Slow Dancing (The Second Chances Series Book 4) Read online

  By

  Isobelle Cate

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

  SLOW DANCING

  All rights reserved.

  Copyright 2018 © Isobelle Cate

  Cover: Down Write Nuts

  Formatting: Down Write Nuts

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author / publisher. All songs, song titles and lyrics contained in this book are the property of the respective songwriters and copyright holders.

  Fifteen years ago, Drake Rosen was forced to leave the girl he loved, only to find her gone when he returned. He never forgot her, the only girl his heart belonged to, until he sees her during Oliver and Felicity’s wedding. She has now become a beautiful woman who gives meaning to every beat of his heart. The woman who can bring him to his knees.

  Bethany Brooke was never one to fit in. Scrawny, shy, and partially hearing impaired she was the butt of cruel taunts in school. Drake was the boy who protected her, shielded her and gave her the time of day. Her knight in a faded uniform, he was the one who drew the curtains back to let light colour her world and sound even more beautiful. He was the one she fell in love with. But when Drake is forced to leave, Bethany is left to fend for herself until she, too, is forced to leave her home. Fifteen years later, while walking the trails of Sandbanks, she sees the boy who owned her heart from the very start. He is now a man that gives sound to her racing pulse, someone she craves.

  Giving in to the attraction they have had for a long time, they have a shot at a love denied them all those years ago. But someone is working in the background to pull them apart. If Drake finds out the secrets Bethany is keeping, not only will it destroy their fragile love. It’s the ultimate betrayal that will break Drake’s heart.

  They say it takes two to tango. For Drake and Bethany, it will have to be the slow dance of their lives.

  Contents

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

  CHAPTER THIRTY TWO

  CHAPTER THIRTY THREE

  CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR

  CHAPTER THIRTY FIVE

  EPILOGUE

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Never give up on second chances

  Slow Dancing Playlist

  Homesick – Dua Lipa

  How would you feel – Ed Sheeran

  Love me like you do – Ellie Goulding

  Helium - Sia

  Keep us Together – Jessie J

  Wildest Moments – Jessie Ware

  Honest - Kodaline

  This Town – Kygo feat. Sasha Sloan

  Leave Out All The Rest – Linkin Park

  Frozen – Madonna

  This Town – Niall Horan

  Too Much To Ask – Niall Horan

  What about Love – P!nk

  Beautiful Trauma – P!ink

  As you Are – Rag ‘n Bone Man

  Love not Lovers – The Script

  Somebody Else – The 1975

  PROLOGUE

  Fifteen years ago

  “I like putting my head on your shoulder.”

  His mouth twitched and his heart fluttered. “Really? Why?”

  “Because it’s strong.”

  He angled his head to look down at her hair of spun gold. “Just the shoulder?”

  She nodded. “Yup, just the shoulder.”

  He sighed. “But that’s my shoulder, and it’s attached to my arm, which is attached to me.”

  She sighed back. “But you don’t have your arm around me. So if your arm is attached to you, I only still have just your shoulder. I don’t have you.”

  His heart soared. He’d never had his arm around a girl before. Especially this girl. His special girl. He moved, and she lifted her head. She looked at him with those soulful eyes of hers that reminded him of bluest shades of the summer sky.

  And his world tilted.

  Her face was so close to his he could see the light dusting of freckles on the bridge of her nose and the small pale scar just above her left brow. He could kiss her…God, he wanted to kiss her, but he didn’t know how. Instead, he settled for awkwardly putting his arm around her shoulders. The beam she gave him went straight to his soul.

  She settled back once more, her head on his shoulder and her arms around his waist. Surely, she could hear his heart racing?

  “That’s much better,” she murmured, a smile in her voice and in her sigh.

  “Why?” he swallowed, his emotions rioting all over the place for the girl in his arms. “Because you have me?”

  “Yeah. Though I only have a part of you.”

  He grinned, and he kissed her hair. She squeezed him hard. His heart overflowed.

  “Just a part?” he asked. He rubbed her arm gently, loving the feel of her skin against his palm. “We need to fix that.”

  “Yes, we do,” she said softly. “Then I’ll have all of you.”

  CHAPTER ONE

  Sandbanks, the Lake District

  Present Day

  Drake Rosen took one of the canapés and popped it in his mouth while he observed Oliver and Felicity Cray work the crowd.

  Felicity was the quintessential blushing bride, her platinum and diamond tiara glittered even from where he stood by the buffet table. Oliver was with the men who had lived in the area, older men who knew him in his youth before he left. His face was sombre, his forehead creased in concentration while he listened. Still, there was no doubt that Oliver watched his wife with an eagle eye tracking her movements. Oliver’s harsh features had softened the moment Felicity became his wife. He was a man who now had the most precious thing in the world.

  A man who had everything.

  Drake wouldn’t mind if he found that kind of peace where there was a woman by his side. But he’d probably not watch or track his woman of the day with as much possessiveness that Oliver exhibited. Sure, while the woman was his fuck buddy, he wouldn’t want someone else’s wick dipping into her well unless there was some unspoken arrangement of non-exclusivity. Even then, that wouldn’t sit well with him. He just didn’t want getting tied down with some chick who’d end up leaving five years down the line. Too much of a hassle going through a divorce.

  Not
that he’d been thought a divorce or that he believed Oliver and Felicity would go down that road. Marriage just wasn’t for him. He had no plans of being responsible for a woman in his future. They were merely pussies to pamper his dick.

  Save for one.

  Drake looked away as though a different part of the churchyard could stop resurrecting so many memories like ghosts of the dead lurking in the periphery of his vision, taunting him and laughing at the path Drake was forced to take.

  Yet in the midst of the same shadows, a light glimmered like the twinkling of moonlight on water on a dark night. It was the wraith he’d have willingly given his freedom for just to be by her side. She was there, always at the back of his mind. His candle of hope was also the source of his despair. When he least expected it, her beautiful spectre arrived to tease him with hair from which the sun stole its light and eyes so blue it made darkness cry at their beauty.

  Drake watched Oliver once more. He’d found out more about Oliver in a week’s time than all the years they had been neighbours. Major Oliver Cray was an ex-soldier and head of a covert ops team that worked within the confines of plausible deniability.

  But that went to pot when he lost his leg saving Felicity from the killer who breached the inner sanctum of Bridgewater Lofts. Oliver’s team refused to continue working without him at the helm. They followed him when he set up C-5 Security.

  Felicity moved away from Oliver to speak to some of the villagers who came to attend the reception. When Oliver couldn’t move closer to his wife or as quickly as he wanted to because of his prosthetic leg, he only had to glance at Vincent Spassky, the team’s sniper, who moved like a portable wall keeping Felicity in sight.

  Drake’s mouth twitched at the number of people who stared slack jawed at Vincent. A huge boulder f a man, he would have made a good cage fighter. Maybe Drake could convince him to leave the spook business and be one of his fighters.

  A small marquee was placed on the church’s grounds housing several tables and chairs where people could sit, but everyone opted to stay outside since it was a beautiful day. The living mingling among the dead.

  With Oliver and Felicity’s wedding, there was a new beginning.

  Drake continued to watch the crowd. Apart from Luke Bryce and himself, the men in their group who owned Bridgewater Lofts couldn’t make it to the wedding. Rouen Abelard had pressing matters to attend to in France. And Kieran… Drake stared out without seeing. The last time he saw Kieran was in Felicity’s restaurant when they were talking about what to do with the flats. They still needed to discuss the building’s renovation and tightening security especially after the recent security breach. But they couldn’t find Kieran. Without him, they couldn’t put any proposal to a vote.

  A young girl approached Vincent and shook his trouser leg before raising her arms. Her golden curls bobbed as she waited, tiny fingers curling and wriggling in the air. Drake took a sip of his champagne to wash down the taste of the chorizo in his mouth, the bubbles flattening against his tongue. He choked a laugh at the sight of Vincent’s hard face breaking into a smile when he bent to pick the child up into his arms. The squeal from the little girl brought a lull in the conversation around them as people looked askance. But the laughter that burst from the little girl’s throat eased the trepidation in the air and people resumed their conversations. Vincent joined in the young girl’s laughter. When the girl’s squeal pealed like the sweetest chimes, an unfamiliar tightening settled in Drake’s chest.

  There was a girl, his special girl whose laugh had the power to make Drake kneel and lay his heart at her feet. One girl who had been bold enough to approach him to ask him to keep her safe when no one else had been willing to help her get settled as a new transferee from another school. The one with whom he shared quiet moments, the best times of his young life while they sat together on the roof of her house. No words were needed when their hearts spoke. At least his heart did. It always knew when she was near. All those moments disappeared when he was forced to leave and they lost contact like a beautiful dream gone up in smoke.

  His phone rang as he watched Vincent once more being overrun by children like he was the old woman who lived in a shoe.

  “Rosen.”

  “When are you heading back to town?”

  “Soon,” Drake replied, still chewing whatever was left inside his mouth. “It’s not like the gym is going to collapse without me for a day. Caius.”

  “Drop the sarcasm, Drake. We need to talk about selling your interest.”

  “Sure.” Drake shrugged even though Caius couldn’t see him. He placed his glass down and popped another canapé inside his mouth. “As long as your contact meets my price and the fighters are well taken care of, I’ll be more than happy to sell. I just don’t see that happening.”

  Caius’ frustration breathed down the line. “This is the best fucking deal we have!”

  “For you.” A steely edge crept into Drake’s voice. “I’m not willing to go below twenty million plus health insurance and pension. That’s a very reasonable price.”

  “We can’t sustain this!”

  The sound of rustling sheets in the background and a woman’s voice whining for Caius to come back to bed reached Drake’s ear he nearly choked on his food.

  “Seriously? In the middle of screwing a chick? Desperation is an understatement for you. I can and I will sustain this business.”

  Drake was no saint but he was disgusted at how low his business partner was willing to go. He may dip his wick into a lot of waxed mounds but he didn’t do women in relationships. Caius had a wife and kids and he sure as hell wasn’t with Fiona right now. For all of his associate’s rant, Caius was a pussy when a pussy was about to give him head.

  “Drake!”

  He ended the call. Business was business. Business was not under discussion during a fuck session. Not that it would stop him either thinking about his enterprise while he rammed his dick into a one night stand’s plump lips.

  Drake was annoyed. The first business he and Miles O’Hanlon decided to co-own was now in jeopardy. It was gym that Miles had taken him to all those years ago until they decided to take it over. The Erudite Club and Gym or EC Gym for short.

  It wasn’t easy deciding to let go of the gym but he didn’t want to get tied down with managing it all on his own after Miles, his former high school coach wanted out. He was getting old to have to deal with the gym’s operations. Drake could give it to the fighters like a cooperative where they could handle the operations and make it as big as they could to reap the benefits of their hard work. His gut told him otherwise. They weren’t ready to handle the gym yet.

  Drake took another champagne flute from a passing tray when his heart gonged as hard as the Big Ben, making air whoosh out from his surprised lungs. Only one person made his heart beat that way but she was gone. Had been gone for a long time and he had been trying to find her without success. His heart thudded like the false start of a car with a dead battery.

  What the fuck?

  He couldn’t be having a coronary. He’d passed his medical check-up with flying colours.

  His gaze narrowed at the guests, at those passing through Sandbanks to enjoy its scenic views of grassy hills and walking trails. Curious onlookers who slowed down by the church’s low stone fence to stare at the wedding reception before moving on. Drake scanned the throng entering the café opposite the church, the outdoors and souvenir shop. One more sweeping gaze, and the glass he held froze midway to his mouth.

  Two women stood out in the crowd of walkers and tourists in the small village. Both had dark hair but it was just one of the women he focused on. Drake stared in shock. He’d recognise her anywhere. Her facial features were different and so much the same. Sky blue eyes, pert nose, and easily blushing cheeks.

  Bethany?

  She had been a natural blond but her black hair with dark blue strands that matched the colour of her eyes when she was angry made her look more the woman than the girl he re
membered. Alluring, attractive, seductive. Why didn’t he consider that she’d change her appearance when he had hired the private investigator to find her? Why did he think she’d stay the same as he’d left her? No wonder the PI didn’t find anything.

  Hot and cold heat pressed at agonizingly slow intervals through him causing an invisible vice to squeeze his chest. Nothing like going through his first heart attack if it came to that. She may have altered her appearance but that didn’t stop Drake from immediately knowing it was her. The one he had been forced to leave behind. It didn’t matter if she was a woman with the natural looking make-up in a sea of women with the same look. He’d still find her, still set a course to her even if the other women enticed him to take them instead of Bethany because she was and forever would be the light in his fucked up life.

  Drake’s heart tripped when her mouth lifted in a smile.

  Look at me, Bethany. Smile at me. Please.

  She and her friend stood beside his car outside the church’s gates. Bethany was curvier now and he liked that. Her fitted walking jacket was testament to the perfect curvature of her breasts and slim waist, enhancing her pert heart shaped ass. A far cry from when she had been something between a bean pole and a lamp post. But that didn’t stop him from wanting her any less.

  Somewhere, Drake’s brain picked up glass shattering and the gasps of those near him. Stinging pain bloomed in his hand and it hurt bad. He pulled his gaze away from Bethany to see that he had crushed the champagne flute he was holding. The bubbly ran with his blood to drip to the grass by his feet.

  “Rosen, what the hell?” A frowning Oliver was followed closely by Felicity.

  “That’s a nasty cut.” Felicity winced, taking one of the thick napkins and putting it under Drake’s hand while Oliver carefully removed what was left of the glass from Drake’s grasp save for a shard embedded in the fleshy part of his palm.