This Time Forever: Second Chance Romance (Finding Forever Book 3) Page 4

  He shrugged, without so much as a hint of remorse. “If that’s what it takes.”

  She sighed. “I’ll take a look—just a look. That’s all I’m promising.”

  “Fair enough.” His reply sounded casual enough, but he grinned so wide she wondered if his cheeks hurt. “Now, how about I take you out to celebrate?”

  Her stomach fluttered, but she gave it a swift mental kick. “No.”

  He was still smiling. “It was worth a shot.”

  Chapter 6

  I can’t believe I’m doing this.

  The sentence had been running a litany in Kelly’s head from the moment she woke up. It was the first conscious thought to appear in her mind as she opened her eyes, as if her brain had been writing those six seemingly innocuous words on the back of her eyelids all night.

  Now, as she waited for the elevator that would take her up her office, she had to consciously stop herself from muttering the words out loud. She checked her watch. It was almost nine. Her appointment with Jake wasn’t until three. That meant she had more than five hours to stew about it before she left the office. She had plenty of work to keep her occupied in the meantime, of course, but whether or not she’d get any of it done had yet to be seen.

  “Good morning, Kelly.”

  Her head snapped around at the all too familiar voice. Simon Peterson, her ex-boyfriend, stood beside her—suited up, with his Italian leather attaché case in hand. She’d bought him that case for his last birthday. “Hello, Simon.” She nodded her head in polite acknowledgement. “How are you?”

  “Very well.” A smile tried to fight its way onto his face, but he managed to keep the brightness of it down to an acceptable level. Apparently, very well had been something of an understatement. “And yourself?”

  She forced her own mouth into a smile bright enough to compete with a hundred watt bulb. “Great.”

  Silence fell and they both turned back toward the elevator doors. The moment might not have been quite so awkward if this hadn’t been exactly how they’d met. Kelly had been standing right in this spot, waiting for the elevator, when she’d seen Simon for the first time. She’d been there to interview for the job she’d now been working in for nearly six years. He worked in a law firm on one of the upper levels. They’d had a brief, pleasant chat on that first day, before she’d gotten off the elevator for her interview on the sixth floor. Once she’d started working there, they’d run into each other in the lobby from time to time and before long Simon had asked her out on a date. It had been a boy-meets-girl, one-thing-led-to-another, sort of romance. Simple and honest—or so she’d thought.

  For a long while after they’d broken up she’d dreaded these casual, if unavoidable, meetings. At first it had hurt too much. Then, once the pain had abated, she’d seethed with anger at even the glimpse of him. Now, she was over having to lay eyes on him at all. They weren’t part of each other’s lives anymore, except for these brief meetings. But at least now she no longer had to resist the urge to slap his lying, cheating face.

  The doors to the elevator finally parted and Kelly stepped inside, with Simon following close behind.

  “Hold the elevator!” A voice called out as the doors were sliding shut and, with the press of a button, Simon reopened them.

  “Thanks.” A larger man, somewhere in his sixties, wheezed as he lumbered inside with a cheery expression. “Ah, Simon,” he said when he saw the other man. “Good morning.”

  “Good morning, Paul,” Simon replied with a nod.

  Kelly stood at the back of the elevator, grateful to be saved the unpleasant silence that would have continued if she and Simon had been alone in the small space.

  “I hear congratulations are in order,” Paul added.

  Kelly had already dismissed both men, her mind back on the upcoming meeting with Jake, but Simon’s sidelong glance in her direction caught her attention. He cleared his throat before he replied, “Thank you.” He shifted his weight, adjusted his tie. Kelly frowned. Simon was intensely uncomfortable with the situation. He didn’t want to have this conversation, at least not in front of her. Now she was interested.

  “You’ve got yourself a mighty fine woman there,” the older man continued, oblivious to the sudden tension surrounding him. “If you and Nadine are half as happy in your marriage as I’ve been with my Dulcie, you’ll be a lucky bastard.” He guffawed heartily at his own joke.

  Kelly’s world slowed, tilted on its axis. Simon was engaged. He was getting married.

  Her breathing came faster as her mind struggled to comprehend the new information. Nadine was the ‘other woman.’ A relationship that starting with cheating didn’t exactly have marital bliss written all over it. And how the hell did it happen so fast? Kelly had been with Simon for five freaking years without serious talk of marriage and yet he’d proposed to Nadine after little more than four months? What the fuck?

  The doors of the elevator opened and she pushed past the two men in her rush to get out. She stormed down the corridor, desperate to reach her office where she could swear a blue streak behind the privacy of a closed door.

  “Kelly, wait.” Simon’s hand grabbed her by the elbow, bringing her to a halt.

  She turned to look down at the offending limb before lifting her gaze to his. “Take your hand off me.”

  He let go instantly, took a step back. “Sorry.”

  “What do you want, Simon?”

  He took a deep breath, his lips pursed. “I wanted to say I’m sorry you found out the way you did. We only got engaged a couple of days ago. I wanted to tell you about the engagement myself.”

  “Why?” she asked, incredulous. “What you and Nadine do makes no difference to me. So unless you were hoping to rub my face in it—”

  “Don’t be ridiculous.” Simon shook his head, throwing his hands in the air. “Come on, Kelly. We still work in the same building. We can’t avoid each other entirely. It seemed polite to give you a heads-up.”

  “Polite?” The word burst out of her, louder than she’d intended, and she glanced around to make sure no one else was in the corridor before she continued. “Polite would have been telling me you wanted out of our relationship before you went searching for your bride-to-be.”

  “I didn’t go searching for anything,” he hissed. “I have told you time and again, it just happened.”

  Kelly closed her eyes and sighed. They’d already had this conversation too many times. There was no point in having it again. Their relationship was over, had been over for much longer for four months if she was honest with herself. She didn’t even miss Simon anymore. Not the way she’d missed Jake after he’d left.

  She blinked. Why would she think of Jake at a moment like this? Shaking her head, she refocused. “For what it’s worth, I hope you and Nadine are happy together.” She managed to say the words without any hint of sarcasm, for which she felt she should win some sort of prize. Ex-Girlfriend of the Year, or something.

  His eyebrows raised in surprise, but he gave her a grateful smile. “Thank you, Kelly. It means a lot.”

  “I guess the news caught me off guard,” she admitted. “I mean, you’re engaged already?”

  “I know it’s fast, but it’s what I want. What we both want.” He cleared his throat as he started backing toward the elevator. “Anyway, I should get to work.”

  “Yeah. Me too.” She nodded, gesturing in the other direction. “I’ll see you around.” Turning away, she headed for the door to her company’s suite.

  Now the shock and anger had faded, she was left with an overwhelming feeling of regret. She wasted five years on a relationship with that man. Five years of believing they would get married and have children and live happily ever after. Well, maybe more like contentedly. Contentedly ever after. Whatever. It would have been enough for her. Or at least, that’s what she’d always told herself.

  Instead, she’d been dumped on her unwed derriere while Simon waltzed off into the sunset with his new fiancée after only
four months. It made her feel like the half a decade she and Simon spent together meant nothing—like she was expendable, easily forgotten.

  Sometimes life plain sucked.

  Chapter 7

  “No, Danny, I’m not crazy.” Jake stood on the back patio of his new home, his mobile phone pressed to his ear as he laughed at the baffled string of questions his younger brother had been throwing at him from the moment he mentioned his latest purchase.

  “Are you sure? Because from where I’m sitting, a two-bedroom house in the ‘burbs seems like a strange purchase for a single man who hasn’t lived ten kilometres outside a city centre in a decade.”

  “Yeah, but I don’t plan on being single much longer.” So far his attempts to win Kelly over had fallen flat, but he was determined this latest scheme would work. Once she started working on the house they’d be forced to spend at least some time together. With the sparks still igniting between them, it was only a matter of time before he had her back where she belonged—in his arms.

  A grunt of surprise travelled down the phone line. “Shit, bro. I didn’t know you were seeing anyone. Who’s the lucky lady?”

  “I’m not about to jinx it by saying too much too soon, but let’s just say she’s everything I ever wanted.” He didn’t bother trying to wipe the grin off his face, there was no point. Just the thought of Kelly had that effect on him, there was no denying it.

  “Well, I’m happy for you man. Now get on with it and give Mum some grandkids so she stops hounding me about my love life.”

  “Sounds like a good reason to become a father to me,” Jake said, snorting at Danny’s logic.

  “Hey, you’ve already proved you’ll make a great Dad, even if you haven’t been one in truth yet. You took care of Mike and me and we turned out all right.”

  A fierce satisfaction rose in his chest at Danny’s words. As hard as those years had been, he’d always been proud of the part he played in raising his kid brothers. He had to clear his throat before he could reply. “Yeah, you’re a great example of my skills, a bum who likes to play with rocks.” It didn’t matter how far up the geology chain Danny got, Jake would never get tired of teasing his brother about his obsession with rocks.

  “Go back to your building blocks, big brother,” Danny said, used to his baiting, “and leave the boulders to the real men.”

  A knock on the door cut Jake’s reply short. That would be the woman in question, arriving for their appointment.

  “I have to go,” he told his younger brother. “I’ll talk to you next week.”

  “Yeah, I know.” Danny gave a good-natured laugh. “You know you don’t have to keep checking up on me, right?”

  “I’m not checking up,” Jake argued as he headed for the front door. “I’m touching base, there’s a difference.”

  “If you say so.”

  They said goodbye and Jake hung up the phone as he pulled the door open, grinning when he saw Kelly standing on the doorstep.

  She gave him a plastic smile as she held out her hand. “Good afternoon, Mr Caine.” Her other hand clutched the handle of her bag so tight her fingers were white. If he didn’t know better, he’d say she was nervous—how interesting.

  “Ms Rawlins,” he replied in an official tone as he took her hand. Instead of giving her the formal shake-and-release she’d obviously been hoping for, he held on and drew her toward him, over the threshold. “You’re right on time.”

  “Punctuality is key,” she murmured, her voice breathy.

  God, he wanted to kiss her. Wanted to slide his tongue between her bright red lips and taste heaven. But now was not the time.

  “Come see the place.” He led her down the hallway, passing two bedrooms on the left, before reaching the living area at the back. Walking into the large space, he lifted his arms out wide. “Is she a beauty or what?”

  Kelly gave an unconvinced murmur as she glanced around. Faded wallpaper had started to peel off the walls and a lacework of scratches covered the wooden floor. The galley kitchen on the right-hand side revealed appliances that were clean, but old as the hills. She was surprised the previous owners hadn’t blown themselves up using the ancient gas stove. “It has potential, I’ll agree with you there,” she conceded, as she moved around the room. “Did the furniture come with the house?”

  “No, it’s all borrowed from family until I can get new stuff,” he replied. “You’ll be able to start from scratch with pretty much everything.”

  “Great.” She looked up at the ceiling, saw the odd crack here and there. “It’s not going to fall down on ours heads, right?”

  “It’s structurally sound, it just needs some repairs and a major overhaul to bring it into this century. As I said last time, I don’t have the time to spend on it and I want someone who will do a good job.”

  She stared at him for a long moment, her gaze assessing. “If you think this is a way to make yourself a fixture in my life, you’re wrong. This is a job, nothing more.”

  He smirked as he walked closer. “What’s wrong, Kelly?” he asked. “Are you scared this eyesore of a house is too much for you?” He stopped in front of her, tilting his head to one side as he spoke. “Or can’t you handle being around me?”

  She looked like she was about to choke on her indignation. “Are you kidding me? Firstly, I could do this with my eyes closed.” She poked him in the chest with that one wayward finger. “Secondly, I hate to burst your bubble and all, but you don’t factor into my life, Jake.”

  “Kelly,” he said, wrapping his own fingers around hers. “You wound me so.”

  “I’m sure.” Her palm flattened on his chest and she pushed against him. When he didn’t budge she turned away, heading for the doors leading out onto the back patio.

  Jake followed her outside, thrusting his hands into the pockets of his suit pants as he came to stand beside her. He stared out over the weeds and odd piles of rubble that were scattered around the long, narrow backyard. Yeah, this place needed work and lots of it, but the moment he’d walked through the front door he’d seen what it could be. The house itself was sound and the rooms large considering when it was built. Over the back fence, a sprawling park was lush with towering trees and walking paths. A children’s playground on the eastern side of the park boasted enough equipment to keep kids entertained for hours. And when those kids became teenagers and the house started to feel cramped, the backyard was large enough to allow for a sizable extension. This was the perfect place to bring up a family.

  “Do you like it?”

  She looked up at him, a small smile lifting the corners of her mouth. “Yeah, I love it.”

  “I’m glad you approve.” A sigh of relief escaped him, though he tried to downplay it. She didn’t have a clue how important it was to him she like the house he hoped would someday be their home. For now it had to stay that way. Still, he couldn’t repress the smile that came to his lips. “I want you to feel free to do whatever you want with the place.”

  “What I want to do?” She gave him a quizzical frown. “Don’t get me wrong, Jake, I’ll be here to make all the hard decisions, but you need to give me some idea of what you want this place to be. You’re the one who’s going to be living here.”

  “Of course.” He cleared his throat, wondering if perhaps he’d already said too much. “And I’ll give my opinion where I think it’s needed but, you know what you’re doing and I like your style so I won’t be getting in your way. As I’ve said, with my new job and all, I won’t have much time on my hands.”

  “If you say so.” After a long moment she seemed to accept his excuse and move on. “But appreciating my style is not the same as wanting it to surround you on a daily basis. I won’t be making any apologies if you decide you don’t like the end result.”

  He nodded. “Duly noted.”

  “Good,” she replied before she walked back into the house.

  Kelly headed for the kitchen counter where she’d dropped her work bag when she first entered the
room. She couldn’t shake the feeling some hidden agenda lurked beneath Jake’s willingness to have her design his house with minimal input, but for the life of her she couldn’t think what it could possibly be. In the end, she pushed her concerns aside and concentrated on doing her job.

  Once she had her digital camera in hand, along with her notebook and pen, she turned back to Jake who had followed her into the living area. “All right, Mr Caine. Since you’ve already said your time is limited, I figure I should make use of you while you’re here.”

  He gave her an openly salacious smirk. “You go ahead and use me however you want.”

  Kelly gulped, trying not to picture him naked and covered in chocolate mousse. Yum, her favourite.

  “Let’s get started.” She stopped to clear her throat when her voice came out as a breathy whisper. “For each room, I want you to give me three words to describe what you want the room to be. Think about what you want to do in the room, what mood you want it to inspire.” She snapped pictures of the living room and kitchen from different angles as she spoke. “For example, for the living room you might use words like relaxing, cosy, or spacious. Whereas, for the kitchen, it might be functional or inviting. Then I can choose colours, fabrics, styles, etcetera to build upon those words.”

  Jake shrugged again. “Okay.”

  “Great. Let’s start in here, shall we?” She indicated the living room surrounding them.

  He glanced absently around the room. “What do you think?”

  Annoyed by his lack of cooperation, she raised an eyebrow at him.

  “Really,” he added. “I want to know what you think.”

  Sighing, she allowed her gaze to slide down his body as she studied his form in detail. His crisp white business shirt did nothing to hide the lean, muscular body beneath. The tie he’d loosened gave him an air of casualness. Despite his sophistication, she could still see hints of the devil-may-care rogue she’d known in there. Somehow, the combination suited him.