12. Chapter Twelve
Chapter twelve
F ox knocked on Melody’s door, hoping it wasn’t too early. She was supposed to come by his place last night. He’d tried to wait up, but fell asleep sometime around one a.m. She’d left him two text messages. The first telling him she’d knocked and to answer the door. The second saying she wasn’t going to wake the whole building pounding on his door and she was going home and to call her later.
He hated that he’d missed her after he was the one who practically begged her to come to his place again. He wanted more of what they had the night before. And he blew it.
They’d barely gotten any sleep that night, he’d worked all day on multiple projects, then he had spent dinner and most of the evening catching up on work from the office with Max. Working remotely meant he had to rely on others at the office to take up the slack his absence created, but the company was his, and he was responsible for everything, so he needed to look over all the major projects, expenses, and income still.
The door opened and everything inside him lit up with warmth and happiness. Melody stood there in a pair of flannel boxers, a black tank top, her hair a wild mass of waves, and her eyes squinting against the bright afternoon light. “Hey.” She yawned and pressed the back of her hand to her gaping mouth.
Then her eyes went wide on the to-go cup and bakery bag in his hand. She snatched both. “Please tell me these are for me.”
He chuckled. “All yours, sweetheart.”
She took a sip of the caramel macchiato and sighed. “Delish.” She opened the bag and groaned. The smell of cinnamon filled the air around them. “That is the biggest cinnamon roll I’ve ever seen.”
“I made sure it was the biggest one.”
She finally really looked at him, then narrowed her gaze. “You’re too nice to me.”
“Not possible. And I owe you an apology.”
She pulled out the cinnamon roll and took a huge bite. “Why?”
He barely understood the word, her mouth was so full, and a dollop of icing clung to the corner of her lip, distracting him. He wanted to lick it off. So he gave in to that compulsion, leaned in, and brushed the tip of his tongue over the sweetness that was her and the icing mixed together.
Her breath hitched. She set the coffee on the entry table beside her, where she’d also tossed the bakery bag, grabbed him by the front of his thermal, and pulled him inside, kicking the door shut. “How do you make me feel this way?”
“I hope it’s the same way you make me feel.” He brushed his fingertips along her soft skin, tracing the side of her beautiful face. “I’m sorry I fell asleep last night and missed you knocking on my door.”
“Sounds like you should apologize to yourself for that, too, because we both missed out.”
“When I woke up this morning and it was light out…I wanted to kick my own ass.”
She took another bite of the pastry. “I’m not upset. You had a really long day. You were tired. It’s no big deal.” She raised a brow. “Wait. Aren’t you supposed to be at work?”
“I needed to see you. I waited as long as I could, then I rushed over here to catch you before you left for work.”
He finally took a minute to look around her place. Pictures of family and friends and a large mirror hung on the wall above the entry table. He caught his breath when he found one of them. A close-up. Her lips were tinted blue raspberry from the Popsicle in her hand. His orange. They were both smiling, big toothy grins. She was missing a canine. Adorable.
He looked happy. At ease. The way he always felt around her.
“I love that one. It was a good day.”
Fox nodded. “I was with you on a field trip to some museum. Your mom chaperoned. She bought us the pops from an ice cream truck out front. She took our picture.” He turned away from the pretty little girl to face the gorgeous woman she’d become. “You kept this all this time.”
“To keep you with me.” She waved for him to take a seat in her living room.
She retrieved her coffee and they both plopped down on the couch.
The living room had a wood entertainment center with a flat-screen TV. Several lush green plants sat atop it, catching the light from the windows on either side of it. In addition to the black leather sofa and reclining chair, there was a coffee table and two end tables with wrought iron lamps.
Just past the living room at the back of her apartment was a small galley kitchen and dining room table and chairs. On the right, past the open bathroom door, a short hallway led to her bedroom, he presumed.
She caught him checking out her place as she finished off the cinnamon roll. “Yeah. You could fit my whole place in your master bedroom.”
“This place is so you. I love the blown-up pictures on the walls.”
“They’re my favorite places on the ranch.”
“The one of the apple orchard in bloom is amazing. And the alleyway down the barn with all the horses peeking out of their stalls… How did you get them to do that?”
“Treats.”
“You brought home to your place here.”
“I love the ranch. I just needed my own space to grow into who I want to be.”
He bumped his shoulder to hers. “I think you’re amazing.”
She tilted her head and grinned. “I think you’re biased.”
He shook his head. “I still can’t believe what you did yesterday for my mom.”
She shrugged one shoulder. “I did it for you.” She’d not only fixed the kitchen sink, she’d cleaned the whole house, then gone to work yesterday afternoon until midnight.
“I planned to hire a cleaning service to go out there and take care of the place.”
“Now you don’t have to, and she doesn’t have to contend with all that dust, making her allergies worse. But I do think you need to check in with her doctor about her meds. I think she’s in pain and the meds aren’t working as well as they should for her.”
“Did she say something?”
“No. I just saw her take the pain meds a couple hours apart while I was there. They should last longer than that.”
“Okay. I think she has an appointment day after next. She prefers to do it alone, but I’ll try to coax her into letting me go with her, so I can see what’s what.”
Melody pressed her lips tight, but didn’t say anything.
“What is it?”
“It’s nothing.”
“Dee…”
“She’s trying to get your attention.”
“She has it. I’m here.”
Melody shook her head. “She broke the sink and pipes herself to get you to come fix it.”
He raised a brow. “That seems…” Now that he thought about it, he had suspicions. “Seriously? You think so?”
She raised a brow back. “Yes.”
Every time he went over there, something needed to be replaced or fixed. Everything was old and worn out, so he hadn’t really thought anything about it. But was Tanya actually breaking things on purpose to get his attention?
“While I was cleaning up the living room, I found a stack of cruise brochures.”
He narrowed his gaze.
“When I asked her about them, she said she wants to go on a cruise with you. Bonding. A vacation you never got to have together.”
He rolled his eyes. “Because I was in foster care and she didn’t give a shit.” He ran his hand through his hair. “She chose to take my father back, knowing there was no way family services would let me return to them. So a cruise…trying to make up for lost time…fuck no.”
She shifted on the couch so she was facing him. “Then what are you doing here, Fox?”
“I came back for you.”
“You could have done that without ever seeing Tanya. Admit it. You came back because you hoped her illness changed her. It didn’t. She won’t change. Not even for you.” She slid over his lap, straddled him, hugged him, and whispered in his ear, “You deserve better.”
He wrapped his arms around her and held her, maybe a little too tight, but she didn’t resist. She melted into him.
“I got the best thing to ever happen to me back.”
She pressed a kiss to his neck. “Still…I’m sorry about your mom.”
“If you dislike her this much, why did you do all of that for her?”
She leaned back with her hands braced on his shoulders. “Because she’s sick. It needed to be done. And I wanted to see if she was hiding something.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. I just feel like she has an agenda. Maybe it’s as simple as she wants to use you for your money. She’s never really had anything but bad luck, abuse, and back-breaking work. That’s a hard life. Her son is amazingly talented and successful. She wants a taste of the life you’ve created for yourself. You’re nice enough to give her what she wants. My problem with her is that she thinks because you’re her son, you owe it to her. I don’t like that.”
“I don’t mind helping out. I have the money.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
His brow went up again. “That’s it?”
“I’ve said my piece. And it’s nothing you probably haven’t already thought yourself.”
“Tanya is…” He didn’t know quite what to say. “I know who and what she is. I gave up my hopes and dreams of having a close relationship with her when I had this chance to reconnect with her and it didn’t go the way I hoped. Two minutes into being at her place and speaking to her…I knew I was never going to get what I wanted. But I couldn’t walk away. Not when she’s sick and needs help.” He rubbed both hands over the back of his neck, then dropped his hands onto Melody’s silky bare thighs. “I know she’s going to get worse. I’ve planned for that. There’s a nearby hospice where she’ll be taken care of round the clock. I know I don’t have to do it, but it’s what my conscience needs so I don’t have to live with turning my back on her when she needed me like she did to me all those years ago.”
She brushed her thumbs over his cheeks and held his face. “Okay. I won’t bring it up again. We’ll take care of her.”
He shook his head. “It’s not for you to do.”
Her gaze narrowed. “Are we an us ? Or not?”
He gripped her hips. “We are definitely an us .” And he loved it that she was his.
“Then we do it together.” She leaned in and kissed him. It was soft and way too short.
He stood with her straddling his waist and his hands clamped on her ass. “I want to see your bedroom.”
She kissed his neck and whispered in his ear as he walked to the hallway. “I think you really just want to see me naked.”
“I do. Always. Every second of the day. You’re all I think about.” The room was dark. He could barely see any of the details in the room, but he found the rumpled bed and laid her out beneath him on it, kissing his way down her neck, following the V of her tank to her cleavage. He kissed a trail from one rounded breast across to the other, then ran his tongue from that side back to the other.
She moaned.
He tugged her tank up and over her head. Her tight pink nipples tempted him to lick then suck one into his mouth. She tasted so sweet.
Her fingers slid through his hair and held him close as he licked and laved one nipple, then the other. He brushed his fingers over her rib cage. She arched up, only giving him a better mouthful of her soft breast, the hard tip pressed to his tongue.
He skated his fingers down her body as he dipped them underneath her flannel shorts and found her bare to his fingers. He slid them over her soft folds, finding her wet and rocking against his touch. He sank one finger deep, then two.
“Fox. I need you.”
He licked her nipple, making her moan. “I’m right here.” Where he always wanted to be. With her.
She pulled his shirt up and over his head. “Too many clothes. I want skin.” She pulled up her legs so he could slide the shorts right off her bare feet. “I want you. Now.” She twisted and fumbled with the bedside drawer, while he got rid of the rest of his clothes.
He turned back and found her sitting up, a condom in hand. Since he was on his knees on the mattress, she took hold of his hard shaft, stroked him once, twice. He bit his lip, trying to hold on and not end this with her hand on him, giving him so much pleasure. She stopped the exquisite torture, rolled the condom down his length, then fell back on the bed.
The most beautiful woman laid out before him.
Mine.
He covered her body with his and kissed her. Softly at first, then with a ravenous stroke of his tongue along hers. Her hips rolled up to his and the head of his cock sank into her welcoming heat. Then she pushed up and took him in all the way.
He lost all finesse and rhythm and pulled out and slammed back into her again and again to her soft pants and moans, her nails biting into his back and hip. She wrapped her legs around his waist and he thrust deep, pulling out and making sure his dick glided against her clit.
He felt the storm building in her. In him. And then she cracked like lightning, the pleasure coursing through her and him as it rolled like thunder.
He collapsed on top of her, trying to keep most of his weight on his forearms as he kissed her neck and rubbed his head into her palm as her fingers slid through his hair.
“You can wake me up every day if we get to do this.” Humor laced her words, but also truth and something more. Something he hoped she felt as deeply as he did.
Because that special thing they had between them…it filled him up.
He raised his head and stared down at her. “Any time, any way you want it, I’m your man.”
“I like the sound of that.”
“Get used to us spending a lot of time together.”
Something came and went in her eyes.
He settled next to her on the bed on his side and hooked his arm around her waist, and pulled her over so she was facing him. Barely a few inches separated them. “What is it?”
She brushed her thumb over his bottom lip. “You’re so…amazing. And I don’t want to lose you. But you have a home, a business, a life in Boston that I know very little about.”
He sobered. “And you live here.” That complication weighed on him.
“Yes. My life is tied to the ranch, the bar, my family. Mason moved here to be with Lyric. Layla decided to stay to be with Jax. I can’t ask you to do that.” Her gaze dropped to his chest. “Maybe it’s too soon to even talk about this, but…”
“You’re thinking of a future with me.” That’s what mattered. That she wanted it. Him.
“Yes. And if you feel like it’s too much, too soon, I’ll table this until you’re thinking—”
He kissed her to stop the rest of that statement from falling from her lips because he didn’t want her to think for even a moment they weren’t on the same page.
She fell into the kiss immediately.
He loved that she didn’t hold anything back.
The kiss broke as both of them took a breath.
“I’ve been thinking about a future with you for months. All those online conversations we had… All I wanted was more with you. Now we have it. I’ve tried not to get ahead of you because I knew who you were during those conversation and you didn’t know it was me. I’m a shit for doing it that way. I could have had you this whole time.” He brushed her hair back over her shoulder. “I wasn’t honest about who I was, but I never lied to you in our conversations.”
She nodded her agreement.
“So be honest with me now. Do you see yourself leaving Wyoming and coming to Boston with me? Is that something you’d be willing to do? Do you think you could be happy there with me?”
She bit her lip and stared at him for a moment, then admitted, “I don’t know. This is my home. I’ve barely been out of the state. I got my bachelor’s degree in business online through the university because I wanted to help my siblings when we took over the bar. I’ve never lived anywhere but here.”
“Then come to Boston with me when I have to go back for some meetings. See my place there. Come to the office. We can do some sightseeing. You can get a feel for the place and my life there.”
She rubbed her hand over his chest and stared at his throat, not his eyes. “What if I hate it?”
He used his finger to tip her chin up, so she’d look at him. “What if you love it?”
She looked a little scared. Because she might like it and that meant a huge change and telling her family she was leaving? Or because she didn’t think she would? “What would I even do there?”
He couldn’t answer that for her, though he had some ideas. She was good at a lot of things. “What would you do if you were free to leave the bar and your family?”
“I don’t know. I love working at the bar. Though I think I’d rather run it than keep waitressing. It’s hard on my feet and back.”
“You have your Etsy businesses. You could focus on those.”
“I like doing that, but I still feel like I’d miss the bar. I love the atmosphere, the music, talking to all the people who come in. A lot of them I know really well. I feel like I’m a part of their lives.” She went quiet for a moment.
He gave her space to think and dream about the future.
“You know, maybe I’ve never let myself think about what I’d do if I didn’t have the bar.”
“We have time to figure things out. I don’t have to go back right away. Yes, for some meetings and things, but those will only be for a day or two each time. Everyone knows I’m here for Tanya as long as she needs me.”
She ran her fingertips up his arm. “Have you thought about taking her back to Boston so you can be at your company?”
“I want to be here with you more than anything.”
“But that’s not exactly something you can do forever. You can’t run your business from a couple thousand miles away.”
He rubbed his nose against hers. “Let me worry about that.”
She shook her head. “We’re in this together.”
“We’ll figure it out. But it doesn’t have to be today.” He kissed her again, hoping to ease her mind, letting her know she had time to think about what she wanted. “I have to get back to the center. I have some coding to do and a conference call later.” He rolled out of bed and headed to the bathroom to take care of the condom. He found her in the bedroom, still naked but standing by the bed. She’d picked up all his discarded clothes and laid them on the mattress. “You make it hard to leave.” His gaze roamed over her naked body and he hungered for more. He wanted to touch her and taste her all over again.
“Isn’t everyone wondering where you are at this time of day?”
“Dean and Max know I’m with you.”
A pretty blush brightened her cheeks. “And what do they think you’re doing with me?”
“Exactly what we did the other morning and a few minutes ago.” He didn’t care who knew he was having sex and spending time with Melody. He wanted everyone to know they were together. “Don’t worry about them. They’re happy for us.” He pulled on his boxer briefs and grabbed his jeans, tugging them on.
“I would like to get to know them better. They are your brothers.”
“They want to get to know you, too.” He pulled his shirt over his head and sat on the end of the bed to put on his socks and shoes.
Melody waited for him to finish, then stepped between his legs.
He put his hands on her bare hips and looked up at her. “This is really not helping.” He was hard again. He leaned forward and nuzzled his nose and mouth against her breast.
She brushed her fingers into his hair, trying to straighten it out for him. She tipped his head back so she could look him in the eye. “Maybe I don’t know what I want to do in the future, but I know whatever it is, I want to do it with you by my side.”
He wrapped her up in his arms and held her close, his head on her chest. The sound of her steady heart eased him. “I want that, my sweet, sweet Dee. More than I can say.”
“I need some time to think about it.”
He looked up at her again. “I’m not asking you to leave. I’m only asking what you want and need to be happy. If it’s staying here, we’ll figure it out.” He had money. He’d buy a damn plane if that’s what it took and he’d fly back and forth. No matter what, he’d be with her.
But would that really work? It would be time consuming. They’d spend so much time apart. Eventually, would it fray their relationship until it tore them apart?
She gave him a nod.
He stood, nudging her to step back. “I have to go.”
“Thank you for the coffee and breakfast.”
He brushed her hair back over her shoulders and stared down at her. “You’re welcome.” He kissed her softly. “Can we try the whole you come to my place after work tonight thing again?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Because as you can see, I can’t go a whole day without seeing you.”
Her smile brightened her eyes. “I was actually going to stop by the center on my way to work to see you.”
“Yeah?” His whole chest lit up with joy. “Will you do that anyway so I can give you something?”
“What?”
“You’ll see. Promise you’ll come by.”
“I’ll be there in a little while. I just need to shower and dress and pack up some orders that I need to drop at the post office for some customers.”
“Is that what is all over the dining room table?”
“Yeah. I usually just eat in front of the TV and use the table for work stuff.”
“But you make the bracelets and bridles at the ranch?”
“Yeah. I usually spend Sunday there working on that stuff because we have Sunday dinner as a family.”
“Okay.”
“Do you want to come to dinner on Sunday? You could catch up with my dad and mom. They can’t wait to see you.”
He hesitated. “It’s a family thing.”
“My dad has been looking out for you since you were eight. I’m looking out for you now, too. Sounds like you’re family to me.”
He didn’t know what to do with the burst of emotion her words let loose inside him. He’d given up on ever having a family like hers.
She put her hand on his chest. “Breathe.” Of course she understood how overwhelmed he felt by her statement.
He sucked in a breath. Then another.
“I’ll see you at Wilde Wind on Sunday. Six o’clock.”
“Are you sure?” Because this felt like another step deeper into their relationship. Was she ready for that?
“I wouldn’t have invited you if I didn’t want you there. You belong with us, Fox. There’s no changing that now.”
He pulled her close and practically crushed her to his chest.
She wrapped her arms around his back and held on just as tight.
He needed to get a grip and tried to lighten the mood. “Can we have all our talks like this with you naked?”
“As long as we’re alone, I don’t see why not.”
He chuckled because he knew she meant that and because she was obviously comfortable in her skin. She had every reason to be confident about herself and her body. He loved everything about her.
He didn’t let his heart follow his mind down that path. He knew how he felt about her. But did she care enough about him to change her whole life?