Tangled Hearts (Passion in Paradise)

by Sarah O'Rourke

  Melody nodded, letting him slip her hand into his and guide her out of the ER cubicle, down the corridor and out the sliding glass doors into the hospital parking lot. She’d been unconscious when they’d arrived so she was forced to let him drag her through the lot to where he’d parked the truck.

  Helping her inside, he leaned against the seat as he cupped her jaw. “I’ve got to get to the bottom of this, Melody. I swore to your brother that I’d keep you safe. If either Brad or any of his family deliberately sabotaged those damn cookies, I need to know it.”

  “I know,” she acknowledged quietly… easily.

  Too easily, he thought suspiciously. Stroking the flushed skin on her satiny soft cheek, he murmured, “And you’re still determined to go with me? Because I could drop you off at the McKinnon house. I’m sure Harmony and the rest of the sisters would love the chance to visit with you. This could go pretty late and I’d rather you were somewhere where you could rest.”

  “First, it’s Christmas. I’m not barging in on a McKinnon family Christmas and neither are you. Second, I slept for two hours. I’m rested. Third, I don’t trust you not to try and force the answers you want out of people. Consider me your conscience. I’ll keep you from doing something you might regret later.”

  “Babe, I can assure you that if I think any one of these fuckheads intentionally hurt you, I won’t regret a single, fuckin’ thing I do to them,” Cal assured her sharply, his jaw clenching.

  Reaching up, Melody gripped his wrist with one hand. “See, this is why you need me. To keep you calm. Cal, regardless of whether somebody deliberately tried to hurt me, I’m sitting right here with you. Look at me,” she urged, waiting until he gave her his eyes. “I’m right here with you,” she reminded him softly.

  “Damn right you are and anybody foolish enough to think they can take you from me is asking for a world of pain,” he growled before leaning forward to cover her mouth with his as he tangled his fingers in her hair. He kissed her hard and deep, imprinting her taste on his soul while he took the solace he needed from her. Finally, breathing hard, he released her lips from his. “You’re mine, Melody. I protect what’s mine.”

  Melody’s lips twitched. “Okay, Tarzan. Wanna beat your chest now and piss on me, too?”

  “Don’t need to,” Cal replied. “I plan on putting my mark on you before the end of the night,” he shared, bending his head to lightly bite the side of her neck.

  “Dream on, Cowboy,” she huffed, pushing him away with a hand at his chest. “Well, if we’re going to see Brad’s parents, let’s go. I’d really like to get home by New Year’s Day.”

  Nodding, Cal pressed another quick kiss to her lips, this one chaste and innocent. Honestly, he was just grateful to whatever deity had watched over her tonight and allowed her to come through her ordeal mostly unscathed. “Okay, babe. Let’s roll.”

  Chapter Fifteen: The Great Slut vs. Whore Debate

  Following Cal into her darkened living room three hours later in a kind of dazed stupor, Melody shook her head. Seriously, how had today started so well…and then, devolved into this? Merry freakin’ Christmas to her… she’d had to face all her favorite people today.

  “Babe,” she heard Cal call from behind her as he flipped on the overhead light. “You okay?” he asked her as she collapsed in a heap on her couch. Glaring at the man responsible for her current state of mind, she narrowed her eyes at him. “I don’t know, Cal. Do I look okay to you?”

  “Princess, I know that was rough…”

  “Rough,” Melody sneered. “Rough,” she repeated, shrugging her shoulders. “Which part, exactly, would you classify as rough, Callum?” she asked, staring at his handsome face. Pressing her lips together as she catalogued his twitching lips and shining eyes, she shook her head furiously. “Don’t! Don’t you dare laugh,” she ordered, pointing an accusing finger at him.

  “You wanted to go with me, baby. If you recall, I tried to convince you to stay in Paradise,” Cal managed to say with a straight face. “You refused to trust me.”

  Her glare intensified on him. “Don’t even start. If I hadn’t been there to grab your punching arm this evening, Brad’s head would be halfway to Mars by now.”

  “You say that like it’s a bad thing,” Cal returned, cocking his head as he gazed at her with amusement as he walked toward the kitchen. “Besides, why was it okay for you to take a swing at him and not for me,” he asked, raising his voice so she could hear him from a room away.

  “Because, I was the wronged party in that relationship and he owed me that punch,” she shouted back to him as she stared down at her slightly swollen, bruised knuckles. “And my punch didn’t send him to the ER. Yours would have,” she remarked as he walked back into the room carrying a baggie filled with ice.

  “Keep this ice on your hand,” Cal instructed, dropping the makeshift ice pack in her lap. “Ten minutes on, ten minutes off for the next forty minutes. Also, remind me to teach you how to throw a punch before I let you anywhere near those assholes again.”

  “Oh, no. I’m DONE with those people. I still can’t believe that Brad’s parents extended an invitation to the two whores Brad was fucking the most while he was with me. My good ole matron of honor and bridesmaid. You gotta give me credit, Cal. When I pick shitty friends, I go for the gold. I should have nailed both of those hoochies with a right hook, too.”

  “I think you did enough damage for one night, Rocky,” Cal teased, dropping to the couch beside her and taking her injured hand in his to get a closer look. “I don’t think you broke anything, but I don’t like the swelling it’s doing. And those two former friends of yours aren’t whores,” he remarked evenly.

  Jerking her hand from Cal’s, Melody seethed with anger. “Excuse me?” she balked, visibly recoiling. “Are you deranged? Both of those horrible women were and are spreading their legs for my boyfriend, both then and now. I think that qualifies ‘em both for whoredom! Their term ho, ho, ho has never been more freakin’ appropriate, Callum Valentine. I can’t believe he had the nerve to include them in the Christmas celebration at his parents’ house. You could tell his poor parents were humiliated,” she staunchly proclaimed with an irritated huff, hissing in a breath when she attempted to wiggle the fingers on her injured hand. Jeez, first she had the allergic reaction to end all reactions and now she’d busted up her hand. She should have stayed in bed this morning and told Santa he could stuff his gifts right up his chimney.

  “First up,” he began as he plopped his ass down on her coffee table and leaned forward to pull her hand toward his, earning himself a hard frown, “Never call that jackwad S.O.B your boyfriend again. It fills me with all kinds of homicidal urges,” Cal explained grouchily when she raised a brow at him. Settling the freezing bag more firmly over her hand as his knees brushed hers, he continued, “Second, I didn’t say those bitches weren’t sluts. They are. They just aren’t whores.”

  Melody offered the man sitting on her coffee table across from her an incredulous look. “What the hell is the difference between a slut and a whore, you know-it-all.”

  “The matter of a paycheck. A whore charges by the hour, while a slut gives up that shit for free. An arrogant ass like Brad the Cad isn’t gonna come up off his wallet to buy it, babe. He thinks he’s giving those gals the gift of his cock.”

  “I’d be more concerned that he was giving them the gift of syphilis or gonorrhea. In addition to being arrogant, Brad’s also lazy. Unless those bitches are bullying him into it, there’s no way he’s shrink wrapping his package. God knows that I did my fair share of worrying until I got a clean bill of health from my doctor, and I never let him go without a glove. At any rate, I’m not interested in having the great slut versus whore debate with you,” she mumbled unhappily, handing over the bag of ice when Cal gestured for it.

  “Melody,” Cal said stiffly, “I’m gonna need you to never, ever put the image of that fucker touching you in my head again. I know you were engaged to him and all, bu
t the thought of you and him… let’s just say those homicidal urges I was having have reached a critical level.”

  “My bad. Sorry,” she apologized, leaning her head back against the couch cushion as he lifted her feet onto his lap and pulled off her ballet flats. Moaning low in her throat as he took one of her feet in her hand and began to massage her instep, she stared at him. “You know we wasted a trip down there. You didn’t learn anything besides the fact that the bakery the Wellers used made a mistake. Mrs. Weller told you that she specifically told them that my package shouldn’t contain anything peanut-based. Slut #1, otherwise known as my former best friend Lindsey, confirmed it. And she’d know since she’s the owner of the bakery.”

  “That’s what she said,” Cal murmured, rotating her foot and stretching the tired muscles.

  “Cal, Brad might be an ass, but his parents aren’t. They’re just…”

  “Rich? Entitled? Oblivious that their son is an asshat?”

  “Oh, no. If the looks Mrs. Weller kept giving my ex were any indication, she’s well aware her son is an idiot. The highlight of my night was watching the dirty looks she kept flashing Brad, Lindsey and Melissa.” Lifting her head, she grinned at Cal. “Did you hear her begging Brad to tell her that this wasn’t one of those polyamorous relationships that she saw on television? I thought Mr. Weller was going to swallow his tongue.”

  “I can’t believe that we got there at the exact same time as your ex and his merry band of bimbos.”

  Melody shrugged. “Before everything happened, we were all friends. It wasn’t unusual for Lynds or Missy to be there. They went to school with Brad.”

  “So they weren’t your friends originally,” Cal commented blandly.

  “Nope. I inherited them. Then, I disinherited them after I saw Lynds dancing on Brad’s dick. Same story when I learned Missy’d been mounting him every chance she got. It didn’t look like either one of them was wasting time trying to lock him down now, though. What I can’t figure out is if Brad has those two tramps on the line, why is he still trying to catch me in his net?”

  “Babe.” Cal stated, tightening his hand around her foot as he met her eyes.

  “What?” she asked when he just kept looking at her with a faint grin on his face.

  “Have you taken a good look in the mirror, woman? You’re fuckin’ gorgeous. Those two chicks hangin’ off Brad tonight might have been easy, but they weren’t you. Not by a longshot. You’re the whole package, Melody. Beauty. Brains. Class. Brad knows he fucked all that up for himself and he wants it back.”

  Melody snorted. “Thank you for the compliments, but I don’t think so. At any rate, I think we can agree that Mr. and Mrs. Weller haven’t put a peanut hit out on me. You saw their faces; they were mortified that I was sickened by their gift. And Brad seemed legitimately worried about me. I mean, he laid it on thick…”

  “He tried to cop a feel with you,” Cal growled. “He’s lucky I didn’t rip his heart out of his chest via his asshole.”

  Melody rolled her eyes, whimpering at the cold when Cal moved forward to cover her hand with the ice bag again. “I think I took care of that quite well,” she retorted with an annoyed look at her throbbing hand. Smirking as she remembered the look of pure shock that had taken over Brad’s face when she’d coldcocked him a good one, she refused to feel bad. She’d told him not to touch her before he’d wrapped his arms around her. Honestly, if she hadn’t have done something, she had no doubt that Cal would be in jail right now because he wouldn’t have stopped with a single punch.

  “Yeah, you did,” she heard Cal agree with a proud, happy grin, the corners of his eyes crinkling sexily. “And you’re right, I don’t think the old couple had anything to do with what happened to you. I’m not so sure about the others though. Think about it, babe. Brad could have talked his little piece of ass into doing anything to those cookies.”

  “I think you’ve invested too much time tonight into thinking about this. It was an accident, Callum. There is no grand conspiracy to kill me.”

  “Babe, somebody keeps harassing you by calling and hanging up on you. Tonight you nearly died from eating a cookie that, in all likelihood, Brad had access to. You seriously want me to believe this shit isn’t connected in some way?”

  “It’s just a coincidence,” Melody groaned loudly. “Since when are big, bad soldier boys afraid of their own shadow, Cal? I don’t see any reason to get those tighty-whities of yours in a twist.”

  Cal’s eyes gleamed as he offered her a wicked smile of his own. “Babe, I only fly commando. And, it’s not my shadow I’m real concerned with here, Princess. It’s yours. And I don’t believe in coincidences.”

  “Whatever,” Melody stated carelessly, shrugging her slim shoulders even as she blushed while his capable hands moved to her other foot and began massaging. God, he was good at that, she thought as she swallowed a moan as he worked the arch of her foot. She could feel the tension slipping from her body in spite of his grim suspicions. Because that’s all they were…suspicions. He didn’t have a single lick of proof and until he did, she wasn’t going to waste precious energy worrying about something she couldn’t control anyway. She didn’t want to seem blasé, but really, she just couldn’t let her mind go there after the day she’d had. He could worry if he wanted; she was going to focus on the fact that she was still breathing.

  “Whatever,” he mocked. “I hate that word. It’s the classy woman’s way of saying I-don’t-give-a-flying-fuck,” he complained.

  Cracking one eyelid, Melody smiled. “See, I feel like you and I are really getting to know each other, Sergeant Tightass. Quit worrying, Cal. When you worry, it thickens the air in here and after today, I wanna be able to breathe freely.”

  “How ‘bout I just worry silently, smartass?” Cal countered, his hand darting out to remove the ice pack again. Peering down at her injury, he nodded his satisfaction. “The swelling’s come off it. It might be sore for a couple of days though.”

  “Totally worth it,” Melody grinned without opening her eyes.

  “Alright, champ, I guess you’ve earned the right to sit there and bask in your victory,” Cal chuckled, moving her feet from his lap to rest on the edge of the coffee table before moving to sit beside her. Wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her pliant body into his, he murmured, “Jokes aside, you feelin’ okay? You’ve had a hell of a Christmas.”

  Tucking her head into the space between his neck and his shoulder, Melody closed her eyes. “It wasn’t as bad as it could have been.”

  “That’s not sayin’ a hell of a lot, baby,” he muttered, pressing his lips against the top of her head. “Give you a better one next year. Don’t care if I have to plant that fucker in the ground to do it.”

  “You gave me good this year, Cal,” Melody contradicted softly, smiling as she felt his arm constrict around her. “Definitely better than any holiday I ever shared with Brad,” she continued to share, unknowingly revealing more about her former relationship than she probably should have.

  “Baby, that just makes me wanna find the fuckwit and finish the job of kicking his ass,” Cal grumbled.

  Melody laughed. “I’m starting to worry about these violent urges you’ve got, mister. Do we need to get you enrolled in some anger management classes?”

  “I only experience violent urges with assholes that deserve it, babe. Otherwise, I’m the picture of a sunny disposition. Honestly, what doesn’t look happy about this face?” he asked, pointing at himself as he cheesed for her.

  Melody giggled. “Fine. I’m still mad at you, though,” she informed him lightly.

  “Is that so? For which of my many sins are you taking me to task for this time, babe? I’ve been a pretty amiable guy, all things considered,” he protested, settling himself more deeply into her comfy couch before situating her in his arms.

  Normally, she’d pull away from him and try to put some distance between them. Tonight, however, she was too tired to fight the attraction
she felt and she enjoyed the feeling of being held in his strong arms. She wouldn’t allow herself to feel bad about it; some wars were better waged with a fresh mind. After the day she’d lived through, she was anything but fresh. “You tattled to my brother about this entire day!” she criticized. “Doesn’t RJ have enough to worry about without you dumping today on him? He’s already far from home at Christmas. Isn’t that enough? Did you have to burden him with your suspicions about Brad, too?”

  “Yes,” he answered flatly, no doubt in his voice at all.

  “You don’t feel even a bit bad about dumping all that on him?” she queried skeptically, turning her head to eye the man beside her.

  “No,” he declared resolutely. “Melody, Rhythm would kick my ass from here to Baghdad if he thought for one second I was keeping something that has to do with your safety from him, and he’d be right to do it. I’m not gonna keep shit from your brother and neither are you. I’ve been where he’s at… trust me when I say that what his mind can conjure up when he’s worried is worse than any truth either of us could give him.”

  “Fine,” she mumbled. “I just think that you’re all making a lot of fuss over a whole bunch of nothing.”

  “You are allowed to think whatever you want; it won’t change my actions in the slightest,” Cal assured her. “For now, I think you and I are going to take advantage of those tickets you bought me and spend some time in Nashville. I’ve never been there and I think a few days of sightseeing are just what we both need.”

  “What?!” Melody yelled sharply, jerking upright. “Cal, I can’t. I mean, I could spare a day, maybe two, to go with you to see the Civil War battlefield reenactment, but I can’t afford to be away for longer than that. I’m getting ready to open my store on February fourteenth, remember?”