by Natalie Ann
“Hey,” Sheldon said, looking up from her laptop. “I thought you had a few showings today.”
“I did. Just finished them. Guess who it was?”
“No clue,” Sheldon said, going back to her typing.
Melissa did what she always did. She walked over and pushed the top down on Sheldon’s laptop, knowing that whatever love story Sheldon was creating in her mind could wait. Real life issues were more important.
“What was that for?” Sheldon asked. “Maybe they were ready to get down and dirty and I didn’t want to lose my mojo.”
Melissa laughed. “Please. You know as well as I do you’d never lose your mojo there.” Sheldon Case-McMann was actually Shelly Cassidy, New York Times bestselling romance author.
“So true. Erik loves it too.”
“I’m sure he does. Anyway, back to my client. Guess who?”
“I’ve got no clue. Don’t make me wait. It might cause my ulcer to return unexpectedly.”
“Dr. McHotty will patch you up like he did that first night. Best night of your life and you’ve got no one to thank but me.”
Sheldon wrinkled her nose adorably. Everything Sheldon did was adorable. “I suppose...if you’re going to twist my arm.”
“Speaking of doctors. I was just in the company of Dr. Connor Landers.”
“Who’s that?” Sheldon asked, getting up and grabbing two bottles of water and handing one over.
“Don’t you even know your husband’s friends? People that were invited to your wedding last month?”
Sheldon spit the water out she was drinking. “The hot shot that wanted you to warm up his sheets that night?”
“That’s him,” Melissa confirmed. “And how is it you didn’t recognize his name?”
“I don’t know all of Erik’s friends. Nor have I met many of them. Besides, all he did was introduce me by first names at the wedding and I was too busy thinking about my wedding night to remember names and faces.”
“I suppose you have a pass.”
“He never told you his last name? Not even when he was pulling you in close and pressing his hips to yours during a dance or two?”
“You weren’t supposed to notice those dances.”
Sheldon laughed. “Please. My best friend is on the dance floor with her eyes all dewy and a permanent smile on her face and I’m going to notice. Not only that, you told me all about it when we got back from our honeymoon.”
Melissa would never forget. She’d spent most of the wedding ceremony that was held right at this house in the backyard in Connor’s company. They talked. They flirted. He touched her hand more times than she could count. He pushed any guy away that asked her to dance, and held her tight, marking his territory.
When she thought he was going to ask for her number at the end of the night, he asked her to share his bed. She’d turned him down flat.
She wasn’t that type of girl and she’d never be. Someone like her mom that needed a man, any man—because variety was better than a box of chocolates for her mother.
Happy ever after. That was Melissa. That was what she wanted and that was what she was determined to have after watching her parents’ miserable marriage.
She’d watched Sheldon live her life in the “no commitment” zone until Erik entered the picture. If Sheldon could find love, there was no reason Melissa couldn’t. She was holding that thought close to her chest, determined to be someone so different than the genetics she came from. Or at least on her mother’s side.
“I was so mad. He was lucky I didn’t dump my drink in his lap.”
“You’d never do something that uncouth. So he contacted you to look at a property? Where?”
Melissa snorted. Sheldon was right in that she very rarely lost her temper over anything. Things bounced off her like a big red ball hitting the wall in a dodgeball game. “He’s looking on Kent Island. Wants to stay in Stevensville, if possible. He works in Annapolis, so he wants to be on this side of the island.”
“The island that is only about four miles wide,” Sheldon said laughing.
“You know as well as I do that depending on where you are, it could take close to fifteen minutes to get to the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to cross over, then factor in commuter traffic.”
“Very true. So what kind of doctor is he? Did you ask? You always ask a million questions. Which makes me wonder why you didn’t last month.”
“I don’t ask nearly as many questions as you do. And I only do it with clients so I can find out what they’re looking for. You question strangers on the street and then take your notebook out and start jotting everything down.”
Sheldon put her hands on her hips. “You carry around a notebook too.”
“For work,” Melissa said, laughing now. The two of them always did this when they hung out. Always laughed and poked fun at each other.
“Anyway,” Sheldon asked, opening the fridge and pulling out some fruit and cheese. “I’m hungry, want something? What kind of doctor is he?”
“Neurology. And yes, I’m starving. I didn’t eat before the showing and didn’t expect them to last as long as they did.”
“Why did you frown when you said neurology?” Sheldon went about cubing cheese while Melissa rinsed off the grapes and then grabbed a plate out of the cabinet. It didn’t matter Sheldon only officially lived here for a month, Melissa had made herself at home just as fast as she had at Sheldon’s house. The house that was only a few down from her own on the other side of the island in Chester. It really did suck not having her friend within walking distance now.
“I didn’t expect him to say that. He showed up on a Harley. Which I didn’t expect either. And if I was going to guess any kind of doctor he was, I’d say surgeon or ER.”
“Hey,” Sheldon said. “Don’t be insulting my hubby.”
“It wasn’t an insult. It’s just that Connor is extremely cocky. So is Erik.”
“He is, isn’t he?” Sheldon said, a dreamy look coming into her eyes. “But he’s nothing like what you described Connor as.”
“Of course not. I’m just saying that I was surprised by his field.”
Sheldon put their snack between the two of them and they sat at the island in the kitchen. “So what took so long for these two showings?”
“He knows what he wants. Almost annoyingly so.”
“That’s a good thing.”
Not from the five pages of notes that Melissa had written down. Cocky men again, not her thing. “He’s going to have to compromise or build. Or wait a long time to get what he’s looking for.”
“Does he want to build?”
“He didn’t say. Just that he’s paying cash and doesn’t know if it’s going to be a permanent or second home.”
“Well. If anyone can find him what he wants, it’s you. No worries.”
“I’m not worried,” Melissa lied. “I just think it’s going to take more time than he thinks.”
“Then you’ll just have to put him in his place and tell him the way it really is.”
She was good at that. She’d done it before. No one used her or took advantage of her anymore.
She didn’t get to the top of her career by letting anyone—man or woman—get one over on her. Play her or use her. She was strong, she was confident, and she was her own person. She just happened to look for love in all the wrong places.
And Connor Landers was the epitome of the wrong place.
Too Much Fun
Connor was going to have his work cut out for him, he knew. If there’d been a way to politely turn a man down, Melissa had done it a month ago. So much so he thought maybe she didn’t mean it. Maybe she was just joking. Or playing with him. If only!
He wasn’t sure what his obsession with her was. Was it that she rejected him...or something more? Fear was making him deny it could be more or that he was looking for something with her that he hadn’t with anyone else before.
He tried to prolong the last house showing as long as he could, giv
ing her every single detail he wanted in a house. Some he made up and thought she figured he was teasing, but she jotted it all down in her little notebook that her face was buried in the whole time. Pretty much ignoring his existence for anything other than a potential sale. No matter how much he wanted to see more of her, he wasn’t buying a house he didn’t like, even if he could afford to.
The first house really didn’t appeal to him in the least, so he didn’t feel bad about being hard on that one. He wanted beachfront and he was used to getting what he wanted. The second house actually had potential, but it was way too much work for him to consider at this point.
When she finally managed to end the second house tour with the promise to send him any other listings she’d found, he had no choice but to follow her out the door. Rather than go home on his day off, he went for a visit with someone he knew would be happy to see him.
“Hey, Grandpa, how are you feeling today?”
His grandfather lifted his head from behind the computer he was working on. He looked older than he should, but Connor knew there wasn’t much he could do about it. Or rather he was doing everything he could.
“How come you aren’t working?” So much for thinking his grandfather would be happy to see him. Then again, grouchy was normal for his grandfather now.
“I took the day off.”
“Goofing off?” his grandfather asked, picking his cell phone up and responding back to whoever was sending him a text. It still amused Connor that his grandfather was better with technology than most thirty-somethings. “Something you wanted?”
“No. Just visiting. I can leave if you’re busy.”
“You came to check up on me. Just admit it. You know I can tell if you’re lying.”
“That wasn’t my main reason. I really did have the day off. I’m done with what I had planned and didn’t want to go home.”
He watched his grandfather put his hands in his lap, hiding them from him, telling him maybe his grandfather wasn’t as good as he was admitting. “If you had a woman to go home to you might want to be there more often.”
Connor laughed. It was a familiar slew of words he’d been hearing for years. That it was time for him to settle down now. He was thirty-five, still plenty of years left, or so he used to think. Lately, he hadn’t been thinking that so much.
“I’m having too much fun right now.”
His grandfather snorted. “Life isn’t all about fun, you know that.”
“So you’ve told me enough times.”
“Tell me about your day then since I can see you want to.”
He’d never been able to hide much from his grandfather and didn’t even try anymore. “I went house hunting.”
“What’s wrong with your condo?”
“Nothing. I like it. I like the view of the water and how close it is to work. But I want something on the water. I want to walk out of my house barefoot and put my feet in the sand.”
“You did like spending time on the water years ago. I thought you were fine with where you were now though.”
“I can see the water, but I want to be on it. I want to go out on a private dock and get in my boat and do my own thing.”
His grandfather nodded at him. “We know you’ve always been all about doing your own thing.”
Connor wanted to be hurt by those words, but stopped. Why? Because he wasn’t selfish like he was years ago. He wasn’t destructive anymore and he wasn’t out to do things as an attention seeker but rather a pleasure seeker. In his eyes there was a huge difference.
“Why stop now?” he said, laughing. His grandfather cracked a rare grin at him. He’d like to think he and his grandfather had a lot in common, but the sad truth was no one was really close enough to his grandfather to know if they shared traits. Not like Connor always wished.
“So where is this house you’re looking to buy?”
“Kent Island.”
His grandfather just held his stare. The unspoken words were there. The summer before Connor left for college he’d spent time with his grandfather in a rented house on Kent Island. He hadn’t wanted to go, said he’d be bored, that there wasn’t anything to do there and his friends were all in Baltimore. But there was no arguing with his grandfather and his parents were happy to have Connor out of their hair.
In his boredom that summer he learned to be at peace with himself. He learned the value of quiet. He learned that the water was soothing and that sometimes in life you didn’t need to seek anything other than your own comfort. And comfort to him was the feeling of soft sand between his bare toes when he needed to think.
“How are you making out?”
“I saw two today. Neither were what I was looking for,” he said.
“You could have a long wait if you hold out for exactly what you want.”
Connor had already figured that out himself. “I’ve got time.”
“You never used to say that before,” his grandfather reminded him.
“Maybe I’ve matured.”
“If you matured so much, then why aren’t you settled down with kids?”
“I could have a kid already.”
“Don’t you be bringing home some bastard to carry on my name.”
Connor burst out laughing, knowing that as serious as his grandfather was, he was also joking. He thought. “No worries. I’m always careful.”
“See that you continue that way.”
“Mr. Landers. It’s time for your medicine.”
Connor turned when the housekeeper walked in with a glass of water and some pills. Andrew Landers scowled at the interruption, but grudgingly took his medicine like he was supposed to. Not as if he had much of a choice with Connor staring him down.
There was something they shared. The cold stare to make sure they got their way.
The housekeeper left a minute later and his grandfather finally said, “What? I told you I’m fine.”
“Any side effects?”
“No.”
“Would you tell me if there were any?”
“No.”
Connor smiled. “Hold your hands up for me.”
“You’re not working today.”
“I’m always working when it comes to you,” he said softly. It had to have been the tone of voice that had his grandfather lifting his hands and holding them out flat for Connor to check for signs of shaking.
“Are you going to examine me here and save me a co-pay?”
He had no choice but to burst out laughing at the man who funded his trust fund at over eight figures every few years. “I’ll keep complete exams to the office unless you need me to check something now.”
“I’m fine,” his grandfather said again. “Get out of here and let me get some work done.”
Connor winked at his grandfather, enjoying their bantering more than he ever thought he would when he was that misguided teen just looking for some love.
He left and hopped on his bike, then decided to go home...alone. Not what he was hoping for today. Of course, he wasn’t sure what he was hoping for. That he could get Melissa Mahoney to come to his place for the night? That she’d invite him to hers?
Yeah, he was thinking, that was exactly what he had hoped for. He was delusional, he knew that too.
Once in the front door of his condo, he pulled his phone out and made a call. “Erik, am I interrupting you?”
“Nope. I’m in between patients right now. How did it go?” Erik McMann and he had done their residencies together and had kept in touch for years. They didn’t see each other often, but then they both had busy schedules and Erik being an ER doctor didn’t have the luxury of normal eight to five hours as Connor had most of the time.
“Not as well as I would have liked.”
“Melissa is the best. If anyone can find you what you’re looking for, it’ll be her.”
“Did she find your house for you?”
“No, but she’s Sheldon’s best friend and I’ve got a sweet spot for her. She was a muc
h-needed ally when I was trying to win Sheldon over.”
“I might need an ally of my own right now.”
Erik laughed on the other line. “Be honest with me. Are you seriously looking for a house on the island or just looking to catch Melissa’s eye? I saw the two of you together at my wedding.”
“I’m seriously looking for a house.” He debated saying more and figured why not at this time. “But I’m looking to catch Melissa’s eye too. Any advice you can offer?”
“You’re asking me? You can get any woman you want and always have, putting the rest of us to shame more often then we’d ever admit.”
“I don’t want any other woman.”
“Sorry, Connor. Like I said, I’ve got a sweet spot for Melissa. If you’re just looking to add someone to your little black book it’s not going to be her.”
“Meaning you won’t help me?”
“No, I won’t. But second of all, that’s not how she is. She’s not a big fan of anyone like that. I’ve heard it over and over again from Sheldon that if there is any kind of man Melissa hates it’s a playboy. If we looked you up on Wikipedia, playboy would be part of your description.”
Great, just what he needed to hear. Now he had even more work cut out for him. “Maybe I’m changing.”
“If you are, if you truly are, then I’d help you, but I’m not convinced.”
He didn’t know what to say to that, so decided to just let it drop. “I guess you can just wait and see.”
There was some silence on the other line and he was guessing Erik was thinking through what he’d said. Weighing his words carefully. “If you think it might be more, then let me know.”
“Will do,” he said, disconnecting the call.
The thing was, he’d been looking for more for some time now but hadn’t been able to find it. Erik was right—he had a reputation and couldn’t seem to break away from it.
Last month, when he met Melissa, she struck him as someone that he might be able to see himself with. He wanted to try and he wanted her to know that. The problem was, he went about it all wrong.
