His Second Chance

by Walker, Kelli

  “I get it,” I said softly. “It’s okay.” I wasn’t sure what else I could possibly say to that. I wasn’t going to push her if she simply didn’t feel comfortable leaving the security of her job. With everything she’d been through, how could I blame her? “We’re almost there. It should be right around the corner here.”

  The GPS said we had arrived when I pulled up outside a two-story home with parking beneath it. I noticed Lucy was climbing out of her car and shutting the door. She looked pleased when she noticed us getting out of the SUV.

  “Good, you found it,” she said with a grin.

  “How did you get here before us?” I asked. “We left before you.”

  “I might know a few shortcuts here and there,” she said still grinning. “I think you may like this place.”

  Leslie was looking up and down the street and then up at the building. “It’s a beautiful location,” she said sounding hopeful.

  “It is,” Lucy agreed. “It’s a great neighborhood. Nothing too family oriented but it’s not really a party area either. This particular area seems to attract young couples. You ready to see the inside?”

  “Sure, let’s go,” I said with a nod. We climbed a set of stairs before she pulled out the keys in front of a solid looking, heavy wooden door.

  “It looks almost like a castle door,” Leslie said with awe.

  “I always thought so too,” Lucy said as she pushed it open and stepped through. “There’s a total of three bedrooms here and two baths. I believe the previous owner used one of the bedrooms as an office,” she began.

  The inside was modern but still with a touch of older elements. There was a brick wall all along one side and the room went the entire length of the house. There was a kitchen area to the left which was only divided from the living space by a bar. Farther in, there was a step up and the area was brighter with more seating. Upon closer inspection, I saw there was a skylight over that area that gave it plenty of natural light.

  “Wow, that’s beautiful,” Leslie said as she looked up.

  “I know, I just love it,” Lucy said. “Over here are the stairs that lead to the second level.”

  We turned to see a long staircase with no railing. Each step was wide, so they wouldn’t be hard to climb or too short for anyone’s feet. They were made from what looked like concrete, but were much more interesting than I would have imagined. Following Lucy upstairs, the landing opened to the office area that she had mentioned earlier.

  “As you can see, he built in a desk here so that he could look out on the seating area below,” she said as she pointed out the long table. There was a short but wide window off to the side that lit the area up nicely. It was much more spacious than I would have expected.

  “Wow, this is such a neat place,” Leslie cooed. I nodded. I hadn’t expected this when we had looked at the pictures.

  “Just off here are the other two rooms and a bathroom. The other bathroom is downstairs,” she explained. “You saw the garage area below. It can hold two cars with room to spare.”

  “Can we wander around just a bit?” Leslie asked.

  “Sure, take your time. I have a phone call to return so I’ll be at my car. Let me know if you have any questions or if you’re ready to look at the next place.” She gave us each a smile and left us alone upstairs.

  “This place is really neat, Brett,” she said as she crept down the hall and peeked in the other rooms. “I mean, you could take these walls out and make one massive bedroom up here if you wanted.”

  “You think?” I asked. I had been thinking about having an extremely large bedroom but hadn’t been sure if it would even be possible. I was looking for something spacious but not a mansion.

  “Definitely. You might need to keep a pillar or two for the load bearing walls, but it could definitely be done. There is a lot of room up here for whatever,” she explained. “I don’t know, I really like this one. It’s almost exactly what I imagined when I started imagining a place for you. It wouldn’t take much and you would have a place you could be proud of.”

  I started looking in the other rooms and tried to imagine what she saw. I could see taking the front wall out of the upstairs. Leaving the ones for the bathroom, of course. But technically, I could probably make it a bit bigger and fit a jetted tub up here. Currently, there was just a shower stall, which was fine but sometimes a tub could be a lot more fun. For a moment, I saw a flash of Leslie and me in one. Her sitting in front of me as I wash her back and then her hair. Imagining water running through her hair and down her back was enough to start giving me a hard on, so I shook my head to clear the image.

  “I certainly trust your judgment,” I said a little more curtly than I had meant. It was just that the short daydream had taken me by surprise and I needed to stop thinking of her that way. It wouldn’t help me in any way. If I was going to keep our relationship professional and friendly, it certainly wouldn’t help if I was imagining her naked in my bathtub. All that would do is make me long for her even more than I already was. And in reality, I was pretty sure she was ready to run for the hills anyway. “I guess we better go find Lucy.”

  Leslie nodded and followed me back downstairs. I could hear her muttering to herself about how great something would look here or there. But then she’d remind herself that this wasn’t the last place we were looking at. What she didn’t realize was that her excitement already had me sold.

  Descending into the garage area, we found Lucy flipping through a stack of papers. “So, how did you like it?” she asked eagerly.

  “I’ll take it,” I said. Lucy and Leslie seemed shocked into silence.

  “Oh, really? That’s wonderful!” Lucy finally said. “Let me make a few calls. You sure you don’t want to look at anything else? You still had a few more on your list.”

  I shook my head. “No. This was our favorite on the list, anyway. I don’t need to look at any others. I know this is as good as any other.” Leslie seemed to have collected herself some but was still a little surprised.

  “Well, okay then,” Lucy said. “I will contact the seller and get the paperwork drawn up for you and send it over to you either later today or tomorrow morning at the latest. I’m not sure how long it will take to reach the seller.”

  “That’s fine,” I said with a nod. “You know where I am.” I shook her hand and we headed to the SUV.

  “I can’t believe you just did that,” Leslie said after we got back inside and began to buckle our seatbelts.

  “What do you mean?” I asked. “The whole point was to buy a place, wasn’t it?”

  “Well, yeah. Of course,” she said as we pulled out into traffic. “But, I guess I just didn’t expect you to do it that way. What if you would have liked one of the others better?”

  “Well, you said we didn’t have a lot of time. I wanted to get it bought and taken care of before you have to leave again,” I said as I watched traffic. “Let me ask you a question. Do you think that you would have liked the other places as much as that one? Be honest, now.”

  She seemed to really think about it. Pursing her lips and then chewing on her thumbnail, she eventually shook her head. “No, probably not,” she finally said. “The others were nice places and all, but they didn’t seem to have the unique feel that this one does. It felt so… so…” she searched for the right word. “I guess it just seemed like you.”

  That surprised me. “Like me?” I asked. “How do you mean?”

  She blushed and I couldn’t help but think how adorable she looked. “It’s just, I don’t know. Forget I said anything.”

  “No, it’s okay,” I prodded. “Say it.”

  “Well, you’re rugged but not. Like, you’re tough and everyone can see that, but you have this other side. Sleek but comfortable. Tough but soft. I’m sure that doesn’t make any sense, but that’s the best I can come up with.” She turned away and looked out of the window, so I wasn’t sure if she was still blushing or irritated. Maybe a combination of both.r />
  “Is that how you think of me?” I asked, more than a little surprised. I hadn’t ever, in my entire life been described as soft.

  “Kind of,” she said, still not facing me. “It’s hard to explain. It’s not like I think you’re not strong or anything. It’s just, there’s a part of you that not a lot of people get to see or even think to look for. I’ve seen you have a big heart and I know you take care of those you love. But you also don’t take anyone's crap either. Almost like you have this guard up around most of the world but sometimes, sometimes you let it down and the man that’s behind that tough exterior has a heart of gold. I don’t know if even you see it.”

  “I don’t,” I admitted. I couldn’t believe that she saw that in me. I was still busy pondering how she could see me as anything but a pain when she started to speak again.

  “So, I’m thinking we’ll still have to design it in bits because there just isn’t enough time in one week to get it all taken care of,” she began to explain. “I mean, I love the place and I already have some great ideas but it still takes time. I’ll have to find the right things to go together. Colors, artwork, furniture, all of that stuff. There’s just not enough hours in the day to allow me to get it all done before then. Plus, you need to decide what exactly you’d like to do with the upstairs. So I guess I will just have to keep flying back and doing it in bits and pieces.”

  “Okay,” I said softly. I still wanted her to stay but I didn’t want to drag all that up again.

  “You know, you can still get a different designer,” she said. “I’m sure you would like it done faster than what I can do. There’s no shame in wanting someone local. You won’t hurt my feelings in the slightest. I can give whoever you do hire a rundown on what we were thinking for the space and then they can go from there. There are a ton of capable designers in London. I don’t want you to feel like you’re stuck with me.”

  “Absolutely not,” I said quickly. “I don’t want anyone else doing it. I don’t feel stuck at all. I chose you. You know me and I know you. Your eye is what I want picking things out, not someone else. You’re the only one I trust and the only one I want to work with. You’re not going to convince me otherwise.”

  “Okay,” she said with a nod.

  Eventually, we pulled up to the valet at the hotel and climbed out. I turned the vehicle over to the young man and we went inside.

  “How about we grab a bite?” I asked as we headed for the elevator. “We can always get something delivered if you don’t want room service again.”

  She seemed to debate for a moment, but as the elevator doors opened and we stepped inside, she nodded. “Delivery would probably be better. I wouldn’t want you spending a fortune on room service.”

  “Doesn’t matter either way to me,” I said with a shrug. “I just know I’m hungry and it’s a lot later than I thought it was. I am down for anything, so you can choose.”

  “I’ll tell you what sounds amazing right now,” she said with a grin. The elevator doors opened and we stepped out on our floor. “Pizza.”

  “Really? You want pizza?” I asked, a little shocked.

  “Is that okay?” she asked quickly. “If you don’t want pizza, we can totally get something else.”

  “No, no. That’s fine,” I said as I unlocked my hotel room door. “Pizza it is. Come on in and get comfortable and I will look up somewhere local that will deliver.” As I pushed open the door, I saw her hesitate for a split second before stepping into my room. Following her in, I smiled. We may not be able to work out as a couple, but I still cared for her. While we were here together, I was going to do my very best to pamper her and give her everything she wanted. It was what she deserved. I hated seeing her have to struggle or worry, so if I could take that off her plate, even if it was just for a while when we were together, then I’d take it. I would always have a special place in my heart for Leslie and treating her the way she deserved was the only way I could satisfy those feelings. I knew things could get bumpy again since she didn’t seem to think too highly of me to a certain degree. But that didn’t mean she was wrong or that she didn’t still deserve to be treated like a queen. I wanted her to see that life wasn’t nearly as bad as she had previously thought.

  Chapter 8

  Leslie

  It was kind of odd just how comfortable I was starting to feel with Brett again. At first I had felt a little awkward, but the longer I was with him, the more I was starting to wonder if it had all been in my own head. Something I’d created because of my own shortcomings and nothing more. He was so easy to talk to and be around, it was as if all these years hadn’t happened.

  As he scrolled through his phone looking for the closest and best rated pizza place, I started thinking about his new place. The fact that he bought it instantly like that just because he trusted my judgement was a little surprising. And when I’d told him that he should really hire someone local, I’d half expected him to agree. I mean, why wouldn’t he? Why wait around for me to fly back and forth to do the work when he could find someone with years of experience that was local and would know all the great places to get things? I wouldn’t have blamed him one bit. Truth be told though, I was incredibly happy when he said that he would wait. This was an opportunity of a lifetime for me. Brett was something of a celebrity and when people found out he bought a place in London, everyone who followed him would want to see what it looked like. For me to be able to say that it was me, that was worth more than anything I could have gotten from finishing college.

  Thinking about that kind of exposure had me slightly terrified, though. Would everyone love it? Or would they drag my name through the mud and completely kill all of my chances at getting my own business going? One thing was for sure, I wouldn’t know if I didn’t try. And that was kind of the point that Brett had been trying to make, I thought. That I had to learn to take risks in life. There was no way I could start my own business and do my own thing if I wasn’t willing to take at least a little bit of a risk. I needed to spread my wings if I wanted to fly. Granted, he thought I should quit my job and trust that something would catch me. That wasn’t how I operated. Definitely not these days. Maybe when I was younger but now? Now I saw what blind faith could do. It could ruin everything. I just wasn’t sure if I was capable of taking that kind of a risk. Other people? Sure. Me? No way.

  “They said the pizza should be here in thirty minutes,” Brett said as he sat down next to me on the couch. He seemed completely at ease with himself and I was just a little jealous. I felt like I didn’t have a clue what I was doing in this expensive hotel and I was waiting for someone to pinch me so I could wake up.

  “Great. The more I think about it, the hungrier I get,” I said with a grin. I leaned back and allowed myself to relax a little more. If I didn’t, I was afraid he would notice how self-conscious I was feeling. Taking a deep breath, I felt all of my previous worries starting to fall away. Not completely, but enough that I didn’t feel like I was shaking in my shoes. In truth, I had to keep reminding myself that I was an adult now and not still a teenager. Just being in his presence reminded me of simpler times. Times when my family could have afforded to take a trip to London and stay somewhere like this. Back when I didn’t have to worry about bills and groceries.

  “You look happy,” Brett said as he kicked his feet up on the table. It was almost as if he were purposely acting as if he owned the place. But then again, when you could afford to replace anything you broke, why would you care?

  “That’s because I think I am,” I sighed. I pushed my shoes off and tucked my feet underneath me.

  “It’s a good look on you,” he said softly. “Can I ask what it is that made you so happy?”

  For a moment I almost gave him a cop out answer but then decided against it. “Mainly I think it’s being around you again. It’s like I’m a kid all over again. Reminds me of better and happier times, I guess.”

  “You have no idea how good that is to hear. All I want is for you t
o be happy, Leslie. That’s it. You deserve to be happy,” he said. His eyes were gentle and soft as he gazed at me and I could feel my heart beating heavier in my chest. Butterflies attempted to flutter before I tamped them down. I didn’t want to give in to old emotions. I had to stay professional.

  “Is that why you beat up Richard Rees?” I asked with a smirk. I had to ask since we’d never completely talked about it.

  Instantly a grin spread across his face. “Maybe,” he said. “But I mean, that guy really had it coming with how he treated you.”

  I could remember exactly how Richard treated me. The pain and torment that my high school bully had inflicted upon me had completely altered me in every way. I was fairly certain that his torment had been what pushed me into being shy and more of a loner than my friends. “I really didn’t expect you to show up at my school,” I began. “I mean, I know you said you would, but saying and doing are two different things.”

  “You should know by now that if I say I’m going to do something, I’ll do it,” he said with one raised brow. “I don’t play games, I’m a straightforward kind of guy.”

  “I learned that, yes,” I nodded as I chuckled. “You said you would make him pay, and you did.” And boy did he. I still could see Richards blubbering and bloody face if I thought about it.

  “I just couldn’t take it anymore,” he admitted to me. “Seeing you so upset all the time because of the stupid things that guy would say. I mean, what kind of a dickhead would think that speaking like that to you would be acceptable?”

  “It’s funny you say that he was a dickhead, because after you humiliated him in front of the whole school everyone called him Dick instead of Richard.” I remembered how upset and frustrated he’d been and it still brought a smile to my face.