Only For Now: Second Chances (2 page)

"No, Cara said..." She frowned. "I don't remember. She said they'd be somewhere, but I don't remember now. I was just going to get another drink and meet them."

"Okay, well how about I give Cara a call. Let me see your phone."

"I left it at the hotel." She started to sway and her eyes were drooping.

"What hotel? Alexa?" He gave her a little shake and her eyes popped open again. "Where are you staying?"

She mumbled something that he couldn't make out before falling heavily against him. Great. Now what was he supposed to do? Cara had been the one to let him know they’d be in New Orleans that weekend. She’d wanted him to come out with them. But she’d never told him where they were staying, and he didn’t have her number in his phone.

After a few more attempts to find out where she was staying, he made the only choice given to him. He called a cab and took her back to his hotel. There were no good alternatives. He certainly couldn't leave her in this condition. Who knew what degenerates might take advantage of her? At least with him she would be safe and have a comfortable bed to sleep it off.

Will pulled his mind back to the present. Now here he was, having attempted to be a gentleman, and she was thinking the worst of him. Not that he hadn’t given her plenty of reasons to in the past. He would set her straight and everything would be alright.

He jumped at the sound of the door clicking open and rushed over to explain. The words died on his lips as he was caught off guard by her striking beauty. He’d known her almost her whole life, yet in the years since he’d seen her, she’d become much more woman than girl. He swallowed against the tightness in his throat as he recalled the brief glimpse he'd gotten as she attempted to strip down once they'd gotten up to his room last night. He'd hurriedly found a robe, wrapped it around her, and tucked her into his bed before camping out on the couch.

He cleared his throat to speak, but she beat him to it.

"I don't want another word from you. Please move out of my way."

He stepped aside at the forcefulness in her voice and she pushed past him. "Wait. Let me call a cab for you. You don't need to walk back."

She hesitated and narrowed her piercing blue eyes as she sized him up. Apparently she didn't like what she saw. "I can take care of myself." She turned to leave, but he gripped her arm.

"Alexa." He saw the surprise in her eyes at his touch, and something else. Desire? But it was gone in an instant and he figured he must have imagined it. She’d never wanted him the way he’d always wanted her. "Please let me explain about last night."

"I don't want to hear it. Now, let go of me." It was a command, sharp and angry. He pulled his hand back like she was on fire. This was bad.

"Really. You want to hear this. It's not what you think. You can't leave without knowing. Let me call a cab for you and I can explain while you wait." He gave her his most charming smile.

He must be losing his touch because she grunted and stormed out the door before he could say another word. "Great." He threw his hands up in the air. He paced around the room, trying to decide his next move. He couldn't let her go on thinking the worst, he had to make things right.

Because little did she know, they were about to spend an entire week together in Sunset Bay. And by the time that week was over, he was hell bent on fixing every mistake he’d ever made when it came to her.

CHAPTER TWO

Alexa closed the door to her modest French Quarter hotel room and slumped against the door with a sigh of relief. None of the others were awake yet she guessed. A good thing, because all she needed was for them to shower her with questions after seeing her make the walk of shame. She bit back tears as she stripped out of the silky dress that she now looked at with disgust. She needed a shower, badly.

This was definitely not what she had expected when agreeing to come along for the bachelorette weekend. She had only come in the first place because she had no other choice, really. Cara was her sister, after all, and she was the maid of honor.

Alexa stood in the steaming shower until her hands were like prunes, then wrapped a towel that smelled like bleach around herself and walked into the bedroom. It was a far cry from the room she'd woken up in. Will’s room.

She moved to the coffee pot and filled it with water, then waited while it percolated into the single serving foam cup. She topped it off with a packet of sugar and powdered creamer and sat down in the hard, small chair by the window, staring at nothing.

Involuntarily, her mind compared this scenario to the one she'd just left. She had to admit she would much prefer fresh coffee and cream on a plush couch with a sexy man by her side. Just the memory of him in nothing but his pajama pants was enough to make her blush. But god, it was Will! How could he have done something like that?

She’d left their hometown four years back, knowing that he held the power to break her heart more than any other man. And she’d thought he understood that. That he knew how fragile she was. Except now, he seemed not to even care that she was too intoxicated to know what she was doing. She frowned for a minute at that. How had she gotten so drunk without realizing it? It really didn't add up.

She groaned and drained the rest of her coffee, then tossed the cup toward the trash. She missed. This was ridiculous. What was done, was done, and she couldn't sit there all day wallowing in self-pity and regrets.
Pull it together, Alexa. You are a grown woman, and you can handle this.
The problem was, she wasn't sure how. It had been so long since she had allowed herself to spend time with a man, instead filling her days, and nights, with work and studying. She had almost forgotten what it was like to enjoy the company of a man in a romantic way. Had tried to forget, really. It looked like last night wasn't about to refresh her memory either.

If she was going to be wild and crazy, risking it all for a night with Will, she'd like to at least have some memory of it. Maybe it was better that way. She’d run from what she felt for him all those years ago, and finally having him, or remembering it apparently, would probably be more than she could handle. She laughed bitterly at that, then jumped at the sudden rap on the door.

"Alexa?" Cara's voice came muffled through the door. "Are you in there?" She sounded a little worried.

"I'm here." Alexa jumped up and ran to open the door.

Cara looked past her and glanced quickly around the room. Her worried brow smoothed as a relaxed smile spread across her delicate features so similar to Alexa’s own. "Thank goodness." She walked into the room and perched on the edge of the bed. "I have to admit I was starting to worry about you. What happened? Where did you go last night?"

Alexa opened and closed her mouth a few times, searching for a good explanation, but Cara continued on, seeming not to notice Alexa's discomfort. "I thought you were going to catch up to us at the next stop, but you never showed up, and you didn't answer your phone. The girls all said you must have been tired and come back here, but I wasn't sure." She smiled up at her with perfect porcelain white teeth. "I guess I'm lucky to have gotten you out for a bit anyway. Did you come back here to work?" She laughed.

Alexa's smile was strained. "I didn't get any work done. I just passed out."

Cara grabbed her hand and squeezed. "Oh, I'm just teasing you. But since we're talking about it, please try to let go of your work next week. I'd like you to have some fun and make it a real vacation. You work too hard for the magazine. I just want you to relax at the beach with us. I know you don't know all the girls that well, but it will be fun."

So she had said about a thousand times before. She really wasn’t thrilled to be with Cara’s friends all week. They were just so different from her. "It's hard, Cara. I don't expect you to understand, but my job means everything to me. I have to make sure I do my very best at all times. I'm not going to throw away everything I’ve worked so hard for by not giving one hundred and ten percent."

"I get that. But like I said, you deserve a break. And honestly, you’re going to work yourself to death. You’re very successful, but I care more about you being happy."

"I'm happy." It didn't sound convincing, even to her own ears.

"If you say so. I was halfway hoping you had snuck off with some hottie last night." Cara laughed and shrugged her shoulders, and for a split second Alexa thought she caught some knowing look in her eyes, but then it was gone. "Maybe next time. You know what they say about all work and no play. You're only twenty-six. Live a little." She stood up and gave Alexa a quick hug. "I've got to get ready for brunch. See you downstairs at eleven."

Alexa shook her head as Cara breezed out of the room, her long blonde hair floating behind her. If she only knew.

* * *

Alexa glanced at the clock on her desk for what must have been the fiftieth time in the past hour. It was after seven on Friday and she still wasn't finished with her story. She had a Sunday deadline, which wouldn't be a problem if she wasn't supposed to fly to Sunset Bay the next morning. She wasn't making near the progress she thought she would, and the magazine would in no way extend her deadline. She was lucky to even be given a feature story, given her short tenure, but she had worked hard and proven herself to the editors over the last two years, and they were tossing her a bone.

Unfortunately, instead of contemplating the economics of summer tourism, all she could think of was a pair of chocolate brown eyes. She must be losing it. Pushing back from her desk with a frustrated grunt, she left her cube to stand at the floor to ceiling glass windows and look out at the city with its flashing lights and constant activity. She loved living in New York, but sometimes she also felt like a rat in a cage. Especially when she spent most of her time behind a computer while the world moved all around her.

"Aren't you supposed to be on vacation?" Alexa looked over her shoulder at her friend and fellow copy editor Marnie as she made her way toward the bank of elevators.

Alexa nodded and turned back to the city lights. "I have so much left on my story, though. I can't screw this up. It could be my big break."

"I get it, girl, believe me. But please promise me this." She paused, waiting for Alexa to turn to her. "Let go of the constant pressure and have some fun. You deserve this break. All you ever do is work, and it's not good for you. Life is passing you by."

Her words were eerily similar to Cara's from last weekend. It was easy to brush off the comments she got from coworkers that didn't know her. But Marnie was her closest friend in New York and Cara, being her sister, had to have a decent take on her life. Were they right? Was she working so hard that she was missing out on what really mattered? She had to admit the thoughts had been there on more than one occasion, but she always pushed them away, convincing herself that she had to work this hard to prover herself. And to keep her demons at bay. But that was another issue altogether.

"You're right," she decided suddenly. "I do deserve a break." The more she thought about it, the more excited she became. She lived in one of the most thrilling cities in the world, yet she never experienced anything it had to offer. She had to admit it. She was boring. It wasn't who she truly was, deep down, but it was what she had become.

"I never thought I'd see the day," Marnie joked.

"Only problem is, I still have this story to finish and I have to pack and be at the airport at the crack of dawn."

"Then you better stop staring out the window and get in gear, lady. Have fun. Promise me." Marnie gave her a quick hug then ran to catch the elevator that was quickly filling up.

Refreshed, Alexa returned to her computer and began typing with laser focus. She just had to get this done so she could make good on her resolve.

* * *

"Come on, Lex, how much longer are you going to be sitting here?"

Alexa leaned back in the plush dining chair and rubbed her eyes. They felt like they were going to fall out from the strain of staring at the laptop screen all day. She looked up at her sister's pleading face and felt a wave of guilt wash over her.

"I'm so close to being done. I'm so sorry. I should have finished this before I left, but I just couldn't pull it together in time." She didn't mention that all she'd been able to think about the week before was a very sexy and very shirtless Will. As hard as she’d tried, she hadn’t been able to forget about him.

Rationally, she knew she should talk to him. After all, they’d known each other forever. But she’d run from him before, and he was the one who’d so horribly taken advantage of her in New Orleans, so she tried to justify herself by placing the blame on him.

"I know you have to do this," Cara began, "but it's my wedding week and I want to enjoy spending it with the people who mean the most to me. That means you." She ruffled Alexa’s already mussed hair that was falling out of her topknot.

"I want to as well." And she meant it. Her plan to finish her story before leaving town had failed miserably. After determining that she was going to actually enjoy her time off, her mind had preceded her body on vacation, leaving the end of her story looking like an editor's nightmare. "But there is no way I can turn in my story in the shape it's in now. It is nearly unheard of for such a rookie to be given a good story like this, and I don't want to blow it. This could set me on the right career path. Besides, my deadline is tonight anyway, so as of tomorrow, I'm a free woman."

"Good. That's what I want to hear." She bent down and kissed her forehead and walked out the French doors to join the rest of the wedding party on the pool deck.

The beach house was an absolute dream. Cara and her fiancée Jace had spared no expense in making this a week to remember. It was part of the luxurious Sunset Bay Resort, but off in a more private area that boasted tropical bungalows. The living area was an open expanse of luxury with a wall of windows that overlooked the turquoise waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The deck spread across the entire beach side of the house, complete with an infinity pool and spa, with steps leading right down to the white sandy beaches. The fact that all the other members of the wedding party had been living it up in the sun since they'd arrived yesterday evening wasn't helping her concentration either. She truly did want to enjoy herself this week, but this story just wouldn't come together. Somehow the economics of tourism just weren't lending themselves to interesting journalism.