by Penny Reid
His mouth curved into a smile. “How many fake girlfriends do you think I have?”
“I don’t even know how many real girlfriends you have.”
He bent down to kiss her breastbone. “One.”
She shoved him off her. “What?”
He laughed and tapped the end of her nose with his index finger. “You, Melody. It’s you.”
Her stomach did a double somersault with a twist on the end. “You want me to be your girlfriend?”
“Of course I do.” He leaned forward to kiss her.
“Wait,” she said, because she couldn’t just let herself be happy.
He stopped kissing her.
“There aren’t any other women?” she asked. “Really?”
He pushed himself upright on the bed, his expression turning serious. “Ask me what you really want to ask.”
She sat up, tucking a wisp of hair behind her ear. “I just thought—assumed, I guess…you’ve been seeing other women. I mean, it’s okay that you have, it’s not like we were actually dating. And you’re…you know, you, so I’m guessing you haven’t been celibate since you and Lacey broke up.”
“I have, actually.”
She scrunched her forehead in confusion. “You have been seeing other women or—”
“I’ve been celibate. I haven’t been with another woman since Lacey.”
“Really?” It came out more dubious than she’d meant it to.
He looked down at his lap. “Ouch.”
“No—” She wrapped her fingers around his wrist and squeezed until he lifted his eyes to her again. “I didn’t mean—I just…I saw the pictures online.”
He stared at her, uncomprehending. “Pictures?”
“The America’s Next Top Model runner-up?”
“Oh, her.” He rolled his eyes. “That was nothing. Trust me.”
“You looked pretty cozy to me.”
He pressed his lips together and shook his head. “Yes, okay, I went on some dates because I thought I didn’t have a chance with you and I was trying to move on. But none of those dates went anywhere because none of those women could compete with you. What you saw in those pictures is as far as it went.”
Melody bit her lip. “Okay.”
Jeremy’s face fell. “You don’t believe me.”
She wanted to believe him. She hated that she couldn’t just take him at his word. It wasn’t that she cared if he’d been sleeping with other women since he and Lacey broke up—she only cared if he was lying to her about it. There was a small part of her that couldn’t help being afraid he was still the same lying cheater he’d been three years ago.
“I’m trying,” she told him honestly. “I’m really trying.”
His mouth twisted. “I deserve that, I guess.”
“I’m not sure you do,” she said, taking both his hands in hers. “But the thing is, I don’t really know. We’ve been—I don’t even know. Work friends, I guess? And in some ways, I feel like I know you really well. But then there are these huge portions of your life I know nothing about. I don’t know how often you go out or who you go out with. I don’t know what you like to do in your spare time, or how you spend your weekends. I don’t even know if you have any friends besides Drew.”
“You’re right.” He brought one of her hands to his lips and kissed it. “I kept you at a distance,” he said, stroking the back of her wrist with his thumb, “because I was afraid of what would happen if I let myself get close to you. The truth is, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since you came back into my life. But I was with Lacey—”
Melody swallowed and lowered her eyes.
Jeremy gave her hand a squeeze. “And then I wasn’t, and I was finally free to get closer to you, but I didn’t know how to close the distance I’d put between us. And by then, the two of you were friends, so I wasn’t even sure I should. I was afraid to tell you how I really felt—afraid you didn’t like me the way I liked you. So, I tried to play it cool, because I was a coward. But I couldn’t stay away from you. That’s why I always dropped by your office.”
He paused, and Melody made herself look at him. His eyes were dark and earnest, and she wanted to kiss him again, but this was too important. There were things they needed to say to each other. They’d both been hiding their feelings for so long, they needed to throw open the doors and let the light in.
He swallowed and went on, his voice unsteady. “The few minutes I got to spend with you were always the best part of my day. You made me feel—” He stopped and looked down at his lap, avoiding her eyes. “I feel like I can be myself when I’m around you, like maybe who I am isn’t so bad.”
“Jeremy,” she whispered, but he squeezed her hand again and kept going.
“I was afraid of wearing out my welcome, so I tried not to bother you too much, and I tried to be content with just being your friend and not allowing myself to hope for anything more. But when I kissed you that night—” His eyes found hers again, and he licked his lower lip. “I meant every bit of that kiss, Melody.”
Hearing him say the words made her heart hammer against her ribcage, like it did when she was having a panic attack. But it wasn’t panic she was feeling—it was euphoria.
“I want you in my life—all of it. Assuming you want to be in it.”
“I do, Jeremy. I do.” Her voice cracked on the last word.
He nodded slowly. “So, you can ask me anything. Anything at all you want to know, ask me and I’ll tell you the truth. No more lies. No more secrets. You’re it for me, Melody. There’s no one else.”
Her breath caught. Whatever doubts she might have had about his past, she was absolutely certain he was telling the truth now.
“Do you want to know how many women I’ve slept with?”
“Jeremy—”
“It’s okay,” he said. “You deserve to know who you’re getting involved with before we get too far into this.”
It sounded like he was trying to give her a way out—an exit strategy in case she wanted to change her mind.
Which she definitely did not want. No matter how many women were lurking in his past, she’d already made the decision to trust him with her heart. And she genuinely believed he was worth it, despite the anxious voices in her head. Now she needed to convince him of that.
Melody surged forward and kissed him before he could say anything else, letting her lips speak for her heart. It was everything, kissing him. Nothing had ever felt so right. She wanted to spend the rest of her life kissing him exactly like this.
“You’re it for me, too,” she whispered against his mouth, holding his face in her hands. “I don’t care about your past or the other women. I mean, okay, I care,” she corrected, “but I care more about this.” She laid her hand over his heart.
His eyes were wide and shining, and she could feel his breath hitch in his chest, so she kissed him again. It nearly undid her, how vulnerable he was, and how easily she could break him with a few careless words.
Her hands slid around his neck, pulling him even closer. She wanted more of him than she could reach sitting like this on the bed. She needed more of him. “Remind me again why we’re not having sex right now,” she groaned as his mouth traveled down her throat.
He pulled back to look at her, his eyes dark with desire. “Because when I have you,” he said, dragging the pad of his thumb over her lower lip, “I want to be able to take my time and savor every inch of your body.” He moved his mouth to her ear, his breath heating her skin. “I want to make you scream my name. Is that okay with you?”
That was…wow. So okay with her. God. So. Okay. Nothing had ever been as okay as that was.
When his tongue started doing things to her ear, she forced herself to push him away.
“Jeremy,” she gasped, holding him at arm’s length.
“Melody.” He actually growled her name, which was just so…incredibly hot.
“We need to get out of this room right now,” she said hoarsely.
His forehead creased in bemusement. “Why?”
“Because if we don’t go back to the party—and I mean right now—I’m going to tear all your clothes off, and there’s not going to be anything you can do to stop me.”
He grinned and planted a kiss on her forehead before standing up and tugging her off the bed. She took a minute to fix her hair in his bathroom mirror, reapply her lipstick, and generally make sure she didn’t look like someone who’d been rolling around on a bed with the hostess’s son.
When she was ready, he took her hand and led her through the same circuitous route back downstairs. The party was still in full swing, and they headed straight to the dance floor, sinking into each other’s arms again.
The rest of the evening passed in a mad haze of excited anticipation. But eventually, an hour or so later, the guests started to depart. When there were only a few stragglers left, Jeremy dutifully asked his mom if she needed him to do anything before he took Melody home.
Angelica Sauer, bless her, gave her son a knowing smile and sent them on their merry way. Melody could have kissed her.
Jeremy grabbed Melody’s hand and dragged her toward the door, ignoring several people trying to get his attention to make their goodbyes. He signaled one of the valets to bring his car, then wound his arms around Melody, tugging her close. “Have I told you how beautiful you look in that dress?” he murmured into her ear.
“Feel free to tell me again.” It was chilly outside, but Jeremy’s arms, wrapping her up tight, were all the warmth she needed.
“Almost as beautiful as you’re going to look out of that dress,” he said, low and growly.
Her knees went wobbly, but by then, the valet was pulling up with Jeremy’s car. He walked her around to the passenger door and handed her inside.
As they were pulling away from the house, she reached over and rested her hand on Jeremy’s thigh, exerting light pressure. He looked down at her hand, then over at her, eyebrows raised.
Melody smiled and slid her hand a few inches up his leg.
Jeremy swallowed—hard—and reached up to unknot his bowtie. Shifting the car into a higher gear, he pushed the speed limit the whole way back to her apartment.
Chapter 25
Jeremy reached for her the instant they were out of his car, like they’d been separated by an insurmountable distance for an unbearable span of time, not a few inches for thirty minutes. He tucked her under his arm, holding her so close there wasn’t an inch of space between them.
Melody was more than happy to nestle into him and let him guide her up to her apartment. She felt dazed, almost like she was drunk. But she wasn’t drunk on alcohol; she was drunk on Jeremy. On tonight. On what was happening between them. Her whole body was buzzing with potential energy, like a spring that had been pulled taut and was waiting to be sprung. If she held her hand out, she was certain it would be shaking. Instead, she slipped it under his tuxedo jacket and held on to his waist.
As soon as they’d crossed the threshold into her apartment, Jeremy spun her around and pushed her up against the door, slamming it shut as his mouth crashed against hers. Her neighbors were probably not happy about that, but Melody couldn’t seem to care, because Jeremy’s tongue was hot and slick against hers, and she could feel his erection pressing against her hip.
“Melody,” he whispered against her lips, and, oh wow, she only ever wanted to hear him say her name in that particular breathy murmur from now on. “Beautiful Melody,” he said, kissing her again and again. “My Melody.”
“Yours,” she agreed, rising up on her tiptoes and sinking her fingers into his hair.
There was a part of her that couldn’t believe this was actually happening. But at the same time, with Jeremy’s tongue sliding against hers, she was intensely, keenly, supernaturally aware that yes, this was, in fact, happening. This remarkable, amazing thing she’d been dreaming about was finally happening right now. To her.
Jeremy’s forehead dropped against hers, and this time, she wasn’t the one trembling. He was.
“Are you sure about this?” he asked, his voice hoarse, his hands tightening around her waist. “Because I can wait…for as long as…I just want—”
“Hey.” She took his face in her hands. “I’m sure. Do I look like I’m not sure?”
“I don’t want to screw this up.” His eyes were bright and wide open as he gazed at her. She loved his eyes, how expressive they were. And she loved the crinkles around his eyes. And his dimples. And his mouth—he had the best mouth. She wanted to kiss it right now.
So, she did.
“You’re not screwing it up,” she murmured between kisses. “I won’t let you.”
When he smiled at her, she felt something warm and wondrous unfurl in her chest. She always felt that way when he smiled at her, but this time it was different. This time, she knew he was smiling just for her. She was special.
Her hands scrabbled at his clothes. He was wearing way too many layers, and she couldn’t get at him, not the way she needed to. She pushed his jacket off his shoulders and took a second to appreciate the sight of his suspenders again before shoving them aside and tugging at his shirttail.
When she got her hands under his shirt, she sighed with pleasure, her fingers roaming over his abs and around to the small of his back. By then, he’d dragged the zipper of her dress down, and she shimmied out of it, letting it fall to the floor at her feet.
Jeremy went still, taking in the sight of her, naked except for her lacy black bra and thong. A smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. “I knew you’d look even better out of that dress.”
Melody grinned and stepped out of the puddle of fabric at her feet, kicking off her heels. She laid her palms on his chest and pushed him in the direction of her bedroom.
His fingers dug into her hips, pulling her along with him as he stumbled backward. He bent down to kiss her again, but without her shoes, the difference between their heights was too much, so he lifted her up off the floor to bring their mouths closer. She wrapped her legs around his waist, and he spun her around and carried her toward the bedroom.
It took them a while to get there, because they got distracted a couple times along the way. She nearly had her way with him up against the wall in the hallway. After that there was a minor collision with a lamp, but she never liked that lamp anyway, so whatever. Eventually, they made it to the bed, leaving a trail of discarded clothing in their wake.
His calloused hands caressed her fevered skin as he guided her back onto the mattress. Their mouths crashed together. Messy and desperate. Teeth scraping against lips and loud, panted breaths.
They couldn’t get enough of each other. She arched beneath him, buzzing with desire as their bodies slid together. Slow. Then urgent. Then slow again. In perfect unison. Two halves of the same whole.
Together. They were together.
At last.
“Wow,” Jeremy said later. “That was—”
“Yeah,” Melody agreed. She was curled up on her side with Jeremy’s body wrapped around hers, and she never, ever wanted to move from this spot.
“You need anything?” he asked, nuzzling the back of her neck. His hand slid up her leg, coming to rest on her hip.
She sighed a contented sigh. “Nope. I’m perfect right here.”
His lips brushed the top of her shoulder. “Good.”
She closed her eyes and nestled into the pillow, feeling satisfied and secure. Perfectly at peace. Enveloped in the satiny warmth of his skin.
She was right on the verge of drifting off to sleep when he said, “I like to watch basketball.”
Her eyes opened again. “Okay?” She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do with that information at this particular moment.
“You said you didn’t know how I spend my free time. I watch basketball on the weekends.”
“Oh.” She smiled and tugged his arm around her tighter. “Okay.”
“Also football. And baseball. And hockey. S
occer, too, if there’s nothing else on.”
“So…I’m getting the sense you’re maybe into sports a little?”
“I guess,” he said, brushing her hair to the side. “What about you?”
“Me? Uh, no, I don’t really watch sports.”
“What do you like to do in your free time?”
“Um,” she said. “Well…I like to watch TV, I guess.”
“What kind of TV?”
“All kinds. I mean, not reality TV. Or cop shows. Or multi-camera comedies. But everything else.”
He let out an amused breath. “What’s your favorite show that’s on right now?”
“I dunno. Orphan Black, maybe. Or Doctor Who.”
“So, like, sci-fi stuff?”
“Yeah. I mean, I like other stuff too, but yeah.”
“That’s cool,” he said, yawning. “There’s a basketball game on tomorrow I was going to watch.”
“Oh, okay.” She bit back a twinge of disappointment. Just because they were dating now didn’t mean they were always going to be joined at the hip. She was perfectly capable of doing her own thing tomorrow while he watched his basketball game.
“I was hoping I could talk you into watching it with me,” he said.
Oh.
“And then afterward, maybe you could show me one of your favorite shows?”
Oh.
“That’s—I’d really like that,” she said, smiling.
“Yeah?”
She twined her fingers with his and tucked his hand under her cheek. “Yeah.”
The wind was picking up outside, and she snuggled against him, listening to the sound of it blowing the wind chimes on her neighbor’s balcony and the slowing of Jeremy’s breath as he drifted off to sleep.
That thing where she’d tried to convince herself she wasn’t in love with him? Yeah, that was dumb. She was definitely in love with him. Ass over teakettle in love. So in love, it felt like there wasn’t enough room in her chest to hold it all.
She was going to tell him, too. Not right now, because of him being asleep. And also because she thought that might be rushing things. They’d only been together for a few hours, even if it felt like it had been forever in the making.