Destiny Disrupted (There's Always Tomorrow Book 1) (7 page)

Vance sighs and rolls off her, sexy-time forgotten. He tucks his hands behind his head and stares up at the ceiling. “Tomorrow,” he answers glumly.

Melina rolls onto her side to face him. “Are you allowed to talk about it?”

He turns his head so he can look at her, his expression grim. “Doesn't matter, I would never tell you about it.”

She frowns. “I can handle it, you don't have to suffer alone,” she says and strokes his face.

“I barely ever tell the guys specifics about my cases, so I'll be damned if I tell you,” he says, his voice hard and unwavering.

He isn't going to budge. That’s totally clear, so Melina backs off, giving him a nod. “I just want to be there for you.”

“You can still be here for me without knowing everything,” Vance says, his voice softening.

“Fair enough.”

Later that night, Vance and Melina go on their first real date to see a special re-release in the theaters of
Bridesmaids
. Vance is a bit leery about it. He thinks that it’s going to be a chick flick, but he’ll tough it out because Melina wants to see it, which she thinks is so sweet. But the movie ends up being just completely hilarious to both of them and it actually shocks Melina at how hard Vance laughs. It makes her feel really good to see him bent over in his chair wiping tears from his eyes.

They laugh all the way to the restaurant afterward, recalling the funniest parts of the whole movie. When deciding where to eat, they find out that they both love In and Out Burger, so that's where they head. Once there, they get their food and find a table.

When they bite into their burgers, they both moan in pleasure, which makes them start laughing again. Since they are both starving, their burgers are finished in record time. As they take their time with their fries, they chat about nothing and everything, just enjoying each other's company. Melina is sipping her soda when a handsome black man comes up behind Vance. He smiles at Melina and puts a finger to his mouth, motioning for her to keep quiet. The man puts Vance in a chokehold from behind and says something about kicking his ass.

For a second, Vance's expression turns cold and deadly which actually freaks Melina out, but then he must’ve realized who it is because he reaches up and smacks the guy in the face.

“Asshole! I almost flipped you over my fuckin’ shoulder!” Vance exclaims as the other guy laughs and lets go. Vance stands up.

They man-hug then the other guy looks at Melina. “Holy shit, Van. Are you on a date?”

“I guess you could call it that. Shawn, this is my...” Vance shoots Melina a quick glance. “...girlfriend, Melina Higgins. Melina, this is my partner, Detective Shawn Peterson.”

Melina sees Shawn give Vance a quizzical look before turning to her. “Nice to meet you, Melina,” he says while shaking her hand.

“You, too, Detective.” Melina smiles.

“Call me Shawn.”

“Okay.”

Shawn turns back to Vance. “Girlfriend, huh? Did this just happen or was I left out in the cold?”

“It’s pretty new,” Vance says and rubs the back of his neck. He seems a little embarrassed.

“Well, it's about damn time. Shit, when was the last time you had a girlfriend…” he starts before Vance cuts him off.

“Shawn…” Vance warns.

“'Bout two years ago,” Shawn continues, digging a hole.

“Shawn, shut it.”

“Maybe you'll lighten up a bit now that you're getting laid…”

“Dude! Seriously!” Vance snaps, his face bright red.

Melina bites her lip, attempting not to laugh, but it is kind of funny how aggravated Vance is getting. Vance clamps his hand on the back of Shawn's neck and starts to lead him toward the door. He throws a “Be right back” over his shoulder before pushing Shawn out the front door.

Melina watches them argue through the windows. Well, it’s mostly Vance yelling and Shawn laughing. Shawn gives Vance a couple of playful jabs in the stomach before giving him a hug that Vance doesn't return. She chuckles to herself. Vance is so embarrassed by what Shawn revealed. Two years, no girlfriend, no sex. That's rough. She did remember Vance saying that he hasn't been in a relationship in two years, but she never would have thought that he hasn't slept with anyone either.

Melina notices that their conversation has now turned serious. They both look grim and tight. Shawn pulls his iPhone out, pulls something up on it, and hands it to Vance. It must have been an email because Vance uses his finger to move the screen up. Then Melina sees all of the color drain out of Vance's face. He brings a shaky hand up to his mouth and closes his eyes. What the hell is going on? What kind of case are they working on that has such a huge impact on Vance like this? Melina can hear Tripp's voice in her head, “It's slowly killing him.” Poor guy.

Vance must feel her watching him because his blue eyes flick up to hers. He quickly looks away, though, and hands Shawn back his phone. They exchange a few more words then come back inside. Vance avoids her eyes as he sits back down.

“Melina, it was nice to meet you. I'm sure I'll be seeing you again.” Shawn smiles tightly and shakes her hand again.

“You, too.” Melina gives him a small smile back before he walks over to the counter to pick up his order.

She looks back at Vance who is sitting in his chair, staring at the table. His food has been pushed away and he looks a little green around the gills.

“Is everything okay?” she asks.

He starts then clears his throat. “Yeah, yeah, just work stuff.”

“Something serious?” she asks quietly.

“Uh, no…yeah…just a new development.”

“Do you wanna leave?”

Vance sighs. “If you don't mind.”

“I don't mind, I'm done anyway,” Melina says, gathering their trash onto the tray.

She walks the garbage to the trashcan and Vance follows behind her, taking her hand after she puts the tray on top of the trashcan.

He leads her out to his car and opens the passenger side door for her. The ride back to Vance's house is a silent one. He’s extremely withdrawn and in his own little nightmare, and there’s nothing she can do for him.

When they get back to the house, they walk through the garage into the kitchen. Tripp, Ryder, and Dayne are sitting at the kitchen table playing what looks like poker. Vance mumbles something about having to go to the bathroom and bolts up the stairs. Melina looks at where Vance has disappeared to down the hall then looks over at the guys.

They are frowning at her. “Is he okay?” Tripp asks.

“We ran into Shawn at In and Out Burger and they talked about work. Vance said there’s been a new development, but he's been extremely quiet since we left the restaurant.”

“How much you wanna bet he's puking up that burger right now?” Dayne grunts, looking back down at the cards in his hands.

“Dayne,” Tripp scolds.

“What? It's true. That job…” Dayne starts but doesn’t finish his thought. He just shakes his head in disgust.

All of the guys nod in agreement, acknowledging that they agree with Dayne, but none of them say another word.

“Should I go check on him?” Melina asks, unable to tolerate the silence.

“Give him a minute, come sit,” Ryder says, pushing out the chair next to him with his foot.

Melina reluctantly sits down. The urge to go to Vance is overwhelming, but she figures that these guys know him better than she does, so she does as Ryder says and sits down.

“So everything was good until he talked with Shawn?” Tripp asks, tossing his cards face down onto the table. “Fold.”

Melina nods. “Yeah, the movie was hilarious and Vance was in a really good mood.”

“Has he told you anything about the case?” Ryder asks, looking over at her.

“No and he says he never will. Has he told you anything about it?”

They all shake their heads. “Not yet,” Tripp replies.

The guys go on with their game while Melina watches in silence.

Melina glances at the clock. Vance has been upstairs for about forty-five minutes now. She stands up and the three guys look up at her. They all give her a nod. They obviously know where she intends to go. Having their blessing, she gives them an exaggerated nod back and takes a deep breath - obviously trying to build strength and confidence - and starts for the stairs.

She makes her way to Vance's room, where the door is closed. Melina knocks. No answer. She knocks again and calls his name. Still no answer. So she tries the door, finds that it’s unlocked, and walks into the dark room.

“Vance?” Melina calls softly.

As Melina's eyes adjust to the dark, she can see his big masculine shape sprawled out across the bed. Her heart aches. He must be exhausted. She walks over to the bed and climbs up onto it, able to see Vance a little clearer now. He is on his stomach, his face half buried in the silk sheets, his arms loosely wrapped around a pillow. One knee is bent, while the other is straight with his foot hanging off the bed.

Melina smoothes her hand over his hair. “Vance.”

He sucks in a sharp breath as his body stirs. He slowly lifts his head and cracks an eye. Vance pushes up onto his forearms and rubs his eyes with the heels of his palms, then glances over at the clock.

“Shit,” he breathes, “I’m sorry, baby. I didn't mean to fall asleep like that.”

“It's okay,” Melina says, running her hand down his back.

Vance shakes his head. “No, it's not.” He rolls over and sits up.

“Did you get sick?” she asks softly, scooting closer to him.

“Until there was nothing left,” Vance mumbles, shoving his hands into his hair.

Melina sighs. She doesn't know how to help him. He won't tell her what happened other than it’s something to do with work.

“I’m gonna go. Why don't you go back to sleep,” she says wearily and slides off the bed.

Vance grabs her hand before she could walk away. “You don't have to go.”

“We both have work in the morning. It’s my first day back since my accident, and I have a feeling that you're going to need a full night's sleep.”

Vance pulls her back onto the bed and climbs on top of her. He kisses her neck, right under her ear. “Don’t leave just yet, I have some apologizing to do,” he whispers.

“Vance, you don't need to apologize,” Melina says.

He kisses her lips. “Yes, I do. I feel like a dick for leaving you alone in my house for like forty-five minutes.”

“I wasn’t alone; I watched the guys play poker.” Melina smiles.

Vance chuckles. “That makes it even worse.”

Her smile fades. “They're worried about you, you know,” she says, running her hands over his broad shoulders.

“I don't want to talk about that right now,” Vance murmurs and kisses her neck again as he unbuttons her blouse with one hand.

Reluctantly, Melina keeps her mouth shut, not wanting to keep pushing and risk pissing him off. They don't need to be fighting so early in their relationship. Then Melina remembers that he introduced her as his girlfriend and it makes her smile all over again. She likes the way it flowed so easily out of his mouth. Like he'd said it a million times before.

Vance sits back on his heels and pulls her up so that she’s sitting. He slips her blouse off then pulls her tank top over her head. His heavy-lidded gaze rakes over her bra-clad breasts. He brings a hand up, and using his forefinger, he traces a line starting at her collarbone, down over the swell of her breast, to the front clasp of her pink lacey bra. He pops the clasp with one hand and lets her bra just fall open.