A Chance On Love (A World Apart Book 1)

by Laura B. Martinez

  Getting up I make my way into the bathroom, stopping dead when I see him standing in front of the sink with just a towel wrapped around his hips, water running down his hard chest. I watch transfixed as a drop runs down his collar bone, over his pec and down between his abs. I swallow and lick my dry lips.

  “Are you trying to tell me something?” Leo asks and I look up confused. He’s holding the bottle of shampoo I bought him yesterday as I was rushing around the supermarket. “Take a closer look,” he says holding the bottle out for me. Walking over I take the bottle from him and gasp.

  “Oh shite, I am so sorry. I didn’t realize it was for balding men. All I saw was the ‘for men’, I swear,” I blurt, blushing as I reread the bottle.

  He laughs loudly, his big body shaking with each chuckle. “I knew you had a problem with me being older.”

  “I do not. You aren’t that old, just a little older than your hot young date,” I laugh.

  “Mmm, hot is right. I didn’t think I would have to take care of business alone on this trip,” he says leaning back on the sink and crossing his ankles.

  “I’m sorry Brooke landed a big job,” I say breathlessly taking him in.

  “Wow, that’s fantastic.” He says, but I’m distracted by the flex of his muscles as he dries his upper body. “Kaitlyn.” He laughs, waving a hand in front of my face.

  “Oh, erm. Some big model, I can’t remember his name.”

  “Well, I hope it goes well for her,” he replies, throwing the towel he was using to dry his hair in the washing basket, even that move is hot. His muscles contracting…Mmm, Jesus, I’m practically drooling over simple movements.

  “So, I was thinking we could go to Belfast castle today?” Leo asks.

  “Sounds perfect,” I say as I turn the shower back on.

  “Okay, then we can go after lunch,” he suggests.

  “You mean dinner?” I smirk.

  “No, I mean lunch. You are just weird calling lunch, dinner and dinner tea? Do you drink your food?” He laughs.

  Placing my hands on my hips I scowl at him. “I’ll have you know, I know you lot speak weird, but over here we have breakfast, dinner, tea and supper. And yes I am weird, thank you.” I smile before whipping my top off and unclasping my bra.

  His gasp makes me smile and gives me the confidence boost I need to push my P.J bottoms and knickers to the floor right there in front of him. I ignore his pained groan and step into the shower, letting the water cascade over me, hopefully I look sexy and not like a drowned rat.

  “Ah, I’m gonna go, do something.” He stutters and leaves the room his hand pressing down on what I presume is a massive hard-on. Smiling happily I go about washing and conditioning my hair before running my razor across my legs just to make sure they’re smooth.

  I turn off the shower and get out, grabbing a towel I go into the bedroom; disappointed to see it empty. Dressing quickly in loose trousers and a jumper I go in search of Leo. I pad slowly down the stairs, shivering I turn the dial for the heating up a few more degrees.

  “Feckin cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey,” I mutter, rubbing my arms. I wander along the hall and stop when I hear Leo on the phone, not wanting to disturb him I turn to leave, but freeze when I hear him say “baby girl.”

  What the feck?

  My heart pinches painfully and begins to race, is he talking to another woman? There is no way he’d call his mom or sister’s baby…I lean back against the wall and listen.

  “Please don’t do this to me again,” I pray quietly. “I don’t think I would survive it…”

  “Okay, I’ll see you when I get back. I love you too.”

  I rush for the living room as he finishes his call and nearly fall over Mr. Willy in the process, he hisses at me and walks away with his head in the air. Pompous git.

  I make it to the sofa just in time, Leo enters in loose trousers and a faded Star Wars t-shirt. It has a picture of Yoda on it, I laugh out loud at the words across it… ‘Are you related to Yoda? ‘Cause Yodalicious’ he smirks at me as my eyes start to water. I wipe my eyes while trying to calm my own breathing.

  “So, what are you gonna cook me for breakfast?” He asks, quirking a brow.

  “Well, I can make toast. I think?”

  “You think?” He asks laughing.

  “Yeah, I’m more of a cereal lass meself,” I shrug wiping my face.

  “Seriously? You can’t live on that crap.”

  I gasp, mock glaring at him. “That’s a deal breaker!” I say clutching my chest dramatically.

  “Let’s get to work then,” he says holding out his hand, I take it and follow.

  “Okay, we’ll start with something simple but yummy,” he tells me opening and closing cupboards. “Where do you keep your baking ingredients?” He asks, and I point to the pantry. When he emerges he drops flour, salt, white and dark chocolate chips onto the work surface, and grabs eggs and milk from the fridge.

  “Okay, grab a mixing bowl, sieve and whisk.”

  I do as I’m bid and step back. “Oh, no you don’t. Come here,” he says pointing to the space between him and the work surface. I move into the small space and immediately feel his body press against my back.

  How the feck I’m meant to cook with his body so close? I take a deep breath and try to forget about the sexy bloke behind me.

  “Okay, now hold the sieve above the bowl,” his breath tickles my neck and I shiver. “A little higher, hold it nice and tight,” he whispers and I bite my lip to hold in my moan. I just want to forget about food and drag him to the nearest flat surface.

  I cough and splutter as flour goes everywhere, all over the place, a white fog of flour chokes me and makes Leo laugh.

  “I told you to hold it nice and tight. You need a firm grip for this job.”

  Ah, the sexual innuendos and close body contact are killing me. “I normally do have a tight grip,” I say lowering my voice and push my butt into his lap. I smile when he groans, drops the flour and grasps my hips.

  “Stop that, I’m trying to teach you how to feed yourself properly, woman.”

  “Okay,” I shrug shifting my hips forward.

  “Hey, I didn’t say to move away, just don’t grind on my dick, not yet anyway.” He nips my neck pulling me back in tight against him.

  I try to remember everything he tells me as he adds the ingredients, if he likes it so much I will try and cook it for him but it looks like slop.

  “Okay, now you can add as much chocolate chips as you want, just don’t go mad,” he laughs as my face lights up.

  I tip half of each bag into the mix and fold the batter over the bits of chocolate, it looks better now…because we all know chocolate makes everything better.

  “Do you cook a lot at home then?” I ask curious.

  “Okay, now we cook,” he says ignoring my question and moving onto the next stage.

  I stand back and watch, his muscles flex when he flips each pancake. The concentration on his face is cute. He hums softly, I listen carefully to try and decipher the song. “What are you singing?” I ask, frustrated.

  “Hmm? Oh, Let's get it on. One of my favourite songs,” he says winking.

  “Oh, you have a nice voice.”

  “I was only humming.”

  “Well, you have a nice hum then,” I say sticking my tongue out.

  By the time he’s done the plate is stacked high with fluffy pancakes, they smell delicious.

  “Go sit, I’ll bring them over.”

  I grab glasses and juice, sitting at the table impatiently awaiting the yumminess. I groan as I chew, they are phenomenal. I jump at the sound of cutlery hitting the stone floor. I look at Leo who is staring at me hungrily, his mouth hanging open. I giggle, unable to hold it in.

  “D-do you always do that?” He asks.

  “What?” I ask around another mouthful.

  “Moan like that when eating.”

  “Erm, I think so?” I reply turning red, I don’t ev
en realize I’m doing it, I just love food.

  “Wearing tight boxers tonight then.”

  I choke on a piece of pancake and look at Leo, did he really just say that? I choose to let it go and dig in before my food gets cold, the rest of the meal is comfortably quiet. After we’re done Leo raises to clean up, but I still him with a hand on his leg.

  “You cooked, I’ll clean.”

  “You sure? I don’t mind.”

  “I’ll be fine, go find something to amuse yourself with,” I say shooing him out of the kitchen.

  “Do you remember in one of our many conversations, you said I could read some of your manuscript?” I stop, frozen mid clean up. Does he really want to read my work?

  “Y-you want to read some?”

  “Yeah, of course, but only if you want me to?”

  “Er, okay. Let me just load my laptop,” I say wiping my hands and walking into the living room. Grabbing my laptop I turn it on and wait anxiously tapping the keyboard, when it finally loads I type my password and open Word. Once it’s set up I pass it over to Leo and run out of the room, I can’t sit there and watch him read my work.

  Filling the sink I wash the dishes trying not to think about Leo reading my baby, I busy myself drying and putting everything to rights before sweeping and mopping the floor.

  “Do you fancy a cuppa?” I shout.

  “I’d love a coffee,” Leo whispers close behind me and I jump screaming. Feck my heart is in my mouth.

  “Fuckin eejit, I almost shat me knickers.” I yell slapping him with the dishcloth, my accent thickening.

  “I’m s-sorry,” he laughs doubled over. I huff and grab cups and the coffee thingy, I look at it trying to work out how to use the bloody thing. Why do people have to make it so feckin hard to make a damn cuppa coffee?

  “Here let me,” he says, slightly out of breath, taking the coffee thing he opens it and expertly sets it up to make coffee. “You’re fuckin’ sexy when your accent is thicker.”

  I grin at him, everyone loves an Irish accent. “Are your panties wet?” I joke.

  “What?” He asks confused.

  “Well, I hear Irish accents make panties wet and drop,” I say with a straight face, after the shock wears off he bursts out laughing.

  “Well, if I were a woman I would throw mine at you, you know, if I wore panties.” He smiles grinning at me.

  “Ah, you could always throw them anyway, your boxers I mean,” I whisper as I grab my cup and leave the kitchen.

  I see my laptop open on the coffee table, looking closely I see he got to page thirty-two. When he joins me in the living room I pluck up the nerve to ask.

  “So, what did you think?” I nod at the laptop and curl up with my cup between my hands.

  “I’m amazed. It’s fantastic writing, are you going to publish it?”

  I sit there my mouth open in total shock. Will I publish?

  “Maybe, I’m not one hundred percent on it yet. I think it needs a lot more work and a lot of editing.” I shrug sipping my tea.

  “It may need editing but the core story is there, the character development is there, the writing is fluid.”

  I blink and stare stunned. As if he couldn’t get any hotter! Intellectual is fuckin’ sexy in my book…all he’s missing is the glasses and he’d be my nerdy wet dream.

  “Do you wear glasses?” I blurt.

  “You mean these?” He asks and pulls a pair of reading glasses from his pocket.

  Oh shite! Call 999, I need an ambulance. I can’t breathe, I may be having some sort of, something. My heart can’t take it, he’s perfect.

  At his amused look, I realize I may actually be drooling and turn away quickly, dropping my cup in the process. I squeal as warm tea seeps through my jumper, getting up quickly, I run into the kitchen. Whipping my jumper off I throw it in the sink and run the water, I scrub until all the tea is out of it and throw it in the wash quickly. I hope it doesn’t stain.

  I walk toward the stairs as Leo meets me at the bottom. “Here,” he says and pulls his t-shirt over his head, handing it to me he smiles before going back to the living room.

  Bringing the soft fabric up to my face I take a deep breath, sighing as I take in his scent. “You know I have a whole bottle of that smell that I can leave here for you when I go home if you like,” he calls.

  I blush and pull it over my head. “That is so kind, I’ll take the t-shirt too,” I fire back at him.

  “Now, I don’t know about leaving Yoda.”

  “I wasn’t asking,” I laugh sitting beside him.

  “I may be persuaded to leave it until my next visit,” he says looking down at me. “That is if I’m invited back?”

  My breath hitches as his hand glides across my cheek. Please kiss me!

  My body and mind are in agreement, I want to feel those lips on mine. My breathing accelerates as his head lowers, his hand angles my head as his nose rubs against mine.

  “Ouch, fuck!” Leo yells pulling away from me sharply.

  “What the fuck?”

  “Fuckin’ cat bit my nipple,” he gasps, rubbing his chest. I burst out laughing, I laugh so hard tears run down my face.

  “It’s not funny,” he grouches. “He's staying outside the bedroom, I want to have you all to myself without worrying about that damn evil cat. There is no way he his getting those teeth anywhere near my dick!”

  I snort laughing so hard, my whole body shaking.

  After the nipple incident we decided to keep the intimacy for when Mr. Willy Shakespaw wasn’t present.

  Since getting in the car with no nutty cat in sight, Leo’s hand is firmly placed at the top of my thigh. At first it I was overly aware of it being there, but now it’s a comforting heat.

  “Are we nearly there yet?” Leo asks for the fifth time, I know he is doing it to wind me up because he can’t help but laugh every time I growl in return.

  “Nearly,” I say through gritted teeth. “You know for a man of thirty-four you act more like a child.”

  “I have been told that a time or two,” he laughs.

  We’re quiet until we pull into the castle grounds, it’s stunning, exactly how it was when I came for a school trip.

  “Wow, it’s really beautiful,” he whispers as if his voice would disturb the peace and beauty surrounding us.

  “It is,” I agree, parking the car. We sit for a few minutes taking it all in, “where do you want to go first? Do you want to walk around or go and see Napoleon's Nose?” I ask. “It’s said it’s the inspiration for Jonathan Swift's novel, Gulliver's Travels,” I say, looking over at him.

  “Huh, well let’s go see a nose then,” he replies getting out of the car and coming to open my door for me. Swoon.

  We walk for a while holding hands, both bundled up in thick jumpers and coats. By the time we get to Napoleon’s nose we’re both breathless from the cold air and the walk.

  “It doesn’t look like a nose,” Leo says after a few minutes.

  “You need to look at the whole thing not just the point. You should see a face, the pointy bit is Napoleon’s nose.” I point out.

  “Ah, I see it now. It’s a face, but why call it Napoleon’s Nose?”

  “I’m not one hundred percent sure but it may have something to do with the fact that it looks like emperor Napoleon,” I say and make a mental note to do some research on it. “C’mon, if we keep going you’ll be able to see the whole of Belfast from the top, maybe even Scotland if it’s clear enough.”

  “Really? I’ve never seen Scotland,” he replies, excitedly following behind me.

  “You won’t be able to see it in detail but yeah, I have seen Scotland from here when I was a wee lass.”

  “Wow, this is amazing. I get to see a castle, a nose and Scotland all in one day?” I laugh, shaking my head. “You can even go into a cave if you like.”

  “What? Like a real cave?” Looking back at him he looks like an excited little lad, it’s so cute.

  “Yeah, there
are five caves here.”

  “Are you okay to go there? You aren’t too tired are you?” He asks pulling back so I stand in front of him.

  “No, I was born and bred here.” I shrug, unable to resist going to my tiptoes and laying a kiss on his cheek. “Thank you for asking though.”

  “Lead the way then, lass,” he says.

  I laugh at his poor imitation of the Irish accent. “You need more practice.”

  “I’ll get right on it after we see Scotland and the caves.”

  When we reach the top of Cave hill ‘Napoleon’s nose’ we are both out of breath, but the view is so worth it. Pride swells in my chest as I take in my city, as we stand there the sun breaks through the clouds and shines over the land below. I close my eyes and bask in the warmth and peaceful beauty surrounding me.

  “So beautiful,” Leo whispers and I agree it is. Looking over at him I see his gaze is on me not the view in front of us, I blush realizing he was referring to me.

  “Have you managed to spot Scotland yet?” I ask, changing the subject embarrassed by his scrutiny.

  “Nope, I think it may be too cloudy,” he sighs looking out over Belfast. “Still worth the walk though.” He unzips his jacket and lays it on the ground before sitting down and patting the space between his legs.

  “Are you nuts? It’s freezing out here,” I say shivering for him.

  “Nah, it’s not that bad. Winters in New York are worse than this.”

  I sit and lean against him, relaxing, his arms weave around my shoulders and we sit in silence enjoying the peace and quiet.

  “I don’t want to go home,” Leo whispers breaking the silence between us.

  “I don’t want you to either but you have a business and family…”

  “I know, and if I didn’t have all those commitments you wouldn’t get rid of me.” He kisses my head holding me a little tighter. Since the peacefulness is now ladened with sadness I get up and offer him my hand.

  “We still have caves to see.” I smile as he jumps up ignoring my offer for help and shrugs his jacket back on, then takes my hand weaving our fingers together.

  Making our way down from Napoleon’s nose, we follow the paths round towards the first cave which is at ground level.