Return to Me: Part I

Return to Me, #1

PROLOGUE

What if you lost the love of your life, and they came back to you? Would you know how to grab ahold of a second chance? ###

"It can't be; my eyes are playing tricks on me. Brooke Lakelyn Tobias. That really is you!" 

At the use of her full name, Brooke turned. She was thinking the same thing, It couldn't be. She'd know that deep baritone anywhere. 

Zeke Laird Granger. 

He'd broken her heart five years ago, and had nearly broken her. 
###

"Our timing is just not right, Brooke." 

"But I love you, Zeke," she said, blinking back tears. "Please, please, just …" she begged. 

"I'm sorry. I think it's best we just go our separate ways, Brooke." 

"Zeke please don't do this!" 

In spite of hear tearful pleas, Zeke walked to the front door of her apartment and walked out of her life. 

Brooke crumbled down the inside of the front door, her body pooled in the fetal position. Heaving, animal-like moans escaped her until there were no tears left. 

Three hours later, eyes swollen and throat parched, she'd dragged herself up from the floor, took a sip of water and climbed into bed – where she stayed for the next three days. 
###

Every time she relived that day, Brooke was embarrassed. She'd been a sniveling, begging, broken shell of a woman. No one in her life today would have recognized the person she was five years ago. She barely recognized that person. 

"Well what brings you back to the Big Apple?" Zeke asked, snapping her reverie. 
. . . 

Damn she was more beautiful than ever! An exercise enthusiast, her body was always in perfect shape. Her best asset, in his opinion, was her perfectly curved bottom. He never tired of looking at it, and as they always slept in the nude, he would admire it as she bounced out of bed each morning. His nature starting to rise at the turn his thoughts took, Zeke forced his mind back to the conversation. "Are you here to stay, or just visiting?" 

"I'm back for good. LA just wasn't my scene." 

"I knew it ... You're a New York City kind of girl." 

I can't believe he has the balls to stand here and have a conversation with me like nothing happened. Doesn't he know he almost destroyed me? 

"Speaking of scenes, how about we check out some in the greatest city in the world sometime?" Zeke said, anxious not to let her go without knowing when he'd see her again. 

Did he just ask me out? Brooke thought. The unmitigated gall of the man! 

It took all of her resolve to carry on a civil conversation with him. It had been five years since they'd seen each other, but now that she was back in his presence, it seemed like five minutes. She was shaken by how forcefully all the pain he'd caused her came rushing back. But she wasn't the naïve little 25-year-old she'd been then. 

"Sure, Zeke." He's interested and that puts the ball squarely in my court -- and he would pay dearly for the pain he'd caused her. 

While Brooke plotted revenge, Zeke had a different plan in mind. Now that she was back, he vowed he wouldn't make the same mistake twice. He would win her back … and this time it would be for keeps. 

Can his love overcome the revenge she seeks, or will the scar left by Zeke's betrayal prevent them from ever having a future?