Not a Second Chance Read Free

a liar.”
    “After you answer my question. Apparently this is a real problem for you.”
    “Fine. I look forward to you telling me you’re a liar, and you can’t wait to tear my clothes off and—”
    “We’re in public,” she hissed.
    “I can wait until we’re alone.”
    “Not going to happen.”
    She expected him to tell her otherwise, but he leaned back and said, “I actually did spend a year living in my parents’ basement, playing lots of online poker. But I’m good at it, so I made money.”
    “And then?”
    “My parents threatened to start charging me rent if I didn’t do something with my life. A lot of rent. But I had a friend who was training to be a welder, and I figured I could do something like that. So I did an apprenticeship and became an electrician.”
    “How long did that take?”
    “About five years,” he said. “Now I work for a construction company.”
    “Do you regret going to university?” she asked.
    “Nah. It was a ton of fun.”
    She supposed it was if you didn’t do any homework.
    “But it was a waste of time, yeah. Life got easier when I stopped thinking I had to be someone I wasn’t.” He grinned. “ Now will you tell me you’re a liar?”
    “I’m not finished yet. I’m going to assume you’re single, or the things you’ve said to me would be highly inappropriate.”
    “And we both know I’m never inappropriate.”
    “Exactly.”
    Why, why, why did her mind have to jump to images of them doing something very inappropriate? If only she could banish these thoughts to Antarctica. Or Mars. Better yet, Pluto.
    She glanced back at Eliza, who gave her a thumbs-up. All Eliza would be able to see was Allison talking to a hot guy. From her view, it would look much better than the reality. The reality was that Allison was having some seriously unwanted thoughts about her ex.
    “Yes, I’m single,” he said.
    And she would not take advantage of that. “Divorced?”
    “No.”
    “Any children?”
    He laughed.
    “I don’t see why that’s funny,” she said. “I remember you wanting children. And I remember us having serious conversations about that sort of thing—all of them instigated by you.”
    “You’re the last woman I had those conversations with.” He wasn’t laughing now. No, he looked a little grim. “The last woman I dated for more than a month or two.”
    That surprised her. “Was having serious relationships part of you trying to be someone you weren’t?”
    “You could say that.”
    Liar. When they were together, he’d truly seemed like a relationship kind of guy. But she wouldn’t bring that up—no need to get into this with Sidney. She didn’t need to know any more about his love life. Time to talk about something that had nothing to do with their past.
    “Where do you live?” she asked.
    “Near the lake. You?”
    “Close to here.”
    “Ah. So it would be easier to go to your place.” He tilted his head, his expression now playful. “Come on, just admit you want to sleep with me.”
    “Even if I admit that—”
    “Which you will, because you promised you would if I told you about my life.”
    “—it doesn’t mean I’ll go home with you.”
    “But you’ll take me back to your place.” He crossed his arms and nodded, an irritating smile on his face.
    My God, he’s impossible.
    “Okay, I admit I lied,” she said, cringing at her words. “I’m sure if we slept together, it would be good. And it’s been quite a while since I had sex, so the idea is rather tempting. But we are not doing it.”
    He picked up his fork and pointed at the plate. “Since you won’t let me help you burn off calories, should I eat the rest of your cake?”
    “No.” She grabbed the plate away from him. “This is my reward for dealing with you. If it goes to my hips, well, that’s too bad. But I deserve this treat.”
    “And here I assumed you were having cake because you’d broken a nail.”
    She bit her lip.
    “I’m right?” He slapped