Make Me Melt (10 page)

He smiled and hugged
her. “I was hoping you’d say that.” 

Chapter Fifteen

Vicky got ready to go
to church with her mother for the annual Christmas Eve mass when she heard the
doorbell ring. If she hadn’t been wearing nothing more than a towel she might
have tried to answer it. Luckily her mother had yelled that she was answering
it. 

She slipped on a pair
of jeans and looked for a nice blouse to wear when her mother knocked on the
door. 

“Just a second.”

Her mother opened the
door, ignoring her request to wait. “Mom!” 

“What?” 

Vicky stood there,
covering her tatas and wondering at what point in her life her mother would
ever stop caring about the normal boundaries that most people would not cross.

“I’m getting dressed,”
she explained with annoyance. 

“I hate to break this
to you, honey, but I have seen you naked more times than I can count.” 

“Yeah when I was a
little girl.” Vicky turned and pulled a bra from her suitcase and quickly put
it on. 

“You’ll always be a
little girl to me.” 

“Yeah well I also
have C-cup boobs, so if it’s all the same, I’d rather not be naked around
you.” 

Connie shrugged.
“Fine. Whatever.”

Vicky pulled a red
sweater from her suitcase and turned toward her mom. “So who was at the
door?” 

“Huh? Oh… a neighbor
picking up a pie.” 

Vicky eyed her mother
curiously. Connie Browning was eternally truthful and every attempt she’d ever
made at a lie had always failed miserably. This was clearly one of those
times. 

Any other night she
might have questioned her mother further, but she hadn’t the energy to do so
tonight. As it was she was running late. She’d been lagging all day from a
restless night filled with far too many frustrating thoughts of Michael. 

She’d regretting
leaving him the moment she’d done it. She’d had to do it, though. He was a
Marine. He had a whole other life somewhere. Even though she knew that was what
was happening, she’d hoped having her walk away from him would soften the blow
to her heart. 

Despite all the years
apart, last night had reminded her of that love she’d felt for him. When he was
inside her, taking her to heights of pleasure she hadn’t felt in years she
realized exactly why she’d had zero interest in her husband. To put it simply,
he hadn't been Michael. 

She was sure that
made her selfish and utterly insane on some level and she knew she probably
needed to seek counseling when she returned to Denver. It couldn’t be normal
for anyone to hold onto their high school sweetheart the way she obviously had
for all of these years. 

As crazy as it was
though, that seemed to be exactly what she’d done. And she had absolutely no
doubts that when she got back to Denver she’d cry her eyes out over him all
over again. 

Not now though. Not
on Christmas. She’d promised her mom they would have a great holiday together.
If that meant pushing her feelings for Michael aside for the next week or
however long he remained in Dove Creek then that would have to be what she
would do. 

“Vicky? Hello?” 

She turned to see her
mother waving her hand in front of Vicky’s face. “Huh?” 

“I was trying to talk
to you. Where exactly were you just then?” 

“Oh, sorry mom. What
were you saying?” 

“I said I need you to
go over to Mrs. Barnett’s house and help her with the drinks she’s bringing to
church tonight.” 

Michael’s mother? No.
Not just no, but hell no. She couldn’t go over there. Especially not after last
night. 

“Mrs. Barnett’s
house? Why? Can’t her sons help her?” 

Her mother crossed
her arms and gave her a look of disappointment. “Now, Vicky Browning is that
how I raised you? You know us here at Dove Creek have always looked out for one
another. If Mrs. Barnett says she needs help, then she needs help.” 

“But, Mom—” 

She argued like she
was a teenager all over again, until her mother quickly cut her off. “No. Now,
I have other things to take care of at the church early. I need you to do this
for me.”

“Mom, please. I don’t
want to go over there,” she begged.

“Vicky, for crying
out loud, you and Michael dated over a decade ago. Aren’t you a grown woman
now? Go over there and help her with the drinks. It’s not that difficult of a
job.” 

She began to argue a
second time, but her mother held up her hand dismissively and left the
room. 

Vicky sat on the edge
of her bed, half dressed and the wind nearly knocked out of her as she tried to
fight the panic attack she felt coming on. 

Looking at herself in
the mirror she said, “You are so screwed.”

Chapter Sixteen

Vicky had been
dragging her feet the entire walk over to the Barnett house. She still couldn’t
believe that her mother’s overly generous personality was causing her to go to
the very place she wanted to avoid. 

As she approached the
house she silently prayed Michael wouldn’t be there. Maybe he was out for a
walk or already at the church, or so she tried to convince herself while
walking up the front steps to the door. 

She exhaled a breath
of courage and knocked on the front door. No one answered and she waited a
moment before knocking again. Then the door clicked and opened slowly. 

“Hello?” she asked
when she stepped inside. 

The room was dark
except for a light coming from the kitchen. Figuring Mrs. Barnett had opened
the door before quickly returning to the kitchen to get the drinks, Vicky
closed the door and stepped into the living room. 

“Mrs. Barnett?” 

“She’s gone,” Michael
said.

She turned to see him
standing on the landing by the front door. “Michael? What… where’s your
mom?” 

“She’s at the church
already. Along with my brother and Kaylee.” 

“But I thought… my
mom
 
said…”

“You mom did me a
favor.” 

“You mean…?” She shook
her head and made her way for the door, angry that not only him but her mother
had played a part in duping her. 

He stepped in front
of her and stopped her from leaving. “No. I’m not going to let you run away
this time.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me.” 

Now angry, she balled
her fists at her sides in an effort to hide her emotions. It was bad enough
that her heart would be left broken once they went back to their own lives, but
to force her to stay and prolong the heartache was just cruel.

“Michael Barnett, I
don’t know who you think you are, but I can leave if I want to.” 

“You’re right.” He
nodded. “You can. On one condition.” 

“And what might that
be?” She crossed her arms.

“I’ll step out of the
way and let you leave. I won’t run after you, I won’t even try to stop
you.” 

“As long as I do
what?” she asked, thoroughly annoyed at his pushiness.

“All you have to do
is tell me that you don’t love me.” 

“What?” 

“You heard me. Tell
me you don’t love me and I’ll let you go.” 

“Look, I don’t know
what kind of game you are playing, but I—” 

Her words were
silenced by his lips. He crushed them against hers and devoured her in an
instant. His tongue greedily slipped inside her mouth and stroked her own. Any
fight she had left in her quickly dissipated as she felt herself melting into
him. 

He made it all seem
so easy and feel so right. She hated him for that. She wished she held the
willpower to walk away from him now before he did it to her. 

The kiss lasted for
minutes before he pulled away. They were both breathless as he leaned into her.
“You can’t kiss me like that and expect me to believe you don’t have feelings
for me.” 

“Michael…why…?”

“Why what? Why do I
kiss you? Or why does it feel so right?”

“Why are you doing
this?” 

“What am I doing,
Vick? What’s so wrong with us?” 

She shook her head,
fighting against his hold until she freed herself and stepped away. She needed
to put distance between them before she fell completely under his spell. 

“There is no us,
Michael. There was. A long time ago. But that was a lifetime ago. We’re not
kids anymore.”

“Exactly. We’re not.
We’re both adults. I’ve grown up. I don’t want to live another thirteen years
wondering how my life would have turned out if I hadn’t of let you go.” 

“We let each other go,”
she reminded him.

“But I was the
catalyst. I know that. I know how badly I hurt you. But more than that, I hurt
myself. I love you, Vicky. I loved you then, but I was too young and stupid to
do anything about it. I don’t want to lose you a second time. I can’t.” 

“What? You’re a
Marine now. You have a life out there. A life that—” 

“Is missing
something. It’s missing you.” 

“Me?” she asked in
bewilderment, wondering if she was dreaming and hadn’t woken up from last
night.

He smiled at her and
stepped closer. Lifting his hands, he cupped her cheeks and brushed his thumbs
across them. “Have I ever told you how adorable you are when you are surprised
by something? Your eyes get wide and your mouth hangs open. It’s so
cute.” 

“Michael, I…”

“Say it.” He dropped
his head against her forehead. “Tell me you love me, too. I can see it in your
eyes, baby. All you have to do it say it. Tell me.” 

She closed her eyes,
mad at herself for being so damn transparent when it came to him. He’d always
seen right through her. Even when they were young, she could never keep
anything from him.

“I do,” she
whispered. “I love you.” 

“Thank God.” 

He crushed his mouth
against hers. Fierce and with intention, he kissed her in a way that evoked
more than passion. It held promise and for the first time she truly believed he
loved her. 

He bent down and
scooped her up into his arms.

“Michael, what are
you doing?” 

“Shh. I’ve got something
I want to show you.” 

He pushed open the
back door and carried her through the yard until he got to the garage.

“Can you reach the
handle?”

“You know I can
walk,” she reminded him.

“I’m trying to be
romantic, so open the door.” 

She smiled and did as
he asked. She had no idea what he was planning, other than maybe another night
like the one they shared less than twenty-four hours ago. Unless of course she
was dreaming and none of this was actually real. Even if it did turn out to be
exactly that, she had every intention of enjoying the hell out of it.

He kicked the door
shut with his foot and carried her up the wooden steps.  She wished she
hadn’t done so much eating since getting to her mom’s place. She must have put
on five pounds in the last two days. Something his back could probably
feel. 

She didn’t wait for
him to ask her this time. When they reached the top of the stairs she opened
the door so they could go inside. And as soon as they did she saw the flashing
lights of the small tree he’d set up on the desk by the window. 

“Michael? I can’t
believe you—” 

“What?
Remembered?” 

She smiled and
realized then that any doubt she had left no longer mattered. His eyes were
sincere, his words true and everything he told her was something she’d wished
for. 

“It looks like the
tree I put up here for you our senior year.” 

“I know.” 

He set her down on
the bed and crossed the room to the tree. Picking up a small box he came back
and knelt before her. 

“I got this for you.”

“Oh no. I feel awful,
I didn’t get you anything.”

“Yeah you did. You
told me you loved me. I’ve been waiting to hear that longer than even I
realized.”

She couldn’t help but
smile at how sweet he was being. The old Michael never had a silver tongue. He
struggled finding the right things to say to her more times than she could
count. This new side to him was nice. 

“Should I open it
now?” 

“I hope so. It’s been
sitting in that box for thirteen years.” 

Her eyes widened.
“You mean you got this—” 

“Right before I left
for basic training.”