shop and out back to his car, I’m surprised by how natural it feels to have my fingers wrapped up in his. How right.
He glances back at me, grinning, and anticipation shoots through me all over again as I realize that, in five short dates, we might be wrapped up in a much more intimate fashion…
Chapter 12
Nick
The scene at the police station is bad, but not as bad as I was fearing on the way over. Melody didn’t cry—wouldn’t have blamed her if she did, I just know it would rip me up to watch it—and I didn’t give in to the urge to punch the wall when I heard exactly what Seth did to her.
Nash, of course, was a total pro, as I knew he would be. My big brother has always been the model everything—model son, model student, model cop.
He makes Melody feel safe and listened to and assures her that her identity will be kept secret, even from her family, if that’s what she wants. He sends a team to search the bar for signs of a struggle and issues a “stop and hold” order to make sure other officers in the county have Seth’s description and know he’s wanted for questioning in Bliss River.
Nash assures Melody that she’s doing the right thing—even if this ends in nothing more than a misdemeanor charge and fine, she’s still done something important. She stood up for herself, and hopefully helped deter Seth from doing something like this again.
Given the situation, I couldn’t have asked for things to go more smoothly.
Still, after two hours of statements and paperwork, “relieved” is too gentle a word to describe how grateful I am to be walking out of the station with my arm around Melody.
Melody, the girl I’m dating.
The thought is simultaneously weird as hell and the best thing that’s happened to me in a long, long time. I just hope I’m ready. I hadn’t planned on getting involved with anyone, not so soon after the Sarah Beth disaster, but I can’t deny it feels way better to be making plans with Melody than trying to avoid her.
And it isn’t like I was able to keep her out of my head for more than ten minutes at a time anyway. I was already slipping on the slick concrete at the edge of the relationship pool, might as well dive in and see what the water’s like.
We drive to the diner in silence, but not an uncomfortable one. We both just seem to need some time to process the events of the evening. But as soon as we’re seated in a shiny red diner booth, two cups of coffee steaming on the table between us, the conversation comes easier than I expected.
We talk about Melody’s time in culinary school and my apprenticeship with an Atlanta tattoo artist. Melody confesses that she’s surprised by how much she loves my work, and that she never expected a tattoo to affect her as strongly as my phoenix.
I’m about to confess I was just as affected by her singing—I really was excited when I thought I’d have the chance to hear her sing tonight—when her cell rings.
She glances at the display and frowns.
“Who is it?” I ask.
“I don’t know.” She sighs. “But I guess I should answer, in case it’s someone at the police department.”
She taps the screen and brings the phone to her ear, but after her initial “Hello,” she falls silent, her lips parting in surprise as the person on the other end of the line speaks rapidly in a distressed tone. I can’t make out the other person’s words, but the fact that he or she is upset comes through loud and clear in the thin whine issuing from the speaker.
“No, please, Lila,” Melody says after several minutes. “No, really, I— Please, I—” She breaks off, obviously having difficulty getting a word in. “It isn’t your fault. Really. Please don’t blame yourself.” She pauses, nodding at something the other woman is saying, “Yes. Okay. Absolutely. I appreciate your call.”
She meets my gaze, shooting me a reassuring smile. I relax my fisted hands, laying them flat on the table, not realizing I’d tensed up until that moment. But something about Melody stirs up protective instincts in me, things I usually only feel around my nieces and nephews.
It’s strange, but not in a bad way.
Not a bad way at all.
“Oh, really?” Melody’s smile widens. “Well, thank you so much, I—” She nods for a few beats before