Page 29 of Stay Away from Him

Back home, Melissa spotted Thomas’s car in the driveway.

She wasn’t expecting him this early on a Monday morning, and suddenly she felt afraid about what might have brought him there.

She thought of who she was just talking to—Kelli Walker—and wondered if Thomas knew somehow.

She knew it was silly of her to think that; there was no way he could have found out so quickly.

Except that Kelli had made a scene in the drive-through line, drawn attention to herself and Melissa.

What if someone had seen them together at the coffee shop?

What if they snapped a photo, texted Thomas that the woman he’d been seeing was talking to his worst enemy?

Thomas was waiting for Melissa in the car, and he stepped out as she pulled into the driveway, stood next to the door waiting as her car came to a stop.

“What’s going on?” Melissa asked when she got out, unable to mask the nervous shake in her voice.

“We need to talk,” Thomas said. “Can we go inside?”

Melissa’s hand rose to tuck strands of hair behind her ears—a habit when she was feeling nervous. “Okay,” she said.

They went through the garage, taking the steps to the basement in silence.

Melissa opened the door to the apartment and let Thomas walk in ahead of her.

He went to the center of the living room but didn’t sit.

Melissa came behind him, lingering a few steps away, hating the awkwardness that had risen between them.

Normally they’d be drawn to each other like magnets, Thomas’s hands unable to stay away from her body, while she leaned into his touch.

But right now, he seemed distracted, agitated—and Melissa realized that she was actually afraid to go to him, hesitant to get any closer.

“What is it?” she asked. “You’re scaring me.”

“Scaring you?” Thomas said, surprised.

“‘ We need to talk .’ It sounds so serious. Are you breaking up with me? Did I do something wrong?” Melissa didn’t mention Kelli Walker—she didn’t want him to know about that, if he didn’t already.

“Melissa, no.” Thomas let out a breath, shook his head as though to dismiss what she was suggesting as ridiculous. “I could never be mad at you.”

“What, then?”

“I was wondering,” he started, then trailed off. “God, I don’t know why this is so hard for me to say.”

Now Melissa was confused. If it wasn’t something bad, then what was Thomas so nervous about?

“Wondering what?”

“Wondering,” Thomas said slowly, cautiously, “if maybe it’s time to take this to another level.”

Melissa laughed—she couldn’t help it. She was just so relieved, and also a little bit amused at how nervous Thomas was, how timid and boyish he’d suddenly become.

Thomas looked a little hurt at her laughter, and she clapped a hand over her mouth. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I really am. I just thought it was going to be something bad. You looked so serious.”

“I am serious,” Thomas said.

“I know.” She crossed the room to him, took his hands in hers, gave him a kiss that lingered. “I know you’re being serious. You’re very, very serious.” She gave him what she hoped was a gentle smile, so he knew she was only teasing.

“Well? What do you say?”

“I guess I’d say—well, what do you mean, another level ? Are you, like, asking me to go steady? You want to be boyfriend-girlfriend?”

Thomas pulled his hands away. “Stop. You’re making fun of me.”

She laughed again and moved closer to him, looping her arms around his neck. Reluctantly, Thomas’s hands came to Melissa’s waist.

“I’m not,” Melissa said. “I’m touched, I am. And I want to move forward in this relationship. It’s just, well…what other level is there? Things feel pretty serious right now. We’ve been having sex almost every day. We see each other constantly. You’re always sneaking away to come here.”

“That’s exactly the problem,” Thomas said. “ Sneaking . I feel like you and me, we’re this secret thing.”

Melissa’s fingers moved up, curling in the hair at the back of his head. Pulling him gently toward her. “Isn’t it fun, though? Sneaking around. Making love while everyone else is at work.”

“Of course it’s fun . And that doesn’t have to stop. I’m just ready for…something more.”

She paused, thinking. There was only one thing he could be talking about.

“You want to make it more official with our families. Our kids.”

Thomas nodded. “That’s right.”

“But I thought you liked seeing me this way—sneaking here, keeping me in the basement. Your little secret.” She flashed a mischievous grin, but there was a provocation in her words, a test. A part of Melissa was beginning to fear that Thomas was keeping her isolated from the rest of his life on purpose—to make it that much easier to simply cut her out of his life when he grew tired of her.

“No,” Thomas said. “You were the one who thought we were going too fast, that we shouldn’t bring the kids into this. I let that be the way things were because it was what you seemed to want, and I wanted to see you.”

Melissa reddened, her cheeks growing hot. Thomas was right, she realized— she’d been the one to want to keep their relationship from their kids, from the world. If anyone had been holding back, it was her.

Thomas, though? He’d been all-in from the beginning. He’d been clear with her about that.

“Your girls,” Melissa said. “What do they know?”

“Everything,” Thomas answered. “I told them that first night that we were going on a date. Remember? And I’ve been honest with them since then. They know we’re still seeing each other. And that I’m really serious about you.”

Melissa spiraled deeper into guilt. Moments ago, she’d thought that Thomas had been getting ready to break up with her, that he’d purposefully been keeping their relationship secret and casual—when all along, this relationship had been exactly what she wanted, because of her fears, her hesitations.

Now she understood why Thomas had seemed so nervous.

Not because he was about to push her away, but because he wanted more. And he was afraid she’d say no.

“Hey,” Melissa said, and put a hand on his forearm. “I’m serious about you too.”

Thomas looked at her. “Are you?”

She pressed into him, pulled his hands toward the small of her back. She gazed up at him, linked her fingers again at the back of his neck. “I really am.”

Thomas breathed out. “I love you, Melissa.”

And there it was. The first time either of them had said it. The first night they made love, Thomas had told Melissa he thought he was capable of loving her, but this was different. This was the first time he’d put those words in that order. I. Love. You .

Melissa wanted to say it too, but she held herself back a second or two. Not because she didn’t want to, but didn’t want it to be a reflex, an instinctive call-and-response. She waited until she knew she could mean it.

She closed her eyes. “I love you too.”

Thomas let out a breath. “Whew. Well.”

Melissa let a moment stretch out, simply looking at him, at his cool gray-blue eyes, marveling and wondering at the man behind them. The man who loved her.

“Okay,” she said. “So what were you thinking? For this whole ‘taking things to the next level’ thing.”

“I want you to meet the girls. Officially. As the woman I’m seeing.”

Melissa laughed. “Not the wording I would have chosen. But okay. How are we going to do it? Sit them down and talk to them about it?”

Thomas shook his head. “No. I was thinking dinner. This weekend.”

“All five of us?”

“No. Bigger than that. Not just our kids—I want to make this official to our friends too. Come out of the basement, so to speak. You bring Lawrence and Toby. And I’ll invite Amelia.”

Melissa’s jaw tightened, and her arms draped over Thomas’s shoulders went taut.

“I know you’re not sure what to think about her,” Thomas said. “But she’s part of my life. I want you to know her too.”

Melissa blew out a breath. “Okay. I get it. I do. If she’s important to you, she’s important to me. I think this is a great idea.”

“Do you?”

“I do. I’ll talk to Lawrence. You talk to Amelia. And the girls. We’ll make it work. Your place?”

Thomas nodded, smiled. “My place.” He leaned in and gave Melissa a long kiss. “Thank you for this,” he said when their lips parted. “It means a lot to me.”

They stood like that for another long moment, just looking in each other’s eyes.

“Don’t you have to get to work or something?” Melissa asked at last, breaking the silence.

“I do. You’ve probably got work to do too.”

“I do,” she said. “My boss has really been riding me.”

Thomas let out a low sound from deep in his throat, pulled Melissa’s hips close against his. “Don’t give me ideas.”

“Save it,” she said, pushing him away. “Get to work. You’ve got patients to see.”

Thomas sighed. They disentangled, and he walked across the room to the sliding door. He pulled it open, and as he was about to step out the back, Melissa stopped him.

“Hey,” she said.

“Yeah?”

“Did you say you loved me earlier? Was that a thing that happened?”

“I did,” he said.

Melissa’s arms stole around her sides, and she held herself tight, pressed her palms hard against the sides of her ribs. “And did you mean it?”

“I did,” he said.

“So say it again.”

Thomas took his hand off the door, turned to face her fully. She went on holding herself, as if there was something inside her that she was afraid to let out, for fear of losing it.

“I love you,” Thomas said.

Melissa breathed out, and finally her whole body unwound. Relaxed into the safety of it.

“I love you too,” she said.

Then he turned away again, and she watched him go, skirting the back of the house to get back to his car. When he slipped out of sight at the corner of the house, Melissa pulled the curtains and just stood there for a while. Felt her breath rushing in and out of her lungs.

The quiet moment was interrupted by her phone, buzzing from inside her purse. She smiled as she walked to it, expecting it to be Thomas—he often texted right after he left her, sending something flirty or even a little naughty.

But it wasn’t Thomas.

Hey it’s me Kelli

I talked to my contact at the police. The one who gives me info on the case.

He wants to get in touch

Melissa scowled as she opened the phone, entered her passcode. She didn’t want to think about the case right now—not after the moment she’d just had with Thomas.

But she had struck a deal with Kelli. If she could prove it wasn’t Thomas who killed Rose, she’d leave them alone.

And even though she didn’t want to be talking to Kelli Walker right then, didn’t want to be thinking about the case that made Thomas Danver notorious, she was more invested than ever in proving the man she loved was innocent.

How can I contact him? Melissa asked.

You don’t have to, she responded.

He’ll find you