The Second Chance Plan Read online

  The Second Chance Plan

  Lauren Blakely

  Contents

  Also by Lauren Blakely

  About

  The Second Chance Plan

  Author’s Note

  Prologue

  1. Kat

  2. Kat

  3. Bryan

  4. Kat

  5. Bryan

  6. Kat

  7. Kat

  8. Bryan

  9. Kat

  10. Bryan

  11. Kat

  12. Kat

  13. Kat

  14. Bryan

  15. Kat

  16. Kat

  Chapter 17

  18. Kat

  19. Bryan

  20. Kat

  21. Kat

  22. Kat

  23. Kat

  24. Bryan

  25. Kat

  Chapter 26

  27. Kat

  28. Kat

  29. Kat

  30. Kat

  31. Kat

  32. Kat

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  Also by Lauren Blakely

  Contact

  Copyright © 2020 by Lauren Blakely

  Cover Design by Helen Williams.

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book. This contemporary romance is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners. This book is licensed for your personal use only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with, especially if you enjoy sexy romance novels with alpha males. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return it and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.

  Also by Lauren Blakely

  Big Rock Series

  Big Rock

  Mister O

  Well Hung

  Full Package

  Joy Ride

  Hard Wood

  * * *

  The Gift Series

  The Engagement Gift

  The Virgin Gift

  The Decadent Gift (coming soon)

  * * *

  The Heartbreakers Series

  Once Upon a Real Good Time

  Once Upon a Sure Thing

  Once Upon a Wild Fling

  * * *

  Boyfriend Material

  Asking For a Friend

  Sex and Other Shiny Objects

  One Night Stand-In

  * * *

  Lucky In Love Series

  Best Laid Plans

  The Feel Good Factor

  Nobody Does It Better

  Unzipped

  * * *

  Always Satisfied Series

  Satisfaction Guaranteed

  Instant Gratification

  Overnight Service

  Never Have I Ever

  Special Delivery

  * * *

  The Sexy Suit Series

  Lucky Suit

  Birthday Suit

  * * *

  From Paris With Love

  Wanderlust

  Part-Time Lover

  * * *

  One Love Series

  The Sexy One

  The Only One

  The Hot One

  The Knocked Up Plan

  Come As You Are

  * * *

  Sports Romance

  Most Valuable Playboy

  Most Likely to Score

  * * *

  Standalones

  Stud Finder

  The V Card

  The Real Deal

  Unbreak My Heart

  The Break-Up Album

  21 Stolen Kisses

  Out of Bounds

  * * *

  The Caught Up in Love Series:

  The Swoony New Reboot of the Contemporary Romance Series

  The Pretending Plot (previously called Pretending He’s Mine)

  The Dating Proposal

  The Second Chance Plan (previously called Caught Up In Us)

  The Private Rehearsal (previously called Playing With Her Heart)

  * * *

  Stars In Their Eyes Duet

  My Charming Rival

  My Sexy Rival

  * * *

  The No Regrets Series

  The Thrill of It

  The Start of Us

  Every Second With You

  * * *

  The Seductive Nights Series

  First Night (Julia and Clay, prequel novella)

  Night After Night (Julia and Clay, book one)

  After This Night (Julia and Clay, book two)

  One More Night (Julia and Clay, book three)

  A Wildly Seductive Night (Julia and Clay novella, book 3.5)

  * * *

  The Joy Delivered Duet

  Nights With Him (A standalone novel about Michelle and Jack)

  Forbidden Nights (A standalone novel about Nate and Casey)

  * * *

  The Sinful Nights Series

  Sweet Sinful Nights

  Sinful Desire

  Sinful Longing

  Sinful Love

  * * *

  The Fighting Fire Series

  Burn For Me (Smith and Jamie)

  Melt for Him (Megan and Becker)

  Consumed By You (Travis and Cara)

  * * *

  The Jewel Series

  A two-book sexy contemporary romance series

  The Sapphire Affair

  The Sapphire Heist

  About

  I have a big plan for my career and it most certainly doesn’t involve my ex. AKA my first love.

  It definitely doesn’t entail working with him every day on a brand-new project for my jewelry line.

  And it absolutely doesn’t include falling for the man all over again.

  But the trouble is, he’s kind, charming and so damn smart. Not to mention easy on the eyes. And thoughtful, too.

  Also, he wants to get to know me again. To take me out for coffee, to chat on the phone, to go to museums.

  It’s a dizzying, delicious courtship, but I don’t know if my heart can handle this from the man who broke it to pieces once upon a time…

  * * *

  Or am I willing to risk everything for a second chance at first love?

  This book is for the readers.

  For all of you—the lovers

  of words and romance.

  The Second Chance Plan

  By Lauren Blakely

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  Author’s Note

  Dear Reader,

  * * *

  In 2013, I wrote my very first romance novel, CAUGHT UP IN US (which is no longer available). I’m so grateful I found an audience for that story, but I also knew there were aspects of it that I could have changed, if given the chance. Fortunately, today’s publishing landscape gives authors that chance, and I am pleased to share Kat and Bryan’s new love story
. THE SECOND CHANCE PLAN is a reimagining of their romance, with 70 percent brand-new material, vastly expanded characterizations, and his POV woven into the story, so you can come to know and love Kat and Bryan at their best, like I do. Enjoy!

  Also, if you’re curious, the events in THE SECOND CHANCE PLAN take place concurrently with the events in THE PRETENDING PLOT.

  * * *

  xoxo

  Lauren

  Prologue

  Bryan

  * * *

  Five Years Ago

  * * *

  There’s no such thing as love at first sight.

  I’ve felt a lot of things after one glance at a beautiful girl, but none of them were love. Love isn’t about how someone looks, and what can you know about a stranger when your eyes meet across a crowded room?

  That she was beautiful in every single way, from her dark, wavy hair to her gorgeous brown eyes to the soft curves of her body?

  All true, but not the reason I fell so hard for Kat Harper.

  It was the coffee, the movies, the laughter. It was long conversations, slow walks through the small town, and starry nights on the beach with the waves rolling in. When I held her hand, I felt the start of something, and possibilities unfurled like a red carpet leading the way to her. When I held her hand, the world would melt away, leaving only the two of us.

  Only, it wasn’t just the two of us.

  More like the three of us.

  Kat, me . . . and the most complicated third party of all-time.

  Because love doesn’t always show up when you’re ready for it.

  Sometimes there’s too much life in the way.

  Fortunately, I didn’t believe in love at first sight.

  Unfortunately, that didn’t seem to matter.

  1

  Kat

  Present Day

  * * *

  He was my first favorite mistake.

  I hadn’t seen him in five years, and as he walked to the front of the classroom, my every muscle tensed, and my brain spun into hyperdrive. What was he doing here? Was he in the wrong classroom? Was I?

  Professor Oliver was at the front of the room in his customary three-piece suit, spectacles, and a silk handkerchief, and scrawled on one of the whiteboards in blue marker was the name of the class: Experiential Learning.

  So I was where I was supposed to be—in the front row of desks in my grad school class, learning a new definition for the word “unfair.”

  Be strong. Be cool. Be badass.

  Don’t think of lights going down in movie theaters, or of hot summer nights, miles away from here, tangled up in him.

  Too late. I cataloged every detail, from the slightest trace of stubble on his jawline to the way his brown hair invited fingers to run through those waves to how the checkered navy-blue shirt he wore had probably never looked quite so good as when it hugged his arms and stretched across his chest.

  I ran my index finger across the silver charm on my necklace. I’d made it when I left for college with the notion that the miniature movie camera could channel steely resolve into me, and I’d needed it these last few years.

  At the head of the classroom were other business school alums who would serve as mentors for my fellow grad students this term. Bryan joined them, turned, and froze when he saw me.

  Somehow, I’d never considered he might be one of the mentors for this class, even though I knew he was a notable alum. I was over him, and he didn’t automatically come to mind. Only occasionally, when I walked around campus and remembered touring the grounds together that summer before he started business school here, how we’d walked arm in arm, making plans. Making promises.

  How that had been the last time I’d seen him before he broke my heart and became the first charm on my necklace—the inspiration for my jewelry.

  Now, his green eyes locked with mine for the briefest of moments. Maybe it was my imagination, but I thought I saw a tinge of regret in them. If there was, he recovered a second later, and flashed a quick, closed-mouth smile to the class.

  Oh. Naturally, it wouldn’t bother him to see me here. He didn’t care about me then. Why should he care what I thought now?

  And the reverse was true too.

  Professor Oliver was his usual peppy self as he introduced the mentors. One of the women ran a venture fund she’d started herself; another had been a superstar skateboarder then launched a line of skate-wear that was now hugely popular with teens. One of the guys oversaw a firm that had designed some of the most successful iPhone apps, and another founded a health video service.

  The fifth was Bryan Leighton—five years older than I was, and I already knew what he did for a living. I knew other things about him too. I knew what his lips tasted like. How his arms felt when I skimmed my palms over the muscles there. How his kisses went on and on, how I never wanted them to end.

  Then, like a hypnotist had snapped their fingers, I was back in time. Not yet a graduate student, not yet in the first row of the classroom, just a girl fresh from high school graduation, wrapped around her brother’s best friend. Bryan ran his hands through my hair, kissing my neck, and I shuddered. Everyone else, everything else, faded away.

  The memory was a trap. A carnivorous plant like the ones that kept their prey high on sticky and sweet nectar while they slowly drank them up. I could have stayed trapped like that, stuck to the memory of the way his touch thrilled, the promises we’d whispered . . .

  I gripped the charm and, with it, felt how much it had hurt that he’d broken up with me on the flimsiest of rationales. I needed that spark of latent anger to break away from the past. There was no room for the memory of Bryan Leighton in my life. I needed to stay sharp and focus on the present.

  That lovestruck teenager was gone. I was a capable twenty-three-year-old woman. I’d already earned my bachelor’s degree from NYU and was finishing my master’s degree from the same school, building a business, and paying the rent in a Chelsea apartment, which was no small thing.

  Besides, there was only a one-in-five chance I’d be paired with him. It made much more sense for the professor to match me with the skate-wear gal, since we were both in the fashion business. I was a jewelry designer after all, with a line of necklaces already selling well online and in several boutiques around the city.

  Professor Oliver rocked back and forth on his wingtips, seeming to relish the process of pairing off students with mentors. He read the first student name from the list, who he assigned to iPhone guy. Okay, so twenty-five percent chance I’d match with Bryan now. I crossed my fingers. Next came the venture-fund woman, partnered off with the student on the end of the row.

  One-in-three chance now. I mentally crossed my fingers and toes. Professor Oliver read the names of another student and the health-video-service guy.

  That was okay. The skateboard gal was still in the running, and we’d make a logical pairing. I could learn so much from someone who’d developed a successful brand in boutique fashion. She looked cool and hip too, with cat’s-eye glasses and pink streaks in her black hair.

  Professor Oliver said her name, and I held my breath . . .

  And had it knocked out of me, my stomach tightening and my heart sinking, when he called on someone else.

  “And that means, Ms. Harper, that your business mentor for this semester will be Bryan Leighton.”

  Of all the classrooms in all the towns in all the world . . .

  Since I couldn’t hunch over a stiff drink like Bogie, and all the other students were getting up to shake hands with their assigned mentors, I dragged myself out of my seat, smoothed my blouse, and did the same. Our paths intersected just in front of Professor Oliver, who beamed at us.

  “Excellent. I’m sure you’ll have a very productive term. Now, allow me to officially introduce you two.”

  Bryan held out his hand as if he’d didn’t remember me, when I knew he did—I’d seen it on his face. A face that was now sociably neutral.

  “A pleasure, Ms. Har
per,” he said by rote, as if he’d never met me, never touched me.

  “All mine,” I said just as blandly, wishing that weren’t a little bit true.

  2

  Kat

  Present Day

  * * *

  I had been looking forward to this class since I applied to New York University’s Stern School of Business. After today, we’d spend the rest of the semester dealing with real businesses, tackling real issues, and gaining insight into how to make our fledgling ventures fly.