Taking Chances
by Rose Marie Meuwissen
Published by
Satin Romance
An Imprint of Melange Books, LLC
White Bear Lake, MN 55110
www.satinromance.com
Taking Chances, Copyright 2015 Rose Marie Meuwissen
ISBN: 978-1-68046-068-1
Names, characters, and incidents depicted in this book are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and beyond the intent of the author or the publisher. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.
Published in the United States of America.
Cover Design by Stephanie Flint
Dedication
To my children, Shane Meuwissen, Tiffany Warford and Cassandra Papin who always encouraged me to pursue my dream of publishing my stories.
To my critique partner, Kathy Nordstrom, who read the first chapter to the last chapter of this story numerous times during the journey of this manuscript.
To Nancy Schumacher who was willing to take a chance on me and my story.
Table of Contents
"Taking Chances"
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Epilogue
About the Author
Previews
TAKING CHANCES
by Rose Marie Meuwissen
Shana Madden’s just made it through the worst two years of her life and decided to make a fresh start in Phoenix where it is sunny every day and never gets below zero like in Minneapolis. Starting over at a new job didn’t involve running into Kal Paxton who was responsible for at least half of her really bad previous two years. But with intense chemistry between Kal and Shana, only time will tell if their past will keep them apart or bring them closer together so they can move forward to take a chance on a lasting love.
Chapter One
Had she just really been laid off from her job? What else could possibly go wrong? Shana Madden kept asking herself that question.
She was completely alone. Her mother was gone now. Often, she wondered what she would feel like when it happened—when her mother died. She’d anticipated it would be difficult, but never realized it would make such a difference to her everyday life. Death was just so final. Every day she missed her. Missed talking to her on the phone. Hearing her soothing voice telling her everything would be okay.
Shana had been employed in her marketing position at Ultimate Promotions for almost ten years. Moving up the ladder of success, she’d finally landed her dream job. She loved it. Being somewhat of a workaholic, she lived and breathed her job—the ad campaigns and planning marketing events for her clients. So busy working all the time, she hadn’t realized how desperately she actually needed the extra money her latest promotion had added to her paycheck. Now the bills for all her mother’s extra care, towards the end of her life, began arriving in the mail. The funeral costs were considerably more than she’d ever anticipated. Who knew it cost nearly $10,000 for a funeral these days?
The intense shock she felt when she was called into her manager’s office earlier today was unimaginable. Roscoe Advertising recently bought out the company. Everyone was reassured there would not be any employment changes and no one needed to be concerned about their jobs.
They lied. Boy, did they lie!
After the takeover by the new owners, over half of the staff was laid off—including her.
Life certainly sucked. The day simply couldn’t get any worse. It was five o’clock and she only had a few more personal things to load into a box as she finished cleaning out her office cubicle. Sadly, ten years of her life fit neatly into one small empty printer-paper box. Unfortunately, that was the sad truth of her career. Did she actually have anything of value to show for the past ten years? Probably not. Only memories. The happy ones she would always remember, but that was about it. Just a few memories and one box to take with her.
She should probably be on the brink of tears at this point, but they didn’t seem to be coming. Only a couple of stray tears managed to slide down her cheek in the past hour. Her co-workers stopped by one by one to say how sorry they were and reassure her everything would be okay. She’d be able to start over with a different company and probably be paid a higher salary. Nonetheless, she could sense the relief in their voices that it hadn’t been them. They still had jobs, so of course they could say everything would be okay.
Truth of the matter was she wouldn’t be anywhere near okay unless she got a new job tomorrow. There were already way too many bills to pay. She barely earned enough money to pay them with a steady paycheck and there definitely wouldn’t be enough now. Any way you looked at it, she was now in deep financial trouble.
Mother was sick for over a year before her death, just three months ago, and Shana had agreed to pay the nursing home bills. What other choice did she have? After all, it was her mother, the only family she’d had left. She had no brothers or sisters to help and her dad died years ago. No, it was only her. She was responsible for taking care of her mother’s affairs so she promised to make payments. Eventually, it would get paid off. No matter how long it took, she would do it. Unfortunately, it really helped to have a job. Oh, she’d file for unemployment, but the checks would barely be enough to cover the essentials.
Shana picked up the box, her organizer bag and purse, then stopped and turned back for a second to stare at the cubicle she’d called home for the last ten years. Another tear slid down her cheek as she proceeded down the hall and headed for the door.
It really wasn’t very far to her car in the parking lot, although it seemed like the longest walk of her life. She got in and sat serenely in the driver’s seat, blankly staring out the windshield. Reaching into her purse, she pulled out her cell phone and started to call her mother. Then abruptly stopped. It was a habit to always call her mother on her drive home from work. She ended the call as her heart broke into a million pieces and tears rolled down her cheeks. She was so alone. The feeling of hopelessness was overwhelming.
“You’ll be okay. Get a grip girl.” Now she was even talking to herself. Only crazy people did that, didn’t they?
Shana knew she should go home, but couldn’t. She didn’t have any idea where to go but knew she needed to be around people. Driving without a destination definitely was not a good thing. She ended up in the parking lot of Bear Creek Pass, a local Minneapolis eating and drinking establishment catering to the career people after work. She couldn’t remember going through any intersections or even getting off the freeway. A very scary thought.
Having a drink seemed like the appropriate thing to do in this situation. The only problem was she didn’t drink. Maybe, one on rare occasions. Most people thought drinking solved all their problems, so this would be as good a time as any to try out the theory. For drinking to have any affect, more than one drink undoubtedly was needed, and one was usually her limit. It was worth trying it out tonight. The theory. She had no place else to go and didn’t have to go to work in t
he morning. What could it hurt?
She hated going to bars, especially alone. She walked in and sat down on a high stool at the bar. It wasn’t crowded yet, however probably would be soon. It was happy hour, so she ordered a frozen strawberry margarita, which unfortunately, or fortunately, depending on how you looked at it, meant she would get two, and a chicken fingers appetizer.
She’d been so busy working on her Dallas event for Holiday Travel; she never took the time to have lunch. She skipped lunch many times and worked straight through the day. She was dedicated to her job and her career. What a fool she’d been! It didn’t matter to her company. Not one bit. They completely managed to get the work of two people out of her for the price of one. They weren’t the fools in this one, she was. At her next job, she was going to take lunch every day, no matter what.
The strawberry margarita was cool and refreshing. The first one was gone along with half of the chicken and she was halfway finished with her second drink. Well, she hadn’t eaten all day after all. The bartender asked if she would like another drink. She looked up at him, trying to concentrate on what he was saying. It had gotten very loud. She looked around the bar and realized it was almost full except for the bar stool next to her. The bartender was still waiting for her answer. She nodded. What the Hell. It was only two drinks and she had eaten so she should be okay to have another one.
Music was now playing and the lights were lower. She noticed people were out dancing and having a good time. Must be nice.
“Would you like to dance?”
Her mind was clouded, but she thought someone was talking to her. Something about dancing? She looked up to see a breathtakingly handsome man waiting for her reply.
“It’s only a dance.”
“Uh, oh sure.” I don’t have anything to lose, do I? She got up off the stool and swayed slightly. Then walked to the dance floor with him following.
She danced and moved her body to the beat of the music, swinging her hips seductively and tossing her long blond hair from side to side. She looked up at him and smiled. He was just under six feet tall, trim and fit. His body glowed with a natural tan from the sun. He grinned down at her with appreciation as he watched her dance. She moved closer to him dancing even more seductively than before.
The dancing proved to be the right thing. It made her forget about her problems and allowed her body to relax, of course the alcohol probably helped, too. They danced to a couple of songs and then headed back to the barstools.
“Sorry, I didn’t introduce myself, I’m Kal,” he said extending his hand.
“Shana,” she said shaking his hand.
“Mind if I join you at the bar?” he asked.
“No, of course not.”
“I’d order you a drink but it looks like you’re set,” he said looking at two strawberry margaritas in front of her.
“Happy hour.” She always hated this part, trying to make conversation with a stranger. He certainly was good looking, unfortunately, that usually meant he either had a girlfriend or didn’t want one. You could tell he worked out by the muscles in his arms and his flat stomach. His hair was coal black, cut in a short business style, and his eyes were baby blue. Hell he probably had women falling at his feet to get dates with him. What was he doing talking to her? Probably was having an off night and wanted to score tonight for a one-night stand. Well, he just may be in luck. One-night stands were not her style, in fact, she’d never had one, nonetheless, tonight she just didn’t really care. If she ever needed to be close to someone, it was tonight. The thought of being held in his arms, even for a few hours was immensely appealing. She was jumping the gun though, because he hadn’t actually hinted towards sleeping with her at all, yet she sure as hell was thinking about it.
“So what do you do?” he asked.
“I’m in advertising,” she answered, not exactly lying yet not actually getting into the truth of the matter that as of today she didn’t have a job. “And you?” she countered to take the focus off her.
“I’m in the medical field,” he said not really offering more. “This is a good song. Would you like to dance again?”
“Sure,” she answered, getting up off the stool. It was a slow one. Usually she didn’t dance slow ones with strangers, however she didn’t want to talk about jobs and she wanted to feel his hard body pressed against hers.
* * * *
Kal took her in his arms and pressed her tightly against him. She felt good, he thought. It had been a year since he’d broken up with his fiancée—rather she had broken up with him. He hadn’t felt like going out for a long time, but tonight he was feeling lonely and wanted some female companionship. Even if it was only for one night. She smelled good, some type of musk, he decided. Her hair felt like silk as he ran his fingers through the long strands hanging down her back. Her body was soft and yielding—it had been so long since he’d allowed himself the pleasure of a woman’s company, or body for that matter.
The band played two slow songs in a row. He enjoyed every minute of them. When the second one ended, he bent his head and kissed her lips as she looked up at him. Nice. Very nice, he thought as he pulled away. They walked back to their barstools and he ordered them each another drink. He sensed she was about over her limit; still he wanted to go home with her tonight. He knew it was wrong, because Hell, he didn’t even know her, yet he knew she was what he wanted tonight and it had been way too long.
“Do you watch football? The Vikings aren’t doing very well, as usual.”
“Sometimes. I’ve been to a couple of games.” She welcomed the non-relevant conversation of sports that went on for quite a while.
They talked, they drank, they danced, until the bar was ready to close.
“I’ll walk you to your car,” he offered and took her arm to lead her outside. When they got to her five-year-old black Kia Elantra, he turned her around into his arms and kissed her lips again, and then moved to her neck and up to her ear. He whispered, “I’d like to come home with you, if you are interested.”
Shana looked up at him. “I thought you’d never ask. It’s not far from here. You can follow me.”
Kal walked to his two-year-old red Corvette and got in. He pulled up behind her and followed her to her apartment. He questioned the wisdom of his actions during the drive, though his body was ready and he knew he needed to be with her tonight. It wouldn’t go any further than that, a one-night stand, but that was okay.
* * * *
Shana led him into her small apartment, turned on the stereo to the Smooth Jazz station and turned the lights down low. She was going to do this; nevertheless, she did want to be seduced first. After all, there was no need to rush. She sat down on the couch where he joined her. Wow, this seemed awkward.
“You are a very beautiful woman, Shana.” He brushed her hair off her shoulder, began kissing her neck and moved slowly to her lips. She kissed him back. He stood and pulled her up off the couch to slow dance with him. He wrapped her in his arms and pressed her against his body. His hands roamed down her back to her butt and he pulled her even closer. She could feel him pressing against her body. She turned so her back was now pressed against his chest. He put his hand on her stomach and slid his hand up underneath her blouse to caress her breast.
Shana gasped. It felt so good and it had been so very long. Over two years ago. No man had touched her since the divorce from a marriage that only lasted a year. She took his hand and led him to the bedroom. She pulled back the comforter and sheet and then undressed. Kal did the same. It seemed so weird to be doing this with someone she didn’t know. Thank heavens it was dark in the room and her whole thinking process was clouded by all the alcohol. She got into the bed. Seconds later Kal was lying naked beside her, kissing her eager lips again, blissfully allowing her to forget everything except the wonderful sensations spiraling throughout her body from his hungry lips. Kisses that threatened to devour her. She was on fire and ready for him. Hell, she’d been ready all night.
> Kal was about to enter her body when a moment of reality flashed in her mind to remind him to use a condom. Then she decided to hell with it, rolled over on top of him, and slid down on his rock hard erection, covering him completely with her body. He felt so damn good! She felt his reluctance, but soon they both were overtaken by a sexual frenzy escalating between them and she didn’t give protection another thought. He rolled over on top of her then and finished quickly as they climaxed together. The last thing she remembered was Kal apologizing for finishing so soon before she passed out from sheer mental and physical exhaustion mixed with way too much alcohol.
* * * *
Kal woke up at five the next morning. He looked at the woman lying in bed next to him still asleep. Last night he’d had great sex with her even though she’d obviously had a little too much to drink. At this time in his life, he didn’t want to get involved and hadn’t mentioned anything about looking for a relationship. Yesterday had been a bad day. Hell, he’d had a bad year. Sometimes, a guy simply needed a woman. This was only for one night. He dressed quietly so he wouldn’t wake her. He felt bad though, so he pulled out a fifty-dollar bill and placed it on the table with a note.
Thanks for a wonderful night. Use this to buy something for yourself. Kal.
He closed the door quietly and left. His flight left at seven. It was a good thing he packed yesterday so everything was ready to go. The conference he was attending was in Atlanta and he would be gone for almost a week. Probably was best for both of them.
* * * *
Shana woke up about seven the next morning with a headache, that wouldn’t quit. Finally, she sat up, desperately knowing she needed some Tylenol. She looked over at the other side of her king size bed and remembered someone had been lying there with her last night.
Taking Chances Page 1
