Melody of the Heart (Runaway Train #4)(16)

“I’m sorry for waking you up, Mr. Gregson. I didn’t mean to cause any problems by coming over here. Lily didn’t know I was coming, so please don’t punish her for my mistake,” Brayden pleaded.

My dad huffed out a breath. “I’ll take that into consideration.”

“Thank you, sir.” He started backing away from me, and then he stopped. In a flash, he was back at my side to plant a chaste kiss on my lips. “Goodnight, Lily.”

“Goodnight,” I called, as he started running around the side of the house. Ducking my head, I walked over to the stairs. I went up them a lot slower than I had come down them. When I got to the top, I dared to peek at my parents.

With his arms still crossed firmly over his chest, my dad’s jaw clenched and unclenched. “I’m sorry, Daddy. He just wanted to sing me a song he wrote. I promise we weren’t doing anything wrong.”

“Excuse me that I might misinterpret the situation after seeing you two with your hands all over each other.”

“Paul,” my mother cautioned.

“What?” he demanded.

“They didn’t have their hands all over each other. They were just hugging.”

His brows shot up. “Whose side are you on, Marie?”

She smiled. “I’m not taking sides. I’m just stating facts.”

He muttered something under his breath before he eyed me contemptuously. “I should ground you for this. Not only were you out past your curfew, but your boyfriend woke me up out of a dead sleep.”

“I’m sorry, Daddy,” I said again.

“Fine then. Get in the house.”

“Yes, sir.”

When I started past him, he reached out for my arm. “You could smooth things over by giving me a goodnight kiss,” he said, with a wink.

I grinned and reached up to kiss the salt and pepper stubble on his cheek. “Goodnight, Daddy. Goodnight, Mama.”

My mother reached in to kiss my cheek. “Goodnight, sweetheart. Your Brayden sure does have a romantic side, doesn’t he?”

Before I could reply, my father groaned. “You’re killing me here, Marie. Don’t encourage her.”

She waved her hand dismissively at him. “I seem to remember someone else being awfully romantic when he was Brayden’s age.”

“Hey, I’m still romantic,” he argued.

“Of course you are.”

As my parents bantered flirtatiously at each other, I headed back into the house. I didn’t know how I was going to go to sleep. I was still so wound up. Brayden had written a song just for me. He’d come to my house in the middle of the night because he had to sing it to me. It still was unbelievable.

Until There Was You—the song that started it all for the two of us.

LILY

PRESENT DAY

“How impressive that you wrote your first song when you were just sixteen,” Giovanni remarked.

Brayden nodded. “Looking back, it’s not the strongest one I’ve written musically or lyrically, but I wouldn’t change a thing about it. The song represents such a time of rebirth in my life.”

With a smile, I said, “I like it just the way it is.”

Brayden chuckled. “I’m sure you do since it’s singing your praises.”

“You got that right.”

Giovanni grinned at the two of us. “So that was the most romantic thing Brayden did. I’m curious to find out what was the most romantic thing Lily ever did.”

Tilting my head, I replied, “Hmm, I’m interested to hear his answer for this one, too.”

“I’m surprised you even have to ask. I would think it would be a given.”

“Being the mother of your three children?”

He laughed. “Okay, I guess you need to think a little more superficially than our kids.”

“Is it sitting at home in our garage with its own custom-made covering, and no one is allowed to get too close to it?"

“Bingo!” Brayden replied, his eyes wide with amusement.

“Hmm, let me guess? It’s a car,” Giovanni said.

Brayden winked at me. “It isn’t just a car. You can’t call a ‘68 Challenger just a car. It was my pride and joy until Lily came along, but she managed to make it special, too.”

Giovanni’s brows creased in confusion. “Is that where the most romantic thing comes in?”

Brayden held up a hand. “Hang on. To understand why the Challenger is the most romantic thing, we have to give you a little backstory with the car and with us.”

Feeling warmth flood my cheeks, I said, “I don’t know how much I can actually say about us and your car that is appropriate.”

“While you’re giving him the just the basics of the story, I’ll be remembering all the good details…or maybe I should say the naughty details?”

“You’re impossible,” I muttered.

Brayden merely grinned. “But you love me.”

“Yeah, I do.”

LILY

THE PAST

Friday night after the last football game of the season found me in the back seat of Brayden’s car. All four windows were fogged up from the heavy breathing of our exertions. The top to my cheerleading uniform lay crumpled in the floorboard along with Brayden’s shirt. The rough denim of his jeans chafed against my thighs as his hips worked against mine. The friction caused more and more moisture to grow between my legs.