Alluring Infatuation

by Skye Turner

  She heads to the food and I head to the bar as Cruz walks in. Within minutes, the girls are laughing and eating and the guys are crowd watching through the windows as we drink.

  The concert starts and I’m really impressed. The first few bands did great and with each one, more and more people poured into Death Valley until we were at a concert with about 80,000 of our closest country friends. Lee Brice sings and most of us are slow dancing to a song about how we don’t dance. It makes me smile.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Melonie

  Last night was amazing! Dade was so attentive. I really love his friends. I feel like the girls have accepted me and they really seem to like me. I like them. Seeing them all together is a gift. They feed off of each other and work together. They are like a bunch of different branches, but from a single tree. Each is strong on their own, but put them together and you have a pretty amazing dynamic. I’ve gathered through conversations that most of them have no real families or had really messed up childhoods. Just look at Dade and Clove. To see them today after all they went through growing up, I’m so proud of both of them. I’m proud of this entire group and I’m so blessed to be able to consider them my friends as well.

  The concert was probably one of the most memorable nights of my life. I’ll never forget it.

  A sleepy “Morning, beautiful.” and a scratchy jaw nuzzling my neck makes me smile.

  Turning, I lean on my side and smile at Dade. His dark eyes are slumberous, his hair is a mess, and his face is full of scruff. He takes the breath clean out of my chest.

  I am so screwed.

  I take in the total package and grin. He looks alarmed. “Why are you smiling like that?”

  Leaning over, I press a kiss to his chest. “Because you are so fucking fine, Dade Rodrigue. I just want to sop you up like a biscuit.”

  “What? You want to do what like a what?”

  “Seriously?! You’ve never heard that phrase?” Is he being serious?!

  He chuckles. “Yeah, I’ve heard it. Just not in relation to, well… me.”

  He rolls and I’m underneath him with his hair around us both. I’ve never liked long hair on a man, but dear lord, I love Dade’s. I’ve never been attracted to muscles and tattoos either, but with him, you add all of his attributes together and you get a mighty delectable man. The perfect man. The man I… love?!

  Whoa, Nelly? What the hell? Nope, not going there. You are NOT going there Melonie Bird. You. Do. Not. Love. Him.

  You love looking at him. You love the way he makes you feel. You love what he does to your body, but nope, you do NOT love him.

  I forbid it!

  Yeah, how’s that working out for me?!

  I’m crazy. That’s it. I’m officially certifiable. I’m talking to myself about the fact that I may be… NO. No. I’m not in love with a man that makes me a crazy person and talk to myself!

  His eyes are dancing as he watches the play move across my face. A frown appears between his brows and he taps my forehead. “What’s in there? Right now. What’s in there?”

  I mutter, “You do not want to know. Trust me.”

  Scooting out from underneath him, I turn to the bathroom. He starts to sit up. “No, don’t. I have to, well, pee. I don’t want you following me in there for that.”

  He nods, but I’m not sure he believes me. I just need to get out of there and into some “Dade free” space to have a minute to think…

  Sitting on the closed toilet, I look at my feet with my arms wrapped around my waist. Grabbing a large towel, I wrap it around me since I’m suddenly cold.

  Get it together girl. You’re having a meltdown and for what?!

  Because I’m in love with the man in the next room and I don’t think he loves me back.

  Shit! Shit! Shit!

  What am I going to do!? Why am I freaking out?! Seriously!? Why the fuck am I hiding in the bathroom freaking out!?

  Get over it, Mel. Stop acting like a damned crazy person.

  He doesn’t even know you’re acting like a lunatic! You’re. Hiding. In. The. Bathroom!

  There’s a knock at the door. “You ok in there? You’ve been in here for fifteen minutes, Melonie and I know you’re not peeing. I can hear through the door. What’s wrong?! I’m coming in.”

  The door opens and he’s standing there. Sunlight streams through the plantation shutters and makes a spotlight onto his tanned, tattooed body. It almost looks like he’s sparkling in the sun.

  I snort in ridiculous laughter.

  Leaning against the doorframe, he asks, “What’s funny?”

  “You look like you need to be in Twilight. Only you have tattoos and the wolves are the ones with tattoos.”

  “O… K…”

  I snort again as I realize he has no idea what I’m talking about. “Twilight… book series. Vampires sparkle and werewolves have tattoos. HUGE books/movies.” He frowns at me. “Not a fan, huh?!”

  He’s looking at me like I’m completely nuts. “I know what Twilight is. I live in America. Isn’t he like married or some shit to Snow White?”

  Now I’m looking at him incredulously. I laugh. “No. No, he’s not. They broke up.”

  “I honestly don’t care. Why are you comparing me to that dude exactly?”

  I take a step back. “I’m not. The light was bouncing off of you. It looked like you were sparkling, so I made the reference. Sorry, I read too much.”

  He chuckles. “So, vampires, huh?”

  Quirking my brow, I stare at him with pursed lips. “Not actually. I prefer hot blooded men.”

  He chortles and says, “Well, in that case…”

  I had to leave Dade and head to the hospital. I’m on call and one of Monica’s patients went into labor, nine weeks too early. We were able to stop the labor, but she’s on complete bed rest now and will be confined to the hospital for as long as we can delay the delivery. At this point, even two weeks is better than right now.

  “But, Dr. Bird. I don’t want to be here. They disturb you at all hours of the day and night. No one can sleep. The food stinks. I can go home and stay in bed. Can’t you let me go home?” She’s crying.

  I sigh and walk over to the bed. “I understand all of that. I do. And I feel for you. No one wants to stay in the hospital, especially for extended periods of time. Yet, you need to be here. If you want to have this baby safely, you need to be here.

  I know it’s not ideal. The reality is that you are effaced and dilated. Your water has not broken, but the baby wants to come out. We were able to stop the labor, but we might not be able to next time. It’s still too early. If we have to deliver, we have to deliver, but our goal to keep this baby in there for a bit longer. The longer she’s in there, the stronger she is.

  You are going to need to stop with what you want and think about what she needs. And what she needs is the hospital. Ok?”

  Her eyes are wide in her pale face. I can see her terror. “She’s going to be ok, right? You promise she’s going to be ok?”

  I smile at her. “I promise you I will do everything I can to have both of you out of here as quickly as possible. But, you have to trust us.”

  “I’m scared. She’s all I have left…”

  My eyes fill and I have to blink quickly to stop them from falling. Clutching the chart that says she’s twenty four years old and recently a widow, I smile again. “We will do everything within our power to keep you both healthy and safe.”

  She smiles as tears roll down her cheeks and she cradles her stomach. “Thank you. You’re a good doctor.”

  I nod. “Thank you. Now get some rest. I’ll check in on you before I leave tonight.”

  Closing her eyes and turning onto her side, she sings softly as she falls asleep.

  Sometimes this job is hard. My heart breaks for some of these patients and it’s so hard not to promise them that everything will be ok.

  Dade texted me a couple of hours ago and asked if I was going to be leaving in time for dinner
. Clove was cooking something new for her article for Rock With Me and wanted to share it with us. I told him that unfortunately, I didn’t think I’d be done in time.

  While I’m already at the hospital, I decide to check on a few more of my patients. I get through all four of them pretty quickly. I love babies. The smell, the softness of their skin and the way that they look like tiny little dolls. Maybe one day, I’ll be a mother to my own…

  I also love the metamorphosis of the human body when it’s nurturing a baby. I love watching my patients go through all the stages. It’s so wondrous and really a miracle that one body can hold and nurture two, sometimes more.

  Shaking my head to wake up some, I decide to head down to the cafeteria for some awful coffee.

  I’m filling my cup and the steam is wafting up with the scent tempting my nose as I feel someone at my back. Turning, I smile when I see who it is.

  He takes in my coffee and chuckles. “Long day, huh?”

  I smile. “Yeah. One of Monica’s patients had a misstep and I’m on call. While I was here, I decided to check in on all of my new mommies. Why are you here? You work today?”

  Jake is a handsome man. He’s what people would classify as preppy. Today, he’s wearing a light blue oxford with pressed khaki chinos under his white lab coat and brown loafers grace his feet.

  He nods. “Yes. I have a surgery tomorrow and came in to make sure all of the pre-op was covered. My patient is an elderly man and is worried about it, so I wanted to visit with him and answer any questions he had. We just finished and he’s taking his antibiotics now.”

  Nodding, I trace the rim of my cup as I listen to him talk. His voice gets animated as he talks about his patients. It’s what makes him an amazing doctor and also why he was just hired to be the head of Urology at another hospital. He’ll be moving in a few weeks. I’ll miss him.

  “Are you packed?”

  His eyes sparkle as he looks at me. “Yes and no. I don’t have much and what I do have doesn’t need to be moved, so the important things are packed. I’ll probably leave my furniture with the house.”

  “I’m going to miss you.”

  He takes my hand and covers it with his own. Turning my hand, my palm touches his and I squeeze. He squeezes back and searches my face. “I’m going to miss you, too, Melonie. You were a huge part of my life for a long time. There are times I still look for you when I’m doing things out of habit.”

  I chuckle. “Really? Like when? When you don’t have to move makeup and hair products around the bathroom counter so you can find your toothpaste? Or when you don’t have to go look in the closet down the hall for a shirt because my clothes have overtaken the closet in the bedroom.”

  Rolling his eyes, he chuckles with me. “Yeah. Those times. And a few more.” He gets serious as he looks at me. “Are you happy, Mel? I mean, you’re good now, right?”

  I blush. “I am. Dade is great. We’re complete opposites, but I am happy. We zing.”

  He smiles. “You love him…”

  I bite my lip and nod. “I do. It’s crazy because we’re so very different. I’m a professional and he’s a rock star, yet we… just fit.” I realize that might come off wrong and I don’t want to offend or insult Jake. “I mean – That doesn’t mean we didn’t. I just mean…”

  He rubs my hands with his thumb. “I know what it means.” He smiles again. “You and I fell in love as kids. We were different people. We thought we wanted the same things, but as we grew, we focused more on the friendship than the romance. Neither of us did anything wrong, Mel. You’re an incredible person who I dearly love. But I wasn’t in love you with and you weren’t in love with me. Getting married would have been wrong.

  This. Your face right now as you talk about Dade… that’s what love is supposed to be like. What we had… that was love, too. But not the right kind. I’m so happy that you’re happy.”

  I link my fingers with his and laugh. “You’re right. I just hope he feels the same.

  We would have made a boring ass married couple. But, I do I love you. I’ve always loved you.”

  My back suddenly feels like a current is running through it. I turn looking for what caused the sensation and my eyes lock on a fierce jaw and a shell shocked face. My eyes travel up and the rage in his dark eyes is unpalatable. I gasp. He looks at the bag in his hand and then glares at me. Turning on his heel, he stomps out of the cafeteria, tossing the bag into the trash so hard, a BOOM is heard as it bounces off the back of the trash can.

  Jake pulls on my hand. “Melonie. Who was that? Was that Dade?”

  I nod. I can’t talk from the emotion going through my head. He saw me. He saw me holding Jake’s hand and laughing. Oh my God, he must think that we… that I… he thinks something is still going on…

  “Melonie. Stay here. I’m going talk to him. He’s got the wrong idea.” Standing up, he straightens his back and leans down towards me. “I’m going to fix it. That man… that man is in love with you.” He kisses my forehead as my eyes fill with tears. “You deserve love.” He hurries down the hall in the direction Dade left.

  He doesn’t trust me. After all this time, he still doesn’t trust me. That really hurts…

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Dade

  What the fuck? I come down here because she’s working and I wanted to surprise her with dinner and I see her laughing and holding hands with her ex-fiancé?! In the middle of the fucking hospital cafeteria.

  I’m about to blow a gasket here. I don’t get all pissed off over women. I never have and I damn sure won’t now. Fuck this. I’m going home. Six months ago she wasn’t in my life and I was fine. I can be fine again.

  Then why does it feel like a fucking vise is squeezing your chest?

  DAMMIT!!!

  Exiting the front doors of the hospital, I turn towards the wooden bench and punch it. Shit! That hurt!

  Leaning my head back, I clench my fists and look at the darkening sky. It looks like it’s about to storm. Good, it can mirror the storm inside of me.

  I hear footsteps and glare at the intrusion.

  Really!?

  He looks nervous at first as he checks out my hands, but then he glares. “You’re wrong. What you thought you saw, you didn’t.”

  He followed me out here and now he’s telling me I didn’t see what I clearly just saw?!

  “Is that right? So I didn’t see you, her ex-fiancé, caressing her hand as you gazed at her lovingly and she says she loves you?!”

  He looks at me incredulously. “You’re a piece of work. Wow…Yes, you saw me holding her hand. We’re friends. We lived together for seven years. I was engaged to her. But I’m not in love with her.” He glares at me. “She’s not in love with me either, you idiot.”

  I laugh harshly. “I heard her say ‘I love you. I’ll always love you.’ Are you telling me I didn’t hear that?”

  He crosses his arms over his chest and stands with his legs spread as he looks at me. He’s smaller than me, but he’s clearly not backing down though he stays out of reach. “No, you heard it.” I exhale loudly. “But, you obviously didn’t hear what came before that!” Shaking his head as his eyes narrow on me, he continues, “She was telling me she’s going to miss me because I’m moving.” He laughs at the look on my face. “Yeah, asshole. I’m moving. We are friends. I was congratulating her on being happy… on being in love.”

  My face blanches. I shake my head. Fuck, what did I do?!

  Backing away and looking at me in disgust he gives one parting shot. “She loves you. Not me. Though, from what you just did to her, I hope she tells you to fuck off. Asshole.” He walks back into the hospital.

  I need to sit down. Did I just jump to conclusions?! Shit… I did. I’ve never done that before. I’m the level headed one. I’m not the man who accuses people of anything with the facts.

  You just did. He’s right. You’re an asshole, Dade.

  Am I going back in there? No, no I’m not. This is her job. I can’t
go in there and cause a stir. The media would have a field day with that.

  I’ll stop by her apartment tonight and apologize.

  Dammit.

  It’s 9:30 and I know she’s been home for about half an hour. I know because I called Ms. Maureen and she told me. She asked me what I did because since Melonie’s been home, she’s been banging around in her apartment and she seems really upset since she can hear it over the thunder and rain outside.

  My chest hurts. I did that. I jumped to conclusions and made a complete ass of myself. I’m apologizing, though.

  Getting out of my Hummer, I make the way to her door. By the time I get the few feet, I’m soaked. Ms. Maureen is watching me. I wave and she frowns at me. Great, I’ve pissed her off, too. I am such an asshole.

  I knock. She doesn’t open, so I knock again as I stand in the torrential downpour. I hear her walk to the door, but she doesn’t open it. Sighing, I call out, “I know you’re in there. I can hear you. Can you please open the door?” Still nothing. “Please, Melonie. I need to talk to you. Can you please open the door? I’m not leaving until you talk to me.”

  Ms. Maureen is watching me raptly through the window. Awesome, I’m going to have to grovel with an audience.

  Leaning my head against the door, I whisper beseechingly. “Open the door, Melonie.”

  I hear the lock turn and I step back. The door opens and she’s there. Her feet are bare and her hair is tangled. It looks like she’s been running her hands through it. Her face is tight and her eyes are bright. She’s not happy.

  “Ok, you wanted to talk, so fucking talk.”

  Looking over my shoulder as rain rolls down my face, I ask, “Can I come in?”

  Her hand tightens on the door. “No.”

  My stomach drops. She’s saying “no”; I don’t think this is going to go well. Reaching out, I try to take her hand. She pulls it back. “Don’t touch me. TALK!”

  Well, ok then. “I’m sorry.” Her mouth tightens. It’s white. “I’m sorry I walked out like that. I saw him with you and I’d seen you with him before. I got jealous.”