Second Chance At Love (Book 2)

Chapter 4

Hi friends! Here is the next chapter of Second Chance at Love the sequel to Jace's Arranged Marriage. I know a lot of readers did not like the ending without Clary, so I brought Clary back to Jace and another chance for them to find each other again. Enjoy and do not forget to vote!

Clary

After we walked back to the Institute, Jace was carrying Stevie on his shoulders and went to put him to bed. I was not tired yet with all kinds of thoughts going through my mind, so I decided to go to the one place that always gave me pleasure, the greenhouse. I went up the stairs as I was looking around on how beautiful the green house was, more beautiful than I remembered from six years ago. Once I made it to the top of the stairs, I sat on the bench and memories of Jace started flooding through my head. The first time I kissed him at the Ops Center, when he kissed me on the street while looking for Simon the night he turned into a vampire, at the Jade Wolf when we thought we found Michael Wayland, his father. Then every other kiss until the last time we kissed, when he decided that he needed to stay with his wife, Isabeau when he found out she was pregnant with their son. As I was going through all these thoughts, I heard footsteps coming up the the stairs. I looked up to find Jace standing in front of me.

 "I guess that you had the same idea about getting away."

"Yes, I guess so. I needed to think about a lot of things, including you."

"What did you need to think about me?"

"Whether I feel for you like you feel for me. You said you still love me after all the years that have passed. I wonder if deep inside of me there are still feelings for you. May I? Next thing I know is that Jace is pulling me into his arms and pulled me close to him cupping my face in his hands. He brought his lips down to mine and as soon as our lips touched I felt a jolt of electricity go through my body just as it happened before every time we touched each other. He passed his tongue on my bottom lip and I parted my lips for him and our battle begun with our tongues trying to take control. He deepened his kiss and pulled me closer to his body until he made me moan in his mouth. Jace slowly started ending the kiss until he parted away. Next thing I know he ran down the stairs and out of the greenhouse before I had a chance to say anything to him. What has happened? Does Jace has feelings for me but is afraid to let them surface? Did he realize that he does not have feelings for me and that is why he ran? I am totally confused about this whole situation. Tears were rolling down my eyes and I was not sure why I was crying when I heard footsteps again on the stairs. I looked up hoping that is was Jace but it was Izzy.

"Oh I see that you are not the only one crying."

"What do you mean?"

"I just came from Jace's room and he is in a worse condition than you are."

"You mean to tell me that Jace was crying too? I did not know that him kissing me would lead to tears."

"Clary, before you jump to conclusions let me clear things up. Jace still has feelings for you but he does not want to admit it right now. Remember, he was married to Isabeau for seven years and they were happy. Now you came along and all those feeling he had buried resurfaced and he is confused. He asked me if it were possible for the two of you to rekindle that love you once felt for each other. My advice to the both of you is to take your time, get reacquainted again, feel each other out before you decide if it is true feelings resurfacing or just a fond memory for you both. As his sister, I really think that deep down inside of him, he never stopped loving you. Think about it, Clary."

At this, Izzy left me alone to my thoughts. Of course, my thoughts went back to the kiss we just shared. It was getting late and I decided to go to bed. I got to my room and changed into a t-shirt and shorts, but found that I was thirsty. I walked into the kitchen thinking that everyone was asleep, but I was wrong. Jace was sitting at the table drinking a bottle of water. I was ready to turn around to leave without him seeing me but I was to late.

"Clary, can we talk for a minute?"

"Sure, what do you want to talk about?"

"First of all, I owe an apology for running away after I kissed you. So many thoughts came through my mind and I felt so confused. Honestly, I felt like I was betraying Isabeau, but she is not here. She is dead and is not ever going to come back. She made me promise her that I would go on with my life and be happy. She made me promise that I would go looking for you."

"For me? Why?"

"Because she knew that we loved each other at one time. I did tell her about us and what we shared. I fell in love with Isabeau, but deep down inside, I never fell out of love with you. I married Isabeau as arranged and got her pregnant. When I new we were going to have a son, I loved her even more. She made me happy and made our arranged marriage work out. I did miss her when I lost her and I still do, but I have Stevie to help me go on. I never even thought to look for you and there you were, standing in front of me. I started feeling something that was buried deep down inside of me slowly come out. When I kissed you, I wanted to see if they were really there or if it was just my imagination. When I realized the truth, I ran away from you because I was scared."

"What do you feel, Jace? Why are you scared? Is it so hard to love me again?"

"Frankly, I am not sure of anything right now. Would you be angry with me if I asked you to give me some time? I just need to take things one step at a time and not rush things. Maybe go on a date and see how things go before anything becomes serious." "I have waited all these years hoping that one day we can be together again. I knew it would be impossible since you were married and had a son, but I thought that the angels owed it to me after all the stupid visions they sent to me that were inaccurate. I threw my future away because I thought I was going to die and I wanted to protect you from that pain. My death was in another realm that is an opposite of ours here. It did not become clear until after you were involved with Isabeau and on your way to get married. Now we have a second chance and I will wait as long as it takes to see if this is the right thing to do."

"Well, it sounds like a plan. It's getting late and we are both tired. Let us get some rest and talk some more tomorrow."

Jace came close to me and ran his hand down my face and walked away. I raised my hand and felt where he had touched me with some hope in my heart.