and tearing at each other’s throats. To share the moments when we laughed so hard, Kelly would roll onto her back and kick her feet into the air.

  My chest clenched, and I felt tears well up behind my closed lids. I fought them back, took a deep breath, and let it out in a long and broken sigh.

  I fell asleep a few minutes later, and dreamt of nothing at all.

  Chapter 10: Jenni

  I couldn’t stop thinking about Alex Logan.

  I had tried to sleep early, grateful for the fact that Garth had not passed by as promised. On any other night, I might have been upset, angry even, although it would be fairly unlikely for him to actually do what he said he would. A part of me had expected him to show up and break the mold, only because he had seen me out with the Logans. Garth had a habit of marking his territory, and spending the night at my place would have been an opportune way to show me who wore the pants in what we were kidding ourselves into thinking was a relationship.

  Thankfully, though, Garth hadn’t passed by, and I had spent the night tossing and turning in bed before finally giving into the fact that I was not going to get any sleep. Every time I closed my eyes, I’d see Alex. Hazel eyes boring into mine, strong hands holding my waist and pulling me closer to him. I imagined running my hands over what I could only imagine was a perfectly chiseled body, and I caught myself crossing my legs just to calm the heat coming from in between them.

  I had spent most of the night in front of the computer, Casper cuddled at me feet as I wrote. Chapter after chapter, the words just flowing as if I had no control over them. I was on cruise control, typing away like a mad woman, and all the time using Alex as the image for my protagonist. The sex scene I wrote was one of the hottest I had ever conceived, and I had stopped at least three or four times to cool down before continuing. In my head, Alex was the alpha male and I was the innocent damsel in distress, and although the story I was writing was borderline cliché, it hadn’t been hard imagining the two of us as the characters rolling about under the covers in my story.

  It was only when the sun had come up did I find myself crawling into bed and falling asleep, only to be woken up two hours later to the incessant ringing of my phone and Hank demanding to know where the hell I was.

  “I need to talk to you.” My father’s gruff voice startled me, and I loo
ked up from the finance sheets I was revising from the day before. I was exhausted, eyes drooping, the numbers in front of me blurring into each other and making absolutely no sense.

  The morning crowd had already begun to gather, and most of the tables were occupied. Three waitresses were dashing back and forth between the guests and the kitchen, calling out orders and refilling coffee. It was the usual bustle of a busy day, and although I was supposed to be wide awake, keeping an eye on everything going on, I was lost in my own little world.

  Something my dad was aware of, especially after giving me a look that would have had me cowering into a corner if I hadn’t been this tired.

  “Sure, dad, what’s up?”

  Hank shook his head and nodded to the back, a gesture I knew meant he had serious business to discuss with me. I braced myself and followed him past the kitchen and the storage room, then into his office.

  The small space that was occupied by a desk and filing cabinet was barely enough for the two of us together, and I had to press myself against the wall just to close the door.

  “I’m not going to beat around the bush, Jenni,” Hank said, sitting down behind his desk. I always found it amusing how big he looked in his chair, his burly figure almost falling over the sides as he rested his arms on the desk. “I’m disappointed, and I have a feeling you know why.”

  “Sorry, dad,” I replied. “I didn’t mean to be late. I didn’t get enough sleep last night.”

  “That’s not what I was talking about,” Hank said. “Although, I’m guessing both subjects are related.”

  I frowned in confusion and waited for my father to keep going. He had a habit of pausing for effect, and at times like this, that was more than just annoying.

  “Garth Liston,” Hank said.

  I felt my heart drop, knowing that the conversation I had hoped to avoid was now upon me. “What about him?” I asked, feigning disinterest.

  “Listen, Jenni, what you do on your own time, behind the closed doors of your apartment, that’s your deal,” Hank said. “I already told you how I feel about you moving out, but you made it crystal clear that this is your life, and I really don’t have a say in it.”

  “I didn’t say that,” I began, but was stopped before I could continue.

  “Not the point,” he said. “What I do want to say, though, is that your life is what you do outside the diner doors. I don’t want you bringing your private life into this diner. Especially when your private life includes that piece of scum.”

  “Dad…”

  “Don’t interrupt me,” Hank cut me short. “That kid’s bad news, Jenni. Always has been, always will be, and you’d do best to stay the hell away from him.”

  “Okay, can you slow down,” I said. “First of all, I’m not really dating him.”

  “Just fucking him, then?”

  “Dad!”

  “Stating the obvious, here,” Hank said, holding up his hands. “And believe me, I’m not at all happy about it.”

  I crossed my arms over my chest and frowned at him. “Fine, yes, just that. I thought there might be more to it, but apparently there isn’t, and I don’t think I’m going to be seeing him anymore.”

  My father eyed me for a beat before leaning back and folding his hands on his belly, sniffing loudly as he tried to read me and see if I was pulling his leg.

  “I’m serious, alright?” I said. “What happened yesterday, that was a mistake, and I’m sorry. But this really is the end of it, and I’m not just saying that to make you feel better.”

  Hank scratched his nose, sniffed again and nodded. “Alright,” he said. “You know I’m only coming down hard on you because I love you, right?”

  I nodded, smiling a little. “Sure.”

  “And you’ll always be my little girl, so don’t even ask me to stop treating you like one, although I try not to.”

  “I know.”

  “But in the back room? Really?” Hank’s face shifted into a mask of disgust. “That’s just wrong.”

  “If it’s alright with you,” I said, “I really don’t feel like discussing my sex life with my father.”

  “Then keep your sex life out of my diner,” Hank replied. “Now go wash your face, try to at least look like you’re awake, and get to work.”

  I smiled and saluted lazily. “Aye, aye, sir.”

  I walked out of the office and made my way to the lockers just beyond the storage room. There was a small bathroom there reserved for the employees, and I locked myself in and gazed at my reflection in the mirror. I really did look like shit. I had no idea how I’d left the house looking like this, and quickly washed my face and adjusted my make-up and hair. When I felt like I looked at least presentable, I walked back out and took up my regular position at the bar, sitting down tiredly and sighing as I flipped through the pages of finances I had to revise.

  After an hour, I quickly realized I was probably going to get nothing done today. I sat back, stretched, and watched the waitresses as they worked. I smiled at a few of the guests, got up to help when I felt the orders were a little too overwhelming, and manned the register while my dad socialized with some of his older friends. By the time afternoon came rolling in, I already felt like I needed at least a gallon of coffee or I’d pass out in the back office from the exhaustion.

  “Hey, waitress, what’s good to eat here?” I jumped and turned just as Samuel Logan slid into his regular seat and Kelly jumped into the one next to him. She shot me a smile.

  “Well, if it isn’t my favorite regular and his incredibly gorgeous granddaughter,” I smiled, the exhaustion taking an immediate backseat as I quickly looked over their shoulders to see if they had come alone.

  “Hi, Jenni,” Kelly greeted, immediately grabbing the menu.

  “Thought I’d show the little rascal where her grandfather has the best breakfast in Kent,” Samuel said, ruffling Kelly’s hair and rewarded with a scowl that would have burned down buildings.

  I laughed. “A little late for breakfast, don’t you think?”

  “Dad took forever to wake up,” Kelly said, rolling her eyes.

  I looked at the door again, then back at them. “Did he drop you off?”

  “He’ll be here shortly,” Samuel winked at me, and I raised an amused eyebrow at him in response.

  “He’s getting his drugs,” Kelly said. “Apparently, he can’t go a day without them.”

  I frowned and looked at Samuel for an explanation.

  “Pain killers,” Samuel said. “He got shot a few months back. Still dealing with it.”

  “Oh my god!”

  “Drug bust gone bad,” Samuel said. “But he’s fine now. Just a bad leg that constantly nags at him.”

  “And of course, it’s affected his capacity for rational thinking,” Kelly muttered.

  I laughed again, and Samuel ruffled her hair once more, quickly dodging as she tried to slap his hand away. “I say get this one some food before her mouth gets the better of her.”

  I took their orders, relayed it to the kitchen, and returned a few minutes later just as Alex walked in. He wore an open flannel shirt over a white t-shit that gave me the perfect idea of just what was hidden underneath, and I began undressing him with my eyes as he approached us, only realizing I was doing it when he frowned at me over a confused smile. I quickly snapped out of it and smiled back.

  “Good morning,” Alex said, taking the seat beside his daughter.

  “Afternoon, dad, seriously,” Kelly replied.

  “She still hasn’t eaten anything?” Alex asked, looking at Samuel.

  Samuel only shrugged and chuckled.

  “Food’s on its way,” I said. “You want to give me your order so they can fix it up and bring them all together?”

  “God no, get Kelly’s food first,” Alex said. “Or we’ll be facing the wrath of the antichrist before we know it.”

  Kelly looked at him, shook her head in disapproval, then looked back at me while rolling her eyes. The dynamic betwee
n the two of them was entertaining.

  The bickering and snarky comments went back and forth even as they ate, and I found myself amazed at just how sarcastic Kelly was, and witty. I had read somewhere once that wit was the sign of great intelligence, and the way this girl was shooting remarks back and forth had me smiling the entire time.

  By the end of their meal, Samuel had to practically drag her away from her father, making up some excuse about showing her around town. When Alex offered to join them, Samuel quickly refused.

  “I’d rather the two of you spend some quality time away from each other,” Samuel laughed and winked at me.

  We watched them leave before Alex turned back to me and shrugged. “Sorry about that,” he said. “We do get along on most days.”

  “I think it’s cute,” I replied, gesturing to the coffee pot. He nodded and refilled his cup. “You’re doing a great job with her.”

  “Thanks,” he said. “Sometimes I feel like I’m in over my head, but she’s quick to put me back in my place.”

  I laughed at that. I could only imagine what it was like behind closed doors between the two of them. Alex watching TV, Kelly glued to her phone, the two of them throwing side remarks at each other every few minutes just to see who cold annoy the other more. I felt like their life mirrored the life of roommates more than that of father and daughter. I found myself wondering what it would be like to share a living space with the two of them.

  Careful, there, missy. You’re treading into dangerous territory.

  “You never mentioned you were a cop,” I said.

  Alex nodded. “DEA,” he explained. “Fighting the never-ending war on drugs and losing miserably one day at a time.”

  “That’s a bit cynical,” I laughed.

  “It’s the truth,” he replied. “Sure, we do the best we can, but the truth is we’re only getting small wins here and there. You’d be lucky to take down any of the big fish.”

  “Must make the job hard.”

  “It does,” Alex replied. “All you can really do is wake up, go do your job the best way you can, and pray you don’t get shot in the process.”