Take Two (The Jilted Bride #1)(44)

“Matt…” she murmured.

I brushed strands of hair away from her face and palmed her br**sts, softly squeezing each one. I pushed her down against the flagstone and slowly untied the left side of her bikini.

“Matt…” her voice was weak.

“Wrap your legs around me,” I whispered.

She followed my command and moaned softly as I planted kisses across her stomach.

I started to untie the right side of her bikini and she sat up.

“We can’t,” she panted. “We should stop now.”

Damnit!

“Okay,” I let her go. “You’ve Got Mail now?”

“Yeah. We should go watch that.”

I pulled myself out of the pool and we dried off in silence. I tried to look at her face, to see what she was thinking, but each time I tried, she turned away from me.

She put in the DVD and sat on the other end of the couch. I moved closer.

We sat watching the opening credits—not touching, not talking.

Chapter 21

Melody

I could feel Matt watching me, waiting for me to turn and look at him.

Focus on Tom Hanks. Focus on Tom Hanks.

“Melody?” he kissed my shoulder.

I pretended I didn’t hear him. I kept my eyes locked on Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan’s encounter at the dinner party.

“So you’re attempting to act like you’re deaf?” he moved down to my collarbone.

Oh my god….

I felt him untying the back of my bikini top, whispering my name as he played with the strings.

“Matt…” I struggled to speak.

“You can hear me now?” he laughed and threw my top onto the floor.

I folded my arms to hide my br**sts. “This is the best part of the movie.”

“Melody,” he pulled me into his lap. “You and I both know you’re not really watching the movie.”

“Yes I am! This is the part where—”

His lips were on mine and I couldn’t remember what I was going to say.

This isn’t real…

“You were saying?” he pulled away and I knew he was teasing me.

“You’re a really good kisser.”

He smiled and moved me out of his lap, laying me across the couch. He pulled off his swim trunks and tossed them on the floor.

OH MY GOD! This definitely isn’t real!

He forced my arms away from my chest and pinned them above my head. “You have a beautiful body, Melody.”

I closed my eyes and felt him kissing my chest, softly biting my ni**les. I squirmed and moaned with each bite, failing to seem unaffected by his touch.

I felt his free hand fiddling with the strings of my bikini bottom, expertly loosening the triple knot I’d made minutes earlier.

“Matt…Wait…”

“Do you want me to stop?” he covered my mouth with his lips again, harshly biting my lower lip.

Never…

I was lost. Gone to some other world. I stared into his dark eyes, wondering if he could read my mind.

“Answer me,” he bit my lip again.

I gasped. “I don’t want to be on the couch...”

“Oh?” he moved back and pulled me up by my hair. “Where do you want to be?”

I caught my breath before answering. “My bedroom.”

He stood up, completely unfazed by his nakedness. “You want to show me where that is?”

I was too busy looking at his body to answer.

“Melody,” he helped me to my feet. “Where is your bedroom?”

I was still speechless. My heart was beating a rhythm I’d never known. Before I could calm myself down, before I could come back down to reality, Matt lifted me into his arms and carried me across the floor.

“I guess I’ll find it myself,” he looked down at me and kissed my forehead.

I woke up in bed alone. There was no sign of Matt. I figured Joan had called and needed to whisk him away to some important interview.

I pulled the covers over my head and giggled. Everything about last night had been incredible, fulfilling. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be able to stop smiling.

“What’s so funny?” Matt’s voice interrupted my laughter.

I pushed the covers down and saw him holding a breakfast tray.

“Nothing. I thought you left.”

“Without saying goodbye?” he set the tray in front of me. “You think I would do that?”

I shook my head and looked over the tray: Waffles, chocolate bagels, scrambled potatoes, orange slices and cranberry juice.

“When did you get groceries?”

“I didn’t. Joan picked up a few things and left them outside your door.”

“Does she always do that when you stay the night with someone?”

He laughed. “No. This is the first time Joan has ever done that. I think she likes you.”

“Good to know,” I cut up the waffle. “What are you doing today?”

“I have to taste some catering examples with Selena. The OWN network wants to capture all the wedding preparations.”

“Right…I keep forgetting about that.”

“Hey,” he tilted my chin. “Don’t look like that. I told you it’s not real.”