The Game Changer (37 page)

“Are you sure?” Olivia asked, already getting to her feet.

Melody chuckled. “Yes. Get out of here. You’re no help to me with your mind wandering, anyway.” She pointed to the flyers and catalogues spread out on the table, hers with multi-coloured sticky tabs, and Olivia’s with none.

Olivia rushed around the table and threw her arms around Melody, nearly knocking her over. “Thank you, thank you, I love you. We’ll make a date for tomorrow night, how’s that? You can tell me all about your conversation with Julian.” She looked at Melody pointedly before planting a noisy kiss on her cheek. “I’ll text you later.”

With a final squeeze, Olivia hurried to her room, returned a minute later stuffing clothes into her overnight bag, and then slipped on her shoes. She waved to Melody at the door, blowing her a kiss before disappearing.

Melody laughed quietly to herself, shaking her head. All she’d ever wanted was for Olivia to be happy, and she was. She hoped things would be different now—that Olivia would make their friendship more of a priority, especially knowing how Melody felt—but all she could do was hope for the best. They were adults, and she couldn’t—
wouldn’t
—hold Olivia back.

Just like she couldn’t hold herself back anymore. She’d never really considered herself a timid person, but she supposed in a lot of ways she was. She got comfortable in her surroundings—her apartment, her relationship with Rick, her never-changing friendship with Olivia. She was comfortable in her friendship with Julian, and she knew she could stay comfortable, but she didn’t want to. She wanted to take a risk, be with a man she never would have imagined having a relationship with, and see where it took her. She was afraid of taking the step, afraid of getting her heart broken again, and she was worried what it might do to a friendship she’d come to rely on, but she was willing to take the chance. Everything else in her life was changing, why not this too?

Melody jumped when her phone vibrated, skittering across the table. She snatched it up and smiled when she saw Julian’s name on the display. “You must be a mind reader.”

“Were you thinking about me?” His voice was low and warm, and Melody could hear the smile in it.

“I was,” she said. “When do I get to see you?” Surprised at the flirty note in her voice, she bit her lip and closed her eyes.

“Now?” Julian asked after a pause. “I can be there in thirty minutes.”

“Perfect.”

CHAPTER 19

Thirty minutes gave Melody just enough time to tidy the apartment, fix her hair, sweep some mascara over her eyelashes, and change from her comfortable Saturday Afternoon at Home outfit of yoga pants and a t-shirt to an I’m Going to Tell My Best Guy Friend I Have Feelings For Him outfit of dark fitted jeans and a lavender cap-sleeved top.

As she ran around the apartment getting ready, a steady stream of conversation starters flowed through her mind. ‘I think we should be more than just friends’ seemed too simple. ‘I’m developing feelings for you’ sounded too serious. ‘Take me to bed,
now
’ seemed too forward.

The outside buzzer rang and Melody moved to run her hands through her hair nervously before remembering she’d braided it to avoid that very thing. “Come in,” she called, pushing the button to unlock the side door, then opening her apartment door.

She could hear Julian climbing the stairs. With each step he took, Melody’s resolve wavered a little more. She couldn’t really tell him she was developing feelings for him, could she? What if he didn’t feel the same way? What if it ruined their friendship? What about the girl in his hotel room the other night? Or the girl she saw him with yesterday? What if, despite what he told her the week before, he wasn’t really ready to give up his playboy ways?
What if, what if, what if…

All those thoughts fled from her mind the moment Julian emerged at the top of the stairs and flashed her a smile. Now the questions running through her mind were completely different. Had he always been this beautiful? Had the sight of him always made her heart speed up and her stomach flutter with nerves? Did he want to kiss her as badly as she wanted to kiss him?

“I’d love to know what’s going on in your mind right now to cause that little grin,” Julian said, stopping in front of her.

Melody felt her cheeks growing hot, but she couldn’t help the smile that crept over her face. “Just thinking how glad I am to see you.”

His smile widened, making his eyes shine even brighter, and in turn, making Melody’s heart beat faster.

“I’d give you a hug, but…” He held up his hands, and Melody saw he had a wine bottle in one and a gallon of paint in the other.

“What…?”

“Olivia called me as I was heading out the door and asked if I was going to see you tonight,” Julian said.

“I’m going to kill her,” Melody muttered, taking the bottle of wine Julian held out and stepping back so he could come inside.

Julian laughed quietly. “She was just concerned about you being alone. She gave me a short version of what happened today, and said she felt guilty about leaving you.”

That did sound like Olivia, Melody thought with a small smile. But she was also fairly certain Olivia wanted to play matchmaker as much as she wanted Melody to have company for the evening. “That still doesn’t explain the paint.”

“Ah, the paint,” Julian said, holding it up and examining it. “Olivia mentioned that the two of you had picked a paint colour for Ava’s room and were going to start painting this week. She hinted around at how much she hated painting, and just
happened
to drop in the name of the paint colour…”

“Of course she did,” Melody said with a wry laugh. “Ever the resourceful one, our Olivia.” She walked into the kitchen and pulled out two glasses and a bottle opener. “I know she can be extremely convincing, but you do
not
have to paint.”

“Maybe I
want
to paint.” Julian crossed the room and set the paint can on the kitchen island before moving to stand beside her. Placing his hands gently on her shoulders, he turned her to face him and smiled down at her. “I can hug you now,” he said softly, wrapping his arms around her and enveloping her in the scent she loved but could never quite put her finger on. Whatever it was, it always made her think of tropical beaches, fiery sunsets, and white sand. Heaven. She breathed in deeply and closed her eyes, relaxing against him.

Melody was beginning to think they were going to remain like that forever when Julian eased away.

“Glad to be home?” Melody asked.

“More than you can imagine,” Julian replied.

Melody felt her heart constrict slightly. He was still standing so close she could feel the heat from his body and smell the minty scent of his gum. Feeling suddenly nervous, Melody took a step back. “If you’re serious about painting, we’re definitely going to need wine,” she said, fumbling with the corkscrew.

Silently, Julian took the opener from Melody and pulled the cork from the bottle. He poured two glasses, then handed one to her, clinking the rims. “Cheers.”

“Cheers,” Melody echoed. She took a large gulp, then let out an embarrassed laugh. “Wow, that was classy.”

Julian’s mouth quirked into a lopsided grin. “You seem nervous.”

“Why would I be nervous?” Melody asked. She wondered if Olivia had said more to Julian than simply asking if he was seeing Melody tonight.
No, she wouldn’t do that,
Melody reassured herself.
It breaks best friend code.

Julian regarded her steadily and took a sip of his wine. “That’s what I was wondering.” When Melody remained silent, his lips curved slightly and he stepped past her to pick up the paint can. “Lavender Fields,” he said, reading the label.

“Ava loves purple,” Melody told him, glad for a more neutral subject. “We found a room divider that was decorated with a lavender field, so we thought this colour would be perfect.”

“I’m sure she’ll love it.” He turned and looked Melody over from head to foot. She resisted the urge to squirm under his intense gaze. “You might want to change so you don’t get paint on your pretty outfit.”

Melody blinked stupidly and looked down at herself. That wasn’t what she’d been expecting as his dark gaze swept over her. “Right. Of course. What about you?” When her eyes moved down his pale blue button-up shirt and jeans, she wasn’t really thinking about his clothes.

Her breath caught in her throat when Julian began unbuttoning his shirt. Had he read her mind? Known that she was thinking more about what was
under
his clothes than what he was actually wearing?

“The jeans are old,” he explained. Would he be taking those off, too?
 
Melody wondered. “And I have this on.” He slipped his shirt over his shoulders, revealing a white undershirt that was molded to his broad chest.

Good lord
. “Right,” Melody said again, this time with an audible gulp that made her want to crawl into a hole and hide. “I’ll just…” She pointed down the hall, then turned and hurried in the direction of her bedroom. Pausing halfway, she pointed to the storage closet. “There are paintbrushes and rollers and stuff in here if you want to dig them out.”

She waited long enough to see Julian nod, then continued on to her room, closing the door behind herself. Flopping onto her bed and closing her eyes, she took several deep breaths.
This is Julian. Your
friend
Julian. There’s no need to be this nervous or embarrassed.
“Even though he looks like a sex god in that undershirt?” she mumbled to herself, covering her face with her hands and moaning.

Get a grip. Olivia would slap you silly.
With that in mind, Melody took a few more deep breaths, got up from her bed, and changed into cut-off denim shorts and an old tank top that needed to be thrown away anyway since it had a hole in the hem. “Very sexy,” she told her reflection as she passed the mirror on her way to the door.

In the area that would be Ava’s room, Julian was laying down a drop cloth on the floor. “Cute,” he said, glancing up at her with a grin, then going back to his task.

He had everything else ready, so when Melody joined him he handed her a paintbrush, and they began. Working silently side-by-side, Melody felt some of the tension in her shoulders easing. Whether she found the courage to talk to him about her feelings or not, this was nice. When she’d been with Rick, their silences were often awkward, like each of them was scrambling to come up with a topic to fill the void. It wasn’t like that with Julian—Melody felt at ease, and never had the impression that Julian was judging her or expecting her to keep him entertained.

But she did have questions. And she was hoping to find a way to casually work in her feelings for him.
Casually.
She almost laughed out loud.
Because that’s something casual you just work into a conversation like the weather or a movie you want to see. ‘Oh, by the way, I’ve started to think of you as more than just a friend.’

“What’s so funny?” Julian asked, startling her. He was giving her a sidelong glance, eyebrows raised in question.

She really was losing it. She blamed it on spending too much time alone lately and having too much time to think. “Just thinking how much fun this is,” she said. “So…how was your week?”

“My week? Good. Busy.” He stepped back and surveyed their handiwork so far, nodding in approval. “This is a great colour.”

Melody hummed in agreement. She continued to move her brush in even strokes along the wall as she asked, “Meet anyone interesting while you were in Guelph?”

“Interesting?” He shrugged one shoulder and went back to painting. “I guess. A lot of smart business people up there.”

“Did you have time to do anything fun?”

Julian’s hand froze with the paintbrush inches from the wall. He turned to look at her, eyes narrowed slightly. “Not really. A bunch of us went out for drinks one night, but it was business. What’s with the questions, Mel?”

So much for casual.
“Just curious.”

“Then why are you blushing?”

Melody grimaced. Damn body, betraying her yet again. “I’m not. It’s hot in here.” As if to prove her point, she propped her paintbrush on the edge of the paint can and went to open the windows. When she turned back around, Julian was standing behind her.

He grabbed her around the waist and pulled her against him, holding a paintbrush near her face. “All right, out with it, Cartwright. What’s up? Spill, or you’ll be washing paint from your hair for the next week.”