One Last Kiss: A Second Chance Romance

by Lauren Wood

  “It was my brother. In hindsight, it was probably not a good idea to ask him to keep an eye on her for me. I thought he was above reproach, but he proved that he was not immune to her charm.” He had no shirt on and there were streaks of blood running down his chest from his nose. The altercation between him and his brother must’ve gotten physical before he grabbed for the equalizer of the gun.

  The green house was badly in need of a paint job with flecks of the old paint trying to bleed through. The red door was meant to be an accent to attract the eye.

  The beat down relic of a truck not much more than a skeleton of its former greatness was sitting in the driveway leaking oil. The white paint was not a custom made order in any shop. It was done by hand and most likely with a spray can of some sort.

  “You don’t need them. They deserve one another for treating you like garbage. I’m sure you’ve heard of female pen pals. I can get you in touch with one of them or many of them depending on your state of mind. You don’t need this drama when you’re trying to get your life back on track. They are only pulling you down. Don’t make me live with your death on my conscience.” My tight jeans were painted on my 5’4 frame and 120-pound body.

  “In retrospect, I’m sure what you’re saying is true, but my mind is still trying to wrap itself around the fact that my girl and my brother were together. I will consider coming out and giving myself up on one condition. I want you to visit me once a week. I would also like to request that you do get me in touch with someone who I deserve. I’m through letting others dictate my destiny.” He had her by the hair. He pulled out the shells of the shotgun and dropped them on the floor.

  “I know this is a scary proposition, but I will be with you every step of the way. Let her go and then come out with your hands interlocked behind your head. Don’t make any sudden moves and get down on your knees.” The door swung open and he shoved the woman until she was stumbling across the brown lawn.

  The door remained open and I could see a big screen television with some children’s cartoon playing in the background. The mood was silenced with a sense of anticipation in the air.

  “I’m coming out and I’m not carrying. The shotgun is lying on the sofa and the shells are on the floor. There’s no reason to shoot me down like a dog in the street. I’m giving myself up without resisting.” He was making sure the innocent bystanders were hearing every word in case something bad happened.

  “I’m here and you don’t have to worry about anybody taking a shot at you. They will have to go through me to get to you.” My green emerald eyes were what made every man fall to their knees victim to my sexuality.

  “Bridget, I know you have no reason to follow through on what you promised, but I hope you do. I would really like to think of us as friends. It might seem foolish, but you were the only one willing to listen to my side of the story.” It was my job to empathize and being a hostage negotiator was never easy.

  Unfortunately, I had a tendency to get emotionally invested in those I helped.

  “I can’t be with you during your interview and processing. It’s not like you haven’t been here before. You’ve made a career out of bad decisions. This might be your last chance to clean up your act. I will come to visit you once a month until you walk out a free man.” I was giving him a glimmer of hope and once a month was far more than he deserved.

  “I want to tell you that you are a testament to your profession. One mistake should never define you.” I had given him ammunition against me to personalize my approach.

  “I really don’t want to talk about it, but I see what you’re saying. Life is about changes and nothing stays the same. Mistakes are there to learn from so that you never make the same one again.” I felt victimized by those in the press who castrated my attempt to get a little boy out of harm’s way.

  “Everybody makes their own decisions. I should have known better than to trust a slut like her to be faithful. She was never able to keep it in her pants. I think she was born the wrong gender. I thought her insatiable appetite for sex was something we shared. I couldn’t expect her to keep her legs shut for 18-months. I should have married her so that we could at least have conjugal visits. Live and learn.” They had him handcuffed and was putting him in the back of the squad car with a grin of satisfaction on his face.

  “Tyrone, I promised I would talk to the district attorney and it’s a promise I intend to keep. You won’t spend any unnecessary time behind bars. I will get you the best deal possible. It bodes well that you never fired the gun. I should be able to work that in your favor.” I felt like the weight of the world was coming off of my shoulders.

  “I guess I’m an old softy at heart. I didn’t want to do anything to ruin your first day back. I could tell from the tone of your voice you weren’t lying about that.” He was easy to talk to and I found our interaction pleasant despite the circumstances.

  I sat against a nearby police car and I saw him watching me from the corner of his eye. He was a member of the SWAT team. Solomon Grady was a mistake, but he was never going to be forgotten.

  Chapter two

  I was a little preoccupied to notice him standing right beside me after a few moments of living in the past. His black hair was slicked back and those dimples were enough to cause me some considerable concern for my sexual sanity.

  “I heard this was your first day back. I’ve been meaning to come by and talk to you about that night. I took the coward’s way out by treating it like a one night stand. I don’t know what you might think about me, but I have never stopped thinking about you.” I could feel this nervous energy and I was debating on whether or not I should say anything in response.

  “I don’t know what you want me to say. I was dealing with a lot and you found me at a vulnerable point in my life. Drinking to excess is a good way to take the edge off of my libido.” Solomon was a man of infinite wealth and he didn’t even take a paycheck from his duties as a SWAT team member.

  Any money he was going to make on his salary was earmarked for several charitable causes. It was one of the main reasons why he was in no short supply of women vying for his attention.

  “I would really like to have you over for dinner. We did drink a lot that night and I barely remember taking off my pants. What I do remember is something that has left a lasting impression on me.” I remembered everything in vivid detail and I could recall the way that he looked unencumbered by clothes.

  His impressive equipment rivaled those who claimed to be the biggest I had ever had. 9 inches of solid iron, unyielding and quite a piece of hardware between his legs was something that had me waking up in a cold sweat some nights.

  “I don’t want you to think anything’s going to happen between us.” He was callous and reckless with his affections.

  “Don’t go closing any doors you don’t want me to have the key to.” He did know how to use his words in a fashion to make women fall on their knees in worship of his manhood.

  The scene was coming down to the few last minute gawkers. They were hopeless and in desperate need of getting them some. The place was cordoned off, but the danger had been neutralized. He didn’t die and I could breathe a sigh of relief my first day didn’t go down the drain.

  “That door has been locked, safely and secure ever since that night. I have no interest in opening it up anytime soon.” The humidity was enough to make my clothes stick to me like a second skin.

  I took off the flak jacket to witness for myself how my nipples were visible through my tee shirt. I crossed my arms to give him very little chance to stare at the merchandise. I was thinking about that night and how easily he had brought the woman out of me too many times to count. I was left spent and exhausted after a weekend of marathon sexual acrobatics.

  “As I recall, the tequila shots made it easy to pry your legs open. We were both completely hammered out of our minds and we did what came naturally. I have to admit I’ve never been able to duplicate that one maneuver with any other woman wi
thout sending them to the hospital.” I didn’t even know that my body bent that way.

  I did feel it for the next few days. I had used muscles which I didn’t even know were there.

  “I see where this is going and I don’t want to give you any kind of false hope.” A month ago I would have never even considered sleeping with him because of his reputation for loving them and leaving them.

  “You owe me. I’m a man with a hair trigger and I didn’t even get a chance to fire off my big gun. Perhaps, you can rectify that mistake and we can start over the right way.” He was standing over me and I didn’t feel intimidated. My body was screaming at me to grab a piece and never look back.

  “I will come by for dinner, but don’t expect it to go any further than that. I would say with some degree of certainty your big gun isn’t going to get any use today or tonight.” I said it in a low enough register that nobody else could overhear.

  “I have a better way to give myself a fighting chance to sleep with you. I’ve heard through the Grapevine that you are quite the markswoman. I would like to test your mettle against my talents. Let’s make a friendly wager. The loser will have to do something they are not comfortable with.” It was a broad stroke, but I was willing to put my money where my mouth was.

  “I don’t see anything wrong with friendly competition. There is a place nearby that I use frequently. We won’t have the unnecessary spectacle of your boys watching and making me feel inferior. They know me by name. I have the honored position of being on their wall of fame.” I was giving him fair warning and hoping that he would back down.

  “That is a brazen statement to make and I’m curious to see what you mean by that. I know the truth like the back of my hand. Nothing is going to stop me from reliving the glory day of sleeping with you. I would like to see if the first time was a fluke or if you can repeat the same maneuver.” I looked like a pretzel and somehow I was able to lock my ankles behind my head.

  “I should’ve known that would be the only reason why you would want to be with me. It gives me the incentive to make you eat your words. I have some ideas of how to make you a sexual puppet for my amusement. There’s one thing I’ve never been able to get a man to do.” I climbed into his truck in gleaming Black Steel with leather interior.

  “I’m curious to learn more, but it doesn’t mean that I’m going to allow you to win this little wager of ours. I hope that wasn’t your intention.” He had the record for shooting from a considerable distance.

  “I wouldn’t have it any other way. I plan to crow incessantly after I have beaten you at your own game. I promise the other guys will never hear the end of it. This is your last chance to back out gracefully without making yourself look like a fool in my eyes.” I didn’t want to be near him and he had already left a keepsake after our first union.

  “If you can beat me then you will have bragging rights. I have no problem admitting when I’m wrong, but it rarely ever happens. I hope that doesn’t scare you.” He touched me innocently, but the shiver of desire running down my spine was more than I was expecting.

  “I hope you mean that, but I guess only time will tell. Take the next right and you’ll see the sign leading to your defeat. It’s a little out of the way, but it’s worth the effort. They really do go out of their way to make you feel like family. They’ve told me on several occasions I’m the little sister they never had.” He drove down the gravel path between the trees to the sound of muffled shots in the distance.

  “This has to be one of the better-kept secrets in this town. I’m surrounded by sharpshooters and nobody has ever mentioned this place. We do tend to stick to one place and never deviate.” I wanted to feel him on top of me doing unspeakable things, but I also wanted to be the one to hold all the cards.

  “They issue personal invitations to those who they feel will fit in. You are here as my guest. I doubt they are going to like seeing you. I might have said a few disparaging comments about you. This was before you finally had the balls to say something to me about that night.” He looked at me sideways and smiled which only made me melt with this faint smell of sex in the air.

  “I have been requested to fire at many ranges in my day, but this one has escaped my notice. I feel it’s time we rectify that miscarriage of justice. I’m guessing you have your own personal weapon in your possession. I have two of them, but the other one will have to be seen when the lights are dimmed.” His comment made my eyes look directly at the beast in the cage.

  I swallowed and wondered how I was going to concentrate with visions of his naked body running around in my head. I talked a big game, but nerves had a funny way of getting to me when the stakes were high. They couldn’t be any higher than my self-proclaimed chastity on the line.

  “I remember and you do have something to be proud of. Women say it’s not about the size but how you use it. I got the best of both worlds.” His legendary status with the ladies was proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that night. I couldn’t trust him to be a one-woman kind of guy.

  “You’re going to make me blush. I might lose my composure and fire indiscriminately into the air. I’m not talking about on the range.” He could make anything sound sexual in the right context.

  He had his weapon strapped into a black leather case. He unzipped it to show me his pride and joy. It was a beautiful weapon with a high powered scope he wasn’t going to be able to use on the range. This was all about sizing up an opponent and breaking the glass ceiling for those of my gender.

  “Can’t you take anything seriously? Not everything is a joke. I don’t know why I even bother when I know you won’t be able to change. Something will always make you turn your attention to another pair of boobs.” I was well-proportioned for my size and I was slightly frazzled by how he was undressing me with his eyes.

  “You have always had my undivided attention. Bridget, I don’t say this to every woman I have been with, but you know what buttons to push. I’ve thought about that night often. I wish that I could say nobody came after you, but there is a long list of women who have screamed my name. None of them held a candle to you.” We went out onto the range and set up our equipment.

  “Bridget, I believe you will need big Ben.” Jansen was the owner and he held my weapon in the locker for those days I showed up unexpectedly. He was a first-class ex-marine with a shaved head and prerequisite tattoos on his arms.

  “I want you to meet the one and only, Solomon.” His eyes grew wide at the implication of what this might mean considering how I had taken him into my confidence.

  “We’ve all heard about you. I hope you don’t do anything to hurt this wonderful woman. If you do, then I might have to convince some of my clients to teach you a lesson about manners.” He presented me with the gun and we got into our respective positions lying prone with the weapon stationery in front of us.

  “Jansen, we don’t want this to be easy. Let’s try 450 yards.” It was the biggest feat of my life and I had only accomplished it once.

  “I’ve always loved your style and you have never backed down from a challenge. I hope he knows what he’s getting himself into. He might be a sharpshooter, but competition is another animal altogether. You learned that the hard way.” He was dressed in camouflage and had a military air about him.

  “I have been known to take my talents into the competition arena. I am not a novice and I don’t appreciate you saying anything of the sort. Let’s get on with this. I have some plans to make after I disgrace her. This might be home field advantage, but it’s not going to matter.” He had taken off his jacket and his bulging biceps made me recall how he had carried me easily into the bedroom.

  We had one shot and I was going to have to make it count. We were given two targets exactly the same. I breathed deeply through my nose and out my mouth. I slowed things down and waited for Jansen to count us down from five.

  The shot echoed from both of our guns and we watched intently to see who was going to come out on top literally and figura
tively.

  Chapter three

  He was standing there in an apron cooking what he called his famous sauce for the spaghetti. I was nursing the bruise to my pride. I had lost by a fraction of an inch. I couldn’t stop thinking about how close I had come to being in the driver’s seat.

  “I hope you’re hungry and I usually make enough for an army. It comes from my days in the Marines. I wasn’t sure how civilian life was going to fit in, but amazingly, I found my calling. What made you become a hostage negotiator?” My family had asked the same question and I didn’t have a firm grip on an answer.

  “I know some people would say it was their past that molded them into the person they are today. I can’t make that claim. I fell into this profession. I was training to become a police officer when I found myself talking to a recruit about to take his life. I was able to convince him to get help. I was a natural, but I had to continually prove myself to those in the boys’ club.” I was watching him cook up a storm with the smell causing my mouth to water.

  His custom-made leather biker jacket was strung over a chair in the kitchen. He had no dining room table, but he had an island with five black bar stools around it. I could hear the pot of sauce bubbling and he turned down the heat on the propane stainless steel stove.

  “I’ve always known from the moment I was in khaki diapers that the military was my life. An injury to my knee sidelined me and made me think about the future. I wasn’t going to spend my time pining for something I couldn’t have. I don’t think that I’ve ever told you about my infatuation with you. I’ve seen you in passing, but I couldn’t bolster the courage to look into your hypnotic green eyes.” His confession caught me off guard and I was little tongue-tied.