SECOND CHANCES (ORIGINAL WORK)

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Getting out of bed that morning required an extreme amount of willpower on Aaliyah's part. Her body felt drained and exhausted, as though she had stayed awake for several nights.

She dragged herself to the bathroom, practically crawling in her exhaustion, and turned on the shower in desperate need of a hot shower to bring back her senses, letting the water beat some life into her tired body. She had to do an extra shift at the diner to cover a colleague who had called in sick for the entire week. The tips were great, but it was beginning to catch up to her mentally and physically.

She wasn't ready to get out of the safe haven of the bathroom to start her day, but she couldn't stay in there forever. Today, she was helping Jason harvest some grapes for the winery, and as excited as she was, she felt beyond exhausted.

She staggered out to the living room, still not feeling a hundred percent but at least she felt a little bit better and flopped onto the couch where Jason was engrossed in his laptop computer that sat on his coffee table.

They had been living together at Jason's place for nearly four months now, and life with Jason had been nothing short of perfection. While she didn't always see him during the day, they spent every evening together. Being close to him made her feel warm and safe. She thanked whatever gods above for delivering him to her, for giving her something to live for once again.

"Hi, morning," Aaliyah mumbled, contemplating whether she should curl up and fall back asleep right here.

"Hey there," Jason greeted back gently with a smile as he closed his laptop. "Thought it would take a brass band to get you to come around."

"I didn't want to get out of bed this morning," she admitted. After all, it wasn't every day when it felt like your life force was taken from an energy draining vampire.

A cool hand found her forehead. "You're warm," Jason said, his voice soft and full of concern. "You're not getting sick, are you?"

"I hope not," Aaliyah groaned. "There was a customer who came in sick the other day, though. Maybe they've given me whatever it was they had."

Jason began to absently run his fingers through Aaliyah's still damp strands, his trimmed nails running lightly over her scalp. The sensation soothed her, and she moved a little closer to him, a small sound of satisfaction in her throat.

"Maybe you should stay home today if you're not feeling too well," Jason suggested, a concerned frown on his face.

"And miss my chance to see how you make your wine?" She scoffed, her eyes staying shut as Jason continued to massage her head. "Sorry, but that's too tempting to pass up."

He chuckled. "There will be plenty of other chances in the future."

Aaliyah pursed her lips and pointed a skinny finger up at him. "I'm going, Moore, and that's the end of this conversation."

Jason held his hands up defensively and smiled. "Yes, ma'am."

Aaliyah reached her hand behind his neck and pulled his head down toward hers—and kissed him. He groaned into her mouth and she felt his hands sweep up her sides to cup her breasts, fingers lightly brushing over her nipples and getting a soft moan from her. She felt a jolt of electricity and a warm flutter in stomach at his touch, and she pulled away.

"Please," she breathed in between his attempts to continue kissing her, "we've got to stop."

"Why?"

"Because you promised to help your father, and he's waiting for you right now. You know that if we keep going on like this it's going to lead up to something more," she said, straightening her shirt.