The Melody In My Head (Love and Music in Texas Book 2)

by Nikki Lynn Barrett

  "Where was your mom when this happened? How could she not know?" Melody finally broke the silence.

  Jameson shifted his position on the floor. His left leg started to get pins and needles from it resting underneath him. He stretched it out. He avoided looking at her.

  "She was with Avery. They ran to the store to pick up some stuff for the grill. We were all supposed to have a cook out that night. Instead-" Jameson stopped. The feelings of helplessness returned. His father's death had been instant. At least he didn't suffer long.

  "That's terrible, Jameson. I'm so sorry." Melody scooted a little closer to him. This time, he met her gaze. Her eyes held so much emotion, the way they were heavy with tears, he almost leaned over to kiss her again.

  He stopped short when he realized what his intentions were. Why was it that every time he had a serious talk with her, that all of a sudden he felt the urge to kiss this woman?

  It wasn't fair to her, that's for sure.

  Keep your distance.

  At least she didn't inquire about what they were arguing about. Jameson never told anyone about that, either. It haunted him.

  Time to move. To do something. Lighten up the mood in here. Things were getting way to intense.

  "I appreciate you listening," Jameson said softly, climbing to his feet. He held out a hand to her. Melody closed her fingers around his, allowing him to pull her up. She kept her eyes on him, obviously wondering what he was up to.

  "Well, the same goes for you. I don't even know how long I was sitting there. I didn't expect you to find me like that. Thank you for understanding. I actually feel a little bit better now that someone knows."

  "I won't say anything, but you've got to let me help you somehow." Now, more than ever, Jameson wanted to find a way to keep her safe.

  Melody shook her head, locks of hair swishing around her face. He had to hold back from brushing them away. "I don't think there's anything you can do." Sadness filled her eyes, and she blinked several times before looking away.

  I'll find a way.

  Jameson kept the words to himself. She wouldn't believe him. Maybe it was her lack of trust, which he could understand, considering her situation. "Are you tired at all?"

  "Not really. Why do you ask?"

  "Come with me." He winked before leaving the room.

  Jameson grabbed a couple blankets and his guitar. She would probably call him crazy, but he hadn't done this in awhile, so it was overdue.

  "Jameson, what are you doing?"

  Guitar in hand, he faced Melody and just smiled. "Preparing to distract us from our problems for awhile. I think you might enjoy it. Come on."

  He knew he got her curious then. She followed him as he opened the front door, a brisk chill blasting his face. Not too bad for October. Gotta love Texas weather. So fickle. Some days were chilly and then there were some that were warm.

  Perfect.

  The door shut softly behind them. Jameson grabbed the lantern from the porch and held it out to Melody. "Here, hold this. We'll need a little bit of light."

  She took it hesitantly from his hand.

  Carefully holding the guitar case, Jameson climbed the ladder resting on the side of the house. He should have taken it down, but until now, he'd forgotten about it. He set the guitar case on the edge of the roof, then glanced down at Melody. "Okay, hand me the blankets and the light," he called to her. Stepping down a few rungs, he reached for the requested items. Once on the roof, he peered back at her again. "Come on up!"

  "Jameson, what are we doing?" She kept laughing. When her head appeared at the top, he held out a hand to ease her up onto the roof. He'd already set one blanket down for them to sit on. The other he brought for her in case she got cold.

  "Getting a great view of the stars." Jameson pointed. One of the things he loved about living in a small town was being able to see the sky at night. One of the best views ever. Melody settled next to him on the blanket, staring in the same direction.

  "It's beautiful. I can't remember the last time I just looked at the stars."

  It had been awhile for him, too. But he knew when the last time that he'd been up here had been.

  He set the lantern at the edge of the blanket and turned on the light. It was bright enough for them to see, but not too bright to ruin the view of the stars. "Are you cold? I have an extra blanket." He pointed to it. "The only thing I forgot to grab was something to drink."

  Melody laughed. "I'll forgive you, you thought of everything else."

  He enjoyed the sound of her laugh.

  He shook that thought away and reached for his guitar.

  "Do you do this often? Come up on the roof late at night with your guitar?"

  "Not in some time." Jameson held the instrument, pulling a pick out of the case and strummed a few chords. "Sometimes, I need a different environment other than the garage, you know? Nice thing is, there aren't a lot of neighbors nearby, so I'm not disturbing anyone."

  "It is nice," Melody mused, lying on her back. She crossed her arms behind her head.

  Jameson started to play the chorus to a popular Taylor Swift song. He even sang along, raising his voice to mimic the sound. Melody turned her head and laughed.

  "I'm not sure that song fits your voice," she teased. She rested her head on her elbow, now interested in watching him.

  Jameson stopped mid-play. "No? Damn. Here I thought I was being all cool."

  That got another giggle out of her. "You are cool! Just sing a different song."

  "All right, all right. I'll find another one, since my Taylor impersonation isn't appreciated." Jameson pretended to pout, which made Melody laugh again. He was on a roll, and his plan had worked. The mood had been lightened. "Okay, how about this?" He started to play and sing an older Shania Twain song.

  Melody sat up, covering her mouth with her hand. Her body shook as she tried to hold in her laughter. "You know, Jameson, that don't impress me much, either."

  Pretending to be hurt, he put the guitar down. "What am I doing wrong? Is my singing that bad? That's a first. Usually, I win them all with these songs."

  "Oh Jameson. You're so funny."

  "Okay, one last time, and hopefully third time will be the charm. Are you ready?" Reaching for his guitar again, Jameson watched her as he started a new tune. This time, he played the melody to the song he'd been working on with her. Her face lit up as he sang the first few lines from her song.

  "You win! The third time is the charm. Now that fits your voice. Brava!" She clapped her hands.

  "How about you sing it with me?"

  "Oh, no. I don't think so."

  "Oh come on. Let's serenade the stars. Maybe we'll catch one falling," he pleaded. "These are your lyrics. I'd love to hear them coming from your lips." As he started over, he shot her what he hoped was his best pout.

  "You're relentless!" Melody exclaimed, raising her hands in defeat, laughing.

  When Jameson got to the chorus, Melody chimed in. He had to force himself to keep going as he listened to her voice. She was pretty good! She had this soft, gentle ease about her voice. It didn't ring out with a lot of power, but she had a sweet sound that radiated into his mind. He lowered his voice a little bit to let her shine. He couldn't keep his eyes off her as he watched her lips move and heard the words.

  When they stopped, it was his turn to applaud. "You sounded really good, Melody."

  He couldn't be sure, but he thought she was blushing. Melody turned away from him for a second.

  "Thank you, Jameson. I'm not one for the spot light, but that was really neat to sing my own lyrics."

  "You know, we're still looking for a song or two to add to our demo. I like this one a lot. What would you think about putting the finishing touches on it and playing it for the band?" As shy as she was about these things, would she even go for that? The words really were great, and he liked the melody he'd put to them.

  "I- are you serious?" She sounded caught off guard.

  Jameson nodded,
setting his guitar down once again. "I am. I like the way it's progressing. And when you sang with me just now, I liked the idea of having a back up on it. It would be a great addition."

  "Only if you sing it. I think this song fits your voice, I've already told you that." She smiled again. "I don't want to step on any toes or anything."

  "I never thought of that."

  "Would Avery mind?" There went that unsure tone in her voice again.

  "Why would she?"

  Melody's shoulders lifted and sagged. "Well, she is the lead singer, and she doesn't trust me."

  Jameson touched her shoulder. "Avery being the lead doesn't mean that she would have a problem with it. She doesn't keep the spotlight on herself. We've just never changed things up so much. The other guys in the band aren't really singers. I do a lot of back up singing with Avery, I've just never thought of doing a solo myself. She'd would be all over the idea, I bet."

  "Are you sure? I don't want to cause any problems with your band. I can imagine my being around causes problems already."

  "You're not causing problems. As for Avery not trusting you, well your truck stunt didn't help, but she understands, at least to an extent. She's also had a lot happen in the last few months that has caused her to doubt newcomers. Don't worry so much. Let's finish the song, play it for the band, and I'll bring up the idea. But you have to sing back up with me, like we just did."

  Eyes wide, Melody snapped her head up. "I don't think-"

  "Come on. Do I have to pull out that pout again? It worked once," he teased.

  "You, sir, don't play fair." She crossed her arms over her chest.

  "Does that mean you'll do it?" he grinned, knowing the answer already.

  She let out a sigh. "Yes, you win again." A hint of a smile played at her lips.

  Jameson leaned in and kissed them. Just a light peck.

  "Sorry. I wasn't thinking." He pulled away fast, almost anticipating a slap.

  "You can try not thinking again, if you want," Melody said slyly, staring at him from under her lashes.

  He raised his brow. "Oh?" Was that an invitation to kiss her again? So she felt a little spark just as he had? "Who knew not thinking had it's perks?" He lowered his face to hers again.

  She chuckled. "It's only on occasion. Don't get used to it."

  He wouldn't, but that didn't stop him from claiming her lips again. In the back of his mind, he couldn't believe he was doing this. Kissing Melody, especially after everything she'd just told him about. It proved he knew nothing about her. She had things to hide, plenty of baggage.

  It's just a kiss. Why did he have to go and overthink things? It didn't mean that there was a promise for the future, because he knew damn well he couldn't be any good for a woman right now. Not in his frame of mind.

  But she tasted so sweet. And her reaction to him had the same drive as his was to her. She threaded her fingers through his hair. Jameson wrapped an arm around her, pulling her closer. His swept his tongue over the corner of her lips. She moaned slightly as she parted her lips for him.

  Yes, this was the best not thinking reaction he'd ever had.

  *****

  Melody could think of a million reasons why kissing Jameson was wrong. But she could think of one big reason why it wasn't. It felt good. She liked it. Enjoyed it. Okay, maybe that came up to more than one reason, and it didn't necessarily make it right. Talk about not thinking!

  A part of her felt like she could trust him. To a certain point, she did. She could never fully trust anyone, at least not right now. All of her senses were on high alert. Need swelled in her belly, moving down lower, but she knew she had to stop at a kiss. She was already overemotional, and the fact that she felt a little closer to Jameson now that she'd admitted what she'd been running from didn't help.

  You think way too much!

  But she had to. She couldn't afford to not think.

  This had to stop, right now. Even though she'd been the one to prod him to do it again.

  Crap.

  "Jameson," she mumbled against his lips. Her hands were still in his hair. "We-"

  He pulled away and gently touched her cheek with his hand. "I'm sorry, Melody. I got carried away. I don't know what came over me. I keep doing this every time we have a deep conversation and I can't really explain why."

  "I could say the same thing about me," she responded softly. "I got caught up in the moment."

  "As did I. I'm sorry."

  "No, don't apologize. We just- we can't do that again."

  "I know."

  So he agreed. Why did that sting, just a little?

  Getting her hopes up about Jameson and Harmony's Echo proved to be a bad move. This. Is. Temporary! Don't let your heart get to you again.

  Most of all, she couldn't let her attraction for Jameson get to her. She'd only hurt him when she had to go. He'd been through enough already.

  "I guess we both got a little more than we bargained for when we came up here," Jameson said, shifting away from her. He sounded a little upset. Damn it. If she had just not said what she did when he first kissed her, maybe that strained silence wouldn't have come back. They were having a good time. Jameson did his best to make her laugh earlier playing the songs and singing. Sitting on the roof under the stars, it helped to ease her mind from all the troubles. Even though it was just a few minutes, it was the relief she needed. If only it could have lasted longer.

  Melody was about to respond when she heard someone. A squeak of a door, then a female voice. "Jameson?"

  Who could that be?

  "She actually came back," Jameson muttered, scrambling to gather the guitar and put it in his case. "It's my sister. Blaine is home."

  Awkward.

  Well, at least they weren't kissing anymore.

  "Up here, Blaine," Jameson called, folding up the blankets. "Coming down now! Melody, I'll go first, then will you toss me the blankets?"

  She nodded, thankful that he'd chosen to go down first. It would be a bit weird to come face to face with his sister before Jameson had a chance to introduce them or say anything to her. He held his guitar case, and managed to get down the ladder holding it. She heard him say something to his sister and he hugged her for a second before turning his head back to peer at Melody. "Okay, toss them down!"

  Jameson grabbed the blankets after she dropped them over the edge. She held the lantern in her hand and carefully came down the ladder steps. Once safely on the ground, he took the lantern from her.

  "Mary, meet my sister, Blaine." Jameson made the introductions. "Mary is staying here for awhile so she can get on her feet."

  He'd called her Mary again. Good. Maybe it wouldn't be so hard for him to keep up the facade when it came to her fake identity. She focused her attention on Blaine, hoping the woman couldn't figure out what they'd been doing up there. Blaine gave her a little wave, but she never smiled. She shot Jameson and her a disapproving look.

  "I should have known you'd be up there. You always did find that spot a place of solace when you couldn't handle stress," Blaine said softly. Melody couldn't tell if that was a snark at Jameson or not. His sister didn't seem to be the friendliest person, but if she'd just made a long drive, then Melody could understand the reason to be so cold.

  "I need some kind of release every once in awhile," Jameson retorted, lifting his guitar case and the blankets, heading back inside.

  It might be time for her to bow out for the night and let Jameson and his sister have a little time to catch up.

  "It's nice to meet you." Melody mustered up the nerve to say something to her before following Jameson into the house. Blaine put a hand on her shoulder and stopped her from moving. Melody jerked her arm away, surprised.

  "I don't know what the deal with you and Jameson is, but you might want to keep your sights off my brother. I sensed something was going on when you came down, and Jameson has been in love with his best friend Avery for quite some time."

  "I'm not sure if you've heard, but J
ameson and his best friend broke up awhile ago," Melody snapped. Maybe she shouldn't have said a thing, but damn it, she wasn't about to be accused of being a home wrecker. It was bad enough Jameson's mom made a comment, and it bothered her, but the woman hadn't been thinking right due to the alcohol. Blaine didn't have any excuse.

  Blaine's eyes widened round as saucers. "You've got to be kidding. Avery and Jameson aren't together?"

  "You might want to catch up with your brother. There's a lot you don't know. I'd appreciate it if you don't make assumptions about me without having the facts." Melody pushed past Blaine to go inside, not caring about the look the woman shot her.

  "Are you okay? I overheard." Jameson reached for her. "I'm sorry she said those things."

  "I'm fine, Jameson. I think I'm going to turn in for the night. Thank you for everything you've done." She just needed to distance herself from him and get to her room before she burst into tears from anger. "Good night."

  *****

  It was bad that his mom and sister were so far out of the loop. Mom, at least, had a reason. Not the best reason, or maybe not even valid to not know what was going on in her own son's life, but the alcoholism affected everything about her.

  Blaine was a total different story. She could have easily returned any of his calls to find out how things were. How Mom was doing, or even catch up on her younger brother's life.

  Then to burst in here like that and say the crap that she'd said to Melody ... Unacceptable.

  For the first time in a while, Jameson felt a surge of anger.

  Not that he wanted to be angry, but apparently the emotion had it's own ideas.

  He whirled on his sister. "You have some nerve, Blaine." He prepared for a fight as he waited for her response.