Stubborn Hearts (Timid Souls #1)

by Melanie Munton

  I pressed my body up against hers and I knew that she could feel how she was affecting me, how much at least my body had missed her. But now she needed to hear how much I had actually missed her.

  The kiss was just a way of warming her, softening her up enough to where she would actually talk to me.

  And damned if that mouth of hers hadn’t distracted me from that plan.

  I reluctantly tore my mouth away and leaned back a little to look into her eyes. Satisfaction rolled over me as her eyes slowly opened, lust blazing brightly from them.

  Then, the lust disappeared and that same look of outrage came to the surface once again. “What are you doing?” she asked as she tried to shove me away.

  I wasn’t letting it happen. She could run the show out there on the main floor as much as she wanted. But in here, I was in charge and she was going to listen.

  “I’m showing you how stupid we’ve been.”

  Nobody could say I was romantic either, but romance wasn’t really our thing. She would probably laugh in my face if I got down on my knees and recited poetry to her.

  She acted affronted at my statement. I put my finger on her lips, stopping her before she could go on one of her tirades “Shut up, Claire. For once, just shut up and don’t argue.” She didn’t say anything but she didn’t really look any less pissed. I had my work cut out for me.

  “I’m showing you how stupid we’ve both been by reminding you how good this,” waving my hand between us, “is. I know I said a lot of horrible things to you, and I can’t apologize enough for that. I didn’t mean a word of it and there’s no excuse. I was just mad and didn’t want to admit how much you hurt me. But I don’t want to do this anymore.”

  She swallowed slowly and whispered, “Do what?”

  “Avoid each other. Act like I hate you. Pretend like that night with you wasn’t the best night of my life.”

  She blew out a heavy breath and bit her bottom lip. I couldn’t discern her reaction, how hearing that had made her feel. Her expression wasn’t giving me much.

  “What I said to you that day when I found out about you and Simon was the truth. I do want you. I think there’s something real between us and I want to see where it could go.” I finally recognized an emotion in her eyes when I said that and it was fear. I couldn’t let that feeling grow, couldn’t let her be scared away. I reached out and cupped her face in my hand, caressing her cheek with my thumb. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since that night back in April.”

  Finally, I saw hope flicker across her face, spurring my own. “You haven’t?”

  I shook my head and smiled. “No. In fact, I’m pretty sure that I’m falling in love with you. I think I’m already halfway there.”

  Her eyes widened even further and I held my breath, waiting for her response. I had never said those words to any woman before, never been close to having the inclination to do so. And if she tossed them aside, I wasn’t sure I would ever want to say them to anyone again.

  But then a miracle happened.

  Her entire face slowly softened with relief and she smiled. It was a moment that I would forever remember. The moment that she finally gave in and accepted her feelings for me. It was the first time since our night in April that I could remember being truly happy.

  She leaned her face into my hand and kissed my palm. This sweet side of Claire was something I hadn’t seen in months, and my heart swelled even more as I watched her come to terms with this new knowledge. She stepped closer to me and wound her arms around my neck, her bright smile never faltering.

  “Well, it might be a race to see who reaches the finish line first, then,” she said, her mouth inches from mine.

  My heart was pounding. Was that her way of telling me that she was falling in love with me, too? Judging from the way she was starting to rub her body up against mine like a little sex kitten, I was going to assume that was a yes. But, of course, my mind had to wonder.

  Her forehead creased when she saw the look on my face. “What?”

  It probably wasn’t something I should have said aloud but I couldn’t help it. “I’m just surprised that this wasn’t…harder. It’s kind of freaking me out. You’re plotting some sort of revenge scheme aren’t you? Some form of payback?”

  She didn’t seem to take offense to that. Instead, she just smirked, that devious grin of hers stretching from ear to ear. She went up on her toes to whisper in my ear, “If I were, believe me you’d never see it coming.” I didn’t doubt that. She leaned back, a playful look in her eyes. “So, keep that in mind.” Then, she shrugged and added, “Besides, I knew that you were just being a stubborn jerk that day in your apartment.”

  “Look who’s talking,” I replied pointedly.

  She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. We’re destined to drive each other crazy for the rest of our lives.”

  That actually sounded pretty good.

  At least it would never be boring.

  I pulled her back into me and took her mouth again, a more heated kiss than before, our passions flaring now that all of the obstacles between us had been removed. I needed to get Claire back to my place as soon as humanly possible. An entire summer of wanting the same woman that I saw every day, imagining her as I went to sleep at night, but never being able to be close to her…it did things to a man.

  Her lips suddenly left mine. I opened my eyes to find her once again smirking at me. “One more thing,” she said in her husky bedroom voice that I had been longing to hear again.

  “Yes?”

  “Never tell me to shut up again.”

  I smiled down at the woman who could make me want to kiss the hell out of her and spank the feistiness out of her, all with one sassy comment.

  “Done.”

  ##

  Chapter Twelve

  Claire

  Two months later

  December

  “Claire Stevens,” the man behind the podium announced. My heart leapt as I walked across the stage to receive my diploma and ultimately, to take another step forward in my life.

  So many years of hard work had led to this moment, and I couldn’t have been more relieved that I had not only survived them but had made it through my internship, as well. After that day in David’s office, everything had magically smoothed itself out. Which was a great thing because those two months without him, when I thought we were never going to have another chance to be together, were the absolute most miserable months of my life. Even Staci had become concerned about my mental state after I confessed the whole story to her.

  Thankfully, though, David had shoved his way back into my life and made both of us come to our senses. We became inseparable after that fateful October afternoon, though we still made it a priority to hide our relationship from our co-workers. We just didn’t want to draw attention to ourselves with the election in November. But I think at least Annette had figured it out despite our efforts, though she never said anything.

  After the election, everything became sort of a whirlwind. Clay had won and David had been busy setting up camp with him in the Mayor’s office—as per his new promotion as Deputy City Administrator, which I couldn’t be more proud of him for. And I had locked myself up in my apartment, finishing up all of my semester projects and studying for finals.

  And today, my graduation was the culmination of all of that, for me and for David. In a way, it marked the beginning of a new path for us. I had accepted a position at a successful D.C. PR firm, in charge of handling all of their corporate events. Apparently, Clay and David had both written glowing recommendations and the partners at the firm had been more than impressed with my work with the Masterson campaign.

  So, I now had a job that I couldn’t wait to start and a boyfriend who I just couldn’t stay away from.

  Sure, we still drove each other crazy and our thick heads clashed constantly, making bickering a regular occurrence. But it worked for us and I wouldn’t want it any other way.

  I found
David and my mom in the crowd after the ceremony ended. I still had my cap and gown on but didn’t want to take any of it off until I got David home alone.

  Introducing him to my mom had been nerve-wracking at first, mainly because he said he had never really met someone’s parents before. At least not the parents of a woman he cared about, so it was a big thing for both of us. Plus, he knew how close my mom and I were and how much it meant to me that they liked each other and got along. I could tell he’d been sweating bullets, actually, but he never would have admitted how freaked out he’d been. And I didn’t bring it up. I just kept my hand in his, comforting him, until he had to shake her hand.

  He needn’t have worried either because as soon as my mom realized what an impressive man David was, she couldn’t keep the smile from her face. I think it relieved her that I had found a great man, a man who was nothing like my father. A man who had a promising career, who was responsible and smart, and who seemed completely devoted to me. She was thrilled for me, I knew, but I also knew that she still felt the heartbreak of my dad’s abandonment of her. It broke my heart.

  I wanted her to find her own David.

  David had actually surprised me with what an affectionate, gentle man he could be when he wanted. After that day in his office in October, his eyes only ever communicated loving adoration when he looked at me, rather than the frustrated glare he used to always throw my way. When he wasn’t being too overbearing or trying to prove me wrong about something, he was sweet and caring and I could almost say, romantic.

  And then he would make some cocky remark, I would sassily respond in kind, and we would go back and forth for a while.

  But the makeup sex made all of it worth it.

  We eventually said goodbye to my mother when she had to leave to go to work and made our way over to David’s car. “Why don’t you take this thing off?” he asked, fingering my gown. I still hadn’t unzipped it yet.

  “Because I might have a surprise for you underneath it.”

  His eyes flew to mine, instantly darkening with that look of lust I recognized all too well on him. He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me closer to him just as we reached his car.

  “Don’t tease,” he said in a low, demanding voice. He bent to run warm kisses down my neck, making the devious smile on my face stretch wider.

  “I’m not teasing. Hurry up and get me home and I’ll show you exactly what I’ve got planned for you.”

  He growled and ripped his mouth away, opening the car door and practically throwing me inside, all in the same movement. “We’re going now,” he ground out and quickly got behind the wheel.

  Twenty minutes later, we were stumbling into his apartment, groping each other everywhere, barely able to contain our mounting desires. But when he reached for the zipper of my gown, I pushed him back on the bed and stepped back.

  He kicked off his shoes and scooted back on the bed, making himself comfortable, keeping his eyes locked on my body the entire time. I took off my cap and tossed it across the room, smiling at his giddy expression, anxious for whatever show he knew he was about to get.

  I walked back over to my purse and with my back to him, put on the fake glasses I picked out solely for tonight. I slowly turned back around to face him and was rewarded with a loud groan as he took in my appearance.

  “Oh, fuck yes,” he hissed, obviously knowing where this was going, the excitement in his voice sparking my own arousal.

  I stepped closer to him, the clicking of my heels on the hardwood floor echoing throughout the room, but stopped while I was still out of his reach. I began to slowly unzip my gown, his eyes tracking the movement with searing intensity. I allowed it to pool at my feet when the zipper pulled free.

  His pupils had dilated so much they almost looked black as his eyes roamed over every inch of me. I wore my tightest pencil skirt and one of my button-down blouses that hugged my breasts, a tie around my neck, and garters, which he could see through the wide slit on my thigh. The top two buttons of my blouse were undone, exposing my black lace bra to his lecherous eyes, and my hair was pulled back in a low bun.

  With the glasses as the final touch, I embodied what he said was his favorite image of me: his sexy little assistant.

  My internship ended after the November election, and he had recently told me that he missed seeing me in my tight skirts and heels around the office. He’d also relayed in detail what he had wanted to do to me in those skirts ever since I first got hired in January. How he’d wanted to hike up my skirt around my waist and bend me over his desk. How he’d wanted to feel the spike of my heels digging into his back when my legs were wrapped around him as he drove into me.

  Well, his apartment wasn’t his office but there were plenty of surfaces in here.

  We could get creative.

  “Holy shit, Claire,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper, his words laced with passion. “You’re so fucking sexy.”

  I smirked. “Mr. Edelman, I don’t believe that’s very appropriate. You are my boss, after all.”

  He grinned as he loosened his tie and started unbuttoning his shirt. “When have I ever been appropriate, Miss Stevens?”

  He had a point.

  This was going to be fun.

  ##

  Casual Affair (Timid Souls #2), Bea and Zane’s story, comes out May 17th!!

  PRE-ORDER IT NOW

  Also by Melanie Munton:

  Possession and Politics Trilogy

  Part One

  Part Two

  Part Three

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  Acknowledgments

  As always, to my husband, Sean, you continue to be that rock, that support system that keeps me going and never lets me get discouraged. I will never be able to thank you for all that you do for us. I couldn’t have asked for a better partner in life

  To my entire family back home—Mom, Dad, Tymon, Kim, Taylor, Oliver, and all of my grandparents—I couldn’t ask for more unwavering love and encouragement than you’ve all shown and given me from the beginning. Throughout this first year, you’ve been nothing but the steadfast, positive support system that I have needed, and I can’t begin to tell you how much it has meant to me. Having you all behind me, having faith in me and uplifting me every step of the way, makes all of this worth it.

  To all of my other family and friends from Cabool to Carthage, from Springfield to St. James to Steelville and everywhere else in between, thank you all so much for your love and support throughout the years. You’ve all been a huge inspiration to me and this journey I’m now embarking on and you continue to be as I move forward. The memories you’ve all given me will always serve as a reminder of what an amazing support system I have and the fact that I have some of the best people in the world in my corner.

  To L.J. at Mayhem Cover Creations, thank you so much for working with me on the cover designs! You have been spectacularly awesome from the very first day I contacted you, and you’ve alleviated so much of my stress, so I just can’t thank you enough! You’re pretty much amazing and I look forward to future covers.

  Last but certainly not least, I have to thank all of my readers. To everyone who went out and purchased my books, whether you know me personally or you just saw the blurbs online and thought they sounded like a good read, THANK YOU SO FREAKING MUCH! It really is a fantastic feeling to know that I have people out there reading my work, and I want nothing more than for you to love it and want to come back for more. I’m putting so much work into these projects, and I hope that you’ll stay with me as I share these worlds and the lives of the characters that I love so much with you. It’s sure to be a scary, crazy and sometimes stressful trip, but I know that continuing to ha
ve your support as a reader will be all of the motivation I need to give each and every story all that I’ve got! You guys are amazing!

  About the Author

  Melanie Munton is an up-and-coming romance author who favors contemporary romance, romantic suspense, and romantic comedies above all other sub-genres. She loves writing stories about characters who struggle to rise above the obstacles that plague them but who eventually find their victory and salvation in the person they fall in love with. Possession and Politics is her first full-length novel trilogy, and she will introduce two new series, the Timid Souls serials and the Cruz Brothers series, beginning in Spring 2016.

  Melanie was born and raised in a small rural town in the heart of the Missouri Ozarks. She earned her degree in Anthropology from Missouri State University, where she met her husband, Sean. Four years and a semester abroad later, they married in a beautiful outdoor ceremony near her hometown. They decided to make a fresh start and moved to North Carolina in late 2014, where she realized her passion for writing. Although she had always been a fan of any and all fiction, especially romance, she finally decided to write down all the stories that had been floating around in her head, thus beginning her writing career.

  One of Melanie’s favorite things to do is travel with her husband. She backpacked parts of Western Europe and spent a semester studying abroad in Spain during her college years and can’t wait to go back. Melanie and Sean love to go on road trips together and have an entire list of archaeological sites all over the world that they plan on visiting throughout their lives.

  She has a horrible addiction to pasta and could eat it for every meal if she wasn’t worried about the carbs. She considers cream soda to be the most delicious beverage ever put on this earth. And it’s rare to ever find her without some sort of candy stowed away in her purse or in her snack basket. Whether it’s Sprees, Nerds, Hot Tamales, or any form of chocolate, she most assuredly has a bag of it and has threatened the lives of those who have gotten too close to her stash, even her husband.