One Last Time Read online

  At times like these, I just felt like I needed my mother. I needed to be around her—to see her, talk to her, and hug her. And maybe she would even make me a bowl of that tasty beef vegetable gumbo I loved so much. She always used to make it for me whenever I was younger—especially if I’d had a bad day and she felt that I needed some cheering up.

  It had been an eight-hour drive to my old hometown and I spent the entire drive trying to wrap my head around exactly why Declan would do something like this. It went against everything that he had appeared to be and to stand for all the way up until that exact moment. Maybe it was some kind of rich-guy thing or something? Shit, I didn’t know. All I knew was that it fucking hurt. It hurt like hell and I was having a hard time dealing with these feelings all on my own.

  Chloe had offered me as much comfort and support as she possibly could. In fact, she had even invited me to stay at her house for the weekend so that I wouldn’t have to be alone. But to be honest, I really didn’t want to become a burden on her and to possibly cramp her cheerful, bubbly attitude and party-girl lifestyle.

  I was feeling so heartbroken over this entire situation that I had found it much too difficult to focus on my job. Also, I didn’t want to chance breaking down and crying in front of my students during the school day and having to explain to a room full of eight- and nine-year-olds why their teacher couldn’t seem to function like a normal human being. I needed a few days off to get myself back together.

  I just felt so out of control and helpless—and hopeless. Declan had been the first guy I had strong feelings for ever since I’d broken things off with Josh.

  “There, there, honey. Mama’s here. I’m right here for you. Just take your time, sweetie, and let it all out,” my mom said softly as she rubbed the small of my back in the same exact way that she used to do when I was a little girl.

  “Oh, Mom, I just feel so confused and so heartbroken! What is it with men? If they’re not being thoughtless, self-centered egomaniacs, they’re cheating on you. I can’t seem to win!”

  “Sweetheart, I really don’t know. That’s why I stayed single after your father and I broke up. I felt that it was more important and worthwhile for me to invest in myself rather than to continue trying to invest in a man who would probably end up not being willing to do the same for me in return,” she stated solemnly.

  She continued to rub my back and offer consolation in her own way. I knew she meant well, but her words really weren’t helping me feel any better. I loved my mother with my whole heart, but I didn’t want to end up an old maid with nothing but my career and my cats to keep me company. Still, just being there with her in that quiet little house I grew up in seemed to help me relax, clear my head, and get my wits about me.

  I still had absolutely no desire to speak to Declan, though—at least not yet—so I continued to block his attempts to contact me.

  By mid-week, however, I was literally bored out of my mind. I had gotten out all of my crying and I’d taken a few days to relax but after that, it seemed like this old small town was nothing but a constant reminder of the reasons why I had left here in the first place.

  All I could think about was how I had left because there wasn’t much to do here. The same scene greeted me each day, with the same sleepy quality to it. It was so different from the hustle and bustle of the fun, crowded, and exciting big city. Even if things between Declan and me didn’t work out, there was still so much more for me out in the city.

  What had I been thinking when I had put in my termination notice?

  My mother and I had both agreed that I should take a few days to focus solely on getting myself together and deciding what I wanted to do. So, for the first few days of my stay, I kept my phone turned completely off and hadn’t checked any of my calls, texts, or voice messages. But by Friday, I was losing my mind and suffering from an overload of boredom and monotony.

  While my mother was out working her shift at the local hospital, I went ahead and turned my phone back on. The messages began to pop up one after the other until my screen was completely full and I knew I was going to have to scroll down forever just to be able to check them all.

  “Well, no better time to get started,” I said aloud to myself with another quick sigh as I plopped down on the living room couch.

  Chapter 17

  Declan

  I tried calling Emma a few times throughout the week, but I didn’t press the issue the way I had over the weekend. Vivian had been out of the office for days. A part of me had wanted to ask my father where she was and if she was okay, but the last thing I needed was for her to hear that I had been asking about her and possibly take it the wrong way.

  After seeing Emma’s friend Chloe at the school on Monday, I felt a lot better and I was able to concentrate and focus on the matter at hand—finishing up the property deal that I had been working on. Thankfully, I was able to wrap the entire deal up, and by lunch on Friday afternoon, I had the deed to the new building in my hand.

  Chloe wasn’t hard to track down, either. I had planned to contact her on Friday so that I could meet up with her to see if she’d heard from Emma. But the funny thing was, she was the one who ended up tracking me down.

  I was sitting at my desk on Friday afternoon, feeling quite accomplished, when my business cell phone rang. The number that popped up on my LCD screen wasn’t one that I immediately recognized, but I gave my card out to lots of different people and businesses on a pretty regular basis, so there was really no telling who it could possibly be. I thought about letting the call go to my voicemail, but something in my gut told me to answer it.

  “Erikson, here,” I answered.

  “Hello, is this Declan?” a bubbly, familiar-sounding female voice asked.

  “Yes, it is,” I replied.

  “Oh, okay, good! This is Chloe.”

  “Chloe, hey, have you heard from Emma yet?” I asked.

  “Um, actually, I was wondering if you had some time to meet with me after work today,” she replied.

  “Sure, that shouldn’t be a problem at all. Did you have a specific place and time in mind?”

  “Well, I don’t really know where you ritzy, wealthy guys like to meet up, so why don’t you just tell me a place and time, instead,” she stated somewhat pompously.

  “I see. Well, I met Emma at the Lovehouse in Central Park. You know where that is, right?”

  “Yep, I most certainly do,” she said.

  “Okay, can you be there around six?”

  “I’ll be there.”

  * * * * *

  I was sitting on a stool at the main bar when the tall, slender redhead entered the Lovehouse restaurant. I raised my hand and waved at her, letting her know where I was. A smile appeared on her pretty, freckled face as she began making her way over to where I was seated.

  “This place really is nice!” she said, glancing around the main floor of the eatery. Her eyes lit up with wonder and awe as she approached the empty bar stool beside me.

  “Oh, yeah, it’s great. I met Emma here so it’s especially close to my heart,” I said, pulling the stool out so that she could sit down comfortably. “Would you like something to drink?”

  “Sure! I’ll take a glass of red wine, please,” she replied with an enthusiastic grin.

  I noticed that her mood was light and cheerful, and I took that as a sign that perhaps she’d spoken to Emma and maybe had some good news for me. Hopefully I hadn’t jumped the gun, of course. I waved the barmaid over, ordered our drinks, and then turned my attention back to Chloe.

  “So, I tracked Emma down for you. You can thank me later,” she began, grinning from ear to ear. “She’s down at her mother’s house in Virginia, trying to decide what she wants to do.”

  “Okay,” I said. “Well, I have something to tell you that I think may just help her decide to stay. You do want her to stay, don’t you?”

  “Of course, I do,” Chloe said with wide eyes. “She’s my best friend—I don’t want her to mov
e away.”

  “Then, you’ll probably be happy about what I’m getting ready to tell you,” I replied.

  * * * * *

  After talking with Chloe, I felt a hundred times better. She told me that she’d finally talked to Emma earlier that day and had convinced her to come back up here and meet with her at a little bar and grill where the two of them often hung out together. They were supposed to meet up at ten tonight, so I assumed that Emma had probably left her mother’s house earlier in the day.

  I found myself feeling more excited than I had in quite some time as I got dressed for our rendezvous. I was hoping that Emma would at least give me an opportunity to explain myself before taking off this time. I was also hoping that having Chloe there would make her more likely to stick around.

  I put an extra handful of mousse in my hair as I slicked it back from my face and gave it one more comb-through before heading out to my car. Earlier, Chloe had accompanied me to the jewelry store to help me pick out a diamond necklace that Emma would like. I was going to offer it to her as an apology gift. I had seen my dad do this numerous times for my mother, growing up, and it had almost always seemed to work on her. In all honesty, this was actually the first time I had ever bought a piece of jewelry this extravagant for any woman.

  Chloe had eyed a beautiful necklace with a diamond-filled cross pendant. She’d assured me that Emma would find it absolutely stunning and be completely unable to refuse it once she laid eyes on it.

  “You better be right,” I told her teasingly as I paid the man behind the counter and placed the small silver box into the breast pocket of my suit jacket.

  * * * * *

  I arrived at Benny’s Bar and Grill at a quarter to ten. I had told Chloe to be there early so that we could hopefully catch Emma coming inside and surprise her. Chloe was waiting at a table in the far-right corner when I got there.

  Benny’s actually wasn’t a bad-looking place. It was a little bit smaller than most bars I was used to hanging out at, but it was far from just some ragged little hole-in-the-wall. The main bar was in the middle of the restaurant and there were booths and tables lined up on either side of it. It was somewhat crowded, but not so much so that you had to step on people’s feet in order to make your way to the bar.

  “Hey, Declan,” Chloe called out, waving her arm in the air. “Over here!”

  I went over to where she was and joined her in the booth.

  “So, what do you think of our humble little abode?” she asked with a grin.

  “Not bad, actually. Not bad at all,” I replied, looking around.

  “Emma’s gonna be here any minute,” she stated, glancing down at the time. “So, how do you want to do this?”

  Chapter 18

  Emma

  I was feeling just a little bit nervous when I walked into Benny’s Bar and Grill and saw my bestie sitting at the main bar. It had been a long drive back up to New York and I was ready to have a few drinks by the time I got there.

  I entered through the front door and Chloe started waving her arm. She was dressed in a black and red short set that really brought out her hair color, and a pair of black high-heeled boots—basically the perfect ensemble for a night out at the club.

  Her exuberant smile made me want to grin right along with her as I made my way over to where she was seated. She already had a drink in her hand and I was almost certain that she’d ordered me one or two, as well.

  “Hey, girl!” I said with a grin as I hugged her tightly.

  “I missed you,” Chloe replied, hugging me back. “Don’t ever run off like that again without telling me!” She gave me playful swat on the ass as she spoke.

  She handed me a shot, just as I’d suspected she would.

  “You’re gonna need this,” she said with a grin.

  “Why?” I asked, immediately suspicious.

  “Just drink it,” she commanded, and we downed our shots together.

  We did another round of shots and she finally said, “Don’t be mad, but there’s a reason I called you out here tonight. Turn around.”

  With a puzzled look on my face, I turned around to see Declan standing directly behind me. My smile quickly faded and was immediately replaced with a frown.

  “Just hear him out, Emma, seriously! You know I’ve heard every excuse in the book from men, but you need to at least let him talk before you make a decision you might regret.”

  I folded my arms across my chest and looked at him with an annoyed expression. “Fine.”

  Declan sighed before he started to speak. He pulled a small box out of his suit jacket pocket and held it out to me.

  “Emma, I’m sorry about what happened at my penthouse that night but it honestly was not anything like what it seemed. If you give me a chance, I can explain everything.”

  He opened the box and the most exquisite diamond necklace I had ever seen was lying inside of it. I felt my eyes brighten in spite of myself.

  “Chloe picked it out for you,” he explained.

  I allowed him to take it out and put it around my neck.

  “Now, please, Emma, can we go somewhere and talk?” he asked with a look of sincerity in his eyes.

  “Okay,” I agreed.

  I hugged Chloe goodbye and followed Declan outside to his Rolls Royce. I could feel his gaze on me every now and then as he drove, but he didn’t say anything, so I didn’t either. I didn’t know what to think or even feel. The necklace he’d just given me was a warm weight against my chest. It had to be expensive, and the fact he’d talked Chloe into helping him—Chloe, who could spot a lie a mile away—meant that he was likely telling the truth.

  He led me up to his condo. I stared at the room. Last time I’d been here, it had been decked out for a romantic evening, with dim lights, candles, the works. And Declan had stood right here, kissing that half-naked blonde.

  He took my hand and looked deep into my eyes. “Look, Emma, I know that situation with my assistant Vivian looked bad, but please, you need to realize that it really was just a misunderstanding. I had been so excited about my date with you that I had completely forgotten that she was supposed to be stopping by to drop off a file for my father.”

  I listened in silence. He looked convincing and his tone sounded very authentic as he spoke.

  “Okay,” I replied, allowing him to continue.

  “Well, she mistakenly assumed that the romantic night I had set up for you was for her. While I’d told her about you before, I guess I hadn’t been clear about my feelings for you, and I was unexpectedly thrown into a situation that I was unprepared to properly handle—especially since it all happened so fast.”

  I had to admit that he was right about one thing, at least—everything had happened pretty quickly. I mean, I had immediately run out of his condo and hadn’t given him the time or the opportunity to explain what was happening.

  Then again, I’d been confronted with a scene out of every girlfriend’s nightmare.

  After hearing his detailed explanation about what had actually played out that night, even though it sounded like one of the craziest stories I’d ever heard, the authenticity in his tone and in his demeanor eventually won me over.

  “Emma, I don’t want to hurt you,” he said. “The thing is, I love you.”

  When he said those three words I never thought I’d ever hear from him, I just about lost my mind. Before I’d even realized it, I had thrown myself into his arms and started kissing him fervently, passionately.

  “I love you, Emma,” he said again, breathily.

  “I love you, too,” I confessed as tears of joy threatened to spill over my eyelids and slide down my face.

  “I’ve missed you so much,” he said as he wrapped his arms around me, eagerly pulling me into him.

  The intoxicating scent of his expensive cologne filled my nostrils and something about being in his arms and feeling his lips against mine set my body on fire. I wanted him. I wanted him like I had never wanted him before. Perhaps it was t
he relief that he really hadn’t betrayed me combined with the withdrawal from not having been around him in an entire week, but whatever it was, it made me lose all control of my senses and lose myself in his touch.

  I pushed him backward onto the sofa and climbed on top of him, kissing him with fervor, as a feeling of overwhelming urgency to feel him inside me took over.

  I pulled his suit jacket open and forced it off his arms as I slid my tongue into his sweet, delicious mouth.

  “Mmm, I’ve missed you too, Declan,” I said between kisses.

  I nearly ripped his button-down shirt off his chest and tossed it carelessly onto the floor. His hands found the zipper on the back of my dress and he pulled it down around my shoulders. I began to kiss my way down his chest and his abs until my mouth found the sensitive spot below his waist.

  “Emma,” he said in a breathy whisper as I unbuttoned his pants and yanked his zipper down, freeing his already-erect manhood.

  I slid my hand down his belly until it reached his erection, and I wrapped it around his shaft. He moaned as I began to stroke him, running my fingertips around the tip as I started to move my body downward. I knelt between his legs and took him into my mouth like I hadn’t tasted him in months. He groaned with delight as I sucked eagerly, attempting to make a statement with my actions.

  I ran the tip of my tongue around the head of his manhood and moaned softly as I slid my tongue around his girth, causing him to jerk upward and suck in his breath with a hiss of pleasure. I felt his hands in my hair as his fingers massaged my thick strands, gripping onto my locks. I glanced upward, watching his appreciative expression as he looked down at me and watched his length disappear between my lips.

  “Oh, Emma, I want you,” he suddenly groaned in a raspy voice, reaching down to pull me up off my knees.

  He tore my dress from my body and yanked my panties down my legs. I stepped out of them and straddled him, feeling his erection pressing against the slick, warm slit of my opening. I was hot, wet, and ready for him, moaning as I guided him inside of me, sliding down onto him, slowly.