MissBEHAVED

Chapter Five

Melody

Grace and I ran our butts off from the moment we opened the store at noon on Friday straight through until five o’clock. It had snowed almost every day for the past week, laying down over two feet of fresh powder on the hills. With the weekend forecast promising clear skies and temperatures in the mid-twenties, a slew of people played hooky on Friday to come down and get settled so they could hit the slopes early Saturday morning. That meant a constant stream of people down Main Street and a good number of those stopped into my shop.

Once the dinner hour approached, the customers slowed to a trickle, and we finally had a moment to breathe.

“Did you end up hearing from either of the two guys you exchanged numbers with Monday night?” I asked while I rehung a stack of bras, making sure the length of the straps matched so they wouldn’t be crooked. Wednesday and Thursday I ran the shop by myself, so I’d only had time to exchange a few quick texts with Grace after speed dating night. Now I wanted the details.

“One called Tuesday night and asked me to dinner on Saturday, but he was my second choice. I haven’t heard from the guy I liked best.” She focused on rearranging the disheveled racks by size while trying to unsuccessfully hide her disappointment.

“Did you accept number two’s dinner invite?”

“Yeah, we’re meeting back at the Red Mill at six tomorrow.” She seemed underwhelmed, to say the least.

“Don’t get too excited, Grace,” I joked. “I don’t want you scaring away the customers.”

She glanced around the empty shop and glared at me. “Ha, ha, funny lady. I know it’s not a big deal to you, but I just want to be picked first by the guy I want for once. Is that too much to ask?”

Wow. She was deep into a self-pity party, and as her best friend, it was my job to pull her out.

“Grace, have you considered that you are number two’s first choice? You probably are if he only waited a day to call you. You need to give the guy a chance, not spend the night wishing he was someone else. You might be missing out on something great because you’re hung up on something silly.” I wouldn’t be so blunt with anyone but her. Sometimes she needed a dose of tough love to pull her head out of her ass.

She turned that over for a minute, then let out a long sigh.

“You’re right. Speed dating was a success because I’m going on a date four days later.” She nodded firmly and smiled, then looked at me and I knew what was coming.

“What about you? I saw you getting cozy with a guy in the corner of the room for a few minutes before you disappeared on me.”

It was more like a half-hour, but I wasn’t about to correct her.

“You know I wasn’t there to meet anyone,” I replied with the same line I’d given her twice via text already.

Grace raised her eyebrows and waited for me to continue, knowing that I couldn’t evade her questions when she was staring at me.

I sighed. “Fine. He was nice, good-looking, and has a job.” She clapped her hands excitedly, but I cut her off before she could start planning my future. “No. I’m not dating, Grace. End of discussion.”

“Why are you so resistant to meeting someone?” she asked. “Even if you’re not on the hunt for true love, like me, why close yourself off to any possibilities? What if you’re missing out on something great?” She tossed my words back at me with a grin to soften the blow. But even I had to admit that she had a point. Only to myself, though.

“I have the shop.” I waved my arms around to demonstrate my point. “This takes up all of my time.”

We’d had this discussion many times before, so she wisely chose to move on.

“What does he do for a living?”

“He runs his grandfather’s hardware store in Walker’s Grove.” I cringed as I said it, knowing what the next thing out of her mouth would be.

“So he knows what it takes to run a small business. That’s interesting.” She emphasized her last words like I was an idiot.

“He lives in the carriage house apartment behind his grandparents’ house. They raised him and are very close.” I had no idea why I continued speaking because I was only giving Grace more ammunition in her quest to find me a man.

“So family is important, but he also lives on his own,” she noted, quite obnoxiously. “Those are both good things. What else?”

I felt my face turn red as I remembered our conversation. “That’s it.” I ducked my head and moved away from Grace to straighten another rack.

“Uh, uh. There’s something else. You turned all pink.” I knew Grace wouldn’t let it go. Once she had something in her head, she was like a dog with a bone. “Spill, Melody.”

Her demand came with a foot stomp and a scowl, like the petulant princess she sometimes turned into. Whoever Grace ended up with would have his hands full. She’s the one who needed someone like Dixon to keep her in line, not me. But even the thought of my friend with the handsome man from the other night made jealousy flare, burning hot in my chest.

“He wants to be in charge in his relationship. He said there would be consequences for misbehavior.” I whispered the last part, my eyes big to emphasize the nature of those consequences.

“No way,” Grace gasped. “Really? What does that mean?”

I nodded. “Really. We were talking about relationships and he says he doesn’t care about having a woman stay home and do all the cooking, but he does want to be in charge. And it means his wife would have a red butt if she got herself in trouble.”

“That’s so hot!” She fanned herself with both hands. “When are you going to see him? Make sure you do something naughty so you can tell me what happens after.”

“Grace!” I shrieked. The woman was also a giant horn ball. “I’m not. I don’t have time.” I turned and stalked to the back room to escape her inquisition. Running away and hiding was cowardly, but I couldn’t handle any more poking and prodding from her, especially when she was so close to making me disclose my real feelings. Even the ringing of the bell above the door didn’t prompt me to turn around and greet my customers. Grace could handle it. And I really needed a moment to get my thoughts under control because the truth was, I found what he’d described hot, too.

Not two minutes later, Grace’s voice rang through the shop.

“Oh, Melody,” she called from out front in a sing-song tone that alerted me to trouble. She wouldn’t shout my full name through the store unless she wanted to annoy the crap out of me. It must be one of the girls stopping in—she knew better than to do that in front of a customer. “There’s someone here to see you.”

I wracked my brain for who could be here to see me and elicit that kind of reaction from Grace as I moved through the storeroom and out into the front of the store. My family was all in Pittsburgh and planning to attend a charity gala tomorrow, so it wasn’t any of them. The area in front of the register was empty, but I heard Grace talking off to the left, in the sock section.

“Mellie was just telling me about you. I’m so glad you decided to stop in so I could meet you.” Her voice had that overly sweet tone she had whenever she talked to men, and that, along with her words, sped my heartbeat into dangerous territory as I took a few more steps into the store and turned.

“Dixon. What are you doing here?” My words came out breathier than I’d intended, and I struggled to sound like a normal person. “I mean, it’s nice to see you, but this is a surprise.”

He was here. In my store. Looking at me like he wanted to memorize every inch of my being. I’d told Grace he was good-looking but that didn’t do him justice. His dark hair and olive skin spoke of Latino or Mediterranean heritage, and coupled with his almost black eyes, gave him an air of mystery. He was tall enough that I had to look up, but not so tall that he towered over my five-foot six-inch frame. He looked like a man who worked hard and knew what he wanted. And he was standing far too close to Grace for the cavewoman part of my brain.

“Isn’t it such a great surprise?” Grace asked, a wide grin threatening to split her face in two. And if that didn’t do it, I might if she didn’t back away from Dixon and take her hand off his arm.

Fortunately for Grace, he stepped away from her touch and approached me with a determined look on his face.

“I know you said you weren’t interested in dating, but I couldn’t get you out of my mind, so I decided to take a chance and see if I could talk you into having dinner with me.”

His direct and honest approach surprised me, in a good way. He spoke calmly and respectfully, and I knew if I said no, he would walk away, even if somewhat reluctantly. But I also knew he really wanted me to say yes. And a part of me did, too.

“I apologize if that was too blunt, but I’m not a man who’s going to play games or be sneaky. I value honesty, and when I want something as much as I want to get to know you, I’m not going to be shy about it.”

His eyes devoured me, taking in my sweater dress and heels. When he reached my face, I saw a hint of vulnerability creep in as he waited for my response. That, more than anything, made up my mind. I liked that he was blunt and forthright, open and honest, so I gave that back to him.