Taking Chances (The Chances and Choices Duology - Book 1 of 2 - Contemporary Romance) (3 page)

Time seemed to slowly crawl by while I was
waiting for Friday. When it finally arrived, my nerves kicked into high gear.
All week, I had been writing pick-me-up reminders to myself on sticky notes,
and they circled my mirror. I took a moment to read through them.
Breathe. You are an intelligent woman. Don’t
chatter non-stop. Smile. Do not worry. You are worthy. You deserve to be happy.
They were simple, but reading them helped me calm down.

I smiled at the new one that Courtney had added
in the center of my mirror.
 
Have fun.
I took a sip from the glass
of chilled white wine that she had delivered to my bathroom before leaving for
her shift at Joe’s.

Since I still had over an hour before I needed
to meet Seth at the restaurant, I decided to take a bubble bath. The wine and
bath must have been just what I needed because I was almost calm as I donned my
denim mini skirt and the
v-neck
, light pink tee shirt
that Courtney had chosen for the occasion. I still couldn’t believe that she
had loaned me her favorite cowboy boots with the pastel flowers swirling around
them; but they looked fantastic, and they gave me just the extra boost of
confidence that I needed as I walked to Joe’s.

Joe’s was one of the only full-service,
waterfront restaurants in town, and it was bustling with activity when I
arrived; but Courtney had promised to save us a table. She ran over to greet me
as soon as I walked in. “You look fantastic!” she gushed. “He isn’t going to be
able to keep his hands off you.” Her enthusiasm was contagious as she covered
my eyes and led me over to the table that she and I normally shared on girls’
night.

“Ta-da!” she yelled when she removed her hands
to reveal how the table had been transformed. Twinkle lights sparkled from
above the booth and along the back of the table, a lit candle created a subtle
glow and a bouquet of fresh wildflowers had been placed in a water glass in the
center of the table.

“Oh, Court. It’s beautiful! You treat me like a
princess,” I said with watery eyes.

“You deserve only the best,” she whispered in my
ear before sliding up to the bar to grab a tray of drinks for one of her
tables.

I knew when Seth arrived because the group of
ladies sitting across from me stopped talking and turned to gaze at him. He
walked to my table and grinned at me as he said, “You’re even more beautiful
than I remembered.”

I blushed and then chuckled as Courtney went
behind him fanning herself with a hand, silently mouthing the words “
hubba
hubba
.” She was right. Seth
looked like a Greek god, and I could not believe he was here with me. His dark
hair was slightly damp, as if he’d just gotten out of the shower. He was
clean-shaven and smelled like Irish Spring. His black tee shirt was just tight
enough to show off his flat abs and bulging biceps. And, speaking of bulges,
his jeans were snug enough to give a tantalizing hint of his junk. I had to pry
my eyes away.

As he sat down, he commented, “Wow, it looks
like we scored the best seats in the house.”

I grinned as I said, “I know people.”

Courtney stopped by with a quick, “Hi, I’m
Court. Take good care of my girl or we’ll have words.” She waggled a warning
finger at Seth with a smile, before hustling off to her next table. She had
arranged for one of the other waitresses to take care of us. That had surprised
me at first, but being her thoughtful self, she had probably figured I would be
more comfortable without her stopping by the table periodically all evening.

Seth and I split a bottle of white wine from a
local vineyard and an appetizer platter full of fried, fabulous, fattening
goodies. Then we topped it all off with a brownie sundae. It was a perfect
evening filled with interesting conversation, laughter and great food.

Seth surprised me by turning towards the bar and
asking, “How long do you think it will be before your friend and the bartender
hook up?”

I gave him a sideways look, “Courtney? And Joe?
He’s her boss.” I responded, shaking my head.

“Well, they’ve been giving each other
googly
eyes all night,” he countered.

I sat back in my seat, thinking that one over
for a minute. Could he be right? Court loved sex and men, but she had never
shown an interest in keeping one around for more than a couple of dates. As I
contemplated it, I realized that she did act different around Joe. I had always
chalked it up to him being her employer.

I watched Joe working the bar with his customary
laid back ease. He was kind of cute, with his slightly scruffy, dirty-blond
hair. His style tended towards tee shirts and flip-flops, while Court was a
glamour girl. “Hmm,” I said aloud as I tilted my head, pondering him.

Seth coughed. “Please don’t gaze at another guy
while you are out with me. You’re going to give me an inferiority complex.” He
smiled after he said it, to let me know he was teasing.

“Well, then you better work to keep my
attention,” I retorted quickly, openly flirting with him.

“Lets get out of here then, and find someplace
where I can have you all to myself. How about a walk along the water?” he
asked.

“I’d love to,” I responded, deciding to give
more thought to the Courtney and Joe idea later.

As Seth paid Joe at the bar, Courtney slid
behind me and whispered in my ear. “Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

I chuckled as I turned to her and asked, “What
would that be?”

“There isn’t much that would be off-limits with
that fine hunk of man.” She mumbled under her breath as I turned to leave with
Seth. “Have fun!” She yelled the words to both of us as Seth put a gentle hand
at the small of my back and guided me out of the restaurant.

We walked hand-in-hand along the sandy shore.
The nearly full moon glimmered on the water. It was unseasonably warm, so even
the breeze off the water wasn’t too chilly. I was pleasantly tipsy and happier
than I ever remembered being in my entire life.

I was in my own world with Seth and barely took
notice of the couple walking towards us, until the man spoke to us. I would
have recognized his voice immediately, even if he hadn’t called me by the
nickname he had used the entire time that we were married, despite the fact
that I didn’t care for it.

“Abracadabra.” He drew the word out. “Working
your magic on a new fellow, I see.”

Seth smiled and introduced himself, extending
his arm to shake hands.

I almost felt sorry for Trudy the skank when
Larry introduced himself as my husband. “Ex-husband,” she and I interjected
simultaneously.

“Right, of course, we all knew that. What good
fortune, to run into you on our little weekend getaway.” I had to force myself
to refrain from rolling my eyes at his broad interpretation of the words ‘good
fortune.’

“Well, as you can see,” Larry said loudly and
with a big smile as he patted Trudy’s slightly protruding belly, “I’ve been
busy since the divorce. My Little Love Muffin and I are going to be the proud
parents of Larry Jr. in a few months.”

I felt like I had been punched in the stomach.
Not because I still cared about Larry, but because this pregnancy proved that I
was barren. Throughout our marriage, I had longed for a child. I wanted to be a
mother more than anything. Larry had been agreeable from the start, and we had
never used birth control. As one year rolled into two, it became apparent that
something was wrong.

I had always believed, deep down, that he was
the one with the fertility issue. Whenever I broached the subject with him to
get tested, he became irate and insisted that I was the one whose equipment
didn’t work, so I was probably the one who couldn’t conceive.

I had never gone for the testing because I
wanted to hold on to the hope that I could conceive a child. The baby bump protruding
from Trudy’s
too-tight
, leopard print mini-dress was
proof that I had been the reason we couldn’t get pregnant. Not only did my lady
parts not know how to have fun, they didn’t even know how to do what they were
made to do. I felt broken and sad, and I wanted to get away from these two.

I didn’t even know what had been said as I stood
there reeling, and I didn’t care. “Okay, take care.
Buh
-bye.”
I grabbed Seth’s arm and stalked off, wondering how Larry was still able to
ruin things for me.

Seth waited until we were a safe distance away
before saying, “You still care about him, huh?”

“Larry? Ick, no! I just was caught off-guard
with the whole baby thing.” I was determined not to let Larry and Trudy ruin my
wonderful date with Seth. I would think about the dire implications of Larry
being able to impregnate Trudy later. Tonight was about Seth, and I wasn’t
ready for it to end. I wanted to forget all about Larry and his baby momma and
thoroughly enjoy my time with Seth.

In what was likely the boldest statement of my
life, I turned to him and said, “How about showing me your place?”

Seth was clearly surprised, but he smiled and
said, “It’s not much, but I do have big plans for it someday.”

“I’m sure it’s great,” I
said,
as I locked arms with him and marched him back up the gravel path to the
parking lot of Joe’s.

He showed me to a dark green Jeep Wrangler with
no doors and helped me climb in. As we drove, I cleared my mind as the wind
whipped through my hair. It was a clear night and there seemed to be a million stars
twinkling above us.

I was surprised when he turned down a wooded
lane that angled towards the lake. Seth seemed almost nervous as he parked the
Jeep. “I told you it wasn’t anything special.”

I don’t know what I had expected, but it wasn’t
the Airstream trailer that sat before me. “Oh,” I gulped. “It’s nice.” It came
out almost like a question, even though I hadn’t meant for it to.

Once the surprise wore off, and I began to look
around, I realized that this was the perfect spot for Seth. The lot was full of
trees and had a beautiful lake view. At the edge of his land, was a huge pole
barn where Seth built his boats. It was an ideal place for Buddy to roam, I
noted, as he came over to greet me with a sniff before taking off to chase a
leaf.

Seth had built an amazing cedar deck on the
front of the trailer, so we sat down to relax and talk in his rocking chairs. I
looked out over the water and said, “Okay, this really is nice,” with more
conviction this time.

“The trailer is temporary. I just fell in love
with the location, so I’m going to build here one day,” he told me.

“Build it yourself?” I asked. “Do you already
have plans? How exciting to be able to make it exactly how you want.”

“No plans yet.” He became quiet, and I wondered
if he was going to elaborate. He looked right at me with those gorgeous green
eyes and said, “I’ve been waiting for the right woman to come along, so we can
decide on our dream house together.”

I almost melted on the spot. What I wouldn’t
give to be his ‘Ms. Right.’ He was absolutely ideal, and I didn’t feel worthy
of being with him; but I decided to enjoy every moment I had with him, even if
it meant I was just his ‘Ms. Right Now.’

I blurted out, “Want to take this party inside?”
I wondered where this newfound boldness was coming from.

“Oh, uh.” He ran his fingers through his hair.

He doesn’t
want me. He’s just being nice.
My inner voice panicked.

“I’m not exactly prepared.” At my perplexed
look, he elaborated. “I didn’t think we’d be in this situation tonight, so I don’t
have any condoms.”

“Oh.” Relief flooded over me. Since I didn’t
have sex until I was married, I had never had to worry about condoms. In fact,
I’d never seen one other than during the banana demonstration that every teen
suffers through. “Okay, we don’t have to.” I paused before adding, “But I know
I don’t have any diseases because I got tested after I found out Larry had been
with that ho-bag we saw tonight.”
Ho-bag
?!?
My mental critic screeched.
How classy.

He looked down at me and smiled. “I know I am
disease-free because I always wear a condom, but I don’t want to get you
pregnant on our first official date.”

“Apparently, I can’t get pregnant, so that’s not
an issue.” I looked down, determined not to let negative thoughts creep in and
ruin my night with Seth.

That’s when what he had said really began to
sink in. If he always wore a condom, then mine could be the first hoo-ha that
this perfect man’s penis touched. I was sure that I would spend a lot of time
being upset about the fact that I couldn’t conceive a child, but I had just
discovered the only benefit of it, and I wasn’t about to ignore this
opportunity. Without wasting any more time, I lunged at him.

He caught me, and I wrapped my legs around his
waist as he kissed me hungrily. He threw the door of the Airstream open and we
toppled inside, laughing into each other’s mouths. We were on the floor, and I
was still straddling him when he tilted his head back, breaking our kiss. “I
don’t want to ruin this with sex.” Then he added gently, “You’ve had a lot to
drink tonight, and I don’t want to take advantage of you. Are you sure you want
to do this?”

Touched by his sweet thoughtfulness, I placed
both hands on his cheeks and looked directly into those piercing green eyes as
I said, “I’ve never been more sure of anything in my whole life. Now hurry up
and rip these clothes off me!”

“Yes, Ma’am. Happy to oblige,” he said in my ear
as he nuzzled my neck. He eased the pink tee shirt over my head as I worked to
free him of his clothes. My eyes opened wide in surprise as he undid my bra
with one hand in one quick flick of his long, capable fingers.

We were still in the doorway of the trailer with
our legs hanging out. It should have been uncomfortable, and I should have been
concerned that someone would see us; but my mind had been taken over by my body
and my body had been taken over by pleasure. Whatever his mouth was doing to my
breast made me ache for more, and his hand was slowly working its way up my leg
past the hem of my mini skirt.

I ran both of my hands over him. I had managed
to dispose him of his shirt, but his jeans were still in the way. I got them
loosened, and I lowered the waistband of his underwear so that he sprang out.
Instantly, I wrapped my hands around him. His skin was velvety smooth, and he
was rock hard and huge. I ran my fingers along his length and moaned with
pleasure at the feel of him.

He grabbed my hands and pulled them to his lips
for a kiss. “
Abby, that
feels amazing.
A little too amazing, actually.
I am a gentleman, and
gentlemen always let ladies go first.”

I almost confessed that he didn’t have to bother
with trying to pleasure me, but I forced myself to stop.

He lowered his hands to undo my skirt and
quickly yanked it off me. He cupped his hand over my soaked panties, and
groaned as he said, “You’re so wet.”

“For you,” I whispered in his ear as I lifted my
hips and he ripped my panties down. I panted as his fingers slid down the front
of me. He slowly spread me apart and began making slow circles as my legs fell
wide open. His other hand played with my nipple until it was a hard nub, and he
gently kissed me on the mouth. It was too many wonderful sensations at once. I
felt like I was going to explode.

My hips began bucking of their own accord. I
didn’t know what was happening, but I knew that I didn’t ever want it to stop.
My nerve endings were electrified and my breath was coming fast. I turned my
head to the side, unable to think of anything but how good this felt. My breath
caught, and pleasure surged through me. I threw my head back and gasped, mouth
wide open as the first orgasm of my life ripped through me.

Just then, Seth plunged into me. His moan of
pleasure spurred me on, and my body continued thrashing wildly beneath him. He
reached a hand down between us to rub over me. The friction of his finger,
along with the feeling of his cock driving into me, sent me over the edge
again. As I pulsed around him, Seth pumped faster and groaned as he came.

He collapsed on top of me, still breathing hard.
He was hot and heavy, and it felt wonderful. As the reality of what had just
happened sank in, I began to laugh.

“Laughter at a time like this isn’t great for my
ego,” Seth muttered.

“I’m not broken!” I said, still laughing.

“Broken? You thought I would break you?”

“No, I thought my lady parts didn’t work because
I have never had an orgasm before.”

Seth’s eyes widened in
surprise.
“Never?” When I shook my head in answer, he said, “I can vouch that your lady
parts work quite well. Now, it sounds to me like you have a lot of
orgasming
that you need to catch up on, and I’m just the
man to take on this task.” He had a big smile on his face as he added, “If
you’re up for it.”

I nodded and giggled as he picked me up and
carried me to the back of the trailer. After he tossed me on the bed, we
removed the rest of our clothes, and he kissed his way up my body to lie beside
me.

He placed his lips on my forehead in a gentle
kiss as he said, “I’m going to recuperate a little, but feel free to wake me as
soon as you’re ready to raise that total orgasm count.”

“Will do,” I agreed, as I snuggled into his
naked, perfect body. I couldn’t believe that I had just had sex with this
amazing man. I smiled at my thoughts as I realized that if I had known that
orgasms felt that fantastic, I probably would have broken down and tried out
the vibrator that Court gave me.

When I felt his breathing steady, I quietly got
up to find my cell phone. I sent a quick text to
Court,
“Won’t be home tonight.” I added a smiley face after it, so she would know
everything was okay, since it wasn’t at all like me to stay out all night.