It took an eternity, but Christian finally straightened and walked to her. Melissa held her breath as he framed her face with his big rough hands and kissed her long and deep. A sizzle of attraction zinged along her skin. There was something different in this particular kiss but instead of puzzling over it, she rode that kiss and enjoyed every minute. When he broke away, he leaned his forehead against hers and sighed.
“I’m an idiot. I should have jumped at the chance to have you on that plane with me.”
Melissa smiled to herself at the tone of resigned defeat in Christian’s voice. It was a tone that women all over the world loved to hear because it was the man realizing he was indeed wrong.
“I guess the big fat duh I want to say is redundant, yeah?” She felt him smile. He took her hand and pulled her toward the back of the house. When Melissa realized where he was going, she laughed and started to run. At the base of the towering oak tree, Melissa was completely out of breath and almost hysterical. She was riding high on a combination of frustration and elation. Frustration that Christian could read her so well, understand so many things about her, and still did not want to make things more permanent. Which was at war with the elation that he wanted her so much, making her feel like something delicious and sinful. She turned abruptly and threw her arms around Christian, locking her lips on his until she was dizzy. He knelt down in front of her and at her gasp, he laughed.
“No, darling. I am not proposing. I’m going to take off your shoes so you can climb this tree with that eerie monkey-like grace you possess.”
Melissa giggled, and as he unstrapped her heels, her arches nearly wept in relief. Then she spun on her bare feet and sprang into the tree.
More laughter ensued as Christian fell from the tree on his first attempt. On his second he didn’t see the branch above his head and rammed all that silky sunny hair against the bark. When he did finally stretch out in the top branch next to her, their fingers laced instinctively, usually Christian would have left it at that, but tonight he gave a tug and settle her against him, her back nestled against his front. He wrapped his arms around her and watched as the new day exploded across the sky.
“So have you decided if you are going to sleep all day or go harass your brother at the warehouse?”
Melissa turned her head so their eyes met.
Melissa was borderline creeped out by how well the man currently snuggled up to her understood her. It was that exact thought that had been going through her head when she had pulled up, and he just spoke it out loud. Was it because they were supposed to be together? It wasn’t as if they had a deep physical understanding of each other. Every opportunity Melissa had alone with Christin was either rudely interrupted or taken away, case in point the lack of her presence on the jet Christian flew twelve hours to Abu Dhabi. Melissa felt the little niggle in the back of her mind that maybe she wasn’t what he was looking for.
“Were you in my head tonight? That was the exact internal debate I was having with myself as I pulled into the driveway. It scattered as soon as my headlights cut across you and that beast you drive. And no, I haven’t decided yet. What do you suggest I do?”
“Sneak me in, put a note on the door that you are indeed sleeping all day, and then let me show you exactly what I would have done to you on my plane.” The very idea, and the excitement at the possibility of getting caught, was very appealing. Outside, Melissa prized herself on how calm she looked. Inside, she started to quake. They hadn’t taken the physical step yet.
With fingers that were trembling, Melissa stroked her hands up and down Christian’s sides, feeling the tremors of his muscles, knowing in a minute his mouth would be pressed against her neck. With a skill she didn’t know he possessed, he turned her around while still up in the tree. Instead of kissing her neck, he captured her mouth and plundered, pouring three weeks of absence and unexplored feelings into the kiss.
Melissa drew back and looked into his stormy eyes, wondering if the same emotions were swirling in her own.
“I think we need to get out of this tree and do our best to sneak into my house. I don’t know if the warden is up yet, but won’t it be exciting to find out?” The wicked gleam that sprang into Christian’s eyes had Melissa’s blood going from hum to purr. They scrambled down from the tree and Christian swore he could feel that tree beating, whether the pulse beat in warning or excitement, he didn’t know, but he knew he wasn’t leaving any time soon.
~ ~ ~
Quiet wasn’t really their strong suit. Sneaking through the house, each step sounded like a shot from a cannon. Melissa and Christian looked over their shoulders with every breath. Finally, Christian rolled his eyes and scooped Melissa off her feet. As Melissa choked back a squeal, Christian made the mad dash toward her room.
“You are crazy! You made so much noise! My goodness. What were you hoping to accomplish? Are you goi—” Melissa heard the footsteps a nanosecond before she heard the latch begin to rattle. Melissa shoved Christian into her department store of a closet at the very moment her mother walked into the room.
Anna looked like she had just rolled off the cover of a magazine selling lingerie. Her matching silk pajamas, a flattering plum that highlighted her honey skin and dark hair, unconsciously matched her daughter’s eyes. Anna had her makeup-ready morning face on, the breakfast makeup that was added to if she had to leave the house. Except this bright morning, her face was set in extremely disapproving boarding on downright fury lines that Melissa was sure to hear about later.
“It is six a.m., Melissa. This is outrageous. Where could you have possibly been all night? What would Thomas think? He called when we got home from dinner, asking why you had so suddenly canceled the dinner he had planned. What am I going to do with you?”
Melissa wished she could burrow into her closet with Christian but she knew until her mother was out of steam, Melissa was going to get The Lecture. Instead of waiting to hear the disapproving tone and the harsh words, Melissa took a deep breath and said, “Mom, let me lay this out really clearly for you. I am never going to dinner with Thomas again. He is such a bore my ears hurt just thinking of the possibility of listening to him. I am not going to be some ‘high society’ country club wife anytime soon. I want to explore and learn and love before I settle down. Stop shoving that incredibly boring snob on me and let me live my life.” If it was at all possible, the lines on her mother’s face tightened. Anna had drawn herself very straight and had somehow stayed quiet for the whole interlude. Now she took a deep breath and walked stiffly from the room, saying nothing to her daughter.
Melissa dropped down on her bed as the door clicked closed behind her mother. She wanted to do nothing but curl into a ball and pray Christian didn’t have his ear to the door. Melissa jumped like a rabbit when she felt a hand run up her leg. She hadn’t even heard the door open. He was crouched in front of her, running his hands up and down her legs, the sensation relaxing each muscle in her body.
“I’m not really a huge fan of violence, but do I have to kick some rich snobby ass?”
Melissa let out a very unladylike snort and shook her head. “Thomas Alexander Masterson the Third would take one look at you and most likely pee his pants. He is what most would call a super weenie.” Christian laughed, and Melissa felt the rest of the tension drain from her body.
Christian ran his hands up from knee to hip and Melissa gave a little shudder. She stroked her hands over his arms and chest and dived into his silky locks as his lips captured hers. She could feel the heat rising. He moved from her lips and down to her neck and Melissa arched for better access. He leaned back suddenly and Melissa was confused for a minute. Confusion turned to puzzlement when he hauled her from the bed.
“I don’t know about you, but after a night of dancing and drinking, and all other types of ruckus, I could really use a shower.”
Melissa’s
eyebrow lifted nearly to her hairline and in a lightning move, Christian scooped Melissa off the bed and strode into the bathroom.
During the strangest shower Melissa had ever had, Christian actually sat on the toilet and had a conversation. Melissa had hoped she had kept the extreme disappointment out of her voice. All she had wanted was to feel his body, wet and hot against her, and what she got was a chatty bathroom mate. Christian had handed her a towel when she was finished, his eyes closed politely. It was truly baffling that he could be so unaffected by her attempts to get him in the shower. Christian and Melissa were currently sprawled across her bed, staring at the ceiling.
“I don’t think I have ever actually been in your room before. Why is that?” He raised his head and looked at Melissa. She was lying with her head hanging off the bed, pulling her fingers through her hair. Her eyes were closed and if her arms hadn’t been moving, he would have assumed she was asleep.
“Because you always became a worrisome green color anytime I asked you in here. The pool house was fine, the pool is fine, but never something as intimate as my room. Scandalous.”
He snorted and bending over her, trailed a line of kisses from her neck to her ear, finally settling on her lips. She lifted her head to get better access and tangled her fingers in his hair. Suddenly her doorknob rattled.
They flew apart so fast, Melissa was thrown from the bed and Christian dived head first into her closet. Melissa wrapped the sheet around her and tried to calm her breathing and speeding heart. She opened the door and looked down at her own personal fairy.
Her sister Ashley was a pixie in another life and all those adorable looks transferred to this life. All her features were small, except her eyes. Her bright-green eyes dominated her face but didn’t overpower the small nose and pert mouth. Her hair was a natural springy curly brown that came close to sparkling in the sunlight. It bounced around her face as she skipped into the room. Melissa didn’t have the heart to shoo her out, so she pulled her baby sister onto the bed with her. They snuggled into each other and just sat for a few minutes.
“Why do you get to sleep so much when I can’t?”
Melissa smiled at her sister’s very serious tone. It was so strange hearing something so serious coming from a six-year-old.
“Because I’m an adult and you’re a kid.” Ashley rolled her eyes and snuggled closer. Sometimes she pretended that her older sister was really her mommy. Melissa was fun and never made her eat her vegetables or made her sit with a boring lady that recited information Ashley already knew. Melissa let her lay around and watch movies and eat candy. It was a fun little pretend world, but Ashley made sure she never told anyone.
Suddenly, Ashley began to cough and it sounded awfully like the cough her father had had that morning. Settling down, Ashley snuggled back against Melissa and let out a very adult-sounding sigh.
“That sounded pretty bad, my little girl. How long have you had such a cough?”
Ashley shrugged.
Melissa was suddenly very worried about her family. Maybe it was time to brave a conversation with her mother. As if she had conjured her out of thin air, Anna walked in the room.
“Well, how did I know I would find the two of you together? Really, Melissa, have you even gone to sleep yet? You look haggard.”
Melissa and Ashley looked at each other and began to laugh. Anna glanced back and forth and rolled her eyes, deciding to leave the room. Ashley touched her forehead to Melissa’s in their own private way of affection then scrambled from the bed to follow after their mother. Melissa smiled and secretly sometimes felt that Ashley was her daughter not her sister, but she never allowed anyone into that part of her mind. Melissa would not be able to describe the connection she had with her sister. The bond between the little girl and her older sister was one so deep, Melissa could feel it in her very DNA. It was the type of bond that had them love the same food and movies. Ashley could look at Melissa and know exactly what she was feeling.
As the door closed behind her sister, she did the smart thing she forgot to do last time and made sure it was locked. As she turned around, Christian was standing looking at her. He was indeed a worrisome green color.
“So what, my sister and mother come in here and suddenly you’re Mister Head For The Hills? Why is it so awful that my family knows we talk or have any type of interaction?”
Christian shook his head. “Our families are very old-fashioned, Melissa. If either of our parents knew we interacted in any other way besides professional or lightly social, you can bet your trust fund you’d hear bells. Wedding, dating, or any other type you could think of. It’s just not a situation I want to deal with.”
Melissa nodded and sat down on her bed. “It would really be that terrible for you? Sharing a part of your life with me? We have passion and heat, we’ve both felt it. Why would it be so horrendous to see where that heat led to? What if it turned into something great?” Melissa could see the wheels turning in Christian’s mind, a way to put her off. Melissa drew in a breath.
“I am not ready to tie myself down. I understand that what you and I are to each other is hopefully going somewhere and it is exclusive. However, I am not ready to start wearing jewelry and checking in with someone every day, multiple times a day. I still need to be my own person for a while.”
“What you do not understand, Christian, is that I don’t want to get married either. I don’t want to hear where you are and what you’ve been doing all day and if we have plans for the night. When you’ll be home so I know when to have your dinner ready, and keep you occupied with mindless chitchat from my day. Give me a break. However, it does take time for all of that to develop. It just seems a damn waste that you don’t want to see if you and I could develop into something wonderful.”
“Melissa, the minute we get even a step into serious, our families are going to be all over us, pressuring us to tell them all the details so they can step in and take over and start planning the rest of our lives. I want to keep my life just the way it is.”
Melissa held up a hand. “Well then. That makes things perfectly clear, doesn’t it? I’ll call Grace in and she can take you out of the house discretely so no one will see you.” He made a move to take her into his arms, but she made sure she was out of his reach.
“Goodbye, Christian.” Melissa was so sick of having this same outcome happen, over and over again. She was not the sideline, secret lady type of woman. She closed herself in the bathroom and dialed Grace to arrange Christian’s secret exit.
~ ~ ~
The next few days solidified Melissa’s extreme family worry. Her father had lost weight and Ashley took to staying in her room for longer periods of time, having little energy to run around the house. Anna seemed not to notice, and if she did, she gave no inclination about seeing the changes happening in her loved ones. Melissa decided it was officially time to have a word with her mother.
She found her mother in the sunroom, spraying all the plants down with water.
“Hey, Mom.”
Anna turned around and eyed her daughter. “You never call me Mom in a good way. What’s the matter? Do we have to hide a body?”
Melissa smiled and wondered how far off Anna was. “No. No bodies at the moment, but I do want to talk to you about something.”
Anna set down her sprayer and they walked over to a wicker couch under one wall of windows.
“I’m worried about Dad and Ashley. Have you noticed anything off about them lately?”
Anna nodded and sighed. “I was hoping it was just my imagination or a simple cold, but both of them seem to have the same affliction and it also seems to be getting worse.”
Melissa reached out and took Anna’s hand. Anna flipped her hand over and gripped her oldest child’s hand tight.
“I think we should have someone come out to see them. Nip this in
the bud quickly.”
Anna nodded. She looked at Melissa and wondered when her daughter had become such a little mother herself.
“I’ll call Dr. Chrome tomorrow and see if he can come out. I’ll make the appointment for Ashley and then will just happen to have your father walk in at the same time.”
Melissa looked at the mischievous glint in her mother’s eye and laughed a little. “Look at you, handling Dad that way. He’ll never see it coming. ‘Anna, tut, I’m fine. Fit as a fiddle. Yards always have perfect health.’” Melissa had sat up a little straighter to imitate her dad, and Anna laughed.
“My dear girl, a strong woman knows how to move her man around. He may think he makes the decisions, but he has no idea I’ve been calling the shots for quite a few years.”
Melissa sat back and nodded. She was considering asking for advice on how to do that with Christian but figured that would only open a door to more uncomfortable conversation about marriage and “the future”.
They looked over as Liz bounced in the room. Melissa’s tanned, feisty, blond best friend Liz plopped down on the floor at Melissa’s feet and smiled.
“We talking about the awful sounds coming from Max-a-millionaire and Ashley?”
Anna looked down at the sunny girl.
“I didn’t realize the two of you saw so much. Yes, we were just discussing getting the doctor to come in and look at Ashley and then we will happen to bring Max in as well. Just to be on the safe side, you know.”
Liz laughed and nodded in appreciation of Anna’s devious intentions.
“So sneaky, Mrs. Y. Melissa, you should take a few notes for Christian.”
Melissa whipped her head around and stared holes into Liz’s face. Liz did her absolute best to look anywhere but at Melissa’s face. Melissa took a deep breath and looked over at her mother. Anna was sitting back with a Cheshire cat grin on her face. Trying hard not to roll her eyes, Melissa smiled and shrugged, already preparing to bolt from the room.
Heartbeat Echoes Page 2