Page 64 of Second Chances

Entering the kitchen to Charlotte belting out “Fancy” at the top of her lungs, he paused, drinking in the sight of her keeping beat with her luscious hips wiggling. She stood at the stove, wielding a pair of tongs in shorts that barely skimmed the tops of her thighs, and Henry was ready to lift her over his shoulder and carry her back upstairs. On second thought, the living room was closer, and the sofa was comfortable enough. Plenty of spring in it. Heaven help him, she still wore his shirt from last night. Closing the distance between them, he put his hands on her ribs, delighting as she breathed in deeply.

“Mmm, I like this.” She tilted her head back against his chest. She dropped the tongs she’d been using and raised her arms behind her to cup his head close to her neck.

“Mmm,” he responded, “not as much as I do.” The top snaps were open, exposing her cleavage, and his view was incredible. Braless under his shirt meant breakfast would have to wait. Bending, he touched his lips to the side of her neck when his watch rang with an incoming call. Glancing at it, he dismissed it, then raised the hem of her shirt. His watch annoyingly rang again. “Charlotte, I’m sorry. I need to return this.” Turning her around, he cradled her face to kiss her gently.

“Is everything okay?”

“It’s nothing,” he assured her, eager to be rid of Melanie. “I left my phone upstairs, so I’m just going to run up there. Don’t worry.” His finger stroked her cheek. “It’s just some issue I’ve been having with a difficult customer.” A little white lie seemed innocuous, because the last thing he wanted was Charlotte believing that his ex-wife had some kind of hold over him. After everything that had gone on last year with DD, he didn’t want their budding relationship dragged into whatever mess Melanie was looking to create. Kissing her again, Henry stared into her luminous eyes. “I can’t wait to have breakfast with you.” He softly kissed her knuckles. “I need you to know how honored I am, how lucky I feel, that you’re here with me.”

Keeping her tears at bay, Charlotte said, “I feel the same, Henry. No one has made me feel the way you do.” She could smell that the bacon was almost done in the oven, so she made her voice light. “Now go and take care of business so we can eat!”

After one last, deep kiss, Henry trotted up the stairs, feeling somewhat deceitful. Normally, he wasn’t a man who engaged in lies and half-truths, unless it came to his ex. As soon as he was off the phone with her, he planned on explaining everything to Charlotte.

Downstairs, Charlotte removed both the bacon and the breakfast casserole from the oven. Henry’s fridge and pantry had all the ingredients, and the recipe was abundant, ensuring that he would have enough to eat over the next few days. Pouring herself another cup of toffee crunch coffee, with a heavy splash of cream, she startled when she heard his voice upstairs, almost as if he was shouting. He grew quieter, and she opened the newspaper, intending to start the crossword puzzle, his doorbell rang. “Henry,” she called, torn between ignoring or answering the door. The bell rang again, so instead of bothering Henry, she walked over to it.

Upon opening the door, a wave of heat blasted her from outside, and she was surprised to see who stood on the porch. “Hi.”

“Why are you answering Henry’s door?”

“I’ve got good news and bad news,” Josh announced to Effie. “And I have to admit that you were right.” His future wife was in their backyard, picking tomatoes from her garden. Last spring, Effie had spent hours planting tomatoes, green beans, cabbage, potatoes, peppers, carrots, radishes, cucumbers, zucchini, squash, onions, garlic, basil, parsley, and strawberries. Now that her small crops were ready for harvest, Effie was pondering enlarging the garden next year so she could preserve her produce by either canning or freezing it.

“Well, you know I’m always thrilled when someone admits I’m right about something.” Effie grinned, wiping her wrist across one of her arched, black eyebrows. “But I’m almost scared to ask what the bad news is.” She straightened and sauntered his way.

Even covered in dirt, his body reacted to her, breathtakingly gorgeous, with shining raven-black hair pulled into two braids and a pair of ridiculously large sunglasses protecting her exotic amber eyes. The halter top she wore exposed much of her silky back, tempting Josh to untie the strings and stroke her smooth skin. “You put some sunscreen on, right? Even with your darker pigment, the risk of skin cancer is⁠—”

Effie interrupted, “Do you know how sexy you are,” wrapping her arms around his shoulders, “when you lecture me about the importance of SPF?” Quaking as her teeth captured his earlobe, he held his breath when her hands slid under his polo shirt.

“It’s my duty as a doctor and your husband—” he managed, just before one of her slim hands travelled down to the front of his khaki shorts.

“Uh uh,” she whispered into his ear, “not my husband yet. Still just my hot fiancé.” Slanting her mouth against his, her tongue licked the seam of his lips, and Josh forgot both the good and the bad news he had been about to tell her. Tall trees and a wooden fence surrounding the perimeter of the backyard secluded the couple for every single outdoor activity Effie loved, and she drew Josh into a shaded area of their patio, replete with a padded lounger big enough for the both of them. Extending her endlessly long legs, Effie reclined, and a small patch of sunlight fell on the strip of her stomach exposed between her top and her shorts. His thumb traced a line of sweat between her breasts.

“I think we can do better than this.” Grinning, he reached behind her back, untied her top, and stretched out beside the most tantalizing woman known to man. Hooking both thumbs into the elastic waistband of her shorts, he gave a small tug, dropping them next to their lounger.

“You know, I’ve always thought you had the very best bedside manner.” With her knees parting to accommodate his hips, Josh tasted her flesh, sweet and salty, the true essence of Effie. “Josh,” she panted, and her fingers were in his hair, tugging at his blond head.

Josh had been engaged before; had, in fact, almost gotten married three years ago, and every day he sent a mental thank you to Tess for falling in love with his best friend, Sam. If they hadn’t met on that train, Josh would never have discovered everlasting love. What he had with Effie outshone anything he could imagine experiencing with anyone else. And as this unbelievable woman writhed under his every touch, he knew she would be the only woman for him for the rest of his life.

“I love you.” Her golden-brown eyes mirrored the emotion in his own blue eyes. Caressing her face with the back of his hand, he inquired, “Tell me again why we aren’t already married?” His surgeon’s fingers deftly retied her top, and he easily slipped her shorts back up over her long brown legs before pulling his own on.

Effie laughed in the carefree manner she had, brushing back hair from his forehead. “Babe, if we were already married, I wouldn’t get to call you my hot fiancé.” She tracked her lips across his chest. “But I seriously can’t wait until you are my very desirable and seriously studly husband.”

“Studly? Is that even a word?”

She answered as she draped her body over him. “When I’m describing you, it is most definitely. You are so handsome.” She kissed his jaw. “I can’t believe you’ll be mine forever.” Her hands stroked his chest. “Hey, where did you disappear to this morning? And what was I right about?”

“Oh, yeah, what I was about to tell you before you seduced me.” He laughed when she nipped his neck, then moaned when she licked it. “Do you want me to finish my story, or should we just take this inside?”

“No,” she curled up in his arms, “please tell me the news!”

“Well, I ran over to Dad’s house to see if he wanted to get breakfast before I took the car to the shop, since he never really answered about it last night.” Early Saturday morning breakfasts had been their thing after Josh moved into Effie’s house, which was, conveniently for him, located right around the block from his dad’s. When Effie bought the house, she and Josh weren’t a couple; in fact, they hadn’t even been dating. Josh still had one foot firmly in New York City then, with plans to return once his surgical leave was complete. When his fiancée had moved in here, she had no way of knowing that she would one day be living so close to her future father-in-law, but that was just another link in their chain of fate. “And you were right about Dad and Charlotte. She was just getting ready to leave when I got there.”

Effie interjected with an ear-deafening squeal, screaming, “God, I knew it! I’ve said all week that I thought they were spending their nights together! Those two practically devoured each other at dinner last night. I’m shocked they made it out of the restaurant without ripping each other’s clothes off.”

“I wouldn’t know, because I only had eyes for you. But can we please remember this is my dad you’re talking about?”

“I knew they were perfect for each other,” Effie sighed. “But please tell me you didn’t interrupt them.”

“No, no, they were fully clothed. Thank god.”