Stand Of Honor (7 page)

Melanie jumped.
What did he mean, what was she feeling? Oh, he meant about training.

“I feel like they’re going well.
I hate that I wasted all that time because of that bitch and asshole, but you’re a good trainer.”

She saw Zane smile at her candid response.

“What’s so funny?” she asked. She liked it when he smiled, it was rare.

“Your mouth.
You have a sweet, innocent look, but you cuss like a sailor. Being around men all your life, I can understand.” Zane said it nicely, so she knew he wasn’t insulting her.

“I know
; it comes naturally. I guess I should work on it.” Melanie supposed she wasn’t the most feminine woman he had been around.

When her mother had been alive
, she had made an effort to keep Melanie out of the gym, but after her death, her father had let her hang out there as much as she had wanted.

“What are you doing tonight?”
Melanie was caught off guard by the question, and could see the surprise in Zane’s eyes.  It was as if he couldn’t believe the question was coming out of his own mouth. She had a feeling he hadn’t planned on asking her that question tonight, he had never asked her anything personal.  She would ask him another day what caused this random forwardness.

“No plans
. I thought about renting a movie. My roommate, Trish, went home for the weekend,” Melanie replied.
Why was he asking?
she wondered.

“Do you want company?” Zane was looking at her so seriously
that she didn’t know what to think.

“Uh, sure
.” Melanie tried to hide her shock. “The only problem is, our TV is messed up; I was going to watch it on my laptop.”

“We could watch it at my place,” Zane softly replied
, making it even more obvious that he wanted to spend time with her.

Melanie had all but given up hope of him making the first move. She had been considering taking a couple of shots of tequila and jumping him after a session one night. Her escalating frustration had
been spinning several lurid fantasies through her mind.

She
looked up at him and tried to read his face. It was like looking at a blank piece of paper; he wasn’t showing any emotion. It brought back the memory of him asking her dad to train him…

Oh
, my God, he’s putting himself out there for me!
She knew this had to be hard for him; he wasn’t one to ask anyone for anything.

“That sounds good
.” She smiled up at him and saw his face soften slightly before it reverted back to his poker face.

It
’s about fucking time
, she thought to herself, wondering what had made him change his mind, then deciding she didn’t care. She was glad that he had. She wasn’t going to be able to hold herself back much longer. It satisfied some girly shit deep inside her that he’d finally made the first move. She hadn’t been the first to break unless she counted that first day of practice, and she didn’t.

Her heart was pounding while she waited for him to close down the gym for the night.
As he finished up, they walked out and he turned to lock doors. After he finished, he looked for her car in the parking lot.

“I usually walk here,
” she explained. “It’s close enough to campus and my apartment, so I don’t use my car unless it’s cold or raining.”

Zane frowned.
“It’s not safe for you to be out at night like that. Once you develop a pattern, someone can easily keep track and follow you.”

Melanie smiled.
“I carry protection and stay alert.”

Zane
scrutinized their surroundings before responding, almost as if he was searching for someone. “It’s still not safe. Drive your car when our trainings last until after dark.”

Melanie tried not to read to
o much into his over-protectiveness. She should just be content they were going to be spending time together outside the gym.

“Okay,” she replied.

Zane shook his head at her, tuning in to the fact that she wasn’t taking him very seriously. She smiled in return; she could tell he was dead serious about her not being out at night. Melanie had a bad habit of thinking that just because she knew so many different types of self-defense, such as boxing, judo and wrestling, that she had the ability to defend herself. Luckily, so far she had never been forced to use her skills to defend her life. Zane was right, though, she did need to be more careful. If she made a mistake in overestimating her abilities, it could be the last one she made.

“I have extra clothes in my bag, so I can just change at your place after we get the movie,” Melanie told him.
“Any movie you want to see?”

“What were you going to rent?”

As Melanie thought about what she
’d planned to rent, she blushed. Her taste in movies wasn’t typical for most women; she tended to like the raunchy ones, but she’d never shared that secret with anyone.

“I was just going to see what’s at
Redbox,” she replied without looking him in the eyes.

“Really
? You expect me to believe that?” Zane was laughing at her now. She had to remember that he’d known her as a kid and could tell when she was hiding something.

“Oh, just some silly comedy, but we can look together and pick one
.” Melanie forced herself to sound casual as they walked to his car.

He opened the passenger door of his 4-runner and she slid onto the leather seat.
As he went around to get in the vehicle, she pulled up the Redbox app on her phone.

“Do you like comedies or action?”
she asked him.

“Any movies out right now that are both?”

She scrolled through the list, looking for movies that seemed to meet the criteria. “Have you seen 21 Jump Street?”

“No
. That works for me,” he replied.

Melanie reserved the movie at the closest location.
“You can drop me off at the box; there’s not always much room to park.” He pulled up to the curb and she hopped out to get the movie.

As she put her credit card in, she saw the message stating her movies were on the way.
Crap, why was it plural…? Shit! The other movie had already been reserved, so it was sending both out.

She glanced back to see if he was watching
. Fuck, he could see everything. She grabbed both movies and walked to the vehicle.

“Did you see another movie you wanted to watch?”
He looked amused.

“My other reserved movie came out too, but I can watch it another time.”
Melanie started to put the movies in her bag, yet before she could finish the movement, his hand snaked out and grabbed them out of her hand. Damn, he was always so fast.

He looked at the movie and laughed out loud.
“‘Piranha 3DD’?” he inquired.

“Shut up
, Zane. I saw the first one on HBO, so I felt like I needed to watch the second one, too.” Melanie was embarrassed. No one knew she liked watching naughty movies.

“I have no problem watching a movie named after a breast size
.” He smiled at her.

“Yeah, I know
; a movie full of naked women, what guy wouldn’t?” She punched him in the shoulder.

“Hey, it was your choice, not mine!”

She could tell he was enjoying her discomfort and finally forced herself to relax.

“I like B monster movies, too. My ideal movie would be if they did a movie ‘Sharknado 3DDD’.”

Zane had a lighter side to her surprise.
Melanie laughed at his lame joke, enjoying spending time with him.

“Fine, you caught me.”

He reached over and squeezed her hand. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone,” he whispered. “I’m good at keeping secrets.”

Melanie felt that tingling sensation shoot through her body at his touch.
She glanced at him and merely nodded.

He continued to tease her on the way to his house,
however he never let go of her hand.

Chapter 10

When
Zane pulled onto a road with houses on big lots, Melanie was curious to see what type of home he lived in.

They drove to the end of the road and pulled up to a large
, two-story, brick home.

“Wow, nice house,” Melanie exclaimed.
“It’s beautiful. Did you have it built?”

“I worked with an architect to come up with the design and helped build most of it.
I had just finished up some endorsement deals before I was kicked out of the league, so I decided to put the money towards the house and the gym.” Zane pulled into the garage and turned the vehicle off. They both got out and then entered the house.

As they walked to the living room, Zane continued
, “While I was proving my innocence, I was at least able to finish getting a business management degree. Since then, I’ve been taking online classes to get my MBA. I like being a business owner—I wouldn’t mind opening another business one day. I really would like to assist more kids like Ty, helping them find a way off the street. It’s a big investment of my time and money supporting them, but it would pay off if one of them ends up being a champion. The gym has been good to me—I’d like to pass that on to others.”

Melanie liked hearing him talk about himself.
She was glad he’d worked so hard to prove his innocence, but hadn’t wasted the year by solely accomplishing that. He was a nice guy and had proven it by helping others that were in a position similar to where he once had been. She sighed to herself. He was so perfect. She didn’t see Zane treating any of the boys he trained with the same disregard he’d received from her father.

He showed her around the house
. The master bedroom was on the first floor and had a huge bathroom with a standup shower and Jacuzzi tub. There was an additional half bathroom downstairs as well. The kitchen was very contemporary with all stainless steel appliances. When she spotted that he had at least a 60” TV and a very cozy looking couch in the living room, she was glad he’d suggested watching the movie at his house.

The upstairs had three bedrooms and two full bathrooms.
At least there should never be any fights over needing a bathroom in this house. She thought about how lucky his kids would be.

“I love your home
. All the details are amazing.” She smiled at him, and Zane grinned in return.

“I’m going to use your bathroom to change.
I won’t be long,” Melanie told him.

She
went into his master bathroom and looked around, taking a deep breath and smiling to herself. She definitely liked being in his home.

She quickly showered and
then changed into her other clothes before she checked herself in the mirror, wishing she had something sexier to wear. All she had was a deep blue V-neck and some black knit pants.

She washed her face and combed out her hair
then looked in the mirror again; it was the best she could do with what she had.

She went back out to find Zane in the kitchen.

“Are you hungry? What do you want to drink?” he asked her.

“Just water.
Do you have any popcorn?” She had to have popcorn when she watched a movie.

He smiled
. “Sure thing.”

He put a bag of microwaveable popcorn in the microwave and went to pour her some water
, then he grabbed a beer out of the refrigerator and started to take the drinks to the living room.

“I guess I could have a beer
, too,” she said, changing her mind from the water she had asked for.

“Are you of age already?” Zane joked as she grabbed her own beer.

“Yes, Zane, I am a grown woman now, not the same kid you remember,” Melanie teased back.

She saw his eyes darken
. “Yes, you’re definitely all grown up now.” She could tell Zane didn’t need to be reminded that she was all grown up, he could see that with his own eyes.

Melanie
felt her body warm at the way he was looking at her with those piercing grey eyes.

Once the popcorn was ready, they went into the living room.
She wondered what movie he would put in and was relieved to see him choose 21 Jump Street.

As he took a seat on one end of the couch, she
decided to just go for it and sat right next to him so that their bodies were touching. He put his arm around her and she leaned her head against him as he started the movie.

This was exactly where she wanted to be.
She could feel Zane’s body moving with each breath and she found herself breathing with him; it made her feel even closer to him.

The movie was funny
; they both laughed out loud through most of it. She was happy they’d found something they could enjoy together.

They had shifted positions during the movie, resulting in her legs curled up as she lay on his chest.