Lori Foster - UP In Flames

He was still cad enough to love seeing a woman’s blush, especially Mel’s. “Do tell.”

She wouldn’t look at him. “Stop trying to distract me.”

“I was distracting myself.” Not that it would take much with her standing there still damp, her skin dewy, her skirt and halter clinging to her body. She was as thin as she’d been in high school, her ribs visible below the halter top, but she looked so soft, too, so damn female.

He cleared his throat. “All right. We’ll skip undies altogether. Find something else. This’ll do.” He lifted out a black T-shirt he’d brought for the trip home, to wear with his jeans. Once the business meeting ended, he’d planned to get comfortable again. He positively hated suits.

Mel shook her head. “Black isn’t good because it’ll be harder to see if you’re still bleeding.”

“It’s either this or your panties. Take your pick.”

She took the T-shirt. “You always were a rotten bully, Adam Stone.”

“So you ought to be used to it, right?” He was done trying to convince her he’d changed. What difference did it make, anyway? When all was said and done, they were still separated by a background that would never alter.

Adam drew his key ring from his bag. It had a small but lethally sharp pocketknife attached. He attacked the shirt with a vengeance.

Staring at the knife, Mel asked, “Why in the world are you carrying that?”

“Old instincts are hard to shake. I got the knife when I was sixteen, when we still lived by the river.” He glanced at her, saw her appalled expression and shook his head. “I’ve never gutted anyone, honey. I’ve just kept it for protection. And because now I’m used to carrying it.”

“Good grief, do you still have your leather jacket, too?”

He grinned. “As a matter of fact, yeah, I do. But it’s too small for me to wear anymore. My mother bought me that jacket by taking in sewing. It means a hell of a lot to me. Of course, if she’d known what a redneck I felt like wearing it, she probably would have taken it back.”

She laughed. “You did have your moments of mischief.”

Adam tipped his head and studied her. “What about you?”

“What about me?”

He tweaked a dark, glossy curl by her ear. “You still got those Minnie Mouse combs you used to wear in your hair, one on each side?”

She looked surprised that he remembered; he could have told her there was little he’d ever forgotten, at least about her. He remembered the cute little dresses she used to wear, how serious she always looked, how alone.

His heart twisted in a familiar pang, and he cleared his throat. He didn’t have the material things she’d had, but he’d had a close group of friends and always knew his family was there to give him as much moral support as he needed. “Do you still have them?”

She dipped her head to hide her face. “I do. I bought them myself when I turned fourteen. My mother thought they were frivolous, but I always loved them.”

“Worth a lot, huh?”

“Worth a lot to me, but not to too many other people.”

Adam felt like they were suddenly on dangerous ground. He knew Melanie had never had the best relationship with her parents. They’d loved her, there was never any doubt of that. But their expectations had always been pretty high. She wasn’t allowed to be a regular kid, with regular faults. She was supposed to be better than that. Maybe those silly little combs had been her first attempt at independence.

Adam abruptly changed the subject. He didn’t like seeing her so melancholy. He’d take her temper any day. “So what are we doing here? Do you want to use this damn shirt or not? Or are you just waiting for me to bleed to death.”

“You said you weren’t bleeding that much anymore!”

He shrugged, which only annoyed her more. He handed her the sliced-up T-shirt, then suffered through her efforts.

Actually suffer was a very apt word. Despite her new pique, she didn’t hurt him. But she was so gentle when she cleaned away the rest of the sand and smoothed his hair, when she held the wadded bandage in place then wrapped a strip of the shirt around his forehead like a headband. Her scent enveloped him again, and twice he felt her breasts brush his shoulder.

Oh, hell. He was wearing no more than snug boxers, and his interest would be blatantly obvious if he didn’t distract himself and quick.

“So what were you doing on this trip, all alone? Very few people vacation without a companion.”

She carefully knotted the wrap. With a shrug in her tone, she said, “I’m used to being alone. And it makes it easier for me to think.”

“To think about what?”

She finished with his bandage and sat back on her heels. The skirt pulled tight over her long thighs and smooth knees. That held his attention for several heartbeats, and when he finally looked at her face, he decided she looked uncertain. Adam thought she’d refuse to answer, but she lifted one shoulder and said, “About what to do with myself for the rest of my life.”

“You couldn’t figure that out back in Brockton?” Adam closed his bag and stood.

She stood also and dusted the sand off herself. “There were...distractions at home.”

He took her hand with his free one and started them down the beach again. Mel didn’t object, and he enjoyed touching her. Her fingers were so slender, her hand so tiny in his large one. “What kind of distractions?”

“Oh, family, friends...an ex-fiancé.”

That last distraction caused his stomach to tighten. Trying to sound only mildly interested, he asked, “Family?”

“Surely you remember my mother and father. They’re a bit...overwhelming. And they like to try to run my life.”

“I remember they did run your life. They pretty much chose your friends, your clothes, your first car.”

She nodded. “But that was before college. I came back a different woman.”

She looked at him, and he could tell his reaction mattered to her. He smiled. “If what I’ve seen so far is evidence, I’d say you’re very different.”

“Yes.” She let out a breath, satisfied. “But they didn’t like it much. They’re constantly trying to make my decisions for me, especially about who I marry. I needed time away from their campaigning.”

“What about your friends?”

“They mean well, but they don’t understand.”

“Understand what?”

“Me.” They walked several yards before she added, “They thought I should go back to my fiancé, that we’d make a perfect couple. Jerry is well established, influential. They all thought he worshiped me, but...”

Again his stomach clenched and his heart thumped awkwardly. The man she described was everything Adam would never be, the perfect cultured mate for a woman of her breeding. Adam had always known when Mel married, it would be to someone exactly like that.

He’d hated it then, and he hated it now.

The rain had stopped, but the humidity was almost choking. He felt he couldn’t get a deep enough breath. “So what happened?”

“I didn’t love him. And he didn’t love me.”

A warmth surged through Adam, making his muscles ripple. He clenched her hand a little tighter. “Your parents and your friends don’t think love matters?”

“They thought I’d grow to love him.”

She looked out over the ocean, avoiding his gaze. But Adam didn’t mind. Just seeing her profile was nice. He liked the upward tilt of her nose, the way her long lashes cast shadows over her cheeks. He even liked her ears.

Damn. “Do you think it’s possible you would have?”

Blue eyes darted his way, incredulous. “No. Not ever.”

“Then you made the right decision.”

“I know. But now what?” With her toes pointed, she kicked up sand and swung his hand just a little. “I mean, I need to find a job of some sort and get my life together.”