Undeniable Attraction

by Kayla Perrin

  * * *

  Aaron was well versed in the art of the chase, but he was starting to wonder if he was losing his touch.

  He’d headed back to Sheridan Falls, leaving a full day between Melissa’s text and him reaching out to her again. He called, but she didn’t answer.

  Aaron gave it a few more hours, and he called again. Again, she didn’t answer. After that, he sent a text asking her to call him when she got the chance.

  Two full days passed before she sent a text.

  Sorry I haven’t gotten back to you. I’ve been very busy. Hope all is well in your world.

  Aaron frowned when he read it. This was all she had to say to him? His excitement over the idea that he and Melissa had been rekindling something quickly faded into confusion and disappointment.

  Had she faked her attraction to him in the bedroom? No, that didn’t make sense. What would be the purpose in doing that?

  Besides, he’d been there. Nothing about her interaction with him had been faked.

  In fact, the explosive sexual attraction between them was on a level he hadn’t experienced with any other woman. Years ago, Aaron hadn’t been ready for a relationship with her, but now they were both older, both more mature.

  And he knew what he wanted.

  Melissa.

  He wasn’t about to give up on her without a fight.

  Which meant he would just have to up his game.

  Chapter 22

  “Come on, come on. Where’s that paperwork?”

  Melissa clicked through the various folders on her laptop, searching for the report from the probation officer. Why couldn’t she find it?

  “This is ridiculous,” she muttered.

  Teresa entered the office and drew up short. “Everything okay?”

  “No. I can’t seem to find the probation officer’s report for Marcus. Did I misname the file?”

  “It’s got to be there somewhere.”

  Melissa pushed her chair back and stood. She blew out a frazzled breath. Why was she this upset? All day she’d felt a sense of irritation, and she didn’t know why. Every request from the boys or her coworkers annoyed her today. And the argument between Tyler and Marcus earlier had really gotten on her last nerve. She’d yelled at the boys, and she rarely yelled.

  On her desk, her cell phone rang. Melissa shot it a glance, saw that it was a private caller and decided to ignore it.

  “Well, this might perk you up,” Teresa said.

  “What?”

  “That was a delivery man at the door. He dropped off an envelope. It was addressed to the house, so I took the liberty of opening it. There are tickets to a New York Red Bulls soccer game.”

  “What?” Melissa asked, not understanding.

  “There’s a note from Aaron. He wrote, ‘Since the boys are big soccer fans, I figured I’d get them tickets for a game. Enjoy. Aaron.’”

  “Aaron sent tickets?” Melissa asked, and in that moment, she felt the chill on her heart melting slightly. A part of her wanted to smile. Had her irritation been caused by the fact that she and Aaron hadn’t been in touch?

  How crazy would that be, since she was the one who’d sent him a brief, carefully worded message, hoping he would understand that she didn’t want to keep communicating with him?

  And he’d given her what she’d wanted. For two whole days, there’d been nothing from him.

  And now this...

  God, why was her irritation fading away?

  Melissa’s phone rang again. Again with the unknown number.

  Anyone who wanted to reach her for business would be calling her on the work phone. She let it ring.

  “Can I see that?” Melissa asked Teresa.

  Teresa passed her the manila envelope, plus the note from Aaron. Melissa was reaching into the envelope when her cell phone rang again. This time she saw her sister’s number.

  She quickly snatched up her phone, a bad feeling gripping her gut. “Arlene, is everything okay?”

  “No, it’s not okay,” Arlene sobbed. “Raven and Dad...they’re in the hospital!”

  “What?” Her sister’s words didn’t make sense.

  “Dad was driving, he had Raven in the car, and the police think he had a heart attack. Oh, God...”

  Dread filled Melissa’s stomach. “What? Is Dad...are they...” She swallowed. “Are they okay?”

  “Dad’s in critical condition, and Raven...” Arlene sobbed.

  “What about Raven?” Melissa asked, her heart seizing.

  “She’s not seriously injured, and for now she seems okay. But Dad...you have to come home. Right now. We need you.”

  “I’m on my way.”

  * * *

  Melissa had dropped everything and taken a taxi to the airport as soon as possible. Once she was there, she had been lucky enough to get a seat on a plane that was heading to Buffalo an hour later. From the Buffalo airport, she took a cab directly to the hospital. It took her just over four hours from the time she’d gotten the call from her sister to get to Sheridan Falls.

  Four hours in which she had been terrified, her heart unable to deal with the reality that the worst might happen. While she hadn’t spoken with her sister again—Arlene had been too much of a wreck—she had received texts from her letting her know that for the time being, nothing had changed.

  As the taxi neared the hospital, Melissa’s cell phone rang. She let out a strangled cry, then looked at her phone, praying her sister wasn’t calling with more bad news.

  Her shoulders slumped with relief when she saw that Aaron was the one calling. Not her sister or mother with bad news.

  She swiped to answer her phone. “Hello?” she said, her voice sounding frazzled to her own ears.

  “I just heard,” Aaron said. “Where are you?”

  “I’m in a taxi. I’m almost at the hospital.”

  “Okay, good. I’m almost there, too. Is there anything you need?”

  “I just need to know that my father and my niece are okay,” Melissa answered, her voice cracking. Though Arlene had said that Raven hadn’t been seriously injured, internal injuries weren’t always immediately obvious. What if she was bleeding internally and the doctors didn’t know it yet?

  “They will be,” Aaron assured her. “I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

  Melissa swiped to end the call and pressed the phone against her chest. She prayed that Aaron was right—that her father and niece would pull through.

  * * *

  The moment Melissa stepped into the hospital’s emergency waiting room and saw her sister with Raven on her lap, she burst into tears. Then she saw her mother, and Mrs. Winston, her mother’s best friend, sitting beside Arlene and Raven. Melissa hurried through the waiting room and threw her arms around her mother when she jumped to her feet.

  “Oh, sweetheart,” her mother said and began sobbing.

  “How’s Daddy?” Melissa asked, reverting to calling her father by the name she had when she’d been a little girl.

  “He’s in surgery, sweetheart. He had a heart attack, plus he got injured during the crash. We’re all praying.”

  “I’ve been praying for the last four hours,” Melissa said, hoping that God had heard her. She couldn’t lose her father.

  “At least Raven is okay,” her mother said and glanced at her granddaughter. “Thank God for that.”

  Melissa released her mother and moved over to Arlene, who had gotten to her feet and was still holding Raven in her arms. Melissa needed to see for herself that her niece was all right.

  “Hey,” Melissa said softly, and gently fingered the bandage on Raven’s forehead. “You’re okay, sweetheart?”

  Raven nodded slowly. “But I have a boo-boo.”

  “I see that. Does it hurt?”

  “Only a little.” Raven’
s little face suddenly fell, and her eyes filled with tears. “But Grandpa didn’t wake up. Is he going to die?”

  “We’re all praying for him,” Melissa said, not wanting to lie to her niece. “We’re going to keep praying, very hard. Can you do that, too?”

  Raven nodded.

  Melissa wiped Raven’s tears, then turned her attention to her sister. As their eyes met, Arlene started to cry. Melissa pulled her into her arms and hugged her long and hard.

  “There’s no word on how badly Dad was hurt?” Melissa asked.

  “He’s having open-heart surgery right now,” Arlene answered before a wave of fresh tears fell down her cheeks.

  Oh, God. This was worse than Melissa thought. The accident hadn’t killed her father, but his heart might give out on the operating table.

  “Melissa.”

  At the sound of Aaron’s voice, Melissa’s knees buckled. She turned, emotion washing over her when she saw him standing in the waiting room. He was like an anchor in a stormy sea.

  “Aaron!” She rushed to him and threw her arms around him. He cradled her head as emotion poured out of her.

  “Do you know how long your father’s been in surgery?” he asked.

  As Melissa shook her head, Arlene answered. “About three hours. That’s too long, isn’t it? They should have finished with him by now, right?”

  Still holding Melissa, Aaron faced Arlene. “We have some of the greatest doctors in the country right here in Sheridan Falls. I know they’re doing their best to save him.”

  His words seemed to comfort Arlene, and his mere presence was making Melissa feel marginally better.

  But the fact still remained: her father wasn’t out of the woods.

  Please God, don’t let him die.

  * * *

  Though Melissa told Aaron that she couldn’t possibly eat anything, he left to go the cafeteria, promising to return with coffee and snacks. Melissa was pacing the floor, her sister sitting and cradling Raven, not wanting to let her go, her mother and Mrs. Winston holding hands as they prayed quietly.

  Suddenly, it seemed as though all the air had been sucked out of the room. All heads raised in unison, looking beyond Melissa. She saw the look on her sister’s face, the way her jaw tightened and fear flashed in her eyes. She pulled Raven closer to her body.

  Melissa quickly turned, following her sister’s line of sight. Her heart slammed against her rib cage when she saw Craig, her former brother-in-law, storming into the hospital waiting room like a man possessed. He was marching right toward them.

  Arlene tightened her arms around Raven, a clearly protective gesture.

  “Is she okay?” Craig demanded.

  “She’s fine,” Arlene retorted.

  “But she could have been killed,” he shot back, the accusation in his tone clear.

  “Please don’t tell me you came here to pick a fight, Craig,” Arlene said.

  “Because of you, Raven was nearly killed.”

  “You need to leave,” Arlene told him.

  “Not without my daughter,” Craig said.

  Raven started to fuss. Melissa quickly stepped in front of Craig in an effort to keep her sister and former brother-in-law apart. “What are you doing?” Melissa asked him.

  “Stay out of this.” He glared at her, and Melissa was so shocked by the venomous look in his eyes that she reeled backward slightly.

  “Craig, this is a hospital,” Arlene said in a hushed tone. “You can’t behave like this.”

  He took a step toward her, and Arlene quickly got to her feet and moved several feet away from Craig. He followed her. Melissa followed them both, again putting herself between Craig and her sister. “Craig,” Melissa began, “I don’t know what you’re doing, but you need to leave.”

  “If you can’t raise our daughter without always leaving her with your parents, then I will happily take her. With what happened today, I’m sure the judge will hear my petition for revised custody. I knew this was going to happen.”

  “You knew that my father was going to have a heart attack while he was driving?” Melissa asked, sarcasm dripping from her tone.

  “He’s an old man. And the point is, if Arlene were doing her job as a parent and not relying on your family so much, this wouldn’t have happened.”

  “How dare you?” Melissa’s mother said. She was on her feet now, her red-rimmed eyes flashing fire.

  “You’re being unreasonable,” Melissa said.

  Raven was crying now, full-out bawling. “Everyone’s staring,” Arlene said. “Craig, think about what you’re doing.”

  “Give me my daughter.” His words were slow, deliberate, his teeth clenched. “Or I’m about to give everyone here a show they won’t soon forget.”

  Chapter 23

  The moment Aaron rounded the corner toward the waiting room with two trays of coffee and a bag of muffins, he heard the commotion. His face narrowed in confusion. What the heck was going on?

  And then he saw. Melissa, Arlene and Valerie were on their feet facing Craig, whose posture said he was enraged.

  Aaron quickly placed the trays of coffee and the food onto the nurses’ station and charged toward them. He immediately got in front of Craig, who was much shorter than Aaron. “Hey, hey. What are you doing, man?”

  Craig scowled at him. “This is between me and my wife.”

  “Ex-wife,” Arlene clarified. She was swaying her body from side to side, trying to calm Raven.

  “Look how you’re scaring your daughter,” Melissa said. “You’re out of control.”

  “You need to leave,” Aaron said firmly. “I don’t know what you’re trying to accomplish, but this isn’t the way.”

  “You think everyone has to listen to you because you’re a Burke?” Craig spat out.

  “I won’t tell you again,” Aaron said, and the resolve in his voice was unmistakable. It told Craig—and anyone within earshot—that he meant business. If Craig was here to do anything stupid, he was going to live to regret it.

  “You’ll be hearing from my lawyer,” Craig said to Arlene, then turned and started to walk away.

  “I already have primary custody,” Arlene said. “And everyone here can see why.”

  Craig stopped in his tracks and whirled around, but Aaron was there, stepping into his path. “You’re going to want to keep going,” he said.

  Aaron glanced at Melissa then, saw her looking at him with awe and appreciation. He gave her a little nod, letting her know that she could depend on him to handle the situation. Craig wasn’t going to do anything crazy—not while he was here.

  Surprisingly, Craig stood his ground, even though a security guard had just appeared in the waiting room. Aaron raised his hand in the man’s direction, letting him know he had the situation under control. Then he narrowed his eyes at Craig. “I’ll give you one chance to rethink your decision and turn around right now.”

  Craig looked up at him, then at the security guard. Finally, he gritted his teeth. But it didn’t take more than a few seconds for him to turn around and stalk down the hallway toward the hospital’s exit. Clearly he knew that if he stayed and continued to cause trouble, he would end up arrested.

  “Why is Daddy being so mean?” Raven asked, her big eyes wet with tears.

  “Sometimes Daddy gets too angry,” Arlene explained, stroking Raven’s hair. “But he’s gone now. He won’t be yelling at anyone anymore.”

  Once Craig was gone, Aaron asked, “What was that about?”

  “Do you want to go get ice cream?” Mrs. Conwell asked, approaching Raven with her arms outstretched.

  “Mmm-hmm.” Raven nodded exuberantly, then went into her grandmother’s arms.

  “And maybe we can also stop by the gift shop and pick up a toy,” Mrs. Conwell went on.

  As grandmother and granddaughter
headed down the hallway, Arlene faced Aaron. “I don’t know why Craig feels he can behave that way in front of our daughter. Doesn’t he realize that he scares her?” She blew out a frazzled breath. “He’s angry because I got primary custody. And he’s been making my life hell because of it. Anything I do, he finds fault with. Apparently it’s my fault that my father had a heart attack while driving, and I should have known that would happen. He’s angry that Raven was in the car instead of grateful that she wasn’t seriously hurt.”

  “If memory serves, Sean Callahan was his lawyer,” Aaron said, more to himself.

  “Yes,” Arlene said. “Word is, he gave Sean a hard time during our custody proceedings. He felt Sean was failing him somehow.”

  “That’s no surprise.” Given Craig’s behavior minutes ago, he could imagine the man being belligerent with his lawyer when things didn’t go his way. “Listen, Arlene. If Craig does anything that frightens you, anything at all, don’t hesitate to call the police. In the meantime, I’m going to have a chat with his lawyer.”

  “You don’t need to get involved,” Arlene said. “I can take care of Craig.”

  “Still, I’ll probably give Sean a call. See if I can gauge if he knows what Craig’s frame of mind is. I don’t like how he seems. Like he’s off his hinges.”

  “I can’t disagree with that,” Arlene said.

  “And you should alert the police to what happened here today,” Aaron said.

  Arlene made a face. “Oh, I don’t know about that.”

  “He’s right,” Melissa said, coming to stand beside Aaron. “You need to make sure there’s a record of what happened today. Maybe a visit from the police about his behavior is the wake-up call Craig needs.”

  Slowly, Arlene nodded. “All right. I’ll call them.”

  When Arlene headed back over to her seat and slumped into the chair, Aaron put his hands on Melissa’s shoulders. “Don’t worry,” he said to her. “I’ll help take care of this. My dad knows the best legal people in the city and the state. Just make sure that your sister contacts the police. Craig needs to hear from them that he can’t behave like this.”

  “You really want to help us, don’t you?”