A Secret Chance: A Small Town Love Story (Chance Rapids Book 4)

by A. J. Wynter

  “It doesn’t look like it’s going to stop, I’d hate to see you get snowed in.” He tossed the snow onto the shoulder height snowbank.

  Lauren strode down the stairs and took the shovel from his hand. “That’s not necessary.” She stuck the blade of the shovel in the snowbank. “But thank you.”

  Her ass was still stinging from the box of tissues Charlotte had whipped at her. The power of the box with its pointy corners was shocking. “I can’t do a full tour as we talked about.”

  “That’s fine,” Baxter said. “I just wanted to come and talk to you about what happened last night.”

  “How about we go for a quick walk?” Lauren offered. She had felt bad keeping Baxter out in the cold but wasn’t ready to tell him about Tabitha, let alone do it while the two of them were in the same room together. The faster she could get him away from the house, and their daughter, the better.

  “Sure,” he said. “Just a quick walk.”

  THREE HOURS LATER, the two of them had walked down Main Street and Lauren had introduced him to all of the local small business owners.

  “See, it’s these people who are going to suffer when you take business away from the downtown area. They survive on the business from the ski hill. If you take that opportunity away from them, all of those people, good people, will lose their livelihood.”

  Baxter knew that his development was going to impact the town, but until then the Rapidians had been faceless and nameless. Merely, statistics on a piece of paper. Now, the idea of that sweet old lady Muriel losing her business because of him made his guts churn.

  “I thought that this was supposed to be a quick walk.” He checked his watch.

  “I hadn’t expected everyone to actually want to talk to you.”

  “Really?” He clutched his chest like he had been hurt, then pumped his eyebrows twice. “You forgot to take into account that I’m charming as hell.”

  Lauren laughed, her first real laugh of the day, and his chest swelled. “I’ll give you that, Mr. Caldwell. You certainly have a way with the... everyone.” It sounded like she was going to say ladies, but then corrected herself. They had managed to walk together for almost three hours without talking about what was going on between them.

  “I could say the same thing about you.”

  “What?” Lauren raised her eyebrows at him. “Charming?”

  “Well, maybe charming isn’t the right word, but it’s clear that everyone in this town respects and likes you.”

  “I guess they do,” she said. “But Baxter, don’t you see? It’s because I actually care about them.”

  “Why?” he stopped and held her arm. It was the first time they had touched on the entire walk and he felt her stiffen in his grip.

  “Why do I care?” She seemed confused. Over her shoulder, Baxter saw a man running towards them waving his arms wildly, trying to get their attention. He caught a flash of grey out of the corner of his eye and pulled Lauren in tightly to his body. He spun her away as a creature launched itself at them. Baxter heard the panting behind him and felt the claws as they landed on his back. Lauren’s breath was hot on his neck, but she was protected from the attacker. “Baxter,” she said. “What are you doing?”

  “Timber, down!” he heard a deep voice from behind them.

  Lauren looked around Baxter and proceeded to burst into laughter. “Were you...” Tears were starting to fall from her eyes, “were you protecting me from Timber?”

  Baxter turned and saw that the man had a leash in his hand and that the attacking creature was actually a husky with two different colored eyes.

  “Sorry about that.” The man clipped the husky onto the leash. “He needs to learn some manners.”

  “Hi, Josh,” Lauren said.

  “Oh, hi, Lauren.” The man’s eyes registered surprise. “I didn’t see you there.” Baxter realized that Lauren was still trapped in his arms. He cleared his throat and released her from his bear hug.

  “Hi, Timber.” Lauren scratched the husky behind his ears. “Where are you two going?”

  “We’re going to The Last Chance to help Charlie pick out his next small batch.” Lauren nodded at the man. “How’s Meg and the baby?”

  “They’re good. Napping mostly.” As the two friends caught up, Baxter realized just how badly he’d overreacted. It wasn’t a wolf or a coyote, just a friendly pet dog.

  As Josh and Timber walked away Lauren turned to him. “What was that all about?”

  He laughed and took off his hat, running his hands through his hair. “You’re not going to believe it, but I thought that was a wolf or a coyote or something, and that man, Josh, was trying to get our attention.”

  “You’re crazy,” Lauren laughed.

  She was right. Something happened to him, he knew that he would throw himself in danger’s way to protect Lauren. He couldn’t just walk away from a woman as special as her. He knew at that moment that he would do anything he could to be with her.

  Chapter 23

  A HANDSHAKE AND A KISS on the cheek. That’s how they left things a week ago. She wanted more and she knew that he did too. The decision to wait until after the hearing was a smart move for both of them. Even if the anticipation was killing her. Not a day had gone by that she hadn’t dreamt about Baxter, and this morning, the dream had felt so real, his touch so visceral, that when she woke up in her bed alone, she wanted to cry.

  Her argument against the development was solid; she knew that, but she had prepared herself for the worst – a loss. A loss that meant Baxter would stay in Chance Rapids, and the guilt from the joy that thought brought her haunted her.

  Her life had gone on. She dropped Tabitha at school, went to work, made dinner, and went to bed. She had been happy with that, but now she felt like something was missing.

  “Mom, where’s my toothbrush?”

  “I already packed it,” she said.

  Lauren sighed as she dropped Tabitha off at school, her overnight backpack bouncing on her back as she ran up the stairs.

  Baxter had found excuses to message her every day, but they had all been business-related. Still, her heart jumped into her throat whenever she saw his name show up in her inbox. He could easily have had his assistant Nicole send the messages, so she knew that he was still thinking about her too.

  She spent her day at the office reviewing her documents and recommendations. Her professional opinion hadn’t changed since she met Baxter. His project, as it stood, was a horrible option for the community and the environment.

  Lauren walked home from work, kicked off her boots, and rummaged through the fridge. Without Tabitha, she could eat whatever she wanted, and tonight she opted for something easy – tuna. She turned on the broiler in her oven and plunked down on the sofa with a bag of tortilla chips. She usually spent her evenings reading, but after her week of intense preparation, she felt the need to fully vegetate. She balanced her plate on her knees and turned on Game of Thrones; between work and child-appropriate television shows, she was a little behind the times, and season one flickered on the screen.

  Even if she wanted to go out partying, Charlotte and Logan were at his team’s hockey game, Serena and Freddie were in Las Vegas for the weekend, and Megan and Josh were exhausted from life with a newborn. But she didn’t want to go out, so she sat back and stretched out her legs luxuriously, pulling the handmade orange and green afghan over her legs.

  The action on the TV flashed in front of her, but her mind was somewhere else – a heli-skiing lodge. Brock had held her in his arms all night, and she had felt a sense of belonging. She wondered if he was there with her now, would he slip in behind her? Would they snuggle into the late hours of the night? As her eyes grew heavy, she swore that she could feel his breath on her neck and his arms looped around her waist.

  She woke up to total darkness, the text on the TV screen asking her if she was still watching. She sat up, disoriented until the furniture in the room slowly came into focus. She checked the time on her p
hone and saw that it was only ten p.m. She groaned. It felt like it was the middle of the night. She also saw that she had missed three calls from Baxter.

  She padded to the bathroom to brush her teeth, wondering why he was calling her on a Friday. The hearing wasn’t until Monday morning. She splashed some cold water on her face and then pressed the button to listen to her voicemail messages. He was the only one who had called, and she smiled when she heard his voice.

  Lauren, I need to talk to you about something important. Call me as soon as possible.

  She stared at her phone, wondering what could possibly be so important. She let her finger hover over his contact information. Her stomach clenched as the worst-case scenario flashed in her mind, what if he found out about Tabitha. But how? She leaned against the sink, her internal lawyer arguing whether or not to wait until morning to call him. What if it’s about business? There’s nothing that can’t wait until the morning. But what if it’s really urgent? Oh, come on, there’s nothing that urgent, but Lauren’s gut overrode her brain, she pushed the button and her heart pounded in her ears as the phone started to ring.

  ‘Hi.’

  ‘Hi.’

  ‘I got your message,’ she said. ‘And I’m calling you back.’ She tried to sound as nonchalant as one could with their heart thumping like a bass drum in their ears

  ‘I need to talk to you,” he said.

  ‘Okay,’ she replied.

  ‘In person,’ he clarified.

  ‘Sounds serious,’ she said.

  ‘It is.’

  She tried to gauge his response, but his voice was all business. There was no emotion, positive or negative, in his tone.

  ‘Can I come over?’ he asked.

  ‘What, right now?’ Her eyes glanced at the mirror where she saw the pillow creases in her face, and the kid’s toothbrush in the holder, evidence that a child lived in this home.

  ‘It’s important,’ Baxter stated.

  ‘I’ll meet you somewhere then.’ She couldn’t have him come to her house just yet. Not until she’d had the chance to explain everything.

  ‘You can come here. I’ll pick you up.’

  ‘No. No,’ she interjected. ‘If it’s that important, I will come up there.’

  He gave her the address and she promised to leave as soon as she could. She ran her brush through her hair, swiped on deodorant and quickly applied some mascara.

  During the trip across town, she contemplated turning the car around at least three times, but she gripped the steering wheel and continued her journey, crossing the bridge to Sugar Peaks. The palatial mountain homes glowed against the star-filled night sky. It was the first night it hadn’t snowed in weeks and the snow reflected like crystals under the light of the full moon.

  The mansion where Baxter was staying was one of the biggest on the mountain and came complete with an obnoxious medieval style door knocker. Lauren banged it twice and heard the sound echo through the cavernous home.

  “Oh, it’s you,” she said as Baxter opened the door.

  “Were you expecting someone else?” He stepped aside, gesturing her into the marble foyer.

  “Did you give your butler the night off?” She stepped inside and pulled off her scarf. Baxter stepped behind her and helped her shrug out of her jacket.

  “I gave everyone the night off.” He hung her jacket in the closet and then rested his hand on her lower back, guiding her into the great room. The twenty-foot windows ran the width of the entire room, a few lamps along with the wood-burning fireplace cast the room in a warm glow, but their light paled in comparison to that of the blue light from the moon that filled the entire room. The mountain range loomed, jagged and black along the horizon.

  “It’s a beautiful view you have here,” she said. She walked to the window and the lights of downtown Chance Rapids sparkled below them.

  “It is,” Baxter said. “Please, have a seat.” He relaxed into one of the many oversized leather club chairs by the fireplace. Lauren sat in the one beside him but didn’t let herself sink down into its depths. She folded her hands in her lap and perched on the edge of the cushion. The crackling of the fireplace grew louder in the silence between them.

  “Baxter, why am I here?”

  “I want to talk about us,” he said.

  She took a deep breath. “I thought that we agreed to wait until after the hearing.” She stood up. “We shook on it.”

  “Please, Lauren, sit.”

  “I will not sit, Baxter. We had an agreement and you just broke it.”

  Baxter stood and reached for her hand, but she pulled back from him. “You can’t just summon me here.” She saw the lust in his eyes and then it dawned on her. “Is this a booty call?”

  “Oh god, no.” Baxter shook his head. “Lauren, wait right here.” He jogged out of the great room. “Don’t go anywhere,” he shouted from somewhere within the depth of the massive house. Lauren crossed her arms and stared into the fire. He returned shortly and handed her a piece of paper.

  “What’s this?” she asked.

  “Read it.”

  She sat on the arm of the chair and was glad that she did or else she might have fallen down. “What is this?”

  “You know what it is,”

  “Is this for real?” She folded the letter, her hands trembling as she held it out to him.

  “It is.” He took the letter and set it down on the glass coffee table. “Lauren, I—”

  “Stop,” she interrupted. Her heart thumped against her ribcage as she tried to make sense of what was happening. The letter was addressed to the council, accepting all of the changes Lauren had recommended for Caldwell Creek.

  “I love you,” he said. He reached out his hand and this time she let him take hers. He tugged gently and pulled her to him. The moonlight shone in his eyes and his dark lashes reflected its light. He cupped her cheek and kissed her softly and slowly and she savored the moment, not wanting to break away to speak or to even breathe. She held onto his wrists and when he pulled back held his gaze, “I love you too,” she whispered. “But you can’t do this.”

  “I can and I’m going to, first thing Monday morning.” He kissed her cheek and her body melted. He kissed her lips and butterflies attacked her stomach. “You made me see, Lauren.” He kissed her again, this time a little harder.

  “What? What did I make you see?” She was still holding onto his wrists, her face inches away from his, not wanting to let go or get too far from the warmth of his skin.

  “Me,” he whispered. He rested his face against hers and the softness of his breath on her ear brought goosebumps to her entire body. “Lauren.” He pulled back and held both of her hands. “When you met me at the lodge, that was me. Something about seeing you and being back in this town reminded me of all the things that I used to care about. Before I became obsessed with proving myself to everyone at Caldwell. The executives might hate me for these changes, but it’s the right thing to do in the long run.”

  Lauren’s vision blurred as the tears welled up in her eyes. In all of the scenarios she had imagined, this one seemed like the longest shot. He got to stay in town and work on his project, and she was able to protect Chance Rapids. Maybe Charlotte was right. Perhaps there was a reason she and Baxter Caldwell had reunited this way. Could it be fate? Were they meant to be together?

  “Oh, Baxter.” As she hugged him, tears of joy fell down her cheeks. His strong arms wrapped around her and held her close to him. She squeezed him tightly, the want for all of him growing too much to bear, especially when she felt his erection pressing hard against the ache in her lower belly. She stood on her tiptoes to press herself against his rock-hard cock and moaned into his mouth as he kissed her.

  He swept her up in his arms honeymoon style and carried her into the kitchen, setting her on the countertop. She pulled her sweater over her head and watched him bite his lip as he took her in. He literally growled as he bent down and kissed her collarbone while he reached around her back
to undo her bra. She arched her back and a shiver ran up her spine as the warmth of his hands cupped her breasts, then a moan escaped her lips as he took first her left nipple, then her right into his mouth, sucking as he pulled away and giving each one a little nip with his teeth. He kissed her lips and she murmured with pleasure as he gave them the same treatment as her nipples. Her hair fell down her bare back, brushing the countertop as she allowed Baxter to undo her jeans. She lifted her hips to allow him to slide her pants off, and the chill from the marble countertop on her bare ass told her that he had taken her panties with them. The warmth of his breath between her legs confirmed it. He held one hand on her breast as he kissed up along her thigh, skipping the part of her that wanted to feel his lips the most, and back down the other thigh. She quivered. He did it again, this time pausing between her legs, the rhythm of his breath teasing her. She writhed and pressed her hands into the counter, arching her back into a crescent shape, wordlessly urging him to take her into his mouth.

  “I’ve waited a decade for this, Lauren,” he murmured into the skin of her thigh. “I’m not going to rush it.” He pushed down on her chest and she complied, relaxing her body flat onto the island, the arches of her feet at its edge, Baxter between her knees.

  “Baxter, I can’t take any more teasing.” Her words came in gasps.

  “What do you want?” He drew in so close between her legs that she could feel the button of his jeans, cold against her desire as he whispered in her ear.

  “You’re going to make me ask for it?” she moaned. Even though Lauren wanted Baxter more than she’d ever wanted anything or anyone in her entire life, she was still a prude.

  “Tell me what to do to you.” He nipped her earlobe.

  Lauren’s face flushed; dirty talk had never been part of her repertoire. “I want you.”

  “You can do better than that,” he growled. “I’ve heard that vocabulary of yours.” He kissed her neck and each breast again before continuing down the center of her body, her core a nuclear reactor ready for a meltdown. He paused between her legs. “Tell me, Lauren,” he said. His lips were so close they brushed against her, making her twitch involuntarily.