Second Chance Cowboy (9 page)

Dammit!
Why didn’t he give in
to the damn need tormenting him and bury himself in her? She’d like
it. He’d make sure she enjoyed it. He knew how she wanted him. Her
taste still lingered in his mouth and he wanted more.

When she wrapped her arms around his
neck and lowered her head to his shoulder, he knew she could turn
him to putty. She had a way of wrapping him around her finger and
he was happily submissive.

Chance mentally shook himself to get
the hell out of the forgetful mode. Had he completely overlooked
the last two years? He needed to help her remember, and then,
maybe, they would have a chance at working things out.

After all, Carly dwelled in a
vulnerable state and needed his support. She didn’t need him
spreading her thighs, sliding himself into her until they connected
at the hips.

“
Everything will be okay, I
promise.” He brought his hand up and touched her porcelain skin,
running the tip of his finger softly along the ragged line of
bruising on her cheek. It tore through him. “If you could look
inside me you’d see I’d go to the end of the world to keep you from
being hurt.” The words left his lips and he knew he promised the
impossible. He’d told her those same words before, and what
happened? They split up and divorced.

“
In a few days I’ll be
okay.”

His exhale weaved with a growl. When
she turned her face into his hand and kissed his palm, he thought
his heart would beat through his rib cage. She didn’t stop there.
She trailed kisses along his wrist, her tongue swept out and licked
the pulse point.

“
You little vixen.” The air
flew out of his lungs. “It’s taking every bit of control I have not
to rip those jeans off your sexy body and take you right here,
right now.”

“
I wouldn’t complain,” she
teased.

“
And give my men front row
seats to your tight ass? I don’t think so.” He buried his fingers
into her silky hair and brought a handful up to his nose. Vanilla.
“You still smell the same.”

“
Of course I do. What were
you expecting?” Her eyes were questioning.

Uh-oh. Slip up.

He didn’t answer.

“
Chance, I was only gone
for a few days, not years.”

She undid his top button and his pulse
beat faster.

“
It felt like years,
sweetheart.” Two, actually. And three if he wanted to be
specific.

“
You’re different, Chance.”
Her words floated against his ear, her breath tousled the length of
his hair.

“
Different?”

“
You seem distant. I feel
like you’re pushing me away. And you act terrified of making love
with me. I won’t bite. Not hard anyway.”

Her hand dropped to the crotch of his
jeans and lightly squeezed to emphasize the meaning of her words.
He winced. What could he say? “I’m sorry, babe. I’ve been an
asshole.” He thought he’d burst.

“
You know what I
think?”

His eyes caressed her lovely face. Her
skin reminded him of satin against his callused hands. Her eyes
were innocent blue, reaching into his chest and doing funny things
to his heart. “What’s that?”

“
It’s time you told me what
I long to hear.” She kissed the corner of his mouth, his jaw, his
neck.

He knew what she wanted, and he
couldn’t do it. Not yet anyway.

When the time was right he could tell
her how he felt, again. Just not right now.

The first sign of anger came with the
tensing of her body. The second, her chilly expression. Her eyes
turned to cobalt ice cubes.

“
Don’t tell me.” She pushed
off his lap and placed her fists on hips.

“
Come on,
Carly.”

He reached out and she pulled away
from his grasp. “Don’t ‘come on, Carly’ me.” Her arms went up. “I
don’t know what in the hell is wrong with you, but I’m slowly
losing my patience. Not only are you walking on eggshells around
me, you’ve shot me down twice.
Twice!”
Her tone dripped
acid. “You barely kiss me and now you refuse to tell me you love
me? Did I hit my head so hard that I’ve gone loopy, or am I right?
You’re avoiding me like the plague. And another thing, what about
our wedding picture mysteriously missing from your office?” Her
eyes were like lasers, ready to shoot him down. “I’ve never felt so
lost. What are you not telling me?”

He didn’t get the chance to defend
himself. On cue, Duke came out onto the patio. “Is that Thelma’s
cooking I smell?” Halfway to the table, he realized he’d stepped
onto a minefield. “I’ll turn around and let you both pretend I
wasn’t here.”

“
No, Duke, it’s okay. You
can stay. I was just going inside.”

Chance watched Carly disappear into
the house. He turned to Duke and shook his head. “Do you have any
sense of timing?”

“
Can’t you do anything
except piss her off, pal?” Duke asked.

“
Can’t you mind your own
business?”

“
I would mind my own
business, but yours is always a helluva lot more interesting.” Duke
sat in the chair across from Chance and relaxed back into the
cushions with an exaggerated sigh. “Anyway, I’m good at givin’
advice.”

Chance eyed him in irritation. “Are
you married?”

“
No.”

“
Case closed.”

Although their bantering was always in
good fun, Chance knew Duke realized what lines not to cross. Carly
happened to be one of those lines. Duke was a friend to Chance and
Carly, and he above everyone knew they went through the wringer
after Devon died.

A friend knew when to shut the hell up
and listen. That’s what made Duke a great friend.

“
Tell the men we won’t be
having the staff meetings here at the house any longer. It’s too
risky for Carly to be around them. I don’t want them to get wind of
what’s going on. Have any of them started asking questions?” Chance
kept his eyes fixated on something, but nothing, in the
distance.

“
The men who’ve worked here
the longest know their limitations. The others, well, they know to
keep their mouth shut and do their work,” Duke answered.

“
And, FYI, you’re not off
the hook, buddy.” Seeing his friend’s questioning glance, Chance
chuckled. “To Carly, this is four years ago and tell me, what were
you doing four years ago, if you can think back that
far?”

“
I had broken up with
Lila.”

Chance laughed and it felt good. It
eased his tension, a bit. Felt good not to be on the shit end of
the stick for once. “Good luck, pal.”

They both remembered how angry Carly
was when Duke broke off the relationship with Lila. Carly
eventually forgave him, but four years later Lila still spit fire
at the mere mention of Duke’s name.

After a long moment of silence, Chance
looked at his friend in curiosity. “Did you have something to tell
me? Is it regarding the pipes?”

Duke anchored his boots at the ankles
and hooked his hat on the armchair. “Do you want the good news or
the bad news first?”

“
I don’t care.” He rolled a
broad shoulder.

“
Doc Bakerfield was here
and she examined the new mustang, Wildfire. She said he has
spasmodic colic.”

“
Figures.” Chance shook his
head. “What does she suggest?”

“
She administered an
anti-spasmodic drug. She said he should be fine after a few weeks
with special care.”

Chance wasn’t sure why he bought the
stallion. He was wild and enjoyed being alone. He’d never be any
good for riding. He guessed he’d felt sentimental when the owner
told him they’d have to put him down if they couldn’t find him a
home.

“
If that was the bad news,
what’s the good news?”

“
Doc Bakerfield said she’ll
be back tomorrow. She headed up here to speak to you and I cut her
off halfway. That would have been an interesting scenario. Ex-wife,
now wife again, meets girlfriend, now ex-girlfriend.” Duke chuckled
at the humor of the circumstances. “She was pissed, talking about
how you haven’t returned any of her calls.”

“
You call that good
news?”

“
No, I guess I don’t have
any good news to share.”

“
I have a feeling I’m not
going to be happy when you tell me the answer, but what did you
tell Leslie?” When one thing blew to hell, they all tended to. He
hadn’t spoken with Leslie in a week and she certainly didn’t know
Carly was back. It wasn’t like Chance and Leslie had a serious
relationship, but enough of one that he did owe her an explanation.
Leslie, a good friend, was an even better doctor. He didn’t want to
lose her on a professional level.

“
I told her the truth. I
told her Carly is back.”

Later in the evening, the dark
shadowed his office. The way Chance liked it when he needed to
think. Sitting at his desk, he propped his feet up on the corner,
and relaxed his head back on the leather chair. He glanced at the
clock across the room, surprised it read one-thirty.

His eyes moved unthinkingly to the
spot on his desk where the framed wedding picture of Carly and him
now sat. Shoved in his desk drawer along with old letters, it’d
been under lock and key since the gloomy day she left the
ranch.

Every now and then, he’d pull it out
of the hiding place, glance at their smiling faces, and allow
himself the pleasure of feeling sorry for being in a shithole
position.

He should have chased after Carly when
she left. He shouldn’t have been so smug. Damn Taylor pride
.
Not the first time genetics screwed him.

Hell, it was too late to dish out the
shoulda-woulda-coulda song and dance. He could write an arm-long
list of things he should have done in his adult life.

The picture was home. So was Carly,
right where she belonged. How long could he keep things where they
needed to be? He wasn’t sure.

His mind raced with the day’s events.
After Carly left him sitting on the patio, she’d gone inside to
bed. He had checked on her when Duke left and found her sound
asleep.

It was probably for the
best.

If this were the past, he would have
climbed into bed with her, woken her up, and they would have turned
each other inside out. Nothing compared to a spectacular apology
played out in bed. But the only thing living in the past was
Carly’s mind.

Chance wavered at a crossroads between
what was right and what he wanted to do most.

Restraining from any sexual contact
with Carly, at least until the time came when she knew the truth,
could be considered appropriate. He couldn’t deny he wanted to say
to hell with prudence and live life for the moment. He wanted to
touch her, to hold her, to make her his once again.

Maybe this insane scenario was simply
fate. Maybe this was his and Carly’s last chance to make everything
right. Fate had a way of working mysteriously, especially in his
life. Had he ever thought he’d get an opportunity for a new
beginning?

He could sit back and wait for her
memory to return and allow the chips to fall where they
may.

Sitting back and waiting for life to
transpire didn’t sit well with him. He’d always been a man
remaining in control of his existence, steering his mustang across
the uneven plains of life, and maintaining a firm grip on his
future.

He had wanted to believe Carly still
loved him, somewhere deep inside. He believed fear and guilt kept
her from coming home for two years.

Then the divorce papers had arrived
and he had given up on his wish.

How could he help her mind bring back
the memories of the divorce and Devon?

Chance got up from the desk and moved
across the shadows. He went to the window and stared out at the
stunning night sky. Not one cloud blocked the twinkling stars. The
full moon’s pale beauty offered hope.

Carly would be devastated when she
remembered their precious son who died.

It’d be like reliving that horrible
day over again.

The doctors had sat with him and Carly
those awful years ago. Each specialist had discussed the situation
and the outlook became more dismal. Devon would never breathe
without a ventilator and his brain wasn’t functioning properly.
Countless machines had kept his boy alive.

Carly had stormed from the room,
refusing to listen to the truth. Chance, alone, decided what was
best for their son.

His eyes misted with tears. The pain
of his choice remained.

Carly had drifted deeper into
depression, to a place where Chance couldn’t reach her. He gave up
on everything. He had lost his son. His wife had pulled away
physically and emotionally. He had lost all power over the
heartbreak.

And then she’d left him. Desolation
enveloped him. His damn anger and pride kept him from chasing after
her. He’d grown tired, fed up, of being the crux of her bitterness.
Deep down he’d thought she’d be back.