Say Goodbye to Melody

by Velvet Vaughn

  “Why didn’t you say something,” she shrieked as she scrabbled for a towel to wrap around her body. “I’m practically naked.”

  He didn’t think mentioning he’d seen many, many women naked would ease the situation. Still, none had ever affected him as she had, and that was something to think about. Her body wasn’t Playboy material with a comically enhanced chest. Still, her breasts would fit perfectly in his big hands and he had the overwhelming urge to mold his palms around them. He clenched his fists so he didn’t do just that. “I heard you scream, Mel. I thought you were in danger.”

  “Well, obviously I’m not, so you can go now.”

  “Right.” He turned and grabbed for the handle. Oops, the door was split down the middle and hanging by one hinge. Damn cheap builder grade materials.

  “I’ll be downstairs.”

  #

  Melody couldn’t stop her racing heart. She’d stood in front of the most gorgeous man on the planet in her plain beige bra and panties without a stitch of lace to decorate the nylon fabric, her hair doing a mighty fine impression of Tina Turner’s hair circa the 80’s, cuts and bruises marring her face and arms. She looked exactly like what she was—a crash victim.

  She hadn’t meant to scream and worry him, but without looking at a mirror, she could pretend that the bruising and swelling weren’t nearly as bad as they felt. That the hair she couldn’t even run her fingers through was just a few snarls. Nothing serious. But when she’d snapped on the unforgiving florescent lights and glanced in the mirror, the vision that greeted her had been the love child of Frankenstein and his wild-haired bride.

  She’d been so appalled by the sight, she hadn’t given one iota of thought to what she was wearing, or more precisely, not wearing. Grant had barged in, given her the most amazing compliment of her life and then held her close. Those had been the only things going through her mind. Grant called her beautiful…no, not just beautiful but stunning. If she didn’t know better, she’d think he was the one with the concussion.

  She knew they needed to get out of the house, but she couldn’t face the rest of his coworkers looking like week-old roadkill. She jumped in the shower and slathered conditioner on her hair, letting it do it’s magic while she lathered up and washed the dirt and grime from her body. After rinsing off, she grabbed a towel and dried off. She was able to get a pick through her hair to untangle the knots. She didn’t have time to dry it, so she pulled it back into a ponytail. After a quick swipe of Harmony on her face, she dressed in the sweatshirt and yoga pants. A pair of socks and sneakers and she was good to go. She already felt better just by being clean.

  She headed to her bedroom and glanced around, a little disappointed Grant had made good on his promise to head downstairs. She rummaged in her closet for a small bag and then retraced her steps to collect her toiletries. After packing up her laptop, she rushed over to the rug beside her bed and lifted it to reveal the floor safe. Only Max knew about its existence. She kept her passport and important papers inside, as well as cherished pictures of her parents. It also held her secret formula for her face cream. She had it memorized as well, but this was backup.

  After opening the lock, she grabbed her passport and the flash drive with the formula but left the other papers. It was fireproof, so they would be safe. After she closed the lid, she reset the lock and arranged the rug over it. She tucked the flash drive into a hidden pocket in her laptop case.

  She grabbed her phone charger from the table beside her bed and headed out the door with her small bag and case. Grant had taken her heavier bag downstairs. She came to an abrupt halt when she almost collided with him. He’d been waiting for her in the hall. He lifted the laptop strap from her shoulder and took the smaller bag from her hands. “Ready?” At her nod, he asked, “How’s your head?”

  “It hurts a little, but it’s better.”

  “No double vision?”

  Hum, two Grants. That might be fun. “No.”

  He guided her down the steps with a hand under her elbow. When they stopped at the bottom, three men as tall and broad as Grant stood watching their descent and she gaped. They were all stunning. She was beginning to think that one of the requirements to work for their company was that they had to be drop-dead gorgeous. She’d met Kendall’s husband and Olivia’s fiancé and woah, were they attractive. When she met Taylor’s husband Dante, she almost passed out from lack of oxygen. He was magnificent. She met Luke Colton when he hired her to watch his now-adopted children and he was beautiful. But none compared to the man standing next to her, his hand still clutching her arm.

  “Melody, these are my coworkers, Mason Rossi and Noah and Ethan Addison.”

  “Nice to meet you,” she greeted the tall, dark Mason first. His smile was white and genuine, and she liked him instantly.

  “Are you two twins?” she asked the fair-haired Addison brothers.

  “Nah, Noah’s an old man, way older than my youthful self.” Ethan shook her hand and turned on the charm, brushing a kiss across her knuckles. His smile was enough to melt the panties off any woman within a hundred-mile radius. He grunted and dropped her hand when Noah elbowed him hard and then shoved him aside.

  “Sixteen months older, but years ahead in maturity.” He shook her hand and good Lord, his smile was as amazing as his younger brother’s.

  With a growl, Grant took her arm and led her away from the men, who all chuckled. She was feeling a little high from all the testosterone crowding the room.

  “You guys ready?” Mason asked.

  “I swept the SUV,” Ethan said, all serious. “Clean.”

  A sharp rap on the door made her jump. Grant cursed under his breath. “That will be the police. I hoped to be gone before they arrived.”

  She felt bad. It was her fault she wanted to take a shower.

  Grant opened the door and led the man and woman inside. He explained what happened and it was the first time she’d heard the entire story. Apparently he heard the person or persons enter but by the time he got downstairs, they were gone. Then he was leading the cops over to a note. Her eyes widened. She hadn’t seen it there and he didn’t say anything about it. She hurried over to read it. Be afraid. What could that mean?

  “Ma’am, have you had a chance to see if anything is missing?”

  “Oh, no, I haven’t.” She did a quick scan and nothing looked out of place or moved. She checked all the rooms downstairs, quickly closing the door to her laundry room so no one would see the mess inside.

  “Except for the knife, which was taken from the block on my counter, nothing is missing.”

  The cops took pictures of the note and then bagged and tagged it to send it in for fingerprints. They asked more questions, but her lids were drooping. Grant took charge, standing up and leading the cops outside with a promise to call if they remembered any important details. Then he walked over and knelt in front of her. “Are you ready to go?”

  “Yes.”

  Grant turned to Mason and the Addison brothers. “We’ll go first. Keep an eye out for any tails.”

  “Will do.”

  Wide awake now, Melody’s stomach churned. She was about to be alone with Grant again in an enclosed space. She should be getting used to it by now, but she wasn’t.

  He’d pulled his SUV inside her garage sometime while she’d been out. He helped her inside and snapped her buckle in place before climbing into the driver’s seat.

  “My bags?”

  “Already in the back.” He started the engine.

  “I thought Ethan said that he swept the SUV.”

  Grant glanced over at her as he shifted into drive. “He did.”

  Her brows pulled together and she indicated the floor mats. “He didn’t do a very good job.”

  Grant threw back his head and laughed. She glanced at him and big mistake. He was handsome when he was in work mode, all serious and focused. But when he smiled, it transformed his face into devastating. His teeth were straight and white, and good Lord, t
hose dimples. She was utterly and totally lost.

  His smile faded and morphed into concerned. “Melody? Is your head hurting?”

  She blinked to clear the Grant-induced haze. “No, why?”

  “You have a pained look on your face.”

  She could feel the heat coloring her cheeks. The curse of the fair-haired. “No, I’m fine.”

  He studied her for a second before nodding at Ethan, who stood by the manual opener for her garage door. He activated the door and waited until Grant pulled through before hitting the button again to close it and crouching under to jog to the SUV waiting at the curb.

  “Ethan swept the SUV for bugs—tracking or incendiary devices—and for any signs of tampering.”

  It took a minute for his words to penetrate. She forgot what they had been talking about before she zoned out. When they did, her face flamed. Again. She thought Ethan meant he’d cleaned the vehicle, as in vacuumed. Grant must think her a colossal idiot.

  Chapter Nine

  Melody dozed as Grant navigated the roads to the compound. There had been no signs of a tail, so after a few zigs and zags just to be sure, he headed home. After parking, he debated on whether to wake her or not. Her head was turned towards him, a smile lifting the edges of her lips…lips he desperately wanted to taste.

  He decided to let her sleep. She’d been through so much tonight. He rounded the SUV and opened her door. After unbuckling the belt, he slid her into his arms. Mason and Noah grabbed her bags from the back, while Ethan closed the door behind him. She let out a little sigh and snuggled closer to him. He tried not to read anything into it, like she felt safe in his arms. Mason opened his door and he carried her over the threshold, again, not reading anything into it.

  Mason and Noah deposited her bags beside his sofa and then waved goodbye. He nodded his thanks to his friends for coming as soon as he called in the middle of the night.

  Once they departed, he carried her into his bedroom. He was a bit fanatical with neatness, something practically beat into him in the Navy. You could bounce a quarter off his bed. He tugged the comforter down and placed her on the sheets. The linens were hotel-quality luxury, pure Egyptian cotton. Kaitlyn insisted he have the best and he couldn’t disagree with her on this one. It was like sleeping on a cloud.

  He’d barely placed her on the mattress when she grabbed up one of his pillows and hugged it to her, inhaling. Maybe she liked the lavender scent of the dryer sheets he used? After gently removing her tennis shoes, he tugged the sheets up around her and tucked her in. He didn’t have a nightlight, so he flipped on a light in the attached bathroom and tugged the door most of the way closed. He didn’t want her to wake up confused about her surroundings.

  His suite was a one bedroom. There were several that featured two, and in fact, the Addison brothers shared one. He didn’t think he’d need the extra room, but it would be nice right now. However, his couch was oversized and comfortable. He’d be fine there tonight. He glanced at his watch and winced. This morning. Melody’s shop was set to open today. It wasn’t the grand event scheduled for next week, but the doors would officially be open to the public. He knew she wouldn’t want to miss that, but she needed to rest.

  He carried her bags into the bedroom and placed them beside the dresser. He deposited her purse on the bedside table. He hadn’t realized he’d been standing and staring at her until the phone in his pocket buzzed a text. He reached down and brushed a tendril of hair off her forehead, then let the back of his finger glide down her cheek. Damn, her skin was so soft. She smiled in her sleep and it was all he could do to not lift the sheet and crawl in beside her. Gather her close. Inhale the flowery scent of her hair.

  Forcing his legs to move, he pulled out the phone and read the message from Mason, telling him to call if he needed anything. He texted back a quick reply along with his thanks and then dropped down on the couch. Grabbing the remote, he turned on his eighty-inch television. Yes, it did dominate the room, but there was nothing like watching a game and feeling as if you were on the field with the players. He flipped through the channels three times. How sad to have so many and there be nothing on to watch. He fell asleep to an old Magnum, P.I. rerun.

  #

  Melody’s cell phone buzzed, waking her from a deep sleep. When she opened her eyes, she was completely disoriented. The room looked like a hotel suite. The sheets were ultra-luxurious, the pillows fluffy and fragrant. They smelled like Grant. She’d hugged one tight in sleep and it comforted her.

  She jerked upright and regretted the move when her head protested. The throbbing pain was down to a dull, manageable ache, but it didn’t like sudden movements. Her head swiveled side to side. She was in a bedroom. Judging from the lack of feminine touches, it belonged to a man. Scenes from last night bombarded her: the accident, the trip to the hospital, someone breaking into her house. Grant bringing her back to his place. She was in his apartment, in his bedroom. She remembered the last time he had (annoyingly) woken her up, he’d determined she wasn’t going to lapse into a coma, so she managed approximately four solid hours of shut-eye.

  Her phone had kicked off in the time it took her to get her bearings, but it started buzzing again. She tried to locate the source and saw her purse on the bedside table. She fumbled inside and dug it out.

  “Hello?”

  “Melody, where are you?”

  “Raine?” She glanced at the clock on the table and almost fell out of bed. She had no idea it was so late. Her store! They opened to the public this morning and she wasn’t there. “Oh my gosh, I’m so sorry. I was in a car accident last night.”

  “Oh, no. Melody, are you okay?”

  “Just banged up a little. Slight concussion.”

  “Do you feel like coming in today?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. If you’re up to it, you need to get here as soon as possible.”

  Alarm skittered down her spine. Had Richard shown up again and refused to leave? Another threatening note? “Why, Raine? What happened?”

  “I went into the back to get boxes to fill the shelves but it’s all gone!”

  Melody’s feet hit the floor hard. “What’s all gone?”

  “The boxes of jars you had filled, plus the ones we added yesterday. They’re gone. Every single one.”

  Chapter Ten

  Boxes of her product had just disappeared? Melody was starting to get seriously annoyed. Someone was definitely trying to sabotage her business before it even got off the ground. “Are there any bottles left?”

  “Just what was on the shelves,” Raine said. “Maybe a dozen.”

  “I have some stored at my house. We’ll swing by and pick them up and when I get in, we’ll fill more bottles.”

  “You’re taking it better than I thought. I’m intrigued that you aren’t home now, and you used the word ‘we’.”

  “Oh, uh, well, I was injured…”

  “Melody, I’m just teasing, trying to lighten the mood. Poor attempt at a joke. I’m sorry. Just get here as soon as you can.”

  After she hung up, she hurried to the bathroom and jumped in the impressive shower. There were so many heads and nozzles and buttons, it felt like she’d stepped into the shower of the Starship Enterprise. She figured out how to turn the water on and decided right there she was never leaving. The water hit her from different angles, massaging her aching muscles. Now if Grant was here to wash her back…

  Forcing that ridiculous thought from her head, she reached for the soap and noticed a bar of Dove, her brand, next to a sturdy brown bar that had to be what Grant used. Either he’d stocked his shower for her or he often had women in here. Hum. That thought irritated her, so she quickly dismissed it. He was thoughtful and kind. Of course he’d think of her needs.

  The soap was long gone down the drain when she finally forced herself to turn off the water and towel off. She looked in the mirror and cringed. Not much better than last night, but at least she was prepared this time. Her face looked like
she’d gone a few rounds with Floyd Mayweather. Both eyes were rimmed with black and the cut on her temple was still slightly swollen. No amount of make-up could cover the destruction, so she just dabbed on Harmony, a few swipes of mascara and ran out of the room.

  She’d been asleep when Grant apparently carried her inside last night, so this was the first chance she’d had to check out his apartment. It was large and open, nicely furnished. And neat as a pin. Huh. No stacks of mail or stray clothing lying around. She wondered if he’d cleaned up or if he was always this organized. He’d been a Navy man, a SEAL, the best of the best. He was probably always neat.

  She didn’t see him anywhere and felt a spurt of panic. She needed to get to her office right away. Pearl had been reduced to scrap metal, so she had no wheels. Then she spotted movement outside. She hadn’t noticed the deck. She staggered back a step and came up against the bedroom door. There was a bar anchored to the wall outside and he was doing wide-arm pull-ups, the muscles in his arms and bare back bulging and glistening with sweat. His legs were bent at the knees and his feet were crossed casually, like this was no problem at all to lift his body weight over and over and over. She could do nothing but stare. He was up to thirty before she forced her feet to move forward. He’d ripped off another ten by the time she slid the door open and reached him.

  “Grant.” She had to clear her suddenly Sahara-dry throat and try again. “Grant.”

  He glanced over his shoulder and she noticed the ear buds in his ears. He dropped down when he spotted her and pulled the cords out. “Melody. How are you feeling this morning?”

  She tried not to stare at the glorious expanse that was his chest, but she failed miserably. The term washboard abs was appropriate. His ridges were spectacular. “Better, but I need to get to my office right away.”

  “Yeah, I know you officially opened today. I debated on whether to wake you or let you sleep.”