Second Chance Read Online Free PDF Page B

you forget something?”
    “No, actually. I had left my car here earlier, when I was with Claire.”
    “Where’s Claire, then?”
    “With her mom—my sister, Deirdre. You might remember her from high school.”
    Marnie’s brow furrowed for a moment, and then understanding dawned. “Oh! She’s your niece. I’m sorry. I thought—I mean, it doesn’t really matter what I thought, but—”
    He laughed. He couldn’t help it. She was just so sweet and genuine and so different from the slick, smooth-talking kind of woman he was used to.
    She blushed, and he found himself mesmerized by the way the color climbed up her cheeks. Would it go down, too? Down to her neck and her breasts and turn her nipples a deep rosy pink, beckoning him to pull one into his mouth and—
    “Goodness, of course. I’d heard that Deirdre had moved back to Wilford with a daughter. I guess I was just a little, um, distracted earlier today. Anyway, she’s a lovely girl. Your sister has done a wonderful job.”
    Oh, Jesus, he had to get out of here. Now he was the one breathing too fast, and he had to shift behind the bookcase to hide what was now too prominent a tightness in his pants. “Speaking of earlier today, you doing all right?”
    She nodded. “I am. Thank you so much for what you did.”
    Just thinking of her dad made his erection start going down. “That guy was out of line this morning. I feel bad for his kid, really, since he’s stuck with such a shit-for-brains father—” Marnie’s father, too, if Deirdre had been right. He stopped himself immediately and shook his head. “I’m sorry. Please forgive my language. I work with construction guys all day and sometimes I forget.”
    She laughed. “It’s okay. I was actually thinking the same thing.” She paused for a minute, and then added. “And he happens to be my dad, too.”
    So it was true. He put his hand to the back of his neck and rubbed it. “Yeah, I, uh, heard a rumor that he was. But I didn’t realize he was back in the picture.”
    “He’s not.” She lifted a hand and then dropped it. “Things ended really poorly between him and my mom, and I guess with him and me, too. He’s not a nice person, as you probably figured out. It was better after he was gone, but still…”
    “Yeah. I understand.”
    She looked at him, then. Right at him with those soulful brown eyes, and he felt it like a slug to the chest. “Do you?”
    He shrugged. “Sort of, anyway. My family is a little strange and we have some history of…well, unpleasant things…but I’d rather have them with all the crazy that they bring than not have them at all.”
    She looked away and drew in a shuddering breath. “Yeah.”
    Her voice was so quiet that it was barely even a whisper, but before he could respond, she turned back to him. “Well, thanks again for coming to my rescue. That’s twice in one day. Come back any time and I’ll let you check out as many books as you want. For free.”
    He snorted. “Isn’t everyone allowed to do that?”
    “No, the limit for everyone else is seven,” she deadpanned, and he laughed.
    “Hey, so…do you want me to escort you downstairs? I’m on my way out, anyway.”
    “Sure. Thanks.”
    He felt a thrill rush through him at her acceptance, and it almost made him laugh. Collin Morgan, getting excited that a woman agreed to let him walk her down the stairs?
    It wasn’t like him.
    She grabbed a leather-bound book and the antique box from the floor, and the two of them headed back down to the main level. At the circulation desk, she stopped. “Well. Thanks again. And Happy Halloween.”
    “Happy Halloween.” He lingered for a second longer, wondering if he should say more, but what?
    Shit. He had the sudden realization that, for nearly a decade, he hadn’t had to make any effort to engage a woman’s interest, and now he didn’t know what to say as part of simple conversation with a woman he found genuinely attractive.
    It overwhelmed him, and