Chapter 6
Chapter six
Shane
With a towel wrapped around my waist, I nosily poked around Melissa’s bathroom in search of the extra toothbrushes she had mentioned last night.
I found them in the second drawer and grabbed one.
As I brushed my teeth, I looked over the neatly organized bottles and tubes and vials of skincare.
She had them arranged on a rotating tower.
There was a basket of tightly rolled bright white towels next to it and another organizer with typical bathroom needs like cotton swabs and floss picks and nail clippers.
She had a variety of potted plants including some of the biggest ferns I had ever seen.
I planned to ask her about those later. Every time I had tried to keep a fern alive, I had failed.
When I was done brushing my teeth, I quietly stepped out of Melissa’s bathroom.
The bathroom door had other ideas, and it squealed as I pushed it open.
Wincing, I glanced at the bed to see if the squeaky hinges had woken her.
She was right where I had left her, arm slung over the now empty space I had occupied until a short while ago.
I stood there for a minute, admiring the sight of her so peaceful and relaxed. Sunlight filtered through her wooden blinds and onto the bed, painting her brown skin with warm golden hues. I still couldn’t believe this beautiful woman had invited me into her bed, had let me touch her and taste her.
For the first time in my life, I wanted more than a few wild nights, a few heady weeks of high-octane sex and drama. I wanted something that lasted.
As I slipped back into my clothes from last night, I added the bathroom door hinges to my mental to-do list. She hadn’t been kidding about all the projects that needed to be handled around this place.
Even with all the work it needed, the Italianate house had been worth every penny she’d paid for it.
You couldn’t get a lot this size on the island anymore, and definitely not with mature trees that had survived hurricanes and tropical storms. The bones of the house were sturdy, and if she gave it a little more TLC, it would last another generation or two.
I cringed when my belt buckle clanked loudly in the quiet room. My wallet chain jingled as I tucked my wallet back into the pocket of my jeans, and I rolled my eyes at how loud I was getting dressed. I was like a damned bull in a china shop.
My gaze drifted to the antique dresser and mirror across the room. I had noticed it last night, but my main focus had been the beautiful woman inviting me into her bed. Now, though, I had some time to admire the solid mahogany piece.
The antique mirror had that smoky patina I loved so much. I ran my hands over the sturdy wood, feeling the old varnish under my fingertips. The dips and chips and scuffs needed some attention. I traced the skilled carving and motifs, calculating how many hours had gone into this work.
The hardware had been replaced sometime in the last decade, but there were better options available today, more period appropriate.
I wanted to test the drawers, to see if they rolled smoothly or needed a little help.
After all the noise I’d made getting dressed, I didn’t dare.
I wanted Melissa to wake up when she was ready, not because I was banging around her house like an unsupervised toddler.
Looking at the selection of perfume bottles atop the dresser. I carefully picked each one up and sniffed until I found the one that she had been wearing at the bar. The bottle looked like it belonged in the same time period as the dresser. Milky pink glass with a silver top and matching tassels.
Curious, I pulled out my phone and used the image search function to identify the perfume. It came up immediately. Delina. I nearly choked when I spotted the price. Four hundred dollars for a little bottle!
I was even more careful putting the bottle back where it belonged. I smiled at the notion that Melissa enjoyed treating herself and bought things she deserved. She obviously wasn’t waiting for a man to pamper her. She worked hard to give herself the life she wanted.
As I quietly descended the stairs to the main floor, I compared her home to mine. I also lived in an older house with a strong foundation and even tougher bones. My bungalow was only a third of the size, but it had all the space I needed and the old craftsman woodwork I loved.
In the kitchen, I started a pot of coffee and poked around in her refrigerator for some breakfast ideas. She had fed me home cooked food twice now. The least I could do was make her some scrambled eggs.
I decided to wait until she was awake to ask what she wanted to do. If she’d rather go out for breakfast, I had a cozy spot I wanted to share with her. Not in any rush to wake her, I made myself a cup of coffee to enjoy on her front porch.
But before I stepped outside, I noticed two of her neighbors scowling at the metal post we had installed yesterday.
I looked them over, sizing them up as rude boomer assholes who had nothing better to do than make everyone else around them miserable.
I knew the type only too well. I had them on both sides of my house, too.
“Mornin’,” I called out in the friendliest tone I could manage. I lifted my coffee cup in their direction and walked down the steps. Instead of taking the sidewalk, I angled my way over to my truck first.
“Good morning,” the man answered with a fake smile and big wave. As I opened the driver’s side door of my work truck, he said, “Don’t think I’ve seen you around here before.”
“You’ll be seeing a lot more of me.” I intended to make myself fully known on this street to ensure Melissa’s neighbors left her alone.
I grabbed my cut from the front seat and carelessly slung it over my arm, letting the patches speak for themselves as I shut the door and joined her neighbors at the library post.
While her husband’s gaze zeroed in on my vest and patches, his sour-faced wife gestured toward the metal post. “You’re responsible for this?”
“Looks good, don’t it?” I dared her to say one goddamn word against it.
“Once I get the library repaired and mounted, it will be prettier.” I motioned to an empty space near the corner of Melissa’s lot.
“I think a second library would look good right about there. Maybe one of those pink ones for giving away things ladies and babies need.”
“I really don’t think that’s the kind of attention we want to draw to our neighborhood,” the old woman said with a haughty sniff. “It’s bad enough we have all those kids riding their bikes up and down the road to go through this one—.”
“I think that would be really nice,” her husband cut-in with a sharp glance in his wife’s direction. She frowned at him, but he narrowed his eyes in a way that seemed to get the message across to her.
“I’ve already installed some new cameras for the house, too,” I said, lying through my teeth.
I fully intended to do that later today.
“As much as Melissa loves and gives to this community, I won’t abide by anyone causing trouble for her.
If you happen to know who destroyed her library, I’d like to know so I can give them a visit, have a little chat. ”
“No idea,” the man said too quickly. “Probably kids. You know how bored they get in the summer.”
“Kids, huh?” I pretended to think it over. “Would have to be kids with a powerful vehicle. Maybe a Jeep with a winch?”
As soon as I said it, they both paled. I didn’t need them to verbally confess to the crime. Their reactions told me everything.
I heard the front door of the house open behind me.
Their gazes shifted to the porch and then back to me.
Before Melissa could even say a single word, they were mumbling their farewells and hurrying along down the sidewalk.
I watched them go, waiting until they were back inside their house to return to Melissa’s side.
“Everything okay?” she asked uncertainly. She rubbed the neckline of her simple blue cotton nightgown between her fingers in obvious worry.
“Everything’s fine.” I placed a tender kiss on her temple and ushered her back into the house. “Just a friendly chat with your neighbors.”
“Didn’t look all that friendly.” She nodded at my cut. “Especially not with you flashing your biker badges at them.”
I snorted. “They’re patches, darlin’, and I didn’t flash anything. I was simply advertising that you have friends in very low and questionable places who won’t blink twice at making trouble for anyone who bothers you.”
“I appreciate you looking out for me.”
“But?”
“That lady is not easily cowed,” she warned. “You should have seen her at the last school board meeting. She had half of us in tears over the accusations she was making.”
Fury raged through me like a wildfire. “Let her try that shit again. I’ll make sure she—.”
“Shane!” Melissa put a soothing hand on my chest. “You’ve walked the line for ten years. Let’s not deviate and end up back in trouble because of some miserable old twat who hates books.”
I blew out a noisy breath. “I wouldn’t get caught.”
“Shane!” she shouted with a mix of frustration and amusement. “Stop! You’re being ridiculous.” She rose on tiptoes and kissed me hard. “But I like it.”
“You know that I won’t let anyone hurt you?” I searched her face. “I won’t let anyone disrespect you.”
“Why?” she asked, obviously needing me to spell it out for her.
“Because you’re mine,” I stated matter-of-factly. “You’re my girl, my woman.” I set aside my cup of coffee and tossed my cut onto the dining table behind her. I slid my arms around her waist and hauled her in tight. “You were mine the moment our eyes met across that bar, Melissa.”
Her eyes went liquid soft, and she smiled up at me so sweetly. “You’re really good at romance.”