Obsession (Magnetic Desires Book 4) (17 page)

Mellie

“What?” My world stopped, spun in reverse. Only Mike’s hand on mine kept me centered. “He wasn’t my father?”

“Oh, no.” Agnes leaned forward, shaking her head. “He isn’t your father. Before your mother married him, she was high school sweethearts with a boy from the next town over. Back then there was a much more defined split between those with money and those without. He was from the wrong side of the tracks, as they say.”

The glass of lemonade I had been holding slipped through my fingers, but Mike whisked it away before it spilled. I felt out of body, the world I knew changing shape before my eyes.

“Anyway.” Agnes smiled, enjoying her storytelling. “Jinny and that boy were inseparable for quite a while there. But her parents weren’t keen on the match, kept them apart, and poor William up and left to join the army. It broke your mother’s heart, but then she married the doctor not long after that and she seemed to get over Will. We all thought it had turned out for the best. Then you girls came along, a little early, I might add. There was some conjecture over that, but we never could confirm it. After that your mother started drinking and the doctor whored himself through every girl who’d give him the time of day.”

The man I had modelled myself after, believing the draw of my genetics meant I would always be a runner, wasn’t even related to me. The blood drained from my face while Agnes continued her story.

“I guess she must have told Will he was your father at some point, because he moved back here a couple years ago, looking for you and your sister. Of course, none of us had any idea where you’d gone.”

My pulse beat erratically. What was I supposed to do now? Should I try to locate him, or leave it in the past? I definitely had to call Lola and tell her that man she’d let into her house wasn’t her father. “Do you know where he is now?”

“Of course, dear.” She patted my knee. “He and his wife Becky settled in town. They run the garage and the café. I think Will hoped if he stayed here, you’d come back one day.”

“I have to go,” I stammered, jumping to my feet, Mike right behind me. “I have to…”

“I’m sure he’d love to meet you.” Agnes rose.

Mike took her hand. “Thanks, Agnes. For everything. I hope we see you again.”

***

I paced the length of the truck, while Mike leaned against it, all casual like, as though I hadn’t received the most crazy news possible. The doctor wasn’t my father. The man inside the garage behind me was my father. A man I had never met.

“Are you going to go in?”

“I don’t know.” I changed direction and ratted several strands of my hair. “Bloody hell, this is weird. It’s weird, isn’t it?”

“A little.” Mike caught my elbow, pulled me into his chest. “Calm down, Hurricane. You get to decide here. Either we can go in and meet the man, or we can leave. We can always come back again when you’re ready.”

“Holy mother of fluffy bunnies, and I thought the biggest surprise was your cancer.” I plucked nervously at his shirt. “What if he’s horrible? What if he’s worse than the doctor?” Mike chuckled, and I glared up at him. “What? It could happen.” 

“I doubt it. But how about we get back in the truck and drive for a while until you make a decision?”

“No.” I settled, his calm rationality washing over me. I took a deep breath and expelled it before turning on my heel. “I’m going in.”  

Mike squeezed my fingers as we entered the garage. We headed toward the sound of banging I could hear over the hard rock blasting from an old radio on a shelf. Tattered steel cap boots and legs clad in blue overalls peeked out from under one of the cars. The man underneath muttered a curse.

I cleared my throat, my pulse rocketing up. “Excuse me.”

The man slid out from under the car, his white-gray hair peppered with spots of grease. Getting up, he wiped his hands off on a rag. His weather-beaten face creased while he stared at me, his movements slowing. “Hello folks, what can I help you with?”

“Are you William?” So this was where my sister and I had gotten our eyes. That ever changing blue-green. Staring into them was like looking in a mirror, or my twin’s face. “Agnes said we might find you here.”

“You can call me Will.” He drew his brow down as he studied my face.

“I’m, I’m…” my name seemed to have deserted me.

“This is Melanie,” Mike said, offering his hand over my shoulder. “I’m Mike.”

“Melanie?” His eyes widened, and my heart literally skipped a beat.

“My mother was Jinny. Agnes said you knew her?”

“I did a long time ago. We were only kids. You look so much like she did back then.” He took my hand between both of his large ones. “I guess Agnes told you I’m your father, then?”

“Uh-huh.” I understood now how Mike had felt that day he’d gotten his diagnosis. That numb, drowning in quicksand feeling he’d described. “So it’s true?”

“I’ve brought your lunch, Will. Soup and fresh rolls.” A female voice interrupted us as she crossed the garage.

Will looked up, his eyes crinkling as he took in the woman. “Becky, love, this is Melanie.” He glanced at me and cleared his throat. “My daughter.”

His daughter.
It had taken him five seconds to claim me as his child when he’d never met me before. It surprised me, but I couldn’t help the small smile that twitched over my lips. 

“Oh.” Becky put the bag she’d been carrying down on a workbench and brushed her palms together as she approached us. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you, too.” I was pretty sure this was the strangest thing that had ever happened in my life. The man who might actually be my father still held my hand. Mike hovered behind me. I could feel the heat of him right behind me, his strength holding me up.

“This is Mike. Her…” Will stuttered to a stop. “I’m sorry. I don’t…”

“Boyfriend.” I threaded my arm through Mike’s and pulled him closer.

“Well, Mike.” Becky extended her hand. “This must be a big shock. How about you and I take a walk down to the café for more coffee and let these two get acquainted?”

“Are you okay with that?” He gazed at me, those warm chocolate eyes filled with concern.

“Yes.” I darted a glance from him to Will. “Yes, I am.”

After he and Becky left, Will ushered me into his office. “So you only found out today then?”

“That’s right.” I sunk into the only other chair besides the one he took. “Mom never told me or Lola anything about you.”

He winced. “I wish I had of had the opportunity to meet your sister, too. It’s a real shame what happened to her.”

“Actually, we found her a while ago.”

“Really?” He perked up. “That’s great news.” Tapping his fingers on the desk, he was quiet for a while. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you when your mom died. I didn’t find out until a couple years later. It took a while for my mail to get redirected while I was stationed overseas. If she had told me at the start I never would have left you girls.”

“I understand. From what Agnes said, my grandparents had a lot to do with what happened between you two. They died when we were little. I didn’t really know them.”

“Yeah. They weren’t overly happy about her and me. In the end it was easier to leave than to fight it. If I’d known, I would have fought harder.”

“You didn’t know. Don’t blame yourself.”

“Well tell me all about yourself. I want to hear about everything I’ve missed out on.”

We ate the soup and rolls while I filled him in on my life, and listened while he talked about his. There was so much to learn about each other, we barely dented the surface before we heard the others on the main floor.

“Are you staying in Hollyfields for long? You’re quite an amazing woman. I’m so proud I can say I’m related to you,” Will said as we went to join the others.

My heart almost burst out of my chest. Funny, the reaction I had to his fatherly consideration when I’d never had it before. “We’re heading back to Reverence tomorrow, actually.”

The others were chatting when we approached. Mike handed over a coffee, the lid removed, and a spoon. “Just the way you like it.”

“Thank you.” I sipped it and licked the spoon. “Thank you for bringing me here.”

Will shook Mike’s hand at the garage entrance then pulled me in for a hug. It should have been weird. An almost complete stranger embracing me like I was his family, but it wasn’t. It felt natural.

“I’d love to spend more time getting to know you, finding out about your life.” Will handed me a piece of paper with his number on it. “Call me sometime, anytime? Whenever you want to talk?”

I nodded, folding the paper up into a small wad. “I’ll call when we get back to Reverence. Maybe I can get Lola on the phone, too.”

“That would be great.” He squeezed my shoulder. “I’m glad we found each other.”

Mike

Mellie was quiet on the way back to the bed and breakfast. So much more had come from today than we’d expected. It would take her a while to process it all. Everything she’d believed about where she’d come from had been shaken up. But in a good way. Maybe now she could shed her belief she was meant to be like the asshole who raised her. We’d be stronger if she could let that part of her past go.

Pulling up, I got out and opened the door for her to slip out. “Are you doing okay?”

“Better than I expected, actually.” She offered one of those smiles that totally screwed with my heartbeat. “I feel more at peace than I have in a long time.”

My palm on the small of her back I ushered her forward. “We’ll have a quiet night. We skipped lunch so I’ll get food brought to the room.”

“Thanks,” she said, climbing the stairs ahead of me. Twisting around, she pressed her palms to my face and whispered her lips over mine. “I mean thanks for bringing me here, for being beside me today. It meant everything.” 

“Always.” I took her hand and led her up the rest of the stairs, pushing her into the room ahead of me before closing the door.

Coming up behind her, I turned her to me, slipping her hand over my heart. Underneath her palm it beat strong and steady, for her. “I’ll always be there when you need me.”

“I know.” She cocked her head ever so slightly, chewed her bottom lip. “I don’t deserve you. I’m going to go shower.”

Mellie closed herself in the bathroom. She needed space, time to work through everything, so I ordered sandwiches and whatever sweets the cook could scavenge up. After a day like today Mellie would be craving desserts. After that I rang Orion to check in on business until the food arrived.

Mellie came out a few minutes later. Still quiet, she padded over and picked at the whole wheat of her chicken and lettuce sandwich.

She didn’t say anything while I stared at her. For once I had no clue what was running through her mind, but I knew what was weighing on mine. It probably wasn’t the right time. I probably shouldn’t put my cards on the table after today’s events, but timing had never worked out so well for us. Waiting for the right time was giving time a chance to work against us. Getting up, I pulled her into my arms. “I need to ask you something.”

She curled her fingers on my chest, shifted closer. “What is it?”

“When we go home...”

“You want me to move home?” she said huskily, her body up against mine now.

“Yes.” My voice cracked. I was the immovable force to her storm, but that tremor spoke volumes of how she affected me. My uncertainty over how she would respond. But then she turned it all around on me and offered what I wanted without my needing to ask. “But that wasn’t what I was going to ask.”

“Oh.” She gazed up at me with wide eyes, and my heart thumped harder against my ribs.

“I have an appointment in Lanston in twelve weeks.”

Her knees buckled, her chin quivering, as her eyes grew shiny. “What’s going on Mike? Is it…”

I tightened my grip on her. “It’s nothing. A routine exam. But I want you to come with me. I’m not going to shut you out anymore. I can’t.”

“I’ll be there.” She blinked up at me. “Of course I will.”

“Promise,” I murmured, pressing my mouth to hers, needing to seal our connection as I backed her toward the bed.

“Every step of the way.”

Sinking onto the bed, I dragged her down onto my lap, devouring her with my tongue, and my lips, and my hands. Needing to be as close to her as possible, needing to be inside her. “And you’ll move back home?”

“I’ll think about it. This is all so new. Maybe we shouldn’t rush,” she mumbled against my mouth.

I pushed her down into the plush mattress, cupped her throat and dragged my palm down her chest, blazing a path over her skin. “I want you under my roof again. Need you there. You can have your own room, your own space, until we work through everything. Whatever it takes.” 

“Do you think I’d be able to keep away from you?” Winding her arms around my neck, she sucked my bottom lip between her teeth and arched into me.

“You better not.” I tugged the string around her neck, inching the top down beneath her bra, greedily eating her up with my gaze. “Not that it would matter if you were in my house or not. I want to sleep wrapped around you every damn night for the rest of my life. I’m not going to let you go again.”

“That’s a long time, tiger.”

“It’s not long enough.” I skated my hand inside her bra, played with the metal I’d bought her so long ago.

“Never could part with it,” she murmured. “Never could part with you.”

“Good,” I rumbled over her lips, while I worked the buttons on her shorts, peeling them slowly down her hips. “I’m not going to ask you. Not yet.”

Slipping a hand under her ass, I grasped the fleshiest part in my palm, lifting her up while I dragged her shorts and panties down her thighs. “But there’ll come a time soon, when I put a massive fucking rock on your finger. I should have done it years ago.”

“You don’t need to.” Her legs parted as I dropped her shorts to the floor. She was already wet for me, always ready for me. “I’m yours.”

Touching her intimately, one finger stroking her clit, I focused on the way her body responded. I wanted so much more from her than she was willing to give me yet, and I wouldn’t jeopardize our progress by pushing her before she was ready. Her hips bucked and a low, sweet moan slipped from between her parted lips, before she skimmed her hands down my back and gathered my T-shirt to pull it up over my head.

Pushing me down beside her, she straddled me and slid her palm over my crotch. My cock jumped at her attention, rose up, eager for her touch. She plucked each button undone, and I lifted up beneath her while she dragged my jeans down, taking my boxers with them. There was still too much distance between us, but she bit her lip in concentration as she grasped my cock, and ran her hand up and down the length of it in slow firm strokes. Too fast, I could feel the tightening in the base, the current of sensation surging through my erection. Then she shifted, pressed the head to her slit, her wetness making it almost impossible not to slide into her sweet pussy.

With a groan I grasped her hips and froze beneath her. “Hurricane, you need to slow down.”

She whimpered, a sound I loved, music that spurred me on. “I’m yours. I’m never going to give you up. You don’t need to slow down.”

I fumbled with the last string on her top, tugged it free and tossed it aside before tackling the hooks on her bra, single-handed. That too ended up somewhere. I dragged her down to kiss her, lingering over her delectable lips. Things between us felt so right for the first time in years. “Yes I do, or I’m going to be inside you in a heartbeat.”