26. Luke
CHAPTER 26
Luke
Opening the door to the Timberbeast, I gestured for Melanie to go ahead of me. With a little twitch of her lips, she stepped inside. I walked in behind her and immediately touched her lower back as my eyes swept the bar, ready to level every guy in there with a hard glare.
Don’t even think about it, assholes. She’s mine.
Rock music played in the background, Rocco was tending bar, and the place was busy, especially for a weeknight. It seemed like the heat was getting to everybody. Looked like we weren’t the only ones who thought a cold drink sounded good.
Garrett and Harper were at a table together, sitting on one side rather than across from each other. Harper waved, so we veered in their direction.
“I don’t want to alarm anyone, but you seem to be missing a baby,” I said.
“I know, I feel so naked without her,” Harper said.
Garrett put his arm around Harper’s shoulders. “Mom’s at our place watching her for a couple hours.”
“And Owen is home too, so I know everything is fine,” Harper said, like she was trying to convince herself. “Do you want to sit down?”
“We don’t want to interrupt your date night,” Melanie said.
“I don’t mind.” Harper glanced up at Garrett. “Do you mind?”
He shook his head. “No. We have to head home soon anyway. Have a seat.”
The fact that I was there with Melanie—and obviously with Melanie—didn’t faze them. Since our second first date, word had spread through my family that Melanie and I were together. I’d expected some degree of concern, but no one seemed to think it was weird. My brothers had given me crap, of course. But that was their job.
Melanie took a seat, and I went to the bar to get us drinks. I brought them to the table and sat next to her, then scooted her closer and draped my arm over the back of her chair.
“How is the little one?” Melanie asked. “I’m sorry I can’t remember her name, but your family has a lot of baby girls.”
“Isla,” Harper said with a smile. “Don’t worry about it. She’s fine. She had a bit of a cold, but she got over it, and she’s been sleeping a lot better. Which is good for everyone.”
“Especially you.” Garrett leaned over and kissed her temple.
“So have you started working on the cartoon again?” Harper asked. “It was a cartoon series you were waiting on, right? The one with the evil queen?”
“Wait, what?” I asked. “What cartoon?”
“It’s called Enchanted Hollow ,” Melanie said.
“That’s the job you’ve been waiting for?” No way. “The cartoon with the evil queen? The one with the voice?”
She hesitated, like she wasn’t sure what I was getting at. “What voice? Do you mean my voice? Because if so, yes, it’s my voice. Have you seen it?”
“Yeah, my nieces and nephews were watching it one time when I was over there,” Luke said. “I heard the voice, and… that was you?”
“If it was Queen Ione you heard, yes, it was me.”
I shook my head slowly. “That’s so wild.”
“Can you do the voice?” Harper asked. “Sorry if that’s weird. I just realized I probably shouldn’t have asked that out loud. But I’m so curious.”
“No, it’s fine. I don’t mind.” Melanie’s voice changed, her tone low and sultry. “Foolish princess. You think you can defy me?” She held up a fist. “I am queen of these lands, and you will learn your place or face my wrath.”
“That was so good,” Harper exclaimed. “Oh my gosh, I have tingles.”
“She’s a lot of fun to portray,” she said, returning to her natural tone. “Especially when she’s threatening to destroy people. And no, we haven’t started recording yet. I’m hoping they’ll send the script soon, though.”
I gazed at her, a little bit in awe.
“What?” she asked. “Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I basically had a crush on your character and didn’t know it was you.”
“You did not.”
“I did. She’s an evil queen, but she’s hot.”
She laughed. “I don’t know what that says about you, but okay.”
I smiled and leaned in for a quick kiss.
Garrett took his phone out of his pocket, and his brow furrowed. “Sorry, love. I should take this.”
“That’s okay,” Harper said. “Go ahead.”
Garrett got up and stepped outside to take his call.
I put my arm around Melanie again and took a drink of my beer. No wonder that voice had captivated me. It had been her.
Granted, if I’d known at the time, I would have found a reason to hate it. But it said something that her voice—even in character—had penetrated my defenses.
A few minutes later, Garrett came back and took his seat next to Harper.
“Is everything okay?” she asked.
“Yeah, just a buddy of mine from the Echo Creek PD.”
“You’re not working another cold case, are you?” I asked.
“No, but we’ve got two cases of women being abducted. One was down in Echo Creek, the other here. We’ve been pooling our resources since the details match. It’s gotta be the same guy.”
“Abducted?” Melanie asked. “What happened? Were they found?”
“Both found after a few days,” Garrett said. “But neither were in great shape. They’d been assaulted pretty brutally. And that’s after being drugged and coming to, chained to a wall.”
“What the fuck?” I asked. “Chained to a wall?”
“Sugar cookies,” Harper breathed, like it was a curse word. “You didn’t tell me they’d been chained up.”
Garrett nodded. “It’s kind of perplexing, to be honest. No evidence of sexual assault. Which is good, obviously, but odd. Usually when a guy shoves a woman in the trunk of his car, that’s what he’s planning.”
Melanie stiffened in her seat.
“So what’s this guy doing?” I asked. “Abducting women just to chain them up?”
“We don’t know. We don’t know why he’s assaulting them but leaving them alive, or why he’s letting them go. It’s not a typical pattern.”
“That’s so awful,” Harper said. “Do you know where the Tilikum victim is now?”
Garrett’s mouth lifted in a slight grin. “You want to send her cookies, don’t you? ”
“I know cookies won’t fix anything, but it might help her feel better to know people care.”
He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I’ll see if I can arrange something.”
Melanie shifted closer to me and I tightened my arm around her. It had to be hard for her to hear about an abduction after what she’d been through.
“It’s been nice to get out, but we should probably head home,” Harper said.
Garrett checked his phone. “Yeah, it’s about that time.”
“Thanks for letting us join you,” Melanie said as they got up from their seats.
“Yeah, it was great to see you,” Harper said with a smile.
“Night,” I said, tipping my chin to my brother.
He tipped his. “Night.”
Garrett and Harper left, and I started idly fingering Melanie’s hair as I took a drink of my beer.
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“I’m fine.” She let out a breath. “Actually, no, I’m a little shaky.”
I set down my beer and gently touched her chin, bringing her gaze to mine. “Of course you are. It can’t be easy to hear about something like that.”
“The part about putting her in the trunk made me sick to my stomach. All of a sudden, I remembered what it was like to wake up and realize I was in the trunk of a car.”
The need to protect her swept through me. She didn’t resist as I drew her against me, letting her cheek rest on my chest. With her deep breath, her body seemed to relax. I cast another glare around the bar as if the perpetrator was there, eyeing my woman.
Fuck that guy. Hopefully, he’d be caught soon.
Pulling back, I brushed her hair off her face. “Do you want another drink? Or are you ready to get out of here?”
“I’m ready to go. ”
I leaned in and kissed her forehead, then moved so my mouth was near her ear. I spoke in a low growl. “How about I take you home and fuck you senseless?”
The way her body trembled set my blood on fire.
“Yes,” she whispered. “Now.”
Taking her hand, I helped her to her feet and led her out to my car.
Her wish was my command.