Bachelor’s Return (4 page)

Melissa watched the coffee drip.

She stood in the kitchen, needing her morning dose of caffeine. After slipping out of bed, where James lay sprawled on his stomach, she’d snuck into the bathroom to take a shower. Her muscles were sore, especially between her thighs.

And she was no longer a virgin.

If someone had told her sex was
that
good, she would have seduced James earlier. But James had never noticed her as a woman. She was always the brat to him.

Now that she’d gotten what she’d always wanted, she felt disoriented. Lost. A piece of her was missing and she didn’t know what it was. The feeling had knocked her over when she found herself standing next to the bed, studying him--the muscular contours of his back, the dark brown hair curled over the nape of his neck and his handsome boyish features.

She had slept with James Bauer.

Now what?
James didn’t believe in marriage. He may feel a sense of responsibility, but she didn’t want that. At least not without love.

Her mother’s marriage had been a disaster. The constant arguing, glass breaking and tears were not things Melissa wanted for herself. She was glad her father had finally left--for another woman. She never wanted to put herself in that predicament. No. And James was too handsome for his own good to want to settle down.

His own mother threw women at him like they would go out of style tomorrow if he didn’t pick one soon, and he’d gone on the dates with no complaints. Melissa knew of the sordid stories from the city. Liv told her everything of her brother’s philandering ways, of the number of women he dated at one time, and his constant marks to his bedpost.

And now she was probably a mark.

The coffee stopped dripping and she poured the hot liquid into a cup. The aroma teased her nose and she took a sip. Pleasure strummed through her at the stark, bitter taste, but the hot liquid didn’t dispel the dread rumbling in her gut at the thought of facing James. Should she pretend last night was a bad idea? Or maybe just play it off nonchalantly?

Melissa sighed. As much as she wanted to call Liv and talk about last night, there was no way she could tell her friend. It would be too weird to ask Liv for advice after sleeping with her best friend’s brother. She couldn’t call Kerry, either. They’d never been close, even when they were children. And her mother was definitely not a choice.

“Mornin’.”

She whirled around from the counter, and a few droplets splashed over the rim of her cup. Her eyes drank in his tousled hair, broad expanse of his chest and flat abs. He stood with only a towel around his waist, and she spotted the moisture clinging to the ends of his hair. He must have just taken a shower. Her knees weakened, threatening to give out from under her, but she forced herself to stand still. “Hi.”

His gaze trailed over her from head to toe. Her body tingled under his scrutiny. She gripped the lapels of her robe with her free hand as if she needed to shield herself from him.

He moved in toward her. His bare feet even looked sexy. She hated that.

“Can I have a cup?”

Her mind drew a blank. “What?”

“Coffee. I need coffee.”

She smiled sheepishly and turned around. Setting her mug down on the counter, she reached up to the cupboards to grab another coffee cup when she felt him press against her from behind. She froze.

“You smell good.” His lips brushed her ear and her breath hitched. His hands settled on her waist, pulling her against him.

She gasped at the feel of his hardness pressed against her back. “James.”

“Hmm,” he murmured, teasing her earlobe. “You disappeared. I was hoping you’d still be in bed when I woke up.”

She melted. They had made love two more times after the first, and she’d been more than impressed with his stamina. From what she’d gathered through research, and what she’d learned from Liv, men were usually not as potent as James. No wonder women couldn’t stay away from him. “I usually wake up early.”

“I know, but I was hoping you’d still be there.” His hand slid over her breast. Her nipple hardened at the contact. Why hadn’t she put on a bra? She remembered the way he’d filled her, pleasured her all night. Heat pooled in her stomach.

“Promise me something,” he whispered.

“Huh?” Focusing was impossible with whatever he was doing with his wonderful lips. Her heart pounded and she fought the desire to rub her bottom against him.

“You’re not going back to work at the bar.”

It took a moment for his words to register, then she stiffened and whirled around. “What are you talking about?”

James drew back and crossed his arms. “Exactly what I said. You’re not going back to work at the bar.”

Anger boiled her blood. “I’ve been working there since they’ve opened. There’s no way I’m quitting.”

“Yes, you are. If Liv had told me, I would have made you quit a long time ago.”

“That’s why Liv never told you in the first place.”

“You knew I wouldn’t let you work there.” His lips thinned and his eyes darkened. “You made Liv promise not to tell me, didn’t you?”

“So what? It’s my life, James. I like working there.” She wanted to throw a fit. Arguing with him was like talking to a brick wall.

“I don’t care. You’re going to go in and quit.”

The steel in his voice didn’t allow refusal, and she would normally be the one to back down, but not this time.

“No. I’m not quitting.” Fear bloomed in her chest, but she ignored it. She wasn’t a little girl that needed James to fix her problems, and no way was she going to allow him control. Just because he was the only guy that stuck around their family didn’t mean that he had a right to continue running her life. She got what she wanted last night, and that didn’t include leverage for her to do what he wanted.

“Don’t argue with me. It’s not safe for you there.” He lifted his hands, but she moved out of his reach. She couldn’t think when he touched her. “You can’t tell me that you like having all those guys drooling over you and checking you out.”

“They’re not like that. Everyone is nice,” she argued, then bit her lip. There had been a few times that she’d been hit on and the situation had gotten out of control, but she wasn’t going to tell him that. She loved her part-time job. It gave her extra spending money, and her uniform made her a little more daring. Not that she would ever give up her research assistant position. No. Bartending was an excuse for her to get out more, and it gave her a high she craved.

“Bullshit, Mel. You know there were guys ready to jump you. You don’t belong there.”

“You’re not my father,” she retorted, her own rage seeping through.

His arms shot out and gripped her forearms. “I know I’m not your father. I’m definitely not your brother, but I care, dammit.”

A lump formed in her throat. She lifted her gaze to his face. The fierceness in his taut features eased her anger. She laid her hands on his chest, her fingers tingled against his bronze skin. “I’m safe there. The bouncers always keep an eye on me.”

James growled. “If you won’t quit, then I better not see you in that outfit again.”

She blinked. “That’s my uniform.”

“I don’t care. I’ll burn it.”

“You liked it, though,” she said softly. She stared at her hand against his chest, noting the contrast in their skin color. While his was tan and bronze, hers paled in comparison. Moving in closer, she bit her inner cheek, aware of the heat running down her spine. She wanted nothing more than for him to bring her back to bed.

He gripped her chin between his thumb and forefinger and brushed his lips against hers.

“We didn’t use anything last night,” he murmured.

Melissa pulled back. “I’m on the pill.”

She thought she saw a flicker of disappointment cross his features, but she had to be wrong.

“Why?” His eyes narrowed.

“It regulates my period.”

James relaxed, then reached around her and poured himself a cup of coffee. “I need to get home before Mom thinks I ran back to the city.”

Melissa nodded. A heaviness settled in her chest.
That was it. Just a one-night thing. Don’t think about it.
Tears burned the back of her eyes, but she gave him a smile. “I’ll drop you off.”

He cocked his head to the side and stared down at her. Then he placed his coffee mug on the counter and drew her into his arms. “What happened to the brat I knew?”

She stiffened.

“She grew up.” Melissa moved away and headed back to her bedroom. “I’ll change and drive you home.”

She didn’t turn around to see if he was staring at her or not. Remorse and pain clogged her throat. What did she expect? She was the one that came onto him. James was too much like her father. He’d never settle. And this had been her attempt to get him out of her system, wasn’t it?

James was never going to see her as anything else but the brat.

The drive to the house was tense.

James didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know who this woman was next to him in the car. The fiery, passionate woman he saw last night didn’t exist, just the shell of the brat who refused to look at him.

“How’s the research position going?” he asked.

Her gaze flicked at him, then returned to the open road. “It’s good. Professor Blum loves my work. It’s for his book on the language barriers between the dialects in China.”

“Is your mom doing okay with finances?” He’d always worried about their family as much as his own, especially since Melissa’s father had left. Just up and gone one day with another woman. Gloria Johnson was a second mother to him and he didn’t mind her much, except when she was plotting with his own mother against him and his single life.

“She’s doing okay. She got promoted to supervisor at the hotel.” Melissa maneuvered the car on to the main road.

James leaned into the seat, his mind drifting to the night before. Turning his head toward her, his gaze trailed over her tight jeans and pink blouse. They were conservative-looking and covered up most of her, but now that he’d seen and tasted what she hid, his constant arousal was getting to him. Hell, he had wanted to drag her back to bed until she stated that she was going to drop him off at his house as if the night hadn’t meant anything to her.

He didn’t know how to approach the subject or what to make of it. He feared he’d scare her off if he moved too fast. Last night had been one of the most intense moments of his life. And he didn’t regret it, but obviously, she did. “Mel, about last--”

“Don’t, James. Just let it go.”

His eyebrow lifted at her curt tone of voice. “I took your virginity.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Anger pulsed through him.
Don’t worry about it?
How the hell was he supposed to
let it go
when it had been the best sex he ever had? He stopped.
No, it wasn’t sex. It was better than sex.
“You were a virgin and I’m supposed to not worry?”

She slowed the car to a stop at a red light and frowned at him. “What? You’ve never slept with a virgin before?”

James raked his memory. No. He hadn’t. At least not to his knowledge. “How can you look at it so lightly? What happened to all those guys you dated?”

Melissa shrugged as she stepped on the gas to get the car moving. “I didn’t want to with any of them.”

“But you had no qualms about giving it to me?”

Her teeth worried her bottom lip, then her tongue darted out, swiping over the area. He stiffened at an image of her mouth closing around his cock. His groin tightened.

“Will you just drop it? It’s not as if I’m coming after you to marry me or something. I knew I shouldn’t have, all right? I’m not holding you to anything.”

Marry?
He frowned and waited for panic to set in. It didn’t come. He didn’t like thinking about the future, but now that she brought it up…

Melissa threw him another glance, before drawing the car down the street to his mom’s house. “I won’t endanger your single life. And you have a whole list of blind dates to get through this week, anyway.”

Now he was annoyed. “I’m talking about us here.”

“There isn’t an
us
.” Melissa pulled into the driveway and turned the ignition off.

She got out before he could reply. He followed, anger spurring through his body.

“We’re going to continue this talk later,” he said.

She looked at him over her shoulder as she made her way up the walkway. “There’s nothing to talk about.”

James followed her into his mom’s house. He couldn’t keep the glare off his face. He didn’t know why. The more she didn’t want to talk about their situation, the more he wanted to. Hell, he’d never had to badger a woman about a night they spent together. Quite the opposite. Normally, he couldn’t get away fast enough before his date would broach the subject and demand more from him. Now, it seems the tables had turned, and he didn’t like it.

They went into the kitchen. His mother and Aunt Gloria stood by the stove. He spotted his sister at the table, picking at the generous buffet laid out. All the women loved to cook around here.

“Hey, Mom. Aunt Glo.” James pressed a kiss on each of their cheeks.

His mom frowned at him. “Where did you go last night? Did you just get home?”

“I ran into a few friends and we were catching up,” he said smoothly.

“Did you give James a ride?” He heard his sister ask Melissa.

He turned around and saw Melissa’s face tinge pink.

“Yeah. I was close by when he called,” she answered as she sat down next to Liv.

Liv frowned. “I didn’t think James knew you didn’t live at home anymore.”

“She told me yesterday,” said James, walking to the table and taking the seat next to Melissa.

His sister shrugged as she placed a bagel on her plate. “You should have at least told me you were going off with your friends. We were looking for you last night.”

“Sorry, Sis. Did you guys get home okay?” James took an empty plate and piled on eggs and bacon.

“Yeah. It was all right.” Liv turned to Melissa. “I looked for you too, but the girls at the bar said you went home early with some guy.”