Last Chance - L. P. Dover Page 0,37

give him the same attention I’m giving you. She knows I talked to you on the phone.”

He huffed. “I knew this was going to happen, but it still sucks ass to hear. I just hate you have to do this in the first place.”

“I agree,” I murmured. “But there’s no other way. Everyone’s keeping me in the dark when it comes to you two. They said I have to figure it out on my own. In doing that, I know I’m going to hurt you both and it kills me.”

“We’re big boys, we’ll be fine. You just do what you have to do, Lara. I might not like it, but I have to believe you’ll find your way back to me.”

Glancing at the clock, my time was running out. “I have to go,” I murmured regretfully. “What time will I see you tomorrow?”

“Bright and early. I want as much time with you as I can get.”

For once in my life, I didn’t mind getting up early to do something. “I’ll be ready. Be safe driving home.”

“Sweet dreams, Lara.”

“Same to you.” We hung up and my heart fluttered. But what if it did the same when I saw Grayson? There’d been a reason I fell for him, and if it turned out I had feelings for him, I was screwed. How would I ever be able to choose?

The tavern wasn’t far from my house, so it only took a few minutes to get there. One car was left in the parking lot, and I assumed it was Grayson’s. The back door of the building was locked, but Summer had showed me which key to use to unlock it. When I walked inside, I could hear the faint sound of country music and a man singing along with the tune; it was Grayson. He had a really nice voice.

I didn’t want him to know I was listening, so I stood back and peered around the corner. I glanced around the restaurant, at the tables and the memorabilia on the walls. Nothing looked familiar to me. It was hard to believe I was standing in a well-known restaurant I co-owned.

When the song finished, I stepped out of the shadows and approached the bar. Grayson had his back to me, straightening up the liquor bottles. “You sing beautifully,” I called out.

He jerked around and grabbed his chest. “Shit, you scared the piss out of me.” Sucking in a breath, he ran a hand through his tousled auburn hair and stared at me with emerald green eyes.

I sat down at the bar and snickered. “Didn’t mean to scare you. I thought I’d come by and see you. Summer told me you called.”

Clearing his throat, he leaned on the bar. “I was starting to think you weren’t going to call.”

“And here I am,” I said, holding out my arms. “Was it busy tonight?”

He snorted. “It’s always busy. We’ve had to hire lots of new people. While you were in the hospital, we promoted Victoria to manager. She’s been a big help.”

I couldn’t remember Victoria, but I figured I knew who she was. “That’s good. I’ll be back on Monday, but I don’t know how much help I’m going to be.”

“You’ll do fine.” He walked around the bar to join me. Sitting on the stool beside mine, he turned me to face him, our bodies only inches apart. His hands grabbed mine and I stiffened. “I have faith in you.”

When he leaned in to kiss me, my first reaction was to back away. It came out of nowhere, but I followed my instinct—it was the only thing I had to go on.

He immediately let my hands go, but I could see the pain in his eyes. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that. It’s just seeing you makes me think everything is back to normal.”

“It’s just weird for me. I know we were engaged, and obviously intimate, but I can’t pick up where we left off. I still don’t know what happened between us. You say you’re my fiancé, but Luke and Evan disagree.” His jaw clenched and he huffed, but I continued, “Summer doesn’t know what I should do, so it’s up to me to figure it out. And right now, I don’t know what to believe.”

“I’m your fiancé, Lara,” he stated adamantly. “I love you so much. It pains me that you don’t remember what we had. What’s worse is, Collins is probably saying all sorts of shit about me.”

I could feel his anger radiating