Destiny Revealed (There's Always Tomorrow Book 2) (10 page)

Tripp lets her go then goes over to the car. He exchanges a little private handshake with Vance, smacks him in the face, then takes off running back toward the station with Vance calling after him.

“Oh you are so dead, Saunders! I know where you live!”

Tripp laughs, sends Melina a wink, then disappears inside. Melina walks over to the car still laughing.

Vance smiles up at her and takes her hand. “You okay, baby?”

Melina nods. “I am now.”

“Good.” He kisses her knuckles.

The radio on the center console crackles to life and a female voice starts talking. It sounds like a bunch of gibberish to Melina but both guys listen intently. Mike picks up the radio and responds. Vance looks back at her.

“Gotta go babe, call me later.” He smiles.

“Okay, please be careful.” Melina frowns.

“Always,” Vance promises, kisses her hand again, and then lets her go.

Melina immediately steps back. Mike hits the lights and sirens, and takes off like a bat outta hell. Melina winces when the tires screech as they turn out of the parking lot. She wonders what kind of call they are going to and how much danger they are going to be in. She never realized how often police officers put their lives at risk until she started dating one. It’s beyond nerve-racking.

Saturday rolls around a little too slowly for Vance. He hasn't seen Melina since Wednesday at the station, and he’s having Melina withdrawal. She wasn't kidding when she said her days were packed. He barely had time to talk to her before she went to bed at night. He’ll be happy when this is all over and her schedule goes back to normal.

Vance checks himself in the mirror once more. He is wearing fitted, faded jeans with a button-down blue shirt, which really accentuates his baby blues. The shirt is neatly tucked in, but his sleeves are rolled up to his elbows, and he left the top two buttons undone. He added a brown belt and shoes, styled his hair, and hopes to God that he looks presentable.

Heading downstairs, he needs to get the guys out the door so they won't be late. Vance finds them all in the kitchen. He looks them over, making sure they don't look like shit, and surprisingly, they all look pretty damn good. Tripp is in charcoal gray dress pants, a red dress shirt, and a gray striped tie. Mike is dressed in dark blue jeans, a short-sleeved green and black striped button down shirt, untucked, with a loose black tie, and black slip-ons. Dayne is in black jeans, which are stuffed into the top of beat up black boots that are untied and have the tongue hanging out. He has on a navy blue vintage t-shirt with a worn black leather jacket. Ryder is wearing royal blue straight-legged jeans, a white dress shirt, yellow sweater, yellow and blue striped scarf, and penny loafers. He looks fashion forward, but definitely stands out from the bunch.

“Royal blue skinny jeans? Seriously, dude,” Dayne busts Ryder’s balls.

“Fuck off! I like to be in style,” Ryder says so seriously that they all start cracking up.

After they all finally calm down, Vance asks, “Are we ready to go?”

They all say some form of yes and start filing into the garage.

Vance drives them all in his dark gray Expedition to the show. When they get there, a valet takes Vance's truck and hands him his half of the parking stub.  As they enter, they must all pass through a metal detector. Fortunately, Melina warned them beforehand about the extra security, so they didn’t bring their guns. They are then greeted by an usher who scans their tickets and escorts them to their seats. Front row, dead center. Doesn’t get any better than that. Vance fidgets in his seat; he is nervous and anxious and excited. Unfortunately, they still have a good fifteen minutes before the show starts; they are, however, in the perfect place for prime people watching.

“Yo, Van, we are surrounded by celebrities,” Mike says from his left, elbowing him in the side.

Vance glances around. Holy shit, Mike isn't kidding. They are completely surrounded by tons of celebrities, from A-listers to D-listers; they are all over the place. Tripp is on the other side of Mike, and sitting next to him is Sarah Jessica Parker. It’s like they’re caught on the set on
Sex and the City
. Tripp tries to be subtle and sneak glances at her, but he does it a little too often and she catches him. She laughs, thank God, and introduces herself. Vance has never seen Tripp so red in his life. Dayne is on Vance's right, and Ryder is next to Dayne. Ryder is sitting next to Matt Bomer, who has Channing Tatum next to him. Are they researching for the next
Magic Mike
? he wonders.  This is absolutely crazy.

“This is so fucking awesome!” Dayne says, his knee bouncing excitedly.

Fifteen minutes later, the lights flicker off. A spotlight comes on a minute later and Lenny Kravitz is standing on stage. The crowd roars as he starts singing his fan-favorite,
American Woman.
The rest of the lights come on as the models start down the runway as Lenny continues to sing.

Lenny follows a couple of the girls down the runway, singing to them and being flirty. Dayne is in his glory next to Vance. He is biting one fist while the other is gripping Vance's shoulder. Dayne has had two dates with Harper so far. Both times ended in him coming home and immediately going to his room to take a cold shower. But apparently, they had two awesome dates; even Dayne said she was a lot of fun to be around. Vance figures that he would have gone elsewhere for relief, but he very begrudgingly said that he didn't want to fuck anyone else, his dick only wanted Harper. To say Vance was shocked is an understatement.

Vance is brought out of his thoughts by Mike slapping him on the chest with the back of one hand while the other pointed to the runway. “There she is!” he exclaims.

Vance looks up and sees Melina.

Oh my God!

Vance's mouth drops open. There are no words to describe how utterly stunning she looks. Her long dark hair is being blown back by the fans they have lining the runway, and her amazing body looks smooth and flawless. She has on a super sexy little lacey bra and panty set with the highest heels he’s ever seen.

“Fuck me,” Vance breathes and scrubs his hand over his mouth to make sure he isn’t drooling.

“I fucking hate you, dude,” Mike mutters and shakes his head.

Vance stares at her as she struts down the runway, a gorgeous smile on her face, showing off the cute dimples on both cheeks. She passes them and that's when Vance sees that she has a thong on and realizes that all of his friends are going to see his girlfriend's stellar ass.

Melina poses at the end before turning and starting back up the runway. Vance slaps his hand over Mike's eyes as she passes. Melina sees him and what he is doing, then laughs. She sends him a wink as she walks by. She continues to laugh the whole way back.

Mike shoves his hand away. “Fucker!”

“Don't look at my woman's ass.”

Mike snorts. “Whatever, I'll just go grab a catalog if I wanna see her ass.”

“I am so kicking your ass when we get home.” Vance grunts. “And I'm taking away your collection of catalogs.”

Mike barks out a laugh. “You can try motherfucker; ain't gonna happen.”

Vance laughs.

Every time Melina comes out, it’s in a different outfit, sexier than the last. Vance is tempted to jump up there and cover her up. Despite being hard as a rock, he hates that his best friends are getting to see his girlfriend practically naked. And he has no doubt that they'll be picturing her in her underwear every time they see her. They'll probably jerk off thinking about her, too.
Sonofabitch.

Vance mentally slaps himself. What did he expect? He’s dating a supermodel for Christ's sake. Guys everywhere are jerking off to thoughts and pictures of Melina. He’s just going to have to get over it. It’ll drive himself crazy and turn him into an overbearing, jealous asshole boyfriend if he doesn't let it go. He just has to keep reminding himself that she only wants him. So what if other guys look? She’s coming home with him.

Chapter 7

By the time the show ends, Melina is exhausted. But now she has to go to the after party. Not that she isn't going to have a good time, but she'd rather go home and be alone with Vance. She is dying to get her arms around him. Melina changes into a sexy black and gold figure hugging dress with gold heels. She sends one of the assistants out to the crowd to make sure that the guys have directions to the party, and to let them know that their names are on the list at the door. Melina is going to meet them there, as she is required to ride with the rest of the models in the limo.

The models arrive half an hour later and are blinded by the paparazzi as they all walk into the hotel where the after party is taking place. When Melina enters the room, her eyes are immediately scanning the place for Vance. After a couple of passes, she spots them lounging on some couches off to the side of the dance floor. Melina only gets to take one step before someone grabs her arm. She turns to see that it’s Harper.

“Hi!” Melina squeals and gives her a hug.

“Sorry, I couldn't make the show,” Harper says as they separate.

“It's okay, I know you’re busy.” Melina smiles.

“You headed over to the boys?” Harper asks.

Melina just nods affirmatively.

“I think I’ll join you.” Harper smiles mischievously.

Melina giggles and takes Harper's hand so they won't get separated in the crowd. When they make it to the guys, Harper lets her go and launches herself at an unsuspecting Dayne. He had just stood up from the couch he was sitting on when she squealed his name and jumped into his arms. Thank God she is wearing pants; otherwise, everyone would have gotten a good view of her underwear…if she’s even wearing any.  Fortunately, the couch is behind Dayne because he loses his balance while catching her and falls back onto it. Harper shoves her hands into his hair and kisses him hard. Dayne’s arms tighten around her, as their kiss turns more heated.

Vance is too caught up in the show next to him to realize she’s even standing there. Melina puts her hands on her hips and waits. Vance finally drags his gaze away from the dirty birds and sees her standing there.  He does a double take then shoots to his feet. He shoves his beer at Ryder, who is sitting on the arm of the couch, then sweeps her up in his arms. Melina wraps her arms around his neck as he captures her mouth.

“Vance...if you don't want pictures...of us kissing...” Melina breathes in between kisses.

“I don't fucking care,” Vance rasps against her lips before kissing her so passionately that her head swims.

Melina melts against him. Damn, she’s missed him. They haven’t even really gotten many opportunities to talk much the past few days. Melina is happy that the show is finally over so that she can spend time with him. Vance's hands slowly roam down her back to rest at the top of her ass, tugging her snug against him. Melina laces her hands into the back of his hair.

Vance slowly pulls away and leans his forehead on hers, his eyes still closed. “You looked so amazing up on the stage tonight,” he murmurs.

Melina smiles. “Thank you,” she says and moves her head back enough to look up at him. “I noticed you frowning a couple of times, though.” She continues to look up at him, as she waits for him to answer.

Vance looks away from her for a moment. “Yeah, I had a couple of moments of weakness where I wanted to jump up there and demand you put on clothes.” Vance looks back into her eyes, showing her that he’s being sincere. “But I got over it. I'm okay now.”

Melina just smiles then reaches up and kisses him again.

Vance leads her over to the couch, sits down, and then pulls her down onto his lap, so that she is sitting sideways. One hand is holding her hip while the other one is brushing soft caresses up and down the outside of her bare thigh. Vance looks up at her, his gaze crystal clear with desire.

Their intimate moment is interrupted when Dayne tears his mouth away from Harper with a guttural cry of aggravation. He lifts her off his lap and plops her on the couch between him and Vance as if she weighs nothing. Dayne shoots to his feet and shoves his hand down the front of his jeans to adjust himself, the whole while glaring angrily at Harper, who looks thoroughly ravaged.

“You're driving me fucking nuts! I can't take it!” Dayne shouts at her and turns to walk away.

“Where are you going?” Harper calls after him.

Dayne turns back. “Away from you!” he bellows, throwing his fists in the air. He starts to leave but turns back and points at her. “This counts as date number three.” With that, he storms off, shoving his way through the crowd.

They all stare at Dayne's disappearing figure, unsure of what to do or say. Ryder gets up off the arm of couch where he was sitting and goes after Dayne. Melina looks over at Harper. She hasn't moved from where Dayne dropped her onto the couch. Her hands are planted on the cushions on either side of her hips, her hair is tousled, her face is flushed, and her lips are swollen from their searing kiss.

Harper's eyes flick to Melina's. That’s when Melina sees that Harper is head over heels in love with Dayne. How did that happen so fast? They’ve only been on two dates – well, three, since Dayne counted tonight as one. Harper gives her a tight smile and then begins fixing herself. Melina gets up off Vance's lap, takes Harper's hand, and pulls her up.

“Let’s go to the bathroom,” Melina says to her.

Harper nods. Melina can see that she’s fighting off tears. Melina leans down for a chaste kiss on the lips before patting Vance's knee as she leads Harper off toward the bathroom.

**Dayne**

Dayne paces furiously in the hallway just outside the doors to the ballroom where the party is being held. Too many thoughts and too many emotions are racing through his brain. Emotions that he hasn't felt in years, not since he was married. But they are unwanted emotions. He absolutely refuses to have feelings for her. He has to batten down the hatches, get to date number five so he can have her, and then hit the fucking road. No way in hell is this woman gonna break him.

“Hey, man, you alright?” comes Ryder's voice from behind him.

Dayne spins around to look at him. “Fuck...no, I'm not. She does nothing but torture me; I can't stand it,” Dayne grinds out through clenched teeth.

“I don't think she does it on purpose. She’s just as affected by you as you are of her,” Ryder says softly.

Dayne makes a frustrated noise and starts to pace again. “Yeah, well, they're her rules, not mine. She can break them if she really wanted to.”

“Maybe she wants you to care about her a little bit before she lets you into her pants,” Ryder suggests.

Dayne almost blurts out that he does, but he catches himself. Ryder knows what he had been on the verge of saying, though, as he gives him a knowing look.

“Look, Dayne. I know you don't want to have feelings for her, but honestly, shit doesn't work like that. Your heart doesn't give a shit about what your brain wants, and vice versa. You know that the harder you fight it, the harder you’re gonna fall,” Ryder says.

Dayne snorts. “Oh believe me, I’m not falling for her, and I never will.” Dayne hopes saying it out loud will make it more believable, but Ryder knows him too well. God dammit!

“She's not your ex, Rachel, Dayne.” Ryder sighs.

Dayne freezes then slowly turns to face Ryder, who is only a couple of feet away. None of his friends has spoken her name since the divorce was finalized. Ryder doesn't look at all sorry for what he said. Rachel. Fuck, that wound is still so raw, even after 5 years.

“Harper is not Rachel,” Ryder repeats more firmly. 

“Stop saying her name,” Dayne says hoarsely, his eyes burning with the threat of tears.

Ryder looks at him with such sorrow and compassion that Dayne wants to sock him right in that pretty face of his. “You have to let it go, man. It's over, she's out of your life. You need to move on and find happiness with someone else.”

“I have moved on,” Dayne snaps.

Ryder snorts. “Please, save it. You haven't had one relationship in five years, and you treat women like shit. You have done anything but moved on.” Ouch.

“I don't...I don't treat women like shit,” Dayne says, not completely convinced by his statement either.

Ryder gives him a bored look and crosses his arms over his chest. “The only reason you're dating Harper is because you wanna fuck her, then what? You're gonna dump her because you got what you wanted? That's fucked up, Dayne, and you know it. That's no way to treat her; she doesn't deserve it. She isn't the one who hurt you; you shouldn't take it out on her.”

Dayne rakes a hand through his hair. “Why the hell are you getting on me about this now? You've never said anything about all of the other women I've screwed.” Dayne sighs. He’s pretty sure he knows what Ryder's answer is going to be.

“Because whether you want to admit it or not, you both care about each other, and I don’t want you to hurt her to the point that you won't be able to fix it,” Ryder tells him, even though he already knew what he was going to say.

Dayne drops his chin to his chest and heaves out a breath. Goddamn Ryder. Why does he have to go and say shit like that, making his conscience wake up and agree? Dayne takes in a deep breath and lifts his head to look at Ryder.

“Fine, I'm done with her then,” Dayne grinds out, his chest tightening. Why does he feel like his heart is being ripped out and stomped on? Oh God, he can't even think of the reasons why, he'd have a panic attack.

“Or you can stay with her and see where things go,” Ryder says, giving him a pointed look.

Dayne shakes his head. “No, I'll end it now before she gets attached.”

Ryder shakes his head and sighs. “You're hopeless.”

“Whatever,” Dayne mutters then heads back into the party with Ryder on his tail.

Harper is gone when he and Ryder return to the guys. Dayne realizes that Melina is gone, too. They must have gone off somewhere together. Vance is still on the couch, and Mike has taken the spot next to him. Tripp is in an armchair adjacent to them. They all give him blank faces so he has no idea what they are thinking; cop faces from all three of them. Bastards. 

“Where did Harper go?” Dayne asks.

“Melina took her to the bathroom,” Vance replies blandly.

Dayne frowns in confusion at Vance's phrasing. “Took her to the bathroom?”

Dayne catches the flash of disgust in Vance's eyes. “Harper got a bit emotional, so Melina took her to the bathroom to…get herself together.”

Dayne clenches his teeth against the sudden onslaught of guilt, but it doesn't really help. He feels his stomach knot at the thought that he was the one who hurt her and caused her to be upset. And now he’s going to cause her more pain when he tells her that it’s over between them. Why does that bother him so fucking much?

Because you fucking care about her you stupid asshole!
He chastises himself.

Dayne rakes a hand through his hair and curses. This is not going at all the way that he planned. After his wife smashed his heart into a million pieces, he never thought that he'd feel anything for another woman ever again. His ex, Rachel, cheated on him only six months into their marriage. That wasn't the worst part; the worst part was that she was cheating on him with his half-brother, Ryan. And to top it all off, Dayne caught them together in his bed. Dayne beat Ryan within an inch of his life. If Ryder hadn't been with him, Dayne might be in jail for murder today.

Dayne hasn't seen or heard anything about them since it all went down. Dayne and Ryan share the same mother but have different fathers. Actually, they used to be pretty close. Dayne told his mother never to talk about Ryan in front of him, and he refused to go to any family gatherings that Ryan was going to be at. It killed his mother, but Dayne couldn’t be around him without wanting to rip his throat out.

Dayne gave his heart to that fucking cunt, and what did she do with it? Tore it out, stomped on it, spit on it, and left it for dead. Dayne has been a completely different person after that night - a colder, much harder person - and there has been no recovering from it.

Harper and Melina return, pulling Dayne out of his horrible memories. Harper's eyes look a bit bloodshot and her nose is pinker than usual. She has been crying. Why? Why was she crying? She is too happy and upbeat and strong to be crying. Dayne can barely look at her; she is breaking his heart with her sad eyes.