by White, Jade
“Hilary Dalton, yuck, why would you go out with her when you have Melissa?”
“Are you serious? Hilary Dalton is gorgeous. And for the last time, I don’t have Melissa.”
“I don’t like her. She seems so fake when she is on TV. I’ve heard she treats people horribly. Now Melissa, she is a class act. She has been through so much in life she would appreciate you, and never stray. You’re an idiot. I don’t even want to tell you what I found out.”
“Blair, I swear to everything holy, if you don’t start talking…” Thomas growled the last part, letting Blair fill in the blanks.
“Fine. Melissa, the astute woman you should be with, was correct. Nathaniel has been in jail. He can’t post bail, and from my sources, every phone call he has made shows he has nobody. I’m surprised he hasn’t called Melissa to bail him out. Whoever threatened you and messed up her office has nothing to do with Nathaniel. Do you want me to do some reconnaissance and find out who is behind this?” Blair’s voice perked up at the thought of doing real P.I. work.
Thomas was still pissed about his Melissa comments, so he decided to withhold some of Blair’s joy. “Not this time. I’ll see what I can find out, and if I need you, maybe I’ll give you a call. Thanks for checking that out for me.”
Blair hung up sounding dejected when he told Thomas good-bye. Thomas leaned back in his chair as he tried to think of who would do this to him. He got frustrated and left his office to get some air. He also needed to book a room for the next day. That got a smile on his face and when his shoes hit the sidewalk he felt a lot better.
***
When Melissa walked into her office the day after the vandalism, she was even more shocked than when she saw the destruction. Thomas’ men did a fantastic job.
The office now sported a fresh coat of paint, and carpet. The destroyed furniture had been replaced by similar yet more expensive looking pieces. Tilly’s desk sported a bright bouquet of flowers, and her new double-paned glass windows sparkled.
“Tilly, this looks fantastic,” she whispered, unable to talk around the lump in her throat.
Tilly smiled and clucked her tongue before she rattled off the clients Melissa would be seeing that day. Melissa walked into her office and gasped. It was perfect and organized. All of her shattered picture frames had been replaced and everything looked like it should have. She cringed when she noticed a new couch in her office. The old couch had been destroyed, and now it was in furniture heaven. Melissa walked tentatively over to the new couch and sat on it. The material allowed her to sink into its fluffiness, and she sighed with contentment. She shouldn’t have doubted Tilly. This couch was incredibly comfortable, and she was looking forward to taking many naps on it.
Her day went by quickly as she took care of her patients. At the end of the day, she and Tilly were sitting on her new couch.
“Tilly, I can’t thank you enough for what you did for me. The office looks better than it did before the break-in.”
“Hush, I love this place, too. Besides it was fun ordering all those men around.”
Melissa laughed. She looked around and noticed something she hadn’t before.
“Are those security cameras?” she asked as she stood up to inspect the tiny ball hanging from the ceiling.
“Yeah, he had them installed; isn’t that crazy?” Tilly said, joining her.
“That man is too much.” She remembered something she had to tell Tilly when she thought about Thomas.
“I need you to move my last couple of patients to another day.”
Melissa damned her red cheeks knowing Tilly was going to pick up on it.
“Why would I need to do that?”
“Thomas and I are going to try and conceive tomorrow, and I want to be able to go home and shower.”
Tilly screamed shrilly. “What?! You have to tell me everything,” she demanded.
“Can we not do this here?” Melissa pleaded.
“Fine. Meet me at my house and we will have a girl’s night.”
Melissa smiled. A girl’s night sounded perfect. Tilly was her best friend and maybe she could get some of her nerves calmed by talking it out with her.
“Deal. I’ll get the food,” Melissa told her. “Bruce and I did the injections at the crack of dawn this morning so we’d be ready for tomorrow.”
“I’m telling you that man would do anything for you,” Tilly said and Melissa ignored her.
They locked up the office and Melissa went to go get food and change into more comfortable clothes. She had a feeling it was going to be a long night.
“I brought pizza and ice cream,” Melissa yelled out to Tilly where ever the hell she was. Tilly never locked her door so Melissa knocked once and walked in.
“I'm in the kitchen. You can put everything down in the living room, we'll eat there.”
Melissa moved into the living room and sat everything down. She curled up on Tilly’s big green recliner and waited for her friend.
Tilly came in with two glasses of wine. Melissa took one and followed her to grab some food.
Once they had gorged themselves on food and ice cream, Melissa was back on the squishy recliner as she sipped her wine.
“So are you ready to knock boots with that sexy man?” Tilly asked bringing Melissa back to reality.
“Actually, I'm nervous. It has been a long time since I’ve, well, you know. What if I don’t remember how to do it?" Melissa chewed on the side of her cheek. It was true she hadn’t been with anyone since Nathaniel, and they hadn’t been intimate for a while.
Tilly laughed and leaned over on the couch so she could look at Melissa. “It’s just like riding a bike: once you've done it, you'll never forget.”
“I hope so.” Melissa’s voice showed just how insecure she was feeling.
“So it’s a little different than before. Women are more independent and can take charge in the bedroom. I just finished reading a great book. Do you want some tips?”
Melissa was on her second glass of wine, and the way Tilly’s eyes gleamed with mischief she wanted to know what kind of tips her friend had for her. “Lay them on me.”
“Yay! Okay, like I said, I was just reading a book and the woman took complete charge in the bedroom. She tied him up and poured hot wax on his body as he writhed around. I swear that scene had me so hot. Then she started giving him a blow job and right before he came, she stuck her fingers you know where. He said it was the greatest sex he ever had, and they lived happily ever after. Oh and then I read another book.”
“Wait. Hold on. No more,” Melissa sputtered, trying to get words out. So tips from Tilly were off the table. Tilly’s eyes still hadn't lost the gleam in them and Melissa realized her friend had an arsenal of advice she was ready to unload on her. “I’m scared, Tilly. I don’t really know what’s going to happen when the baby comes.”
This was a true fear Melissa had been having but she also knew it would get her friend off the topic of the weird books she had been reading.
Tilly smiled at her and leaned over even further to pat her leg. “It’s going to be fine. Especially with him being a were-bear and all. They are amazing parents, and they are loyal.”
Melissa took a large gulp of wine. “You know about the loyalty of other species?” Melissa stared at her friend. Tilly never really talked about the shifters and the nature of their work, and as long as they’d been best friends, she’d never asked her why.
“I know all about the shifter communities,” Tilly said, pulling back from her leaning position and looking down at her empty wine glass.
“You know, we’ve never talked about how you found out; you know all about how I know.”
Tilly finally lifted her head and met Melissa’s eyes. “I’ve known about shifters since I was four years old. My parents are cougars,” Tilly admitted.
“You’re a shifter? I had no idea.” Melissa slumped down into the chair, her mind reeling.
“I’m not a shifter, my parents are.”
“I’m adopted,” Tilly told her.
Melissa’s shoulders dropped from relief. Her baby still had a good chance of being able to shift.
“When I was little, my real mom left me in front of a hospital. My adopted shifter mom found me when she got off her nursing shift. She and my adopted father were having a hard time conceiving, and she felt I was put in front of that hospital for a reason.”
“Oh Tilly, that’s such a beautiful story.” Melissa sniffled into a napkin she was holding.
“Melissa, that’s why I’m so dedicated to you and your research. Not that I’m not thankful every day that my parents adopted me, but more and more shifters are having trouble conceiving. A lot of the species are getting really close to extinction. With your research, you will be able to bring clans back from the brink of losing everything. My parents still continued to try for a child when I was younger. Not because I wasn’t enough, but they loved me so much and they had so much more love to give, but it wasn’t in the cards for them.”
Melissa wiped the tears rolling down her cheeks. Tilly was such an amazing friend.
“Being raised in the shifter world, I adapted pretty fast, and now have shifter-dar. I knew Thomas was a bear the moment I spotted his wide shoulders as he signed in.”
Melissa let out an un-lady-like snort. “He is pretty obvious if you know what you are looking at.”
“I know I’m looking at one of the hottest men I’ve ever seen when he comes in. I also know I’m looking at someone who has feelings for you.”
“No, it isn’t like that. We swore we would remain platonic; that way, no more drama would be forced on our baby,” Melissa explained, ignoring the flutter in her stomach when Tilly mentioned he had feelings for her. “Besides, he’s dating Hilary Dalton. There is no way I could get him away from her. She’s gorgeous.”
Tilly let out another one of her screeches. “Oh, My. God. Hilary Dalton. I love her. Do you think he could get me an autograph?”
“I already asked him.”
Tilly sobered at Melissa’s words. “That’s why you are a better person than Hilary Dalton. You think of people’s happiness besides your own. And if you want to believe it or not, I see the way Thomas looks at you. I can promise he’s not thinking of Hilary when you are around. Besides, you’re going to give him something nobody else is able to. You are going to ensure his clan has at least one more descendant, hopefully allowing them to keep their line going. Hilary has nothing on you.”
“Ahh, thanks, Tilly.”
“So your mission is to knock his socks off in bed tomorrow. Get him so hot and heavy for you while you two make your child he won’t even remember another woman’s name. Especially Hilary.”
Melissa laughed as the fluttering in her stomach started again. She was going to have sex with Thomas tomorrow, and they were going to make a baby. Tomorrow everything was going to change. Once the deed was done, Thomas would be cemented into her life forever. The weird thing about it was instead of sending her into one of her panic modes like it should have, it brought her a sense of security. There was really no way she would be able to sleep even if the weird medicine coursing through her veins wasn’t already making it hard.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Melissa threw the door open when Thomas knocked on it a little too hard. She cringed as it banged into the wall. She was a little nervous. Casually, she tried to lean out and grab it to pull it back to her.
“Hi, come in. I just need to grab my overnight bag.” She’d packed everything she needed to get ready after the deed was done.
“Okay,” he said to her, rubbing the back of his neck.
He walked into her living room and knocked over a vase, catching it before it shattered on the floor. Melissa walked into her room thinking maybe she wasn’t the only one nervous about tonight. The two of them had decided after they tried for the first time, they would go and meet each other’s parents.
It seemed like a great idea, but now she was kind of wishing they were just staying in the hotel. He was going to stay overnight and she was going to go back to her house. That way it didn’t look like they’d just rented the room for sex; she wasn’t sure why she cared because that was exactly what they’d done.
They got into the car without saying much to each other. She couldn’t tell if he was nervous too, but he was a little quieter than usual. They checked in and walked to the room together. It was such a strange situation for Melissa that she really wasn’t sure how to act. Once they were in the hotel room, she went straight to the bathroom and laid out all her things. She was dawdling. It was now or never. She needed to pull on her big girl panties and just get it done. Or should she say take her big girl panties off? Now she knew she was really nervous, making stupid jokes was her way of coping.
With a deep breath, she came out of the bathroom dressed in a pair of leggings and a large shirt. She didn't know how clinical he was going to want to make this. And she didn’t want to be embarrassed by wearing something overly sexual, although her panties and bra were a light green set that matched, just in case.
When she packed the clothes she was going to wear, she was going to go for something more fitting, but the thought of him comparing her to Hilary had her grabbing the baggiest shirt she owned.
Thomas’ eyes roamed over her body and he smirked at her. He sat on the edge of the bed in a pair of jeans and t-shirt. There was a bucket with champagne sticking out of it. Melissa’s nerves shot through her. This was really going to happen.
“Are you going to stand there all night?” he asked.
“I don’t know. Are bears that well-endowed that you can reach from here?” She wanted to smack herself on the forehead. What the hell Melissa? she told herself, get it together.
Thomas threw his head back and laughed. Her body tingled from the sound. She liked it when he let loose and laughed. She wasn’t sure how many people got to see this side of Thomas but she liked that she was one of them.
“Sit down, Melissa, I’ll get us some champagne.”
She didn’t move toward the bed until he got off of it and his back was toward her. She ran into the bed and jumped under the covers bringing them up to her chin. He turned around with two full glasses of the bubbly amber liquid and laughed again. She was annoyed that he seemed to be so in control.
She knew he was nervous when he picked her up from her apartment, but now he was laughing like it was no big deal. She wanted to throw him off his game. In a bold move, she tugged off her leggings and threw them at his face. He wasn’t able to protect himself because his hands were full. He shook his head dislodging her leggings from his face. He looked down at the ground and his eyes widened when he realized what she threw at him. Thomas crawled onto the bed, not getting under the covers. Melissa went to lean in to him to kiss him. She wanted to get this over with and she figured the faster the better.
Thomas reached over to hand her the glass of champagne and his elbow collided with her nose.
“Owww,” she cried, jumping back and causing him to spill her drink over the comforter.
“Oh my God, I’m so sorry.” He rushed to the champagne pail and grabbed some ice, holding it to her face. The melting ice dripped on the already-soaked comforter made her legs instantly chilled.
Melissa climbed out from under the blankets and ripped the comforter off the bed, throwing it on the floor. She leaned over to inspect the other blankets, relieved when she saw that they were dry.
“I leaned into that,” she told him as he came over and stood beside her.
“I’m sorry; let me see it.” Melissa spun around and almost tripped over her feet. Thomas held onto her shoulder so she wouldn't fall.
She tipped her face down to the floor, hoping to find a h
ole big enough to jump into. He put his finger under her chin and lifted her face up so he could see her.
“It’s a little red, but I don’t think it is going to bruise.”
“It will be fine,” she whispered, his tone and touch was doing all sorts of things to her body.
She had been thinking about sex with him all day. Well, since the moment he asked her to be the mother of his child, her body was on overdrive. She hated to admit how much she wanted this.
“This isn’t going very well, isn’t it?” He laughed and pulled her down on the bed before sitting next to her looking down at his hands.
It was a vulnerable look for him and she softened a bit more. She had been thinking about how awkward this was for her and really didn't think too much about him.
She wondered if he was having such a hard time because he was with Hilary and he felt like he was cheating. She instantly scratched that off the list. He didn’t have to ask her to be the mother, she gave him the option of asking someone else. The fact that he declined that offer, even with the possibility of having Hilary, melted her fractured heart. She may not have him as the man in her life, but he would always be there for her and the baby. He was such a handsome man and any woman would be lucky for just one night with him. She was going to get to create life with him.
“All right, let’s do this,” she said, moving so she sat up on her knees on the bed.
Thomas jumped off the bed quickly, moving to take off his shirt. His movement caused her to tumble over and hit her back on the floor.
“Shit,” he mumbled bending down to look at her. “I’m usually really good at this part. I don’t know why I keep screwing up.”
After she jumped back up, Melissa reached out her fingers and touched his face. “I’m nervous, too. Maybe we should try another time.”
Thomas took her hand and pulled her up until they were standing in front of each other.
“No. I really want to do this. I promise I’ll stop injuring you.”
Melissa laughed and held out her hand, her pinky extended. He looked down at it and chuckled before linking his pinky with hers.
