Mail Order Stepbrother (9 page)

“So we might finally meet the mysterious Burton Collins Jr.?”

“Might. I wouldn’t hold my breath, though.”

Melanie took a sip from her glass. There was a knock on the door and her heart fluttered a little. It was Nash. He’d called earlier to let her know he was running late, but planning on stopping by. She pulled the door open and gestured for him to be quiet. He smiled, dropping a kiss on her forehead before making a great shoe of walking on his tiptoes into the living room.

“Well, it should be interesting if he does,” Melanie said into the phone, trying not to laugh at Nash.

“Tell me how it’s going with that patient of yours,” her mother said. “The baby with Down’s.”

“Well, actually,” she said, turning away from Nash as she lowered her voice. “He’s going home in the morning.”

“That’s wonderful. He must be doing really well, then.”

“He is. Better than expected.”

“I know you were worried. So I’m happy for you, darling.”

Melanie smiled, always glad to earn her mother’s approval. Nash came up behind her and slid his arm around her waist as he stole her wine glass from the counter to help himself.

“I should go, Mom. I’ll text you Friday when I get to the airport.”

“Okay, darling. Travel safe.”

Melanie disconnected the call and leaned back against Nash as she tossed her cellphone onto the counter beside the bottle of wine.

“Rough day?”

Melanie shrugged. “Not terrible. Just busy.”

“Yeah, mine too.” He set the glass back down and buried his face against her neck, just breathing in her scent. “Do you really have to go out of town this weekend? I was thinking it might be more fun for us to fly down to Galveston, spend the weekend at this little beach house a friend has there.”

“Hmm,” Melanie sighed. “That would probably be a lot better than spending the week with my mother and her husband.”

“Then let’s.”

“My mother would be terribly disappointed. And you don’t want my mother disappointed.”

He groaned against her neck before he began to pepper her jaw with soft, sensual kisses. “But I’m not sure I could stand to be away from you for a week.”

She twisted in his arms and slid her hands up over his face, one thumb hesitating over his bottom lip as the rest of her fingers buried themselves in his hair. And then she kissed him with what she hoped was all the pleasure and hope his words offered her. He pressed her back against the counter, his hands sliding down over her hip, his body promising a repeat performance of last night’s midnight feature.

Until his phone rang.

She wasn’t even sure what it was at first. It had never rung in her presence before. Not that she was aware of, anyway. He didn’t break their kiss until he had the phone out of his pocket and was reading the caller ID.

“Shit,” he mumbled.

“What?”

“I have to take this.” He kind of shook his head as he untangled himself from her and accepted the call. “I guess its family night…hello, sis.”

He glanced back at Melanie and gestured toward the door. Then he slipped out, clearly unwilling to allow her the possibility of overhearing his side of the conversation. Melanie wasn’t sure if she should be offended or not.

She poured more wine into her glass and went into the living room, curling up on the couch and flipping on the television to see what delights awaited on her DVR. She was behind on almost all her shows, some by four or five episodes. She turned on an episode of
The Good Wife
and tried not to wonder too much about why Nash couldn’t—or wouldn’t—talk to his sister in front of her.

“I guess you’re not the only one going out of town, after all,” he said as he lifted her up and pulled her down onto his lap. “My sister has decided that if I don’t come home this weekend, she’s going to completely disown me. And while that would actually be a blessing, I have a niece and a nephew that I kind of like spending time with.”

“Yeah? How old are they?”

“Twelve and fourteen.”

“I didn’t know you liked kids.”

“Love them.” Nash ran his hand over her thigh. “Someday I’d like to have a couple of my own. I’m just not in a hurry.”

Melanie settled down in his lap and laid her head on his shoulder. She kissed his neck lightly.

“When do you leave?”

“Saturday. But I’m only staying through Sunday, so I’ll be home before you.”

“Then maybe we can sneak away for a day or two when I get back Thursday night…I have until Monday off, barring any emergencies.”

“We can do that.” His hand moved from her hip to her belly. “I want to spend a few, uninterrupted days with you.”

“That sounds nice.”

He groaned in agreement as he lifted her chin for a long, lingering kiss.

***

Melanie released most of her patients from the hospital and transferred the remaining two to Dr. Jonas’ service, so she had nothing to do Thursday afternoon. Tanya chased after her as she was walking to the parking garage.

“Hey, you want to get your nails done? I have this coupon…”

“You had me at nails.”

Tanya laughed.

Melanie drove to the salon and sprang for the addition of a pedicure. “I’m going to a party for my new stepfather, so I should look my best, right?”

“Definitely.”

They sat in their chairs and picked their colors, then settled back as the ladies began to do their thing. Tanya made this sighing sound that she often made when she had something she wanted to say, but she wanted to make sure she had everyone’s full attention. Melanie peeked at her from under her lashes, wondering what gossip she had today. And if it was worth giving up this relaxed silence she had fallen into.

“Have you heard about Jack?” Tanya finally asked, apparently no longer capable of keeping it in.

“What about him?”

“He was arrested last night.”

Melanie sat up straighter, startling the woman working on her nails.

“What for?”

“He got fired, you know, because someone made a report against him for harassment and it was like the third time it had happened. So I guess he got drunk and tried to go home to Tess and Eli, but she had thrown him out. She called the police and got him arrested for trespassing and making threats against her.”

“Shit,” Melanie whispered, thinking about Tess and Eli, about her own role in Jack losing his job. What if something had happened to Tess and Eli? She never could have forgiven herself if it had. “How did you hear about it?”

“He called half the people in the radiology department looking for someone to help him post bail.”

“Gutsy.”

Tanya nodded. “I don’t think he ever found anyone to help him out. But he managed to light a fire under the gossip mill.”

Melanie stared down at her fingernails, not really seeing the soft pink color the technician was applying. She saw Jack’s angry face as he cornered her in the parking garage. She saw Tess standing over Eli’s crib in the hospital. And she saw that innocent baby, lying still with a bandage covering most of his torso.

When she thought of Eli, she knew she’d done the right thing.

“So, is your boyfriend going with you to this thing at your mom’s?”

Melanie glanced at her. “What makes you think I have a boyfriend?”

Tanya laughed. “You smile all the time. You leave the hospital at a decent hour instead of hanging out till the middle of the night. You were late to your rounds three times this week—“

“I was not.”

“You were. And you smell like men’s cologne when you first come in most mornings.”

Melanie shook her head. “I didn’t think you paid that much attention.”

“I’m a nurse. My life revolves around gossiping about doctors.”

Melanie laughed, as much out of surprise that Tanya would admit it as the amusement factor.

Tanya smiled. “Tell me about him. What does he do?”

“He runs his family’s business.”

“Sounds fun. What kind of business?”

“Retail.”

“Hmmm…lucky you. Have you ever seen a picture of the guy who runs Marchand? I would dump my husband in a heartbeat if I was given the chance to be with him.”

Melanie smiled as she wondered what Tanya would think if she told her that her mother was married to Marchand’s founder.

“Looks aren’t everything.”

“No, but if he comes with the reigns to one of the biggest department stores in the country—the one that happens to be my favorite place to get stockings and those cashmere sweaters my husband doesn’t know how much they cost—I would definitely ditch the husband.”

Melanie laughed again. “I hope Roland is aware of that.”

“Oh, he knows.”

***

Melanie dropped another dress on the end of her bed, trying to decide if she needed three or four dresses. She wasn’t quite sure what they would be doing while she was there. When she went to visit her mother in the past, they almost always went out to eat two or three times. But now that she was married to Burton, for all Melanie knew, they had a private chef cook for them or went to places like Tapenade every night. She grabbed another dress and tossed it on top of the last, deciding it was better to be over prepared than underprepared.

“Dinner’s ready!” Nash called from the kitchen.

Melanie studied the piles on her bed, trying to remember if she had forgotten anything. There was a bag from Merchand tucked into a corner of the room. She stooped and grabbed it, fishing out the pair of stockings inside. Tanya’s comments earlier had reminded her she didn’t have proper stockings to go with the dress she planned to wear to the party. She dropped the package on top of the pile of underwear she’d made and was folding the Merchand bag when Nash came into the room.

“Hey, you coming?”

“Sorry. I hate packing.” There was something funny about the way he was looking at the bag in her hand. She held it up where he could see it better. “Had to get some stockings.”

He made a sort of grunting noise. “You go there today?”

“Yeah. Why?”

He shook his head. “No reason.” But there was something about the look on his face, about the way his eyes lingered on the bag. And then, it was like it had all been her imagination. The look disappeared and he reached for her hand, grabbing the bag and dropping it on the bed as he pulled her into the living room. “Time to eat.”

It was an amazing meal.

As a farewell gift, Nash had came over early to make her dinner. Homemade pasta. Creamy, cheesy alfredo sauce. His own turn on garlic bread that included a sprinkling of fresh cheeses. And a beautiful salad that put the one she made the other day to shame.

“You could open your own restaurant.”

“I wanted to, once upon a time.”

“Why didn’t you?”

Nash lifted his glass of wine, contemplating its depth for a moment. “It’s complicated,” he finally said.

Melanie reached under the table and slid her hand up his leg. “It seems kind of simple to me. If you want to run a restaurant…”

He looked at her, a soft smile coming to his full lips. “You make everything seem so simple. You make me want to do all the things I never thought I could.”

“That’s the way it should be.”

He leaned close and kissed her gently. “I’ve never known anyone like you, Melanie.”

“And, hopefully, you never will again.”

He laughed as she crawled into his lap and kissed his neck, letting her lips linger here and there, her teeth nibble a few other places. He sighed as he ran his hands slowly down her back.

“I’m going to miss you,” she whispered against his ear.

He kissed her, his mouth rough against hers. She ran her hand over his throat and felt his pulse pounding underneath. It still amazed her that she could excite him like that. It amazed her that he wanted her, that he came back every night, that she hadn’t managed to scare him off somehow. This all seemed too perfect. There was a part of her that was afraid that he would figure out she wasn’t what he thought she was and he would leave. That it would all come crashing down.

She didn’t want that.

He picked her up and carried her into the bedroom. They had both forgotten about the clothes thrown everywhere. She started to laugh, but he didn’t even hesitate. He carried her back into the living room and fell with her onto the couch. They were tangled, arms and legs, mouth and hands…but then he was kissing her again and they somehow found a way to untangle themselves without moving apart.

They tugged at each other’s clothing—too much cloth in the way—and his mouth moved from her lips to her throat. She leaned back, giving him all the room he needed to do whatever he wanted. She ran her fingers through his hair, encouraging him to touch those places standing and begging for attention. Her blouse hit the floor, her bra quickly following as he took first one, than the other nipple into his mouth. She groaned as she tugged him closer to her, already lost in every sensation his touch sent soaring through her.

It seemed like every time was the first time. There was a certain amount of urgency that built inside of her the moment he walked through her door that just kept growing, that became this pulsing entity that demanded to be fulfilled. She pulled so hard at the front of his shirt that buttons broke off. And when her hands moved to the infuriating zipper on his slacks, he had to grab her hands to slow her down.

She had never been this kind of person. She had never been the girl who couldn’t keep her hands to herself. She’d always followed the man’s lead. But with Nash…it was like a craving she had no control over.

She wanted him inside of her. She wanted that physical pleasure. But there was more to it than that.

It scared her as much as it excited her.

She had never felt this way before. There was vulnerability in caring so much about another person. The what-ifs swirled around in her mind during the darkest hours of the night—What if he didn’t care about her as much as she cared for him? What if he grew bored of her and just stopped showing up? What if he realized one day that she wasn’t the woman he thought she was?—sometimes filling her with such a dread that she couldn’t do anything but wallow in the fear that fueled her doubts.

These moments only made moments like that more intense.