The Second Time Around Read Online Free Page A

eyes lit up. “Two? One wouldn’t be for a particular beauty who just recently returned to our small town, would it?”
    Jabarie didn’t even know why he was surprised. Word definitely had gotten around fast.
    At his silence Clarence continued. “The reason I asked is because Ms. Brenna doesn’t like catfish fillets. She only eats the nuggets.”
    Jabarie raked a hand across his face. How could he have forgotten? She preferred not having to deal with bones. He gave the sixty-year-old man a sheepish grin and said, “Then you better make one catfish nuggets.”
    Clarence winked. “Coming right up.”
    While he waited, Jabarie strolled over to the window and felt his cell phone vibrate at his hip. Glancing down at his hip, he noticed it was his brother Jace calling, probably to remind him of his five-o’clock meeting. As the hotel’s general manager, his days were usually bombarded with meetings. Not in the mood to discuss business, he ignored the call and allowed it to go into voicemail.
    Staring over at the bookstore, Jabarie asked himself after several seconds, what in the world was he doing spending the afternoon helping Brenna? After everything she had done why in the world was he having anything at all to do with her? That was something he was unable to answer except to say he had done nothing but think of her since seeing her standing in the window yesterday. She dominated his thoughts, haunted his dream last night, until he couldn’t even draw a breath without smelling her feminine scent. This morning he had awakened with a hard-on and the burning need to see her. A part of him still found it hard to believe that she was back in Sheraton Beach and thought maybe it had just been a dream. He had hurried out of his twelve o’clock meeting just so he could drive down onto Main Street. As soon as he had stepped into the bookstore his heart hammered against his chest, and when he saw the look of panic on her face he had rushed to her aid just as he always had. For as long as he could remember, he’d had this strong need to protect her.
    Jabarie’s gaze darted up and down the street but his eyes were zeroed in on the bookstore. Now that he’d seen her, he couldn’t stay away and that was strange considering he was supposed to hate her for having chosen money over his love. For the last five years he tried to hate her, but couldn’t. He found that a part of him had forgiven her for walking out on him with money he was certain his mother had been more than happy to give. The other part of him still loved her. He guessed everyone felt like that about their first love. However, for him, Brenna had been his only love.
    Jabarie felt his body responding just thinking about her. He still wanted her. He could already taste her delicious mouth. Her thick honey-colored hair he longed to run his fingers through. He ached to touch her, to make love to her again. Desire tore through him, and Jabarie ran his hand over his face shaken by the depth of his need. It had been five years. Five long years, and in one day all the emotions and feelings he had felt then had come rushing back. He asked himself the same question he had asked himself so many times before, of all the women he had met, why Brenna?
    Damn, he needed to stop thinking about her. But I can’t , he thought as he reached up and loosened his collar. After everything they had been through, he knew it was ridiculous to still feel anything for her. Now that she was back, maybe if they spent enough time together whatever he thought he still felt for her would die. Maybe that was what they both needed to end what had started five years ago. Maybe during her visit they could both discover that it was really over between them. That there wasn’t anything left to hold on to any longer.
    Jabarie sighed deeply. One thing he knew for sure was that, no matter how short her visit may be, he planned to find a way