Chapter 2
Melody
I wince as I take a seat at the conference table in the library. Claire is looking a bit green around the edges. “You feeling okay?” I ask her.
“Morning sickness,” she mutters. “They lie. It’s afternoon now and I’m still nauseous.”
This time, I cringe. Right. I should have thought of that. Reagan looks a bit peaky, too. I suspect she got pregnant a week after Claire. Arianna is probably also pregnant, but she hasn’t mentioned it yet. She’s biting her bottom lip as she stares at her two new sisters-in-law.
Emilia comes in next and sits beside me. “Melody. I’m so glad you came.” We’ve only met once in passing, but she seems really nice. She’s Dallas and Brody’s much younger sister from their father’s second marriage. I’m pretty sure Arianna told me she’s twenty-two.
Everyone in this room is younger than me. I’m an old maid at twenty-eight. And I’m okay with that. I feel young. That’s all that matters.
The town doctor, Kinsley, is the last to arrive.
She rushes in, looking flustered, her brown curls bouncing around her shoulders.
Even she is younger than me. Some sort of child prodigy who finished med school wicked young.
I have no idea why she moved to Wilde to open a small practice.
But I’m not going to ask since I really don’t want to discuss why I moved to Wilde.
“Sorry I’m late,” Kinsley apologizes. “I was helping a mom with her colicky baby.”
There’s a collective groan around the room.
“Please tell me most babies don’t get colic,” Reagan begs, placing her hand on her stomach.
Kinsley shrugs. “Not sure I’d say most… Some don’t.” She grins. “But with a mansion full of babies, I’d bet at least one of them will scream so loud most of the night that everyone will be exhausted.”
Claire narrows her gaze at Kinsley. “Is that supposed to be helpful?”
Kinsley giggles. “Nope. Just facts.”
Emilia turns to me and changes the subject. “I hear you’re a famous author hiding out in Wilde and that no one even knows your pen name.”
I chuckle. “I don’t think I’d go so far as to say I’m famous or in hiding, but the rest is true.”
“Are you going to tell us?”
“Nope.” The only reason the town lawyer, Thomas McAndrews, knows my pen name is that he manages my will and trust. I couldn’t avoid telling him my secrets. He swears he doesn’t remember. It’s just info for the documents. Plus, there’s the whole attorney-client confidentiality.
“Poop,” Emilia says, deflating.
“So, what are we reading for this book club?” I ask.
Arianna sits across from me, holding a pile of papers. “I figured at this first meeting, we’d decide. I’ve printed out some suggestions. But these are just ideas. I think it would be fun if we take turns choosing.”
Emilia laughs. “I think it would be hilarious if one of us happened to choose one of Melody’s books and we didn’t even know it.”
I chuckle. “Super unlikely. There are millions of authors in the world. But if you do, I’ll just pretend I’ve never heard of it and act like I’m reading along with you all.”
The bell over the library entrance rings, letting us know someone else has entered the building. I glance around, wondering if we’re expecting anyone else.
Arianna sighs. “Could just be a customer. After all, the library is still open. It’s not usually busy at this time.”
I wince internally when I hear a male voice before glancing over my shoulder to see Dallas in the doorway. “Hey, ladies.”
“Dallas…” Arianna whines, “you promised not to bother us.”
He holds up both hands, eyes wide. “I won’t interrupt. Just letting you know that Brody and I will be in the archive room. We’re looking for the blueprints for some of the older buildings.”
Great… I know it’s not Arianna’s fault that her husband and his brother have shown up. At least, it better not be her fault.
“Ladies…” That deep rumbling voice… The one I’ve been using to fuel my fantasies since the first time I heard it two weeks ago. It’s full of warning and promise. Danger and intrigue. Lust.
Fuck. That’s the only word I can come up with. Just fuck. I had hoped my imagination had gone wild between meeting him briefly and hearing his voice again today. But, apparently, I was wrong. Goosebumps rise on my skin at the reminder of what that sound does to me.
Now I’ll never get him out of my system.
I’ll be masturbating to thoughts of this man for the rest of my life.
I don’t even have enough information about him to know if he’s even a good man.
He could be an asshole for all I know. My brain doesn’t care.
My mind has set him on a fucking pedestal as if he’s all the heroes in every book I’ve ever written.
Yes, I’m fucked.
I don’t look at him. In fact, upon hearing his voice, I turn my head toward the table.
The doorway and the two men are behind me.
Not far away, but I don’t have eyes in the back of my head.
Maybe if all I hear is his voice and it’s not attached to his sexy body, I’ll stand a better chance of chasing him out of my brain.
Arianna is exasperated and rolls her eyes as her husband gives his excuses about why he and Brody need to be researching the town’s blueprints right now.
I know it’s bullshit. The truth is Dallas can’t stand to be ten feet away from his wife. In fact, he comes all the way into the room, rounds the table to her side, cups the back of her head and kisses her. Not a quick peck. A full-on kiss with tongues.
He lingers longer than socially acceptable, but no one is shocked or surprised. I probably should be, but I’ve heard the rumors. I’ve also seen these three couples out and about. They’re tight. So totally in love that the air in Wilde has shifted.
At first, the townsfolk joked that there had to be something in the water up at the mansion, but that’s not really funny anymore. There has to be something. Maybe instead of lead paint, the walls in that giant house are lined with an aphrodisiac or a fertility charm.
I barely stifle a chuckle at the thought. I can feel Brody at my back. He’s so close, I swear his breath is heating my neck. But I do not turn around. I won’t.
When Dallas finally releases his wife and saunters toward the meeting room entrance, she stops him. “Since you’re here snooping on my book club, you have to help out anyone who comes into the library to check out books. Close the door so we can have our book club in peace.”
Ordinarily, I would consider a smirk to be something you have to see. Not a gesture anyone can hear. But I suddenly change the definition in my head because I’m certain I can hear Dallas smirking behind me.
Arianna’s eyes widen from whatever look he must have given her. She licks her lips. “Please?”
The door snicks shut, making me flinch. As much as I wanted Brody to move far enough away that I can’t hear, see, or smell him, I also kind of hate that I didn’t even turn around.
“Damn, those men are intense,” Kinsley mutters.
Emilia giggles. “They really are. I should have introduced you to Brody. He’s unattached.”
Why does her suggestion make me tense? It shouldn’t. I don’t have a claim on that man, and I don’t want one either. I’ve made that clear to Arianna and to…myself. No. Absolutely no men. Especially not ones who are just in town for a few months and will disappear as fast as they arrived.
Kinsley can have him.
Except, she’s shaking her head. “No, thank you. I’m in my workaholic era. No time for men.”
Arianna laughs. “That’s what I thought before Dallas strolled into my library like he owned it…and me. The Wilde men have a way of steamrolling everyone in their path. Besides…” She looks down at her papers, picks them up, and taps the bottoms as if they need to be tidied.
“Besides…what?” Emilia asks. “Is there a juicy scoop? Did Brody meet someone? How did I not know this?”
I stiffen. It should not bother me to find out Brody has met someone.
I have zero claim on that man. I didn’t even give him my name for fuck’s sake.
My one and only encounter with the man included him reprimanding me for cussing and me fleeing the library.
He probably doesn’t remember me. I was a blip on his radar.
Some random girl he met for two seconds.
Arianna’s gaze comes over to mine.
My face heats. I know with that one look that I’m wrong. Brody knows exactly who I am.
Fuck.