One Last Chance (Complete Series Box Set)

by Lauren Wood

  “No, I think I have had enough of high school for one night.” She looked at me and must have seen how distressed I was. “It looks like you have as well.”

  “You have no idea.”

  “So are you going to tell me what happened back there? I saw you talking to Mack.”

  I grimaced at the sound of his name. “Yeah, but it wasn’t by choice. He came up to me and wouldn’t back off. Told me I had to kiss him before he would let me pass.”

  I could see the giddy look in my friend’s face and I didn’t like it. She didn’t seem to get it as far as I was concerned. She seemed to think that there was going to be this fairy tale ending between us. I knew better. I don’t know why, but Mariss had always thought that I should have stayed with him. It wasn’t a conversation that I wanted to have, so I stopped her in her tracks with the next part.

  “But then his girlfriend came up and was pissed off if you can imagine. So I just didn’t want to stick around.”

  “His girlfriend?”

  I nodded my head and agreed. It was a mess. A big mess and now at least she wasn’t looking like she was going to swoon from the romance of it all.

  “Oh, well that’s not how I thought it was all going to work out. I thought you guys would get back together.”

  I may have thought the same thing myself, but I didn’t want to say it out loud. I was far too worried about how everything else was working out. I’d seen him from across the room, alone and looking fine as ever. There had been a big part of me that wanted to see him and I’d felt the same needs and desires run over me, but there had been a difference this time. He wasn’t alone and all of those thoughts had gone out the window, whether he felt the same way about it or not. It hadn’t worked out like I wanted it to at all.

  “I guess I didn’t think we would get back together, but maybe a night of sex would have been nice. He always had a way about him that I haven’t found again. He always was a god in bed.”

  “So why did you walk away?”

  “Did you not hear the part that he had a girlfriend there with him?”

  “Was she introduced as his girlfriend?”

  I hadn’t said she was introduced at all, but Mariss seemed to just know things. She was good at reading people and I trusted her instinct more than my own sometimes.

  “Well no. He introduced her as his friend, but he introduced me the same way.”

  “Oh, well that doesn’t have to mean anything. She may have just been his date for this thing. No one likes to go alone.”

  “We did.”

  “No Danny, we went together. There is a big difference. He probably brought her so that he wasn’t alone. If she meant anything to him, he wouldn’t have been kissing you.”

  I knew she was right to some degree, but I still didn’t like that he brought some women with him. She might have saved me though. I don’t know what I would have done if she hadn’t been there. Most likely I would have made a mistake. A big one.

  Mack

  After I dropped Denise off, I was perturbed to say the least. I had played out the night and seeing Danny again in my head. None of the scenarios that I’d came up with were anything like what just happened. It was a problem and I knew more than once now that I should have gone solo. It was how I used to go everywhere, but somewhere along the lines that had changed. That change was going to cost me and it was a price that was too high as far as I was concerned.

  I went back to my place and even though Denise had wanted to come by, I wasn’t in the mood to deal with her. I didn’t even have the desire to have sex with her, which was one of the only things that I had ever liked about her in the first place. Denise was a trophy and I had mistakenly used it thinking that it was going to make things better. Instead it had made things worse. Denise hadn’t made Danny jealous in the way that I wanted. It had just made her look past me.

  The kiss was still on my mind though and it wasn’t something that could be faked. I knew as soon as our lips met that there was still something there, even if she didn’t want to admit it. That kiss is what changed the game for me. I wanted that feeling back that only she could deliver and I knew that I was going to have to work harder for it this time. Danny hadn’t ever been all that easy. She was untouched before I came into her life and I wanted her untouched and only mine again. There was a feeling that came over a man when he knew that he was the first. There was a certain part of me that could never forget her and she was a first for me as well. Danny was the first and dare I say the only woman that I’ve ever loved.

  I cursed myself and the rise of my cock with the ideas of her. It had come to attention when I’d first seen her glide across the room and now I was horny as fuck. There was a moment that I thought of calling Denise. I wasn’t used to having to deny myself anything, but now I knew that I was going to have to somehow. No one else was going to do but Danny. Considering that she didn’t want to see me, that may be a problem.

  But I wasn’t a stranger to roadblocks and other obstacles. I would make her mine again, one way or another.

  Danny was in fact a teacher and it didn’t take long for one of my guys to find out where she worked at and where she lived. We didn’t take all of the normal routes for information and that just meant that we got more back faster. The dark channels were always best; though I didn’t want to think about what Danny would have thought if she knew what I was doing.

  She was mad at me, rightfully so, but she was going to have to get over it. It wouldn’t be the first time that I’d caused her grief and she had forgiven me then, so I don’t know why it had to be any different now. It was just like old times when she was in my arms, so all that meant was I had to handle her like I had back in the day. It was back then that I would make sure I had her good and turned on before I gave her bad news. The best time was after I’d laid her out and she was still naked and glistening with sweat. By then, she didn’t care and I would get rid of anything that she needed to know about.

  While I couldn’t drag her back to my bed like a caveman, I wish I could. I would have made things so much easier because she was never able to say no to me then. That’s what I wanted to do, though I knew that it wasn’t going to end well if I did. Danny liked to think of herself as an independent woman, even more so now, so I was going to have to get past the barrier of her brain first. That was going to be the hard part.

  So I thought of where and how I was going to bump into her. She was going to know that it was to see her. Danny would see right through me, but that was the point. I didn’t want to make it obvious, but at the same time I wanted her to know why I was coming to find her. I wasn’t going to come empty handed either. While Danny had been a simple girl back then, now I knew that every woman wanted sparkly things that smelled good. It was just the way they were wired and I’m sure that she wasn’t any different.

  Waiting for the rest of the information I requested to come in, I went through some of the places she frequented and decided on the coffee shop by her house that she used to get her coffee every morning. It was the perfect place to meet and I wouldn’t look like I was doing it on purpose, not too much anyways.

  The next morning I went a few miles from my hotel and got a seat next to the register. She would be in soon, twenty minutes precisely after her run in the morning. After a couple of days of surveillance, I knew everything there was to know about my old flame and she seemed more disciplined, but I had to remind myself that she was still the same girl that I’d fell for all that time ago.

  I heard her voice and it pulled me from my fog and thoughts. I was thinking about what I was going to say to her and then, there she was. She must have been running a little faster today because she was there a little early. I had to prepare myself for a moment before I turned to her and said hello.

  She visibly started from me being there and I smiled as if apologetically.

  “Sorry Danny. I heard your voice and I could recognize it a mile away in a crowd.”

  She smiled back at
me on impulse, but then it faded a little when she was reminded of the other night at the reunion. She hadn’t forgotten that much was for sure, but I wish she would.

  “Hey Mack. What in the world are you doing in this part of town?”

  “Just getting some coffee. I have an appointment with a client down the road and I saw this place. I didn’t know you would be here.”

  She got her coffee and for a minute I was afraid she was just going to take off. Danny was hard to get through to sometimes and I didn’t want this to be one of those times.

  “I really got to go Mack. It was nice seeing you again. Maybe we will do it again in another ten years or so.”

  Damn, she was still mad and Danny was going to make me work for it.

  Danielle

  What the hell was he doing here?

  I walked out of the coffee shop and knew that Mack was going to be right behind me. I also knew that he didn’t have an appointment in town. He didn’t even live here anymore. Everyone knew that he had moved to the big city. I’d heard a lot about him and how successful he was, but no one knew how or why. It told me that Mack was most likely back to his old ways and with him, there really was no telling what he was doing for money now.

  “Danny, wait up!”

  I sighed to myself and turned around to face him. He hadn’t let me get too far out of the coffee shop and I wanted to know what was so important that he had tracked me down. I didn’t even want to think about how he had done it.

  “What Mack? I’ve got to get to work.”

  “The school doesn’t open for another hour.”

  I ignored the fact that he knew that as well. Mack had always been a fan of gathering information. After our first date together, he had seemed to know everything about me. This time around, I still wasn’t sure how he knew what he knew.

  “Yeah, well I have papers to grade.”

  “Then I will walk with you.”

  “How do you know I don’t drive?”

  He had a guilty look on his face. “My car is right here if you want a ride instead. Those heels look kind of tall for a school teacher and not very comfortable.”

  “What about your appointment that has you in the area Mack?”

  He grinned and I wondered if he was going to admit what it was that he was doing. I knew that he was there because I got my coffee here. There was never any telling where he got his intel. He’d always been this way and I didn’t want to pretend like this was a chance meeting. Nothing with Mack was by chance, absolutely nothing.

  “Come on Danny. You know there isn’t an appointment.”

  “Well at least you’re finally telling the truth. So if you’re not here for an appointment, what do you want? You’re here for me, so here I am.”

  “You don’t make things easy, do you?”

  “For you, no. You always had things too easy. Looks like you’ve found another gig that pays a little more than selling hits of acid to the locals.”

  His grin was a little bigger and he was starting to look like the cat that ate the canary. I knew then that I was in trouble, more than before. He was going to stick around until he got what he wanted. I just needed to find out what it was he was aiming for.

  “I do all right. You never did care about money though, so I won’t mention how well.”

  “Thanks for sparing me.”

  We passed by a short, black limo and he asked me if I was sure that I wanted a ride or not.

  “This is what you’re driving?”

  “Well I don’t drive, but Ernest is one of the best and he will take us wherever you want to go.”

  “Not trying to impress me huh?”

  Mack was quiet for a minute as he walked with me. The school was a couple of blocks away and I always walked because it was a great way to wake up and it gave me time to drink half of the coffee that was going to be my lifeline throughout the day.

  “I never was good at impressing you out of the bedroom Danny. That’s why I had to keep you in bed all of the time.”

  His was using my nickname and talking about the past so that I would remember the good times. I’d never forgotten them, but it was making them stronger in my mind and I hated that his method was working.

  “Was that the reason? I always thought you were just always horny. Your dick stayed hard even when you were sleeping.”

  “It still does when I think of you. Ever since the reunion, you’re all I can think about.”

  It sounded good, but I wasn’t sure if he was telling the truth or not. I knew that he missed me, how could he not, but I wasn’t sure if he was being a bit much or not. He hadn’t missed me that much or he could have found me before now. Why wait so long?

  “How is it that we’ve only been talking five minutes and we’re already talking about your wiener?”

  He laughed. “I forgot that you called it that.”

  “What do you call it now?”

  His face was getting a little red and it was almost worth the ambush that I didn’t see coming. I had never seen him get embarrassed before and I loved every minute of it. How could I not? He was sexy as hell and when he was blushing, there was no stopping how handsome he was. He had my mind thinking about all sorts of things and damn it, I know that was what he wanted the whole time. I don’t know how, but Mack always seemed to get his way. It was a trait that used to drive me crazy and this wasn’t any different.

  “I don’t call it anything.”

  “Well it’s a shame. It deserves a name.”

  “God, I really have missed you Danny.”

  He stopped me with a hand on my shoulder and then leaned in for another kiss.

  “One kiss. Remember?”

  “That was the other day. Now I know that there is something between us, so I don’t have to prove anything.”

  “You always were sure of yourself.”

  “When it came to you I was Danny. I always just knew with you and that hasn’t changed. A lot has changed over time, but that spark is still there and that’s all I needed to know.”

  “Well I wouldn’t be so sure Mack. Things are a lot different.”

  “Then kiss me and prove that what I’m saying isn’t true.”

  It was a challenge, one that I should have taken him up on, but I wasn’t sure that he wasn’t right. I could still feel the tingle on my lips where he had kissed me before. I started to lean in and I was so close when I heard my name being called.

  “Miss. Smith.”

  It was the soft, high-pitched voice of one of my students and I could tell that she was close to seeing a kiss. She was waiting for it and I smiled at the parent and mom. We weren’t far from the school now. It was too close and I didn’t want to get caught by one of my students kissing Mack or anyone else. It wasn’t professional.

  “Nice to see you Julie. I will see you in class.”

  “Is this your boyfriend?”

  I looked to Mack and he had that huge smile on his face again. “No Julie. He’s just a friend.”

  It looked like Mack liked being called my friend and introduced that way about as much as I did. Not very much at all. That was enough to make my day and make his impromptu walk to work worth it. It was all worth it just to see the look on his face.

  Mack

  The little girl and her mom kept going on the sidewalk, but the moment was gone and Danny was ready to get to work. I’d seen it going so much better in my head, though I should have known that it wasn’t going to be like it was with Denise. It was going to take time and I was just going to have to look at tonight like I was making progress.

  “I would like to catch up while I’m still in town.”

  “And how long are you going to be here?”

  “I don’t know. Depends.”

  She didn’t ask what it depended on. “When?”

  “After class?”

  She giggled. “That used to be what you always said.”

  “I know.”

  There was a moment of silence and she wa
s thinking about it. We were too close to the school to really try anything. She had a vibe out that was clear she didn’t want to get intimate around here and I didn’t blame her. I should have tried to kiss her sooner, but the conversation hadn’t allowed for such actions. Heels or not, Danny had practically jogged to school she was walking so fast.

  “So?”

  “Yeah, I guess we could go get a drink or something. I just want you to know that it doesn’t mean that we’re going to do anything.”

  “Got it. What time do you get off of work?”

  “Three.”

  I told her I would be back then to get her. I wanted to get a kiss, but there were kids everywhere and several had called out her name. I watched her walk in and the same flutter of before was back and I sighed to myself. She was the one girl that made it all so damn complicated. Why had it taken me so long to track her down? That was a big mistake. I shouldn’t have waited so long, trying in vain to get over her.

  Going back to the car, I had Ernest take me to a florist. If I was going to try this again with her, I was going to make sure that I did it right. I wasn’t above wining and dining someone to get my way and I wanted her. She wasn’t going to see what was coming. I had gotten rather good at it, dealing with gold-diggers on a daily. Now it was going to be practice for what really mattered, getting back in Danny’s panties.

  I did have a couple of meetings that I had to go to, but not here. I had to go back to the city, but I didn’t mind the travel time. It gave me time to make calls and set things up. The meetings that I had today were not ones that I usually liked to take, but since I was branching out, I needed to meet with some heads that were necessary for what I wanted. I was going to make sure that the next part of my business model was in place today. It was a big damn day, huge really, although all I could think about was Danny.

  My attention was split most of the day and twice I was asked if I was okay. Usually I was the stickler of the conversation that was quick with the question. But now I was the one that was trying to keep up. At the end of the last meeting, I came clean about where my mind was and that got a lot of agreement, apparently I wasn’t the only one that got twisted up by a woman every now and then. It was not something that I would usually say or admit, but I was never the same when I was around Danny. I thought it was me that had changed, taking me away from the man I was right now. But I was wrong. It was the lack of Danny that had changed everything.