5. Chapter Five
Chapter five
F ox walked into the diner expecting to have to wait for the next ten minutes, in which he’d tie himself in knots wondering if she’d show and what she thought about the kiss they shared last night.
Had the initial shock worn off that he was the guy DMing her?
Now that she’d had time to think about it, did she just want to be friends?
Did she have any idea how much he wanted her?
Yes, his mind was spinning.
“Fox.”
Her voice sent a wave of heat through his system. God, the way she said his name. It rolled through him in a wave of desire and longing.
His gaze went from the counter in front of the open kitchen to the booths lining the front windows. She sat three down with a cup of coffee in front of her.
She was early.
He hoped that was a good sign, that she was as anxious to see him again as he was to see her.
He walked up to the table and stared down at her, wondering if he should kiss her hello like he wanted to or just take his seat.
She cocked a perfect arched dark brow and her gorgeous blue eyes held him enthralled. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing.” His insides quaked and felt funny as happiness bubbled inside him. He liked it because he rarely felt this way.
“It’s something. So just spit it out, because it’s just me, and you can tell me anything.”
He’d never had trouble spilling his guts to her. He wasn’t about to start now. Not when he wanted to be close again like they used to be. “I really want to be the guy who gets to kiss you hello, goodbye, and for no reason other than we both want it.”
A fork clattered onto a plate. The woman at the table next to them let out a surprised gasp. He felt her gaze on them, but didn’t take his eyes off the gorgeous woman in front of him.
Melody stared up at him, her eyes bright with mischief and challenge. “You are the only one in my life who gets to do that. So by all means, kiss me. Because I want you to.”
He didn’t need to be told twice. He slipped into the booth right beside her as she scooted back just enough to give him room. He cupped the side of her face, brushed his thumb over her amazingly soft skin, looked her in the eye, and said something else he wanted her to know. “I am so tired of missing you.” He swallowed her little gasp as his lips claimed hers and he sank his tongue deep, tasting her. Coffee, mint, her, it all mixed into the need they shared.
Before he dived in for more and pulled her closer, he remembered their rapt audience and gentled the kiss to just a simple brush of his lips that had enough spark in it to set him on fire again—she was that potent to him. “Good morning.”
She licked her plump lips. “It’s the afternoon.”
“Yes, but it’s the morning for you.”
Someone cleared their throat behind him.
He looked around, saw all the stares, then focused on the waitress, Bea, staring at him. He hit the diner often since it was just down the street from the center, so he understood this was gossip central for the town. People were going to be talking about him and Melody.
“Hey, honey, that was one hell of a show. Can I get you some ice water to cool down?” The amusement in her grin and eyes infected everyone in the room watching him. They all went back to their meals and conversations. “Are you ready to order? I know you don’t have a lot of time.”
Melody looked up at Bea. “The usual.”
“You, too?” Bea asked him.
“Yes. Thank you.” Finally alone with Melody, he stared at her, trying to decide what to talk about first. “I’m sorry we didn’t do this instead of me taking the roundabout way of contacting you.”
She shook her head. “No more apologies. Let’s just agree that we both enjoyed our online chats and that maybe it was better to take some time to reacquaint ourselves with each other without the past wedged between us.”
He let out a sigh of relief. “You don’t know how grateful I am to hear you say that.”
“I spoke to my mom and dad this morning. They’d love it if you stopped by the ranch to see them soon. They told me about that day and how they kept track of you all these years.” Her hand settled over his on the table. “We don’t have to talk about it. You don’t need to say anything. I just want you to know, I’m here if you need someone to listen.”
He appreciated that she gave him an out from dredging up his nightmares. “Thank you.”
“I also want you to know, I’m concerned about your mother.”
“The new drugs they’ve got her on seem to be working. She’s not getting any better, but she’s also not getting worse.” He didn’t have any wishful thinking when it came to Tanya’s diagnosis and prognosis.
“That’s good news. But that’s not what I’m talking about. Are you sure being here, helping her, is healthy for you after what they put you through?”
He pulled her close and kissed the top of her head. “You never stop, do you?”
Those big blue eyes held a world of concern. “Stop what?”
“Caring about me.”
She pulled back and stared at him. “Never. I never forgot you. I never stopped wondering about you. I never let myself forget that I hurt you, even if I was helping you. Because of what I did, I lost you. But if I hadn’t done it, I’d have lost you forever.”
He leaned in close. “Nothing is going to pull us apart again. It’s time for both of us to leave what happened in the past where it belongs.”
“Are you sure about me? Because you’ve been in town long enough to hear the rumors about me. It’s not just my name. I’ve been called the wild Wilde child since middle school.”
“I don’t get what that has to do with me and you. From everything I’ve heard, yes, you like to have a good time. You’re the life of the party and the bar is a party every night. I’ve seen the way guys look at you. I’ve seen them put their hands on you.”
“And how did that make you feel?”
She was going to judge whatever he said, so he went with the truth. “Like I wanted to kick every one of their asses.” He twirled a long strand of her dark hair around his finger. “But I didn’t do anything because I paid more attention to you than them and realized, none of them held your interest in the slightest. You blew them all off. Politely. With a smile. With a few playful words. Because you’re not mean. You know what you want. And it’s not them, because we had our online thing going. Right?”
She nodded.
Good. “You’re loyal. You like a good time. You like to have fun. I’ve seen you join in dancing with everyone and singing along to your favorite songs. I don’t see anything wrong with what you do, or the way you let yourself enjoy the moments. I wish I was more like you. I spend far too much time alone. And mostly I’m okay with that. I’m not comfortable dancing or partying just for the hell of it.”
“You could have anyone you want. I got no less than a dozen requests for introductions once the women in the bar saw me with you.”
Nerves fluttered in his belly. “And what did you tell them?”
“That they could have at Dean all they wanted, but you were off-limits.”
He liked that she’d staked a claim and gave her a cocky grin. “I like that. And this. You and me having a conversation, spending time together. But I also love to watch you move when you dance at the bar, too.”
Her gaze turned sultry. “Yeah?”
He raked his gaze over her. “Oh, yeah.”
She sucked in a steadying breath. “I don’t know how you stayed under the radar at the bar and I never saw you.”
“Simple. I never sat in your section. Dean and I stuck to the back where it’s the darkest in the bar. There’s always a crowd, so anytime you got close, I simply looked away. You saw me, you just didn’t know it was me.”
Her gaze dropped down, then swept up him. “You grew into a very good-looking man, Fox. I am not the only woman to notice. You must have been fending off advances in the bar left and right.”
He shrugged. “Like you, I dismissed them with a little charm and a simple, ‘I’m taken.’”
A lopsided grin tilted her lips. “You were that sure of yourself.”
“Based on the chats we shared and how you flirted with me, I hoped.” A lot. “You insisted we meet in person, letting me know you wanted more than just us hiding behind our computers where it was safe to say whatever we wanted without looking at each other. So, yeah, I knew you wanted more than just a friendship.”
She studied him, probably saw his nerves. “At first, you needed that distance.”
He nodded. “It helped break the ice. I’m not great with new people.”
“I’m not new to you.”
“No. You’re more important than anyone.”
She glanced away, then back at him. “Fox. I don’t know what to say to that.”
“It’s just the truth. You don’t have to say anything. I know you have a whole life with lots of people in it and a ton of happy memories growing up with your family at the ranch. You had a really good life. And I’m happy for you that you had that.”
She frowned. “But your life was nothing like that and it made you cautious and wary of others.”
“Yes. And there are other reasons for that, too. But you and I shared a connection. Most eight-year-old boys don’t want anything to do with girls.”
“Boys are yucky,” she teased, then leaned in and kissed him softly. Her gaze flared with need. “Men can be a lot of fun.” She put her hand on his chest. “But there was this one boy I found fascinating.”
He touched his forehead to hers.
She rubbed her hands up and down on his chest. “You liked me. You made sure the other boys never pulled my hair or teased me. You used to hold my hand all the time. I loved it. You always made me feel special. I was the youngest at home. I thought my big sisters got to do everything and I was left behind a lot because I was so much younger and smaller than them. But when I was with you, we did everything together.”
“You knew I needed you. Someone who was always kind. Someone who didn’t make me flinch or feel scared.”
“When did that finally go away?”
“When I met Dean. He was a tough kid. Way more aggressive than me. No one messed with him. Well, not the other kids. He liked me because I was quiet. He got yelled at a lot. I liked him because he could glare at someone and make them go away.”
“How old were you when you two met?”
“Fourteen. Seventeen when Max joined our group. You’ll meet him later. He’s in Boston still taking care of some business for me.”
“What kind of business?”
Most of the time when someone asked about him, he either avoided the question or gave a vague answer. Not with Melody. He wanted her to know he’d made something of himself. “I started my own software company in college. It was just me and Max at first. Simple projects we could do in a short amount of time while we were finishing our classes. Max and I were a good team. We had a lot in common. We were both in the system and trying to be something more than the throwaway kids we’d been for so long.”
She squeezed his hand. “You are not a throwaway anything.”
He turned his hand and linked his fingers with hers. “You were the only one who made me feel like I was worth something.”
“Fox. You defied the odds. You’re strong and smart. An amazing friend. You built your own company. You’re worth knowing.”
“You make me feel that way.” He thought about his agonizing past. “When all you know is pain, kindness is precious. It’s everything, even when you feel like you don’t deserve it, or that it comes with a price attached. With you, I knew you meant it and you didn’t want anything from me. That is so rare in my world, Mel.”
She scooted a bit closer. “Then you’ll just have to keep me in your world so you’ll always have it.”
So I’ll always have you.
God, he wanted that to be true so badly.
“I guess that won’t be easy when you go back to Boston.” Sadness filled her eyes.
Hell no. He didn’t want Melody to ever be sad. “I’m not going back anytime soon. I’ll stay here until Tanya…” He never called her Mom. He couldn’t say the word. Maybe he didn’t like her. Maybe he even hated her. But she was his mom and she needed him.
He cleared his throat. “I’ve set up an office here. I’ve got great people, like Max and Dean, working for me. I can fly back if I’m needed, otherwise I can code and do business from here, no problem.”
“What’s Dean’s role in the company?”
“Security.”
She cocked her head. “Then shouldn’t he be in Boston keeping watch over the company?”
He didn’t want to lie to her so he gave her part of the truth. “We’re working on something together here.”
Dean was watching his back, like he always did, even though Fox doubted anything would happen in small-town Blackrock Falls, Wyoming. But you could never be too careful.