Safe Word (4 page)

“What part about me meeting you tomorrow is confusing?” Zane asked with amusement.

“No, I don’t mean that.” 

Melody decided to call Zane out on what had happened rather than sheepishly attempt to sweep it under the rug.  But then at the last second she chickened out, too mortified to call attention to the fact that she had completely misread his signals, as evidenced by his embarrassing refusal to kiss her a second time.  Had the first kiss really been that bad?  Because she thought it had been pretty great...

“So uh, what do you mean?” he asked.

Shaking her head dismissively, Melody told him, “I’m busy tomorrow.”

“Doing what?”

She stared at him wide eyed, the question unexpected. “Stuff!” she replied indignantly.

“What sort of stuff?” he pressed, his eyes twinkling.  She could definitely see a glimmer of the annoying older boy who had terrorized her and her friends at sleepovers back in the day.  It was infuriating...and yet also kind of endearing.

“It’s none of your business,” Melody snapped.

He burst out laughing at that.  “You’re right,” he agreed as she glared daggers at him.  “It isn’t.  But here’s the deal.  I want to go to the petting zoo.  I mean, who doesn’t love baby goats?  They’re cute and I want to pet them.”

“Then go to the petting zoo.”

“I can’t go alone.”

“Why can’t you?” 

“Macho Idiot Law – which yes, is totally a thing – dictates I can’t go to the petting zoo unless I am in the company of a woman or small child,” he informed her matter-of-factly.  Then he looked at Melody expectantly.

“That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” she told him.

“It kind of is,” he agreed, unfazed.  “Come on, you’re not going to make me beg, are you?”

“I already told you, I’m busy tomorrow.”

“All day?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“You can’t find even half an hour to let me buy you an ice cream and wander around the riverside with me?” he coaxed.  “Come on, I’ll get you as many scoops as you want!  And after that, there will be cute little baby animals to pet.  Some of them might even be fuzzy.”

“Oh God, if I say yes will you stop embarrassing yourself?”

“Yes.  Please say yes,” he begged, giving her puppy dog eyes.  “This is humiliating.”

“Okay fine.  Yes, I’ll go to the petting zoo with you tomorrow.   Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” she heard him say as she walked away.  She didn’t look back because she wouldn’t let herself.  She didn’t want to give Zane that satisfaction.  But she could feel him looking at her, watching as she walked away.  It made her tingle all over.

The following day, Melody headed down to the bar in the early afternoon.  She was wearing a yellow sundress with a sweetheart neckline and a pair of strappy sandals.  Her hair was tied back in a side ponytail, loosely braided, and though her makeup was minimal she’d spent a hell of a long time making it look barely there!

She wasn’t sure why she had taken such care to dress nicely.  Zane clearly wasn’t interested in her, so what was the point of trying to impress him?  Maybe, Melody reasoned, it wasn’t about that.  Maybe it was about making herself feel pretty so she could face him with her head held high despite his rejection.

Melody stood outside the bar for a few minutes watching for Zane.  She expected to see him walking down the street but he was nowhere in sight.  Crossing her arms, she leaned against the building and wondered if she’d been stood up.

Then a deep masculine voice said, “Hi Melody,” from behind her.

She jumped and spun around.

Zane was standing in the doorway of the bar, a bottle of beer in his hand.  His hair was hanging across his forehead sexily and when he smiled at her, it showed not only on his lips but also in his eyes.  He was gorgeous.  Even though she hated to admit it, she melted a little inside at the mere sight of him.

“Hi!” she exclaimed, perhaps a bit too enthusiastically, as she tried to calm herself down.  Gesturing to his beer, she commented, “I didn’t know it was going to be a drunken walk down by the river.”

“Yeah, neither did I,” he mumbled, tossing the beer bottle into a nearby garbage can.  “Sorry,” he said as he walked over.  “If it makes any difference I’m not drunk – just slightly buzzed.  Are you ready to go?”

“Let’s do it.”

The river wasn’t far, so Melody left her car parked outside the bar and they walked. 

She liked the way it felt when they would accidentally get too close and Zane’s arm would brush against hers.  In fact, she started deliberately moving over so that it would keep happening.  It seemed Zane wasn’t interested in her but after all his mixed messages, who knew? 

All Melody knew was it felt good to be close to him.  It must have been a pheromone thing.

But maybe she wasn’t as subtle as she’d thought because pretty soon, he turned to her, chuckling.  “I thought I was the only one who had been drinking today,” he told her with a teasing, playful wink.

“What do you mean?”

“You do know you seem to be incapable of walking in a straight line today, don’t you?”

“You’re crazy,” she shot back, feeling her face redden.  Thankfully, they were almost at their destination, so she took the opportunity to change the subject.  “River Park is always so beautiful this time of year!”

The petting zoo was set up down by the river every year, a longstanding tradition.  Most of the animals came from nearby farms where they were kept during the winter months.  But in the summertime, the goats, sheep and llama seemed perfectly content to hang out in the pens that had been constructed for them at the edge of the park.

“What kind of ice cream do you want?” Zane asked as the ice cream truck that was a permanent fixture in the park during the summer months came into sight.

“Um, caramel pecan, if they have it.  Oh wait no, raspberry cheesecake please!”  Unable to make up her mind, Melody instructed, “Surprise me.”  Then, as Zane walked over to the truck to wait dutifully in line amidst hyperactive children and their weary parents, she made her way down to the riverbank to enjoy the pretty view across the water.

When Zane returned to her side a minute later, she was busy watching a young family as they threw breadcrumbs to the geese that frequented the park.  In fact, Melody didn’t even see him until he was right beside her.

“Here you go,” he said.

Melody turned around to accept her ice cream cone and then blurted out, “You can’t be serious!”

Zane held two ice cream cones in his hand and was offering them both to her.  One was raspberry cheesecake and the other was caramel pecan.  But they weren’t ordinary ice cream cones.  No, these ones were each piled six scoops high.  They looked absurd, like leaning towers that were going to fall over at any moment.

“You told me to surprise you and you look surprised,” Zane grinned.  “Mission accomplished.”

“But –”

Zane cut her off by pushing one of the ice cream cones into her face, forcing her to taste the creamy raspberry cheesecake.  It was delicious.  Melody quit protesting and took the cone from him, savoring the treat.

He watched her with interest, his blue eyes crinkling at the corners as he smiled. 

“Why aren’t you eating?” she asked, wiping the melted gooiness off her chin with her hand.

“They’re both for you.”

“What?  No!  You’re going to have to help me eat them,” Melody informed him.

“You look like you’re doing just fine yourself.”

“Watch it,” she joked, elbowing him in the side.  Then, taking a page out of his playbook, Melody crammed the caramel pecan ice cream cone right into Zane’s face.  Except her aim wasn’t quite as good as his, so she ended up making quite a mess as well as dropping the cone.

“Oops.  Peace offering?” she asked in a small voice, holding out the remaining cone to him.

“You are in
so much trouble
,” he growled as ice cream dripped down his chin onto his t-shirt.  He took a menacing step forward, reaching out for her.

She let out a delighted shriek and took off running down the walking path.  She was glad she hadn’t worn sandals with heels or gigantic wedges that made it feel like she was tottering around on stilts.  But all that meant was she didn’t fall on her face.  She still couldn’t outrun Zane.  His long legs allowed him to easily catch up with her.

Just as easily, he scooped her up under his arm.  He was strong.  He was very strong.

As Melody kicked and screamed to no avail, he carted her down to the water’s edge as a few amused bystanders looked on.  She begged and pleaded with him when she realized what he was about to do, but there was no changing her mind.

And then, the next thing she knew, she was in the water.

“I can’t believe you threw me in the river!” she screeched.

Zane stifled his laughter, and then looked at Melody with a touch of concern.  “Did I take it too far?” he asked, seeming apologetic.  “I’ve been known to do that sometimes.  Sorry.  Here, let me help you out,” he offered walking to the edge of the riverbank and extending a hand. 

Melody supposed one very gentlemanly gesture balanced out one very
un
gentlemanly gesture.

But she still wasn’t letting him off the hook that easily.

When she reached up to take his hand, she gave a big yank and pulled Zane into the water.  He hadn’t seen it coming and let out a yell as he tumbled in next to her, the lazy current sweeping him away a short distance before he regained his composure.

When he swam back over to Melody, she was laughing so hard she was nearly crying.

“Okay, you got me,” he conceded.  “Well played.”

As the two climbed out of the water, their clothes dripping, Zane looked at Melody.  “So I guess we won’t be going to the petting zoo today after all,” he said as he pulled up his shirt and wrung water out of it.

“Would you be terribly heartbroken if we didn’t?” she asked, unable to take her eyes off the bit of toned abdomen Zane was showing off.  “I know you wanted to pet the baby goats and all...”

“Screw the baby goats, they would probably just head butt me and try to eat my clothes,” he told her.  “I only fed you that line about wanting to go to the petting zoo because I wanted to spend time with you.  Of course, that was
before
I knew you were going to pull me into the river.”

“You started it,” Melody pointed out.  Then she giggled.  “We’re going to look like such idiots walking through town with soaking wet clothes, you know.  Everyone’s going to stare at us.”

“Well, everyone is going to stare at
you
,” Zane noted as he looked her up and down.

“Huh?”

“It turns out your dress is a bit see through when it’s wet,” he informed her with a wink.  “So no one is even going to notice I’m there once they get a good look at you.  All eyes will be on you.”

She looked down at herself, horrified.  “You’re just teasing me.  My dress is
not
see through!” she protested, covering herself with her hands anyway, just in case.  Then, in a less certain tone, she asked, “Is it?”

Zane smirked.  “I could tell you, but then you wouldn’t be walking through town all self-conscious,” he pointed out.  “Where’s the fun in that?”

“We can’t go back to town until we dry off,” Melody decided, still uncertain of whether Zane had been teasing or telling the truth.  “Let’s go over there,” she said, pointing to a thicket of trees where there didn’t appear to be any other park-goers. 

“Whatever you want,” Zane agreed, falling into step behind her.

“What are you doing walking back there, slowpoke?” she asked, peering over her shoulder.

“I’m enjoying the view.”

It was clear from the appreciative expression on his face – and the way his eyes were unapologetically focused on her backside – that Zane wasn’t talking about the scenery.

An hour later, Melody and Zane arrived at his place.

As they had walked past a pizza place in their mostly-dry clothes, they had agreed it smelled delicious.  They had also agreed they didn’t want to go inside after their little episode down at the river.  So Zane had invited Melody to his place to order in pizza and watch a movie.

She knew that watching a movie was often code for something else entirely, but in Zane’s case she wasn’t so sure.  He was sending her such mixed signals that she had no idea where she stood with him.  Was he attracted to her or did he view her as only a platonic friend? 

As they sat on the couch sharing the same blanket, Zane’s foot nearly touching hers, Melody couldn’t stand the uncertainty a moment longer.  So she blurted out, “Why wouldn’t you let me kiss you the other night?  We kissed once and then I tried to kiss you again and you wouldn’t – was the kiss really that bad?”

“No, the kiss was great,” he told her immediately.  “It was perfect.”

Melody took a second to let the compliment sink in, secretly proud of his admission.  Then she told him, “I don’t get it.  If the kiss was good why didn’t you want to do it again?”

“Because I was afraid I’d want to keep doing it.  I’d want to do it again and again and again,” he replied.  “You’re amazing, Melody.  You really are.  But I can’t get involved with you, not like that.  I’m kind of a mess and it wouldn’t be fair to drag you into that.”

“How much of a mess can you be when you live in a place like this?” she asked, looking around the living room as though she was seeing it for the first time.  It looked like something out of a magazine, and the condo itself had a lot of expensive finishes, like granite countertops, eight foot ceilings and real hardwood floors.  “By the looks of it, you’ve very much got your shit together.”

She had been surprised to find that Zane’s place was actually one of the massive, luxury condominium units that had been built the year prior.  Those properties had been big news for a sleepy little town, but in recent years people had begun scrambling to buy property in smaller communities that were close enough to the city to allow for daily commutes. 

Those same people, despite being corporate bigwigs and hotshot doctors, were also struggling to pay their hefty mortgages each month and still make ends meet.  Lots of people were house poor – even professionals.  The upturn in the economy had caught everyone by surprise, fueled largely by natural resources and international trade.  Someone like Melody wouldn’t be able to afford to own a home in a million years.

The bottom line was that she knew the condos cost a small fortune.  If Zane was living there, he must be doing pretty damn well for himself.  In passing he had mentioned getting a settlement as a result of his accident, but it must have been considerably more than he had led her to believe!

But he didn’t look smug.  In fact, he didn’t even look proud of himself.  He looked the opposite.

“It’s my personal life that’s the mess,” he told her. 

“What’s the matter?”

“You don’t want to know,” he told her as he cracked open a beer and offered it to her.

“No thanks, I have to drive home after the movie,” she reminded him, declining the drink.

“Ah, right,” he said, looking saddened by the thought of her leaving.  Then he took a big swig, tipping his head back until he had downed nearly half the bottle in one go.  “You could just stay over if you wanted,” he offered.  “It would save you the trouble of picking your car up from the bar at night.”

“Thanks but no thanks,” she replied immediately.

“I didn’t mean that in some weird sexual way,” he clarified.

“I didn’t think you did.  But my parents would flip out if I didn’t come home.”

Zane smirked.  “How old are you again?”

Melody groaned and rolled her eyes.  “Ugh I know, tell me about it!  I can’t wait to move out.”

“Then don’t.”

“Ha!  I wish it was that simple, but there’s this thing called rent that landlords seem to want...”

“How do you feel about roommates?” he asked.

Melody shrugged.  “I don’t know.  I did the dorm thing for a couple years during undergrad and it was alright.  As long as I got along with the person or people I lived with, I imagine it would be fine.”

“Oh.  Well in that case, it’s such a shame you pulled me into the lake today,” Zane said with mock seriousness.  “If it hadn’t been for that, who knows what could have happened.  But that little stunt of yours made it clear we can’t get along.  Oh well, too bad.” 

“Wait...what?”

He grinned.  “I hate living alone, and I like having you around.  Move in.”

Melody’s eyes widened.  “I can’t just move in with you!”

“Why can’t you?”

“I’ve only known you for like, five minutes!”

“Technically, you’ve known me for something like two and a half decades.  You want a change and I want you here with me.  I’m easy to live with, promise.  The answer seems pretty simple,” Zane told her.  “This place is far too big for one person anyway.  There are three guest bedrooms, so you can have your pick of any of them.”

“Even if I was considering moving in – which I’m not – I wouldn’t be able to afford half the rent on this place,” Melody told him.  “My student loan repayments eat up nearly all the money I bring in from freelancing.  I’m pretty much broke.”

“There is no rent.  I own this place outright.”

“You do?”

“Mmhmm,” he confirmed.  “It’s all mine.”

“Yeah, but even so I’d have to contribute...”  Melody’s tone was less decisive now.  Initially she had thought Zane’s proposal was crazy, but the more she thought about it, the better and better it sounded.  Oh, what she’d give to be out from under her parents’ roof!

“You would live here completely rent free.  You wouldn’t have to spend a dime.  I don’t want or need your money,” he assured her.  Then, after a brief pause, he admitted, “There’s something I didn’t exactly mention before.”

“Oh?  What’s that?”  Holding her breath, Melody waited expectantly for him to drop a bomb.

“I invested most of my settlement money from the accident in the stock market.  I got lucky.  And after that I started looking into way to make my bank account grow.  I guess I looked at it as a game or something.  I got pretty obsessed...and then I got
really
lucky.”

Melody tipped her head to the side and looked at him inquisitively.  “What does that mean?”

“I’m set for life,” Zane explained.  “Actually, that’s a huge understatement.  Anyway, that’s not the point.  The point is money is no object for me and I want to help you out.  I want to help us both out.  I’m offering you a free place to live, no strings attached.”

“There are always strings.”

“That’s a cynical view,” he observed wryly.

“It’s not.  There’s a difference between cynicism and realism,” she insisted.  “I’m practical, that’s all.  Anyway, I wouldn’t feel right living here for nothing.  It would feel like I was taking advantage of you.  I couldn’t do that.  And I wouldn’t want to.” 

Despite her initial reaction, Melody was beginning to seriously consider Zane’s proposition.  It sounded too good to be true and that made her wary, but at the same time how could she
not
jump on such a great opportunity?  It was basically the answer to her prayers.

“Okay, fine.  Tell you what,” Zane said, muting the television so he could give Melody his full attention.  “You hang out with me once a week and we’ll call it even.”

She blinked.  “You can’t be serious.”

“But I am.  Give me one night a week, that’s all I ask.”

“I hang out with you once a week doing what?” Melody asked suspiciously.

“Creepy satanic rituals,” he replied without missing a beat.  “Did I forget to mention I’m a psychotic cult member?  Stick with me and I’ll take you to my home planet when the mother ship returns to collect the enlightened ones.”

“Dammit, why do I always attract the crazies?” Melody grumbled, making a rude face at Zane.

“Relax,” he chuckled after making a face back at her.  “We can watch movies, go to karaoke in the city or go out to eat.  I don’t care.  How about this:  I let
you
decide how we spend our time together.  Would that make you feel more comfortable?”

“Okay,” she agreed.  “I guess we’ve got ourselves a deal.”