Since Last Time: A Bad Boy Second Chance Romance

by Sienna Ciles

  She hadn’t even given me time, nor a fair opportunity to explain the situation or even enough fucking time to react to everything that happened the way that it had all played out. I mean, shit, I was still sitting over here wondering exactly how the hell such a small, seemingly-innocent misunderstanding turned into something so goddamn catastrophic.

  At first, I had wanted to be angry with Alicia because she was the one who had come onto me. But then I had to be completely, one hundred percent honest with myself and realize that I very well could have led her on with my laid-back, passive fucking attitude toward her blatant, openly, and obvious advances.

  I replayed the situation over and over in my head, numerous times, and each time I had thought about a different way that I possibly could have handled it. But it had all happened so goddamned fast that I hadn’t even had enough time to react—let alone explain the misunderstanding that had taken place just before Holly had arrived.

  The moment that Holly had turned around and ran down the hall, I had immediately run out after her, but she made it to the elevator before I could catch up. I had then rushed back down the hall to my condo and Alicia had still been there, pulling her tight black dress back up over her hips and clasping it back together at the top, behind her neck. I was almost certain that the expression on Alicia’s face was outright, obvious confusion—and perhaps also a little bit of embarrassment.

  Even in the dim candlelight of my front room, I could tell that a slightly reddish tint had appeared on both of her cheeks and she was looking downward as I came back in through my front door and gently closed the door behind me.

  “Alicia…” I had started to say—but she had raised her left hand, as if to silence me and stop me from saying anything that may have offended her or maybe embarrassed her any more than she clearly already was.

  “No, it’s my fault,” she had said softly, taking the brunt of the blame. “I just assumed…” Her own voice had trailed off as the gravity of what had just taken place began to set all the way in.

  “Listen,” I said, and cleared my throat. “I—I’m sorry, really, for whatever it was that I did or maybe said to lead you to believe that I had an interest in you that was anything beyond strictly professional.”

  “I—I, um, I guess I’m gonna go, then,” Alicia said in a voice that was barely more than a faint whisper. Then she turned around to head toward the front door.

  I didn’t make any attempt to stop her—mostly for fear that my action would possibly have been misconstrued. The miscommunication had already gone much too far, already, and had already caused way too many problems. Therefore, I was determined not to take a chance at letting these wildly incorrect misinterpretations and assumptions continue to happen.

  I watched Alicia walk right out my door and turn right to proceed down the hall toward the elevator. She had paused for one brief moment, and it appeared to me that she really wanted to turn back around and look at me. But then she must have thought better of it and continued on her way. I had sighed deep and long, feeling completely overwhelmed by everything that had just taken place. I shut the door behind her without saying a single fucking word.

  After all that last night, I was still devastated. The combination of emotions and feelings that I was currently experiencing were entirely new and unfamiliar to me. I had never felt so ridiculously and undeniably out of my element before, and for the first time as far back as I could possibly remember, I realized that I didn’t have the slightest idea what to do to rectify the misunderstanding, or where to even fucking start.

  This was all very unlike me because I was usually so in control of every situation and every emotion that I allowed myself to portray. But, this—this was very different. Seeing Holly so upset had really stirred something up inside of me. I had to find a way to fix this—to make things right—but for the first time in my adult life, I felt completely at a loss for words and had no clue what to do.

  * * * * *

  On Monday, I decided to go over to the elementary school to see if she was at work. At least there, she couldn’t just leave and refuse to speak with me. This time, I took my gold Mercedes Benz instead of my black Rolls Royce, since she would most likely recognize the Rolls Royce right away if she happened to see me pull up outside the main entrance.

  I went inside the building and into the main office but this time, the black woman at the front desk told me that Holly had taken the week off and had gone out of town due to a personal family emergency.

  I was perplexed. She had actually left out of town over this? A part of me really felt like she was completely overreacting but the part of me that truly loved her realized that she must really be hurting over what she’d seen—even it was a misunderstanding, and I knew I was going to have to do something major to prove my love to her.

  “Yeah, you really screwed up this time,” a female voice called out from behind me as I was walking back out to my car.

  Surprised, I turned around to see a tall, angry-looking redhead coming out of the school’s main entrance.

  “Are you Joana?” I asked, eyeing her as she walked over to where I was standing.

  “Oh, so she has told you about me,” she replied haughtily as she folded her arms across her chest. “Yep, I’m Joana.”

  “What are you doing here?” I asked.

  “Same as you. I came to see if Holly was at work, but she wasn’t.”

  “Listen, Joana, I know I screwed up, but it’s not what either of you are thinking,” I explained.

  “Really? You do know that that’s what almost every single asshole says when he gets caught red-handed?”

  “Actually, no, because I’ve never been in a situation like this before. I’d always been a playboy up until I met Holly, but I never screwed around with more than one woman at a time. I never had a reason to. My flings usually never lasted more than a few weeks or so, and then I’d break things off and move on.”

  “Mm hmm,” she said, cocking her head to the side.

  “Look, I know you have no reason to believe me, but Holly is different. She’s everything those shallow, superficial women weren’t. I would never have done anything to purposely hurt her. What she walked in on was a misunderstanding, nothing more. That blond woman works with me, and she had come by to drop off some papers for my father. She saw my place all set up for a romantic rendezvous and mistakenly assumed that it was for her. Holly walked in right before I’d had a chance to rectify the situation.”

  Joana raised her eyebrows.

  I continued, “Still, the part of it that was my fault was the fact that in my excitement about my date with Holly, I had completely forgotten that Alicia was supposed to be bringing that file over. That’s where I messed up and that part of all this is definitely my fault. I just want a chance to explain that to Holly. After that, she’s welcome to make her own decision.”

  Joana looked at me thoughtfully, as if she was trying to decide whether I was lying.

  “Well, that’s definitely one I have to say I’ve never heard before—and I’ve heard a lot of excuses from men in my day,” she said.

  “If you do happen to hear from her, would you please have her call me? If anyone can convince her, it’s definitely you.”

  As soon as I left the school, I went straight over to the meeting I had set up with a property owner in the area. It was a very important meeting that took top priority over everything else in the works. I had already decided that I was going to purchase this property, no matter what, and I wanted to get the documents signed and cleared immediately. I had a highly important deadline to keep.

  Chapter 16

  Holly

  “I just don’t understand!” I exclaimed loudly, between sighs, breaths, and sniffles.

  I was at my mother’s house down in my old hometown in Virginia. When I’d seen Alex with that big-boobed, blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman, I had literally almost lost my fucking mind. I hurried straight to my apartment, packed up a suitcase with everything
I needed for the next several days, and jumped right in my car and started heading south.

  At times like these, I just felt like I needed my mother. I needed to be around her—to see her, talk to her, and hug her. And maybe she would even make me a bowl of that tasty beef vegetable gumbo I loved so much. She always used to make for me whenever I was younger—especially if I’d had a bad day and she felt that I needed some cheering up.

  It had been an eight-hour drive to my old hometown and I spent the entire drive down still trying to wrap my head around exactly why Alex would do something like this. It went against everything that he had appeared to be and to stand for all the way up until that exact moment. Maybe it was some kind of rich-guy thing or something? Shit, I didn’t fucking know. All I knew was that it fucking hurt. It hurt like hell and I was having a hard time dealing with these feelings all on my own.

  Joana had offered me as much comfort and support as she possibly could. In fact, she had even invited me to stay at her house for the weekend so that I wouldn’t have to be alone. But, to be honest, I really didn’t want to become a burden on her and to possibly cramp her cheerful, bubbly attitude and party-girl lifestyle.

  I was feeling so heartbroken over this whole entire situation that I had found it much too difficult to focus on my job. Also, I didn’t want to chance breaking down and crying in front of my students during the school day and having to explain to a room full of eight and nine-year-olds why their teacher couldn’t seem to function like a normal human being. I needed a few days off to get myself back together.

  I just felt so out of control and helpless—and hopeless. Alex had been the first guy I had strong feelings for ever since me and Danny had called it quits. Well, ever since I had left Danny for being such a pompous, arrogant, controlling, inconsiderate, verbally abusive and emotionally neglectful asshole.

  “There, there, honey. Mama’s here. I’m right here for you. Just take your time, sweetie, and let it all out,” my mom said softly as she rubbed the small of my back in the same exact way that she used to do when I was a little girl.

  “Oh, Mom, I just feel so confused and so heartbroken! What is it with men? If they’re not being thoughtless, self-centered egomaniacs, they’re cheating on you. I can’t seem to win for losing!”

  “Sweetheart, I really don’t know. That’s why I stayed single after your father and I broke up. I felt that it was more important and worthwhile for me to invest in myself rather than to continue trying to invest in a man who would probably end up not being willing to do the same for me in return,” she stated solemnly.

  She continued to rub my back and offer consolation in her own way. I knew she meant well, but her words really weren’t helping me feel any better. I loved my mother with my whole heart but I didn’t want to end up an old maid with nothing but my career and my cats to keep me company. Still, just being there with her in that quiet little house I grew up in seemed to help me relax, clear my head, and get my wits about me.

  I still had absolutely no desire to speak to Alex, though—at least not yet, so I continued to block his attempts to contact me.

  By mid-week, however, I was literally bored out of my mind. I had gotten out all of my crying and I’d taken a few days to relax but after that, it seemed like this old small town was nothing but a constant reminder of the reasons why I had left here in the first place.

  All I could think about was how much I hated being here in this small, boring town. It was so different from the hustle and bustle of the fun, crowded, and exciting big city. Even if things between Alex and me didn’t work out, there was still so much more for me out in the city.

  What had I been thinking when I had put in my termination notice?

  My mother and I had both agreed that I should take a few days to focus solely on getting myself together and deciding exactly what I wanted to do. So, for the first few days of my stay, I kept my phone turned completely off and hadn’t checked any of my calls, texts, or voice messages. But, by Friday, I was completely losing my mind and suffering from an overload of boredom and monotony.

  While my mother was out working her shift at the local hospital, I went ahead and turned my phone back on. The messages began to pop up one after the other until my screen was completely full and I knew I was going to have to scroll down forever just to be able to check them all.

  “Well, no better time to get started,” I said aloud to myself with another quick sigh as I plopped down on the living room couch.

  Chapter 17

  Alex

  I tried calling Holly a few times throughout the week, but I didn’t press the issue the way I had over the weekend. Alicia had been out of the office for the entire week, and I didn’t see her at work at all. A part of me had wanted to ask my father where she was and if she was okay, but the last thing I needed was for her to hear that I had been asking about her and possibly take it the wrong way.

  After seeing Holly’s friend Joana at the school on Monday, I actually felt a lot better and I was able to concentrate and focus on the matter at hand—finishing up the property deal that I had been working on. Thankfully, I was able to wrap the entire deal up by Friday, and by lunch on Friday afternoon, I actually had the deed to the new building in my hand.

  Joana wasn’t hard to track down, either. I had planned to contact her on Friday so that I could meet up with her to see if she’d heard from Holly. But the funny thing was, she was the one who ended up tracking me down.

  I was sitting at my desk on Friday afternoon, feeling quite accomplished when my business cell phone rang. The number that popped up on my LCD screen wasn’t one that I immediately recognized, but I gave my card out to lots of different people and businesses on a pretty regular basis, so there was really no telling who it could possibly be. I thought about letting the call go to my voicemail, but something in my gut told me to answer it.

  “Westbrooke, here,” I answered in my most professional-sounding tone.

  “Hello, is this Alex?” a bubbly, familiar-sounding female voice asked.

  “Yes, it is,” I replied.

  “Oh, okay, good! This is Joana.”

  “Joana, hey, have you heard from Holly yet?” I asked.

  “Um, actually, I was wondering if you had some time to meet with me after work today,” she replied.

  “Uh, sure, that shouldn’t be a problem at all. Did you have a specific place and time in mind?”

  “Well, I don’t really know where you ritzy, wealthy guys like to meet up at, so why don’t you just tell me a place and time, instead,” she stated somewhat pompously.

  “I see. Well, I met Holly at the Lovehouse in Central Park. You know where that is, right?”

  “Yep, I most certainly do,” she said proudly.

  “Okay, can you be there around six?”

  “I’ll be there.”

  * * * * *

  I was sitting on a stool at the main bar when the tall, slender redhead entered the Lovehouse restaurant. I raised my hand and waved at her, letting her know where I was. A smile appeared on her pretty, freckled face as she began making her way over to where I was seated.

  “This place really is nice!” she said, glancing around the main floor of the eatery. Her eyes lit up with wonder and awe as she approached the empty bar stool beside me.

  “Oh, yeah, it’s great. I come here all the time,” I said lightheartedly, pulling the stool out so that she could sit down comfortably. “Would you like something to drink?”

  “Sure! I’ll take a glass of red wine, please,” she replied with an enthusiastic grin.

  I noticed that her mood was pretty light and cheerful, and I took that as a sign that perhaps she’d spoken to Holly and maybe had some good news for me. Hopefully I hadn’t jumped the gun, of course. I waved the barmaid over, ordered our drinks and then turned my attention back to Joana.

  “So—I tracked Holly down for you—you can thank me later,” she began, grinning from ear to ear. “She’s down at her mother’s house i
n her old hometown, trying to decide what she wants to do.”

  “Okay,” I said. “Well, I have something to tell you that I think may just help her decide to stay. You do want her to stay, don’t you?”

  “Of course, I do,” Joana said with wide eyes. “She’s my best friend! I don’t want her to move away.”

  “Then, you’ll probably be happy about what I’m getting ready to tell you,” I replied with a huge, excited grin.

  * * * * *

  After talking with Joana, I felt a hundred times better about the whole situation. She told me that she’d finally talked to Holly earlier that day and had convinced her to come back up here and meet with her at a little bar and grill where the two of them often hung out together. They were supposed to meet up at ten tonight, so I assumed that Holly had probably left her mother’s house earlier in the day.

  I found myself feeling more excited than I had in quite some time as I got ready for our rendezvous. I was hoping that Holly would at least give me an opportunity to explain myself before taking off this time. I was also hoping that having Joana there would make her more likely to stick around and at least hear me out instead of running away.

  I put an extra handful of mousse in my hair as I slicked it back from my face and gave it one more comb-through before heading out to my car. Earlier, Joana had accompanied me to the “Joseph the Jeweler” jewelry store to help me pick out a diamond necklace that Holly would like. I was going to offer it to her as an apology gift. I had seen my dad do this numerous times for my mother, growing up, and it had almost always seemed to work on her. In all honesty, this was actually the first time I had ever bought a piece of jewelry this extravagant for any woman—except for my mother.

  Joana had eyed a beautiful necklace with a diamond-filled cross pendant. She’d assured me that Holly would find it absolutely stunning and be completely unable to refuse it once she laid eyes on it.

  “You better be right,” I told her teasingly as I paid the man behind the counter and placed the small silver box into the breast pocket of my suit jacket.