Chapter 14 Melanie
MELANIE
Pain ricocheted through my chest like a bullet the second he said it.
We’ll never have sex, Melanie.
It was supposed to feel safe. Reassuring. Instead, it clawed at something buried deep inside me—something raw and ugly. Rejection wasn’t something I was used to. I delivered it. I didn’t receive it.
“Right. Ya, of course. This shit is complicated enough.” I forced the words out, my voice sounding lighter than I felt. Like I was trying to laugh off a sucker punch.
“Unless you want to tackle my favorites,” he said with that damned smirk, the one that made my stomach twist with the kind of fluttering I had no business feeling.
I hated how easily he got under my skin, how even that tiny lift of his lips could send heat pooling low in my belly. I hated it even more because I wanted more of it.
“I think I have an idea what you like,” I murmured, wrapping my hands tighter around the warm mug, using it as armor.
“Ooh, now this conversation’s starting to get interesting.” He leaned back, cocky and completely at ease, stretching out like he owned the air between us.
“Please do share, princess.”
“You’re a guy. Men are simple creatures.”
“Isn’t that what makes us men?” He folded his hands behind his head, the movement pulling his shirt taut across his chest.
I tried not to look. Failed.
“Glad to know you’re cutting down your own kind. But yes—eat, sleep, repeat. And blow jobs are the best treats,” I said, letting the words drip from my tongue like honey edged with venom.
He chuckled, deep and rough. “Did you just make that up? And there ain’t nothing wrong with a good blow job here and there, is there?”
“I didn’t say there was. I’m actually good at them. Exceptional gag reflex. Great with my hands. Oh, and masturbating in front of a guy w—”
“Jesus, Melanie,” he cut in, dragging a hand through his hair. “What happened to dropping the sex talk?”
“Talking about sex is most of the fun.” I winked, letting my voice purr as I matched his energy. Dangerous game, but screw it. If I had to fake this marriage, I might as well flirt with the devil.
He shook his head, laughing as he exhaled slowly. “Only you, princess.”
“Are we ever going to talk about how we fell in love? People will ask that after they find out we got married on a whim.”
“Because of my dick.”
The words hit me harder than they should have. I bit down on my bottom lip, not wanting to admit that now I was curious.
Dropping my head into my hands, I groaned. “Nick, focus.”
“I’m kidding. The night I saved you from the bar is how this whole thing got started.”
“Saved me,” I scoffed. “You didn’t save me.”
“Uh, yeah, I did. Not only were you about to get manhandled, but you were about to get behind the wheel of a car that wasn’t even yours and drive drunk. So yeah, I saved your ass, big time.”
I rolled my eyes, hiding the burn of guilt that flickered behind them. “Okay, so then what? Did we have a one-night stand?”
“Sure, if you want my family and everyone else to think you’re easy.”
“Excuse me, I’m not easy.”
“Then better not tell people we slept together the first night I took you back to my place. Besides, anyone who knows me won’t buy that.”
“Why? You don’t have one-night stands?”
“I do, and I have. But I wouldn’t marry a girl who did.”
Ouch. His words landed like a slap across my pride, but I refused to flinch. I crumpled the sugar packets into a ball instead, giving my hands something to do.
“Fair enough.”
“So, how did we end up on this trip together?” I asked, forcing the shift
“Easy. After exchanging numbers and getting to know each other—working together—you asked me to go with you because you secretly liked me so damn much you couldn’t resist.”
“No,” I say quickly.
“No?”
“I would never ask a guy I barely knew to go on a trip I planned to be a girls’ trip.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because I don’t chase men. So let’s say I wasn’t going to go because I didn’t want to go alone, and you offered to go as a friend.
And as we became each other’s wingmen, during that time, we realized how much we liked each other…
because we’d get jealous. One thing led to another, and we ended up falling for each other. Then—boom—married.”
“So specific.”
“I read a lot of romance.” I shrugged.
“What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.” He sing-songs
“Exactly.”
“Okay, it may be hard to sell, but most people will buy it. I’m known to do impulsive shit.
And it sounds like you don’t mind crashing into danger either.
Literally.”I tried not to let my smile show, but it was hard.
His mouth tilted into that half-smirk again, and that spark in his eyes? Intoxicating.
“Very funny,” I murmured, my pulse tripping over itself.
Then his hand reached out, fingers brushing mine as he lifted it. His touch was casual—barely there—but it singed.
“The diamond in the middle is upgraded.”
“I thought you said you didn’t buy it?”
“I didn’t. But if we’re going to sell this, I know a girl like you wouldn’t have liked the original.”
A girl like me. That stuck. But before I could press him, he continued,
“It was too small, so I made the original diamond into a necklace so my mom could have the diamond close to her heart—the one my dad gave her.”
Warmth surged through my chest, curling around my ribs and squeezing tight. I looked down at the ring, throat thick.
“Nick… this had to be—”
“Don’t worry about how much it costs. If I were to get married for real, I planned on doing that anyway.”
If I were to get married for real.
The words were casual, but they gutted me.
I shouldn’t care. This wasn’t real. But that didn’t stop the ache in my chest or the sting in my eyes.
This man would be someone’s great husband. He’d be everything mine wasn’t—honorable, protective, devoted. And I hated the pang of jealousy twisting inside me for whoever that future woman would be.
“So what do we do if we meet someone?” I blurted, the question born from panic I didn’t want to name. “Because I don’t want to keep you from finding true love.”
“We’ll tell each other, and then this all will be over.”
His words were simple. Final. But they unsettled something deep in my gut.
How the hell was I supposed to meet someone new when I was falling for the one man I could never have?