Tame This (The McCallans, Book Two) (20 page)

As they lay next to each other thirty minutes later, Melanie was still feeling the high. The fact that Jay was even still in his bed with her told her one of two things: he was getting more comfortable with the “after” aspects of their physical time together, or he was just too exhausted to care.

She figured it was the latter, but when his hand slid across her stomach and asked, “How are you feeling?” she was a little caught off guard. His hand remained there as he propped himself up on his other elbow and waited for an answer.

“I’m feeling
fine,” she nodded. “Twenty-three weeks along and things seemed to be going by the book so far.”

Jay paused for several seconds as he studied her face. She was dying to know what he was thinking but didn’t want to force it. She didn’t know if he’d actually
tell her anyway if it happened to be something serious. Jay was fantastic when it came to speaking his mind, as long is it wasn’t something personal.

“How are you doing that?” he finally asked with a smile, glancing down at her stomach. His hand was still there but he softly moved it back and forth along her skin. For someone with such rough hands—and personality—it was beautiful that he was so gentle with her now.

“Doing what?” she asked, glancing down at his hands.

He was silent now, eyebrows knitted as he concentrated on her stomach. Then she felt the little flutter in her belly and noticed his reaction
to it.

“That’s the baby,” she smiled.

He looked up at her for several long seconds, and when the baby moved again, Jay’s little crooked smile was the most adorable and heart-melting sight she’d ever seen.

“Really?” he asked, looking at her stomach again. He was barely putting pressure against her, so Melanie pressed his hand into her belly a little firmer and moved it over just slightly. There was an immediate response and Jay even laughed. “Hell of a high five there, kid.”

Melanie laughed and said, “I think that was a foot.”

Jay lifted an eyebrow but didn’t say anything. She watched him move to his stomach so he could put his face to her belly. “Hey, what’re you doing in there?” he asked. “You pissed
I invaded your space a bit ago?”

“Oh
my gosh,” Melanie chuckled.

“Hey,
I’m being serious. I think,” he smiled. “I was kind of deep, right? That’s not gonna affect him or anything, is it? Did I hurt
you
?”

Although Jay had been pretty deep at certain moments, she shook her head and answered, “No, you’re not going to hurt the baby.”

“And you’re okay too, right?”

“If I said no, would it stroke your ego a bit?”

“No,” he lightly laughed. “I just don’t want to hurt you.”

He returned to lie next to her and closed his eyes, but his hand was still on her stomach. The only thing Melanie wanted to respond was that she wasn’t up for him breaking her heart. Pain in a physical sense had nothing on the ache she fel
t for him on an emotional level…

Chapter Eighteen

When Jay opened his eyes, confusion set in instantly. His room was filled with daylight, but he wasn’t sure why the clock read
2:09
.

“In the afternoon?” he finally realized out loud as he sat up.

The space in the bed next to him was empty, but he knew that it hadn’t been earlier. Yeah, he’d just slept with Melanie. Again. Only this time he’d actually had sex with her in his own bed, and then fell asleep with her.

“What the fuck is my problem?” he shook his head at himself.

He threw his pants back on and headed down the hall in search of her. It was nice of Mel to let him sleep, but he had shit he needed to get done. She wasn’t in the front room or the kitchen, so he peeked out the front window and saw that her car was gone.

Slightly unnerved, he returned to the kitchen for some food while he let his thoughts settle. He couldn’t believe he hadn’t eaten since the day before, so when he found almost the entire pizza packed into the fridge, he pretty much said a prayer of thanks.

He sat down at the counter and practically inhaled the first piece. He didn’t exactly want his thoughts to wander from just the basics of stuffing his own face, but he couldn’t help but think about Melanie and where she went.

And why she left.

But that was a good thing, right? Leave it to Melanie to be the first girl to ever leave him alone in bed after having sex. In
his
bed. Holy shit, she’d been in his bed
twice
now. He never
ever
let women stay over. That way he didn’t have to hassle with telling them to get the fuck out as soon as he could. He would never do that to Melanie because…well, she was Melanie. But being that she was his one and only exception really wasn’t settling well with him.

Jay
had stuff to do around the house, but that was going to wait. He needed physical exertion to clear his mind, so he dressed for the gym he knew Teague would be at until at least five o’clock.

When he entered, he went straight to the back of the facility. It was more like a huge warehouse in West Hollywood, but it served several purposes
for the stunts that Teague trained for. Today his cousin was exactly where Jay knew he would be. He gave a slight nod to security that let him enter the private training room without question, and Jay watched from the sidelines for a while. He’d been on many sets with Teague while he worked and he loved it. That was probably the only benefit to having the McCallan name.

When it looked as if the group of trainers were done with Teague and a few other stunt workers, Jay came across the room and laughed a little as he approached. Teague was flat on his back on the mat, not even moving.

“Little worn out there, pal?” Jay asked.

Teague opened his eyes and smiled. “Hey, man. How long
you been here?”

With a one-shoulder shrug Jay replied, “Uh, maybe half an hour.
Looking good, bro. It shocks the shit out of me that you’re always getting better.”

“Today kicked my ass. After three hours of landing
exercises from the harnesses and then another three hours climbing…grappling was tough. I am fucking beat.”

“So going a round with me is out of the question, huh?” Jay chuckled. He was a little disappointed, but understood.

“I’m sorry, man. Not today. I mean I could probably handle a little bit of—”

“Nah
, that’s okay. Seriously, I just wanted to watch you work. Haven’t done it for a while.”

“No you haven’t,” Teague smiled, hopping up from the mat. “Which makes me wonder why you’re here.”

Damn, he wished he could tell him. He always shared things with Teague. It would have been standard to give him a quick rundown of his last encounter with a woman, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. Teague would be pissed with him for going against his warning to stay out of Melanie’s pants.

“It’s just been a long week,” Jay shrugged. “Even without a job to go to eve
ryday, but maybe that’s why it’s seemed so…aggravating.”

“And what’s up with Beck? He
still being an asshole?”

“I haven’t talked to him sin
ce he fired me. I don’t know. Maybe it’s a good thing.”

“Why’s that? I think I’d fucking break his face if he accused me of messing around with his girl. In fact, I’m surprised
you
didn’t.”

“I don’t know what his deal is. Pussy whipped, I guess. I mean I would never believe some bitch over my best friend. Never.”

“Well they’ve been together for a while. Obviously he trusts her. But he knows you as well as I do, and it’s not like you’d ever deny something like that,” Teague added with a laugh.

Jay laughed with him. Yeah, he’d gotten in a lot of trouble for his brutal honesty
once or twice—the last time with a very pissed off husband. The chick had never told him she was married, so when he bumped into her at a restaurant last year, Jay was pretty flirtatious with her. When the husband appeared and got in his face about it, Jay flat out told him his wife was good in bed and must have been looking for someone to match her skills.

“Hey,
the married one wasn’t exactly my fault,” Jay defended himself.

“Don’t make me
lecture you again. Sleeping with random women is your choice, Jay. The problems that come from it still stem from
your
decisions.”

“Not when someone fucking lies to me about shit. How is that
my
fault?”

“You should just be more careful about who you hook up with.”

“You’re one to talk,” Jay retorted. “Hello Kate?”

Teague looked at him hard. “Exactly, asshole. I’m speaking from experience. I met a lying bitch of a schemer and was totally fucked over by her. I don’t want that shit to happen to
you
, Jay. Just take the damn advice and think about it, okay? You have these pissed off exes and wannabe stalkers that—”

“Hey, I don’t have ‘exes’,” Jay corrected him.

“Fine, women that you’ve pissed off with your charming personality.”

“Why is it that they get pissed off in the first place? How more honest can
I get than ‘this is only a one-night thing, sweetheart’. They willingly agree, so why does there have to be hurt fucking feelings over it?”

“You ever think that women may not ‘really’ fully agree with you?”

Jay scowled at him. “How is it
my
fault if they say one thing but mean another?”

“I’m not saying it’s anyone’s fault, just that some girls view that stuff differently than guys. Not all of them are okay with being used like that, even though they may think they will be. Sometimes it’s just a hope that they’ll be that one girl that will make some dumbass like you see the light.”

“Where the hell do you get your information?” Jay laughed. “You been reading fashion magazines or something?”

“It’s called talking to my wife, dipshit. And she and her sister talk about stuff like that all the damn time. Welcome to the world of being around women and actually listening to what they say.”

“Welcome to the world of being pussified overnight,” Jay countered with a smirk.

Teague laughed but shook his
head. “Whatever. I’m just thinking about you, man. That’s all. I’m happily married now and don’t have to worry about getting to know a different woman every week.”

“That’s why I don’t bother,” Jay shot back
with a smile. “The disclaimer comes the second they want to sleep with me.”

“Noted. But that’s where you get yourself in trouble. I’m just saying…”

“Okay, we need to stop talking about this. Obviously you being married has changed our conversations somewhat.”

“Maybe so, because it’s made me wiser.”

“Wiser, huh?” Jay chuckled. “I think you left your balls at home, buddy. With your wife.”

“Fuck you,” Teague laughed as he shoved him hard.

“Ooh, we getting a second wind?” Jay taunted, shoving him back. “Come on, Nancy. What you got?”

“An ass kicking if you’re ready for it.”

“Bring it, motherfucker,” Jay motioned as he prepared himself defensively. “I bet you don’t even have one clean move left in you.”

“You’re asking for trouble,” Teague smiled at him.

“Camryn teach you any good moves lately?”

“Ha, very funny. I’m sure she could cage you pretty good. You’re all arrogance and no smarts. I know this from experience.”

“Ah, good one, Hollywood. How come I’ve owned you plenty of times on the mat?”

“Fine. Let’s see you t
ake me down one time.”

“On
ce?”

“Just on
ce.
I fucking dare you
,” Teague challenged in a low voice.

***

When Melanie returned to Jay’s house, he wasn’t home. She’d just been texting with him fifteen minutes ago when he told her to come over. After finding the front door locked, she headed for the side of the house just as a beautiful red
Porsche pulled into the driveway. Curiously, she slowed to watch the brunette step out of the driver’s seat and look her over.

“Can I help you?” Melanie asked, just as she realized who the visitor was. It was Sophia Nixon. Melanie knew of her very well because she’d seen most all of her movies. Her
showing up wasn’t entirely shocking since Jay was a McCallan and the two families were supposedly close, but it was still odd to see her step out of her expensive car in Jay’s driveway.

Sophia shut the car door and offered a friendly smile. “I was just looking for Jay. Do you know if he’s home?”

“He should be any minute, as far as I know,” Melanie shrugged. “Would you like to come inside and wait?”

Sophia was obviously perplexed when she said, “Um, and who are you? Do you live here too?”

“No, I’m Melanie,” she answered. “A friend of Jay’s.”

“
Ahh, Melanie,” Sophia seemed to know the name. “Well I’m Sophia.”  She held her hand out and Melanie shook it.

“I recognize you,” Melanie nodded. “It’s very nice to meet you.”

“The pleasure is mine. I love your dress. Is it Fendi?”

Melanie glanced down at
her casual strapless dress that stopped mid-thigh. It was one of her favorites. “No, not Fendi. It’s actually true vintage. I just redesigned it a little bit.”

“Really? You mean the waistline and the
hem? I kind of wondered that. It’s adorable. I like your style.”

“Thank you,” Melanie smiled.

There was an awkward silence for a few seconds, but before Melanie could invite Sophia inside again, Jay pulled into the driveway next to the Porsche. He got out of his car almost cautiously as he looked both girls over.

“Hey, ladies,” he finally said. “What’s up?” His eyes lingered on Melanie for a moment, but then stopped at Sophia to wait for an answer.

“I stopped by Beck’s,”
Sophia stated, and it was obvious to Melanie that she must have just found out that Jay had been fired.

Jay shut the car door and shrugged. “Yeah, I don’t work there anymore.”

Again he glanced between both women and Melanie tried not to laugh to herself. Obviously Sophia was still one of his other friends with benefits, so she politely excused herself and went into the house.

She really didn’t need to be reminded…

***

Jay let out a silent breath of air as he faced Sophia. He’d been looking forward to hanging out with Mel and was taken by surprise seeing the two of them together. He kind of figured Sophia was done with him.

“She’s beautiful,” Sophia finally said.

Jay gave her a blank stare, unaware of what she was talking about. He glanced back at his car for a second and Sophia laughed.

“I’m talking about Melanie,” she chuckled. “She’s gorgeous. You never told me that.”

“Why would it matter?” he shrugged.

“I don’t know. You being ‘just friends’ with someone that lovely is kind of ironic.”

Jay ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. “Look, you and I are not together, so it doesn’t matter what the women I’m with look like.”

“With?” she repeated. “She just told me she’s a
friend
of yours.”

“What the fuck is the inquisition about?” Jay
asked. “
With
as in ‘spend time with’. She’s one of my best friends, and yeah she’s beautiful. So what?”

Sophia sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m trying not to be jealous. I guess it’s just dawning on me all of a sudden.”

Jay narrowed his eyes in confusion. “
What
is dawning on you?”

“Your reservations with me.
There
is
someone else but you’re not going to admit it.”