Free The Second Time Around by Angie Daniels Page A

in hand.
    Brenna sat up in the bed then reached up and removed the scarf from her head and combed her fingers through her hair. Glancing over at the window, she watched the yellow curtains sway due to a gentle ocean breeze filtering through the room. She sighed. It was going to be another lovely day. Staring out the window, she thought about how different the two cities were.
    The only complaint she had about Dallas was the humid summer heat. It was so hot that she had started taking a change of clothes with her to work. The greatest advantage was there wasn’t any snow. When she had first run off to stay with her cousin Latoya in Denton, a suburb of Dallas, she vowed to never return to Sheraton Beach. That winter, every time she left the house dressed in a light jacket she’d smile. However, last year she had found herself missing ice-skating on Sheraton Pond, the sleigh rides, and sliding down the hill on the back of Jabarie’s toboggan while holding on tightly to his waist.
    Brenna closed her eyes as thoughts of him filled her mind. Sundays they used to spend together. Traveling along the coast. Going to New York for the weekend for dinner and a Broadway play. Or even staying home out on the beach, jet skiing or engaging in some other water sport. But what she enjoyed most was the two of them spending afternoons swinging in a hammock that hung from a large tree in Aunt Nellie’s backyard. Opening her eyes, she stared out the window again and couldn’t help but wonder what he had planned for the day. He was probably planning to spend the day with some special woman in his life. The thought caused a wave of jealousy that she didn’t want to feel. She yawned and tried to push the feelings and thoughts aside, but it was too late. It had already been embedded in her mind. The thought of Jabarie being with another woman bothered her. Why, she wondered. After all, their relationship ended five years ago. And she would be a fool to think that like her, he had been celibate all these years. But as she dragged her legs up to her chest and leaned back against the headboard, she realized that a part of her would always love Jabarie. After all, he had been her first for so many things.
    Brenna rested her chin on her knee as she remembered their first kiss. She was thirteen at the time and even though it was awkward, and her braces had gotten in the way, it was an experience she had never forgotten. When she was fifteen, Jabarie had taken her on her first date to the movies. The whole time they held hands. At eighteen she had given him her virginity. She released a heavy sigh. There was no way she could think about her past and not think about Jabarie.
    With a scowl, she pushed back the sheets and swung her legs over the side of the bed then she rose slowly and put her feet inside her slippers. There was no way she was going to spend her day lying in bed thinking about Jabarie. She moved to the shower and quickly climbed beneath the water. But as she closed her eyes and relaxed her shoulders while the hot invigorating water massaged her shoulders, memories of her past, flooded her mind again.
    When she thought of Jabarie, she had no choice but to think of the way her body had responded to him. Jabarie knew she wanted him because she was certain he’d felt the tremors and her panic when he kissed her. All it had taken was a kiss and the sound of his deep baritone voice to bring her so close to giving herself to him.
    Why am I thinking about him? She needed to get dressed and enjoy her day off, yet she was wondering if Jabarie was thinking about her as well. Angrily, she reached for the soap and lathered her washcloth then started to sing, determined to rid him from her mind. As she washed her body, she sung one song after another, occupying her mind with everything but them. But it didn’t last. Before long she was singing what had once been considered “their song” and screamed inwardly. Damn that