She hurried down the steps, hoping he’d start moving forward as well so they’d meet halfway. Every second he hesitated was one second she wouldn’t be touching him. Eventually his feet propelled him forward, and when she collided with his hard chest, he wrapped both arms around her and squeezed her breathless. He pressed hard kisses to the top of her head as if to make sure she felt each one.
“I couldn’t stay away,” she said. “I’m not sure if you even want me here, but I felt that maybe you needed me.”
His arms tightened. “I might.”
She released a breathless laugh. “Won’t even give me that much?”
“Would you think me less of a man if I admitted I need you?”
She shook her head and leaned back so she could stare up into his gorgeous green eyes. “I’d think you more of a man if you did.”
“I’m glad you’re here,” he said.
“And?” She lifted a brow at him.
“I need you.”
“Good, because I need to be here.”
“Is Nikki with you?” He nodded toward the Bug in the driveway.
“Nope. I was having trouble with my car, so she let me borrow hers. She won’t need it for a few days. She finally agreed to get some help, so I found a good facility and got her checked in.” Facility was Melanie’s nice way of referring to the high-security mental ward at the hospital. “She still doesn’t feel safe, Gabe. She can’t sleep, even if she’s curled up with me. Maybe some intensive therapy will help her.”
Gabe kissed her forehead. “We’ll go see her,” he said, and Melanie’s heart lightened.
She knew her best friend was a pain in the ass, knew Nikki had deep emotional scars and did some really stupid things to compensate for her pain, but Melanie loved her and was glad Gabe was open to Melanie’s irrefutable need to keep her friend safe, to slather her with love, and to never fail her again as she did when she’d left Nikki by herself in New Orleans.
“Really?”
Gabe shrugged. “It isn’t as if I have anything more pressing to do.”
“So the band’s still at odds?”
He snorted on a laugh. “You might say that.”
“You’ll get it worked out.”
“I’m not so sure,” he said, “but I am sure of one thing.”
“What’s that?”
“You haven’t kissed me yet.”
She closed one eye as she teased him. “What makes you so sure?”
“Are your panties damp?”
She shook her head.
“Then I’m positive.”
His kiss was deep and searching, almost desperate. She leaned into it, accepting more, taking more, until her toes were curled in her sandals and her panties were demonstrating their cotton absorbency.
A piteous whine interrupted their moment, and Gabe released her to head for the house. Lady had limped her way to the bottom of the steps, but couldn’t manage to get up on the porch.
“I got you, girl,” he said.
He carefully lifted the dog and set her on the porch. Apparently tuckered out, Lady lay down, her tongue lolling out of her mouth as she panted.
“Do you want to lie there or go inside where it’s cool?”
Her big brown eyes fixed longingly on the front door, she whined, the sound punctuated by her jaws snapping shut.
“Well, why didn’t you say so?” he asked, scooping the dog up again.
Melanie was so busy admiring Gabe’s kind-hearted care of his pooch that she didn’t recognize he needed help until he was practically bouncing Lady in the air to try to get a hand on the doorknob.
“I’ve got it,” Melanie said, dashing up the steps and onto the porch. “If you need help, you can always ask.”
“Hey, you got me to admit I need you. Getting me to actually ask for help?” He grinned at her and shook his head. “One step at a time, baby.”
She laughed and opened the door. “I guess I’ll have to read your mind and anticipate your needs.”
“Works for me.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek before entering the house and placing Lady on a big cushiony dog bed near the door. Beau sat beside her and then lay down, his sleek black head resting on Lady’s pillow. She gave his nose a gentle lick.
“They’re like an old married couple,” Melanie said. And so cute and affectionate with each other, it made her ache for that level of devotion.
Gabe stroked Lady’s silky-looking ears before repeating the motion on Beau. “In sickness and in health.”
“And I suppose I’ll have to stick with you through richer and poorer now that you’re unemployed and all.”
She’d been teasing, but the scowl he sent her quickly wiped the grin from her face.
“Too soon?” she asked.
“Much too soon.”
He stood from his crouched position and headed toward the kitchen at the back of the house. It sprawled out into the great room, its gleaming honey-oak cabinets blending perfectly with the cabin’s timbers.
She trailed after him as he made his way to the sink to wash the dog off his hands.
“If there’s anything I can do to help with your band . . .” Though she had no idea how she could. She wasn’t exactly an expert on getting rock groups back together.
“Just be understanding,” he said, drying off his hands on a dish towel. “That’s all I need from you. That and to be my guinea pig for testing out my inventions.”
His smirk reminded her that she liked him best when he wasn’t being so serious, and she was more than willing to be his test subject.
“I hope you mean for the sex toys.”
“Are you ready for a workout? I’ll probably need to up my productivity. I need to find something to keep myself busy now that I’m unemployed. Or maybe I’ll go back to school and finish my engineering degree. Or maybe I’ll wait tables. I can’t stand being idle.”
“Whatever you decide to do, I know you’ll rock at it.”
He leaned against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest, bunching up his green Yoda T-shirt that read mc2 E is. “I really just want to be the drummer of Sole Regret.”
“You do have the hair for it.” Grinning, she reached up and wrapped a lock of crimson-tipped black hair around her finger. He hadn’t bothered to spike his Mohawk today, so the longest of the strands at his nape were long, silky to the touch, and oh-so inviting.
“Exactly,” he said, grinning. “How am I supposed to find a real job with dragons tattooed on my scalp?”
She giggled. She was used to his ink now, but corporate America might have a bit of trouble overlooking his head and body art. “Have a little patience,” she said. “I’m sure you guys can work something out. It’s only been a few days since Jacob left.” And Gabe had ranted on the phone about it for as long. Melanie figured he needed an in-person sounding board, so that was why she’d taken a week’s vacation and headed south. At least she hadn’t done anything as impulsive as quit her job, though she had been working on her resignation letter so she could join Sole Regret on tour when Gabe had delivered the surprising news that the band had called it quits.
Gabe sighed. “You know, Jacob was the one who drew me into this world, and he sure as hell didn’t hesitate to kick me back out of it.”
“Best friends can be such pains in the asses,” she said.