Second Chance with the Playboy Read online

  “Night, sir.”

  It was hard to think of Annabel. A family emergency had caused him to rush out of her house without saying goodbye. But then, she had never contacted him again; Marcus had no idea where she had gone or even where her family lived. Okay, so I should have asked beforehand, he chastised himself. Then she had gone, and he did what he generally did in those days—moved on.

  Something had always been missing; he had never felt that true love that people had so often felt. Where you don’t know what you would do without that special person in your life. “Oh, to hell with this,” he said, tossing his coat over his shoulder. Work could wait. If his leathers weren’t going to fit, he would need to get to the shopping center before it closed at eight.

  The traffic had died down now, and it only took him twenty minutes to get home. Opening the heavy oak door, he walked slowly into his home. Mail was piled up behind the door. Marcus bent down, gathering the heaps of letters and throwing them on the side table. It was too quiet. All Emily’s toys still lay strewn around the house. Dolls shoes littered the stairs, and little dresses were scattered in the fruit bowl.

  The guilt rose up in his throat. He felt sick. He knew he should tidy up and make the house more suitable for visitors, but the truth was, Marcus couldn’t be bothered. He didn’t care. Taking the stairs two at a time, he went to the upper level and into his room. With a yank on the wardrobe door to open it, he then hunted for his biker leathers. They lay crumpled in the darkest corner of the wardrobe. Unwanted, unloved, just like him.

  After stripping down to his boxers and socks, he eased the black leather trousers over his toned legs. He smiled at himself in the mirror, surprised they still fit. “Saves me a shopping trip.” Marcus grabbed a carryall from the top of the wardrobe stuffing his leather jacket, boots, and trousers into it. His bright yellow helmet sat staring back at him like a cat on watch at midnight.

  Chapter Two

  Annabel had spent her spare time over the past several weeks liaising with the biker groups, thanks in most part to Rachel’s biker contacts. The Farmers Pub Lancing’s car park was already packed. Annabel had been told this particular pub was used by a bike group for their meetings, and a lot of charity runs and other rides already set off from here. So she decided that if others were already using it as a starting point, she would too.

  She stood clutching the list of doctors and nurses who would be teamed up with which biker and from which group. Seeing Rachel standing alone, Annabel walked quickly toward her. “Hey, it’s a great turn out, don’t you think?”

  Rachel pointed in the distance. “Yes, look. Even the local TV crews have come. We will do all right I think. Mr. Wild will not be shutting our ward down anytime soon.”

  Annabel caught Rachel looking her up and down “What’s up?”

  “You don’t seem much like a biker chick.” Rachel’s comment stung.

  “Well, I don’t think I could get these hips into a pair of leathers, do you?” Annabel frowned. She had always been on the curvaceous side. She had child-bearing hips—that’s what her mother used to say.

  “Nothing will go wrong, Annabel. Stop worrying.”

  “I hope not, Rachel.” Annabel wasn’t sure if her plan would work. “Hey, have you seen Lucas from pathology in his pink lycra shorts?”

  Annabel smiled as she thought of the reception staff doing the run pushing a bed. That would be hard work. After all, it would take them days to complete the journey.

  Her friend nodded and then burst into peals of laughter. “You look tired.”

  “Thanks.” Annabel shook her head. “Between organizing this and doing double shifts at the hospital, I’m exhausted.”

  Because of all the monetary cuts this year, the ride was vital. Annabel would need as many people as possible sponsoring the riders or taking part in order to raise the much-needed funds. She had spent weeks contacting all the motorbike groups in Sussex to ask if they would take part and/or have a passenger with them. Not many of the doctors had bikes, but they were all game to ride a speed machine. But not many of the nurses wanted to ride on the back of one, so they just chose a pushbike to do it instead. All that Lycra made her laugh. She was accustomed to seeing half of them in hospital scrubs, not multi-colored shorts and tops, which clung to the contours of their bodies.

  Waving the papers around, she said, “I best get this to the announcer.” With that, Annabel wandered off, in search of the only person with a megaphone. These bikers definitely like being loud. There’s no way I can raise my voice enough for everyone to hear me.

  “I’ll walk with you,” Rachel called after her.

  “Thanks for helping me with this, Rach. I appreciate it,” she stated.

  They walked along in silence amongst the rows of shiny motorbikes. A rainbow of color lined the pub car park. It was the first year of the hospital’s charity bike run, which she hoped would become an annual event.

  She had never before got involved in the charity or team-leading events, preferring to sponsor people instead and stay in the shadows. Annabel hated the damn things, but as she stopped at one motorbike in particular, her heart skipped a beat. The gold lettering stood out like a neon sign on the Las Vegas strip. Annabel looked at it hard; confusion reigned over her, why now? Why did he have to show up here? No, he could have sold it on. Yes, that was it. Marcus wasn’t here. He wouldn’t think of anyone other than himself, let alone come out on a sponsored bike ride.

  A helmet hung on the handlebars. Lifting it off, she held it in her hands. But her hope was short lived when she took a closer look at the helmet. It was bright yellow with a skull design painted on it. No, there was no mistake. She needed to get away. Anywhere away from that black bike and its owner. The other side of the world would be preferable.

  That bike belonged to Marcus Chapman. She hadn’t seen him for several years, and quite frankly, didn’t want to. But in the throng of doctors, nurses, and bikers, he was obscured from view.

  “Anna, what’s wrong?”

  Annabel didn’t miss the concern etched on her friend’s face. “Nothing, it doesn’t matter.” She tried to brush away the sour lime feelings bubbling up inside her.

  “Bikers make better drivers.” The male voice stopped her in her tracks.

  “Because bikers are more aware of their surroundings.” The words automatically flew out of her mouth.

  Chapter Three

  “Aren’t you going to say hello then, Annabel?” a smooth sexy voice asked.

  Rachel had nudged her in the ribs; hearing his voice, she knew who had spoken to her.

  Annabel turned slowly around, coming face to face with Marcus. What could she say? Come on, Annabel. You don’t usually have a problem talking.

  “How are you, sweets?”

  For several seconds, Annabel stayed quiet and allowed herself to drink in the sight of him. Marcus was dressed head to foot in black leather, two white stripes down each sleeve of his jacket. He still looked as sexy and hot as she remembered. “Fine. I, er, I, er, need to go.”

  Marcus reached out, brushing her arm with his fingertips. “Surely not. We have a lot of catching up to do.”

  “Er, no we don’t,” Annabel hissed back.

  Annabel turned and fled into the crowd. She didn’t want to give Marcus any further chance to talk. Her face flushed with embarrassment, she let out several deep breaths trying to calm her shattered nerves. The memories of that summer flooded her mind. It was her own fault; Marcus would have had plenty of laughs with his friends when he told them all about his night with her. Marcus was a bad boy biker, her pet name for him, which sounded so stupid now. She even felt stupid for coming up with such a daft nickname.

  ****

  Marcus stood sadly watching her go. Not the reception he had expected. Come on, Marcus. What did you expect? You didn’t know she would be here. After the history you two have, it should be no surprise. “Is she always like that? I’m Marcus, by the way,” he said, holding his hand out to Ann
abel’s friend.

  “Dr. Rachel Nelson. Yep, pretty much, at least she is lately.”

  “We were old friends.” Marcus tried to keep his voice even, but he wavered. Not that it would look like that to an outsider.

  “Right,” Rachel replied. “I best go see where she got to. Nice to meet you, Marcus.”

  Marcus stood, his feet rooted to the spot. He could still smell Annabel’s fruity perfume, the same scent she had worn years before. It was like she was a deer caught in the headlights. This was a mistake; if he had known she would be here, he would never have come. She had made it clear she wanted nothing to do with him when she had never called him.

  A loud crackle and then a voice boomed over the loudspeaker, interrupting his reverie. “Could all riders and hospital staff please congregate by the pub entrance?”

  A surge of people ambled over to the door, whilst awaiting further orders. He had to admit it was very well organized and extremely well represented. It showed just how much the children’s ward mattered to people. It mattered to him too. The staff at Oakwood had done everything to save Emily when she had meningitis, but his angel had been taken away from him much too soon. Now it was his turn to give something back.

  The loudspeaker sprang into life again. “I am going to read a list of names. Each pair I call out, could you both come to the front so that you can go to your respective bikes. I would also like to thank the private sponsor who has donated two million pounds to the Save the Children’s Ward Fund.” A huge roar went around the crowd followed by a thunderous applause.

  Marcus tried to keep his body language from giving the game away. He didn’t need or want the publicity. That wasn’t why he had done it; Emily would have wanted him to help all the other little children.

  The list of names was extensive, and each pairing went off and sat waiting patiently on the bikes. Annabel became increasingly nervous as fewer and fewer bikers were standing around. She had volunteered to be one of the pillion riders. “Only two pairs left.”

  “Dr. Rachel Nelson and Anthony Judge. The last pairing for the charity bike ride—Dr. Annabel Simpson and Marcus Chapman. All your bags will be following you in the van.”

  Annabel’s heart sank. The last thing she expected was to be paired with Marcus. Okay, I’m a professional, and I can do this. Annabel reluctantly walked up to the front and found herself face to face with Marcus.

  “Looks like we’re paired up together.”

  “Looks like it unless this is a mirage.” There was a hard edge to her voice.

  Marcus glanced around. “No, it’s definitely just us two.”

  “Look, this is to help the hospital, but I don’t want anything to do with you after,” Annabel replied. Did he have to look so hot? Her mind was troubled even more; the thought of having her arms around his waist again sent a shiver along her spine.

  “That’s just fine with me, and there is no need for the comment. I know what the ride is for.” Great. This is going to be a good few days with the ice queen here. Marcus couldn’t believe he had just called Annabel that. He knew she was far from an ice queen. He sensed she had her guard up, not that he could blame her. Things hadn’t ended the way he had hoped they would.

  “Here, you need this.” Marcus handed her a crash helmet.

  Annabel snatched the helmet out of his hand and put it on. He didn’t need her to talk to tell him that she was still angry to have been paired with him. At least they wouldn’t need to have any conversation until the first rest stop.

  ****

  The little hairs stood on the back of her neck as she eyed the shiny metal suspiciously. She refused to admit that abject terror made her knees weak and a lump form in her throat at the idea of getting on the bike. What if they crashed? What if they got hit? She couldn’t think properly as her body began to shake.

  “What’s this?” he asked, pulling the little backpack she carried.

  Marcus brought her back to him. They were still in the car park and had gone nowhere. “A few medical supplies. You never know when you may need them,” she replied.

  “Oh, come on, Annabel. I’m a safe rider. Let it go in the van,” Marcus replied, exasperated.

  “No, it comes with me, and those things aren’t safe,” she said, pointing to his motorbike. She moved slightly away from him. Doesn’t he get it? Doctors always go prepared for an emergency!

  Marcus eyed her suspiciously before he answered, “Just get on the damn bike.”

  Annabel climbed on the bike first, sitting as far back as she could without falling backward. As Marcus climbed on in front of her, she couldn’t help but noticed how good his ass looked in a pair of leathers. Come on, Annabel. You can’t think like that. You need to keep your head on what we are doing and not eyeing up an old flame. Besides, he is totally besotted with himself.

  “Hold on tight,” Marcus demanded.

  Following what he said, Annabel wrapped her arms tightly around his waist. The whole of her body reacted to his. Annabel’s skin burned at his touch. Her stomach twisted into knots as she remembered the last time they had been this close.

  As they set off, Marcus shouted behind him, “Are you all right?”

  “Yes!” Annabel screamed back.

  The wind rushed past them as they weaved in and out of the traffic, diving to the front whenever there was a red light. This was the craziest and strangest thing Annabel had ever done. It’s only for the weekend; you can get along with Marcus for that long. At least they wouldn’t need to share a tent. Please, please tell me he has brought his own? Annabel needed to get off the bike and stretch her legs; surely, Marcus wouldn’t make them go all the way to Lands End without stopping?

  ****

  The other riders seemed to have outstripped them somewhere on the road. Marcus checked his mirrors. There were no bikes, and he couldn’t see the van, but that could have been buried in the multitude of cars and lorries that were behind them. Spotting a sign for the next services, Marcus made the decision to pull in. Annabel and he needed to sort things out, and maybe they could catch up with the others if they had had the same idea.

  Pulling into the services, Marcus headed for the spaces nearest the entrance so he would be able to keep an eye on his bike. “Look, we need to talk,” he said, his voice muffled by the helmet.

  “We don’t have anything to say to each other.” Annabel folded her arms.

  Removing his gloves and helmet, he said, “I don’t know about you, but I could really use a brew. Besides, there is something we need to clear the air about.”

  “I guess a brew would be okay,” she conceded.

  Marcus didn’t say another word, just walked next to Annabel in total silence. There were so many things he wanted to talk to her about, and one he didn’t. But it couldn’t wait. He had to explain. “Go sit down.”

  He watched as Annabel sat on one of the orange plastic chairs. He loved the way she frowned when she took a look at the cracked Formica tabletop. He assumed that the large crack he could see from his current position wasn’t the only one that littered its surface.

  Marcus stood at the café counter, waiting to be served; he was busy rehearsing in his mind what he would say to put things right between them. He didn’t really know what he had done. Annabel was the one who had never called. He had left his number scrawled on the takeaway box they had eaten from the night before. A voice interrupted his thoughts. “Do you want anything?”

  “Er. Yes. Two teas, please, love.” Why on earth did he have to sound like a total idiot?

  The waitress placed the teas on the counter. Marcus handed her the correct money, and, taking a deep breath, he turned around. Time to face the music or the lightning strike, he wasn’t sure what he was going to receive. He walked slowly but deliberately back to the table.

  Placing the cup down in front of Annabel, he willed his hands not to shake. “Here, your tea.”

  “Thanks.” A curt reply was all she gave him.

  “Look, how come you
never phoned?” Marcus asked, taking a sip of tea.

  “I don’t want to discuss it. We need to leave it at that.” Her ire had risen; judging by her tone.

  Marcus could see he was pushing Annabel a bit too far, a change of tactic he thought and quick. “Can we start again, Anna? Just be friends, maybe.” Did he sound too hopeful? Had his voice betrayed him?

  ****

  Annabel thought for a moment. “I guess we can try. Anything is better than being angry with each other all the time.” She held her hand out to him. “Friends.” She still wouldn’t forgive him for how embarrassed he had made her in the past.

  When Marcus took her hand, she felt like she was back in the playground again. “Why don’t we stay and have something here? Wait for the rain to stop.”

  “Good idea, riding with the rain blowing in your face isn’t the best thing to do.”

  Marcus grabbed a menu from the table next to them. He held it open between them so they could both see what they could order. It was the usual greasy-spoon fare; most things were served with chips and or beans. “Nothing’s jumping out at me.”

  Annabel caught Marcus grinning. He was obviously thinking the same thing. “We could have chips with an extra side of chips,” he answered.

  They both laughed, lightening the atmosphere between them. “I thought we could just go for chips.” Annabel felt a huge weight lifting from her shoulders. Perhaps this run wouldn’t be so bad after all, especially if things could be like this between them all the time.

  Marcus smiled, but it came out lopsided and made Annabel laugh even more. She had missed this. Here in the service station, she had no concerns. There were no patients she had to rush and see. It was hard to socialize when you were the head of a ward. Who would have thought that at only thirty she would head a ward when many doctors older than her still hadn’t had that privilege?

  “I think chips is a great choice,” Marcus replied.