Laci & Del 12 Months 12 Chances

By Staci Troilo

It’s been a year, and Laci Marks still hasn’t gotten over her break up with Del Keegan. She attends a New Year’s Eve party hoping to snap out of her ever-present funk, but the frivolity only upsets her more. Unable to navigate the crowd and retreat to the sanctuary of home, she slips out onto the balcony to avoid watching all the couples kiss when the ball drops.

But her private moment is ruined by someone joining her outside—Del.

Laci wants nothing more than to escape, but Del has other things in mind. Soft words and softer lips convince her to stay. And to try again. Thus begins a tumultuous twelve months of love and laughter, fear and failure. They still have the passion, but they also still have all the same problems.

Twelve months from their reconciliation, and nothing is resolved. If anything, Laci feels worse than ever. How many chances can she give their relationship before just giving up? And how many chances is Del willing to take on her?

• Language: English
• Publisher: AIW Press
• Release date: Feb 4, 2016
• ISBN: 9781944938000

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Copyright © 2016 Staci Troilo

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without the express written permission of the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review.

AIW Press, Lower Burrell, PA 15068

https://aiwpress.com

The characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental and not intended by the author.

ISBN 10: 1-944938-00-1

ISBN 13: 978-1-944938-00-0

Laci & Del

12 Months, 12 Chances

For my Father, Robert Smith

Because despite all the Italian traditions we embrace,

I want you to know your heritage is important to me, too.

Chapter 1—January

Second Chance?

Laci glanced around the room, her gaze flitting from the people to the door and back. Panic clawed through her insides as desperately as she wanted to claw at each figure blocking her way.

No means of escape. She’d waited too long.

Fifteen minutes earlier, the clusters of party guests formed little islands in the sea of the room, a navigatable maze she could have traveled with a little planning and a lot of effort. But somehow, in just that short amount of time, they had morphed into one enormous mass she had no hope of wading through. The door might as well be across the ocean. She’d never make it.

A sigh escaped her lips. She turned around and unlatched the patio door. Cracking it open just enough to squeeze through it, she slipped outside and closed the door behind her. The bracing cold of winter wasted no time. It blew through her cocktail dress like she wasn’t even wearing it, enveloping her in a frigid embrace.

Damn, it’s freezing out here! She wrapped her arms around herself and watched her breath dissipate into the night. She briefly entertained the idea of going back inside, but shook the idea off before even turning around. The countdown had begun. Even through the heavy door she could hear them all chanting, Fifty-seven… Fifty-six… Fifty-five…

Less than a minute, and she could put another horrid year behind her.

And start another one.

She rubbed her arms harder and tried to blink back the tears that threatened to fall, tried not to imagine every single person in there sharing a warm kiss at midnight. While she stood on the patio.

Alone. In the cold.

Thirty-two… Thirty-one…

The voices had grown louder, and Laci realized the door had opened. Wiping her eyes and clearing her throat, she mustered the last ounces of courage and dignity she possessed and turned toward her unwanted intruder. I’m sorry. Would you mind terribly? I’d like to be alone.

No, you wouldn’t.

He was backlit by the lights from inside the house, but she didn’t need to see his face to know who he was. She’d know his voice, his body, anywhere.

Delany?

Only you and my mother ever call me that.

She cleared her throat. Again. Del. What are you doing here?

Something I didn’t think I’d ever do again.

Three… Two… One…

As shouts of Happy New Year and the beginning notes of Auld Lang Syne rang out from inside the house, Del crossed to Laci and kissed her.

No forewarning. No preamble. He didn’t stroke her cheek first or brush her hair back from her face.

There was just Del. And the kiss.

And the disappearance of her whole miserable world for a blissful moment.

When he released her, the people inside had stopped cheering in favor of singing, and even the strains of the new year’s anthem began to fade away.

The tears had dried on her cheeks, but her heart rate was nowhere near normal.

And what, might I ask, am I supposed to make of that? To her surprise, she somehow managed a steady voice.

I’ve been watching you all night.

You’ve been watching me all night? What are you, now? A stalker or something? She clutched at where a collar should be, but all she found was a necklace. A beautiful diamond necklace he’d bought her, highlighted by her up-swept hair and the low-cut bodice of her cocktail dress. She tried to cover the jewelry, but she was too late. A look of recognition cross his face. Why did she have to choose that piece—of all pieces—to wear that night?

Thankfully, he didn’t comment on it.

Laci, we’re both still friends with the same people. We’re bound to end up in the same place at the same time. But after how things ended…

She lowered one of her arms and studied his face.

He shrugged his shoulders. I didn’t know if you were ready to talk. So I stayed on the opposite side of the room all night. I was trying to be polite and give you space.

She sniffed.

Anyway, I figured you would leave before midnight. I know how you feel about not having anyone to kiss when the ball drops, especially given it’s not just the new year, but your birthday too, so when—

You remember my birthday?

His eyebrows shot up. What kind of person do you think I am? Of course I remember your birthday.

She relaxed enough that she dropped her hand away from her throat and started rubbing her arms again. Since Del had walked onto the patio, she hadn’t felt anything other than heat. But the cold had started to hit her again. As well as some old feelings she hadn’t buried as deep as she had thought.

Come here, he said.

Before she could object, he pulled her to him. She was nestled in his arms, tucked against his firm, warm chest.

Laci, I know things got all messed up before. I don’t want to revisit the past. This is a new year. For you and for everyone. He pulled back a little bit and looked down at her. I’d like to give us another try.

She couldn’t meet his gaze, so she tucked her head back against his chest and held on tightly to him. I don’t know, Delany. It took me a long time to move on. I don’t want to go through something like that again.

That’s how you know it’s worth fighting for. Because we were so hard to walk away from. Come on, Laci. What have you got to lose?

Laci thought about the year since they had broken up and the men she hadn’t been able to date. There had been something wrong with absolutely everyone who’d asked her out—too tall, too nerdy, too creepy, too involved with work, too interested in fantasy football—so she’d politely declined all her offers until the offers had stopped coming. Yes, she realized her reasons were ridiculous. Well, maybe not the creepy guy, but all the other ones. Obviously her social calendar needed some CPR.

But wasn’t Del the reason it flat-lined to begin with?

She had a lot to lose. He couldn’t possibly understand. Was he worth the risk?

Chapter 2—February

Romance Tailor Made

They’d been dating since New Year’s, midnight. This