Oh. She hadn’t expected that. “Okay. Sure.”
It didn’t take him long. When he finished, he glanced up. “This is great, Mel. No man-hating verbiage at all.”
“Whew,” she said with a grin. “Guess I’m learning something.” And then, because she wasn’t quite ready to leave, she continued with, “I listened to your interviews last night.”
“Yeah? What did you think?” Jace leaned forward, every ounce of his attention on her. “Are you a believer yet?”
“No.” Maybe? No. “But if we have to pick a couple from those we talked with, there are three I like. Geoffrey and Veronica, the couple with the bride deploying and the couple expecting a baby. Even though I think they are far too young.”
“Right. Well, we didn’t set age limitations,” Jace teased. “But if you had to pick just one of them, who would it be? I’m curious if we’re on the same wavelength.”
She hesitated, thinking it over. “I’d choose Geoffrey and Veronica in a heartbeat if it wasn’t for the fact that he couldn’t even take a full day off of work for their wedding.” Melanie shook her head, feeling the same frustration she had when they’d talked with the couple.
“If I didn’t know better, I’d think that statement came from a romantic.” Jace’s lips twitched in the makings of a grin. “You’re sure you haven’t become a believer when I wasn’t looking?”
She resisted the childish impulse to stick out her tongue. “If you’re going to get married, at least show the day some honor. That’s all I meant.”
“You have a point, but think about every word that was said.” Jace angled his arms across his chest and leaned back in his chair. “Veronica mentioned they’d recently opened their own business. New businesses take a lot of focus to be successful. Perhaps they’d scheduled the wedding for yesterday, and these meetings came up at the last minute.”
“Still bothers me,” Melanie said, even though she agreed with Jace’s take. “But, yeah, I guess they’d be my first choice.”
“Good. Mine, too.” Jace nodded toward a chair. “You can sit down, you know.”
“I have to get back to work, but hey, we’re one-third of the way through. That’s good news.” Even as Melanie spoke, her stomach dipped in disappointment. When the assignment was over, so was her one-on-one time with Jace. Since when had that become a bad thing? “Maybe we’ll finish this up quicker than I thought.”
“Not so fast, Speedy Gonzalez.” Jace twirled his pencil and grinned. “I like Geoffrey and Veronica, but I think we should plan on one more day of interviews at the courthouse before making a final decision. Maybe on Friday.”
“Oh.” Her disappointment vanished. “Okay, sure. Friday works.”
“And I might have a few interviews set for next week. One is with a couple who have been married for fifty-two years. They have five children, twelve grandchildren, and, if I’m remembering correctly, a few great-grandchildren, as well.”
She blinked, trying to imagine a relationship so solid that it lasted for fifty-plus years. She couldn’t. And because she couldn’t, she went for sarcasm, saying, “Don’t they know about birth control?”
A deep, rolling laugh erupted from Jace’s chest. “You never fail to surprise me, Mel.” He stood, rounded the desk and stopped directly in front of her. Their gazes met, and the bones in Melanie’s legs seemed to melt.
He brought his fingers to her cheek and lightly brushed them against her skin. Now she lost the ability to breathe. “Um…what are you doing?”
“You have a smudge on your cheek, Mello Yello. Looks like you lost a battle with your pen.” His fingers pressed in a little harder. “Nope, not coming off. Think you’ll need soap and water for this.”
Without thinking, without even realizing what she was doing, Melanie reached up and curled her fingers around Jace’s hand. She stepped in closer, lifted her chin and stared right into those delicious eyes of his. “You’re making me crazy,” she admitted, her voice just this side of husky. “The way you touch me, look at me. Are you playing with me, Jace?”
“You’re making me crazy,” he said. “I…God, Mel, I can’t get you out of my head.”
“We work together. This would be—”
“Crazy,” he said, finishing her sentence for her. “But so what? Let’s live crazy. Let me take you to dinner tonight. Just the two of us, somewhere quiet.”
“I…I can’t.” She retreated a few steps. A wash of relief that she had an excuse to say no rippled through her. Because without that excuse, she would’ve said yes. And then…then, who knew what else she’d end up saying yes to? “I have dinner with my mother tonight. Every Tuesday, like clockwork.”
“Ah. Well, maybe another time.” Was that regret or relief she heard? “But have fun with your mom. Tell her I said hi.”
“Will do.” He remained a little too close for Melanie’s comfort, so she retreated farther, stopping in his doorway. “So, um, I’ll talk to you later. I should have my intro to show you tomorrow.”
Returning to his side of the desk, he said, “I don’t want to see it yet. Let’s wait until the end, and then we’ll go through everything at once.” He winked. “Will make the bet more interesting.”
Wow. She’d almost forgotten about the bet. Too much on her mind, that was all. “Sounds like a plan.”
She turned on her heel to leave. Just as she stepped completely out of his office, she heard him say, “By the way, Mel. You look hot with ink smeared on your cheek.”
She didn’t respond, just kept walking, but her heart picked up an extra beat. Jace Foster, the man who could have almost any woman he wanted, thought she was hot. With ink on her face, no less. The pleasure stayed with her through washing said ink off, through working on the introduction to the Valentine’s Day feature and all the way through the rest of the day.
If her mind whispered for her to be careful, that charming women was second nature to men like Jace, she mostly ignored the warnings. Oh, she didn’t intend to act on her attraction—or if she was going to call a spade a spade—her lust. Still, his flattery and attention felt good. So why not enjoy it?
When the workday ended, she walked by Jace’s office to say goodbye, only to find the room dark and empty. She shrugged off her disappointment at missing him and headed for the parking garage. Her thoughts went to the night ahead. Hopefully, her mother wasn’t planning a surprise get-together with Wade. Melanie would far prefer to be prepared for that meeting.
Reaching her five-year-old Volkswagen Jetta, Melanie unlocked the doors, deposited her purse and laptop on the passenger-side seat and climbed in. A yawn slipped out. Her up-and-down emotions, combined with the events of the past few days, had worn her down. What she needed, she thought as she put her key into the ignition, was an early night. Maybe a long, hot bubble bath first. After dinner with Mom, of course.
She turned the key and…nothing. Not even a hiccup of a noise from the Jetta’s engine. Cursing under her breath, she removed the key and tried again. Still nothing. Well, hell. She’d filled the tank that morning, so she knew the car wasn’t out of gas.
“Come on. Don’t do this to me,” she whispered, trying one more time. “I’m still making payments on you. You have to start.”
When the car remained silent and unresponsive, Melanie cursed again. Loudly. Grabbing her belongings, she made her way toward the elevator. From past experience, she knew her cell phone couldn’t get a signal in the parking garage, which meant to freaking deal with this she needed to return to the office or go stand outside of the garage.
Seeing as it was growing dark, she chose the office. Once there, she called for a tow. They told her they’d be there within the hour. After that, she phoned her mother to tell her that she wouldn’t be able to make it for dinner. Oddly, Loretta wasn’t upset by the news, claiming fatig
ue from a long day at the salon.
Then, Melanie returned to her dead-as-a-doornail car and waited.
Two hours later, Melanie parked her rental car next to the curb three houses down from her duplex. Her neighbors, a group of college students, were apparently having a party, because the double-wide driveway she shared with them was full. She was so aggravated about her car that she didn’t even care.
The shop wouldn’t be able to look at the Jetta for a few days, which meant she wouldn’t have her car back until sometime next week. Even though her auto insurance gave her a discount on rental cars, she still had to fork out thirty dollars a day for the Ford Focus she’d driven home. She wouldn’t be able to afford that for long.
Once inside, she popped a frozen meal into the microwave before changing out of her work clothes into a pair of pajamas. Settling at the kitchen table with her dinner and laptop, Melanie searched for “David Prentiss” to see if she got any hits. She did, but a quick perusal through some of the given links proved that none of them were her David Prentiss.
“Now what?” She picked at her dinner and considered her options. If money wasn’t an issue, she’d try using another people-finding service to see if she received different information. Or she could run a check on the other names associated with her father’s past households. But fifty bucks a shot was a little pricey when she had to deal with unknown car repairs and rental-car fees. So, no, she couldn’t go either of those routes at the moment.
She could look up her father’s past addresses online, gather information on neighboring houses and then do a reverse address lookup in the hopes of finding a few phone numbers. Maybe someone would know where he went. Or even give her some type of information she didn’t currently have. A man couldn’t completely disappear, could he?
With that mission in mind, Melanie cleaned up her dinner dishes and left the kitchen. She hadn’t turned on any of her living room lights when she came in, so the room held only the soft glow of the outside light pouring in through the windows. A noise on her front porch drew her attention. Probably just some of the partiers from next door, but her stomach jumped when she couldn’t remember if she’d locked the door.
The unmistakable sound of her screen door squeaking open sent her pulse into overdrive. She propelled herself forward to check the lock, to make sure she was safe. Then, her curiosity getting the better of her, she looked through the peephole and saw…the top of a head. What in the hell was someone doing bent over at her door? She heard rustling, a cough, more rustling.
Suddenly sure she knew what was happening, she flipped the lock and threw open the door, expecting to see her father dropping off another mystery gift.
Her visitor reared back in surprise as the door opened. His jaw dropped, and his eyes grew wide. His hand whipped behind his back, as if he were trying to hide something. Too late—she’d already seen the red-wrapped gift.
Unexpected disappointment hit first, because it wasn’t David Prentiss standing on her front porch. Stunned disbelief mixed with…pleasure?…wove in next, because the man bringing her anonymous gifts was none other than Jace Foster.
“Um…Melanie, hey,” Jace said, his voice a full pitch higher than normal. “I thought you were at your mom’s.”
She tried to speak, tried to find anything at all to say, but words evaded her. This was not a scenario she’d expected. Her throat closed tight, and her heart felt as if it were about to explode out of her chest. Her secret admirer was…Jace?
“Why?” she somehow managed to ask.
“Why did I think you were at your mom’s? Because you said you had dinner with her tonight.” His shoulders lifted in a slight shrug. “And… Well, your car isn’t here. I assumed you weren’t home.”
A million and one questions zipped through Melanie’s mind, but she quelled them. For now. Blinking, she tipped her head to the side and pretended she hadn’t seen the gift. “Why would you come over if you thought I wasn’t home?”
“Well.” He coughed and sort of half slid, half shuffled backward a step. “You know. I…um…just—” Another shrug. “Your car isn’t here,” he repeated. “I checked.”
Humor she probably shouldn’t have felt crawled in. She’d never seen Jace this way. He always seemed so in control, so at ease in any situation. Leaning against the doorjamb, she said, “Hmm. Yes. That would be because my car conked out and needed to be towed. That would also be why I’m not at my mom’s.”
Jace’s gaze landed squarely on hers, and concern lit his expression. “Are you okay?”
Nodding, she said, “I’m fine.”
A breath expelled from his lungs. “Good. How did you get home?”
“Rented a car.” She wagged her head toward the road. “It’s the Ford Focus parked down a ways.”
“Okay. Good. I mean not about your car, but that you’re safe.”
“You haven’t answered my question. How come you stopped by if you thought I wasn’t here?”
His face blanked out, and he dropped his vision to the ground. “I don’t know how to answer that,” he said in a carefully modulated voice.
She bit her bottom lip, threw caution to the wind and asked, “Was there something you wanted to drop off?”
His Adam’s apple moved when he swallowed, but he didn’t say anything. Just sort of stood there, body tensed, looking like a man about to run for cover.
“Why don’t you come in for a while?” Melanie stepped back but kept the door held open, knowing she was playing with fire but unable to stop herself. “I can make us some coffee. Or if you’d rather, I have a bottle of wine in the fridge.”
“I would like that, but—” Still holding his arm behind his back, Jace retreated to the edge of the steps. “I should probably get going. Sorry if I scared you, Mel.”
Oh, no. She wasn’t about to let him get away so easily. Deciding it was time to put all of her cards on the table, she said, “Aren’t you going to give me my gift first?” Jace’s shoulders straightened and firmed. The muscle in his jaw clenched tight and then twitched. “Or is that present you’re hiding behind your back not for me?”
“Well, hell,” he muttered. “You saw that, huh?”
“I did.”
“I can explain.” Sighing, he brought the present into view. “I… Yeah, wine sounds good.”
“Then come on in.” Her tongue burned with the need to ask all of the questions crowding her brain, but she figured she could hold off a few more minutes. Jace eased past her into the living room. She switched on a lamp and nodded toward the sofa. “Make yourself at home. I’ll get the wine.”
Escaping to the kitchen, she gripped the counter with both hands and willed her heart to settle into a normal rhythm. Even when she thought the presents might be from an actual secret admirer, she’d never once considered Jace. Why was that?
Because… Well, because he’d never hidden his attraction toward her. Just the opposite, in fact. The man didn’t have a shy bone in his body. Or she hadn’t thought so until now.
So, yeah, this revelation was startling. And, Melanie admitted as she poured them each a glass of wine, brought about a complex mix of emotions she couldn’t begin to identify. Flattery was in there, as was wonder and…maybe even a little excitement?
Her disappointment over her father not trying to reconnect lingered as well, but existed in a different compartment. She’d deal with that aspect of her emotions later, but now… Well, now there was a sexy man waiting in her living room. A man who, over the past week, had surprised her repeatedly by showing her sides of his personality she never would have guessed existed.
And now this.
Before leaving the kitchen, she fluffed her hair and moistened her lips. The fleeting wish that she was wearing something other than pajamas that covered every inch of her body brought a wave
of heat to her cheeks. Then, out of nowhere, she heard her mother asking if she’d ever had great sex, and the heat spread through Melanie’s limbs like wildfire.
Dear God, she was in major trouble.
One deep breath in, another out, and she returned to the living room. Jace was where she’d left him…sitting on the sofa. His hands gripped the present so tightly that his knuckles were white, and his eyes held a soft vulnerability. As if…as if he was worried she would hurt him. Impossible. She didn’t—couldn’t—have the power to cause him pain.
“Here,” she said, setting his glass of wine on the coffee table. “You can take off your coat.”
“Right.” He leaned over to place the gift on the table, stopped, changed direction and set it on the floor between his feet. Melanie pretended she didn’t notice his hesitation. After he’d removed his jacket, he gulped down about half of his wine. “I’m guessing you have questions.”
“Well, yeah,” she said lightly. “This isn’t exactly a common occurrence for me.”
“It should be,” he said, his voice flat and holding no room for argument.
“Well, it isn’t.”
Jace rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Where to begin?” he said with a sigh. “I guess I’ll explain how this started. You will let me explain, right? I don’t want you to think I’m crazy or stalking you or anything like that.”
“Jace,” she said, her voice soft and hopefully reassuring. “I know that.”
His chin lowered in a jagged nod. “Okay. Good. So, yeah, here goes. I wanted to get you a Christmas gift, but I was pretty damn sure you wouldn’t accept anything I tried to give you. I figured you’d assume I had ulterior motives. That…that you’d think my goal was nothing more than a maneuver to get you to like me, to…ah…”
“Get me in the sack?” she filled in.
“Yes. And damn, you’re always so prickly around me. I…just wanted to give you something nice, something I thought you’d enjoy, without any wrong assumptions on your part.” He lifted his gaze to meet hers. “The whole idea was my brother’s. Grady used to surprise Olivia that way, though she knew the gifts were really from him, but I liked the idea.”
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