Chapter 4 Melody
Melody
Melody, Eric, Alexei, and Ben had barely stepped through the front doors of Eric’s Gold Coast condo before he was hailed over to the concierge desk.
“Good evening, Mr. Cassidy,” the attendant greeted in a practiced voice that carried across the gleaming marble-floored entryway. “A parcel was delivered for you.”
The man dipped down below the countertop and reappeared holding a box. He didn’t waste time depositing it on top of the desk. “Here we are, sir.”
Eric sauntered over and retrieved the package. “Thanks, Norm.”
A look of curiosity crossed Eric’s face as he evaluated the shape and size of the box.
Melody wasn’t surprised when he started pulling off the packing tape.
Most people would rather wait the five minutes it would take to open their mail in private, but not Eric.
If curiosity were an Olympic sport, he would be a gold medalist many times over.
Eric released a soft sound of surprise when he pulled back the flaps of the box and revealed a rather sizeable quantity of letters and small packages.
He lifted an embellished envelope and brought it to his nose.
Melody wasn’t standing that close to him, but the envelope must have been heavily scented because the subtle movement was enough to send a potent dose of perfume wafting her way.
Eric’s nose twitched. And no wonder. The envelope must have been drenched in the cloying scent if she could smell it.
“It’s fan mail,” Eric explained as he tossed the letter back into the box and repositioned the flaps.
“Ah,” she responded.
Melody couldn’t help but wonder what kind of life she was leading that her friends could be so nonplussed about receiving boxes of fan mail. As much time as she’d spent with Eric and some of the other guys over the past few months, she still couldn’t wrap her head around it.
“Have a good evening, Mr. Cassidy,” Norm ventured.
“You, too.” Eric tucked the box under his arm and ushered the group toward the elevator.
The door opened as they approached. Ben stepped in and held it.
Melody noticed an amused smile on his face as she stepped into the elevator. Based on his next words, she would wager that Eric saw it, too.
“Just you wait,” Eric said as he moved farther inside and repositioned the package in his arms. “I may have been voted Chicago’s most eligible bachelor”—a title Melody wondered if he might be a little too proud of—“but you’re a native Illinoisan.
I imagine you’re going to get just as many letters and—”
Eric cut her a look and paused before continuing. “—and general fan mail.”
Melody was pretty sure he’d amended whatever he was going to say on her account.
She just barely held back the impulse to roll her eyes.
She appreciated the way Eric tried to shield her from the seedier aspects of his fame, but she’d been around professional athletics long enough to know about the racier correspondence some of them received.
Alexei cut into her thoughts. “I love playing hockey in America,” he said as the elevator doors closed behind him. “The fans are so much more engaged. In Russia, we love our hockey, but fan mail is not so popular.”
Melody just nodded. She’d have to take his word for it since fan mail, both domestic and foreign, had never been a part of her life.
Once inside Eric’s apartment, Melody slipped off her shoes and hung up her coat before heading into the kitchen.
Given that Ben and Alexei had been lured over with the promise of a movie night—a rare opportunity afforded by their early game—Melody suspected the guys would head into the living room to look for viewing options.
She was happy to let them have at it while she busied herself in the kitchen.
She was confident in their cumulative ability to agree on something worth watching.
She moved around Eric’s kitchen with easy familiarity as she unloaded her groceries and fished through the cupboards for the cutting boards, serving platters, and other items she needed.
Everything was exactly where she’d left it.
No surprise there. Eric rarely stepped foot into his own kitchen to do more than grab some premade food and pop it into the microwave.
She pulled open the refrigerator to see if there was anything inspiring to be found within—unsurprisingly, there wasn’t—before she pulled knives and serving spoons out of a drawer.
When she and Eric had first become friends, soon after she’d moved to Chicago last year, she’d learned never to put him in charge of snacks. The inevitable result would be burnt popcorn, stale candy, and her choice of beer or the wine he kept on hand for when his sisters visited.
Melody had quickly taken over all the food-related tasks in their relationship. Eric certainly hadn’t complained.
Melody flipped on one of her playlists before washing some sweet potatoes, patting them dry, and moving them over to a cutting board where she proceeded to slice them into thin rounds. She tapped her foot in time with the music and hummed a harmony.
She glanced up from her chopping when she heard the quiet footfalls of someone entering the kitchen.
“Hey,” Ben greeted in that deeply masculine baritone of his.
“Hi,” she returned. She was grateful she’d heard him coming. Otherwise, she might have been at risk of chopping off a finger.
Melody was struck anew by what an attractive man Ben was.
He was a work of finely sculpted art without his shirt on, but he certainly did his designer clothing proud.
The practical manner in which he’d rolled up the cuffs of his button-down shirt to reveal his muscled forearms was enough to make her salivate.
Her breath hitched. Really? Even his forearms are appealing?
“Can I offer you a hand?” Ben interrupted her thoughts before she could venture too deeply down the rabbit hole of admiration.
Melody could feel another blush starting. She didn’t think she’d been too obvious in checking him out—this time—but she couldn’t be certain. She’d been around her fair share of good-looking men, but there was a quality about Benjamin Logan that made her lose herself to her baser instincts.
Good grief. Pull yourself together, Melody! If she didn’t learn to stop blushing around this man, he might start to think she had some type of medical condition.
“Well, I don’t know,” she said conversationally, in response to his offer to help. “How are you in the kitchen?”
Melody practically sighed in relief. Somehow, she’d managed to complete an intelligent sentence despite the sexiness he was exuding.
Ben smiled as he moved closer. Based on the way he was surveying the space and the items she’d laid out on the counter, she would guess that he was trying to figure out what she was making.
“Sweet potato nachos with chickpeas, creamed corn, and pasture-raised turkey bacon,” she shared in response to his unasked question.
“Marry me.”
Her eyes flared. “I beg your pardon?” she sputtered.
Ben offered a teasing smile as he made his way over to the sink, pumped some soap onto his hands, and gave them a thorough scrub. “Surely, you must be used to daily marriage proposals if this is any example of what you make for simple after-game meetups.”
Was he probing to see if tonight’s movie night bore any special significance? She couldn’t be sure.
When Ben turned off the faucet and looked around for something to dry his hands with, she bent over and pulled a hand towel from its usual place on one of the drawer handles before passing it over to him.
“Thank you,” Ben said as he sopped up the moisture and then stepped around her to replace the towel.
“You’re welcome.”
They both smiled. Based on the way they were surveying one another, Melody couldn’t help but suspect they were each trying to get the other’s measure.
“So how can I help?” Ben asked, effectively breaking the silence.
“We have yet to establish that I’m going to let you help me,” she said with what she thought was rather impressive flirtatious charm.
If the warm glint in his eyes was any indication, Ben must have agreed.
“Well, I won’t win any Michelin stars, but my mom assures me that I make a highly competent sous chef.”
“Your mom does, does she?” Melody asked with a smile that seemed to keep widening the longer she spent in his company. How cute was he?
“Yup. I can peel and chop with the best of them.”
“Well, then.” She surveyed the tasks still at hand. “Do you think you could put the corn kernels, chickpeas, and coconut milk into that saucepan and bring it to a simmer for me?” She already had the ingredients pre-measured and ready on the counter.
Ben noticed. “Nice mise en place.”
Melody’s smile grew further still. “I’m impressed you know what ‘mise en place’ is.”
“What kind of heathens do you think I was raised by?” He winked to let her know he was teasing. Then he said, “Thanks,” as she pulled open a drawer and passed him a wooden spoon.
They worked in companionable silence, the only sounds in the kitchen her streaming music and the rhythmic sounds of food prep, until James Blunt’s “You’re Beautiful” started to play.
Melody could usually be found singing along to songs she enjoyed, but it wasn’t her voice that dueted with Blunt’s dulcet tones.
Ben’s eyes locked on hers as he spoke-sang the lyrics. His voice was an instrument unto itself.
Melody shivered as his words reached her. He was just repeating the song’s lyrics, but with the way he was looking at her, she felt that he was deliberately imbuing them with a deeper meaning.
Was it her imagination, or was Ben telling her that he thought she was beautiful, a veritable angel? He’d seen her with another man, but it was okay because he had a plan?
Their gazes held as waves of awareness raced along her spinal column. She bit her lower lip in momentary indecision before voicing her curiosity.
“Is there something you want to ask me, Ben?” Her voice was a little more breathy than usual, but some things couldn’t be helped.
“Yes,” Ben said, as he closed the distance between them and raised his arm to gently angle her chin upward so she couldn’t escape his gaze. “What is Cassidy to you?”
Tingles raced along her jawline at his touch. “Eric?”
The lines of Ben’s mouth tightened. “Yes. Eric Cassidy. What is he to you?”
“What is he to me?” she parroted dumbly.
This time, Ben’s lips twisted. “What’s the nature of your relationship?” he rephrased. “Are you a couple?”
She drew back in surprise. What? “No, Eric and I aren’t a couple.”
Ben inched closer. “So, there isn’t anything romantic between you?”
“No,” she clarified. And there never had been.
Eric was a kind, caring, and handsome man.
It was little surprise he’d sparked her romantic curiosity when they’d first met, but she’d still been raw over her breakup with Jeremy.
Eric had also never said anything about seeing her as anything more than a friend, so any potential interest on her part had long since faded.
She had a suspicion they worked best as friends anyway.
Melody could see the relief in Ben’s eyes, as well as the way pleasure caused his lips to quirk upward. She fancied that he was so good looking that he could make even the darkest of scowls look good, but she liked the way a smile looked on him.
“Good,” Ben said simply as he gifted her with another warm smile. He ran his thumb along her jawline in a feather-light caress before turning to stir the contents of the saucepan.
She blinked her eyes and shuffled a few steps toward him, as though she were a puppet on strings, incapable of resisting his pull.
Ben was too tall for her to look over his shoulder, so she laid a soft hand on his back as she twisted around him to survey the sauce he was diligently stirring.
He shifted a little to reach for a clean spoon and used it to give the contents of the saucepan an expert stir before scooping a little onto the spoon. He cupped his hand underneath it to catch any drips before bringing it to his mouth to blow gently over the contents.
Ben torqued his body so their chests were mostly in line with each other’s. “Taste,” he said as he brought the spoon up to her lips.
Melody felt butterflies erupt in her stomach. His easy sensuality was so compelling she suspected he could be offering her poison and she would still feel inspired to take a bite.
She wondered what messages Ben could read in her countenance as she gave the contents of the spoon one last blow before allowing the offering to pass between her lips.
“Mmm . . .” Melody moaned. She fluttered her eyes closed and allowed the flavors to erupt on her tongue. Her senses were currently so alive that all the tastes and textures seemed more intense than usual.
“I envy that spoon right now,” Ben confessed, his voice a little more gravelly than it had been mere moments ago. He took his time withdrawing the utensil from her mouth but didn’t step away.
Melody’s eyes flared. She wasn’t used to men being so forward with her. She wasn’t used to men being interested in her at all, really.
She could feel her heart pounding double time in her chest. Is this what chemistry feels like? If so, it was the first time in her twenty-seven years she had ever truly experienced it.
“You really are an angel.”
Melody’s eyes grew wide. Maybe he had been using James Blunt’s lyrics to speak to her.
“Logan!” Someone, likely Alexei, shouted from the living room. “We need you to settle something!” Yes, definitely Alexei.
Ben brought his eyes back to hers. How was it he could make her feel like the only person in the world when they both knew others were waiting on his response? “Do you still need help?” His mesmerizing green-brown eyes probed hers.
“No,” she breathed out. Her eyes flicked in the direction of the living room. “I’ve got this. You go ahead.”
“I’ll be right there!” Ben shouted back to the guys without disengaging his eyes from hers.
He raised his hand and gently tucked an errant strand of hair behind her ear. “Thanks for letting me help.”
“Thank you for helping.”
With a soft smile filled with attractive self-assurance, Ben exited the room to rejoin his teammates.
Melody released a breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding.
The moments in the kitchen had felt so charged she wasn’t sure whether she should be thankful for Alexei’s interruption or not.
Either way, one thing was for certain: Something was happening between her and Benjamin Logan. And it was just getting started.