Taking Chances (The Chances and Choices Duology - Book 1 of 2 - Contemporary Romance) (13 page)

I don’t know what kind of car I had envisioned
Sam would drive, but the convertible, black Porsche 911 Carrera is not what I
had expected. The car suited him, though. It was sleek, sporty and a little
dangerous, much like its owner. He backed the car slowly out of the garage, and
then he guided it masterfully down the narrow lane from his house.

I was still wearing his black sweats, and I
intended to keep them for a while. He had neatly folded my clothes when they
came out of the dryer, and they were in a bag in the tiny space at the back of
the car.

I looked out the window at the sun peeking up
over the horizon. It was still early, and there weren’t many cars moving yet. I
would have plenty of time to shower and fix myself into something presentable
before work.

He drove the car fast and hard, like he screwed.
Well, not really, I lamented to myself. I hadn’t discovered a pattern to his
fooling around yet. It seemed to be all over the charts, yet always completely
mind-blowing. I was more than willing to put more effort into researching the
many ways he could rock my world with his body, and I couldn’t wait to see what
would be next.

In fact, I was wet just thinking about our night
together. I glanced over at him. He was wearing a dark green polo shirt that
showed off his pecks as he expertly maneuvered the manual stick of the sports
car. His low-slung, well-worn jeans hugged him loosely in all of those sexy
places that I had spent the night touching and kissing and licking and sucking.

I longed to touch him again. It didn’t make
sense after having spent the entire night banging him, but I couldn’t seem to
get enough of his body. My eyes were drawn back down to his crotch, and I
licked my lips. This time he caught me looking and grinned. I was extremely
fond of his slightly crooked grin. It gave his otherwise perfect face extra
character.

His smile was all of the invitation I needed. I
reached over to undo his jeans and release him. He had not bothered with underwear,
so his penis sprang out, already hard. I took him in one hand, releasing my
seatbelt with the other. When I was loose, I leaned over the car’s console and
took him into my mouth.

“Abby!” Sam’s voice was shocked, but heavy with
desire. I didn’t stop. Instead I wet the length of him with my tongue. “Let me
find a place to pull over before I get us both killed in a car accident.” He
was laughing as he said it.

I grudgingly sat up, but replaced my mouth with
my hand, rubbing up and down the length of him. “You’re insatiable.” He teased
me, even as he removed his hand from the gearshift and ran it down my loose
sweatpants. He quickly discovered that I had gone commando too. I sucked in a
breath when he plunged a finger into my wetness.

I didn’t know how it was possible, but I wanted
him more now than ever. I couldn’t seem to get enough of this man or his body.
I didn’t want to get enough of him.

He found a grocery store parking lot that looked
to be fairly empty and pulled into a parking space in the back. “Damn small
car,” he grouched as we both looked around attempting to figure out how we were
going to make this work in the tiny space.

“I want more than a hand job,” I panted.

“Me too, Baby.” He didn’t bother to fasten his
pants, but held them together for some modesty as he got out and rounded the
car to my side. I scrambled out of my pants and tilted onto one side so he
could get in the passenger side and shut the door.

He sat low on the seat and pulled me onto his
lap with my back to his front. I groaned with pleasure as I lowered myself onto
his hard length. He reached his hands around me and slid one up my sweatshirt
to squeeze my breasts together and used the other to circle my clit.

I bounced up and down on him in absolute
ecstasy. The danger of fucking in a car in broad daylight, with the possibility
of getting caught just turned me on more. The tight space restricted our
movement and made me that much more frantic.

I felt the orgasm building deep inside me, and I
increased the tempo of my thrusts. I was manic in my need for him, and I didn’t
care if the whole town was standing outside the car watching.

“Come with me.” I managed to pant the demand out
just before I flew over the edge. Wave after wave of pleasure vibrated through
me as I shouted out and continued moving over him. His teeth dug gently into my
shoulder as he came with me tightening around him, squeezing him with my
orgasm.

I fell back into him, exhausted. For the first
time, I looked around to see if anyone had taken notice of us. It didn’t appear
that anyone had, which surprised me.

We sat there like that for a minute. He finally
broke the silence. “I’m going to have to take you home to give my poor penis a
break.”

“Poor penis
?!?
I was
just thinking that I’m not going to be able to walk, if we don’t give it a
rest.” We both chuckled as we attempted to get dressed in the miniscule space.

After he somehow maneuvered his way back into
the driver’s seat of the tiny space, without looking awkward, he leaned over
and gave me a deep, mind-blowing kiss with the perfect amount of tongue. “I’m
going to be thinking about you all day at work today.”

It was a little embarrassing to admit, even to
myself, after all the world-rocking sex we had just had, but I didn’t know what
he did for a living. I cleared my throat before asking, “What do you do for
work?”

If he sensed my shame, he didn’t let on as he
backed out of our naughty parking spot. “I’m trained as an architect.” He
paused, and I wondered if he had designed his amazing home on the cliff. Then
he continued, “But that’s not what I do. I’m being groomed to take over my
father’s acquisition business.”

I pondered that tidbit for a moment, surprised.
Since Seth was the older twin, shouldn’t he be the one taking over the family
business? Maybe it was a personality thing. Acquisitions of other people’s
companies didn’t seem like something that would be in Seth’s nature. I pictured
Richard Gere’s character from the movie
Pretty
Woman
, and I could see Sam excelling at it.

He didn’t seem to want to expand, so we rode in
companionable silence. Whenever we were on an open stretch of road where he
didn’t have to shift gears, he reached over and held my hand. I realized that I
had just discovered another physical difference between Sam and Seth. Sam’s
hands were smooth and soft, while Seth’s were rougher, no doubt from manual
labor. I savored the physical connection of our entwined hands, knowing we
would soon be apart and worrying about how long it would be before I saw him
again.

Sam seemed to know the way to my house, which I
didn’t question. After he turned on to my street, he looked at me with those
gorgeous green eyes and said, “Please go get a new cell phone today. I doubt
yours is fixable, and I need a way to get ahold of you.”

I was overjoyed by his request, which I made no
attempt to mask. “Yes, Sir!” I said jokingly, beaming at him. My mind silently
added that he could get ahold of me any time, any place and any way that he
wanted.

The suddenly serious look on Sam’s face caught
my attention. “What the hell is Seth doing here?” he asked me.

All of the color drained from my cheeks as I
turned to look. Sure enough, Seth’s green Jeep Wrangler was sitting in my
driveway.

“I… I don’t know,” I stammered. There was a ball
the size of a cantaloupe in the pit of my stomach.
What was Seth doing here?

Even if he had come to do the decent thing to give
our relationship closure and apologize for blowing me off the way he had, I
didn’t know if I could face him after spending the night banging his twin
brother’s balls off. I was suddenly ashamed of my carnal behavior with Sam as
the cantaloupe-sized ball made its way up into my throat.

I hadn’t thought through what it would be like
to face Seth after being with Sam. What Seth had done to me had been wrong, but
nothing compared to what I had just spent the night doing. And doing. And
doing.

Sam was glaring at me, watching the emotions
roll over my face. “I guess things aren’t quite as done with my brother as you
thought?” It was more accusation than question, so I didn’t answer.

“It’s probably best if I don’t go in,” he
decided. “He and I will have it out later.” I briefly wondered what ‘have it
out’ meant, but my mind quickly turned back to the unpleasant confrontation I
was about to be forced into.

I completely abhor any kind of conflict, and
even if this went well, it was bound to be one of the most awkward discussions
I would ever have.

Maybe I
don’t have to tell him. I can just let him say what he came to say, then show
him to the door.
My mind was searching for any way out of the hideousness that was about to
ensue.

If Sam and I were going to have any kind of
relationship going forward, I knew that I would have to address it with his
brother.
Why hadn’t I planned this out
better or at least waited a decent amount of time?
Who was I kidding? What
exactly was a ‘decent amount of time’ to wait before bedding your lover’s
identical twin brother? I doubted there was one, but even if there was, I
definitely hadn’t reached it.

I finally said, “I guess I should go in,” but I
made no move to do so. I just wanted to rewind to last night and live the rest
of my life in that state of oblivious-to-the-rest-of-the-world sexual euphoria.

Sam’s look finally softened. He reached out to
touch my cheek as he said, “It will be okay. We knew this wasn’t going to be
easy, right?”

I didn’t want to admit that I hadn’t even
thought about what it would be like to face his brother. I had assumed that I
was another of Sam’s progression of one-night-stands, so the need to tell Seth
would never arise. It made me feel fantastic, though, that Sam felt that we
meant enough to each other that we would have to address it with Seth.

After our tender night of lovemaking and the
sweet kisses on the lips we had shared, I dared to hope that I might be more
than his typical fling. If we were going to be more, I knew that I would have
to face his brother. I blew out a breath before saying, “No time like the
present,” and moved to get out of Sam’s Porsche.

Sam pulled me back and dotted gentle kisses
along my cheek and temple before saying, “Don’t be too hard on him. I’ll give
you a call later to see how it went.”

I nodded quickly and moved to get out of the
vehicle before I lost my resolve. Like a true gentleman, Sam waited until I had
the front door open before backing out of our driveway. I gave him a quick wave
before taking a deep, calming breath and stepping inside.

I could hear voices in the kitchen, so I slowly
headed that way. I didn’t want to face Seth, but knew that I had no choice.
When I peeked in, I saw him sitting at our small kitchen table with his back to
me. Tabitha, the cat who hated everyone except Courtney, was sprawled on his
lap, purring loudly. She turned to glare at me in the doorway, then jumped off
his lap and sauntered away.

Courtney looked up, “Oh good, you’re back from
Annie’s.” She used the opportunity when Seth turned to look at me to give me a
big, over-obvious wink to let me know that she was covering for where I had
been.

I smiled to thank her for attempting to be
discreet, and then I turned to look at Seth. That was the only hint that Court
needed. She muttered something about heading out to get some exercise, which I
knew that she never did, and quickly exited the kitchen.

“Hello,” I finally said to Seth. He rose and
walked over to stand directly in front of me.

He ran his hand through his dark hair. “I’ve
practiced this a thousand times, and now that I’m here, I don’t know where to
start.”

I nodded, but remained silent. I couldn’t think
of a kind way to communicate what I needed to say.
Maybe if I just let him break up with me, Sam and I can stay on the
down-low
for a while.
My brain was working frantically,
trying to come up with a way to avoid admitting the truth to Seth.

It had been so easy to
villainize
him over the way he had dumped me; but now that he was standing here in front
of me, I was feeling really guilty. He was clearly struggling with how to let
me down easily, even if it was over a week later than it should have been.

He finally broke the silence. “I’m so sorry I
didn’t call you sooner.” I nodded. It had been a shitty thing to do, but he
seemed sincere in his apology. “When I got your message last night, I was
frantic to find you.”

I tried to remember what I had said on the
voicemail I had left him. Had I sounded suicidal or something? I only
remembered being annoyed that he hadn’t given me any closure and telling him
that I deserved better. I hoped that I didn’t sound too desperate on the
message.

“I shouldn’t have left things the way I did for
so long.” I nodded in agreement, and he continued. “When you said that you
loved me, it freaked me out a little.”

“I noticed,” was all I said, so he went on, “I
shouldn’t have ran like I did, and I’m sorry for leaving you that way. I just
needed time to think.”

I decided to put him out of his misery. After all,
it hadn’t been completely his fault, and I’d been far from an angel last night.
“Look, I shouldn’t have said what I did so soon. It scared you off.” He shook
his head, so I clarified what I meant. “It would have scared off most men. We
hadn’t been dating long, and it was too soon for me to be making declarations
of love.” Unwilling to let him completely off the hook, I continued, “You
should have officially broken things off with me, though.”

“No, Abby, you don’t understand.” He grabbed my
hand as he said the words. “I needed time to think because things were moving
so fast. I have never been in a relationship where I felt so strongly that
quickly, so I wanted to be positive that it wasn’t just lust before I
responded. I don’t say those words lightly, and I wanted to be sure that they
were true. Abby, I love you too.”

His words stunned me. I hadn’t been expecting
this at all. The cantaloupe-sized lump in my throat now felt like it was the
size of a watermelon, a burning watermelon. I could barely breathe around it.
Tears welled in my eyes.

Seth misunderstood my reaction and pulled me in
for a hug. The tears started spilling over. I stood there stiffly as Seth
pulled back to look at me. He bent to gently kiss one of the tears trailing
down my cheek and a sob escaped.
What had
I done?

I was shocked by his declaration and completely
speechless. My mind was reeling, seeking both the right words and the
appropriate way to say them.

We stood like that for a long while. He had his
arms around me, and I was stiff as a board. I opened my mouth to speak, but
words failed me. He was rubbing up and down my back, soothing me, when I
finally managed to croak out a sentence. “I thought you had dumped me.”

He pulled back to look directly in my eyes. “I
know, and I’m so sorry for hurting you, Sweetheart. I reacted all wrong. You
are the best thing that has ever happened to me, and it was all moving so fast
that I got scared and took a little timeout. I’m here now, though, and I’m not
going anywhere.”

I was struggling, unsuccessfully trying to come
up with a way to gently say what I needed to tell him. “Why didn’t you call me
to tell me you needed some time to process? I thought we were finished.”

“If I could take it back, I would handle it all
so differently.” He ran his hand through his dark hair again, obviously feeling
guilty. What he had done paled in comparison to what I had done. Okay, who I
had done. I just couldn’t seem to formulate the words to confess.

Seth took my silence as anger and continued with
his apology. “Abby, please forgive me. I spent the entire week thinking about
you as I finished the boat that we christened and took her out on her maiden
voyage. I couldn’t wait to get back and call you, but I was already late for
Mother’s Sunday brunch when I docked, and she doesn’t react well to tardiness.”
I could imagine that Janice would have a frosty side, if things didn’t go precisely
her way.

Seth went on, barely pausing to take a breath,
“I decided that a family event wasn’t the best place to try to explain things
to you; so I waited to call, even though I was desperate to talk to you, to see
you, to touch you.” He tenderly ran a finger along my jawline. I closed my eyes
and another tear plopped out and trailed down my cheek.

Seth continued his explanation, seeming
desperate to make me understand. “Before brunch was over, Jessie asked me to
watch
Katiedid
for a while. I think she and Katie’s
dad needed to talk through a few things. Jess rarely asks for anything, so I
couldn’t turn her down. Katie and I swam and played outside for a long while,
and then she fell asleep on my lap. I had left my phone in the Jeep, so I
missed your call. As soon as Jess picked up Katie last night, I went to call
you and got your message. I’ve been trying to call you back ever since. You
probably have half a dozen messages from me.”

“My phone fell in the water and got ruined,” I
responded, feeling numb. Everything that he had said made sense. He shouldn’t have
put me through the torture of waiting for over a week with no contact; but
considering what I had done last night, I had no right to be angry with him. It
didn’t matter anyway. As soon as Seth found out that I had slept with Sam, he
would be finished with me for good.

“
Ab
, please say you’ll
forgive me. I do love you, even though I didn’t show it well this week. If
you’ll give me another chance, I’ll spend the rest of my life making it up to
you. I promise to do my best to make sure our life together is what we have
both always wanted.”

I was floored by his glorious words.
Why couldn’t he have said them last week
before I made such a mess of things?
I had to tell him before he said
anything else. There was no way to say it delicately. I couldn’t sugarcoat it.
I just had to spit it out.

My mouth was so dry. I licked my lips and took a
deep breath, which did nothing to calm my frantic nerves. “Seth,” I started. He
was looking at me, his eyes so full of hope. I hated that I had to do this to
him, but I didn’t have another choice. He deserved the truth. My voice was
barely above a whisper, but I got the words out. “I slept with Sam.”

Seth moved back as if I had physically punched
him in the gut. His face registered shocked disbelief, so I nodded in confirmation
as tears ran freely down my cheeks. I saw his features change to disgust, then
anger before he whirled around, muttering the words, “I’m going to kill him.”
Then he left me standing alone in my kitchen.

It took a moment for my wits to return. I called
out for him to stop and chased after him, but he was already gone. I silently
prayed that the brothers would be able to forgive each other.