Right Place, Right Time (Second Chances Book 2) by Jennifer L. Allen Page B

my face. I look at the clock and see that it’s almost four. I never asked, but I assume Jay works nine to five, so I’ve got time to get to his shop and patiently wait for him to clock out so we can have a little come to Jesus meeting.
    I think he’d said his boss’s name was Leroy, so I type “Leroy” and “motorcycle repair shop” into the search engine on my phone. Almost immediately I have a hit for a shop in San Jose.
    “Bingo!” I jump up from the couch and grab my bag from the table by the door. I slip my feet into my flip flops and do a quick face check in the small mirror over the table. I’d been crying, so I make sure my eyes aren’t too puffy and I don’t have snot on my face. My hair could use some work, but otherwise I look okay, so I pick up my keys and open the apartment door, stepping right out into a firm, solid chest.
    “What the…?” I look up and my eyes widen. Jay. Here. On my doorstep.
    “Going somewhere?” he asks with a smirk.
    Oh no, he doesn’t. He doesn’t get to act all cute. I lift up my chin in defiance. “Yeah, I was going somewhere.”
    He takes a step back and raises his arm as if he’s letting me pass. “Don’t let me stop you.”
    I narrow my eyes at him and take a step forward so we’re only about a foot apart. Then I point my finger right into his sternum. “I was going to see you.”
    His eyebrows draw together. “See me? Where?”
    “Leroy’s,” I tell him, giving him a smirk of my own.
    His eyes widen, and he starts shaking his head. “You can’t go over there.”
    “Well, obviously. Because you’re here.”
    “No, Kate. I mean anytime. That’s not a good neighborhood, and you don’t need to be wandering around it.”
    I roll my eyes. I’m so sick of this right side/wrong side of the tracks crap. I’ve volunteered in places as bad as or worse than what he’s trying to protect me from. “Whatever. What are you doing here, anyway?”
    “I came to apologize.”
    “Oh, yeah?” I ask, raising my eyebrows. Maybe I won’t have to lay it into him after all. Or maybe I still will; I haven’t decided. I let out a sigh, deflating from my tense posture and open my apartment door again. “Come in.” He follows me inside and I offer him a drink, which he declines. He takes a seat on the sofa, and I sit in the armchair diagonal to it, not ready to be next to him on that couch yet. I look at him expectantly, and he finally takes the hint and starts talking.
    “I’m sorry for not taking your calls. I talked to Sean today, and he sort of put things into perspective for me. I wanna be a better guy…a better man…”
    “You’re already a good guy, Jay,” I tell him, leaning forward in my seat.
    “I know you think that—”
    “I don’t think it, I know it,” I tell him, my tone not leaving room for negotiation.
    “I know, Kate. I know.” His shoulders rise and fall with the weight of his sigh. “But I’ve spent the last several years being told I was a good-for-nothing, piece of shit—by my parents and myself. I need to convince myself that’s not true. I…” It pains me to hear how poorly he thinks of himself, and I hate to see him struggling so much with his words. “I need to believe in myself, Kate. The way that you believe in me. So I can be a better man. For you. I want to be a better man for you.”
    My heart melts at his words. He wants to be a better man for me? He wants to believe in himself? Gosh, if he could only see what I see. But that’s the problem, isn’t it? He can’t and he needs to.
    I can’t wait to show him.
    I get up from the chair and walk over to where he’s sitting, certain he can see the moisture in my eyes but not giving a damn. I kneel down in front of him and wrap my arms around his body, hugging him tight. I rest my head on his shoulder and squeeze. He raises his arms slowly, then wraps them around me and lets out a relieved sigh.
    “I know you already know I think you’re pretty amazing, but I’ll