CHAPTER TWELVE
Melanie sat on the floor, her phone in her lap and a box from the stack in the corner of the living room open in front of her. Gage had dropped off her car early and said he had meetings most of the morning. They’d agreed he’d come over in the afternoon.
Putting in earbuds, she tapped on the phone number from her favorites list. Esme answered with a cheery tone. “Hey, best friend. You caught me on my break. I’m walking around the block to try to get my steps in. How’s life in the outback?”
“Quite civilized. We even have indoor plumbing.”
“Ha ha.”
“I’m tackling the stack of boxes in my living room so you can tell me about your date while I sort through them. It’s been a while since we talked.”
“Okay, let’s see. We had to postpone the first time because Isla had a fever and the second time because my sitter cancelled, but we finally went out Tuesday evening.
Oh my gosh, Mel. It was so worth the wait and Andres is so nice.
But not too nice, you know what I mean? He’s sincerely interested.
He asked how I got into marketing, and he told me about his work as an analyst, and we talked about our girls.
The conversation flowed so easily, and we had such a good time. There are definite sparks.”
“Oh, I’m so happy for you. Do you have plans to get together again?”
“We do. Get this, he said he’d call me the next day and that’s exactly what he did.”
“Calling when he says he will cannot be overrated.”
“Tell me about it. The plans are to take the girls to the children’s museum. We’re coming to see you at Halloween so it’ll be after that.”
“That sounds like a fun time.” Isla’s father had been volatile and controlling, and Melanie had been relieved when her friend had finally left him and filed for divorce. It’d been a tough few years for her and Isla. Esme dating a decent guy felt like a win.
Melanie stared at the contents of the box. Dead batteries, charge cables that didn’t fit anything, old keys. She’d been rushed to get out of the apartment and ended up dumping the entire contents of her junk drawer into the box.
“I heard that sigh. Why are you sighing?”
“Because I’m looking at a box and have no idea why I bothered moving it to this house. It’s everything from the kitchen junk drawer and absolutely none of it is worth keeping. Why did I box up expired coupons and dried-out markers?”
“Dump it all in the trash and be done with it. Isla has been talking nonstop about Halloween. Does Addy have a costume?”
Deciding Esme was right, Melanie took the box to the kitchen table, where she pulled out the loose batteries for proper disposal.
“Addy wants to be a fairy princess, which is pretty easy since she has enough in her dress-up drawer to outfit an entire kingdom of fairy princesses. I’ll get her some face glitter and we can make a wand. ”
“Our girls are like carbon copies because Isla also wants to be a princess, albeit a mermaid princess, which complicates matters a bit. Face glitter is a good idea.”
“Addy’s school has a carnival Saturday afternoon so you and Isla can come with us.”
“The girls will be out of their minds with excitement all day.”
“That is a good prediction.”
“Now tell me about the hot neighbor with the cute dog. Anything happening with our handsome Alaric look-alike?”
“He’s read my books.”
“I’m not surprised. M. Brennan is an amazing author.”
“I’m surprised. Stunned is more accurate. He said a teen relative challenged him to read the first book, and he’s since read all of them. I haven’t had a chance to talk with him about them, but he used the word incredible.”
“That’s the best kind of validation, Mel.”
Melanie leaned against the kitchen counter, rubbing her eyes. “It adds layers to the attraction. I don’t think either of us is looking for a relationship, but there’s something there.”
“Define this something. I need details.”
“He kissed me.”
“What?!?” Melanie pulled out an earbud when Esme screeched the word. “If I didn’t need to get my steps in, I’d have to sit down. Tell me about the kiss.”
“Actually, I kissed him first. Just a peck. Then last night, he kissed me, and boy, did I kiss him back. It was sexy and hot, and now I think I’ve lost my mind because I can’t think of anything else.”
“Oh my god, Mel.”
“I know. And up until recently, he was an FBI agent.” Another squeal from Esme. “Put those together and I’m not sure what to make of him.”
“FBI is way cool, but what does that have to do with you two locking lips?”
She deemed it safe to return the earbud. “I think his background makes him protective. I have to tell you what happened on Monday.”
“Your tone says it’s something serious. What happened?”
Melanie told her friend about Gage’s call to lock herself in her bathroom, and how he’d subdued both intruders single handedly.
“So you see what I mean about him being protective? I think it’s encoded in his DNA and is probably why he joined the FBI.
He now owns his own security consulting firm.
I told him about the assault and how I want to find who did it. ”
“Okay, so he’s protective, which is uber hot. But again, what does that have to do with kissing you?”
“I don’t like the idea that being attracted to me is somehow mixed up with thinking I need his protection.” Melanie sighed. “And now that I’ve said it out loud it doesn’t make as much sense as it did in my head.”
“Maybe one doesn’t have anything to do with the other. It sounds like being protective is part of his nature and he can’t help extending that to you. I bet he’s attracted despite that.”
“Maybe,” she said.
“You shared your history with him, which means you trust him. That’s a good start for any relationship.” Esme called out a hello to someone. “Now I want the good stuff. How did you end up locking lips with Special Agent Gage? What’s his last name?”
“Landry.”
“Okay, with Special Agent Gage Landry. Was the kiss amazing?”
“Oh yeah.” Melanie described the ladder mishap.
“I was using a screwdriver to pry out staples holding the screen up and I would have been fine, but then Gage comes up behind me and demands to know what the hell I’m doing.
He’d been on an overnight business trip and we’d spent at least an hour the night before texting.
I’d been thinking about him and then all of a sudden he’s there and startles me.
I’m near the top of the stupid ladder, which I should’ve realized wasn’t strong enough.
Then the step breaks under my feet and the ladder falls. ”
This time Esme’s squeal wasn’t quite as loud. “Oh my god. You must’ve been terrified.”
“Tell me about it. I’m hanging on to the roof and I think I’m about to die, but he grabs me.
Good thing he’s tall and has excellent muscles because he’s got his arms around me and I basically slide down his body.
All of which leads to this moment when I’m looking in his eyes and he’s looking in my eyes and the next thing I know, we’re seriously kissing and it’s amazing. ”
“Holy shit, Mel. First off, be more careful. Second, how amazing is amazing?”
“Off the charts amazing. I’ve never felt like that with a kiss.
There was the sexy part of it, because good lord that man is sexy down to his bones.
But there’s the other part too. I’m scared to put it into words, but it’s like something inside me recognized him as mine, like he belongs to me, and I belong to him.
Which sounds dumb when I say it out loud. ”
Esme’s sigh carried over the connection. “Oh, that’s so romantic. You found him, Mel. You found your man. I have dibs on maid of honor.”
Melanie snorted. “Slow down, friend. As in way down. I feel something. He flat out said he does too. But that’s chemistry.
No one’s thinking marriage. All it means is we’d have really good sex.
After the super-amazing kiss, it was raining and I didn’t want him and Pancake getting soaked if they walked back home, so I invited him to stay for dinner.
I’m grateful Addy isn’t shy because that kiss muddled my brain and she kept the conversation going. ”
“You had him to your house for dinner? That’s a date.”
“No, no. I wouldn’t call it a date. It was more an impromptu sharing of soup.
I don’t know that I’d want to date him. I don’t want to subject Addy to men coming in and out of our lives.
She’s so sweet and I can already see her falling for him.
It’s not fair to her.” Melanie huffed out a breath.
“Beyond that, I get the feeling he’s careful about relationships. You can see why I’m conflicted.”
“I do. We’ve talked about protecting our girls.
I have strict rules about introducing the men I’m dating to Isla.
It’s different with Andres, though, because we were with our girls when we met.
If this thing between us gets serious, I’ll have to think about how to let him be a part of my life.
But Mel, you don’t want to be single forever, and it sounds like there’s a good chance Gage is the one. ”
“There is no the one. That’s a myth.”
“It’s not. You’ve been hurt badly and don’t trust guys.
I get that, so I’m saying this as a friend who loves you.
You keep dudes at arm’s length to protect yourself.
” She spoke fast as if trying to make her point before being interrupted.
“You haven’t found someone who’s strong enough to break down those protective barriers and prove he’ll stand with you.
Until Gage. I think he could be that guy. ”
“I don’t know, Es. Addy and I are fine the way we are.”
“You are, but that doesn’t mean you couldn’t be better.”