The Reunion: Shelby's Chance Meeting (Starting Over Series) (2 page)

“
Shelby
…
Ashwood
…”
she responded with a stammer.

“
Nice to meet you. Please, sit down,
”
he pointed her to a chair in front of his desk. He sat on the corner of his desk with one foot on the floor and the other dangling precariously close to her knee.
“
Now, how can I help?
”

“
Well, I live in The Meadows condo complex down off Rivershire
…”

“
Ah, yes. We have a couple of crews working over there.
”

“
Yes, and one of your trucks sideswiped my car last week. I ran out to catch the tag number, but they had already pulled off. It was a blue truck with an orange logo on the side,
”
she said trying to keep her wits about her. She had come there to settle an issue, and she intended to do just that.

“
That
’
s Donny. He
’
s not such a great driver in tight quarters,
”
he said with a slight smile.

“
Well, I called for days and left messages with your receptionist. No one ever called me back.
”

“
I am so sorry about that. My guy who handles issues like this is out of town. Becky should have given those messages to me. I will speak with her about it. She
’
s a little young and probably not quite mature enough for this job, frankly,
”
he said quirking his lip up. Why did she want to bite his lip right now?



“
I would agree with that. She wanted me to fill out a form after I came all the way down here.
”

“
She
’
s my niece.
”

“
Oh, sorry
…”

“
No, like I said, I agree. But, you know family business and all
…”
he said. It immediately made her think about Kenny and how he couldn
’
t and wouldn
’
t leave the family business even though it was one of their biggest marital issues.

“
Just because you are family doesn
’
t mean you have to work together, you know
…”
she said. In reality, she wasn
’
t saying it to him but to Kenny.

“
Excuse me?
”
he asked with another cute smile.

“
Sorry. I wasn
’
t really talking to you,
”
she said trying to recover.

Brian turned around and looked behind him.
“
Then who were you talking to?
”

“
No one. I mean
…
Ugh
…”

“
Why do I get the feeling you were talking about a different situation?
”
he asked smiling.

“
Because I was. Let
’
s leave it at that, okay?
”
she said putting her head in her hands out of embarrassment.
“
Can I get a do-over?
”
she asked with a smile.

“
You have a lovely smile. And because you have such a lovely smile, I will grant a do-over.
”
His bright grin immediately eased her embarrassment.
“
Now, I do have to ask you to fill out a form, but I will be personally handling the repairs to your car.
”

“
Great. Thanks,
”
she said trying to keep her mouth shut.

He pulled a form out of his drawer and sat behind his desk. As he started to fill it out, she stared at him. How could a man this good looking live near her and she had never seen him? It was a big city, after all, but she thought for sure she would have seen such a handsome specimen at some point.

“
Have you lived here long?
”
she asked without thinking.

“
About five months. And you?
”
he asked looking up with a slight smile.

“
I lived in South Georgia for a long time, but I moved up here about a year ago. I
’
m a nurse.
”
Why was she telling him all this? For all she knew, he was married, engaged, dating, gay
…

“
Well, I lived in California for many years until my divorce last year. I came here to take over my Dad
’
s business so he could retire.
”
She realized how easy he was to talk to.

“
I divorced last year too,
”
she said looking down.

“
How many years?
”
he asked putting down the pen and focusing on her.

“
Fourteen years of marriage, twenty two years together,
”
she said with a half hearted smile.

“
Wow. You must have been ten when you met him.
”

“
I was fifteen when we started dating, actually.
”

“
Well, you have me beat. I was only married for three years.
”

“
Oh,
”
she said.

“
Turns out she wanted to date other men and be married to me,
”
he said with a laugh.
“
Needless to say, I wasn
’
t cool with that.
”
His laugh was infectious.
“
So, what about you? How did yours end?
”

“
That
’
s kind of personal
…”
she said with her eyebrows raised.

“
Hey, I thought we were sharing,
”
he said grinning.

“
We honestly just grew apart. He wanted to stay in South Georgia running the family farm forever. I wanted to see more of the world.
”

“
I guess that
’
s what happens when you meet so young. You grow up together, but you may also grow apart together,
”
he said. She had never thought of it quite that way.

“
I guess so. But we are on good terms. We have two kids,
”
she said.

“
Well, you have to be on good terms with kids. I hate when parents drag their kids through a nasty divorce or custody battle. I went through that as a kid. No fun,
”
he said without any emotion as he went back to the form.

Shelby sat quietly for a moment trying to process why she just bared her very soul to a stranger. What was it about him that made her start talking?

He stood up and walked toward her with the paper. Sitting on the edge of the desk, he placed the paper in front of her.
“
If you will sign right here,
”
he said in a soft, yet husky voice. She slid forward on her chair and took the pen from his hand. A bolt of electricity ran through her as she touched his hand.

“
Thanks,
”
she said softly as she looked down at the paper. He was sitting so close to her now, and it was unnerving her greatly. After she signed, she stood up quickly to make her exit. Instead, she forgot her purse was on the floor and tripped on it. Falling forward, she landed squarely with her chest against his and her face in the curve of his neck. For a brief moment, she stalled as his cologne wafted past her nose.
Would it be inappropriate to lick his neck, she wondered?

As he caught her, his strong arms stretched around her waist. She
’
d never felt quite so safe and protected. What was this man doing to her?

“
So sorry
…”
she stammered as she got her feet under her. He held on for a moment to make sure she was stable before he released his hold. She swore she heard his breath catch as her face brushed up the side of his neck on the way up.

“
We
’
ll be in touch,
”
was all he said as he turned back toward his desk and she backed out of the office.

Shelby sank deep into her garden tub full of bubbles and took a sip of her glass of wine. Sure, most women would like to be out on a date on a Friday night, but she was content with a quiet house and thoughts of the dashing Brian Chadwick she had met earlier in the day.

At only five o
’
clock in the afternoon, she knew that sinking into a hot tub with wine was probably not the best idea, but she was alone and able to do whatever she wanted. And right now she wanted some wine. She wasn
’
t accustomed to drinking wine when the sun was still up, but she figured it was night time somewhere.

Suddenly, her thoughts of serenity were interrupted by her doorbell ringing. She tried to ignore it, but the person was insistent when they rang it two more times. She jumped from the tub, pulled her hair into a loose ponytail and threw her fluffy white robe on. Naked underneath, she hoped the person at the door would be brief with whatever they had to say.

She flung the door open without thinking and saw Brian standing there. OMG was all she could think. He was now wearing his white shirt minus the jacket with the sleeves rolled up to reveal muscular forearms.

“
Mr. Chadwick!
”
she said in shock as she instinctively put her hand over her chest.

“
Ms. Ashwood. You look
…
wet,
”
he said smiling.

Noticing she hadn
’
t done a very good job of drying off, she saw a puddle of water on her hardwood floors.

“
Oh, shoot!
”
she yelled as she stepped back onto the carpet of the living room.
“
Come on in. Make yourself comfortable. I need to get dressed,
”
she said trotting out of the room.

When she returned wearing her black yoga pants and a pink t-shirt, she noticed him crouched down in his nice suit cleaning up the water on her floor with a dish towel he
’
d apparently found in her kitchen.

“
Thanks,
”
she said as she walked over to him. He looked up and smiled as he handed her the damp towel and stood up.

“
No problem. I grew up with three sisters. They were always running around wet,
”
he said laughing.

“
I won
’
t ask,
”
she said smiling.
“
So, what are you doing here, Mr. Chadwick?
”

“
Please, call me Brian.
”

“
As long as you call me Shelby.
”