Never Say Never, Part Two (Second Chance Romance, Book 2) by Melissa Shaw Page B

charity he was associated with.  
    She’d had no clue he was this influential. Those butterflies beat against the walls of her stomach with baseball bats.  
    The elevator stopped on the seventh floor and Mr Paper Stack bustled out. Thankfully, no one else joined her. It was late on a Friday afternoon, maybe things had slowed in the business world.  
    The elevator tinged and the doors slid open for the second time. On the twelfth floor.  
    She stepped onto marble floors which were so clean they had a sheen.
    Emily strode down the hall, looking left and right, but there were no offices, just one big open space filled with chairs, a glass room on one end with a board room table and rich red upholstered chairs, and at the very end of the space, there was a door.  
    Chase Newman.
    “Shit.” This was it.  
    She stopped in front of it and knocked once.  
    “Come.”  
    Double shit. He sounded pissed.  
    She turned the golden knob and entered, then closed up behind her.  
    “Emily.” It was a statement, but it came out an accusation.
    “You don’t seem happy to see me.”  
    “Why would I be?” He sat behind a long desk with papers and spreadsheets strewn in front of him. His tie was undone, hair a mess and had dark rings under his eyes.  
    “You look haggard.”  
    “Thanks,” he answered without a smile.  
    This was a total about face for him. Normally he was the one all over her, asking if they could talk.  
    “Can I help you with something?”  
    “I just thought we should talk. The other night at the restaurant –”
    “You were right.” He picked up a couple papers and patted them into the semblance of a neat pile, then shifted them aside.  
    “What?” Emily bit her lip. He was cold towards her, even worse than he’d been the day Janet had charged in and revealed her secret. One of them at least.  
    “About us not talking again. We shouldn’t be in contact.”  
    It knocked her backwards. She gripped the doorknob behind her and tried to catch her breath. “Chase,” she gasped.  
    “Time for you to leave, Emily.”  
    “I won’t,” she said, sticking her chin out. She’d been angry with him for so long, and now she’d finally let go and readied herself to forgive and forget, and he met her with this.  
    Was she right about him? Couldn’t she trust him?  
    “This is pointless. I want nothing to do with you.” He stood and slammed his laptop shut.  
    “Where is this coming from? The other night you were all over me, stroking my cheek, kissing me,” she choked up on the last part.  
    “The other night I was delusional.”
    “Bullshit.”  
    He nodded at her. “Yeah I was. I was stuck in this weird psycho-fuck connection we have. Maybe it’s because we’re both broken. But two halves don’t make a whole. I don’t care for you anymore, and you need to leave now. Now.”
    “Chase, you can’t be –”  
    “Get out.” He swept up more of those cursed papers and whipped open a file. He took out his punch, ignoring her completely.  
    “What’s happened? You’re so cold.”  
    She’d come to help him out, but he didn’t want anything to do with her. It wasn’t right. This couldn’t be the end.  
    God, had she pushed him too hard the last time? She hadn’t rejected him as strongly as this.  
    “I know.”  
    “What do you mean?” But a Titanic-sized ice block slid into her stomach. Or an iceberg the size of the one which took down the Titanic.  
    “Janet told me the truth about your crime, Emily.”  
    Oh shit. This couldn’t be happening.  
    “No, you have to let me explain this. You can’t take someone else’s word for this when I’m standing right here in front of you.”  
    Emily marched to his desk, but the pressure of her crime pulled her downwards. It was like slogging through a marsh and each step took her further from salvation and closer to his ire.  
    Chase didn’t flinch away. He met her gaze with cruel intensity. With a glare