She's Got the Look (33 page)

Over Dex's shoulder, Rosemary saw Melody, Paige, Tanya and Nick watching with smiles on their faces.

It couldn't possibly match the one on hers. Almost laughing with the sheer joy of it, she threw her arms around Dex's neck.

“I'll marry you, you big, slow Northerner!”

He cupped her face in her hands and tenderly touched his lips to hers, sealing their promise with a sweet, loving kiss. When they finally pulled apart, he didn't let her out of his arms, as if he were afraid she wouldn't come back. “Soon?”

She nodded. “While I can still fit into a gorgeous dress.” Then, wanting to make sure there were no misunderstandings, she added, “By the way, Dex, I've got one hell of a mortgage on that house. If we do this, it's as partners. Fifty-fifty.”

He quirked an eyebrow. “On a Georgia detective's salary?”

Rosemary grinned. “Sixty-forty. But you pay the phone bill.”

Dex rubbed his chin, pretending to think about it, looking so darned cute. “Oh, you drive a hard bargain, ma'am.”

“You're looking at the best broker in Savannah,” she said, almost purring. “You don't want to haggle with me, sugar.”

He stepped back and stuck out his hand, taking hers to shake it. “Okay, Miss Chilton, you have yourself a deal.”

T
HERE WAS NOTHING
like a chicken burrito and a margarita—or in Rosemary's case, an ice water—to celebrate an engagement. And a pregnancy. And a get-out-of-jail-free card. Which was why Melody, Paige, Rosemary and Tanya met at their favorite restaurant that night.

They sat at
their
table. Served by
their
waiter. Toasting with
their
margaritas—and water. And feeling very much a foursome. Just like old times…except for a
few
updates.

“I still can't believe you're having a baby,” Melody murmured, looking across the table at Rosemary, trying to picture her friend heavy and round…a mother. A wife.

“Me neither,” Paige said. “You're not exactly glowing. When is she supposed to start glowing?”

“I don't know,” Tanya said, sipping her drink. “But she's right, Rosemary, there's no glowing that I can see. You look like crap.”

“Spoken like a woman recently released from jail,” Rosemary replied with a smirk.

“Bite me, Rosie, baby,” Tanya said with a sweet smile.

Ahh, heaven. This was what Melody had needed. What she'd longed for. Her friends…no, her family…together again. So
why
did she feel something was missing?

Or maybe
someone
was missing.

“Okay, Tanya, give us the condensed version,” Rosemary said, tackling the subject they'd all been dancing around since they'd sat down thirty minutes ago. “What happened between you and Drake Manning?”

Melody's heart tightened for her friend, who suddenly looked so lost, so bereft. So unlike the strong, amazing woman they all knew and loved.

Tanya didn't try to bluster or joke her way out of it. Instead, she simply said, “He hurt me.”

Three little words. But they held a wealth of emotion and heartbreak. Melody reached over and grabbed Tanya's hand. Paige dropped an arm across her shoulders and hugged her, and Rosemary gave her a nod of understanding.

“After talking to Mel Wednesday,” Tanya explained, squeezing Mel's hand back, “I decided to be the person I used to be, and go tell him off for what he did, instead of crying about it. So I went to the studio and we had it out in the parking lot Thursday night. Then I left and went to a hotel on the beach for a couple of days to be alone.”

That explained why nobody'd seen her.

“Are you…does it hurt?” Paige asked. “That he's gone?”

Tanya thought about it, then slowly shook her head. “I'm not grieving, if that's what you're asking. I really had gotten over him in the two months since we split up. I'm not happy the man's dead, but I can't say I'm real broken up over it, either.”

Tanya sighed deeply, nodding and murmuring something to herself. Then, looking as if she were shaking off her sadness, she lifted her glass and drained it in one long sip. By the time she returned the empty glass to the table, she had a smile on her face. “Okay, enough about the
dead
dick with the
big
dick. Melody, I want to hear about your hot
Time
magazine hero.”

Paige nodded so hard her curls bounced. “Me, too.”

Tanya continued, “I have to say, if that man had used a few persuasive techniques on
me,
I'd have been confessing to giving stock tips to Martha Stewart.”

Reaching for some sour cream to put on her burrito, Melody chuckled. “He's, uh…amazing. Wonderful.”

Paige sighed. Rosemary smiled. And Tanya rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, but I want to know what he's like in the sack.”

The restaurant owner, whose face had lit up like the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree when they'd come in, happened to be passing by at exactly the right—or wrong—time. He frowned, looking shocked by Tanya's words.

Oy. Ricky the restaurateur really
did
have a thing for her. A serious one, apparently, because with one more disappointed look in her direction, the man walked out of his own restaurant.

“Come on, girl,” Tanya prodded, not even noticing. “Was it worth waiting six years for? Worth everything you've been through?”

Was it worth it? Oh, there was absolutely no question about that. Nick was amazing. The sex was phenomenal. Every hour they spent together was more magical than the last. He made her laugh and he made her crazy. He teased her and listened to her, bossed her and understood her.

Was Nick worth it? Yes. Most definitely.

Acknowledging that much wasn't hard. But it did force her to confront something else. Something she hadn't wanted to face, hadn't wanted to consider. Something absolutely terrifying. “Oh, God,” she whispered, “I'm in love with him.”

Her three friends didn't laugh or razz her. They all got quiet, probably hearing the dismay in her voice.

“You weren't looking for that,” Rosemary said softly.

She shook her head. “I didn't think I'd ever fall in love again for the rest of my life.” Still almost dazed, she looked around at her best friends, seeing their concern. “This wasn't supposed to happen. It was supposed to be easy, blameless. Not something that could hurt me.”

Paige leaned over and touched her hand. “He hasn't hurt you, Mel, and maybe he won't.”

“He wouldn't want to,” she admitted, not doubting that for a second.

Tanya cleared her throat. “But?”

“But…if it doesn't work out, I'm going to end up a wreck again.” She looked at Rosemary, who'd held out for what she wanted—what she believed was best—for herself and her child. “
You
were strong enough to know you'd be okay on your own. I don't know if I've reached that point yet. And getting involved with Nick so soon after coming here, I haven't had a chance to find out.”

It was true. During her life, she'd gone from being her mother's cash cow, to Bill's trophy. Moving to Savannah was supposed to be about not needing anyone. Not being used by anyone, ever again.

Yes, she'd begun to blossom into her new life, to reclaim her friends and her career and her own home. But she'd also gone and fallen in love with someone who could shatter her all over again. Someone who could already make her heart stop if he even innocently hugged another woman. Someone who demanded the right to protect her, when what she most wanted was to stand up for herself. “I don't know that I'm ready for this.”

“You think it's too soon after your divorce?” Paige asked. “Since it's only been a few months?”

“Bullshit,” Tanya said. “We all know your marriage has been over for years, Melody Tanner. So don't use that as an excuse not to go after something good.”

Something good. Something great. But something she didn't know if she could handle.

“So this is the infamous place where brides and bridesmaids gather to write lists.”

Instantly recognizing Nick's voice, Melody jerked her gaze upward, sucking in a breath and ordering her heart to stop hopping like a Mexican jumping bean in her chest. “Hi.”

“Hi,” he said, just as softly, giving her an intimate smile. He bent down and brushed his lips across hers, giving Mel hope that he hadn't overheard any of their conversation.

“I hope you don't mind that we stopped in, but we thought you might want to know how things worked out,” he added.

Beside Nick stood Dex, who was bending down to kiss Rosemary's cheek. He whispered something in her ear and she smiled sweetly.

Now she was glowing. Even Tanya would have to admit that.

“I know this is for women only,” Nick continued, “but can we join you for a couple of minutes?” He looked at Tanya. “I think I owe you a drink.”

“Anyone who wants to buy me a drink can pull up a chair at my table, anytime, cutie,” she said, immediately scooting over to make room.

Dex and Nick grabbed two chairs from a nearby empty table and pulled them up. Nick was close to Melody, so close his jean-clad leg brushed against her bare one. Which instantly made her remember the way his jeans had brushed against her inner thighs earlier that day, when they'd been so hot for each other they hadn't even paused to take off all their clothes.

He looked at her, his eyes darkening. She had no doubt he was remembering exactly the same thing.

“So, was it
her?
” Tanya asked, breaking the seductive memory.

Paige squealed. “Ooh, we're going to find out who did it? It was a woman? I figured it was because only a woman would hit a man where it would hurt the most.” She looked around at the others. “Men are much too protective of penises to do that to another man.”

Nick and Dex each gawked while the women at the table chuckled, well used to Paige's jabbering. And her volume.

“So, was it Angie?” Tanya asked, looking as certain as if she already knew the answer.

Melody immediately placed the name. Angie was the reporter who'd been with Rhodes and Manning at Rosemary's party.

“Yeah,” Dex said. “She confessed.”

An enormous weight disappeared from Melody's shoulders with those three words. She'd been hoping Drake Manning's murder had nothing to do with her, and Dex had just confirmed it. Because Melody had never had anything to do with the prime suspect before that night.

“I knew it.” Tanya looked at the women at the table and elaborated, “Drake mentioned her Thursday night when we were arguing, saying something about yet another angry, spurned woman.” Her jaw clenched. “He said we should comfort each other.”

“The creep,” Melody muttered.

“She says she didn't mean to kill him,” Nick said. “She was furious because he'd dumped her twice in one week. It was more than someone with her ego—and her temperament—could take. She can be one vindictive woman. Believe me, I know.”

Reaching out to grab a handful of chips, Nick also casually picked up Melody's glass and sipped some of her margarita. His actions were so natural, so comfortable, as if they were a long-established couple.

She looked away, wondering why that thought hurt instead of helped. Why her mood was getting darker the longer they sat here, so close, yet already separated by the doubts that had filled her mind before he'd arrived. She desperately wanted to recapture the good feeling she'd had a little while ago—before she'd been stupid enough to start analyzing her feelings for the dark-haired man sitting beside her.

Impossible. She couldn't be near him—so very close to him—without feeling way too much. Nick's arm was draped casually across the back of her chair. He was sitting so close she could smell the spicy cologne he wore, which instantly reminded her of burying her face in his neck, breathing in every bit of him that she could get when they made love.

No way could she force herself not to respond. Not to
feel.

“What'd she mean to do, if not kill him?” Paige asked, wide-eyed. “Get him so horny he'd take her back by default?”

“She wanted to humiliate him,” Dex said. “Completely and totally embarrass the man by making it too uncomfortable for him to sit in front of a camera and report the news.”

Melody thought about it. Though it was possible, she wasn't entirely convinced. “She had to have known he had a heart condition, and that giving him so much of that kind of medication could be dangerous.”

“Especially since she slipped it into his grapefruit juice,” Nick said. “Apparently they don't interact well together. Another strike against Manning before he took the first sip.”

“You think she's lying to make herself look better?” Melody asked.

He shrugged. “It's possible. We may never know. From what the coroner says, the level of the drug in his bloodstream wasn't as high as we'd first thought. But even a couple of one-hundred-milligram pills, combined with his bad heart, were enough to do him in. Whether she meant to kill him or not, that was the result. She's been charged with murder.”

So it was done. They'd caught the person who'd killed Drake Manning. And from what Rosemary had told her as they'd left the police station earlier, the police had come up with several other theories about Jonathan Rhodes's death. Theories that, thankfully, didn't include her. Or her list. Or her underwear.

“I sure wish I knew where they were,” she muttered.

“Where what were?” Nick asked, obviously overhearing.

“My peacock underwear,” she said with a sigh. “I don't suppose they've shown up on eBay?”

He shook his head. “Afraid not, darlin'. We may never know…at least, not until we catch whoever killed Rhodes. It could be something as simple as the killer liked the look of them and decided to steal them for his wife or girlfriend.”

Well, she supposed another woman wearing her underwear was slightly less gross than a man wearing them.

“Mel, do you want to come by and get C.C. and Oscar after we leave?” Paige asked, completely changing the subject.

It was a welcome shift. They'd talked enough about death.

“Do you mind if I do it in the morning?” Melody asked, suddenly feeling weary. As much as she'd loved being here with her friends, she now wanted to go. Maybe being alone would help her figure out what to do about her confusing situation—a situation other women might think wasn't confusing at all.

It was for Mel, though. Confusing as hell, yet really a very simple problem, when it came right down to it. She was in love with an amazing, sexy man who took her breath away.

But she didn't know if she had the strength to try to keep him.

 

I
T HAD BEEN A LONG DAY
, but now, knowing at least one of the homicides he'd been working had been cleared, Nick was feeling pretty good. When he looked at Melody, he felt better than good. Great might describe it. Blissful—as sappy as it sounded—might not be too far off, either.