Second Chance at First Love

by Mandy Baxter

  Emily watched in awe. She’d always known that Chance was a hero, but she’d never seen him in action before. He’d saved that woman’s life!

  “What’s going on?”

  Emily started at the sound of Brad’s voice beside her. She looked around, but didn’t see Amberly anywhere. “I’m not sure. She drowned, I think.”

  “Okay everyone, let’s give her some room.” Chance took charge of the situation. He directed his attention to the woman’s companion. “Did anyone call an ambulance?”

  “I did!” A voice called from somewhere in the crowd. “It’s on the way!”

  Not a moment later the sound of a siren could be heard in the distance. The crowd began to disperse and Emily continued to watch as Chance did some sort of assessment on his patient. Brad remained by her side but she barely noticed. She was dazzled by Chance, held in his orbit as she watched him in his natural environment. Confident. In charge. Capable. Wow.

  “It looks like he’s going to be busy for a little bit. Why don’t you let me walk you back to your villa?”

  “Huh?” Emily turned toward Brad. “Oh, um…thanks.” He’d moved in closer and his arm brushed hers. She waited for the zing of anticipation. The flutter of nerves low in her belly. Something stirred when Brad touched her. The memory of a feeling. This was what she’d wanted. To have just one moment alone with him so she could tell him that she wasn’t over him. That even though he’d hurt her, she still wanted him. “I should probably wait, though.”

  Brad’s expression fell, but he didn’t move. When the ambulance arrived, everything kicked into high gear. Chance met the paramedics on their way out to the beach and spoke animatedly with them as they brought out a backboard and set it on the sand. The Naples paramedics began their own assessment of their patient, consulting with Chance here and there. He turned his head toward her but didn’t make eye contact. “Hey Em, this might take me a few more minutes. I can meet you back at the villa if you want.”

  Without waiting for her acknowledgment, he went back to assisting the other paramedics. Was this what it would be like to be in a relationship with a fireman? The job always came first, even when he wasn’t on the job?

  “Okay. Sure.” What else was she going to say? Chance was busy and that poor woman needed his attention far more than she did right now.

  “Come on.” Brad gave a gentle tug to her elbow. “I’ll walk you back.”

  “Where’s Amberly?” The entire wedding party seemed to have dispersed from the beach.

  “She went back to our bungalow.” Brad crowded her as they walked and his hand brushed against hers as though by accident. “The scavenger hunt sort of fizzled out after the drama on the beach.”

  Someone nearly dying had a tendency to put a damper on things. “I hope she isn’t mad.” Not that Emily was too bothered either way about what Amberly thought.

  “She’ll be fine,” Brad replied. “So, you and Chance, huh?”

  The fine particles of sand sifted between Emily’s feet as she walked. She veered toward where the surf kissed the beach and the sand was firmer. “Yeah.” The word left her mouth as though reluctant.

  “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.” Brad followed her, once again walking close enough to touch. “The two of you were always sort of a package deal.”

  Ire rose hot in Emily’s chest. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Brad’s tone remained calm, “Just that it was hard to compete with him, that’s all.”

  Emily stopped dead in her tracks. She turned and looked up into Brad’s face. “So you’re saying you left me for one friend because you felt like you had to compete with the other for my attention?”

  “Maybe.” His brow furrowed. “I don’t know. It was hard. He was always around, you two were always texting, talking… I felt like the consolation prize.”

  A twinge of guilt tugged at her. She’d never really thought about it, but maybe Brad was right. Chance was a part of her life and she’d never taken into consideration how it might have made Brad feel. Had he really thought he’d had to compete with Chance for her attention?

  Brad reached out and dragged the tips of his fingers along the underside of Emily’s palm. A pleasant chill danced over her skin. She searched his deep brown eyes for some truth in his words.

  “I miss you, Emily.”

  Oh boy.

  #

  Chance hustled down the beach to catch up with Emily. The Naples paramedics had the situation under control. There wasn’t anything he could do for Kory that they weren’t doing. She’d been damn lucky. At the worst, she’d suffered a concussion and might need a few stitches.

  Adrenaline still coursed through his veins and Chance’s thighs shook with unspent energy. The rush never went away no matter how many times he helped someone in their time of need. Did that mean he had a hero complex? Maybe. It’s not like he’d thrown anyone out of the way to help Kory, though. No one else had stepped in. He had a moral obligation to help, not to mention a professional one.

  So much for finishing the scavenger hunt.

  The sound of Emily’s voice drew his attention. Chance looked up to find Emily and Brad standing in the surf engaged in what appeared to be an intense conversation. Brad reached out and brushed his fingertips along Emily’s palm. A red hot poker through Chance’s heart wouldn’t have felt any better than the stab of jealousy that shot through him as he realized Emily wasn’t going to pull away from the contact.

  Brad said something to her, but Chance was still too far away and the sound of the waves as they lapped the shore drowned out the sound of his words. Emily flinched as though stung before she tipped her face up toward his. Chance swore if the son of a bitch tried to kiss her, he’d take him down in a full body tackle.

  “Emily!” Chance wasn’t about to give the two of them another second alone. Not when he’d spent the past couple of days trying to make his own headway with Emily. This trip was supposed to be about her getting over Brad, not finding a way to get back under him. The thought of them together caused Chance’s jaw to clench so tightly that the enamel of his teeth ground.

  Emily jumped and took a stumbling step backward into the deeper water just as another wave rolled into shore. Her arms spun wildly as she tried to keep her balance and Brad, ever the knight in shining armor, simply stood there, mouth agape, as she fell backward into the surf.

  Shit. Brad took off at sprint and closed the distance between them before a second wave had the opportunity to crash over her. He reached down and snatched her up from the water and pulled her tight against his chest. “I already had to give mouth-to-mouth to one drowned woman today,” he chided. “Don’t make me do it again.”

  He shot an accusing glare Brad’s way but the dude didn’t even have the decency to look him in the eye. “Good work back there, man.”

  Chance could die completely fulfilled knowing that he’d won Brad Harri’s approval. Give me a break. “Yeah, thanks.” He turned his attention to Emily, completely uninterested in anything Brad had to say. “You okay?”

  Emily’s cheeks were painted with a deep blush. “I’m fine. Only my pride’s hurt. I’m such a klutz.”

  Those traits that she found so embarrassing, Chance found adorable. “Nah. That wave had it out for you. It would have knocked me onto my ass too.”

  She scoffed. “Nice try.”

  He’d do anything to make her feel more comfortable. Less embarrassed. Whatever she needed. That’s what it meant to love someone. Damn. He was in love with her, wasn’t he? In fact, Chance couldn’t remember a time that he hadn’t loved Emily. He held her gaze for a long moment. Even looking like a drowned rat, strands of wet hair stuck to her face, she was beautiful.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow night at the rehearsal dinner, Emily.”

  Chance didn’t even bother to look Brad’s way. He dared Emily to break his gaze. To look at the man who’d passed her up for another woman when Chance was standing right here, right now, ready to give her a
nything she wanted.

  Her head turned but her eyes remained on Chance’s. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow, Brad. Thanks for walking with me.”

  “Anytime.”

  “What did he say to you?” Chance hadn’t meant for the words to come out with such a harsh edge, but jealousy still burned a path up his throat.

  “Nothing.” Emily looked away.

  Chance steadied her on her feet and released his grip on her upper arms. “Whatever.”

  He turned and waded out of the surf toward the beach. He shouldn’t have been angry. He was the “pretend” fiancé, after all. Here for one reason and not the one Emily had claimed when she wrangled him into this. She’d brought him along to get under Brad’s skin. To make him jealous.

  What a joke.

  “Chance, wait!”

  The sound of Emily splashing through the water nearly convinced him to turn around but his pride refused to let him give in. He never could refuse her anything and now it was turning around to bite him in the ass.

  “Chance!”

  No way was he going to have it out with her on the beach where everyone could hear. He wasn’t into airing his dirty laundry for a crowd so the rest of Brad and Amberly’s wedding party could gossip about them later. The sound of Emily’s footsteps caught up to him but Chance still didn’t so much as glance backward.

  “I’m not talking to you about this right now,” he said, eyes front. “At least, not out here on the damned beach. I think there’s been enough drama for one day.”

  “Drama?” Did she have to sound so innocent? “What are you talking about?”

  She could try to get him to engage all she wanted. It wasn’t going to happen.

  “Chance.”

  His name was an angry bark this time. He’d take her anger over sweet innocence any day of the week.

  “Chance.”

  He hit the path and made a bee-line for their bungalow. If he didn’t think it would cause her any humiliation, he would have marched straight to the front desk and demanded his own room. He’d thought he could do this. Could play this game and pretend to be hers. But seeing Emily with Brad on the beach had only convinced Chance that he couldn’t pretend any longer. It was all or nothing from here on out. He couldn’t simply be Emily’s friend anymore. If that’s not what she wanted, then it was time for him to walk away. Completely.

  No matter how much it would hurt.

  Seven

  Emily wanted to throw up. So many conflicting emotions swirled within her that she didn’t know how she hadn’t exploded by now. Brad had dropped a bomb, one she honestly didn’t think she’d hear from him. Especially a couple of days before his wedding. Sure, she’d come here to confess that she wasn’t over him, but still…. Deep down she’d hoped that coming here to admit she wasn’t over their breakup would be more about finding closure than reciprocation. What a mess.

  To top it off, Chance was upset with her and she didn’t blame him. She was a total train wreck. A hot mess. A burning car barreling down the highway with no brakes and no one at the wheel. What in the hell was she doing? Had she lost her freaking mind? Emily quickened her pace to catch up with Chance and caught her toe on a clump of cheatgrass that popped up at the edge of the path. “Ouch. Crap, crap, crap!” She hopped on one foot and skipped as she tried to favor her now throbbing toes. Flips flops had to be the least practical footwear in the world!

  She didn’t try to stop him. Chance had already told her he wasn’t going to hash out whatever this was in public. Instead, she followed him into their villa and closed the door. A sigh of relief compressed her lungs as she kicked off her flip-flops and slumped down into the nearest chair so she could massage her probably broken—okay, at least sprained—foot.

  Chance hadn’t made eye contact with her once since they’d gone into the villa. Instead, he stared out the window, at the spot where Emily had watched Brad and Amberly argue earlier this morning. The muscles along his shoulders pulled his T-shirt taut as he folded his arms across his wide chest. “I shouldn’t have agreed to do this.” The soft tenor of Chance’s words sliced through Emily as though he’d shouted at her. “Especially when I knew the real reason you wanted to come. I let you manipulate me and it’s not going to happen again.”

  Emily’s temper flared. The least he could do was look her in the eye before he delivered a gut punch like that. “And what do you think is the real reason I wanted you to come?”

  “You wanted to make Brad jealous.” He turned to face her, his green eyes full of indignant fire. “And you used me to get it done.”

  “That’s not true.”

  Chance cocked a challenging brow. “Come on, Emily. Don’t treat me like I’m stupid. I’ve known you way too long for you to play games with me.”

  He’d hit a nerve and Emily didn’t like it one bit. “I never manipulated you. I asked my friend for a favor.”

  He leveled his gaze. “You absolutely manipulated me. You used my feelings for you against me to get what you wanted. You knew I wouldn’t turn you down. You let me justify your actions so you wouldn’t feel guilty about showing up here to crash the wedding.”

  Seriously? Emily’s jaw clenched. “I’m not crashing anything. I was invited.”

  “And you knew better than to accept the invitation.” Chance’s accusing tone burned into Emily’s skin. “You should have been the bigger person. Instead, you let me be your enabler.”

  Enabler? Was he kidding? Emily pushed herself out of the chair, all thoughts of her aching foot forgotten. “I didn’t force you to come, Chance.”

  “No? You didn’t use my feelings for you against me as leverage to get me to do what you wanted?”

  He made her sound like a horrible person. Hell, she’d already admitted to herself that she’d made better decisions. “I would never use our friendship against you.”

  “I’m not talking about our friendship Emily, and you know it.”

  Emily looked away. What she saw in the intensity of Chance’s gaze was too much for her to acknowledge. She wasn’t ready for this. Wasn’t ready for his honesty. It shook her to her core and forced her to face what she’d known for a while.

  “I’m in love with you.”

  Emily’s response escaped her lips before she could stop herself. “No you’re not.”

  “You can tell yourself that I’m not if it makes you feel better, but it’s not going to change the fact that I love you, Em. That’s why I can’t do this anymore.”

  A wave of fear-induced adrenaline rolled over her. His words sounded like…a breakup. Emily crossed the room in a rush. “What do you mean you can’t do this?” She didn’t have to ask, though. His somber tone told her everything she needed to know.

  “I’m not going to pretend that I don’t have feelings for you and I can’t continue being the guy you lean on. I want more. I want you, Em. All of you. And if you don’t want that, I can’t go back to being your friend. It’s too hard and I let you get away with too much because I’m too far lost to you to do anything about it. That’s not going to happen anymore.”

  Had she taken advantage of his friendship? Had Emily used Chance as a surrogate after Brad had dumped her? Allowing Chance to take care of her emotional needs while she gave him nothing in return? A cold lump of dread lodged itself in Emily’s throat and she tried to swallow it down. She was going to be sick for real this time. How could she have been so awful? Especially to the one person who meant more to her than anyone.

  The two of you were always sort of a package deal.

  Brad’s words echoed in Emily’s mind. They’d dated for a little over a year, longer than any other relationship she’d ever had, aside from her friendship with Chance. He was the one constant in her life. The only guy who’d never left her. Failed relationship after failed relationship and Emily had never stopped to consider that she was the reason for each and every failure. The one point she’d never compromised on was her friendship with Chance. If her boyfriends didn’t like having
him around, tough. That was their problem, not hers.

  Thanks to Chance slapping her in the face with a healthy dose of reality, she was beginning to realize that the problem was 100 percent hers.

  “You’re right.” She forced her gaze up to meet his. Shame burned her cheeks and scalded her chest. “I’ve taken you for granted. I let you be what I needed you to be without thinking for a second about your feelings. I knew you wouldn’t say no when I asked you to come here with me. And maybe deep down, I hoped that Brad would be jealous. I’m so sorry, Chance. I’m a horrible person and I feel awful.”

  “This isn’t something you can put on a Band-Aid on, Emily.” Chance raked his fingers through his tawny brown hair and blew out a frustrated breath. “It’s not about being sorry. It isn’t about you at all. This is about me and what I need to maintain my damn sanity. I think—” his expression became solemn “—I think I need to get out of here.”

  “Don’t.” Emily wasn’t sure what she wanted but did know if he left right now—walked out of her life—it would kill her. “Please, Chance.”

  His jaw squared and the muscle there ticked. He looked absolutely fierce in his anger. Heat gathered in the pit of Emily’s stomach. Chance was a good man. The best man she’d ever known. And he loved her. Was it so hard to say that she loved him too?

  “Give me one reason why I shouldn’t go.”

  She couldn’t push the words past her lips. She closed the space between them in two quick steps and put her mouth to his.

  #

  She’d managed him and once again, Chance let her. He should have pushed her away, told her that he wasn’t going to let her skirt the argument or his decision to leave. But the moment Emily’s mouth touched his, all of his convictions came tumbling down around him. She was his weakness. Emily was his fatal flaw.