Moments In Time: The Complete Novella Collection (22 page)

Melisa leaned her head back and let go until
she fell into a deep, comforting asleep.

***

The doorbell rang and Melisa groaned as she
opened her groggy eyes. Careful not to slip, she stepped out of the
tub.

The doorbell rang again and in a panic, she
forgot about getting dressed. She wrapped the thick, fluffy towel
around her dripping body. Goose pimples popped up on her arms and
legs.

Carlene hadn’t told her about any visitors,
except for the cleaner and gardener, who both came on Mondays and
Fridays. Today was Wednesday.

She flung the door open and gasped. “Heat.
What are you doing here?”

“You’re alone, right?”

“Y-yes.” Melisa tightened the towel around
her, and twisted her right arm so the ugly burn scar was hidden
against her chest.

“Good.”

To her shock, Heat wrapped both arms around
her waist and ushered her back inside, slamming the door shut with
his foot. “We were not done when you left.” He kissed her ear and
whispered. “Mel, when you kissed me, I knew you wanted me as much
as I want you. I came to make sure I was right.”

Melisa bit her lip. She couldn’t speak as
her heart slammed against her chest. She had thought when she moved
out of Heat’s house, her feelings for him would disappear. How
could she have known he’d follow her here? How could she have known
another touch from him would paralyze her?

Heat didn’t wait for a response. He swept
her off her feet and anchored her legs around his waist.

“What are you doing?” Melisa said, finding
her voice, but she was helpless to stop what was happening. She
wrapped her arms around his neck.

“Tell me where to go and I’ll show you what
I’m doing.”

Without thinking, Melisa led him up the
stairs and directed him through two wide corridors and into her
room, where steam was still coming out of the adjoining
bathroom.

Heat laid her on top of the silver-and-white
woven damask duvet cover and kissed her full on the mouth. Then he
lifted his head and gazed into her eyes. “When you stayed with me,
I tried hard to be a gentleman so I wouldn’t chase you away. But
now that you don’t live with me anymore, the rules have changed.”
He kissed her again, this time hard and passionate.

Melisa was too surprised to say anything.
This was a bad idea, she thought, but her body didn’t seem to
agree. The spot between her legs pulsated as he trailed his tongue
around hers.

“I...” Melisa detached her lips from his. “I
don’t know if this is a good idea.” Last time this happened, it
changed her life.

“Wrong. It’s the best idea I’ve come up with
in a long time. I never forgot the first time we made love. It was
the best I’d ever had.”

“Really?” It had been good—really good. But
she never thought it had touched him as much as it did her.

“I mean it. Now, should we break our own
record?”

Without thinking, Melisa dug her fingers
into his thick hair and pulled him close. She kissed him back this
time, until her lips burned with fire.

“Were you having a bath before I came?” Heat
asked between kisses. “You smell like mango.”

“Mmhm.”

“Why don’t I join you? I’m a very dirty
man.”

She shouldn’t take this any further. It
would lead to heartache down the line. If only her body would obey
her mind!

As Heat moved closer, his bulge pressed
against her stomach, wanting her, needing her as much as she needed
him.

“Okay.” She laughed and reached for his arm
as she pulled herself to a sitting position. “Follow me.”

He followed her into the steamy guest
bathroom.

She locked the door, and before she could
change her mind, tugged at one end of the towel. It unraveled and
slid down to the floor; Heat’s gaze followed the towel, arousing
her already sensitive body with his dark eyes.

“I have to have you now,” he said, gathering
her into his arms, covering her mouth with his again, tracing her
lips with his tongue. Instead of climbing into the bath with her as
he’d planned, he lowered her onto the thick white bathroom mat and
removed his clothes in what seemed like mere seconds.

Melisa almost melted as she watched him. How
could she not want this hot body next to hers? Firm and tanned and
godlike. Even the small flame tattoo on his chest looked like it
belonged there, as though he’d had it from birth. She reached out
and touched what interested her the most. He was as big and hard as
she remembered. She couldn’t wait any longer either.

When Heat lowered himself onto her, his eyes
never leaving hers, she held him tight and guided him into her,
inch by inch, until he filled her completely. Until he made her
forget about the past and the future. As he grinded against her,
all that mattered was this moment. She closed her eyes to better
relish the feeling of being on fire. He quenched fires for a
living, and yet he was skilled at lighting her up.

Melisa’s phone rang, and her eyes flew open.
She startled so hard that she almost slipped in the tub. She
blinked several times and her cheeks burned. She still throbbed
between her legs and her whole body felt sensitive, but Heat was
nowhere to be seen. She could swear she smelled a tinge of citrus
in the room. But it was all in her mind. It had all been a
dream.

Squaring her shoulders, Melisa opened the
door of Mel’s Delights, feigning confidence. No one needed to know
her heart was thumping against her chest as curious, questioning
stares were thrown her way. Patty, the florist with big breasts
openly stared at her before elbowing the older woman beside her.
Melisa would be the topic of discussion at all their dinner tables
tonight. The woman who had disappeared years ago after her husband
died had returned. Where had she gone? And why was she back?

“Melisa,” Josie Deare, Melisa’s old friend,
to whom she had sold the bakery, called out in her singsong voice.
She ran from behind the counter and threw her arms around Melisa’s
neck, almost knocking her off her feet. “I can’t believe you’re
here. I thought people were lying. Where have you been all these
years?”

Melisa hugged her back, inhaling the
familiar smell of sugar and yeasty dough in her corn-blond hair.
Tears stung her eyes; she blinked them away and released Josie.
“It’s nice to see you too.” Best to circumvent the topic of her
whereabouts for as long as possible.

Josie seized Melisa’s arm and led her past
displays of cakes and cupcakes to the back of the room. “Let’s go
and sit in the back. The royal table isn’t occupied.”

She had been so brave coming here, and now
she felt like bolting. Running away from a place that had once
meant the world to her. But running was no longer in the cards. She
had to face the past in order to regain control of her life.

At the lace-covered “royal table”—which
Melisa herself had named—she pulled out a padded chair and lowered
herself into it.

Josie sat opposite her, a large grin on her
face. At twenty-eight, she still looked like a teenager.

Josie placed a hand on hers. “I’ve missed
you so much. It’s been so long. Where did you go after selling
Mel’s Delights to me? You disappeared from one day to the
next.”

Melisa lowered her long eyelashes; she had
to hide the shameful truth that she had become an alcoholic, like
her mother.

She caught sight of Josie’s ring finger,
expecting something to be there, but it was devoid of a wedding
band. What had happened? Five years ago, Melisa had left Josie
planning her wedding to the man of her parents’ dreams. Josie had
been crazy about Jason Ashwood, but she’d confessed to Melisa that
she couldn’t shake off the feeling that he was wrong for her. But
Josie, the youngest of five sisters, had always been the good girl,
the one who bent to her domineering parents’ will. Her meddling
mother had told her she would be a fool not to marry the son of one
of the most successful investment bankers in Wisconsin, and her
father’s boss. Had she finally come to her senses and stood up for
herself?

“I was away for a while. I needed to
distance myself from...” She shrugged. “It doesn’t matter anymore.
How are you? How’s Jason?”

“No,” Josie wagged her finger. “I won’t let
you change the subject. Tell me how you’re doing first.”

Melisa sighed. “I’m better than I was when
it happened.” That was the truth. The wounds would never heal
completely, but as long as they had stopped bleeding, she would be
able to function.

“You shouldn’t have left like that. I wanted
to be there for you, to comfort you. I worried about you since the
day you left.” She smoothed the tablecloth. “Mel’s Delights was
never the same without you, Melisa.”

A cloud of silence hovered between them, and
then Melisa broached the reason she’d come to Mel’s Delights. “I
need a favor.” She swallowed hard. She hated pity, hated asking for
help. “I need a job.” She looked away at a table with a group of
four teenage boys, eating donuts and playing cards.

Josie cupped Melisa’s hands with her own,
and Melisa turned back her attention to her friend. Josie’s
sapphire blue eyes were warm and kind. “You don’t have to feel
uncomfortable asking me for help. We’re friends, and time doesn’t
change that.”

Melisa opened her mouth to speak, but Josie
shook her head.

“You don’t need to say anything. You can
work here for a while, but I can’t offer you a permanent position.”
She paused and leaned back. “The business is going through some
changes. I’ll tell you all about it later. Right now I do need some
help, though. Nicole can only be here on weekends and when on
vacation to help at the register. It would be great to have another
baker. Nicole is good for business, though. On the days she’s here,
this place crawls with teenage boys.” Josie laughed.

Nicole was Josie’s teenage niece and was
currently working up front.

Melisa ached to know what changes Josie was
talking about. Mel’s Delights still felt like her baby. But it
wasn’t. Not anymore. She had no right to pry. Josie would tell her
when she was ready.

“Thank you,” Melisa said. “So, your turn.
Tell me how you’ve been. How’s Jason?”

Josie stiffened and her face fell. “I don’t
give a damn how he’s doing. He’s out of my life.”

“You’ve broken up? But you two were so close
to...”

“Wedding went to hell.” Josie’s voice was
almost inaudible. “The night before the wedding I caught him in bed
with the florist’s daughter.”

“You mean Patty’s daughter, Janelle?”

“Yep, her. When I confronted him, he had the
nerve to tell me I forced him into proposing. Said he wasn’t ready
for marriage or what this small town could offer him. He now lives
in New York.”

“I don’t understand.” Sudden anger simmered
inside Melisa. Jason had pursued Josie all through college until
she finally let him into her life. The jerk had taken her
virginity.

“You know what’s an even bigger slap in the
face?” Josie let out a stiff laugh. “He got married six months
later to some model.”

“I’m so sorry, Josie.”

“Hey, it’s my fault. I knew from the start
he was popular with the ladies. He wasn’t a one-woman man. But he
wanted me, because I made it hard for him to have. Once he got me,
I guess the thrill was over for him.”

“Don’t blame yourself. He’s solely
responsible for making you give him your heart and then walking all
over it.” Guilt squeezed Melisa’s chest. She touched Josie’s
shoulder. “I should have been there for you. I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t be. My problems are nothing compared
to what happened to you. You did what you had to do to cope. The
most important thing is you’re here now.” Josie paused. “It will be
great having you back. You can start tomorrow, if you like.”

Melisa nodded. “You have no idea how much
this means to me.”

Melisa rose and embraced her friend. When
her husband and child had died, she’d been too blinded by grief to
see the people who loved her. She had just wanted to get lost. Now
she was back and her heart was lighter. Returning was so much
easier than she’d anticipated.

“Come and visit us sometime. The Deare
sisters will be happy to have you over for dinner sometime. Maybe
you can distract them from trying to hook me up with every Tom,
Dick, and Harry.”

“You all live together now?”

“Grandma Rose died two years ago and left us
her house. We all moved in together, except for Eve. She wanted to
raise Nicole in their own home.”

“She’s still single?”

“Yep, since Jack left her, she hasn’t met
anyone good enough. Maybe there’s a curse over all of us. Men don’t
seem to ever want to stay.”

“But you’ve only allowed one man into your
heart.”

“And I’m not sure I want to let another come
near me.”

“Well, I’d love to come over for dinner.”
Melisa thought of Heat. She understood completely.

Two days later, Melisa did meet the Deare
sisters for dinner at their red brick house. They didn’t pry into
her past, and she was able to let loose and enjoy herself for the
first time in a long time. She even had a few laughs, in particular
when Paige, the eldest of the five sisters, tried to talk Josie
into going for a month to some wealthy bachelor’s villa to compete
for his heart along with ten other women. As they had done for most
of her life, the older Deare sisters still meddled in their younger
sister’s love life.

Some things never changed. In a way, Melisa
found some comfort in that.

***

“Tell me that wasn’t who I think it was,”
Melisa said as the disheveled woman walked out the door.

“It was. Miss Claire Hattaway.” Josie
finished arranging lemon cupcakes on a decorated platter and placed
it in the display window. “The tables have turned for Miss Prom
Queen. I felt sorry for her in the beginning, since I pretty much
went through the same thing, but she’s still quite rude.”