I rush downstairs, keeping an eye out for Roger on the way. If I can bump into him now and explain what’s going on, then he’ll understand why I’m bailing on him.
Unfortunately, I don’t spot him between the apartment and the shop on the corner. The neighborhood hasn’t picked it clean yet. I grab all the Melanie comfort essentials and a few other things to get me through the weekend in just a few minutes. Still no Roger, but I’ll figure something out when he gets here.
“Okay,” I say as I return to the apartment, plastic bags in hand. “We’ve got popcorn and ice cream…”
Melanie lies on the couch in the living room with her eyes closed and her hand nestled beneath her cheek.
I fall silent so I don’t wake her up. I set the plastic bags on the coffee table next to her coat and sit beside them, my gaze blissfully locked on her beautiful face.
That’s my Melanie.
I grab the blanket off the back of the couch. I pause over her, making sure I don’t accidentally nudge her before draping it over her, covering her shoulders to her toes. I’m not sure what was bothering her before, but it’s not bothering her now.
I’ll let her sleep.
As I stand, her fingers wrap around my hand.
“Robbie?”
“Hey,” I say, pausing mid-stand.
She sits up, her grip staying firm on my hand. I lower back down onto the table and sit there, waiting silently for her to speak, but she doesn’t. Instead, she brings my hand to her lips and purses them against my knuckles.
The kiss fires up my arm and settles deep in my heart. “Mel...”
She lays my hand on her hip and her fingers crawl up the arm of my jacket until they reach my chest. Her tongue parts her lips, giving them a light sheen, and it takes everything in me not to claim them immediately.
I ease back an inch. “Melanie,” I say, barely resisting.
“Don’t you ever just want to go for it again?” she asks.
I inhale sharply. Just hearing her say that again sends blood straight toward my groin. “You remember that?” I ask.
She nods. My chest clenches, though I’m not sure why. I did nothing wrong. At least, not this time.
“I’m sorry,” I say.
Melanie tilts her head up. “Why?” she asks.
I breathe a laugh. “I’ve spent months making a list of all the shit I put you through. Take your pick.”
Her hand slowly falls from my chest. I instantly miss the warmth of it. “You really aren’t that guy anymore, are you?” she asks, her voice so low I can hardly hear it.
“I’m trying.”
“No, you…” She looks at her hands, her tattered bangs hanging down over her eyes. “You changed, and I didn’t see it. I didn’t want to see it because it was easier than admitting I was wrong…”
I place a comforting hand on her knee. “You weren’t wrong, Mel.”
“I missed you.”
“What?”
“Tonight,” she says. “Tonight, it was snowing and… I missed you. All of you, even the worst…” Her voice fades as she looks me in the eye. “What does that make me?”
“One crazy bitch.”
She laughs, but it doesn’t last. Her lips slowly fall again as she touches my hand lingering on her knee. I turn up my palm, grazing hers, feeling the empty spot on her finger where a wedding band used to be.
“Chin up, Buttercup.” I touch her jawline, gently guiding her to look up again. “We’re all crazy here.”
Melanie smiles and I feel it deep in my gut. I let my finger glide along her bottom lip, a dangerous move on any other night, but she says nothing. She looks at me with those big, sad eyes as my heart skips in my chest.
She moves her hand, wrapping her long fingers around the edge of my jacket, and draws me closer until our lips touch. I kiss her as she kisses me, shutting down every little voice telling me to slow down. I don’t even try to stop her as she pulls me down to lie on top of her. That familiar scent of her perfume tickles my nose with every inhale. I take her body in my arms on the couch, feeling more at home than ever as she holds me against her.
She pushes my jacket down over my shoulders. Our lips part for no longer than a second as I lean back to toss it to the floor. I kick off my shoes. She pulls my shirt off over my head. I do the same to hers, driven by repressed lust we both knew existed but never acted on. Her breasts heave beneath a tight, black bra. I lower down to bury my nose in her cleavage and she leans back along the arm of the sofa as my lips slide down to her navel.
I hook my fingers into her pants and pull them down, leaving her panties on so I don’t go too far too fast. I want to take her so badly, but I don’t want this to end, either. I don’t want that desire in her eyes to flick off and for her to say what we’re both thinking.
That this really is crazy.
That we’ve been down this road before.
That it always ends up in the same place.
But…
Melanie cups my face and draws me toward her lips. Tender moans echo from the back of her throat as I kiss her harder. Her hands rush down my body to my belt, easily sliding it free as I settle between her legs.
“You still firing blanks?” she asks.
I chuckle. “Yeah, you still fixed?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Good.”
She unzips me and pushes my jeans down below my ass to free my cock. Her hips push upward as she forces her panties down her thighs and I yank them to her
