“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Houston’s voice cut through the room like the blade of a knife.
“Well, now,” Mr. Hines blubbered behind her, sounding extremely nervous.
Melda sighed heavily.
“Is there something we can do for you?” Leave it to her boss to try and blunder his way through his rude behavior in front of someone he thought might be a potential client.
“You can keep your hands off Melda’s ass.”
She jerked her head around toward Mr. Hines in time to see the flush creep up his neck to douse his face in red. “Really?” she asked hands on hips. Looked like the pervert was back now that the girlfriend and office help were gone.
“I wasn’t—” Mr. Hines began, but she and Houston both cut him off.
“Yes, you were.”
“Does he do that often?” Houston asked her.
“He’s been known to accidentally brush me,” Melda answered with emphasis on
accidentally
.
“Perhaps I should introduce myself then.” Houston strode over, and Melda hid a smile as Mr. Hines backed up quickly. “I’m Houston Davis, Melda’s boyfriend.”
“I didn’t know she had a boyfriend.” Mr. Hines sent her a glare as he lied. She’d told him she had one, a lie but still. Like it should matter if she did or not.
“Doesn’t matter,” Houston said, obviously sharing her thoughts.
She considered stepping in and letting Houston know she’d handle it. But really, she always said she would, but she never did anything. She was the peacemaker, afraid to rock the boat.
Suddenly, it clicked in her head what she was doing. She tolerated all the things Mr. Hines did and said because she was afraid he’d fire her if she didn’t. Skye and Deja were always trying to get her to stand up to him, to quit and walk away, but she didn’t.
Maybe it was reliving her past this morning with Houston, but she suddenly realized a few things. She loved her job, but it was just a job. She had enough experience under her belt at this point that she didn’t need to worry about not getting an offer somewhere else. She had nothing to prove any more. She didn’t have to be the perfect worker to prove Mrs. Potts’ trust in her for recommending Melda to Mr. Hines was validated. Thinking back on the only mother figure she’d ever known, she admitted Mrs. Potts would have never allowed Melda to stay if she knew about Mr. Hines’ wandering hands.
“I’ve warned you for the last time,” Melda said, surprising herself with the bottled emotions suddenly spilling from her. “I quit.”
She stood up, refusing to acknowledge the blinking light of the answering machine. She expected to be choked by the need to hold on to the familiar, but she wasn’t. She honestly felt free in a way she hadn’t for a very long time.
“Now, Melda, I know you don’t mean that.”
Any other time she would have agreed with him, but not today, not right now. She laughed and only stopped when she realized both Houston and Mr. Hines were looking intently at her.
“I mean it,” she vowed with a nod.
“You can’t just walk away from these buildings.”
“They’re just buildings,” she said, repeating the words her sisters had been saying for years. She’d always argued, but today she understood. She loved the work, but she could do the same thing somewhere else, somewhere she’d be appreciated. It wasn’t as if she’d never had other offers. It was time to take them more seriously.
“You don’t mean that.”
She almost gave another laugh at the look of panic on Mr. Hines face. “Good luck,” she said instead.
“Ready?” she asked Houston.
“Whenever you are.” His gaze reflected concern for her, but he didn’t voice it out loud.
“Melda.” Mr. Hines said her name quietly as she took Houston’s hand and tugged him toward the door. She did laugh when he sent a dark look toward her boss when Mr. Hines called her name again.
“You okay?” Houston asked as the stepped outside, the panicked yelling of her name following them on the air.
“I am,” she said. “I really am.”
“So, it looks like you have the next few days completely free.”
She laughed as she nodded. Who knew how long she had free before she found another job? “Looks like it.”
“You’re not worried, are you?”
“No, I have enough in savings to see me through for a bit. Besides, I’ve had plenty of job offers over the years. I’ll just let it be known I’ve finally quit.”
“Melda, he’s never done anything else has he?”
She shook her head. “No. He’s always brushed against me, patted my butt for a job well done, but he’s never forced himself on me.”
Houston looked pissed. “How long have you worked here?”
“Since I was a junior in high school.”
“I’ll kill him,” Houston muttered and turned toward the building.
She grabbed his arm and tugged him back to her, wrapping her arms around his waist and hugging him close to keep him in place. “It’s my fault as much as his.”
“How the fuck do you figure that?”
“I let him get away with it,” she admitted with a sigh.
“Why?”
“I was afraid. I don’t think I realized that until today. This was my first real job, the only one I’ve ever known.” She laughed. “I just realized something. Skye works as a manager at a club. It feeds her need to always be in control. She can’t stand anything that threatens her control or anyone. Deja is a free spirit. She works as a temp going from job to job, always something new. Until recently, she was the same way with relationships. And me. I find something and hold on tight, so afraid of losing it I don’t realize it may not be the best thing for me.”
“Baby,” he whispered the word as he clasped her tightly against him.
“I’m okay, Houston. To be honest, I think it was talking to you this morning that woke me up. Skye and Deja have been trying to get me to leave this job almost from the day I took it. But I think they both know how important it was to me.”
“They love you.”
“They do. I’m very lucky.”
“What would you like to do today?”
“I have no idea,” she admitted as she tugged her keys from her pocket and handed them to him. “I’m a little shaky. Adrenaline crash, I think. Hope you don’t mind driving.”
He took the keys and with his arm around her waist hugging her against his side, he led her to the passenger side and opened the door for her. “I’d understand if you wanted to go home, or call one of your sisters up and spend the day with them.”
She turned on the seat, so her legs could grip the outside of his thighs where he stood in the open door. “You’re not getting out of our date that easily,” she warned him. “I believe you made some promises yesterday. Something about marking me?”
She felt his body go rigid at her reminder, and she dropped her gaze to take in the solid bulge of his erection pressed against his jeans. She reached out and let her hands trace over him. He caught her fingers and brought them back to his chest, cradling them there.
“Today, I want to learn all about you. I want to know what you like, what you hate, what you wish.”
“I’m not that complicated.”
“But you are that interesting.”
She was shaking her head, opening her mouth to refute his claim when he kissed her. Easing back, he met her gaze.
“You are to me, Melda.”
He stepped back and tapped her knee so she’d turn and move her legs out of the door. He closed it with a smooth click, and she watched him move around the hood to the driver’s door.
He was smiling as he jumped in. “Where should we start our day?”
Melda sat for a minute while she thought carefully about what she wanted to do. “Let’s go back to my house. There are some things there I’d like to show you.”
He groaned and started to shake his head, which made Melda laugh.
“I’m not going to seduce you. Not yet. Not intentionally.”
“Baby, you just breathe and I’m hard.”
She felt her cheeks blush at his words, which was laughable considering all the things they’d done. Those thoughts made her think of how his palm had made her ass blush and increased the color on her cheeks.
Houston laughed. “I’m not sure what you’re thinking, but I’m certain I don’t want to know. I’m already on edge.” He reached across the seat and linked their fingers together, tugging her over until she sat beside him.
“Do you have any other family?” Melda asked as he turned and headed back toward her house.
He shrugged his broad shoulders, but she felt the brush of tension in him. “No family.”
Melda wasn’t sure what to say. She could hear a world of hurt in that brief response. So she squeezed his hand and leaned closer into his side. He’d thrown the words out nonchalantly, as if they meant nothing.
“What about those last few years of school?”
“I played sports in school. Joined every club I could think of. Anything that didn’t require a lot of money.” He shrugged again, then glanced down at her with a smile. “But I found family in the Marines. Hell, I have two brothers now. We even have the same last name.”
Her heart broke for him. So big and strong, and yet, his heart was incredibly tender. Maybe that was one of the reasons she found it so easy to talk to him.
Houston pulled in the drive, and together they walked up the path and entered the house. She led him to the living room and told him to have a seat before she headed to her bedroom and opened the drawer she kept her personal mementos in. She sorted through the bundles of letters and took a rubber-banded stack out, then headed back to Houston.
“Here.” She held the bundle of letters out to him.
“What are these?” He took them and began working the bands off.
“These are the letters I wrote to you that I never mailed.”
His gaze sought hers. “Why?”
“Because they were too personal, revealed too much. I thought maybe you’d like to read them.”
He searched her eyes with his, as if trying to look deep inside her. “Do you want me to read them?”
Slowly, she nodded her head. “I do. I really do. While you read, I’m going to go take a look in the kitchen. I thought maybe, if you didn’t have other plans, I’d cook dinner for us all tonight.”
Houston smiled and stood, letting the letters rest on the cushion as he took her in his arms and hugged her close. “That sounds great. Is it all right if I join you when I’m done reading?”
“Do you like to cook?”
He grinned, dropping a kiss to her lips. “No, but I’d watch you do anything.”
She laughed. “I’ll go see what my options are.”
She left him there with the letters she’d been too afraid to send. Those were the ones where she’d talked about her fear of being left or replaced. They were the ones where she laid her heart bare, sharing all her hopes and dreams, not just the ones she was comfortable sharing. Those were the letters where she shared all her broken pieces, where she confessed to her fear of being alone and unlovable. She’d vowed to rip them up or burn them. Instead, they were kept in the same drawer as the ones she’d received from the fictional “Davis”. But, for some reason, this felt right. As if Houston was meant to see them, to read them, and know these things about her. She’d share them with Darius and Cruz as well. But for now, this was right.
She glanced over the bar at him several times, but he never looked up while he read. She did her best to keep her hands and mind occupied with planning a meal for their dinner that night.
Houston joined her a short time later, his arms wrapping around her waist, his head dipping so his lips could brush along her neck as she stirred a pot of melting chocolate on the stove. She’d decided to dip different fruits and let them cool on wax paper.
“You’re beautiful,” he whispered at her temple, and she knew he wasn’t just commenting on her appearance. “I left the letters out front for Darius to pick up, so he and Cruz can share this part of you too. Is that all right with you?”
She nodded, reaching down to turn the heat off and move the pot.
“I want to make love to you, to just forget the rules and agreements we all made. I want to hold you in my arms and show you how much it means to me that you chose to share this with me, with us.” He gently turned her to face him. “I want to tell you how amazing you are, how you make me feel every time you smile at me.”
“How do I make you feel?” She interrupted him to ask.
“Alive. So incredibly alive. The tilt of your lips and my heartbeat speeds up, my palms get sweaty. You make me nervous.” He laughed. “I’ve faced armed gunmen with more calm.”
“I’m not that bad.”
“You’re perfect. To me. For us. In every way that matters. And I hope you’ve decided to give us all the chance to show you how great this can be. Darius, Cruz, and I want to make you happy, every day for the rest of our lives.”
She leaned up on tiptoe to kiss him. She was starting to believe it was possible to have this for more than the four dates they’d agreed on. When she was with them, the rest of the world seemed to melt away. The only people whose opinions mattered to her were her sisters. Deja would get it right away, and Skye would accept it when she saw how happy Melda was. Maybe there was more to life than holding on to what you had. Maybe the best things came when you least expected it, and you weren’t afraid to reach for them.
Chapter Eight
Darius and Cruz came over for dinner and then headed back down the street to do whatever Houston had instructed them to do for tonight. She was still surprised at how easy it was to be with all of them. Usually sex changed a relationship, and she’d been worried it might cause problems between the guys, despite their assurances and what Deja had shared about her men. But there was an easy camaraderie among them that reassured her.
Now she and Houston were leaving her house behind and walking to the one he was renting with Darius and Cruz. She knew the rules, knew what to expect when she stepped in the door. Her heart was racing, her body shaking with nervous energy. Yesterday, Houston had given her an idea of what he might have planned for tonight. She couldn’t wait.
“I can feel your hands shaking,” Houston said as he lifted their linked fingers to his mouth, placing a kiss on the back of her hand.