The Mobster And The Cowboy (A Cowboy Romance) (18 page)

Still no answer.
She wouldn’t even look at him. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. They stayed that way for a while. His cock was soft, but he didn’t dare move. He didn’t know what to do. He had just stayed there holding her tight and waited for her to make the first move. A little while later it came.

“Why?”

“I don’t know, I thought you would like it. I’m sorry, Melanie. I didn’t mean to-”

“Please get off me.”

“Mel?”

“Please?”

He moved off her and sat up with a sigh.
She curled up into a ball as he looked on. He placed a hand on the curve of her waist and moved it gently up and down. At least she didn’t stop him.

“Mel, talk to me.”

She really liked Logan. She knew he was demanding in bed and rough. She was ok with that. In fact, she loved that, but this, she wasn’t sure if she’d be enough for him.

“Is that what you need?” she quietly asked him.

“No. I set it up for you.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?
”

He paused.
“I don’t know.” He sighed.

“You held me down.
I tried to get up. You held me down.”

“I read you wrong.
I thought you were bucking in excitement. I was so wrapped up in the feeling of being inside you,” he said, feeling like a heel because he didn’t pick up on her needs.

She turned toward him.
She knew he was upset at himself.

“I’ve never done anything like that.”
She paused. “I’ve fantasized about it.” She paused again and sighed. “I mean, was he prepared with a condom? Did he have lubrication?”

“Yes and yes.
I wouldn’t have let him hurt you, Mel.”

“You wouldn’t let me up,” she repeated again.

He put his head down and sighed as he pushed his hands through his hair.

She rose up and started putting her bathing suit back on.

“Where you going?”

“I want to go home.”

“Ok
ay.” He nodded and threw on his board shorts. “Let’s go say bye to-”

“No. I’ll wait for you out front.”

“Your stuff is out back.”

“Shit
,” she said as she sat back down on the bed and sighed in defeat, and more tears came down her face.

Logan wrapped his arms around her and she let him. “I’m sorry, Mel.
I really am. It was stupid of me to set this up without consulting you, but Mel, only me and Richie know. No one out back does. I know Richie. He doesn’t talk and neither do I. Let’s go out back, get your stuff and leave. If no one talks to us well that’s good. If anyone stops us, we’ll be polite and brief, okay?”

“Come home with me tonight?” he asked her as they drove down the road.

They did get her stuff and left without a problem.
Logan saw Richie from the corner of his eye, head their way, and shook him off. Richie didn’t persist. He felt bad it went down like that. He told Logan to talk about it with her, but he didn’t listen. The asshole.

“No.
I want to go home.”

“Ok
ay.”

“I wanna stay with you tonight,” he said as they pulled up in front of her house.

She hesitated b
efore answering. “No, I wanna be alone.”

“Mel?
”

She shot him a look.
He sighed and turned his attention to the windshield in front of him.

As she turned to open the truck door, he grabbed her arm.

She turned to him
and looked up into his eyes. She saw the hurt there, but she was hurt too.

H
e took her lips with his, but she was only going through the motions. Her kisses usually amazed him, but this was a one sided kiss. His.

****

T
wo months later and Michael was no closer to finding Melanie and more close to desperately needing more money.

Sacrapante kept demanding more and more money.

Michael
was, his friends noticed, becoming a basket case. It didn’t help that he was snorting up most of his profits.

One day, Amilynn came into the club raging mad, sporting a busted lip.

“Where is he, where is that motherfucker. He did this to me. He did this!” She screamed, removing her large sunglasses as she stormed to the back of the club where his office was. Along with the busted lip, she had a swollen, black and blue eye.

Vinnie
grabbed her from behind by the waist. “Calm down, doll-”

“Don’t tell me to calm down
, Vinnie. I want to see him.”

Michael came out of his office. “What the fuck is going on out here?”

“You, you piece of shit, look what you did to me last night. You fucking asshole.”

Mi
chael walked up to her and backhanded her.

She fell backwards and tears came down her face as she felt the sting on her cheek.

“Get her out of here,” he said to Vinnie. “And you,” he said to her, “Go find another place to live. I want you the fuck out of MY apartment by tonight.”

Vinnie
helped Amilynn up and walked her out to her car, all the while pretending to care when she cried to him that she had no place to go. It wasn’t his problem. Fuck her, the little slut.

Michael gave Benny an assignment just to get him out of the club then he made plans with his trusted men.

Logan didn’t know how much more he could take. It had been four days. Four long days. Melanie didn’t answer her phone. What was she doing? What was she thinking? He wanted to go over there,
and do what,
he said to himself.
Beg, go all caveman on her? Yeah, that should go over well,
he thought sarcastically.

He p
layed it over and over again, that night at Richie’s house, in his head and each time, he wanted to kick himself in the ass for not discussing a threesome with her first. He beat himself up pretty badly, throwing himself into work.

After putting in the hours at the stables, he would go to his brother’s house and help him with
chores.

Brett knew something was on his mind, he usually only saw Logan once
, maybe twice a week, but never three days in a row. He knew if Logan wanted to talk, he would. It was a mutual respect they had for one another, but he was willing to bet it was over that girl he’d been seeing for the past two months. He knew it wasn’t Heath because straight up, he asked about him.

Logan did mention Melanie to him about a month ago and every time they got together after that, Brett would ask about her. Logan usually grinned and said things were good.

Brett knew that Logan wanted to settle down.
He was getting older. He had a kid and wanted a sibling or two for him, but not with Linda. Hell no, not with Linda.

Richie filled Brett in on how well things were going with
Logan and this girl, and Brett had hoped she’d be the one. He noticed a kind of enthusiasm in Logan he hadn’t seen in a long, long time.

“Fuck!” Logan yelled as he dropped the hammer he was using to drive a nail into a piece of wood on the side of the barn that he and Brett had been repairing, and shook out his hand. He had hit the hammer on his thumb, and it was becoming swollen as he looked at it.

“Man, Logan
, what the fuck is wrong with you these past few days?”

Logan’s eyes shot
to his brother’s then he slowly looked around and sighed. He tipped his hat back and looked back to his brother.

“
Aw, shit, I fucked up with that girl, Melanie, I told you about.”

“
Yeah. I already guessed that by the amount of time you’ve been spending here instead of with her.” He raised his eyebrows, “And?”

“And, I don’t know.”
He blew out a breath and stared at his thumb. It was red, swollen and throbbing. “I want to make it right and I don’t know what to do.”

“What’d you do?”

Logan hesitated, contemplating telling him. He sighed.

“I sprung a devil’s threesome on her and she wasn’t into it.”

“Man, you and Richie, when the fuck are you guys gonna grow up?”

Logan wasn’t surprised Brett knew it was with Richie.
Logan didn’t talk to anyone but Brett about his extracurricular activities regarding Richie. And that was only because he needed reassurance he wasn’t gay or bi the first time he ever participated in a devil’s threesome.

“You gonna lecture me now?”

“No, I ain’t gonna lecture you now.” Brett paused. “Maybe she wasn’t into it because you sprung it on her. A girl’s gotta prepare for shit like that.” Amused at himself for the pun.

Logan frowned at him.
“Yeah, that could be it.” Logan paused. He looked out at the corral where Brett’s horses were grazing, then he turned his gaze on the horizon, then back to Brett. “Thing is, having the last few days to think about it, part of me is kind of relieved she wasn’t into it.”

“You know, you never talk about a woman you’re doing
, other than boasting about a threesome.” He chuckled. “And I know you haven’t been serious about anyone since Linda-”

“I don’t just want to do her.
I mean I love doing her, but she ain’t like anyone I’ve hooked up with before. She’s sweet and sexy and full of goodness. Someone I could, I don’t know, maybe see myself settle down with one day. Heath likes her and she’s good with him.”

“Damn, you introduced her to Heath and not me
, yet?” Brett said, feigning hurt.

“Asshole.”

“What?” Brett said, chuckling as he picked up the hammer and started hammering the nail. He hid his disappointment that his sister and grandfather met this woman and from what they said, Logan and she were good together, but Logan didn’t introduce her to him.

Logan sighed as he wiped the sweat from his forehead with a bandana he took out of the front pocket of his jeans.

“I just want to make it right again.”

“Have you tried flowers?”

“Flowers?
That your answer to everything?”

“Yep.”

“That’s why you’re thirty-seven and still single.”

“Try
honesty. That always gets them,” Brett said, not wanting to reveal that he’d been seeing a woman for the past six months, yet.

“Tried that.”

“Nothing?”

“Nothing.”

“Ouch, okay. Guess you have one thing left to do.”

“Yeah, what’s
that?”

“Grovel.”

“Hah! Yep. I’m leaning toward that way.”

****

It had been four days. Melanie still hadn’t talked to Logan. She was hurt and she was numb. She wanted to see him, to be with him. He made her feel good and it wasn’t just the sex. It was everything. He made her feel safe. He made her feel like she was the only one in the room at times, a contrast from Michael, to say the least.

On one of those days, she met Geli at the Salty Dog for a few drinks.

While
at the bar drinking and talking, Linda came up to them, slurring her words. She noticed Melanie’s fruity drink.

“You’ll never make him happy.
He hates fruity drinks. He likes to shoot whiskey and guzzle beer. You’re not woman enough for Logan,” she spat out.

M
elanie was taken aback that, that woman would even come up to her and talk shit to her.

Geli
was quick though. “Back off Linda, you have no idea what you’re talking about and Jesus, you’re a mother now, act it for God’s sake.”

Linda got insulted.
She shot daggers at Geli, hiccupped and stormed off.

She kept replaying in her mind what Linda had said and started to feel insecure where Logan was concerned. Maybe she wasn’t enough for him. Multiple partners and hard drinking were not her thing.

That night, Melanie knew Heath had a flag football game. She didn’t know what she should do. She promised the kid she would be there.

She threw on
a pair of beige and blue cowboy boots, man, she was making quite a collection, a beige short skirt and a blue spaghetti strap tank, picked up her cream colored cowboy hat she bought at Geli’s the day before and walked out the door.

Melanie stayed in the background for a good portion of the game. She saw Logan, but he didn’t see her. She made no attempt to expose herself. She wasn’t sure if Linda was going to be there. If she was, then Melanie made up her mind that she would leave quietly. She didn’t want to cause any problems.

After a while
, it was safe to say that Linda was not there. She saw Heath make a catch and run the ball. Logan and Laura yelled encouragement, but when the play ended, Heath looked around. Was he looking for her?

On the next play, Austin had the ball and was looking to throw it to someone open. He saw Heath open again and threw it to him. Heath caught it and ran. Logan and Laura yelled encouragement as Laura jumped up and down.

Melanie saw he had a clearing and could easily score.
She ran up to the sidelines and pushed in between Logan and Laura and yelled, “Go, Heath!”

Logan froze.
He didn’t expect to see her, but was ecstatic she was there.

She screamed encouragement the loudest and Heath heard her and quickly looked to her and grinned.

He picked up his speed just as one of his opponents almost stopped him.

Heath made the touchdown and Melanie and Laura
jumped up and down with joy.

Heath
ran over and gave Melanie a hug. “You came.”

“Of course, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.
You were wonderful,” she said as she placed a kiss on his head. Then he ran off, blushing, to join his team.

Melanie didn’t turn around, but she felt Logan next to her.

He gently placed a hand on her waist and drew her to him.
He placed his mouth by her ear. “Thank you,” he said.

Melanie just nodded, still without looking.
She knew that if she looked at him she’d melt into him and she didn’t know what to do.

Eventually and reluct
antly, Logan dropped his hand from her waist.

When the other team had the ball, they were
making their way down field and Melanie turned to follow them. In fact, all the parents turned to follow the kids, but Logan didn’t. He faced Melanie, and she tried but couldn’t resist picking her eyes up to him. She saw the hurt in his eyes as they watched each other. She hoped he didn’t see the hunger in her eyes. She felt a little shove and realized Laura was trying to get her attention because Heath had just caught an interception and was running the other way.

Melanie and Logan broke their eye connection
, focused on Heath, and began cheering.

Heath ran all the way for a touchdown.

Melanie and Logan were so excited and she turned to him with a big smile and he put an arm around her waist and brought her close to him and kissed her.

She wasn’t expecting it but his lips on hers felt so good
, she kissed him back. Again, Laura had to give her a shove that Logan felt and they broke apart, both turning to Laura. She just rolled her eyes.

Logan and Melanie then turned their attention to Heath who was watching them
, not quite sure what to make of his father kissing her.  

Melanie gave him a thumbs up sign and a huge smile and he put his head down and shyly smiled.

She looked to Logan with worry but he didn’t
seem bothered that his son saw their affection.

When the game was over, Heath came running over to Logan and Melanie. “Mellalee, can you come home and play that dance game with me? Please? I’ve been practicing.”

But before she could answer, Logan said, “Heath, I’m taking you back to your mom, remember.
You have your cousin’s birthday party tonight.”

“Awwww
, Dad. Do I have to go? I want to stay with you and Mellalee.”

Wow, Melanie was shocked. Maybe he was ok
ay with that kiss he saw between his father and her.

“You have to go.” Logan said
.

“Ok
ay. Mellalee, can you come to my next game?”

“You bet.
I can’t wait.”

“Me too,” Heath said.

They walked to their vehicles
. Melanie’s car was parked four cars away from Logan’s truck. Logan put Heath in his truck and told him he’d be right back. He jogged over to Melanie, who had just opened her door.

“You wanna get something to eat?
” he asked her.

She hesitated and he felt she was going to say no.
So if he had to grovel, he would, he thought.

“Please
, Mel?”

She bit her lower lip and then nodded her head.
Yeah, she couldn’t say no to this man if her life depended on it, she realized.

Logan’s eyes lit up.
“Great. I’ll run Heath home, then pick you up at your place.”

“Ok
ay.”

“Great,” he repeated and started to back away. “I’ll see you in about a half an hour.”

“Okay,” she said as she saw him smile just before he turned to jog back to his car. She got into her car and drove away.