His Melody (15 page)

“Of course,” Austin said. His eyes bore into hers for a moment before he turned to walk back to the garage.

Melody turned back to Jen who mouthed,
he is so hot!

Melody grinned. “Did you bring the clothes I asked you to? And were you able to sell that Birkin online?” Melody’s heart dropped at the thought of losing her favorite handbag, but she needed the money.

“I did both, but I still want you to come home with me tomorrow. I see why you’re reluctant to, though.” Her gaze lingered on the door Austin had walked through on his way back into the garage.

“What?” Melody laughed off her friend’s words. “Austin? There’s nothing going on between us. I told you that.”

Jen snorted. “Girl, you are smitten. Don’t forget how long I’ve known you. And he was giving you a kind of hungry greedy look, too.”

“Hmph,” Melody said. Austin had hardly looked at her since the night of their kiss. Still, she wanted to believe her friend’s words. “Let me get my purse. I’ll be right back.”

When she went in to get her purse, Austin was in the office. He looked at her like he’d been caught doing something wrong even though it was his office.

“Sorry, I was just leaving,” he said.

“Sorry for what? It’s your office. I don’t know what I did to you to make you hate being around me, but I might be leaving with Jen when she goes home.
Then you won’t have to worry about me sticking around, being in your way,” she said
,
hand on hip
.

“You know why I’m trying not to be around you?” he said, fire in his eyes.

“No, not really. You hardly talk to me, so how would I know anything?” she said, lifting her eyebrows.

“Because I’ve been trying to resist with everything that I am doing this,” he said, hooking his hands into the waist of her jean skirt and pulling her close. He smothered her lips with his, and she gave a little moan. Backing her against his desk, he pulled her skirt up to her waist and squeezed her bottom. “A thong?” he murmured against her lips. “Why do you do these things to me?”

In answer, she wrapped her legs around his coverall clad ones. He lifted her onto his hips, gripping her bottom to hold her there.
She grinded her hips against his.
The whole time, they put everything they wanted to do to each other into their deep, long kisses. His hands went from cupping her bottom to caressing the sensitive skin where it met her thighs. Locking her arms behind his neck, she kissed him harder. It wasn’t possible to get close enough to him. Drunk with desire, she never heard the door open.

“Austin, what’s taking you so—” Donnie’s voice started. “Oh.”

Austin twisted his torso toward the door, and Melody yanked her skirt down as best she could with Austin still between her legs.

“Oh,” Donnie said again. “We talked about this.” He gave his brother a look of pure hatred. “Dammit, Austin. ” Donnie backed onto the walkway and slammed slammed the door.

Melody put a hand on Austin’s arm. “You know I wanted that, too, right?” In fact, she wanted some more of it right then.

Austin rubbed his finger over his bottom lip, seeming to think for a moment. Then he said, “He’s right. That’s why I’ve been trying to stay out of your way since we, um. Since last week.”

“He’s not,” Melody said, reaching for his arm again. He stepped out of range.

“Yeah, he is. There’s so much you don’t know about me, Melody.” His beautiful green eyes hardened. She could tell that he was determined to keep her shut out of knowing it.

“So tell me, Austin. Please. I want to know you. Everything about you.” She reached out again, and this time, he didn’t pull away from her touch. Knowing it was probably a bad idea, but also knowing she’d never get anywhere if she didn’t press, she said, “I want to know about Grayson, too. He’s a big part of you.”

He pulled away and rubbed a hand across his forehead, leaving a grease smudge behind which made him look like a grime and grease covered Catholic on Ash Wednesday. “Jen’s outside waiting for you. And I need to get back to work.”

“Don’t push me away,” she said. “Please.”
 

He gave no indication he’d heard her. He just walked out of the door and back to the garage bay.

Melody started to leave the office when remembered there was a box of stuff she’d found behind the file cabinet that morning that Austin had told her to trash. She decided to take it out to the dumpster before she left with Jen. She picked it up and, still discombobulated from the kiss, tripped over her own feet. The box fell, and its contents scattered over the floor. Mumbling a curse, she bent down and began stuffing things back into the box. She stopped when she came across a CD in a blue plastic jewel case.

She read the words printed across the face of the CD in magic marker to herself. “Rhyme M.D. Demo CD.” After stuffing the CD in her purse, she put the rest of the spilled stuff into the box and carried it out to the dumpster. On her way to Jen’s car, she thought about that CD. Demo. Whose demo? The same person who’d written in the notebook she’d found? Had to be. All she had to do to fix all her problems was find the Rhyme M.D.

Chapter Eighteen

Austin went straight to the shed behind the house when he got home from work. There were two small buildings behind the house. One contained tools, and Austin had remodeled the other old outbuilding and now used it to house his weight lifting equipment other than the free weights in the basement that everyone used.

He needed a good workout when he got home from work Saturday. Maybe by pumping some iron, he could pump the images of Melody out of his head. Get rid of the memories of how it felt to hold her in his arms. Taste her. Eliminate those dangerous fantasies of what could come next from his mind. She was off-limits, and that was that.

It felt good,
bench pressing
, working on his lats, and going through the rest of his upper body routine. Sure, it was hot as a sauna, but that helped keep him from thinking about Melody, so he didn’t mind too much.

She wouldn’t want him if she knew the truth anyway. He’d destroyed every single woman he’d tried to love. He was sick of trying—and that was the best thing for him and especially for any poor woman he might develop feelings for. Or who could see himself being attracted to for more than one night.

He thought about what Melody had said about strange old Blanche Leroux. Huh. Magic. If only it was real. If so, maybe he could’ve had Melody in his life and everything would’ve been automatically better. Maybe he wouldn’t have to be so afraid of her knowing the truth. Heck, maybe he could erase the ugliness from his past altogether.

Austin stretched his legs out in front of him, put his hands on the bench behind him, and dipped down so that he could work his triceps with some bench dips. His breathing was the only sound except for that of the wind rustling through tree leaves coming through the open windows and door that he’d left cracked open. The silence was nice. He concentrated on counting his reps so that he wouldn’t have too much freedom to think.

When he was done, he walked over to the full-length mirror that he used to watch his form when he was working with free weights. He ran his hands over his head and looked down at his sweat stained shirt and then back up into his own eyes. He didn’t want Melody to go back to Atlanta with Jen, but maybe it would be best if she did.

He mumbled, “I can’t let this happen.” He wasn’t good enough for her. Never had been, never would be.

Even if that weren’t true, she was going back to Atlanta. He would never leave Sweet Neck again. He’d learned his lesson. City life wasn’t for him.

#

Austin showered after his workout and then wandered downstairs wearing basketball shorts, a T-shirt he’d cut the sleeves off of, and nothing on his feet. Not ready to get into alcohol quite yet, he grabbed a Mason jar from a cabinet in the kitchen and filled it with sweet tea. Gulping down tea, he wandered outside to find Donnie drinking with some of his buddies and his girl, Nina, in the backyard. Vernon, who was home for the weekend only, was setting up an impromptu barbeque. He’d fired up the grill so that the charcoal could start heating up. Austin breathed in the smoky smell, similar to that of burning wood. His stomach rumbled.

Donnie had already started in on a six-pack, and from the proximity of Donnie’s infamous red cooler, Austin was sure that plenty of reinforcements lay nearby. Great. Austin would have to work
double-time
to keep his temper in check now.

Vernon came over to him. “Austin, how are you, buddy?” He clapped Austin on the back.

“Great, man. How was your run?” Austin clapped him back.

“Good, good.
Just a small run down to Florida starting Monday, though.
Too hot to be going to Florida this time of year.
I’d rather be going cross-country again,
strange
as that may seem. It’s a longer haul, but at least you don’t have the humidity to deal with in Arizona. L.A. Reno. Places out there,” Vernon said.

“I hear you,” Austin said. “I see you ‘bout to cook us up something good.” He glanced in the direction of the grill.

“Yeah. In honor of Melody’s friend being here, and to give Leigh Anne a break from that hot kitchen, thought I’d throw some ribs and steaks on the grill. And some chicken ‘cause that Melody
don’t
eat much real meat you know. She
don’t
know what she missing.”

Austin laughed. “Yeah.” Only Austin was the one missing something worth having when it came to Melody. But he wasn’t allowed to say—heck, he shouldn’t have even been thinking about—that.

Vernon and Austin talked for a few more minutes about meat and then Leigh Anne called Vernon into the house for something.

“Bro,” Donnie slurred. “Come over here.”

Austin took a deep breath. It was about to begin.
The epic and all-too-often-fought battle of dealing with Donnie’s bitterness.

“Yeah, Donnie,” Austin said, looking to the heavens for patience as he approached the picnic table where his brother sat. Austin drank some more of his tea while he waited for his brother to get started.

Nina sat on Donnie’s lap, wearing bleached cut-offs and a button-up with the shirt tails tied together, exposing a little midriff.
A typical outfit for her.

“Bro. Pretty boy,” Donnie said. “You got a thing for Melody, huh? She your next victim?”

Austin dug at the ground with his big toe, concentrating on the movement.

“I asked you a question, boy. What, you too good to answer me? Oh, I’m sorry, can’t just anybody talk to my brother, Mister New York.” Donnie turned to one of his friends and sneered. “That’s Mister New York there.
Too good for any of us.
I don’t know what in the world he’s doing here among us lowly hick folk anyway. Oh that’s right.” Donnie turned a glare on Austin, and Austin didn’t back down from it. “He’s a thief, too.”

“I never stole anything from you, Donnie.” Austin set his jar of tea down on the ground, near where he stood.

“You a damned lie,” Donnie stood up so quickly that Nina nearly toppled off of his lap. After catching herself with his help, she took a seat on the bench of the picnic table. “You stole the shop. You stole Kristen from me, and you ruined her. You’ve ruined so many people. Regan. Mom. Hell, you killed Dad. Fuckin’ New York. Grayson Meadows. What the hell kind of name is that? I’ll tell you. It’s the name of a liar and a killer.”

Austin clenched his teeth and fists in tandem. He closed his eyes briefly and then he said, “I’m gonna see if Mom and Vernon need any help.”

“Go on. Run. You never fought a day in your life for anything or anyone. You don’t care enough or you’re a coward. Or both.” Donnie spat chaw juice near Austin’s feet. It hit the side of Austin’s jar of tea.

“I’m done having the same old fight with you. You don’t like me. You wish I
was
never born. I get it.”

“Then get out of my house.” Donnie had been inching closer, and he was now close enough to push Austin. He shoved Austin’s shoulder.

“This isn’t your house.”

Another
shove
. “Ain’t
none
of yours, either,” Donnie said. “The smartest thing you ever did was leave, and if you had any sense, you’d pick up and do it again.
This time for good.
Nobody wants you here, not even Mom who’s yet another person you claim to love who you tried to destroy. She just won’t say it. Nobody wants your worthless ass around, Grayson.”

That was it. Austin snapped his fist back and caught Donnie full in the mouth with it before he could stop himself. The next thing he knew, the two of them were on the ground punching, wrestling, and shouting. Someone was screaming for
them
to stop it, but Austin was too intent on beating the crap out of his brother to think about who it was.

Finally, someone pulled him off Donnie. One of Donnie’s friends helped Donnie to his feet. Donnie held his bleeding nose and cussed at Austin. Austin tasted blood and figured he’d gotten a busted lip out of the fight, if it could have been called that. Donnie had never been as good of a fighter as Austin was and knowing that, he usually tried to hold back. He should have
laid
off him that time, too. He shouldn’t have allowed himself to get provoked at all, but Donnie kept at him. He’d been digging away at Austin’s patience more than usual since Melody came to town.