Slow Dancing (The Second Chances Series Book 4)

by Isobelle Cate

  “We’re here now,” she whispered against his mouth. Drake was drowning in her eyes. “Making up is much better. Love me tonight, Drake. Make me forget.”

  How could he say no to the woman who had his heart from the moment she walked up to him when no one else dared to? He was going to love her as she asked. He was going to protect her. Keep her safe. Keep her daughter safe. This was a chance at redemption. No way was he going to fucking blow it.

  * * *

  “What are you doing tomorrow?”

  The sheets rustled as Bethany rested her chin on Drake’s chest. Dawn had broken but it was still dark outside. Bethany was a whole lot of sore by the time Drake carried her upstairs to her room. Crawling underneath the covers, Drake had spooned her while they slept before claiming her again only half an hour ago.

  Sore but cherished. She would not have it any other way.

  She was going have a hell of a hard time walking.

  “It’s the shop’s opening,” she murmured. Even in the shadows, Drake was still incredibly handsome.

  “What shop?”

  “My floral shop…well mine and Cinzia’s.” She lowered her eyes and played with the fine hairs on his chest, suddenly feeling shy. Unsure. Excitement bubbled through her veins.

  “Really?” He rumbled in that sexy way, interest evident. “Where?”

  “Not far from where you saw me and Amara. On Lever Street. Want to drop by? Only if you’ve got time. I mean, you don’t have to go if you can’t—” She paused, her heart knocking enough to bring the door down. Drake’s opinion mattered. Bethany wanted him to be proud of her.

  She opened her mouth to speak but was waylaid when Drake rolled her on to her back, spread her legs with his knee, and settled between her thighs as he kissed her. He held himself on his arms over her. She was certified mush and putty in Drake’s arms.

  “Baby, you have seriously got to learn that when it comes to you, I will drop everything and be there.”

  “Even if what you have to do is very important?” she murmured against his mouth.

  He leaned up. “That’s up for negotiation.”

  “See.”

  “With the other party,” he said, his ever hardening shaft teasing her hip. “If they can’t rearrange, they can fuck off.”

  “Drake!” Her shoulders shook.

  “Do you think I’d pass up the chance to be a part of something you’ve accomplished? No, Bee.” His deep voice became serious. “I’m not leaving you. No power on earth is going to take me away from you again. I intend to spend every minute, every hour, every day with you. Unless Amara says otherwise.”

  Bethany’s heart melted. Adding Amara into the equation added several points in her eyes. The pale blue day allowed her to see Drake’s face and his eyes. Haunted. Pained. Remorseful. His stubble made him sexier, more fuckable. Drake kissed her palm. It was a kiss so different from the passion filled slip and slide of lovemaking tongues. It was sweet, and soft, filled with promise that broke through the wall around her heart.

  “What am I going to do with you, Drake Rosen?” Her eyes took her fill of him. She just couldn’t get enough of him. If he fell asleep, she’d watch him sleep.

  He kissed her knuckles and placed his forehead against hers.

  “Love me, Bethany. Love me just as I love you.”

  Bethany’s breath caught in her throat. Shit, she was getting emotional Her eyes squeezed shut to stop her tears from falling. This was what she had wanted to hear for so long. Now that she heard it, she didn’t know what to do. Her heart had remained opened, left bleeding and raw. And Drake’s vow was mending it piece by painful piece.

  She wriggled beneath him. He wouldn’t let go.

  “No Drake, please.” Sobs shuddered through her as she turned away, curling to one side as if trying to hide and cradle the open wound in the center of her chest. The room’s cool air brushed against her and her body screamed for Drake’s warmth.

  How long had she wanted to hear those words from him? How long had she also loved him even in the darkest depths of her despair of never seeing him again? Why did fate have to be so cruel to keep them apart only to make them find each other again when her secrets were what could break Drake’s heart?

  “Bee,” Drake said softly, gathering her in his arms and letting her soak his chest with her tears. His callused hand rubbing warmth onto her back yet sending tingles of need down her spine. “I’m here. I’m not going anywhere. Talk to me. We’ll weather this out. I’ll be strong for you. For us.”

  That brought a fresh wave of tears and sobs that wrenched what was left of her self-preservation. Her arms incrementally moved away from her chest exposing the centre knowing that doing so, she was accepting more agony. But she needed that before she healed, right? At least she hoped so. Bethany felt as though her body had been cut open to expose her insides. Anguish was a physical ache that vibrated up and down her spine before it spread through her limbs. Aching, twisting, and squeezing every bit of sanity from her. Her life replayed itself in her mind’s eye. Every short lived happiness. Every long term heartbreak. It was all there. And Drake was taking them down, pushing those sad memories to one side while he soothed her pain away.

  Drake’s strong arm supported her back. His legs entangled with hers. The heat of his body stopped her from shaking. His lips were on her hair, his voice against her ear.

  Bethany never wanted to leave. It was the safest place she’d ever been in.

  “If I’d known that you’d be crying a lake I would have kept my mouth shut.” Drake teased. “Ow!”

  Bethany snorted through her clogged nose after she slapped Drake’s chest.

  “It’s not funny.” She said thickly, reaching across him to pull tissue from the box on the bedside table.

  Drake blew out a breath. “I know it isn’t, baby. But we’re here now, right? Nothing’s going to pull us apart again. I promise.”

  His words brought her back the moment her life unravelled. Drake had just turned seventeen. She, just shy over fourteen. Drake was almost a man, the protector she didn’t expect. A friend when she had none. A reason to keep going, and imagining him being there beside her when she felt worthless. Drake Rosen was part of her dream that shattered when he left.

  Now he was back.

  Bethany burrowed further into Drake. She inhaled him. Oh God, he smelled so good. A hint of his cologne and his manly scent. And the warmth his body gave out was more than enough for Bethany to kick the duvet back. She wrapped her arm and leg around him much to Drake’s amusement. She kissed his chest. The sound he made rumbled up his chest and sent pleasant vibrations across to her. His hand trailed down her back before reaching her ass and squeezing a cheek. Releasing her for just a moment, he placed the covers back over them.

  She laughed softly.

  “What?” Drake stopped midway.

  “I was thinking that you’re more than enough to be my blanket.”

  “Baby, my arse is freezing.”

  She peeled with laugher and waited while Drake arranged the covers over his butt.

  She had a huge smile on her face. She’d never known contentment. Not really, except for the time she rocked Amara to sleep as a baby. She was in Drake’s arms and this was a new level of gratification. One she was in danger of getting used to.

  She angled her face against his neck inhaling him again before putting a soft kiss on his throat. Drake kissed her forehead and his arm curled flushing her further against his side beneath the whisper of the duvet.

  Outside, the world had awaken. Entrance doors closed, cars reversed out of driveways before engines accelerated away. Bethany’s nose tickled and she sniffed, rubbing her nose with her fist when the faint smell of petrol filled the air.

  “Drake?”

  “Hmmm?”

  “Remember when we sat on our roof after school, I had my head on your shoulder and my arms around your waist?”

  She felt his mouth curve on her head.

  “Yeah, I
remember.”

  “And you said that we’d have to fix that so that I could have all of you?”

  He didn’t speak, just nudged his head.

  Bethany closed her eyes, a happy smile on her face.

  “Now I do.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  “Cara, your visitors are here,” Cinzia called from the front of the store.

  The official launch was still later that afternoon and they were getting inundated with last-minute orders for flowers for a wedding nearby.

  “What? Visitors?” Bethany’s mind was muddled by a hundred different things vying for her attention. She was a jangled mass of nerves. She had picked up Amara from her parents’ house three hours earlier for some retail therapy when her phone rang. The wedding flower arrangements for a nearby church never arrived and Expectation Blooms was the first one the best man and maid of honour saw open. Cinzia had arrived half an hour after them and volunteered to take the flowers to the venue after Bethany and Amara had created what was needed. The profusion of blooms made the shop resemble the threshold of paradise that people started coming in before the launch even began. Bethany hadn’t wanted the opening to be as haphazard as this, but the exposure no matter how unexpected was welcome.

  “Mum, can you put your finger in the centre of the bow?” Amara twisted the ribbon not waiting for Bethany to acknowledge her. Her furrow of concentration cleared. “There! That’s the last one for the church. Aunt Cinzia!”

  Bethany followed her daughter to the main shop floor. Because of the sudden and unexpected influx of business, Bethany had called Debbie and Adi to come in earlier and were now helping put the flowers into the best man’s car. Cinzia and Amara would follow in Bethany’s car to help set up.

  “Sorry!” She gave a harried smile at Lissie and Gracie who waited by one side of the shop. Bethany brushed away the strands of hair that had come out of her ponytail. “I didn’t expect this madness. Promise. And you guys are early.”

  Lissie chuckled. “Take it for what it is, brisk business. Congratulations!”

  “Thank you.” Bethany was filled with heartfelt gratitude. She was hell bent on burying her past under the saving grace of blooms. “The launch isn’t until later but a wedding didn’t have any flowers for the church.”

  Both Lissie and Gracie raised their brows.

  “You’d have thought that would have been ready.” Gracie commented.

  “I know right?” Bethany agreed wiping her forehead with the back of her hand.

  The store's phone rang.

  “I’ll get it,” Debbie said from the counter when Bethany did a half turn to take the call.

  “Oh God, I’m all over the place.” Bethany placed her hands over her flushed cheeks.

  “How does it feel?” Gracie grinned then took a deep breath. She closed her eyes. “Do I smell jasmine?”

  Bethany tilted her head, pleased. “Yes, we have some jasmine at the back. Either I’m coming down with a cold or you’ve got one strong sense of smell.”

  “Strong sense of smell,” Lissie quipped. “She’d know whether Flynn was already home or not.”

  “Flynn?” Bethany’s gaze darted between them.

  “My son.” Gracie chuckled softly. “He goes to the tennis clinic near our place and sweats a river.”

  “Uh…Bethany?” Debbie grabbed her attention from behind the counter. Anxiety painted her face.

  “Excuse me.”

  “Don’t mind us.” Gracie waved her hand. “We’ll enjoy looking around.”

  “What’s wrong?” Bethany asked the moment she reached Debbie.

  “The caterers won’t be able to come over. Their chef called in sick.”

  “What? You’re joking right?” Cold dread washed over Bethany as she felt the blood drain from her face.

  “That was the caterer who called.”

  “Why the hell didn’t they prepare it beforehand?” Frustration mixed with her anxiety.

  “That’s what I told the caller.”

  Bethany looked away, her lips flattening. Sure they got a lucrative impromptu order for flowers but the launch was beginning to look like a NASA mission fail.

  “They said they’re returning our down payment if that helps.”

  A semblance of a smile landed on Bethany’s mouth. “Some good that’ll do.” She sighed. “Thanks, Debbie. See if we can get some nice finger foods in M&S. Take Adi with you.”

  Bethany became thoughtful, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth when a familiar scent entered her nose. Her lungs sucked in the sexy smell. Her belly did somersaults rivalling an Olympic diver’s demonstration. She looked up, her breath suspended at the sight of Drake entering the shop. Suddenly the space became smaller, the air thicker. It became just the two of them.

  Drake was wearing a dark blue crew neck jumper over a cream shirt that stretched across his broad shoulders, jeans that hugged his hips, skimmed muscular thighs and showed his ass to perfection, topping it with casual shoes. Oh Lord, he was good enough to eat. His hair was tousled at the top and Bethany’s hands itched to run through them again. He had shaved off the stubble that had left marks between her thighs but it did not dispel the effect his sexy smirk had on her. Her body heated when his warm brown eyes darkened, raking her from head to food, sending sparks of awareness deep into the centre of her sex.

  And made her conscious of how messy she looked.

  “Drake.” She brought a self-conscious hand to her hair. “What are you doing here?”

  Drake’s brows rose and his smirk turned bemused. He came closer and murmured, “Told you I’d spend all the time I had with you.”

  He placed a chaste kiss on her cheek that still quickened Bethany’s pulse.

  That kind of possessiveness made her giddy. It was also the kind of emotion that could break her heart if she wasn’t careful. No matter what she did, the fear of being left behind was etched in her soul and it would probably take Drake to keep telling her a million times he wasn’t leaving until that truth sank deep and etched itself in her bones.

  “I didn’t think you’d be this early.” She looked up at him. “I look a mess.”

  “Sugar, you look sweet enough to eat,” he murmured. “Didn’t my mouth and tongue make that clear earlier?”

  The fire in her belly intensified and a rush of heat warmed her sex.

  “Yes, you did.” She lowered her voice.

  “I joined my friends here,” Drake segued. His voice changed from panty incinerating to cordial and friendly for the benefit of everyone around them. He gestured to two men Bethany hadn’t noticed earlier.

  Bethany’s face must have showed her confusion when the men approached Gracie and Lissie.

  “My friends.” His eyes twinkled. “Bethany, meet Oliver Cray, Lissie’s husband. Luke Bryce, Lissie’s brother and Gracie’s husband. Guys, meet Bethany.”

  “Hi, pleased to meet you.” Bethany was both breathless and awed. Both men smiled at her but she noticed that Oliver’s gaze was sharper.

  Bethany didn't know whether to be dismayed or be pleased to know that Lissie and Gracie were a part of Drake’s circle of friends. Her hand rested on his chest when he placed an arm around her waist, locking her to his side.

  “The shop suits you, Bee,” he said in a low voice against her temple. “Beautiful, vibrant, sweet, and most of all hot.”

  Pleasure flicked on the lamps inside her inching its way closer to her heart’s door. And her face reddened to rival the arrangement of red and pink roses on the shelf at the looks she got from Drake’s friends.

  “That’s nice to hear but I have a situation I need to fix.” She expelled a breath and her spine tingled as Drake’s hand ran up and down her back in sympathy.

  “Anything I can do?” Lissie prompted. “Sorry, I couldn’t help hearing your conversation about the caterers?”

  Bethany lips pursed. “If you know of anyone who can whip up canapes in less than an hour, I’m open to suggestions because the caterers have bailed.�
� Anxiety made her fidget in place. “I wanted it to be perfect.”

  “And it will be.”

  Bethany heard the smile in Drake’s voice.

  “How?” She cast a glance at everyone. “Where can I get that kind of personalised food? Debbie and Adi are going to M&S to panic buy. That should be enough.”

  “You don’t need to do that. You can get it from me,” Lissie replied, her face lighting up. “I co-own a restaurant close to Market Street.”

  “Which one?”

  “The Retreat.”

  Bethany looked at her stunned. The Retreat was one place she and Cinzia ate at when they wanted to splurge a little. It wasn’t a place mere mortals like her frequented.

  “Oh my God, you own The Retreat? No, that’s too much.”

  Lissie rolled her eyes and Bethany couldn’t stop her gentle laughter.

  “You better give in to her,” Oliver said, his mouth twitching in amusement. “When my wife latches on to something, she doesn't let go.”

  Bethany didn’t know whether to be embarrassed or thrilled. How could she have known Lissie and Gracie were Drake’s six degrees of separation?

  “So do you want me to ring for food?” Expectation animated Lissie’s face, her eyes twinkling.

  Bethany bit the inner part of her cheek. She knew how expensive The Retreat’s food could be. The thought of the cost deflated her.

  “Charge it to my account, Lissie.”

  She looked at Drake, stunned. “What? No! I can’t let you do that.”

  “Bee…” Exasperation crossed his face.

  “No need,” Lissie said as she pulled out her phone from her tote bag. “You can actually help me too.”

  Bethany gaped. “How?”

  “It’s the reason we passed by yesterday,” Gracie said. “We were looking for flowers for The Retreat and noticed your arrangements through the window.”

  Bethany’s hand covered her forehead. Was Gracie saying what she thought she was saying?

  “Let’s call it somewhat even.” Lissie chuckled. “A number of floral arrangements for trays of food and I’ll throw wine into the mix.”