Page 4 of Final Chance At Love (Chance At Love Duet 2)

“Ok,” I caved. “I know they love your Florida house.”

“Thank you!” she said excitedly. And then she yelled, “Girls, Mommy said yes. Pack it up, we’ll fly out tomorrow.”

If I was unsure whether she was excited, I wasn’t anymore.

“What time are the flights?” I asked. “I could take you to the airport?”

“No, no,” she answered. “There is one at 6:30 a.m. We’ll just take a cab. We’ll have such a great time!”

I smiled in spite of my sadness. “I’m sure you will. Can I talk to girls real quick before you all go to bed early?”

“Yes,” she answered happily. “One more thing, is it ok to have a return flight on Saturday or Sunday? They would just miss two days of school.”

“Yes, that’s fine.” And the next fifteen minutes were an outburst of excitement from all of them. I was partly sad that I wouldn’t see them for a week, and partly that I wouldn’t be going with them. But when they all had the chance to tell me how excited they were to go and what all they planned on doing and eating, I couldn’t help but chuckle at their excitement despite my current mellow state. They were so excited that they were going to the beach.

I took a quick shower and slipped on a pair of long, soft white pajamas that came down to my knees. As I crawled into bed, I wondered what happened to my cell phone.I’ll worry about it tomorrow,I thought to myself.

As tired and exhausted as I felt, both emotionally and physically, I couldn’t fall asleep. I simply wasn’t able to shut down my mind. My thoughts kept circling back to Kristoff and his every word spoken during our argument. I felt all that was left of me was the deep void of emptiness.

Two months! That is all it took for Kristoff to consume all of me. He had crept into my heart and my soul, and engraved himself into every fiber of my being. I tossed and turned for what seemed like hours, and I couldn’t stand one more minute in bed. I went downstairs into the living room, turned TV on, and laid down on the loveseat.

I shut down my mind, trying to concentrate on the movie but it was pointless. Agitated at the volume, I muted the TV, and pictured the sound of waves to force myself to stop thinking. Slowly, I felt my eyes get heavy as I drifted off to sleep. The last thought before I fell asleep was of Kristoff’s green gaze.

Chapter Two

“Iwant your full submission, Gemma.”

Kristoff's voice whispered against the skin on my neck, his hard body pressed against mine, and it felt so good. He trailed kisses down my neck till he gently bit my collarbone, and it sent shivers down my body.

“Tell me you are mine.” His hot breath against my skin.

“Yes.” My voice was barely a whisper. I could smell his signature cologne and relished his scent. I pushed my fingers through his hair, pulling him even closer. I couldn’t get enough of him.

“Look at me and tell me you’re mine,” he groaned possessively.

I struggled to open my eyes. I never wanted to stop feeling him so close to me. I heard a bang but I couldn’t quite figure out where it was coming from. I tried to move my head but Kristoff took my lips hard, and I forgot about everything else.

Another bang.

Kristoff began slowly fading away.

“Where are you going?” I needed him to stay.

Bang. Bang.

“Gemma,” there was a loud voice yelling through the fog.I struggled to open my eyes; my eyelids were so heavy. I just wanted Kristoff to come back.

I heard a loud crash with glass breaking, and I sat up in my bed abruptly.

What was that? Did I dream it or hear it?I wondered to myself. Then I heard muffled voices; fear spiked through my heart as I jumped up nearly tripping over the armrest. As my mind cleared further, I realized that I wasn't in my bed and remembered that I'd laid on the couch last night, falling asleep there. Again, the muffled voices drifted through the air.

Jesus, did someone break in?I ran to my alarm panel.

“Genevieve,” I heard Kristoff's voice calling me, panic in his voice. I stopped dead in my tracks.

“Miss Rose.” There was another voice. “This is Officer James.”

I pinched my skin to ensure I wasn’t sleeping.

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