“What did your sister say to you?” Aidan asked as he ran his hands up her stomach so that he was cupping her breasts in his hands.
“Oh, you really thought that I would let her screw with my head? That’s so sad,” Melanie said with a pitying sigh and a sad shake of her head that ended with a moan when he gently squeezed her breasts. Caitlyn had crossed the line with her one last time, leaving her with no other choice but to do the one thing that she’d never allowed herself to do before.
She told on her.
Oh, had she tattletaled her ass off today.
She’d told her parents everything. It was something that she’d never done before because she knew that it was always better to handle Caitlyn on her own since her parents would just ground her sister, giving her a chance to make everyone’s life miserable. No, when it came to Caitlyn, Melanie either took care of her sister on her own, or she simply ignored her. Over the past couple of years, she’d ignored her sister…
Until now.
Now, Caitlyn had finally pushed her too far. So, Melanie did what any self-respecting woman her age would do, she told her parents all those things that Caitlyn didn’t want them to know and quite a few things that her sister probably thought she’d forgotten about.
“Then what are we doing here?” he asked, using his hold on her to pull her back against him.
“Because I want you,” Melanie said, unable to help but moan as he gave her breasts another squeeze before he slid one hand back down her stomach.
“You already have me,” Aidan promised her as he worked her pants open so that he could slide his hand inside her panties.
“Then it shouldn’t matter when we get married,” she said, struggling not to moan when she felt his hand slide between her legs.
“It matters.”
Chapter 42
“Open the goddamn door, Melanie!” Aidan bit out as he glared at the locked bathroom door.
“Are you going to marry me tomorrow?” came the reply after a brief pause.
“No,” he bit out, because they were doing this the right way no matter what the stubborn pain in the ass that had somehow managed to take him by surprise and locked him out of the bathroom, said.
“Then I’m afraid that I can’t do that,” Melanie said right around the time that he heard the shower turn on.
After one last glare at the locked bathroom door, Aidan checked on Cody to make sure that he was asleep before he pulled his shirt off and tossed it aside as he dropped down on the bed so that he could glare at the ceiling. He didn’t fucking care. They were getting married in a church whether she wanted to or not, and she would not ruin his fucking special day!
Now that he thought about it, this was perfect. More than perfect, because he could still make this work. Tomorrow, they’d have breakfast in bed, enjoy a long shower, take Cody out for the day, and then, he’d bring her back here for a romantic dinner, a bubble bath, and then he’d ask her to marry him, set a date, and try to figure out how he was going to pay for this fucking dream wedding without going broke.
It was going to be perfect.
Absolutely fucking perfect, Aidan decided only to curse as he reached over and grabbed the phone before it had a chance to ring again and wake up Cody.
“Hello?” Aidan said, answering the phone as he glanced at the playpen and sighed when he saw Cody watching him.
“I’m sorry to bother you, but we have a gentleman down here asking to see Miss Robinson,” the front desk clerk said, making Aidan wonder which one of his asshole relatives was here to help Melanie.
Probably his father, Aidan thought as he glanced at the bathroom door before his attention shifted to his son and-
“Tell him that I’ll be down in a few minutes,” he said, already reaching for the diaper bag.
“I will. Thank you,” the front desk clerk said before Aidan hung up so that he could make a bottle for his son, who was watching his every move.
Definitely a Bradford, Aidan thought, chuckling as he finished making a large bottle before scooping Cody up in his arms. He decided that it would probably be better if he handled his father now before the bastard drugged his food again and he fucking knew that his father was the one who’d drugged Melanie’s cup. Sneaky bastard, Aidan thought as he headed downstairs, contemplating tossing one of Cody’s dirty diapers in the back of his father’s car.
It would serve the traitorous bastard right, Aidan thought as the elevator doors opened and-
“Where’s Melanie?” the last person that he’d expected to see, demanded before Aidan had a chance to step off the elevator.
“What are you doing here, Adam?” Aidan asked as he stepped off the elevator, noting the other man’s messy hair, the panicked expression on his face, and the small black box in his hand.
“I need to talk to Melanie,” Adam said, glancing past Aidan, looking hopeful only to curse when he didn’t see Melanie.
“No, you need to talk to me and tell me why you’re here,” Aidan said, stepping in front of Adam when he moved to step on the elevator.
“I messed up,” Adam said, stepping away as he raked his fingers through his hair. “I never should have left her.”
“That doesn’t explain what you’re doing here,” Aidan said, hoping for the other man’s sake that he was talking about Caitlyn.
“Caitlyn’s parents showed up and tore into her, told her that if she wanted to marry me that she was on her own because they weren’t going to give her a dime after everything she’d put Melanie through only I didn’t know what she was doing. I had no fucking clue,” Adam said, shaking his head as he paced back and forth in front of the elevator even as he continued to send anxious glances towards the closed elevator doors.
“What does that have to do with us?” Aidan asked as he shifted Cody in his arms when his son began fidgeting.
“I’m in love with Melanie,” Adam said, gesturing helplessly towards the elevator with the hand that still held that small black box that had Aidan’s stomach turning.
“And fucking her sister was really the best way to show that?” Aidan demanded.
“I messed up! I never should have listened to Caitlyn. I never should have given up on the best thing that ever happened to me, and I never should have-”
“Come here,” Aidan finished for him.
*-*-*-*
“I dropped a bedpan on my first patient,” came the announcement as soon as Melanie opened the bathroom door to find Aidan sitting on the bed, watching her.
“Umm, that’s unfortunate?” she said absently as she tried to figure out how she was going to manage to drag him down to the courthouse in the morning without throwing out her back.
Maybe she should-
“You know the Scooby-Doo theme song?”
“Sure?” Melanie said, unable to help but frown as she adjusted the towel around her as she glanced over at the playpen to find Cody asleep.
“I used to hum it while I took tests. It creeped my professors out,” Aidan admitted as he stood up.
“I can see why,” Melanie said, nodding solemnly.
“I know every Justin Bieber song by heart,” he said, leaving her with no idea how to respond to that one.
When she opened her mouth, he cut her off with, “Every. Single. One.”
“I’m in love with you, Melanie,” Aidan continued as he walked over and pulled her into his arms. “I want to spend the rest of my life wondering if you’re going to wake me up at two in the morning to get you pie.”
“I really will,” she admitted, making his lips twitch because she felt that he should understand what was expected of him upfront.
“I know,” he said, smiling as he leaned down and brushed his lips against hers before he pulled back and-
“Adam’s downstairs with an engagement ring, hoping that you’ll take him back,” he told her as Melanie stood there, struggling to make sense out of what he was saying only to realize that there was no way that they could avoid this conversation.
“I’m sorry, but I’m really going to need you to go back to this Justin Bieber thing,” Melanie said, making his eyes narrow on her.
“They’re catchy tunes,” he bit out.
“But, are they really though?” she asked with a pitying look.
“Yes,” Aidan bit out between clenched teeth.
“I see,” she murmured thoughtfully as she considered him and…
“I don’t think I can marry you,” Melanie said, wishing that she’d known about the Bieber thing before she fell in love with him.
Live and learn, Melanie thought with a sigh and a sad shake of her head.
“We’re getting married in the morning,” Aidan said evenly as he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder.