The Second Chance Read online

  Lyle was also related to one of the company’s personal assistants—Sage Hammond. Shana made a mental note to look deeper into Sage’s background and interview her about this Lyle character. She also needed to review the photos from the first stakeout.

  Wouldn’t Chuck have recognized his uncle? A lot of time had passed, though.

  Chuck’s mouth thinned before he continued, “I’m still not making the connection as to why you and Aiden followed a Lyle look-alike to a seedy motel.”

  Headlights from a lone car washed the SUV in a sickly yellow light, illuminating Alayna’s sheet-white face. She looked ghostlike in her puffed purple jacket. “I’ve always thought Uncle Lyle had something to do with that plane crash.”

  Shana held back a gasp of surprise. Clearly the girl believed what she was saying, but how?

  “That’s a pretty, um, substantial leap. You must have a reason.”

  “When I was a kid, I overheard a conversation between Uncle Lyle and some guy I didn’t know. It didn’t make sense then. I think I was too scared, too young, to trust what I heard. But over the years that conversation has haunted my dreams. Seeing his face tonight made me wonder if maybe...”

  Chuck pinned Alayna with a laser-fierce gaze. “If you’re right, then following him was the last thing you should have done. Do you realize you could have put your life at risk?”

  Her brows knitted in clear frustration as a vein surfaced on her forehead. Then Alayna visibly deflated, her hands wringing her scarf tighter, knuckles blanched. “You still don’t believe me.”

  “I believe that you believe it, and I believe you aren’t trying to hook up with Aiden.”

  The boy nodded with a tight smile. “Thanks.”

  Alayna leaned forward to grip the seat in front of her. “So, are we going to check out the lead?”

  “Shana is going to drive you both home,” Chuck said with a voice that brooked no argument. “I’ll drive Aiden’s vehicle and follow.”

  Alayna’s shoulders braced with ire, unusual from the normally passive girl. “You have no right.”

  Shana rested her hand on Chuck’s arm. “How about you and I just follow Aiden and Alayna to make sure they’re home safe and sound?”

  Muscles flexed under her touch but finally Chuck nodded. “That’s acceptable.”

  Acceptable? Shana couldn’t help but wonder who this stern man was, so different from the tender lover who showered her with ice cream and flowers.

  A chilling reminder that she really didn’t know him at all.

  * * *

  The drive to the Steele home had been strained, to say the least, but then, Chuck didn’t feel much like chitchat.

  His sister’s strange words and erratic behavior had rattled him. That his uncle could somehow be involved with the plane crash that had killed Jack Steele’s wife and daughter seemed a stretch. Uncle Lyle wasn’t sharp, by a long shot. He couldn’t have pulled off something of that magnitude—or that horrible.

  Alayna must be wrong.

  Chuck prayed she was wrong.

  He shook free of those thoughts and focused on following the car ahead of him as Aiden pulled up to the rustic Steele mansion on the water.

  Chuck glanced over at his silent wife in the passenger seat. Something wasn’t right with Shana, but he couldn’t deal with that just yet. He had another crisis at hand to settle first.

  Sliding into the Steele driveway, he threw the SUV into Park so quickly, the automobile seemed to stutter and exhale a sigh that echoed his own.

  He needed to get to the bottom of this situation with Alayna. A belly-deep frustration moved through his blood. The cold Alaskan night grew more and more complicated.

  Of course, he couldn’t deny some of his focus on his sister had to do with trying to control something in his life.

  Right now, he had to focus on making sure Aiden and Alayna were safely home and not running rogue with stakeouts of their own.

  Some answers about what Alayna thought she’d heard would be helpful, too.

  As silent as an encroaching shadow, he followed the two teens up the stairs to the house. Absently, he held the door for Shana, whose normally bright face sported knitted brows and chapped lips in a neutral line.

  The group moved into the great room, a fire crackling and popping in the massive fireplace. Their party wasn’t exactly loud. In fact, no one had spoken for some time. Still, the shuffling of bodies into the living room caused Jack and Jeannie to look up from their overstuffed leather sofa.

  Chuck’s mother and his new stepfather had been curled up on the sofa, enjoying the evening in front of the fire, if the wineglasses and cheese spread on the coffee table were any indication.

  It was strange for him still, Chuck admitted, to see them like this. For his family to now include once mortal business enemies. A blended family had its challenges, for sure, but the Steele-Mikkelson merger felt fraught with even more than potential corporate espionage and possibly murderous consequences, according to the slanderous statements made by Milla Jones.

  And, if Alayna’s half-formed childhood memory was to be believed, Uncle Lyle’s statements, as well.

  And that’s what Chuck needed to focus on, not how differently he’d hoped this evening would end for him and Shana.

  Jack and Jeannie were clearly startled by their entry. Chuck couldn’t blame them. He hadn’t called or texted. He’d simply acted on instinct, knowing he needed to be here. To talk in person. To sort out this mess. Perhaps Jack and Jeannie would have insights into Alayna’s strange memories.

  Chuck was less and less sure that asking Shana to take on this case was a good idea.

  Jeannie touched her chest in surprise. “Chuck, Shana, what a surprise. What brings you two here tonight?”

  Jack was as imposing as the antlers mounted above the fireplace. Broad and tough as nails, Jack cocked his head to the side. Though his stature had always been imposing, the Steele patriarch was gentle in the way he put an arm around his new wife.

  Chuck didn’t begrudge his mother her happiness, but it felt strange to surrender control of his family to this man because of some whirlwind romance that had flipped everyone’s world upside down.

  Chuck ran a hand down the back of his neck, about to drop a helluva story. “Shana and I were on a stakeout after the rodeo and we found these two—” he pointed to Aiden and Alayna, standing warily to the side “—going into a motel together.”

  Shana moved protectively toward his sister.

  Jeannie gasped.

  Jack scowled.

  Not a good start, but there was no easy way into this, for too many reasons.

  Alayna grabbed her mother’s arm. “We explained it to them already. I saw Uncle Lyle at the rodeo—”

  Jeannie discarded the plaid blanket that had draped around her shoulders. “He lives down in Montana.”

  “Well, I thought I saw him—” Alayna sounded less certain now “—and it made me remember things, especially with all of this talk about Milla Jones. Uncle Lyle wanted to hurt the Steeles, and we’re all a family now.”

  Neither Jack nor Jeannie looked much like they believed her. Still, the older Steele stepped up. “You should have come straight to us.”

  “You’re looking at me like I’m crazy,” Alayna cried. “I wanted proof and I had Aiden with me.”

  Jack glared at his youngest son. “You should have spoken to us.”

  “She was moving fast,” Aiden protested lamely.

  Jack glared. “You have a phone.”

  Aiden shrugged without meeting their eyes.

  Chuck’s radar went on alert again as he wondered if there was something going on between Aiden and Alayna, an attraction at the very least, which would make it all the tougher to weed through Alayna’s strange behavior and supposed memories.

  Memories.


  A beast all the way around these days—what had been forgotten by Shana, what had been remembered by his sister. Although he was more certain than ever that his sister’s recollections were faulty, the product of muddled nightmares from a tough time in their past mixing with a stressful present.

  And a need to get time alone with a certain Steele teen.

  Jeannie squeezed her son’s arm. “Thank you for taking care of this and bringing them home. Jack and I will handle it from here.”

  Chuck stalled. That was it?

  He was supposed to back down about Alayna and Aiden sneaking around together? He’d been in charge of the family since his father’s death and now his mother was making it clear his help was no longer needed?

  His family’s old mortal enemy was now the de facto dad.

  When the hell had the world turned so crazy?

  Chuck felt the sting of his mom’s dismissal, deeply. Although maybe it was just as well that he step aside, since he needed to focus on Shana, for tonight and for their future.

  Then he caught the scowl on his wife’s face and stopped short, remembering she wasn’t the least bit happy with him anymore.

  As confused as ever when it came to Shana, he sensed he was running out of time.

  * * *

  The echoing silence from Chuck sent Shana burrowing deep into her mind, hurt on Alayna’s behalf at how Chuck had handled things tonight.

  She thought about saying something to him...but then she realized the tension she’d felt from him in the car came from a different source than she’d first thought.

  Chuck was radiating pain.

  She’d been so focused on herself, she hadn’t fully considered all he’d been through with her health scare, the miscarriages, his father dying, his mother remarrying. He’d been so attentive to her every whim—without asking for anything in return.

  Perhaps the time had come to quit fighting the flow and just see where life led them. After the tense evening, Shana was more than ready to lose herself in their heated connection, so she could only imagine how he was feeling. Rather than an impulsive night of intimacy, she wanted to invite him back into their bedroom to stay while they worked through her lack of memories.

  “Chuck, do you think we could put aside what happened with your sister for now? There’s nothing more we can accomplish tonight.”

  His hands clenched around the steering wheel. “It has been a long day. You should probably rest.”

  She stroked a hand along his arm. “I’m not in the least tired. Are you?”

  He looked at her quickly, his eyebrows lifting in surprise. Then fire lit his expression. He stroked back her hair and cupped her face. “Sleep is the last thing on my mind.”

  “I’m glad we’re on the same page about how to spend the rest of the night.”

  Her fingertips quivered in anticipation, her mind filling with the promise of deep kisses and twining bodies. Chuck navigated the car into the garage, careful to avoid the other vehicles lined up in the large bay.

  Mind set, she reached for her door handle, anticipation singing through her veins.

  With lightning speed, Chuck moved out of the car, and positioned himself by the door to the house before Shana had a boot-covered foot on the cool pavement. He gave her a sheepish smile as he opened the side entrance to their home.

  As she shimmied out of her parka, her skin reveled at the warmth of the house. After placing her jacket on a hook, she shook out her hair, feeling freer and more comfortable than she had in weeks, confident in her choice, in her desire for him. Yanking off her boots, she smiled to herself, ready for this.

  Crouching, he lined up their boots on the racks along the floor of the large coatroom. “You handled things well with my sister. I shouldn’t have lost my temper.”

  She felt the heat of his gaze as he looked up at her. Those emerald green eyes seared her to her core, making her feel aware and awake. Shana’s breath hitched for a moment.

  Fire danced between them.

  He offered her a hand. With soft footfalls, he started down the side hallway to the back staircase. Alight with a new kind of intense desire for this man, her husband, she kept pace alongside him.

  “I get that you’re worried about your sister.” She stroked his arm. “That’s understandable. I’m just sorry I haven’t unearthed more information about Milla Jones.”

  They climbed the stairs, moving through the hallway where Alaskan landscapes hung on the wall, mixed with family and couple photos in muted gold frames.

  An image of them in hiking gear in Australia tugged at her.

  The photo also reminded her of how painful this time must be for him, having his wife forget about him. This should be a gloriously happy time in their marriage, expecting a child. Instead, she was floundering her way through her feelings for him, not to mention getting to know his entire family.

  “I don’t expect magic from the investigation, Shana. Every piece to the puzzle will eventually get us there.” He stopped outside the master suite, leaning against the door frame, his eyes distant.

  “Like putting together my memory.” Five years of memories with this man—her husband, the father of her child—just gone. “I wish I remembered our past.”

  She stroked his face, tears and longing clogging her throat.

  He cupped her hand and pressed it closer to his skin. “I have the honor of making you fall in love with me all over again.”

  His words made her heart flip inside her chest.

  She couldn’t claim to be in love with him, but she understood they must have been in love before. With his devotion to recapturing that again, how could she help but be moved?

  One thing was without question.

  Their chemistry was off the charts.

  And while she couldn’t seem to reclaim the memories she’d lost, she was determined to fill the present with fresh ones.

  She arched up to skim her lips against his. “Come back to our bedroom. Make love to me.”

  With a low, sexy growl of consent, he sealed his mouth to hers. He reached behind her to open the bedroom door. Chuck scooped her into his arms and carried her across the threshold into her bedroom.

  Their bedroom.

  It felt so natural, so right, to be in his strong arms. Yes, she understood that he had an advantage because he knew her body so well. But instinct seemed to lead her just as surely; she knew just how to touch him, too.

  Slowly, he eased her to her feet again, sliding her down the length of his body while sprinkling kisses along her face, her neck, nipping her earlobe. Hunger grew, flaring. Their hands swept away clothes, perfectly synchronized in brushing aside all barriers between them.

  The backs of her bare legs bumped the bed, and he lowered her onto the broad expanse, never taking his eyes off her. His eyes flaming with desire, he knelt beside her, the mattress shifting with his weight.

  Side by side they lay, his caresses intense and reverent all at once. He was so different from the angry, overprotective brother from earlier. Back to the man she’d come to know.

  The husband determined to romance her.

  And she was quite happy to be wooed by his seductive caresses. To forget her concerns and grasp hope, to hold her husband.

  To lose herself in long, passionate kisses.

  Her restless legs kicked aside the downy comforter. Her foot glided along his calf as she met him touch for touch, stroke for stroke. She savored the feel of his hard muscled body, honed from years outdoors. He wasn’t just a man behind a desk. And he wasn’t a cowboy in name only.

  He was all man, earthy and sexy.

  And hers.

  He hooked an arm behind her knee and inched her leg higher, bringing her closer until...yes...the steely heat of him pressed against her core.

  His eyes met hers, as he held her, as he slowly, ever s
o deliberately, slid inside her.

  The delicious warmth of his thickness filled her with his warmth and with a sense of how right this was. Her body knew him, remembered him in a way that her mind still wrestled to rediscover.

  Awash in sensation, she surrendered to the elemental. To pleasure rippling along her every nerve. She combed her hands into his wayward hair and drew him closer for another taste, tongues meeting and mating in a thrust and caress that matched their bodies.

  Bliss built, taking her higher, faster, but she didn’t even consider holding back because there would be more. She would have him in her bed for many nights to come, giving her time to explore every incredible inch of him at her leisure.

  The power of her release gripped her in wave after wave of ecstasy. She arched into each pulsing tremor rocking through her. Chuck’s hoarse shouts mingled with her sighs as they found their climax together.

  She hadn’t thought anything could top their time together in the greenhouse, but there had been something special to this moment, with its promise of more.

  Sweat cooling on her body, she languished in his arms, melting in the aftermath. Her fingers drew lazy circles down her husband’s strong arm, along the defined muscles.

  Chuck pulled the downy comforter over her and kissed her forehead. “I’ll go get us some food. The rodeo refreshments feels like forever ago.”

  “Don’t they, though?”

  So much had happened in one evening, which likely explained her exhaustion. Or maybe pregnancy symptoms were finally catching up with her. She’d been following the doctor’s orders to the letter, keeping in mind past miscarriages. She touched her stomach, thinking about the baby growing there.

  It seemed surreal. Chuck’s child.

  Rolling to her back, she flung her arm overhead, stretching before swinging her feet to the floor. She tugged on Chuck’s T-shirt, breathing in the scent of him, his voice drifting from the hall and over her senses.

  A call? This late?

  Curiosity piqued, she padded across the room. He had his cell on speakerphone, his voice a low rumble, his words indistinguishable. And the other voice...