Grimacing at the pitch of Melody’s angry voice, Cal gave thanks that they’d had the forethought to get that lease agreement notarized by the guy up in JAG before he left the base where he and RJ had been stationed. He wasn’t exactly certain the document would stand up in court, but it was official looking enough that it might sway Melody from throwing him out. He’d hate sleeping in his truck outside her house, but he would if it came down to it. He didn’t trust that dickhead ex of hers as far as he could see him. Any idiot could see that the little toad wasn’t done trying to get her back, and Cal was far from stupid. There was no way he was gonna allow that maggot of a man near Melody if she didn’t want him there. Not while there was breath in his body.
No, he was gonna stick closer to Melody than a fly on dog shit whether she wanted him guarding her body or not. It would just be easier to look after that lush ass of hers if he was allowed in the house.
“Rhythm Blue Reardon, I may never forgive you for this, you asshole,” he heard Melody threaten, her voice sounding a little too watery for his comfort level. Please, God, let there not be tears, he prayed vehemently as he stared at the back of Melody’s head where she stood, facing the window on the east side of the living room. Cal was gonna kick RJ’s ass if he’d made his baby sister cry. He didn’t care what the fuck good intentions the bastard had. He hated a woman’s tears on any day of the week, but he had a feeling that seeing a woman as sweet and vibrant as Melody cry would gut him.
Straining his ears, he continued to eavesdrop, barely suppressing a growl when he heard Melody say, “Fine, RJ. You win this battle. He can stay, but don’t think I won’t find a way to make you pay for this. And if he doesn’t agree to my conditions, I’m throwing him out of here on his ass.”
Cal’s lips twitched. Maybe things were starting to go his way after all.
“But I’m telling you, if he calls me babe, princess, or honey one more time, I’m going to take a sledgehammer to the side of the guy’s head.”
Okay, maybe he’d been overestimating the change in his luck.
“Okay,” he heard Melody huff. “Yes, I already told you. I’ll take out the stupid restraining order, but I’m telling you he’s not dangerous, and I don’t think those hang-ups have a thing to do with Bradley. It’s probably just somebody dialing the wrong number. Seriously, RJ. Just worry about you. Be safe and call me tomorrow to make sure I haven’t staged an accident for your former boss. Love you, too. Bye.”
Callum held his breath as he witnessed her viciously pushing the end button on the phone and tossing it on one of the two club chairs in the room before she turned to nail him with her chocolate colored eyes. The longer she stared at him, the more he wondered if this is how Jonah felt after the whale swallowed him. He had a lot in common with the guy at the moment since he, too, was now sitting in the belly of a very pissed off beast. “I’m assuming by that phone call that things didn’t exactly go your way,” he deducted lightly, knowing instantly he’d made an error in judgment making that joke. Honest to God, if she could have blown him up with the power of her mind, he’d be dust particles right now.
“Why?” she barked, her hands dropping to her curvy waist and settling there as her gaze became focused on his face.
“Why, what?” he repeated cautiously, keeping his body still. Any sudden movement from him and he was fairly certain she might try and commit an act of violence she’d regret later. Seeing her fists tighten at her sides, he reassessed. Perhaps, she wouldn’t regret attempting to assault him at all if that vicious look in her eyes was anything to go by.
“Why are you doing this? I know that RJ probably made me sound like I’m some helpless maiden, but…”
Cal chuckled, holding a hand up. “I don’t think you’re helpless, Mel. Hapless, maybe. But not helpless.”
“Gee, thanks,” she snapped sarcastically. “I’m not real sure that’s better. At any rate, as you saw earlier, I have a gun. I could defend myself if it came down to it. I don’t need anyone or thing,” she said with a pointed look at the canine draped across her feet “… to guard me. I’m doing just fine on my own.”
“You know, you’re gonna hurt Goose’s feelings callin’ him a thing,” Cal drawled, pleased with how the animal had promptly taken to Melody. The breeder had assured him he’d be a great guard dog and would love a woman, but he’d been unsure. He’d been leaning toward a German Shepherd or a Rottweiler. The Great Dane, however, had been what was available.”
“I can’t believe you named this animal after water fowl. Who names a dog Goose?”
Cal shrugged again, stretching his legs out in front of him. “When I picked him up, he was jumping around, chasing the ducks at the pond beside the breeder’s house, and just generally acting silly.”
Melody continued to look at him strangely. “So?”
“So, he was acting silly. You know, silly as a goose. Thus, the name Goose was bestowed upon him.”
Melody groaned and lifted a hand to massage her temple. “Fine. His name is Goose,” she muttered as the dog barked happily at her feet and pressed his cold nose against her arm.
Cal grinned as Melody slowly settled a hand over the canine’s head, biting back a laugh as he heard her morose voice soothing Goose with, “Don’t take it personally, fella. I’m just more of a cat person. As long as you keep your teeth off my pillows, shoes, and remote controls, we’ll find a way to get along.”
“I’m glad to see you making peace with your guard dog. That’ll make things a lot easier, Princess.”
Melody took a deep breath as she continued rubbing Goose’s head. “The animal can stay. What I do with you, however, remains to be seen. As I said, I have a gun and can look after myself.”
Cal knew he had to approach this conversation with kid gloves. The woman clearly thought she had things under control. She was wrong, but sharing that with her now would probably only get him thrown out on his ass. Instead, he decided to stall and redirect their chat. “So, what did RJ tell you about me? Learn anything interesting?”
Rolling her eyes, Melody stepped over where Goose was sprawled out on the floor and threw herself into one of the nearby leather chairs. “You’re his boss,” she shared, her voice miffed… probably because he was forcing her to talk to him.
“Former boss,” Cal corrected, stretching both arms over the back of the couch and getting comfortable. “He tell you what I did?”
“Just that you were his First Sergeant before you retired a few weeks ago. I don’t understand the Army’s hierarchy, but the way RJ spoke, you were fairly important.”
“Only to the guys that worked below me. Basically, I told men what to do for a living, Melody. It was my job to keep a battalion of men alive, kicking, and productive - in the field and out – and to handle any problems that came along.”
“Is that why it sounds like everything that comes out of your mouth is an order issued from the High Counsel of Annoying Assholes?” she asked pertly.
His lips twitched as her cute button nose scrunched in distaste. “That’s a little harsh, don’t you think?” he asked, cocking his head to the side as he met her agitated gaze with his own serene eyes.
“The truth usually hurts,” she declared with a grim smile. “But I get it. You are a man that’s used to bossing people around like its second nature. The problem with that is that this isn’t the army; it’s a town called Paradise. I’m not one of your soldiers; I’m a self-sufficient woman capable of taking care of her own life. And finally, you aren’t my boss; you’re just the guy my big brother has convinced to stalk me. I won’t be blindly obeying you, Cal. I also refuse to give any man control over my decisions. I think I need to be real clear about that.”
“Your objections are duly noted, Princess, but you never know. You might enjoy handing the reins of that control you’re intent to hang onto over to me. I could take you some pretty interesting places.” Cal returned evenly though his eyes danced with amusement. Damn, but this woman got his blood pumping.
He hadn’t been this excited in years. She made his heart race and his dick hard. Two things that he found he liked. A lot. Agreeing to do this favor for RJ might have been the single best decision of his life.
Melody blushed, ignoring the suggestiveness of his statement. “I know RJ said you’d retired, but don’t you still need to find some kind of job? I mean, you aren’t gonna be able to live entirely off your retirement check. RJ says that when he gets out, he’ll need to get a job to supplement his income. I know you are a higher rank and all, but…”
“I’ll look into finding some kind of work eventually, but honestly, I don’t really need to be in any kind of a hurry. I’ve been a single guy all my life, Melody,” he began to explain when she frowned at him in confusion. “That means no ties, no commitments. Just me and my career in the Army. Because of that and the fact that single guys don’t need much to live on, I was able to nurture quite a nest egg during my twenty something years in the service. But your concern for my finances is touching.”
“I wasn’t worried about your cash flow,” Melody grumbled under her breath. “I was just hoping that if you had a job, you’d get out of my hair.”
“Sorry, that’s not gonna happen anytime soon, Sweetness,” he apologized though, in actuality, he wasn’t the slightest bit remorseful. He liked Melody Reardon. He liked her a whole lot. She might have had a rough go of things lately, but she still had spirit, and he was a guy that valued spirit. “I’m around at least until I’m sure that your ex-asshole has moved on and we find out that those hang-ups you’re getting are indeed just hang-ups.”
Melody made a face. “You heard that? Were you eavesdropping on me?”
“Babe, you were standing in front of me, talking on the phone while you stared out the window. I wasn’t trying not to hear you, but saying I was eavesdropping would be a bit of a stretch, don’t you think?” he asked reasonably.
Melody growled, her face thunderous. “You…. You’re going to be a problem for me,” she proclaimed severely, thumping her closed fist against the arm of the chair with enough force to make Goose raise his head and look at her.
“Problems have solutions, darlin’,” he returned pleasantly. “And I don’t think that I’m the problem. I think the feelings you get when you look at me are the problem.”
“Yeah, that’s true,” Melody drawled. “These homicidal urges I’m having are distracting as hell,” she informed him primly, her pink lips pursing in displeasure as she narrowed her eyes at him.
“Uh huh, and the fact that you’re turned on as all fuck isn’t a problem for you at all, huh?”
Melody’s eyes widened as she gasped. “You did NOT just say that! Out loud. Where I could hear you.”
“Sure did,” Cal confirmed with a slow, lazy smile as he eyed Melody’s now heaving breasts though the thin pink tee shirt she’d changed into when they’d finally come inside the house. “Babe, your nipples are hard as diamonds and you’ve licked your lips no less than ten times since you sat down in that chair in front of me. You, Princess, are very, very turned on.”
“I am not,” she exploded, her blush deepening as it descended down her neck. “If my nipples are hard, it’s because the room has gotten cooler since it started to get dark outside. And if I’m licking my lips at all, it’s because the air is dry in here! You are not seeing any come hither invitations, you horndog!” She yelled, yanking the soft throw from the back of her chair and pulling it across her chest when his lustful stare didn’t move from her chest. Snapping her fingers, she growled, “Hey, eyes on mine, asshole!”
Slowly lifting his eyes until he met her own blazing gaze, he smiled wickedly. “Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt, sweetheart. You don’t need to feel ashamed. If it helps, you made my dick hard the first time you opened your mouth this morning to sass me.” He continued to smile as Melody’s mouth opened and closed several times as she tried to speak. “It’s okay, baby. We don’t need words right now. Just know, that I’m feelin’ this sexual pull, too.”
“There is no pull,” Melody finally managed to squeak.
Cal unhurriedly rose from his seat on the couch to cross the room to Melody. When he was standing in front of her leather chair, he bent, bracing one strong arm against the chair on either side of her. Leaning over until his face hovered just above hers, he smiled. “Melody, I came here to make sure you were safe as a favor to my friend and your brother. I’m staying here because the woman I’m supposed to protect has captured my attention in a way no woman ever has in all my forty-two years. And I’ll continue to remain here until I’m convinced you’re completely safe from any threat and we’ve figured out what this very real pull between us is. But I’m warnin’ you now, babe, if this pull is what I think it is, you better get real used to seeing my face because I’m not going any-fucking-where. We clear?” he asked, nearly groaning when he felt the warm bursts of her breath bathing his parted lips.
Melody swallowed hard and nodded quickly, her eyes bright and nervous as they stayed on his face.
“Good. Now, I’m gonna go take Goose for a walk before I give into the urge and show your stubborn ass just exactly how much of a pull there is between us,” he growled, unable to resist dropping his head and claiming her mouth for a single rough kiss. He groaned as his mouth touched her soft lips and had to force himself to keep his touch light, simply skimming those puffy pink lips with his tongue. He moaned as he tasted her for the first time. She tasted exactly how he imagined. Sweet, heady, and addictive.
Lifting his mouth, he met her surprised gaze. “Oh, yeah, baby. There’s a pull. Fuck, I’m fairly certain there’s an invisible fuckin’ magnet drawing your body to mine,” he whispered to her raggedly before pushing himself away from her and calling for Goose as he strode toward the door.
“Get ready, Melody,” he ordered without turning around, “I’m gonna be coming for you, Princess.”
Chapter Seven: Not a Hearts-and-Flowers-Kind-of-Guy
Ten days later, Melody knew exactly what the saying, ‘at her wit’s end’ meant. Mostly, because she’d passed being at her wit’s end and moved on to being three steps away from a nervous breakdown.
“Seriously, Harmony, I don’t think my brother sent Callum Valentine here to help me. I think it’s all some kind of plot to drive me crazy and have me institutionalized,” she shared to one of the few girlfriends she’d reconnected with since coming back to Paradise. Since Harmony had her own alpha male at home to contend with, she knew the other woman got where she was coming from now. “I swear to God that man is going to drive me certifiably insane.”
Harmony giggled. “It’s only been ten days, girl. How bad can having a man around that looks as good as Callum Valentine be? If I weren’t married to my own dreamboat, I swear, I’d give some real thought into takin’ a bite out of him.”
Melody rolled her eyes as she watched a shirtless Cal continue painting the back wall a pale green shade called meadow that she’d chosen at the paint store yesterday. She’d wanted to select a mauve hue, but Cal had convinced her to go with a non-gender specific hue since the bookstore portion of her shop needed to appeal to both women and men. She’d hated it, but the man had made a good point. In fact, where Hooks and Books was concerned, Callum made a lot of good points. It seemed like the guy was a born businessman. In the ten days he’d been fully in her life, he’d taken over the construction portion of getting her store ready for launch while she’d overseen getting the inventory tagged and ready to shelve. She wouldn’t admit it out loud, but the two of them made a good team.
“Oh, I’d like to bite him, Harm. I’d start with tearing a hunk out of his ass. He’s taking over my freaking life. At home. At work. Everywhere I turn, he’s there!” Melody complained, biting her lip as she watched the play of muscles in his sweaty, sculpted back as he lifted a can of paint to the ladder beside him. God, the man was sex on a stick…and yeah, if she was honest, she’d love to sink her teeth into him.
But she wouldn’t.
Secondly, Callum was her brother’s friend. If she let herself go there with him and things ended badly, she didn’t want to cost her brother one of the few men he trusted in the world. Over the last two weeks, RJ had confided in her that Cal had saved his life on more than one occasion, both literally and figuratively. She didn’t know the details (and wasn’t sure she wanted to know if truth was told), but it was clear that Cal had been a kind of mentor for her big brother. He was important to RJ. And because of that, he was important to her, too. There was no way that Melody wanted to do anything that would jeopardize RJ’s friendship with Callum, even though Cal had made it clear with both words and deeds that his interest in her wasn’t changing.
Lastly, Melody would never make a romantic move because Callum Valentine was dangerous to her in a way her ex, Bradley, never was. While she’d always thought Brad was classically handsome, she had never been attracted to him the way she was to Cal. Between his rugged good looks and his hard muscular body, Cal could make her panties wet with just a smoldering look in her direction. It had taken poor Brad an hour of foreplay to get her body even remotely interested in sex. Cal only had to look Melody’s way and her body was poised for an orgasm. Honest to God, she’d masturbated more in the past two weeks than she had in the last year… and always to the same fantasy: Callum taking her body hard, fast, and passionately.
Tangled Hearts (Passion in Paradise) Page 8