A Match Made by Cupid (Harlequin Special Edition)

by Madison, Tracy

  The next two and a half hours were filled with back-to-back interviews. Most of the couples were friendly, but there were only a handful that stood out in Jace’s mind.

  There was the couple who’d already been married and divorced twice—to and from each other—and was going for round number three. It was clear that they loved each other, and Jace admired their perseverance, but he had to wonder what their chances of success were.

  He’d also spoken to a young couple who’d decided on a last-minute wedding because the bride had received orders for deployment, which made Jace think about his younger brother. Seth was in the air force, currently deployed in Afghanistan, and wouldn’t be home for several more months. He would make it home, though. Jace refused to consider any other option.

  Wishing the couple well, Jace gave them the L’Auberge gift certificate. Then, just before they left, unable to stop the comparisons between the young bride and his brother, he tossed in two others. He wasn’t a softie, Jace assured himself. He was simply showing his support.

  Through it all, he’d pause to snap a few photos for Melanie. She seemed to be on the fast track, zipping through each interview and moving on to the next in record time. There was one couple, though, that she spent considerably longer with. The bride was obviously pregnant, the groom obviously proud. Both of them were visibly nervous about their future.

  When that interview was over, Melanie made a mad dash to the restroom, but not before Jace saw the dampness in her eyes and the heavy set of her shoulders. Curious and concerned, he tried to bring his current interview to an end before she reappeared. That didn’t happen. When he finally managed to get away, she was already involved with another couple.

  Now, they were heading back to the office. And again, she’d reverted to her straight-faced silent routine.

  Jace gave her a sidelong glance. “I think we should exchange recorders and listen to each other’s interviews tonight. We can chat about them tomorrow, decide who we might want to follow up with.”

  “Sure. I don’t think any of the couples I spoke with are worth a follow-up, though.” Melanie pivoted her upper body and stared out the passenger-side window. “But feel free to take a listen. Maybe I missed something.”

  “Hmm. What about the couple who is expecting a baby? You seemed really interested in them. I noticed you, ah, sat with them longer than any of the others.”

  “They were uneasy at first. Only reason I took more time with them was because they were shy. Part of my job is to make them comfortable, yes?”

  “Well, yeah. Naturally. But you…” Hell, should he ask? How could he not? “You were upset when they left. Why?”

  She let out a strangled-sounding laugh. “You’re imagining things. I wasn’t upset.”

  “I know when a woman is upset, Mel, and you were upset.” Seeing the parking garage that the Gazette employees used, he slowed the car to take the turn. Dammit. He should’ve started this conversation the second they left the courthouse, because Melanie would likely fly from the car the instant it was stopped. “Your eyes were…shiny.”

  “Shiny?”

  “Yeah. Like you were about to cry.” He pulled the car into his spot and shut off the ignition. “Look at me, Mel. Please?”

  She did, and he expected to see frustration on her face. Maybe even anger. But all he saw was confusion and hurt and an indefinable something that yanked at his heart. Hard.

  “That woman is hardly more than a girl, and she’s pregnant,” Melanie said softly. “They got married because he knocked her up and they think it’s the right thing to do.”

  “Do they love each other?”

  “They think they love each other.”

  “Then marriage is the right thing to do.” Jace absolutely believed that. “If they love each other and they’re bringing a baby into this world, then marriage is the appropriate step.”

  “They don’t know what they’re getting into.” Shifting, Melanie unbuckled her seat belt. “They’re too young. Like barely into college young.”

  “Young makes most everything harder, but not impossible.” Jace watched Melanie carefully, almost warily. He sensed this conversation was important. If he said the wrong thing, she would bolt. “On the other hand, most of us don’t realize that until we have some life experience. We just roar in, tackling everything head-on, believing that failure isn’t even an option. That can be an advantage.”

  “An advantage, Jace?” Melanie tipped her chin so their gazes met. “Really?”

  Jace nodded, choosing to stay quiet.

  “Things will be great for them at first, I’ll give you that. Then the baby will be born. The baby will be loved and cherished and everything will be fantastic. Until they start worrying about money, doctor’s bills, stuff the kid needs…and…and maybe they’ll stick it out for a while. Maybe for years, even. Until one day, Daddy decides it’s all too much responsibility, so maybe he starts thinking about how his life could’ve been. Maybe he takes off, leaves his wife. Leaves his child.” The words poured from Melanie in a rush, each one bleeding into the next. “What happens to the kid then, Jace?”

  “Whoa, Mel.” Jace grasped her hand and squeezed. His brain was buzzing as he began to put two and two together. “Take a breath. You have no way of knowing—”

  “I’ll tell you what happens. That kid grows up wondering where her father went, wondering why he left, wondering if he ever loved her at all.” Melanie shook her head, and tears pooled in her eyes. “And the wife…she’ll spend her life trying to find love again, trying to replace the relationship she thought was going to last forever. But she’ll miss him. She’ll always miss him, even twenty years later.”

  Melanie blinked, as if surprised she’d said so much. Her tears, which she’d managed to hold back until now, slid down her face and dripped off her chin. She angrily swiped them away, but they kept coming. Jace ached to pull her into his arms, hold her tight, comfort her until she stopped crying. But he was afraid she’d run if he tried.

  Instead, he brushed his thumbs along her cheeks, capturing her tears as they fell. “How old were you when your dad took off?”

  “Seven,” she said quietly, her brown eyes centered on his. “I never saw him again.”

  “No every other weekend at his place or summer trips to the lake?” Jace had to ask, even though she’d already stated she’d never seen her father again. Mostly because the idea of it just didn’t compute. “Just gone?”

  “Just gone,” she confirmed. “And he never warned me. Never even hinted that he might not be around when I woke up. Just read a few pages from my book, like he did every night, and that was the last time I saw him.”

  Lacing his fingers into her hair, Jace leaned over and dropped a light kiss on her forehead. It was pure instinct to do so, and he was shocked when she didn’t pull back. “I’m sorry, sweetheart. So very sorry you’ve carried this around with you.”

  “But that’s just it. I haven’t.” She inhaled a jagged breath. “Or at least, I don’t think I have. Recently, though, I’ve been—” She sort of shook herself. “Today, I mean. That interview… I guess it dredged up memories I thought were long forgotten.”

  Jace knew that wasn’t the complete truth, and while he wanted to push, wanted her to trust him enough to tell him everything, he chose not to. He couldn’t. Not when Melanie seemed so fragile. “That can happen. I…I had a moment today, myself.”

  Now she shifted away, as if suddenly realizing her close proximity to Jace. He dropped his hands to his lap, missing the feel of her immediately. She wrapped her arms around herself and asked, “Really? What, um, what happened?”

  So he told her about his younger brother and how the couple with the soon-to-be-deployed bride had stirred up memories of Seth. The fear that often struck Jace out of nowhere, that his out-to-s
ave-the-world brother might never make it home. Words poured out of Jace’s mouth that he barely admitted to himself, let alone spoke to another person.

  He finished with, “I respect the hell out of Seth and what he’s doing, but I also hate what he’s doing. Why couldn’t he have chosen a safer career? One that kept him here…where I could look after him?” Jace shrugged to lessen the tension tightening his shoulders. “I mostly try not to think about it, but every now and then—like today—something or someone reminds me, and that’s all it takes.”

  Melanie’s gaze softened as she looked at him. “It’s natural to worry about the people we love. I’ve spent most of my life worrying about my mom. Is Seth able to check in every so often?”

  “Oh, yeah. He calls whenever he can, and we get emails more regularly.”

  “It’s sweet you want to look out for him. How old is Seth?”

  “Two years younger than me. Thirty-two. Why?”

  “You’re thirty-four?” Melanie’s lips spread into a grin when he nodded. “Why, Jace, you’re almost an old man.”

  “I am nowhere near being an old man,” Jace said quickly, wanting to strike that thought out of her head right away. He knew they were seven years apart, but hell, that wasn’t so much. Besides, what did age have to do with anything? “Nowhere near,” he repeated.

  “Okay,” she said easily, though the smile remained. “But Seth is older than I am, doing what he wants to do. I doubt he needs looking after.”

  “He’s still my baby brother. It is still my job to watch over him.”

  She seemed to consider that for a minute before asking, “Who watches out for you?”

  “My brothers, my parents.” Jace lifted his hand, ready to reach over and stroke her cheek again, but had second thoughts. This was the most honest conversation he’d had with a woman in a long, long time. Well, a woman who wasn’t a relative. He didn’t want to ruin it. “My sister-in-law. Hell, my entire family.”

  “I can’t imagine what it would be like to have so many people in your corner. It’s just been me and my mom for…well, nearly forever.” There was a sad, almost melancholy note to her voice that struck Jace deep. “But we’ve managed.”

  Anger at a man he’d never met boiled in Jace’s blood. “Your father isn’t worth a second thought, Mel. You and your mom deserved a hell of a lot more. Still deserve more.”

  “Wow, Jace,” Melanie said in an overly bright voice. “For once, we actually agree on something.” In a snap, the atmosphere in the car changed. Melanie leaned over to grab her bag from the floor, unzipped it and took out the digital voice recorder she’d used that day. “Let’s make the switch now and get back to work. We’ve been out here for a while.”

  Yep, their conversation—and this moment—was over. “Sure,” he said, retrieving his recorder. They made the exchange, and Melanie went for the door. “Wait a minute, Mello Yello. Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. I’m always fine, Jace, but thanks for asking.” With that, she let herself out, gave a little wave before closing the door and headed toward the elevator.

  Jace didn’t move right away, and Melanie didn’t look back, not even to check to see if he was following. He let the information he’d learned sift through his brain, let it merge with what he already knew about her and tried to fill in the missing pieces.

  A dad who’d taken off with no warning and no explanation. A mom who, while loving and supportive of her daughter, had dated one man after another in her search to replace the husband who’d broken her heart. Melanie had said that love was the theme of Loretta’s life, so that made sense. It fit.

  What would those two things do to a child growing up? What would they do to the woman that child became? Jace couldn’t really say. Not for sure. His family life had been rock-solid, so his life experience was vastly different from Melanie’s.

  But hell, it was no wonder she didn’t trust men.

  He hurt for her. For the child she’d been and for the woman he knew today. And, yes, the caveman in him wanted to find her father and pound some sense into him. But that was an action that needed to be taken twenty years ago. Doing so now would be pointless.

  Jace exited the car and followed in Melanie’s footsteps, his mind circling endlessly. He couldn’t go back two decades to change what had already occurred, and he couldn’t repair the damage that had already been done. But he had to do something. Every part of him screamed with the necessity of doing something.

  God help him, he wanted to be exactly what she told him she didn’t need: her hero. And, he realized as he reached his office, he’d never wanted to be anyone’s hero before.

  So what the hell did that mean?

  Chapter Seven

  Melanie hunched over her laptop and read through the draft of her column for the third time. While the piece wasn’t due for a few more days, she had this itchy, almost uncomfortable sensation that it had to be perfect. No surprise given the fact she was nearly fired a week ago.

  Would’ve been, if not for Jace. Warm tingles sped along her skin. She stole a glance toward Jace’s office and lifted her hand to touch her forehead. He’d kissed her there yesterday, almost casually, as if doing so was the normal state of affairs between them. It should have ticked her off or at the very least sent her scurrying back to her side of his car.

  Instead, she’d felt warm and safe and—underneath her crazy mix of emotions—electrified. So electrified that the yearning to lean in closer, to put her lips on his and steal a real kiss, came over her. She hadn’t, of course. That would have been really crazy, but the thought…and the yearning…hadn’t subsided.

  He’d been so easy to talk to, and he’d listened. Really listened to what she had to say, even though she’d likely sounded a little off her rocker. It was confusing. How could the writer of “Bachelor on the Loose” be the same man she was beginning to know? Jace Foster played with women, took advantage of them—even if they knew what they were getting into when they went out with him—and, as far as she could tell, was nowhere close to stopping.

  Yet her intuition told her to look beyond the surface. That maybe, just maybe, Jace was a heck of a lot more than she’d assumed.

  Which was also nuts. How many women believed that about a man, only to find they were dead wrong? Based on the letters she received for her advice column, a hell of a lot.

  Sighing, Melanie returned her attention to the column, reading through the first letter and her response again. The writer, a woman who’d been married for three years, stated that her once-passionate husband seemed to have lost all interest in sex. Melanie wanted to tell the woman that it was likely hubby hadn’t lost interest in sex at all, but that he’d found a new playmate.

  Naturally, she couldn’t do that. Instead, she encouraged the wife to talk to her husband, to tell him how she was feeling, and to be honest about how his disinterest affected her. Then, if that didn’t work, to try changing their routine by spicing up the bedroom a bit. She left it up to the woman as to what that might entail, because Dr. Ruth, Melanie was not.

  The answer worked, as did her responses throughout the rest of the column. If Kurt found anything objectionable, she’d be surprised. She glanced toward Jace’s office again, and that balmy, almost liquid sizzle returned. She’d barely seen him today. They hadn’t yet discussed yesterday’s interviews, either.

  Hmm. Maybe she should have him look over the column, just to be sure. There was nothing wrong with that. She was being nice, that was all. Letting Jace know that she appreciated his trust in her, but also respected him enough to not chance his risking his job.

  Melanie printed the column before she could talk herself out of her lame argument. She knew her work hit the acceptable level. If she dissected her reasons for going to Jace, she’d end up changing her mind. And she really wanted to see him.<
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  Grabbing the sheets of paper, she went to Jace’s office and peeked in. His elbows were planted on his desk, his head bent toward his laptop and his expression one of intense concentration. Suddenly feeling foolish, she started to step away at the same second he looked up. Dark-chocolate eyes landed on her, warmed and the barest hint of a smile touched his lips.

  Why did he have to be so dang appealing?

  “I’m sorry to bother you,” she said, focusing on keeping her voice clear and her gaze steady. “I… You look busy. I can come back later.”

  “One, you’re never a bother, Mel.” He raked his fingers through his shaggy hair, an action she was beginning to notice he did quite often, and then gestured for her to enter. “Two, I could use a break. What’s up?”

  Stopping just shy of the chairs flanking his desk, she held out the printed pages of her column. “I was wondering if you could review this? I worried nonstop last week that there would be a problem, and I’d, um, just feel better if I had a second opinion this week.”

  Surprise and relief colored his expression. She’d expected the surprise, but the relief annoyed her. Just a little. Still, he hesitated before agreeing. “You’re sure?” he asked. “I don’t want you to feel obligated to do this. We have an agreement.”

  “I’m sure. Besides, you also have an agreement with Kurt. I’d say that trumps ours,” Melanie said, going for levity.

  “Nothing trumps anything to do with you.”

  Her annoyance evaporated. “That’s…nice, but you shouldn’t have to worry about your job over this. I was upset last week and…” She shrugged off the rest of her statement, not ready to admit her opinion of Jace wasn’t quite the same as it had been a mere seven days earlier. She placed the printed sheets on Jace’s desk. “So, there you go. Let me know what you think.”

  He slid the papers over to him. “Give me a sec. I’ll read this now.”