No Second Chances Read online

  She quickly slipped into her overalls and headed out to the workshop. A Fiat Punto in for a service was first on her to do list for the day. She placed the ear buds of her iPod in her ears and turned the music up high and got to work on the car.

  Three hours later she was just starting on the service of a Volkswagen Golf and her mood still hadn’t really improved.

  You really need to snaps out of whatever this is! She scolded herself in her mind. She pulled her iPod out of her pocket and scanned through her playlist. She needed something with a beat to snap her out of her funk. She selected Adele’s ‘Rumour has it’.

  Yes! She thought. Just what the doctor ordered. As she stuck her head back under the bonnet of the Golf and began checking the spark plugs.

  As she worked she moved her butt in time with the music and began humming along.

  Without even realising it, she began singing along with the words, gradually getting louder and louder, as she sang she could feel the stress fall away from her.

  She was in full karaoke mode when she stood up and turned around and came face to face with Gus who was looking at her in amusement. She was just about to smile brightly at Gus when she realised Gus wasn’t alone. Standing next to Gus was him.

  He looked like he had stepped off a runway show in Milan. He easily stood over six feet in a perfectly tailored navy suit. It clung to his frame enough to know without question that he was in amazingly good shape. His crisp white dress shirt nicely contrasted his sun-kissed skin; he must have been in a sunny region recently. Pulling it all together was a baby blue tie, the same colour as his perfect, crystal blue eyes that gazed on Ally, dancing with amusement.

  “Shit!” she blurted, she could feel her cheeks flush with sheer embarrassment.

  “Actually I thought you were rather good,” Cole replied flashing his usual breath-taking grin. “And you certainly can dance.”

  “I didn’t know you were standing there,” she said feeling completely mortified. Please ground open up and swallow me now, she thought to herself.

  “I was calling you,” Gus said as he looked from Ally to Cole and back again. “But as usual you can’t hear anything with those bloody things in your ears. Mr Thomas would like to have a word with you.”

  He eyed them both for a moment again before heading off in the direction of his office.

  “What the hell are you doing here?” she blurted without engaging her brain to mouth filter and then blushed again regretting her less the friendly tone. But Cole just smiled and stepped a little closer to her. She could feel her heart beat faster and faster as he moved closer still.

  “Well you ran off so quickly yesterday,” he was standing close enough that she could smell his familiar after shave and her heart began to pound even quicker. “You didn’t give me a chance to thank you properly.”

  His eyes locked with hers and he gave her a wicked grin. Ally could feel her face burn even hotter and by now the redness had spread to her chest. Her legs felt like jelly and her breathing quickened. What the hell was wrong with her?

  “How did you know where I worked?” she asked hoarsely, her voice betraying the casual appearance she tried to give off but was failing miserably.

  “You left this behind,” he explained, holding up her torch and giving her a knowing smile and pointed to the Parson’s Repairs sticker on the side of it. Ally groaned.

  “Well that was very kind of you, Mr Thomas,” she smiled, trying her hardest to sound as casual as possible. She reached for the torched but when she took hold of it he didn’t let go.

  “Please, call me Cole,” he replied, his fingers softly brushed against hers as he held the torch tightly.

  Bastard! She thought. He is doing this on purpose.

  She quickly withdrew her hand from the torch and took a step back bumping into the car behind her. Once again he stepped closer to her and smiled.

  “Maybe you would let me take you to dinner sometime, you know as a ’thank you’... since you won’t allow me to pay you for your help.”

  “There really is no need,” she said. She wanted desperately to look away from him but it was like he was drawing her in with his eyes and she couldn’t turn away. Her heart was now drumming so loudly she was sure he would be able to hear it too.

  “I would really like to,” he replied and this time his smile was shyer and full of uncertainty. “I could meet you after work and take you were ever you wanted to go. My treat.”

  “I really can’t,” she said as her eyes suddenly fell on his gorgeously perfect mouth. She wondered how it would feel to have those perfect, lush lips on her body. She closed her eyes and shook that mental picture from her mind. She stepped sideways before she opened her eyes and allowed herself to look at him again. “I have plans for tonight.”

  “Change them,” he said stepping in front of her again. This time his eyes were darker as he looked at hers. They were filled with pure desire. “Trust me you won’t regret it.”

  She could barely breathe. She needed to be firm and strong.

  “I don’t really think that is going to happen,” she said squaring her shoulder and trying her best to sound as confident as possible. She was attracted to this man. That much was obvious but she was not going to allow herself to go there. She didn’t do rich men. Well, not any more. She was not going to put herself out there and allow her heart to be stomped on again. She could feel her confidence washing back over her. She was going to put him straight and that would be the end of it. “Look Cole, I’m sure you are a very nice guy but it is never going to happen. I am grateful you dropped back my torch. So let’s just call it quits.” She reached out and took the torch from him and gave him the biggest smile she could manage.

  He stared at her for a moment, his face completely unreadable. Then he suddenly smiled and reached up and brushed a strand of hair from her face and allowed his fingers to softly brush against her cheek.

  Ally thought her heart was going to stop dead and she was going to expire right there on the spot. He leaned in closer and for a moment she thought he was going to kiss her but he didn’t. Instead he moved his mouth closer to her ear.

  “That really is a shame,” he whispered softly. Then moved back slowly and smiled at her once again. “Maybe some other time?”

  Without saying another word he turned and walk out of the garage and left Ally standing, rooted to the spot. Finally she released the breath she hadn’t even realised she was holding.

  “Who was that?” Anna from reception asked suddenly appearing from nowhere, making Ally jump with fright.

  “He’s nobody,” Ally replied still staring at the doorway Cole had just walked through, even though he was well gone. “Nobody that matters anyways”. But somehow, as she said the words, she knew she wasn’t completely sure if that were true.

  “Oh, Caitlin called a little while ago,” Anna said, suddenly remembering why she had come in to Ally. “She said she would meet you in Coopers instead of McGowan’s at eight.”

  “Thanks Anna,” Ally replied.

  She turned back to the car she was working on but this time she didn’t put the music back on. Her head was racing with thoughts of Cole. She snorted to herself as she thought of the conversation she just had with him. She thought of how he told her ever so confidently to change her plans, like all he had to do was snap his fingers and she would drop everything.

  God he is an arrogant asshole! She laughed to herself. She decided she had done the right thing telling him where to go. That guy had trouble written all over him and she had a lucky escape.

  She tried to push him out of her mind and concentrate on her work. It was Friday night and she was looking forward to hitting the town with her girls. It had been way too long and was very much just what she needed.

  Chapter 3

  It was just after eight when Ally reached Cooper's Pub and the place was already packed to the rafters. She stood for a moment, searching the bar for her friends. She fidgeted with her dress feeling
more than a little uncomfortable. She was a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl. But she wore a dress simply because she was in no mood to listen to Caitlin lecture her about dressing to show off her best assets, which apparently were her legs. So she made the effort whenever she went out with them.

  Finally, she spotted Hannah waving like a crazy person from the far side of the bar. Ally laughed and pushed her way through the heaving crowd.

  “I thought you were gonna bail on us again,” Caitlin said as Ally finally reached her friends. Ally didn’t reply as she slid into the seat next to Hannah. She knew Caitlin wasn’t wrong in what she had said. She hadn’t really been the friend she wanted to be over the past couple of years. Jason had been taking up all her free time.

  Ally had come to realise, now that she was no longer with Jason, just how clingy and possessive he had become. When she was with him she hadn’t seen anything wrong with that, but now thinking back he had nearly cut her off from her family and friends. He had even hated her job and constantly moaned it took up too much of her time. She had seen him almost every night, even on nights when she had wanted to have some time to herself.

  Didn’t stop him from screwing his slutty assistant! She thought to herself with a half laugh.

  “So what are you going to have to drink, Ally?” Hannah asked as she waved at a passing lounge girl snapping Ally from her thoughts.

  “I’ll have a white wine please,” Ally replied as she removed her coat.

  “So how were Nan and Pops?” Caitlin asked Ally after their round of drinks arrived.

  “They’re grand,” Ally smiled and sipped her wine. “Well apart from the fact Pops thinks I am getting on a bit and thinks I should be thinking about settling down before I get too old. Oh and of course I got the ‘Jason was a good man’ speech again.”

  “So you didn’t tell them what happened then?” Hannah replied.

  “What’s the point?” Ally sighed and took another sip of her wine.

  "Well, good riddance anyways!" Caitlin blurted. "You know I never liked him, Ally. I couldn't stand him. He was so controlling and possessive. We never saw you!"

  "Caitlin!" Hannah said quickly, giving her friend a look that said she had said too much and looked at Ally nervously.

  "Hannah, knock it off. You know you felt the same way."

  "You did?" Ally asked Hannah, completely surprised....

  “I...um...” stuttered Hannah, shifting nervously in her seat.

  “Are you serious?” Ally said staring at her friends in shock. “So neither of you liked him? Why didn’t you ever say anything?”

  “Well it was kind of hard when he was always there,” Caitlin replied curtly.

  “I had no idea,” Ally said, shocked by her friend revelations.

  “Look, I never said anything because you were happy,” Hannah explained. “And we just wanted you to be happy. But sometimes it just didn’t seem you were as happy as you should have been with him.”

  “Wow!” was all Ally could say. But as she thought about it, she knew her friends were right. She hadn’t been totally happy with Jason. Sometimes she felt like she was almost suffocating. But she was used to Jason and it was easier sometimes to just go along with him for peace sake. Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t. But was she ever really happy? Maybe that’s why she wasn’t that devastated when she caught him?

  Hannah changed the subject to a new guy that had started working in the bank where she worked and how amazingly gorgeous he was. Giving her friends a detailed description leaving Caitlin and Ally howling with laughter as she told them the story about how he had overheard a conversation between her and two other girls about all the naughty things they would love to do with him.

  They ordered another round and then another and another.

  “I met a guy!” Ally blurted suddenly about two hours after she had arrived at the pub, her tongue loosened by the alcohol.

  “You did what?” Both Hannah and Caitlin replied in unison.

  “Well I was asked out, but I told him where to go,” Ally continued.

  “Ok,” Caitlin said taking a sip of her drink and leaning forward in her seat. “Start at the beginning and leave nothing out.” So Ally told everything there was to tell about Cole Thomas. Well leaving out the part when she turned into a quivering mess and had nearly self-combusted just from the smell of him.

  “Are you insane?” Caitlin exclaimed, staring at Ally. “A hot, probably loaded guy asked you out and you turned him down. What the hell is wrong with you?”

  “I am not interested,” Ally sighed. “He is an overconfident cocky guy, who obviously thinks having money gives him the right to behave however he sees fit. I mean like I was going to change my plans because he said so. Give me a break.”

  Ally didn’t want to admit she hadn’t been able to get him out of her head all afternoon. All Afternoon? She thought to herself with a laugh. More like since she left him standing on the side on the Navan Road.

  “Ally you can’t compare every guy to your Dad,” Hannah said not sure if she should have or not.

  “I don’t,” Ally replied defensively, shifting uncomfortably in her seat. “But I know this guy is trouble. It was written all over his face. I have just got out of a nightmare relationship. I am not about to jump from the frying pan into the fire.”

  As if on cue, the lounge girl arrived with another round and placed them on the table in front of the three friends.

  “We didn’t order these,” Ally said, looking at the lounge girl like she had grown a second head.

  “I know,” she grinned. “The hot guy at the far end of the bar did.”

  In unison the three girls turned to see who the hot guy at the end of the bar was and Ally stomach nearly hit the floor. There sitting at the end of the bar was none other than Cole bloody Thomas.

  “Holy shit!” she exclaimed as he grinned at her and raised his glass.

  “Oh My God! Do you know him?” Hannah asked turning her gaze from the guy at the bar back to her friend.

  “That’s Cole Thomas.” Ally whispered, pulling her eyes away from his quickly.

  “HOLY SHIT!” Caitlin exclaimed and Ally quickly hit her and told her to lower her voice.

  “Ally, he’s coming over!” Hannah said suddenly. “He’s coming over! He’s coming over!”

  Ally’s eyes turned back to him in time to see him as he sashayed his way through the crowd, his gaze still fixed firmly on her. It was her first time seeing him not wearing a suit. Instead he was all dressed in black. Black jeans, a black fitted t-shirt and a black jacket. Ally didn’t think it was possible for him to look any sexier than he was. She was wrong.

  “Ladies,” he said with a grin when he finally reached their table.

  “Hi,” both Caitlin and Hannah replied at once. Ally just shifted uncomfortably and let her gaze drop to her glass as she could feel her cheeks burn.

  “It’s lovely to see you again, Ally,” Cole purred and she could feel his eye burning into her.

  “Hi.” was all she could managed to say, as she allowed her eyes to flick up and meet his. The minute their eyes connected she could feel her heart race.

  What the hell is he doing here? She thought to herself.

  “May I?” he asked pointing to the empty chair next to Ally.

  Ally was about to tell him no when Hannah answered him. “Sure,” she replied in her usual friendly tone.

  He slid into the seat next to Ally, sitting so close his thigh brushed against hers sending a shock straight through her making her almost jump from her seat. She quickly moved away so her leg was no longer touching his.

  He grinned as he watched her squirm in her seat. He knew he was affecting her. Anyone with eyes in the pub could have seen that. It wasn’t rocket science. Why the hell did he get to her so easily?

  “Cole Thomas,” he said reaching over Ally and holding out his hand to Hannah.

  “Hannah,” she replied with a huge smile taking his hand. She blushe
d a little and Ally rolled her eyes.

  “Caitlin,” Caitlin said as he held out his hand to her and she giggled like a school girl. Cole couldn’t help but grin.

  Oh for the love of God. Ally groaned to herself and rolled her eyes once again but this time she added a sigh.

  Cole turned his attention back to Ally and instantly she could feel her face burn under his intense stare.

  “This really is a pleasant surprise,” he said not taking his eyes off her. “I was just passing by and decided to pop in for a drink and here you were. What are the chances?”

  “Amazing!” Ally replied sarcastically and it hit her. This was no coincidence my ass. How the hell did he know she would be here tonight?

  “I was just sitting there thinking about how it would be lovely to see into you again,” Cole continued. “And then I turned around, and there you were.” He gave her a grin but Ally just stared at him, not really knowing how she should respond to that. So she decided it was best to say nothing.

  “So Cole, where do you work?” Caitlin said, sounding all giddy and girly so much that Ally actually laughed out loud. Cole turned back to Ally and looked at her questioningly. Ally face burned hotter.

  “I have my own software company,” he replied turning his attention back to Caitlin. “But I have my finger dipped in a few other pies too.”

  “Oh,” Caitlin sighed not really sure what he meant.

  “So Ally…” he said turning back to her, his eyes locking with hers and instantly her stomach somersaulted inside her. “How was the rest of your day?”

  “It was fine,” she replied trying to sound as calm as possible but she felt anything but calm.

  “Tell me, do you sing for all you customers like that?” he asked with a smile before he took a sip of his drink. “Or is it only for the special ones?”

  “You were not a customer.” she replied dryly holding his eyes with hers.

  “Ah, but I was special,” Cole said in a low voice, his eyes filled with need and desire making Ally heart bang hard in her chest. “I think you know that, don’t you, Ally?”