Page 26 of The Scent of Salt & Sand

“And WTF with all of this?” She adjusted her bike and leaned over the handlebars. “A picnic?”

He could’ve throttled her for destroying whatever might have happened in the delicious moment he and Melody had just shared. “Melody Seirina, this is my oblivious partner, Kait Lesnek. She likes to think of herself as my better half. Most of the time, I tend to agree with her.”

“Wow, you must be special if Dean’s already admitting my superiority in front of you.” She leaned down, extending her hand to Melody.

“It’s really nice to meet you. Dean’s told me a lot about you,” Melody said.

“Well, as of our next shift, Dean’s going to be telling me a lot about you, too.” Kait winked.

“Okay, well, sorry you have to take off and leave us to return to our really romantic picnic all alone here by ourselves,” Dean said, shooing Kait away.

“No worries, Romeo. I’m going, I’m going. Oh, but first I’ll give you my plus-one RSVP to your sis’s wedding. Raquel said yes!”

Dean reached up to return the high five. “Congratulations! Raquel is one hot babe.”

“Uh, I know, and I’m planning on making her my one hot babe. Hey, speaking of hot babes, you should bring Melody to your sis’s wedding. It’s going to be entertaining, if nothing else. Nice to meet you, Melody! I’m sure I’ll be seeing you again soon!” Kait hopped on her bike and sped away.

“She seems nice,” Melody said, twirling strands of her long hair.

“She is—nice and smart.” He paused for a moment, his glance flicking between Melody and Kait’s quickly vanishing figure. “Melody Seirina, would you please be my date one month from tomorrow at my sister’s wedding? It’s going to be a big dress-up affair, open bar, lots of dancing and family shenanigans.”

His throat tightened as Melody chewed her lip, looking like he’d just asked her to visit a slaughterhouse with him.

“Hey, it’s just a date,” he said, angst softening his voice.

“It’s your sister’s wedding. That’s important. And all of your family is going to be there. That’s important, too.”

“Well, sure. Yes. That’s why I’m inviting you.” He took both of her hands in his and caressed them gently. “Because you’re important.”

She pulled away, shoving her fists into her lap. “Can I give you an answer later?”

“Absolutely. Don’t let it cause you any stress.” Embarrassment warmed his cheeks and made him instantly regret asking.

Melody blew out a long breath and picked at the edge of her frayed jeans. “I want to explain about why I ran away last night.” She stared out at the bay as she continued. “You weren’t moving too fast. I liked your kisses. I liked them a lot. But then I started to feel, well, like I wanted more than that from you, and that scared me.”

“Why?”

Still not looking at him, she blurted, “Because sex means bad things to me. Really bad things. Like, so bad that I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to let myself have sex with you and now that you know, you probably won’t want to keep seeing me and I completely understand because it’s not normal and I wish it was different—I wish I was different—but I’m not.”

Dean’s heart squeezed. “Please look at me.”

Melody reluctantly turned her gaze from the water to him. He saw her then—really saw her—afraid and vulnerable. Her chin trembled, and he stiffened with the realization that he’d made her feel that way.

That’s why she ran.

Slowly, gently, he touched her cheek. “You’re perfect just the way you are, and I’ll make you a promise, right here, right now. I promise that I will never do anything again that makes you scared or uncomfortable. Melody, you always have the right to tell me to stop—no matter what. And I will.”

“You want to keep seeing me?”

Dean wanted to tell her that he wanted to see only her, forever, but he knew he had to move slowly, carefully. So, he simply said, “Yes, Melody, I do. Would you go to dinner with me tomorrow night?”

“There’s nothing I’d like more.”

“Not even talking to whales?” he teased.

“Is it really that bad to come second to a whale?” She grinned and kissed him quickly, softly, on his cheek.

Dean thought his heart might explode. “When you put it like that, nope, it’s not bad at all.”