Being able to tell her he loved her while he kissed every inch of her gorgeous body would certainly go a long way to making “perfect” more possible.
“I think I could be convinced that the dates are up,” Nick said, his boxer briefs already feeling a little tighter from thinking about being naked with Melody. “How about this—we go inside and do our best with the family then we go out for a drink and set a date?”
“An official fifth date?” Melody asked, so close Nick could feel her lips brush his as she spoke.
“An official fifth date,” he said, and then he kissed her, long and slow and deep, letting his tongue dance with hers as he made love to her mouth. She pressed closer and he pressed back, until he could feel her heart beating fast in his own chest and every inch of his skin was buzzing with desire.
“We should stop,” he said when he finally pulled away, breathing fast. “What if your family’s watching?”
“They’re not,” Melody said, hands smoothing down his chest. “They’re in the backyard. They probably don’t even know I was trying to make my escape.”
“You slammed that door pretty hard,” Nick said, claiming her hand with his, and doing his best to talk his cock down from its present state of arousal.
But it wasn’t easy. Having the “I love you,” thing out in the open only made him want her more, want her soft and warm beneath him, sighing his name as he pushed inside her for the first time.
He gave his head a little shake, hoping it would help disrupt the stream of tempting mental images that were doing nothing to help him regain control.
“Maybe they did hear. Whatever, I don’t care. Let’s do this.” Melody started back up the walk with a determined stride, tugging Nick along with her.
Thankfully, the thought of meeting her parents in a matter of minutes was exactly what he needed to pull himself together. By the time they reached the door, his erection had subsided, and by the time they made their way through the living room and kitchen and out into the backyard, his thoughts were clear and his determination firm.
He was going to impress these people, no matter how hard he had to work to do it. Melody was worth playing nice with people who had judged him before they even knew him.
Melody was worth just about anything.
Chapter Eleven
Melody didn’t usually drink more than one beer around her parents, but by the time the fajita fixings were on the table and everyone sat down to eat, she was almost finished with her second and still feeling so high-strung she jumped every time Felicity let out a squeal of excitement.
Nick was doing great so far—being super polite with her parents, making easy conversation with Lark and Mason, and keeping things civil with Nash despite the fact that his brother was dealing out his fair share of vaguely threatening looks. Nash was obviously convinced that Nick was going to do something to embarrass Nash in front of his in-laws, but Nick wasn’t allowing his brother to rattle him.
Of course, Nick had no idea what was coming after dinner, once Aria took the baby—who was going to spend the night at her grandma and grandpa’s house—inside for her bath and everyone else sat down to grill the new couple.
Melody had been part of more March family interventions than she could count. She’d even led a mini March-sister intervention several months ago when Lark had been in need of a friendly push in a more positive direction, but she hadn’t been on the receiving end of one since she decided not to go to a four-year college.
That afternoon had been rough, but Melody had pled her case with a calm assurance that had convinced her parents that she knew what she was doing.
Too bad she felt anything but calm when it came to Nick. The thought of losing him made her want to scream for everyone in her family to keep their mouths shut and leave her alone. Not the most mature response, but when it came to Nick she was definitely more passionate than rational.
Which is why your parents are worried. Maybe you should be worried, too.
Melody sighed and dropped her attention to her plate, trying to focus on topping her steak fajita with guacamole and tomatoes. But her inner voice wasn’t so easily silenced.
You’re not acting like yourself and it hasn’t exactly been smooth sailing the past two weeks.
Since she’d set her sights on Nick and a wilder life, she’d been attacked by a creepy drummer, had to walk miles in the near-darkness after Nick’s car was stolen, spent all her spare income getting his car out of the impound lot and had to eat ramen noodles for dinner almost every night, lost the charm necklace Nana had given her for her sixteenth birthday while she and Nick were rock-climbing, twisted her ankle learning to skate board and had to miss a much-needed catering job to keep ice on her swollen foot, and now she was getting ready to be the focus of a family intervention.
But she’d also fallen in love with a boy who loved her back, a boy who made her feel more fully alive than she ever had before.
Nick already meant so much to her, and the more she got to know him, the more she suspected that her dream guy had arrived in an unexpected package. He wasn’t the kind of man she’d fantasized about when she was younger, but that didn’t mean he was the wrong man, just that maybe her imagination had been stunted until she met him.
After dinner, Melody helped clean up the dishes, while Nick joined Nash, playing with Felicity on the lawn, rolling the baby’s red ball back and forth and pretending to get knocked over when Felicity hit him, making the baby laugh so hard her face turned red.
Nick was even good with kids, and hadn’t that been her major complaint about Brian, that he was grossed out by babies? Melody would rather have a tattooed husband who worked at something he was passionate about, questioned the status quo, and loved babies, adventures, and her, than a husband who looked perfect on paper and pleased her parents, but who didn’t light a fire inside of her.
Melody froze at the sink, setting the dirty plates down with shaking hands.
Husband. This was the first time she’d thought of Nick in that way, as someone who might, who maybe one day…
The thought scared her a little. After all, they didn’t share the same faith, had wildly different views on other important issues, and serious disagreements on big city vs. small town living.
She knew Nick wanted to move back to Atlanta eventually, but Melody couldn’t imagine living anywhere but Summerville. She wanted adventures and new experiences, but she wanted to come home when the adventure was over, and Summerville was home. The town was a part of her, like a family member, and she didn’t want to grow up and leave it behind.
Her worries followed her outside, where the family was already gathering around the cleared table, and Nick was sliding into a seat near the grill. Melody dropped into the seat next to him with a nervous smile. He smiled back, seemingly at ease, though she could tell he knew the intervention was about to start.
There was a steely look in his eye, a determined look that helped banish Melody’s anxiety. He was determined because he loved her, and she firmly believed that love could overcome any obstacle in its path.
She held tight to that belief—and Nick’s hand—as her mother began to speak.
“Nick, we told Melody earlier tonight that we wanted to talk to both of you about your relationship,” she said, smoothing her blond bob with one hand, though, as usual, not a hair was out of place. “But I would like to go on the record as saying that I, for one, don’t think that conversation is necessary anymore.”
“What?” Bob March turned to scowl at his wife.
“I think they’re lovely together,” her mom said with a beaming grin that made Melody feel twenty percent lighter. “It’s obvious they care about each other, and Nick is a total sweetheart. I say we give him the seal of approval, so long as he continues to be sweet to our baby, and agrees to wear long sleeves when Nana is around.”
“Nana thinks everyone with tattoos has spent time in prison,” Lark clarified with an affectionate roll of her eyes. “Sh
e’s too old to change her mind about anything, so we do our best to humor her when we can. And I agree, by the way. I think you two are great together.”
“Me too,” Aria said from just inside the back door. She’d gotten Felicity ready for bed in record time, obviously not wanting to miss a moment of the drama.
“But I was on your side from the beginning,” she continued, carrying a tired-looking Felicity dressed in a ladybug sleeper across the patio and delivering her into Nash’s arms for a good night snuggle. “Remember that when it comes time to pick a matron of honor, Melody.”
Melody blushed and let out a nervous laugh. She peeked at Nick out of the corner of her eyes, expecting him to be freaked out that her sister had inferred that they would be getting married, but he was still smiling. And when he glanced her way, he gave a conspiratorial wink that sent a thrill of excitement skittering across her skin.
“I’m not an official member of the family yet,” Mason said. “So I’m not going to say anything on the record. Off the record, however, I’ll say that I respect both of you for coming back inside when you could have made a run for it earlier. I think that says a lot about the strength of your relationship.”
“Mason and I were spying,” Lark confessed with a guilty grin. “But we left the window when the kissing started.”
Melody blushed even harder. “Okay, are we done then? Can the most embarrassing family meeting ever now come to an end, please?”
Bob March grunted. “Well since my opinion doesn’t mean a damn thing anymore, I guess so. But I still don’t think it’s a good idea. Melody’s just a baby.”
“Melody is a young woman, and smart enough to make her own decisions,” Nash said, speaking up for the first time since dinner was served. Melody met his gaze, surprised to find his glare had vanished. “I would like to apologize for forgetting that. And I would like to apologize to Nick, too. I should have minded my own business.”
“No worries, man,” Nick said. “You were looking out for Mel, and anyone who looks out for Mel is on my good list.” He turned to smile at Bob. “I’ll do my best to take care of your baby, Mr. March.”
Dad grunted again, but his scowl wasn’t quite as fierce. “You can call me Bob, all the rest of these daughter-robbers do.”
Melody’s jaw dropped, but she didn’t respond, afraid she’d undo whatever magic spell had caused her father to go from grouchy to decent in such a short amount of time. Instead she said—
“Should I go get the pies Aria made? I saw them in the fridge.”
“Yes!” Lark jumped up with a clap of her hands. “They’re key lime. I’ve been dying for a giant slice since we got here. I’ve been craving key lime pie like you wouldn’t believe. I’m going to eat half a pie and three scoops of whipped cream and nothing anyone says is going to stop me. I am immune to reason when it comes to those pies.”
Mason stood, resting a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll get it,” he said. “You sit. You already cleaned up supper.”
Lark glanced over her shoulder and a loaded look passed between her and her fiancé, a look that set off warning alarms in Melody’s brain, a look she would have sorted out the meaning of in a minute or two if Aria hadn’t shouted—
“Oh my god, you’re pregnant!”
—and set off a family reaction that made the Melody-and-Nick intervention seem calm by comparison.
A half hour later—once Mom stopped mourning the fact that Lark wouldn’t fit in her pretty new dress on her wedding day, Dad finished yelling at Mason for knocking up his daughter outside of wedlock, and Aria had apologized profusely to Lark for blurting out her suspicion instead of pulling Lark aside for a private one-on-one—things had calmed down enough for Melody to feel okay about making her escape with Nick.
“We’re going to head out,” she said, kissing her mom on the cheek. “Don’t worry. Everything’s going to be fine. Lark will still fit in her dress next month and no one will think anything of it if the baby comes a month or two early.”
Mom sniffed, but didn’t start crying again. “I don’t know about that, but I guess it doesn’t matter. We’re going to have another sweet grandbaby, that’s the important thing.”
Melody smiled. “I’m proud of you, Mom.”
“I’m proud of you too, honey. And I’m glad you’ve found someone who makes you happy,” she said, before adding in a whisper, “But please don’t get pregnant. I’m not sure my heart can handle two daughters pregnant out of wedlock.”
Melody blushed, and patted her mom on the shoulder. “No worries, Mom.”
But as she and Nick walked to his car, she couldn’t help but worry. She was on the pill, but she didn’t always take it at exactly the same time every day. And the pill wasn’t one hundred percent effective. What if she did get pregnant? How would she and Nick handle something like that? It wasn’t such a big deal for Mason and Lark—they were already engaged—but she and Nick were so new…
“I thought that went pretty damned well,” Nick said, grinning as he reached to open the passenger’s door to the Midget, but pausing before he pulled it open. “What’s up? You look sad.”
“I’m not sad, just…a little worried.”
“It will be fine,” Nick said, gathering her into his arms for a hug that wasn’t as comforting as it should have been. It only reminded her of how much she wanted him, even if it wasn’t the smartest idea. “Lark and Mason are obviously thrilled about it. None of the rest of it matters.”
“I agree,” Melody said, “but my parents can still make them miserable if they want to. Hopefully they’ll behave.”
“They gave us a fair shot, I thought,” Nick said. “Wasn’t nearly as bad as I was expecting.”
Melody lifted one brow. “Even when Aria basically proposed for you? She wasn’t kidding about the matron of honor thing, just so you know.”
Nick gazed down at her for a long moment, a thoughtful look on his face.
“What are you thinking?” she finally asked, too nervous to endure the silence a second longer. “Busy planning your escape?”
“Nope, kind of the opposite,” he said, then added with a shy smile, “Exactly the opposite, really.”
Melody cocked her head. “What do you mean?”
“What if…” He trailed off, taking a breath before he continued, “What if we got engaged?”
Her eyes flew so wide it was physically painful.
“I mean, then we could move in together, and no one in your family would have a problem with it,” Nick continued in a reasonable voice. “And even if they did, we’d just remind them that Mason and Lark lived together while they were engaged, and they’d have to back off.”
“Yes, but then we’d be expected to get married, sooner or later,” Melody said, heart pounding in her throat as she spoke, so many emotions swirling inside of her, she wasn’t sure what to feel. “You realize that, right?”
Nick shrugged, and a hurt expression flickered across his face. “You say that like it’s the craziest thing you’ve ever heard.”
“It’s pretty crazy,” Melody said. “We’ve only been dating two weeks. My family would totally flip out. Aria can get away with stuff like that, but I really can’t.”
Nick’s arms slid from her waist, and he took a step back, his eyes falling to the grass by the curb. “Right. You’re right. Guess I need to lay off the crack.”
“Crack is whack, yo,” Melody said, trying to inject some humor into the moment, but obviously failing.
Nick looked even more miserable and embarrassed than he did a second before.
“Listen,” she said, taking his hand and holding tight, though his fingers remained limp in her grasp. “I meant what I said. I love you, and I’d be lying if I said the thought of us maybe ending up together together hadn’t crossed my mind, but I mean… You won’t even tattoo me until we’ve been together for six months.”
“A tattoo is forever,” Nick said, cautiously lifting his eyes. “Sometimes even laser treatments won�
�t get rid of them completely.”
“Marriage is forever, too,” she said. “At least I want mine to be.”
“Me, too,” Nick said, fingers curling around hers. “I know I’m not the most traditional person in a lot of ways, but I only want to wait at the end of the aisle for a woman one time. And just so you know, I’ve never even considered that kind of thing with any other girl.”
“Not even Sarah Beth?”
“No one,” he confirmed. “I wasn’t even sure I wanted to get married, but it feels so right to be with you. What your sister said didn’t scare me. It made me…excited. I like the idea of waking up next to you every day.”
“For the rest of your life?” Melody asked.
Nick’s tongue slipped out to dampen his lips, an action that was both endearing and sexy-as-heck at the same time. “Yeah. I think so.”
Melody took a shaky breath, torn. A part of her was already soaring into the skies on a giddy breeze, lifted up by how intensely loved she felt in this moment. Another, more logical part, was warning her to slow down—forever would still be waiting after she and Nick had been dating a few months—and a third, panic-inclined part was whispering that she didn’t even know Nick’s favorite color, so how could she possibly even consider getting engaged and moving in with him.
“Are you freaking out?” Nick asked, eyeing her carefully.
Melody’s brows drew together. “What’s your favorite color?”
“Black,” Nick said without hesitation, as if that was a perfectly logical question to ask at this moment. “Followed closely by red. I’m also a fan of pink, and when I was little I would steal my big sisters’ pink dresses and wear them to play in the yard.”
Melody snorted with unexpected laughter.
“I figured I should tell you that before my sisters did,” Nick said with a hesitant grin. “I’m sure they’ll whip out that story, and the accompanying photos, the first time they meet you. They live to bring me shame.”
Wild For You (Always a Bridesmaid 3) Page 11