Page 65 of Barron's Second Chance
She swallowed visibly; the pulse at the base of her neck was beating erratically, causing her to soothe it with cold fingers.
Barron's eyes followed her movement, flaring in response at seeing her bare neck, the soft curve leading towards her naked shoulders, which was only hidden by a thin layer of material.
His arm curled behind her head along the top of the couch. She was sorely tempted to lean back, to encourage his arm to drop further until he pulled her body towards his.
"Let me explain first about Tracey."
And just like that, her name on his lips cooled her libido, and she shifted away slightly, uncomfortable with the turn of conversation.
"What's there to explain?"
She jumped when his warm hands reached out to come down heavy on her own, which were tightly wound together on the cushion. She stared down at his long fingers, the light hair dusting the top of his arm, the tan in stark contrast against her own pale complexion.
She flicked her blue eyes to meet his, breathing shallowly through her nose at how close he was. His eyes were like molten swirls of gold, mesmerizing her with their intensity.
"We got busier that season, a lot busier than we anticipated. Ian, I think you met him on Wednesday? Anyway, he asked some of our seasonal workers if they wanted to stay on as permanent staff. Tracey took him up on the offer, which surprised me considering how much she talked about moving onto one of the bigger cities."
He paused, allowing his words to sink in and process.
"That was the beginning of the end for us. I made it clear that I was only looking for a good time, so once I found out that she was staying on in New Haven, I ended things immediately."
He squeezed her hands which still lay frigidly beneath his. "She wouldn't accept my decision and constantly offered me sex."
She turned to him, frowning. "But she said you hit her up for sex not that long ago."
He nodded, then sighed, removing his hands from hers to run through his hair. "I did."
"Okay, then." She gave a choked, derisive snort.
Barron chose to ignore her scorn, pushing forward with his story.
"It's true that I hadn't slept with anyone since my Mom told me you were coming back this summer. It wasn't a conscious decision. I had no doubt that you weren't interested in seeing or talking to me."
He gave a self-deprecating snort. "I mean, you barely acknowledged me all the times you did come back to New Haven."
Well, he wasn't wrong there. When she floated the idea past her Mom that she was thinking of coming home for summer, Barron was far from her thoughts.
She had no doubt that if it hadn't been for Kelly's classes, she would've breezed into town, hung with her Mom, Mike, Sofia, and Ryan, with no desire to see anyone else.
Sure, she would've made an effort to visit The Homestead out of curiosity. Would she have cared if Lissa came stumbling out of his office half naked? It might've stung to see that they were still hooking up. But she probably would've rolled her eyes and assumed that Barron hadn’t changed, no matter how innocent he was in that particular scenario.
She would've been back in New York by now or off somewhere on vacation, once again never talking or being susceptible to any interactions with Barron. Never in a million years would she have expected to be sitting on her couch with him, listening to him explain his sexual activities.
Taking her silence as concession, Barron pressed on. "Anyway, Mom was at pains to let me know the day, the exact hour you would be back in New Haven. She called me that morning to tell me that she was coming round to yours to surprise you."
His mouth twisted in dry humor. "I wasn't prepared for how much it would affect me."
She frowned. "What do you mean?"
"I got off the phone with Mom, and I was immediately restless. I had a lot of pent-up energy in me after her call. I knew that the thought of you coming back to New Haven, spending time with my parents, and staying for a lot longer than you normally did was causing me all that anxiety. But I ignored that. In my dumb head, I thought what I needed to do to relieve the tension was to have sex."
He paused, casting his eyes on her to observe how she was taking his words. "It had been so long since I had sex. I mean, I wasn't counting the days or anything. But that's the first thing I thought of because I refused to acknowledge that the thought of you coming home tore me up so badly."
'So you had sex with Tracey?" She inferred.
"No!" His voice rose passionately as he grabbed her hands again, squeezing tightly to convey how much he was feeling.
"No. I thought that’s what I needed. So yes, I did ask her to come over that night when I saw her at The Homestead."
