Second Chances (20 page)

Mark was still sitting at the bar with a damn smirk on his face. At least he wouldn’t be messing with her anymore. She ignored him as she grabbed her purse and walked around the bar. Stacy didn’t dare look back as she wound her way through the tables. She went out the side entrance that all of the employees used and where she told Dustin to meet her. She just cleared the door when a hand grabbed her arm and spun her around until her back hit the wall. Stacy swallowed as she came face to face with Mark. The bastard must’ve followed her out.

“Mark, please let me go.”

She felt claustrophobic as he caged her body with his arms. His face was so close to hers that she could smell the faint hint of his toothpaste.

“Nope, I can’t let you go, baby. That girl in there is nothing. You’re who I want. Did you forget when I told you that you were mine?”

Stacy lost it. She used all of her strength and shoved him away. “I. Am. Not. Yours. I’ll never be yours. We’re over. I know what you did, you sick freak.” Stacy knew she should keep her voice down but she couldn’t help it. “I know you’ve been in my house while I’ve been in there sleeping. I know you spoke to my six year old cousin and told her if she told anyone about seeing you that you’d hurt me. Well, guess what—she told, so hurt me! My uncle won’t even speak to me now because of you. I hate you so much!”

Mark reached out and fingered a strand of her hair like she didn’t just go off on him. “I like your hair, baby.” He quickly wrapped his hand around her ponytail and yanked her head back. “Don’t ever speak to me like that again. You are mine. You and I belong togeth—”

He didn’t finish what he was saying because Dustin pulled up in front of the door and hopped out of his truck.

Mark shoved Stacy to the side and went back into the restaurant. Dustin looked like he wanted to follow him in, but Stacy couldn’t let him do that and get in trouble. “Baby, no, let’s just get out of here,” Stacy said, grabbing his hand.

“Did he hurt you?” Dustin’s voice was dangerously low. Stacy had never seen him like that. She could only shake her head. He pulled her into a hug and walked her to his truck, only letting go of her when he went around to get in himself. “What was he doing here?”

“He-he was here to pick up Greta for a date, but when I left, he followed me out. He told me Greta was nothing to him and that I was who he wanted.” She took a deep breath. “I shoved him away and told him I knew he’d been in my house and what he told Chloe. The bastard didn’t even try to deny it. I told him that I hated him. He told me not to speak to him like that and then you showed up, so he went back inside.” Stacy felt Dustin grab on to her hand and squeeze it.

“I’m sorry, sugar. I should’ve gotten here sooner.”

“No, don’t be sorry. You’ve got nothing to be sorry for. This whole thing just feels like a nightmare that won’t end. I’m the one who’s sorry. I know it’s not my fault but I can’t help but feel responsible for this mess.”

“Well, stop it. We could play the ‘it’s my fault’ game all day long. It’s no one’s fault but his. Monday morning we need to call the courthouse because he’s not following the temporary restraining order.”

Stacy agreed with him and was silent all the way back to his house. She hadn’t heard from her parents since the night at their house. To say Stacy was hurt was an understatement. They both just stood there when Garrett had called her a stupid bitch from the kitchen. It made her stomach lurch just thinking about it.

When they got back to Dustin’s, Dylan had dinner set up in the living room. It looked like they were going to have Chinese. Stacy kissed Dustin on the cheek and did the same to Dylan. She wanted to take a shower before she ate so she could get the feel of Mark off her skin. When she was finished she threw on a tank top and shorts and joined the brothers in the living room. Dustin pulled her in to his side and handed her a carton of her favorite, chicken lo mein. “I can’t believe you remember what I like. Thanks for getting this, Dylan.”

The three of them ate in silence as they watched some reality show about duck calls. Stacy found herself laughing several times through the thirty minute show. It was cute watching Dustin and Dylan do imitations of guys from the show. When everyone was finished, Stacy grabbed all of the trash and threw it away. On her way back into the living room Stacy grabbed beers for the boys and water for herself. She came back in, handing Dylan a beer and taking the other to Dustin, who pulled her down on his lap. Stacy couldn’t contain the squeal that left her lips.

Stacy didn’t want to make Dylan feel uncomfortable in his own house. “Dustin, your brother,” she hissed.

“Come on, baby, pretend he’s not even here,” Dustin said with a wink.

“Ha-ha! I’m going to the bedroom if you care to join me.” Stacy told Dylan good night and sauntered down the hall, knowing full well that Dustin would be joining her in a second.

***

Dylan watched his brother with Stacy and felt envious. He knew his brother loved the girl in his lap. Dustin had told him that she hadn’t said it yet, but Dylan could tell she did. He’d gone earlier in the day to replace the locks at her house. It was creepy to think that that asshole had been in Stacy’s house while she’d been sleeping. The night before when his brother had brought her home, she broke his heart. The girl looked utterly defeated, and when he heard what happened, he felt even worse for her.

Dylan watched the two of them on the couch. He looked at his phone on the coffee table and wanted to pick it up to see
her
picture. Maybe later—when he could do it alone and hate himself for leaving her like he did, because now she was gone and he’d probably never see her again. He’d never had the reaction he had with Journey with any other woman before. In just two weeks she made him want things he never thought he would: love, marriage and kids.

He’d never tell his family that because he doubted that he’d feel that way about any other girl. Dylan watched like some voyeur as Stacy walked back to Dustin’s room with him following her like a dog in heat. They weren’t even back there for a few seconds before he heard Stacy squeal and then moan.

Dylan got up and shut everything off in the living room and quickly made his way to his room. He stripped off his clothes, climbed into bed, and put his head phones on. As he was lying there listening to Pearl Jam, he grabbed his phone. Dylan pulled up his photos and found what he wanted.

It was after their first week together and Journey had spent the night with him in his hotel room. He’d been watching her sleep and snapped picture after picture. The sheet only covered part of her hot little ass and against the white sheets her golden-tanned skin looked even darker. The final shot he took she had opened her eyes and gave him the most breathtaking smile. Dylan felt his dick harden fast.

Journey had had that effect on him. He flipped to a picture that she had taken of them in bed, as he wrapped his hand around his cock. She had been straddling him and bent down to kiss him as she took the picture. Dylan could see the upper swell of her breasts in the picture as he began to work his length with his hand.

He stroked his cock more quickly as he went through the pictures one by one. Dylan got to one that had the movie symbol on it so he took his headphones and plugged them into his phone. He hit play and there she was, his true southern belle from Alabama on the screen. Journey had been wearing the hot pink string-bikini that he had bought for her.

“I have to be quick because you’re taking a shower right now. I’ve never done this before, so I hope I don’t look like a fool.” She had a naughty gleam in her eye when she said it. Journey must’ve been setting the phone up because the picture got real blurry for a minute and there she was again.

Dylan tightened the grip on his dick as he watched her set herself up on the bed. “I bet you think I’m going to do something naughty like touch myself, but I’m not. I have to save all of that for you tonight.” Her eyes looked sad for a moment. “I know you’re going home soon and I may never see you again, but I just want you to know that I’ve fallen in love with you, Dylan Carter.” Dylan’s dick went completely soft after hearing her use the fake last name he gave her. “I know it’s fast and you have issues with our age difference, but I know how I feel. I hope when you go home you think about me, because I’ll be thinking of you. These have been the best two weeks ever and I’ll treasure the memories always—oh shoot, you just shut the water off.” Dylan watched her hop off the bed, smile and then kiss his phone before the video ended.

Dylan tossed his phone across the room and stared at the ceiling. He could hear the sound coming from across the hall and knew that his brother was one lucky son of a bitch. Dylan again, turned his TV on to drown out the noise and slipped into a restless sleep.

Chapter 15

Monday morning Stacy woke up alone in her bed. That was what she asked for, though. The night before Dustin had brought her home and offered to stay with her. Stacy had wanted so bad to tell him yes, but she couldn’t be afraid to sleep in her own home. She ended up sleeping with all of the lights on, but she did it.

She had a full day and was looking forward to the distraction. Stacy was getting some pictures delivered, she had a meeting with a potential client, and then she was teaching this evening. Stacy got up and quickly showered. She decided to wear her hair in a fish-tail braid that hung over her shoulder. Stacy dressed up a little more casually when she met with clients. She wore a pair of white wide-legged linen pants, a red sleeveless shirt that showed just a hint of cleavage, and a pair of gold flat sandals.

Stacy grabbed her bag to swap it out with one of her nicer purses when the doorbell rang. She peeked out of the window and saw it was Terry, her FedEx guy. Stacy greeted him with a big smile. “Good morning, Terry! How are you?”

“Good morning, I’m good. This box feels heavier than the others. Does this mean business is picking up?” He was a sweet man in his fifties. Terry had been delivering her stuff to her for the last year.

“I’m hoping. Have a good day, and say hi to Margot for me.” Stacy had run into him and his wife one night while bartending. They ended up sitting at the bar all night and left her a much too generous tip.

“I will, darlin’. You take care.”

Stacy watched him get in his truck and drive away. She locked the door after she closed it and went to investigate the box. Stacy carefully sliced open the box and opened it slowly. She knew it: It was pictures of her family. On top was the picture of Garrett, Ian and the kids. Stacy didn’t even realize that she had started crying until she felt the tears splash onto her hand. She couldn’t look at them right now. The pain was still too fresh and raw. Stacy closed the box and moved it to her dining room table. She’d have to look at them eventually, but not today. Since she wasn’t going to be messing with pictures, she decided to look at the mock set-up of her website.

The first picture that would pop up when anyone would visit her site was the one of Bellamy, Luke and Carrington. It was a thing of beauty if she had to say so herself.

The buzzing from her phone pulled her attention away from the computer. She picked it up and saw it was her dad calling. Since the day before he called her over ten times. Stacy just wasn’t ready to talk to them yet. Pounding on the door followed almost immediately after the phone stopped ringing. “I’m so not ready for this,” Stacy muttered as she went to the door. Sure enough, it was both of her parents. Stacy took a deep breath and opened the door.

Stacy noticed right away that her mom had been crying. She couldn’t stand it, so she went to her and wrapped her arms tightly around her. “Don’t cry, Mommy.” Stacy couldn’t stop her own tears from falling when she heard her mom sobbing quietly. Her dad’s arms joined her mom’s as they all stood in a tight embrace.

“Sweetheart, I’m so sorry about the other night. That was not how we were expecting it to go. Garrett and I had a long talk after you left and I told him that he is never to speak to you like that again. I didn’t beat his ass because he was upset, but baby, you didn’t deserve that and I’m sorry that we didn’t say anything right away. Your momma and I were both in shock about what Mark’s been up to, and to think he almost hurt our Chloe was just a lot to take in.” Stacy felt him kiss her forehead. “Just give him some time, sweetheart.”

Stacy only nodded. If she would’ve tried to speak she would’ve started crying again. She didn’t have the heart to tell her dad that her relationship with her uncle was probably broken beyond repair. Stacy said a silent prayer that the pain would ease with time, because if it didn’t, she really didn’t know if she’d survive it.

“I really hate to cut this short, but I was on my way out to meet a potential client. Can I maybe come over before I head to the studio later?”

Stacy’s mom grabbed her tight. “Of course,
Minha filha.
You come when you can and I’ll have dinner waiting for you. I love you,
Meu curacao.
” Her mom kissed her cheek and stepped back.

Stacy’s dad hugged her tight. “I love you, baby girl. We still need to talk about everything that’s been going on, okay?”

“Yes, Daddy, I love you too. You too, Momma.” Stacy watched her parents get back into their car and pull out of the driveway. Stacy went back inside to grab her messenger bag that had her sample photographs, price list and what they would expect from her as their photographer. She took one last look around, locked up, and headed to her appointment.

***

Stacy could honestly say that the day was turning out pretty fantastic. First her parents stopped by to see her and apologize about the other night, which Stacy appreciated immensely. Her meeting went great and she was pretty sure the bride-to-be was going to hire her to take all of the photos, even their engagement photo, which was going to be awesome if they chose her. She’d stopped by to tell Dustin about her meeting and made out with him like a couple of high schoolers in his office. She even managed to stop by her parents for a quick bite to eat with them. Things seemed to be a lot more relaxed between her and her parents. Stacy even promised to come on Saturday to give them the full Mark scoop.