Melody offered him a deceptively sweet smile. “Is it true that men use big trucks to compensate for smaller endowments in, well,… other more intimate areas?” she asked, dropping her voice to a conversational whisper as she gave his crotch a rather pointed look.
Cal guffawed. “Are you asking me if I’ve got a tiny dick, Princess? Because I can tell you with a hundred percent honesty that the size of my cock and the size of my truck are very directly related. They’re both big and bad, but if you don’t believe me, I’d be pleased to give you a private showing.”
Melody’s jaw dropped at his audacity. “You… you just can’t say things like that!” she blustered, blushing furiously as he laughed in her face.
“I just did. Besides, you started it,” he accused, propping his hands on his narrow hips as he leaned forward and stared her down. “Don’t dish it out if you can’t handle having it spoon-fed back to you, Princess.” Damn, Cal privately mused, he hadn’t had this much fun with a woman with her clothes on in years. He couldn’t help wondering how exciting she’d be with her clothes off. He definitely be making it a point to find that out as soon as humanly possible.
“I revert to my earlier statement. You are a pig,” she reiterated with a disgusted shake of her head, her ponytail flying over one shoulder to smack him in the face as she moved.
“Maybe, but you’re just mad that you can’t seem to get one-up on me. Not used to a man that will stand his ground and fight with you?” he asked, fishing for a response from her. He wanted to know just how much she’d reveal about her ex-fiancé in casual conversation. Her brother didn’t think there’d been any kind of physical abuse and based on her reactions to him, he tended to think RJ was right, but he wanted to be sure. Because if he was wrong, she wouldn’t need his protection because he’d simply kill the motherfucker and be done with it.
“My former fiancé didn’t fight. It was too low-class a thing for him to do. He used to call our arguments spirited debates. My ass, they were debates. Freaking moron. A fight is a fight, right?” she asked as she grunted with exertion while she tried to pry one of the lug nuts loose.
“Right,” he agreed with a nod, sighing as her tool slipped again. “Politicians have….what did you call ‘em? Spirited debates? Real men and women fight.”
“See, that’s what I thought, too. But maybe that was the problem,” Melody muttered as she twisted the tire iron sharply, silently cursing the tight bolt. “I always did think Bradley had political ambitions. God knows that it’s what his dear old mommy and daddy wanted for him,” she continued to growl through gritted teeth as she twisted the tire iron violently. “Eureka!” she shouted when the bolt moved a few millimeters. “Did you see that? It moved,” she yelped, as her body made a tiny celebratory shimmy.
Cal chuckled softly at her little dance. “Sounds like this Bradley fella was kinda a douche,” he surmised, carefully watching Melody’s face.
“That is the understatement of the frickin’ year. Heck, maybe the decade, too,” Melody muttered, lifting one hand to take a swipe at her sweaty forehead.
Edging toward her, Cal tried to make a grab for the tool in her hand. “Seriously, babe. Let me do that for you,” he demanded gruffly, afraid she was going to either damage the wheel well or herself with her rough use of the tool.
“I’m about done warnin’ you, Stranger, so I’ll try and be real clear one last time. You try to touch my tire iron again and I’m gonna introduce it to the side of that hard head of yours. Repeatedly,” she informed him grimly while she desperately tried to loosen the second lug nut. “And, for the record, let me just state that I am most certainly NOT your babe,” she huffed, panting with exertion.
He could see her energy waning and shook his head. “You’re completely right, you aren’t my babe,” he agreed, covering Melody’s icy hands with his as she growled fiercely at the tire. “Right now, you’re more of my pain in the ass, woman,” he continued, his hands tightening on hers as he helped her turn the lug nut. “This’d be so much easier if you’d just let me do it,” he stated again, afraid he was going to hurt her hand by squeezing it too hard. “Honest to God, sassy, sweet and stubborn is not the sexy combination I thought it would be on you.”
“So. Freaking. Sorry,” Melody ground out, nearly squealing with glee as the lug nut began to loosen smoothly. “It’s moving! See, I knew I could do it,” she announced with a wide, victorious smile.
Cal snorted. “Uh huh. I think you mean, we did it, don’t you, Lone Ranger?” he asked with a faint grin as he took advantage of her distraction and scooted her out of the way so that he could finish removing the lug nuts for her.
“Whatever,” Melody muttered, her tone implying she was too tired to object when he took over the job of changing the tire for her. “I could totally do this,” she felt obligated to point out as she watched his easy, efficient movements with a slight amount of bitterness.
“Maybe you could, Princess, but I can do it faster,” he said, continuing on with his task. “Besides, even in Philly, an able-bodied man doesn’t just sit on his ass while a woman does all the hard work. That shit is whacked, and the nuns trained us kids better than that.” Cal heard Melody groan softly beside her. “What? You’re not gonna start spouting some women’s lib crap in my ear, are you? Because, honestly, I accept that you can do this job just as well as I could, but that doesn’t mean I believe that you should have to do it. Not when I’m right here beside you.”
Melody sighed, turning her head to offer him a long look. “No, it’s not that. It’s just that I have to admit I was wrong. Apparently you do have some manners after all.”
Callum’s lips tilted up in a half-grin. “I spent half my childhood in and out of Catholic orphanages, Princess. Believe me, the one thing the Sisters insist on is manners, unless you wanted to feel the wooden ruler against your knuckles. I learned fast to keep my head down and mind my p’s and q’s.”
“I’m sorry,” Melody apologized huskily, her eyes soft as she looked up into his face.
“I’m not,” he returned, matching her hushed tone. “Those nuns helped mold me into the kind of man I am today. I’m not ashamed of who I am or where I came from, darlin’,” he explained as he pulled off the ruined tire and replaced it with the spare, tightening the lug nuts back up with quick turns of the tire iron. “Parts of my childhood were shitty; that’s true. But, the majority of it… it wasn’t half bad. I had some good foster homes, and I had the Sisters when I went to the Boy’s Home. They were tough, but they also taught me to be a man, not a pansy.”
“I can attest that I’ve definitely seen no pansy-like behavior from you, and trust me…. I’ve got some experience with a world-class pansy of the first degree,” Melody assured him as he finished tightening the bolts on her tire.
Picking up the tire with one hand, he collected the loose tools with the other and carried it all back to her trunk. “That spare will be okay for you in the short term, but look into getting a new tire soon, yeah?”
“Yeah,” Melody affirmed as she watched him move back to the side of the car and collect the jack. “I’ll get it done this afternoon,” she said as he put the car jack in her trunk and slammed down the lid.
“Good,” he declared with a satisfied nod.
“Well, thank you for helping me,” she said softly.
“You mean forcing my help on you, don’t you?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest as he eyed her.
Dusting off her pants, Melody offered a small chuckle of her own. “Well, yes. I do appreciate it. And I hate to rush off now that we’re actually speaking civilly, but I have an appointment regarding my new store. I hope you understand.”
“I do.” He knew she was struggling to get her book store up and running. Her brother had told him all about it. “Just take care of that tire,” he reminded her, nodding toward the spare as she circled her vehicle to reach the driver’s side.
“I will. See you around….I never got your name,” she gasped,
her eyes widening slightly as she stared across the top of her car at him.
“Nope, you didn’t,” he affirmed with a sly grin. “That’s okay, though. There’ll be time to get my name later, Miss Melody,” he added as he climbed behind the wheel of his own truck and started the engine and rolled down his windows. “I’ll see you soon, Princess,” he called to the gaping woman as he backed out of his parking space.
“Wait!” she called, her body half in-half out of her car. “How do you know my name?”
Shooting her a dazzling smile, he shook his head. “That’s for you to figure out, Princess. I’ll see you soon,” he replied before hitting the accelerator and pulling out of the parking lot. Looking in his rearview mirror, he couldn’t help his laugh as he met her confused gaze.
Oh yeah, Melody had met her match… and she didn’t even know it yet.
But in just a few hours’ time, he knew she would.
Chapter Three: Coincidence is Not a Word in Her Vocabulary
“So, it’s official. We’ve decided to shoot for a grand opening date of February 14. You’re good with that being about eight weeks from now?” Harmony McKinnon asked Melody as she looked up from her notes and stared across the desk at her friend and newest client. Tucking her blonde chin length hair behind her small ears, she met the brunette’s anxious gaze. “You’re positive?”
“I think ‘good’ might be a little too strong a word,” Melody hedged with a nervous laugh, “But, yeah, Valentine’s Day sounds good. Maybe I can capitalize on the last-minute-gift-buying crowd.”
Absently listening as Harmony described the cake she’d have her sister, Honor, prepare and the appetizers the local café would supply, Melody was grateful the other woman had things well in hand because she couldn’t seem to stop her thoughts from meandering all over the place.
Reminding herself that she was here to talk about her business, Melody mentally castigated herself for the third time. Allowing her thoughts to drift toward a certain lumbering gorilla that apparently knew her name was a bad plan. This was only a big deal if she let it be one, and she simply didn’t have time for another drama in her life. Between the store, her break-up, the weird hang-ups she started getting a few days ago, and the mysterious home improvements that kept happening around her new-to-her home, she had enough on her plate.
Today had been crazy – even by her standards. After she’d finally gotten moving after changing her tire, she’d run home to change her soiled white shirt. Grease had rubbed off on the expensive fabric, and she’d wanted to drop it off at the dry cleaners this afternoon. Immediately upon pulling into her driveway, those stupid phone calls had started again for the third day in a row. Three times a caller had dialed her number and simply breathed on the other end of the line as she collected her things and climbed the porch steps to her door. The stupid jerk never said a word, but she knew he (or maybe she) was there. She’d finally hung up after the third call and refused to answer when the phone rang and the blocked call showed up on her phone’s screen again. Instead, her eyes had been drawn toward the sliding garage door. Her closed garage door.
This wouldn’t have been a big deal, but she hadn’t been able to close that door since she’d moved into her granny’s house. It wouldn’t have been a big deal except when she’d left that morning, the door had been still stuck open. It was now closed. And she knew with every fiber of her being that her ‘house fairy’ had been back to visit her. Oh, she knew it wasn’t actually a fairy that had been helping her out lately. In all likelihood, it was probably one of her grandmother’s neighborhood friends (of which she had many) doing what he (or she) felt was their Christian duty. Her house fairy had been busy the last two weeks. From mowing her lawn to repairing the broken screen door on her back porch, somebody was going out of their way to make her feel at home in her late Granny’s neighborhood of old, but well-loved two-story houses. She appreciated it, but she couldn’t deny it was getting creepy. Mostly because no matter which nearby neighbor she asked, nobody claimed to have seen anything. It was strange since she knew the elderly women that lived on the street were as nosy as the day was long. Sweet, but nosy. Honestly, this unidentifiable person was driving her crazy. At the very least, she owed him, her, them, or it a nice home-cooked meal.
“Earth to Mel,” Harmony’s musical voice called, pulling Melody’s eyes back to the pretty blonde woman’s unblemished face. “You okay? You tuned out on me there for a few minutes,” she heard the event planner ask with a friendly smile.
“I’m so sorry, Harm. I guess I’ve got a lot on my mind. Starting over in a new place, alone, and opening a new business has got me rattled, I guess. My nerves are starting to get the better of me. Things will get better when RJ gets home from Afghanistan. At least, I hope they will,” she amended, mentioning her older brother. RJ had another six months overseas, but he’d get a couple of months off when he got back to the States. Fortunately, she knew he planned to spend that time here with her.
“How is that handsome brother of yours, girl? Still a hunk? As I recall, Rhythm Blue Reardon was quite the lady magnet back in his younger days,” Harmony recalled, wriggling her eyebrows as put her elbow on her desk and propped her chin against her hand. “Gosh, I don’t think I’ve seen him in the better part of ten years. I guess the last time was when y’all came to visit your granny and came to church with her.”
“That sounds about right,” Melody murmured with a nod as her heart clenched. Memories of her sweet grandmother could still steal her breath. She still missed the irascible old woman like crazy. Forcing herself to focus on the question she’d been asked instead of her pain, Melody smiled. “RJ is doing great…or as great as he can be while he’s working in a war zone. He was promoted to Sergeant 1st Class last year and he got his degree in criminal justice. If he ever decides to retire, he could easily get a job as a police officer. We usually talk once a week. It’s better now that the guys are allowed to have cell phones over there. I can call him. Usually I have to leave a message, but he usually calls back in a couple of days.”
“Is he married?” Harmony asked curiously, her blue eyes interested as she stared at Melody.
“Lord, no!” Melody laughed, trying to imagine her handful of a brother tying himself to just one woman. His head would probably explode if he tried monogamy. “He’s still playing the field. The man enjoys variety too much to settle on just one flavor, you know? I don’t think he’ll ever settle down. Granny used to say he had a wanderer’s heart.”
“Oh, I know something about those type of men. My husband used to be one.” Harmony jerked her thumb toward the wedding portrait of her and her husband Jacob Stone that hung above her desk in their den where Harmony had set up her office. “I think it just takes the right woman to make a man like that plant his feet.”
For some odd reason, thoughts of her friendly giant skittered through Melody’s mind upon hearing those words. She wondered if her towering hero from this morning was going to plant his feet here in Paradise. Remembering the way his blue eyes had twinkled when he looked at her, she kind of hoped he did. Blinking as she realized that she’d just thought of that mostly rude Neanderthal in a possessive sense, Melody stiffened. These were definitely not ideas she should be entertaining.
Licking her lips, Melody quickly turned the conversation back toward Harmony. “That’s a beautiful picture,” she remarked, gesturing toward the huge portrait of Jake, Harmony, and her adorable daughter, Heaven. “Your little girl…. she’s what? Four?”
“She’s five now, but she thinks she’s going on twenty-five. She and her daddy are thick as thieves,” Harmony said, looking over her shoulder at the picture with a grin. Turning her attention back to Melody, Harmony cocked her head to the side. “I heard about what happened with Bradley, Mel. I’m so sorry you had to go through that. You know I went through the whole cheating thing with my first husband, Tanner.”
Melody paled. She’d been unaware that the details of her personal life were makin
g the rounds in Paradise. “Wow,” she murmured thickly, “I forgot how quickly news travels in a small town.”
“True, but most people mean well, honey,” Melody offered sympathetically as she reached across the desk to pat Melody’s hand. “Girl, we were friends before all this happened to you. So. If you need me…I’m here. I understand that you’re a private person, but I don’t want you feelin’ like you’ve got nobody to unload on. I’m always here if you need me. So are all my sisters. God knows we’ve each had our own set of troubles.”
Sniffling as tears burned in her eyes, Melody squeezed Harm’s hand. “Thank you. Stuff with Bradley, my ex, well, it’s been difficult. It’s kinda sad though. It’s not really Brad that I miss; it’s being part of a couple, you know. I liked being part of a team of two with somebody. Then, I found out that Brad was adding players to our team without my knowledge,” she admitted with a shudder of distaste. “First, I caught him sleeping with the woman that I thought was my best friend, and then, the more I looked around, the more women I learned he was screwing. Meanwhile, he barely touched me,” she whispered painfully. “Honestly, I thought he just didn’t like sex. Turns out, he just didn’t like sex with me.”
“Nuh uh. Don’t do that,” Harmony ordered sharply. “Do not take his crap on your shoulders. The problem was him and his wandering penis, Mel. It wasn’t anything you were responsible for, honey.”
Melody tried to smile bravely. “Sometimes, that’s hard to remember. I think I’m off love for life.”
“Yeah, I know that feeling from experience. So did my sisters,” Harmony commiserated. “But, listen here, babe. I found a good man when I was least expecting it. I’m betting you will, too.”
Melody’s thoughts automatically went back to the parking lot outside the coffee shop and her unwanted savior. “Maybe,” she mumbled, biting her lip.
Tangled Hearts (Passion in Paradise) Page 4