by Mae Martini
He loved that she was in tune with his need to not speak and she didn’t ask questions. He climbed back into bed and wrapped his arms around her as she laid her head on his chest. They stayed that way for a long while.
Melanie wanted to talk to him, to ask him about last night, to ask him who Jack was. She didn’t know he was bi. The first moment she got, she was so going to bring that up. That revelation threw her for a loop. For now if this was what he needed, and she sensed it was, then she would give it to him.
She placed a hand on his shoulder and gently caressed up and down.
There was something in her touch that soothed him and he squeezed her to him.
“She left him alone last night,” he said, sounding disheartened.
Melanie didn’t make any sudden moves. She wanted to keep him calm. She suspected he hadn’t been that calm since before confronting Linda on the dance floor. Her heart ached for him. How could she feel so much for someone in so short a time? Because, he’s not afraid to show his vulnerable side, nor hold back, because he’s cute, sexy, manly, demanding, protective, she thought, answering her own question. She could go on and on. Oh boy, was she falling for him.
“He was all alone. No one to tuck him in. No one to call if he needed something. He had to be scared. What mother could do that to a six year old kid?” He sighed, then continued, “She told me she always does that. It’s no big deal, she said. She’s fucking crazy. I gotta get him out of there.”
Melanie still didn’t say anything but she hugged him to her then looked up to him.
He was looking up at the ceiling and felt her slight movement and brought his eyes to hers. She saw so much hurt there and he saw so much understanding in hers. He brought his mouth down and she raised hers to meet his and he kissed her like his life depended on it.
She sucked in his scent. He smelled so clean and spicy.
He broke the kiss and sighed.
“Where is he now?” Melanie finally spoke softly.
“At Geli’s. She’s the only constant, stable woman in his life. He paused a moment. “Do you want to meet him?” he asked her, sounding hopeful.
Melanie rose up off of him and sat up. With a smile she said, “I would love nothing more than to meet him.”
And for the first time since he came to her that morning, she saw him smile. It wasn’t big, but it was a smile nonetheless.
“My friend’s son is in Heath’s class. He’s having a birthday party at my place tomorrow,” he said.
“At your place?”
“The stables. There’ll be six boys going horseback riding. I usually send out one adult per two kids. I have enough, but would you like to be one of the adults going out with them? I know you’re experienced enough to handle it, and Cody will be there too. I’ll send one of the other more experienced hands out also. Would you be interested?”
“Yes. Sounds like fun. I would like that.”
“Great. Can you be there for 3:30 pm?”
“Sure.”
“Thanks. You’ll like him, he’s a great kid.”
Melanie smiled. “I’m sure he is. I can’t wait,” she said, even though she was a bit nervous. What if Heath hated her?
He got up from the bed and started getting dressed. He looked at her. She was still in bed with the sheet covering her and her long tresses were splayed out over the pillow and her arms were above her head. She was stretching and he watched her breasts rise and fall as she smiled his way.
He stopped dressing and went back to the bed and covered her with his body, but leaned up on his hands so as not to put all his weight on her. He brought his mouth down on hers and kissed her, softly at first, but as her taste enveloped him, he needed more. The kiss became harder, deeper and more demanding.
He reluctantly broke the kiss. “I just want to go another round with you in the worst way, honey, but I have to go, I’m meeting with a lawyer at 11:30 to find out my options of gaining sole custody.”
She nodded her head in understanding and rose out of bed while he finished getting dressed. She threw on her panties and tank top and walked him to the door. There, he kissed her long and hard again and told her if she wanted, to wear a bathing suit underneath her clothes tomorrow. The party will stop at a watering hole. There, he said, is where he’d meet up with them. Then he left.
****
Before going to the stables, Melanie met up with Cody at the gym and worked out. They not only did boxing, but they pumped iron beforehand. He spotted her. She really couldn’t spot him because he was pumping too much weight for her.
Melanie and Cody, sort of, became workout buddies. He was glad she was able to keep up with him and he loved that he had a pretty and very toned and sexy girl walking around the gym with him. He was the envy of all the guys there.
They parted at the door of the gym. He went to work. She went to the nail salon to freshen up her tips and reapply the lavender color she loved so much.
Melanie got to the stables around two thirty. She was feeling anxious and thought she’d be better off if she were hanging around a while, getting comfortable. Not comfortable around horses. No, that came easy. This was her way of preparing for meeting Logan’s son. She really wanted him to like her.
She obsessed so much; she even had a hard time picking something out to wear. At one point she stopped and laughed while looking at herself in the mirror at home and then looked to the bed and saw all the clothes she took out. She took a deep breath and made a choice. The first white bebe T-shirt and the first pair of black shorts she picked out. She paired it with low black and white cowboy boots and the cowboy hat she bought at Geli’s. Underneath, she had on a white halter top string bikini.
Hank had put her to work right away.
She and Cody brought out some ponies and groomed them.
There was one pony that looked tough with its mane coming down in between its eyes. She was told not to saddle him up.
She had a ball. She gave Cody some sugar cubes and every time Hank wasn’t looking, they’d give the ponies one.
Melanie was introduced to a hand who would be riding with them, Trevor, and he, too, got a kick out of sneaking sugar cubes to the horses whenever Hank wasn’t looking.
Logan was in his office and kept finding it hard to concentrate. He kept looking out the window to watch Melanie. She was always smiling and laughing with the guys. He wanted to go over to her and put his arms around her to show them she was his. But he didn’t, she wasn’t his, was she? Could she be?
He thought about how easy it was for him to ask her to stay over the other night. He couldn’t remember the last time he had a woman stay over his house.
He was also nervous thinking what if Heath didn’t like her. He sure hoped he would because if he didn’t, this would go nowhere.
The party began arriving and Logan came out of the office to greet them.
He introduced Melanie to his friend J.B. and his wife Laura. It was their son’s birthday.
From the barn came two boys that looked to be about six years old.
J.B. had parked by Logan’s house and the kids went in through one side of the barn and came out the other which is why Melanie didn’t see them before.
The one who was carrying a saddle and huffing at the weight of it while smiling was the spitting image of Logan.
Melanie watched as his friend moved a stool over to the one pony that looked tough and didn’t have a saddle on it. She watched as the kid with the saddle stepped up and gently placed the saddle down on him.
She walked over to him. “Can I help you with that?” she asked him.
“No, I can do it myself,” he said without looking up but concentrating on his task.
“Heath, say hello to Melanie,” Logan said as he came up to stand next to Melanie and subtly grabbed her hand as he knew she was slightly trembling.
“Hi, ma’am,” he said shyly as he picked his head up to see her then went back to his task of securing the saddle on his pony.
> “Hi, Heath,” she said back, with a smile.
“This little guy next to him,” Logan said as he ruffled the kid’s hair, “is Austin, the birthday boy. Happy Birthday, kid.”
“Thanks, Logan,” he replied with enthusiasm. Austin looked up to Logan. He wanted to be a cowboy just like him and his dad. “Hello, ma’am.”
“Hi, Austin, Happy Birthday. How old are you today?”
“Seven, ma’am.”
“Such a big boy.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
All the while the exchange took place, Heath kept looking from the saddle, he was adjusting, to his father holding this lady’s hand.
“Heath, I like your horse. What’s his name?”
“Wysteria.”
“Oh, what a pre…er, handsome name.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“You can call me Melanie.”
“Yes, ma’am. I mean Mellalee.”
Melanie smiled at him and got a kick out of the way he said her name. She wouldn’t correct him though.
Logan smiled too at hearing his son pronounce her name.
Trevor came over. “Ready to go, big guy?”
“Yep,” Heath said as he threw himself on Wysteria.
Austin scrambled to get on the pony he would ride.
Melanie walked to Zeus and Logan followed her as he shouted to his son. “Behave!”
“Okay, dad.”
“He wanted to name him Princess Plumrose from my tiny pony,” he said, laughing, referring to Heath’s pony’s name.
“Little,” Melanie corrected, laughing.
“Yeah, little. Thank God I talked him out of it. I can’t even bring myself to call him Wysteria. I refer to him as Buck.” He laughed.
“You’re crazy and that’s gonna be one messed up pony,” she said, with amusement.
Logan enjoyed hearing her laughter.
He clasped his hands together on the side of Zeus and looked at her with that smile that brought out his dimples.
She placed her foot in his hands and he hoisted her up.
He knew she didn’t need help, but he needed to touch her. From where they were standing, no one saw and when she sat atop Zeus, he placed a hand on her bare leg. Melanie felt warmth shoot up her as her eyes shot to his.
Logan smiled, knowing the effect he had on her.
“I’ll catch up with you at Blue Hole.”
“What’s that?”
“A swimming hole not far from here. You’ll like it,” he said as he gently caressed her leg.
“Okay,” she said breathlessly. She couldn’t really concentrate on anything but his touch.
He removed his hand and she turned Zeus around and trotted off.
Blue hole was a picturesque swimming spot, surrounded by cypress trees.
The water was crystal clear and Cody told Melanie the water was always pretty cold, but the day was hot so it would be a welcomed relief. He also told her, where they were was private property and that there was a public section too. The private property allowed for them to ride the horses there.
Melanie found she was connecting with all the boys except Heath. She was really nervous he wouldn’t like her and she was scared to interact with him.
Everyone was in or near the water and having a great time. Laura came up to make small talk with Melanie. She was in a modest one piece bathing suit. Melanie had yet to strip down to her bikini. She didn’t feel comfortable, so she just stuck her feet in the water.
“Logan is friends with the family that owns this part of Blue Hole,” Laura said, just as a crying Austin came up to them, with Heath.
“Oh, sweetheart, what happened?” Laura asked.
“I fell on the rocks, there,” he said, pointing in the direction they just came from.
“Yeah, he’s bleeding,” Heath said.
His mom consoled him while Melanie went to get the first aid kit that was in Cody’s saddle bag. When she came back, she handed Laura the kit and squatted down beside her, in front of Austin. Heath was sitting down next to Austin.
“It’s okay to cry,” Melanie said, when she saw Austin was trying to fight it.
“Uh-uh,” Heath said, shaking his head. “We’re cowboys like my daddy. He said cowboys don’t cry.”
“Oh, right, of course not,” she said, just as she looked up to see Logan leaning against the tree behind his son, watching her. She smiled up to him. He nodded to her.
Laura looked up at the same time and caught Logan watching Melanie with interest on his face. Hmm, something she’d want to share with J.B. later. She couldn’t remember the last time she saw that expression on Logan’s face.
Heath turned around to see his father standing there and ran to him. Logan picked him up.
“Having fun, buddy?”
“Yep. Austin was bleeding, but Laura and Mellalee fixed him up,” he said as he wiggled to get down. Austin was ready to go back to play and Heath and he took off running.
“Be careful!” Laura yelled out to them. They didn’t even acknowledge it. She just shook her head. “Excuse me, I’m gonna go keep an eye on those two.”
Logan and Melanie just smiled.
“You’re not swimming.” he said as he walked up to her.
“No. It’s really cold,” she said not wanting to tell him she was embarrassed to strip to her bathing suit.
“Too bad, I wanted to see you in this white bathing suit,” he said as he got close to her and put his finger on the string at her neck. They gazed into each other’s eyes and she felt a wonderful shiver at his touch.
“Dad, watch this!” Heath yelled, from the bank, with his hands on a rope from a tree hanging over the water.
He looked up and Melanie turned around just as Heath flung himself in.
“Good one, Heath,” Logan said as the kid surfaced with a grin on his face. Melanie smiled.
Logan hit the water with the kids, and he and J.B. were picking them up and throwing them in, having a lot of fun.
Melanie sat at the edge, on a rock, content to watch them interact. Once in a while she would catch Logan watching her and she would feel flushed.
“Logan’s good with kids. He’s like a magnet. They all gather around him,” Laura said as she came to sit down near Melanie.
Melanie turned her head to Laura.
“Relax, he’ll like you.”
“Does it show?”
“You seem so relaxed around the other kids, but tense around Heath. Just be yourself. You know, I caught all of them checking you out,” Laura said laughing.
“Laura! They’re babies.”
“Honey, they’re cowboys. They learn to rope and ride, and how to get the girl.” They both laughed as Melanie shook her head.
There were two picnic tables set up behind the small corral, with pizza and soda. As soon as the kids dismounted and, yes, they had to groom their horse, they ran to the table to eat and drink.
Laura called Melanie over, but she wasn’t finished grooming Zeus yet.
“Go ahead, babe. I’ll finish up here.”
She turned around to see Logan next to her.
He took the brush from her and finished brushing Zeus.
“Thank you,” she said and she walked over to the tables thinking how she liked that he called her babe.
As she helped Laura with serving the kids, Melanie heard one of the boys say, “Jackhammer Jack is gonna beat Dr. Dread next week on Sunday night.”
“Nun-huh, Matt. Dr. Dread’s gonna win,” Heath said.
“No, he’s going down.”
“I’m with Heath. Dr. Dread’s gonna pummel Jackhammer Jack,” Melanie said.
Heath and the other boys looked to her with wide eyes.
“You watch wrestling?” Heath asked.
“Oh, yeah. John Cena’s my favorite wrestler,” she said as she put her hand in front of her face and moved it back and forth. “You can’t see me.”
“He’s my favorite wrestler too,” Heath said and he and the boys laughe
d and did the move to each other.
“What’s so funny?” Logan asked as he and J.B. walked up to them.
“Dad, Mellalee likes wrestling. John Cena is her favorite wrestler. He’s my favorite wrestler too.”
“How bout that,” Logan said, with a smile for his son.
“She thinks Dr. Dread’s gonna win next week. I do too.”
“Who’s Dr. Dread?” his father asked.
Heath looked at Melanie and they both rolled their eyes.
“Dad, I showed you him before. He’s the one that comes out with a thethicope.”
“And a nurse,” Melanie said, wiggling her eyes.
“Oooh, the one with the nurse,” Logan said, grinning, as he pictured the scantily dressed buxom blonde on Dr. Dread’s arm when he walks to the ring.
J.B., Laura and Melanie laughed hysterically.
“Dad, could I show Mellalee how I mutton bust?”
“Another time, Heath. It’s getting late.”
Melanie mouthed the words ‘mutton bust’, while grinning at Logan as Logan looked from Heath to her. He slowly smiled.
“But, dad.”
“Another time, Heath,” he repeated.
“Okay,” Heath said, dejectedly. “Can Mellalee come to see me play flag football tomorrow? Please.”
Logan looked to Melanie, “You busy tomorrow at six?”
Melanie shook her head no, slowly.
“Do you want to go watch him play?”
Melanie was trying to read him. She wanted to go, but she didn’t know if Logan was being polite in front of everyone.
“Please, Mellalee?” Heath pleaded.
She looked from Logan to Heath then back to Logan and nodded her head ever so slowly and when she saw Logan smile, she turned to Heath. “I would love to come watch you play.”
“Yay!” he said.
“I’m on his team. Can you watch me play too?” Austin asked.
“Of course, I’d love that too.”