They were both laughing and out of breath when he jammed the key in the door, dragged her inside, and slammed it shut without bothering to turn the lights on.
Instantly, his hands were on her, lifting her to wrap her legs around his waist. “Christ, I want you, Mel,” he murmured, his breath hot against her ear while he flipped his shoes off and settled them on the couch.
She bracketed each side of his face with her hands, driving her fingers into his hair, and pulled him down for a kiss, relishing his heavy weight on top of her. The thick press of his cock, hard and insistent, made her lift her hips to grind against him with a level of desperate need that was bigger than the last.
Clothes came off in a heated rush until her hands were on his bare chest and he was dragging her dress up and over her head.
He stopped cold when he realized she had no panties on, only a garter and some thigh-high nylons. His appreciation was a thick groan.
Mel reached down to unsnap them, but his hand was quick to thwart her as he hauled her to him, their chests pressing tightly together. “Don’t you dare take those off. You had no panties on all night and I had no idea. I think punishment is in order,” he ground out against her mouth, thumbing her hard nipples.
Her lips sought his, craving his tongue in her mouth. She felt naughty and wanton. “I thought I’d surprise you. You like?”
Drew sat her up, capturing her gaze with his intense blue one. “I like everything about you, Mel, but I especially like your idea of lingerie. They stay. Now, turn around,” he ordered thickly.
Mel obeyed on a shiver, her stomach quivering, her legs weak when she leaned over the back of the couch. She felt the heat of Drew’s naked body behind her, heard his hiss when he wrapped his arm around her waist and laid a cheek against her spine.
He let his hand slide between her legs, driving his way through the damp curls at the apex of her thighs and spreading her swollen lips while he pressed hot kisses along her spine.
Mel arched into his lips and thrust against his hand, her chest heaving. The anticipation of what was to come made her grip the edge of the couch with shaky hands as Drew slipped over the globes of her ass, licked and nipped them until she was quivering.
“Spread your legs, Mel,” he demanded from beneath her, slipping between her thighs and licking at the sensitive flesh of them.
Her heart began to crash and blood raced through her veins, hot and electric when he said, “I’ve waited all week to taste you. I can’t wait anymore,” just before he thrust his tongue deep inside her.
Mel battled a scream at the hot, wet invasion, bucking against Drew’s mouth and clinging to the back of the couch. His head, dark, the silky feel of his hair against her thighs, all lent to the most erotic vision she’d ever experienced.
Drew was relentless, driving his tongue against her clit, swirling it along the swollen bud, lapping at her until the sweet sound of her flesh being driven to climax became an erotic level she’d never attained before.
When Drew’s hands kneaded her ass, when he pulled her to his mouth so tight, she gripped his hair and came hard, the release a hot wave of sweetness, sharp and heavy.
Tears sprung to her eyes it was so mind-blowing. She slid down his body, weak and shaking to fall into his embrace and curl her head into his neck.
He cradled her against him with one hand while the other reached for his discarded pants. He pulled the foil wrapper of a condom out and tore it open with his teeth, slipping it on then settling her in his lap, his back against the couch.
Mel straightened, whimpering when he pulled a nipple into his mouth and teased it with his tongue. She lifted her hips, wrapping a hand around his cock and positioning him at her entrance.
She drove downward with force, hearing Drew’s growl of pleasure, savoring the grip of his hands on her hips.
He pulled her forward so their flesh met chest to chest and drove his hands into her hair. “I can’t get enough of you, Mel. Never enough,” he rasped.
Their lips found one another’s, clamping together in a molten blend of lips and tongues while their hips crashed together. He filled her, stretched her, pulsed within her as he stroked, thrusting again and again.
Drew was the first to clench his muscles; they flexed then tightened beneath the palms of her hands. Her nails dug into his rippling flesh, clinging, begging him to come with her.
His last thrust was forceful and filled with the growl of his release, and then Mel let go, too, lost in the ache of spiraling need. It coiled deep in her belly then let go like a spring of heat. Her teeth clenched at the intensity, the realization that she didn’t know how she’d gone half her life without experiencing this kind of lovemaking. It was unthinkable to never have it again.
With that last racing thought, she came, too, driving downward one last time to the tune of their flesh connecting and the bliss of completion.
They sagged against each other, their chests crashing together while they fought for air. Mel smiled into his neck when he said, “Wow. Maybe we should wait a week more often.”
“This is me wholeheartedly protesting.”
He tangled his fingers in her hair. “Just can’t get enough of me, can you?”
“No. It’s your lumpy couch I can’t get enough of.”
Drew slapped the cushion’s worn fabric. “This is a great old couch I got at a garage sale. Don’t hurt its feelings.”
“I wouldn’t dream of it, but do you think we could move to the less lumpy, not as easily upset by my insensitive comments bed. My back is killing me. Besides, if we’re having an overnight, we can’t be up all night doing that thing we do. We have to be at your mother’s by noon for Thanksgiving dinner. My father’s thrilled he doesn’t have to defrost a turkey.”
Drew rose from the couch, pulling her with him to wrap his arms around her waist from behind. “And then you have to leave on the red-eye for your audition.”
Her stomach tangled in a knot. “I do.” They hadn’t discussed the topic at length since she’d found out she was a candidate for the job.
Yet, she never failed to sense a thread of tension in Drew’s voice when it was merely mentioned, and she didn’t quite understand it.
She swung around to capture his gaze, running her hands over his chest and hoping to gauge his feelings on the subject. “We still on for that ride to the airport?” she asked, smiling up at him.
Instead of returning her gaze, he pulled her close, pressing his lips to the top of her head. “You bet.”
Again, there was that hesitance in his tone, one she was reluctant to address. She didn’t want to spoil this thing they’d created—this warm intimacy. She’d never had this with Stan and wasn’t willing to disrupt it at any cost. “Well, okay, then. I say we get some shut-eye. Myriam said I was expected to work in the kitchen just like everyone else. I think that means I have to peel potatoes, and I want my eyes wide open for that.”
He chuckled against her hair, the vibration of it soothing. “I think you should limber up your fingers so you can peel all those potatoes.”
Mel smiled against his chest and shivered. “And how do you propose I do that?”
He hitched his jaw toward the bedroom with a grin. “Come with me. I’ll show you.”
They both laughed as they made their way toward the bedroom, Drew’s laughter lighthearted and hers colored with a smidge of worry.
* * * *
“There they are!” Selena shouted, her cheeks flushed from working in the kitchen. “We thought you two would never get here,” she chided with a sly grin when they entered the front door.
The McPhees’ house was swarming with children, smelled of every good thing Thanksgiving dinner should smell of, and was filled with sound and motion.
She gave Mel and Drew each a kiss then put on her stern face.
“You,” she said, pointing at Mel, “have dough to roll, and you,” she smiled up at her son, “are needed in the living room. Your father seems to think your presence
will bring his football team good luck.”
Drew shook his head in mock defeat, sighing. “My work here is never done.”
Mel made a face at him. “Hey! How come your job is to sit on the couch and mine is to roll dough, pal?”
Selena leaned in to her. “Because you do not want to see my Drew in the kitchen. It’s like setting loose a man who’s just discovered fire.”
Mel winked at her and said, “I dunno, McPhee—you don’t dance, you can’t cook. How are you a catch again?” she teased.
Drew hauled her up against him, leaving her toes dangling, and whispered, “Did you already forget last night? I have skills that can’t be denied. Surely they make up for my lack of talent in other areas?”
“I heard that!” Selena sang on a chuckle, climbing over assorted grandchildren to make her way back to the kitchen.
Drew pulled her into the small entryway and planted a long kiss on her lips, making her sigh. “I have to go make dough—you get to watch TV. Don’t try to schmooze me with your kisses.”
“I was only trying to make up for our lack of playtime last night because you voted sleeping over mad passionate sex.”
“Yeah, yeah. And I have to go home and pack after dinner to leave—which blows our chances of having a sleepover tonight.”
Instantly, Drew stiffened, just enough that it was only noticeable to someone who’d come to know his body so well. “Right.”
She cocked her head up at him, hoping he’d tell her why he’d been so quiet all morning. “You okay?”
“Right as rain.” He swatted her butt. “Go make me some dough, woman.” He gave her one last kiss and skirted around her, heading for the living room where boisterous yelling could be heard.
Tonight, before she left for her audition, they had to talk about what his feelings on the subject of the show were.
An ominous dread stole over her while she contemplated the wooden turkey welcome sign hanging on the McPhees front door, but she shook it off.
She had dough to roll.
Before she headed to the kitchen, she popped into the living room to say her hellos before beginning her slave labor.
The blare of the football game followed her to the kitchen where the scent of roasting turkey, women’s laughter, and clouds of flour welcomed her. Drew’s sisters and Myriam stood in a line at the long kitchen counter, each completing one task or another. Mel rolled up the sleeves of her imitation blue silk shirt and nudged Myriam to press a kiss against her warm cheek.
“Put me to work, ladies.”
In moments, she had a flour-covered counter and a wad of dough to roll. As she kneaded the soft concoction, Mel fought another niggle of worry about leaving tomorrow. The opportunity was huge and, no doubt, a gift of pure luck, but there was a definite reluctance to return to the place where she’d been officially shunned when she’d become Stan’s ex-wife. The glitz of Hollywood, the lure of fame and fortune had long since waned for her.
She loved it here in Riverbend. She loved her job, teaching boys who were as reluctant to dance as they were to skip an episode of The Big Bang Theory. She loved that Nate had accepted her so willingly and that their private sessions had given her the chance to get to know him on a one-on-one basis.
She loved being closer to her father and regretted that she hadn’t taken a firmer stance with Stan about seeing him more often. She loved her new independence and making her own decisions.
And she loved Drew. Whether he liked to dance or not.
A tingle of awareness skittered along her arms. She was in love, and she didn’t want to move to L.A. for a job when everything she’d ever wanted was right here in Riverbend.
Mel loves Drew. She let the phrase repeat in her brain. It was terrifying and exciting and mostly terrifying to feel this way so soon.
But the question was did Drew love Mel? If he did, he hadn’t copped to it. She wasn’t the only one new to the idea of a relationship after a divorce. Drew had told her, she was his first serious encounter since he’d divorced Sherry. But maybe he wasn’t as serious as she was? She’d never know until she asked, and while that would take all the courage she possessed, she was going to ask anyway.
And even if the outcome weren’t what she hoped for, would that really affect her choice to take a job on Celebrity Ballroom if it was offered? Did staying in Riverbend mean Drew had to love her in return?
No. Because she’d come to love this new life, and if Drew McPhee didn’t love her in return, that was fine. He’d be a stupidhead.
Okay, it wasn’t fine, but it would be because while she loved nothing better than to be with him and Nate, she’d survive if things went wrong, and she’d do it while she stood on her own two feet. It might hurt like hell to be rejected by Drew, but she could withstand anything now that she knew who she was.
A smile spread across her face. She’d go to L. A. simply because Jackie and Frank had gone to so much trouble to get her an audition, and if they offered her the job, she’d tell them she already had one.
One she loved.
Myriam pinched her cheek with affection. “What’s so funny?”
Her head tipped back. “Life. Life is funny, Myriam.”
Myriam chuckled, taking the dough from her inept hands. “Yep. Sure is. So I heard you’re goin’ on an audition for Celebrity Ballroom. Me and Selena almost wet ourselves, we’re so excited for you!”
Mel’s return smile was bright. “I wouldn’t get too excited. I’m up against some stiff competition. Lucy Vega to name one,” Mel listed a well-known ballroom dancer.
Myriam waved a flour-covered hand at her, leaning into Selena who’d joined them. “As if Lucy Vega could ever be as pretty as you. Have you seen her feet? They’re like hooves.”
“Whose feet are like hooves?” Drew asked, popping a stalk of celery from a platter on the counter in his mouth.
Mel shook her head, wiping her hands on a nearby towel. “Oh, no one.”
“Lucy Vega,” Myriam provided. “Mel thinks she’ll lose the audition for Celebrity Ballroom to that horse. Hah! No way can she out-dance our Mel, and no way is she as pretty. Mel’s gonna be the new judge on Celebrity Ballroom. Count on it.” She said with a firm shake of her head and a warm smile in Mel’s direction.
Drew said nothing, but the dark expression crossing his face made her pause. His disapproval was crystal clear. Why she hadn’t seen it sooner was a mystery.
Her palms grew sweaty with her new now-or-never approach. She rinsed her hands at the sink and dried them, taking deep breaths of air.
It was time to figure out exactly where she stood with Drew.
Where such a resolute stand had come from, she couldn’t say. She just knew it was time to sort this through so there were no misunderstandings.
And whatever the outcome—she’d get through it.
Hopefully, she’d do that without a can of chocolate frosting and some sprinkles.
Chapter 18
Dear Divorce Journal,
Blow me. Blow me hard. I’m never, ever writing in you again. You only make things worse when I have to see my pain in black and white. Thanks for that. Really.
She tugged on Drew’s sleeve. “Got a minute?”
“For someone as sexy as you, I can spare two.” His smile warmed her, giving her the courage to push forward.
She folded her hands behind her back. “Meet me in the tree house?”
“It’s cold out there. You don’t really want me to get frostbite just because you can’t keep your hands off me, do you?”
“Funny. You’re very funny. I need to talk to you. Meet me in the tree house when the coast is clear,” she said with a smile, heading for the door off the laundry room and out into the overcast, cold day.
Grabbing the rope ladder, she climbed to the top and took another deep breath. It would be all right. It had to be all right. Please let it be all right.
Mel chalked the foreboding dread up to nerves when she heard Drew’s feet climbing the rope. Hi
s head appeared in the entrance of the tree house, dark and handsome. He climbed in, sitting on his haunches to work his way over to the bench she sat on.
His face held a question. “Mind telling me what couldn’t wait until I’d had a dozen or so of those baby quiches?” He wrapped an arm around her and grinned.
Mel turned to face him, her hands trembling. “I need to know something.”
“Well, hurry up, woman. I hear there’s clam dip. If I miss that, it’s on.”
“How do you feel about me going to audition for Celebrity Ballroom?”
His chin lifted, and the hand in his lap clenched. “How am I supposed to feel?”
“Happy for me.” Yes. Drew was supposed to be glad she’d been offered an opportunity of a lifetime whether he knew she wanted to take it or not.
His jaw tightened. “Okay.”
Mel cocked her head as if she hadn’t heard right. “Okay? Just okay?”
“I’m not sure what I’m supposed to say here, Mel.”
She paused a moment to gather the right words and then she thought, The hell with the right words. There’d be no more walking on eggshells for anyone. Not even for the man she loved. “Are you angry because I’m going on this audition? You haven’t said a single word about it since I heard from Jackie, and every time I mention it, your jaw clenches. Something’s up. I want to know what it is.”
Pulling away from her, he leaned back against the bench, his body language unreadable. “‘Angry’ isn’t exactly the word I’d use.”
Her heart crashed against her ribs, but she had to know. “Then what is the word you’d use, Drew?”
“It’s probably more of a phrase than a word.”
“Then what’s the phrase?”
“I’m just waiting to see if the other shoe drops.”
Her next question was filled with hesitation. “The other shoe? What does that mean? I didn’t know there was even a shoe to drop. This is a huge opportunity for me, one I’d like your support in because I’m sick with nerves about it, and I don’t want to disappoint Jackie and Frank after they went to all this trouble to get me this audition.”
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