Page 32 of A Second Chance At Forever

“You have no idea, Mason. I tried to get off the plane that day.”

“You did?”

She nodded her head but kept her eyes focused on the windshield, not looking at me.

“I got on the plane and I couldn’t help but think I was making a mistake. I thought about you and how much I loved you. I tried to get off but they wouldn’t let me. The plane had already been cleared for takeoff. I sat down and cried almost the whole trip. I thought I messed up and had lost you forever. But then, when I got off the plane and called you, you told me how proud you were of me for chasing this dream of mine and you gave me everything I needed to hear to stay. There hasn’t been a day that goes by that I don’t think about you.” She finally turned to look at me.

Her green eyes lit up and suddenly, I found myself breathless. “You have no idea how happy that makes me, Lennox. I’ve missed you every day. I’ve been waiting for you to come back to me, everybody told me I was crazy. But even when I tried to get over you, I still couldn’t. It’s always been you.” I picked up her hand and placed a soft kiss on the top.

We pulledup to my house a little while later and I led her in. “I finally finished it. I thought you might like to see.”

“Are you serious? Yes, I want to see.” Excitement filled her voice.

I showed her the dining room that I had finished just before she left, but had since been furnished. After that, we went upstairs and I showed her the bedrooms and the bathroom.

“I actually did a little more work to my bedroom if you want to see that, too.”

“Yes, I want to see it. I can’t believe you did all of this.”

I opened the bedroom door and allowed her to walk in first. Her face said it all. She loved what I had done with the room.

Before there wasn’t much in there. A bed, a dresser with a couple nightstands, but I added in a his-and-hers closet. She opened the doors and in each closet, was a set of drawers and built in cubby holes for shoes and jewelry, not to mention a ton of storage. I didn’t intend on building that big of a closet, but after the house was finished, I went a little stir crazy and had to keep working. All the while, knowing I was doing it for her.

“Do you like it?” I asked, leaning against the wall of windows that led out onto the balcony.

“I love it. I never did forget how talented you are.” Her cheeks were pink as her eyes looked around the room.

“Let’s go out here and talk.” I nodded toward the balcony before opening the door and leading her out.

We both took our seat and looked out over the back property.

“So, what did you want to talk about?” She sat her coffee down on the table between us and locked her big, green eyes on mine.

I let out a long breath. “I was thinking about last night. You were completely right in stopping what we were doing. I don’t love Nicole but I don’t want to hurt her like that either. I came home and sat here thinking about her, and you, and us. I couldn’t figure out for the life of me how I could fix this. Then it hit me,” I looked over to her green eyes that were watching me. “I’ve never loved Nicole. It’s always been you. I was afraid that I would break Nicole’s heart for a chance at you and you would leave again. But then I realized that it doesn’t matter if you leave, because you are the one that I love. It’s not right to Nicole. I can’t be with her when I’m already in love with you. I’m going to break up with her whether you stay here or not.”

She thought about what I had told her. Her eyes never stayed still, they bounced from one thing to the next. “Mason, I didn’t come back here to cause problems. I thought you were happy?”

“I thought I was too, but it was just a distraction. I only got with her to keep from thinking about you and she wanted to take the next step the day I saw your engagement. I thought you wouldn’t come back to me. It crushed me. I thought the only way to get over you was to be with her and ignore my feelings for you, but I can’t ignore my feelings for you anymore. I love you, Lennox. Always have and always will.”

I watched as she stood from her seat and began to pace in front of me.

“I don’t know about this, Mason. I can’t show up here and expect you to drop everything for me. You shouldn’t throw everything away for me. I left you. I hurt you. How can you still love me?” she asked, finally coming to a stop in front of me.

I stood from my chair and closed the distance between us. I pressed my lips to hers and tangled my hands in her long, dark hair. She wrapped her arms around my neck like I knew she would. She felt so good pressed against me. I got lost the second our lips touched.

I let my hand trail down her back to grab her ass. I felt her tense beneath my touch and heard her sharp intake of breath.

I pulled away quickly and opened my eyes to see her green eyes full of pain. “What’s the matter? Did I hurt you?”

Lennox walked into my room but stopped in the center of the floor.

“I guess it’s time I showed you.” She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth.

“Show me what?” I began walking toward her.

She reached down to the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head. I let my eyes drop down her body, not understanding.

When my eyes landed on her beaten body, I felt like someone had kicked me in my stomach and stolen the air from my lungs.

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