Tangled Hearts (Passion in Paradise)

by Sarah O'Rourke

  “The expectation of fidelity, a good time, and an even better great fuck,” he returned honestly, unashamed. He had a past. Hell, he was in his forties. Of course he had a history. It wasn’t a bad one, but it was a history, nevertheless. The sooner she knew about it and accepted it, the better for both of them. “Look, Melody, I was no knight in shining armor, but I wasn’t a dick either. I made it a policy a long time ago to never lie to those I give a shit about. And while I knew those girls I saw back then were never gonna be my wife, I cared enough about ‘em to give ‘em my dick. That means I stayed truthful with ‘em. I think my longest of those girlfriends – if you wanna call ‘em that- lasted a couple of years. I never cheated on her or any of them and I always used protection with them. I think if you talked to any of them now, they’d tell you I was a decent man, but I was never gonna go the distance with them.”

  Melody pressed the fingers of the hand he wasn’t holding to her mostly numb lips. “I don’t get it. You had a successful career. Despite what I might have said in the past, you don’t seem like a sociopath. If these were good women that you were screwin’ around with, then why wouldn’t you wanna take it up a notch with one of them? You can’t tell me none of them were Callum Valentine’s version of marriage material.”

  “Yeah, I can. Because none of them were The One. If they were, I’d be happily hitched,” he returned evenly before biting the tip of her finger again before circling the tip of his tongue around it. “C’mon, babe. Put the puzzle together for me,” he groaned when she pulled her hand away from him.

  “I can’t! I think you lost a few pivotal pieces of it, jackass.” Scrubbing a hand down her face before dropping it back to the table, Melody squinted at him. “Basically, you just told me that you aren’t marriage or committed relationship material, Cal.”

  “Nope,” he denied with a shake of his head. “I told you that I wasn’t that for them,” he corrected.

  “Uhmmm… you haven’t changed who you are, have you? You’re still the same man,” Melody argued fiercely.

  “I’m the same man, babe, but the way I live my life has changed,” Cal pointed out calmly, watching as she struggled to comprehend what he was trying to convey to her. “Mel, one of the primary reasons that I was never interested in settling down before now was that I never knew what was going to happen. The military owned my ass. When they said to move, I went. If the Army said deploy, I was the first one on the plane. It was my calling. And as much as I enjoyed the company of some of those women I dated, none of them were enough to ever make me want to change the way I lived my life. Any woman that I hooked myself up with was gonna come second to the Army. I didn’t go looking for someone I could see forever with because I’d watched what happened to the women my fellow soldiers married. It would always start well enough. They’d be happy and in love for a time, and then we’d get deployed and those women would begin to feel abandoned. Those feelings would often lead them into another man’s arms. That would lead my comrades down a dark path. It was a vicious circle that I learned to avoid early on. Now, I’m free, Melody. Retired. I can dedicate the time it takes to building a strong, loving relationship. My woman can be my first and only priority. At least, until the babies start to arrive.”

  He saw Melody’s brows lift in surprise as she inhaled sharply. “You want babies?” he heard her ask huskily. He knew she’d never admit to it when she was stone cold sober, but he knew that was hope shining in her eyes and it filled him with a sense of rightness.

  “Yeah, babe. I wouldn’t mind two or three little Valentines running around underfoot,” he shared gently, smiling when she bit her lip nervously. “I take it that you’d like to have kids, too, huh?”

  “Someday,” she admitted with a ready nod. “When I meet the right man,” she added belatedly.

  “You’ve already met the right man, Melody. You just won’t cop to it yet,” Cal returned with a knowing grin as he reached for the glass and lifted it to his lips. “I have patience, though. I can wait,” he continued after he’d dropped the tumbler back to the coffee table. “Now, I think it’s my turn again. You question is, what do you look for in a man, Melody?”

  “Obviously I looked for the wrong things. You did meet Bradley,” she reminded him.

  “Bradley fooled you, sweetheart. I’m betting you were looking for all the right qualities. He just dicked you around and made you think you’d found them in him. That’s not your fault. Now, tell me what the ideal guy looks like in your fantasies.”

  “Well,” Melody sighed and reached for a jellybean. “First, he’d be faithful to me. That’s a top priority for obvious reasons.”

  Cal nodded, silently ticking that off his list. He had the fidelity thing down pat. Hell, it wouldn’t be hard staying true to a gorgeous woman like Melody. She was beautiful inside and out, and if he was being honest, his girl kept his dick hard just by smiling at him.

  “And kind. I’d want him to be kind. Brad had this habit of talking down to me, so I also wanna add that I’d want my mythical man to make me feel like his equal, not his inferior.”

  “Babe, there’s not a man alive to whom you could ever be considered inferior. Like I’ve said more than once, that piece of shit you were hooked up with before was nothing but a boy playing dress up as a man. Real men want a woman that can stand by their side, not behind them.”

  Melody offered him a genuine smile. “I like that,” she noted softly. “I think I want to have that embroidered on a pillow.”

  “I can make that happen,” Cal responded quickly, enjoying the authentic happiness he saw in her dancing eyes.

  Melody grabbed the glass and took a quick sip. “Okay,” she announced. “My turn again. Have you ever been to jail, Cal?”

  “Define jail,” he instructed.

  “Jail is jail, Cal,” Melody retorted with a huff.

  “No, there’s lock-up. Then there’s prison. Then there’s the pen. It’s all a matter of degree, darlin’,” he explained, grinning widely.

  “Any of the above, Callum. Have you been there? And if so, what’d you do?”

  “I’ve been to holding,” he admitted, dropping his head. “I’m not proud of it, but I can’t deny it either. I was only there a couple of hours until my commanding officer could get me released.”

  “I’m intrigued,” Melody murmured, scooting closer to the table as she settled wide, nosy eyes on him. “Spill. What did you do?”

  “I got in a fight,” he stated simply.

  “With who?”

  “Another guy,” he returned, giving her the bare minimum of an answer.

  “Cal, you aren’t being very forthcoming here. What did you get in a fight with another man over that could have landed you in jail? You don’t exactly have a quick temper. As much as I’ve tried to goad you into an argument since you moved in, I should know.”

  “I knew you were trying to pick fights with me, you little shit,” he growled, narrowing his eyes at her.

  Melody shrugged. “Answer, Cal.”

  “Baby, it was a long time ago. Hell, it’s been almost fifteen years now,” he stated dismissively. “I’m not even sure I remember all the details,” he lied, not wanting to share the details of that long ago night. He’d already told her he wasn’t a violent man and the events of that night didn’t exactly support what he’d told her.

  “Cal…”

  “Fine, I got in an altercation with another soldier that thought it was okay to knock his woman around. He slapped her and I gave him some of the same treatment to show him how it felt. In the process, I might have broken a couple of his bones.”

  “You might have?” Melody repeated doubtfully.

  “Okay, fine! I did,” he blustered. “I broke the asshole’s arm and jaw, but for God’s sake, his girl was about five-foot tall and a hundred pounds soaking wet. He was as big as me, and he backhanded that woman in front of us. The poor chick went to her fuckin’ knees, he hit her so hard. I couldn’t just sit there, Melody. That’s n
ot how I’m built,” he growled. He knew he was trying to justify the violence he’d done, but in his mind it wasn’t violence so much as it was divine retribution. God had placed him in that little hole-in-the-wall bar for a reason as far as he was concerned. And that was so he could kick the ass of a man that had desperately needed his kicked.

  Reaching her arm out, she touched his warm wrist with the tips of her fingers. “Cal, calm down and settle. I would never judge you for protecting someone weaker than you. Especially a woman that’s being abused by a man.”

  Calming at the mere touch of her fingertips, Cal focused on Melody’s earnest face. “I told you I wasn’t violent, Melody.”

  “And you aren’t. There’s a difference between violent and protective, Cal. You’re the latter, not the former. Even somebody as stubborn as me can see that,” she acknowledged softly. “You came here to protect me and you didn’t even know me.”

  “I knew you, Melody. I knew you before I ever laid eyes on you. RJ could tell some real vivid stories.” Cal stared into her soft chocolate eyes for a long moment, getting a little lost in her gaze. “You’re makin’ it damn hard for me to keep this table between us, Princess. I’m trying real hard to give you the time you need to see what’s happening here but when you go sweet on me, it makes me wanna pull you into my arms and kiss you quiet.”

  “Then maybe you should take your turn and ask me a question so I have something to chat with you about,” she suggested faintly, her eyes glued to his mouth.

  Cal’s lips kicked up into a half smile. “Fine,” he drawled. “If I went into your bedroom and opened your nightstand drawer, what would I find? Vibrator or dildo, darlin’? What’s your pleasure?”

  “You did NOT just ask me that?!” Melody cried, her stunned eyes narrowing to slits. “Is there nothing you hold sacred?”

  “A few things,” he stated mildly. “But your selection of sex toy isn’t one of those things, Sweet Pea. Remember, nothing’s off limits.”

  Melody’s shoulders sagged as she hung her head. “Vibrator,” she mumbled without looking up.

  Cupping a hand over his ear, Cal leaned closer. “Eh? I didn’t catch that.”

  “Vibrator. Vibrator. Vibrator!!!” Melody roared, her cheeks turning bright red as her voice grew louder. “The Silver Bullet is my favorite if you want specifics,” she spat testily.

  Cal’s grin turned wicked. “Good to know,” he drawled as she took a huge swig from their glass, her throat working quickly as she swallowed.

  “My turn!” Melody snarled, slamming the glass back to the table. “When are you leaving Paradise?”

  “Hmmm?” he hummed, chuckling at her scowl.

  “You heard me, Cal. How long do you intend to stay here?” Melody clipped.

  “Princess, my ticket to Paradise was one way. I’m here indefinitely,” Cal shared slowly, watching her face.

  “Indefinitely,” she whispered. “Like, you’re staying here?”

  “Yep. After we get you up and running at Hooks & Books, I’m gonna start looking for a space of my own. Your brother told me about his dream of owning his own gym, and it sounded good to me. After years of physical conditioning, running a gym with RJ would be right up my alley. I’m gonna get us the space and start construction. By the time he gets out of the Army in a few months, we should be well on our way to opening a profitable business, too.”

  He could tell she was shocked by the way she just stared at him, unblinking. “Your brother didn’t mention any of this to you?” he asked carefully.

  “Yeah, but he never said you were going to be part of the package,” she replied shakily.

  “That would be because I asked him not to say anything to you yet,” he confided sheepishly. “I wanted you to have time to get used to having me around before you learned that I was gonna become a real permanent fixture in your life.”

  “That’s… a lot to take in all of a sudden,” she murmured.

  “My turn,” Cal said suddenly. “Are you happy I’m staying, Melody?” he questioned quietly.

  “I…I’m…. you didn’t drink yet,” she said, stalling. Pushing the drink toward him, she smiled stiffly. “Rules are rules, right?”

  Tipping the glass to his lips, Cal took a hit of the whiskey, ignoring the burn it produced as it slid down his throat. It was nothing compared to the one in his gut as he waited for her to answer his question and put him out of his misery. “Well, Mel… are you happy I’m stayin’ around here?”

  “That depends… am I one of the reasons you’ve decided to stay?” she probed hesitantly.

  Meeting her turbulent gaze, he slowly nodded. “One of the biggest, babe. What I wanna know is how do you feel about that?”

  Melody popped a handful of jellybeans into her mouth and chewed nervously, swallowing before she finally opened her mouth to respond. “Truthfully, it makes me happy to know that you’re staying. When you’re not being an arrogant prick, I like being with you. I mean, being around you. It’s easy. Natural.”

  “We fit,” Cal noted in a hushed voice.

  Melody bobbed her head. “Yeah, I guess we do. But right now, I’m not sure what that means. I just got out of what I learned was a pretty shitty relationship and Brad is still making trouble. I’m trying to get my store off the ground and most of the time I feel like I barely have the energy to crawl into bed. Maybe it’s the alcohol talking, but today I can say that I’m really glad you’re here. With me. Satisfied?” she asked him sarcastically.

  “For now,” he returned with a wink while she took a sip from the glass.

  “Okay, it’s my turn again,” Melody proclaimed as she tried to smother another yawn. “What is the most embarrassing thing you’ve ever done?”

  “You sure you wanna ask that one?” he asked with a noticeable wince. “You won’t like my answer, babe. I can guarantee it.”

  Melody scoffed. “Now I have to know the answer. You’ve already made whatever your answer is too interesting to resist.”

  Cal wasn’t a man that wasted a lot of time on regrets, but staring into her expectant face now, he truly regretted that he was an honest man.

  Chapter Eleven: When Fantasy and Reality Collide

  “Shit,” he muttered, releasing a heavy sigh before he looked at her. It was better to just tear the bandage off and pray he wasn’t mortally wounded, he decided quickly. “The most embarrassing thing I’ve ever done is to accidentally sleep with a married woman.”

  From his vantage point across from her, Cal literally watched a wave of rage descend over her face as her body stiffened, reflexively bracing itself against his words. “You WHAT? You have got to be kidding me! You sat right there and swore you never cheated before in your life, Callum,” she accused, bolting furiously to her feet as her eyes filled with a bone deep kind of pain that made him ache just to witness it.

  “Melody,” he began, holding out his hand toward her. “Just listen.”

  “Fuck you! You don’t accidentally sleep with somebody – much less a married somebody,” she stated reproachfully, his guilt already well-established in her eyes. “What, she told you she was hitched and your dick leapt into her vagina to hide? Is that what happened, Cal?” she yelled as she began to storm past him. “Your cock went into witness protection in her vagina?”

  Coming to his knees, his arms caught her around the waist, tackling her to the thick carpet. “Babe, you need to listen,” he urged as he rolled on top of her struggling body.

  “Fuck you. You wanna explain? Yeah, Bradley wanted to explain, too. I wasn’t interested in his reasons for doing what he did, and I don’t wanna hear yours, either! Lemmee go,” she screeched, clawing at his arms.

  Thankfully she had short, blunt nails and the damage she could do to his flesh would be minimal, Cal thought absently as he finally caught her flailing arms and pinned them above her head with one hand encasing both her slender wrists. “Baby, I didn’t cheat. You can’t cheat if you don’t know the woman you’re fucking is in a relationshi
p. I was barely 22 years old, and I was stupid. When I asked if she was with anybody and she said she wasn’t at the moment, I didn’t realize she meant it fucking literally. She wasn’t wearing a ring.”

  “Cal,” Melody bit out, “Get off me and get out of my house.”

  “Not until you hear what I’m telling you. I was a kid, Princess. I was looking for an easy lay, and I thought I’d lucked up and found it. She was a married woman on the prowl out to get revenge on her own cheating prick of a husband. She used me to get it. Believe me, I felt like a chump… especially when her husband showed up and tried to beat the shit out of me.”

  Melody stared at him, some of the anger fading from her eyes. “He beat you up?”

  Cal exhaled heavily as he shifted on top of her soft body, his jaw clenching as his dick began to swell against the vee of her legs. The last thing he needed right now was for her to feel him getting hard for her while he talked about fucking another woman, he thought as he tried to shift his weight. “He got a few good shots in before the woman got between us. I didn’t fight back. I figured I had it coming for being a fuckwit. Believe me, I never made the same mistake again. I pretty much gave any chick I slept with from there on out the third degree before I took things up a notch. I have never been interested in being the other man, babe. I’m selfish enough to admit that when I’m fucking a woman, I wanna be the only man on her mind. You know me well enough by now to know that poaching on another man’s territory would never be my style.”

  The fight seemed to go out of Melody at that remark. “No, that wouldn’t be like the “you” I’ve gotten to know. You definitely don’t seem like the type of man that would willingly share your woman’s attention – even if she was just your woman of the moment,” she conceded grudgingly. “I still don’t like it.”

  “I didn’t like it either, babe, and I’m the one that unfortunately did it,” Cal confessed grouchily. “Now, if I let you up, are you gonna continue trying to make this rooster into a hen or am I safe?” he asked, loosening his grip on her wrists as he stared down into her face. “Because I gotta say, as much as I’ve wanted to get your body beneath mine, this isn’t the way I’d aimed on it happening,” he complained, seeing Melody’s lips twitch with amusement. “What?” he growled.