CHAPTERNINE
Melody
“Thanks for doing this at such short notice,” Tyler Mann says for the third time in the same minute.
I smile at him, shaking my head. “Don’t mention it, Tyler,” I say with a small sigh. “Besides, it’s a paid gig. You shouldn’t thank me so much.”
Tyler chuckles.
“You don’t know what a big hassle it is to find a part-timer to fill in until I get back from the hospital and at such a late hour. Nobody wants to come out at ten PM just to attend to grouchy customers all night. This has got to be one of the cons of running a 24-hour convenience store.”
“I have to study for a test the whole night anyway,” I tell Tyler with a smile. “I guess it’s good that I have grouchy customers to keep me awake. I think you should leave now. I’m sure Brenda needs you.”
“You’re right,” Tyler says with a soft gasp as if he’d forgotten his original mission. “I should go now. Bye, Mel,” he says and hurries out of the store.
I shake my head fondly as I watch him go.
Tyler loves his wife so much that he’d willingly close the store just so he could be with her while she got a new dental implant.
His wife insisted the operation be done by the best dentist in the state who happens to visit Hudson once every three months. She’d gotten an appointment after hours due to the doctors' full schedule when he comes to town.
Tyler had called me just as I was settling into bed to ask me if I’d be available to man his store overnight since his night clerk canceled. I’d happily jumped at the offer, anything to escape the house, and the confusing emotions I felt for Abram Harden.
I like you, Melody...
Despite trying hard to keep his words out of my head, they keep bouncing around the walls of my mind, echoing mockingly.
He spoke the words so easily that my heart stopped for one tense second, and then my senses spiraled into overdrive, almost triggering a panic attack. I sat there, frozen and gaping at him like an idiot.
And when I finally gathered the courage to ask what he meant, he said something about how easy it is for the artist to like his muse, in a calm tone that brought me back to my senses.
I wonder if it’s a normal response for the muse’s heart to keep pounding continuously... I know how futile my dream is, even if he hadn’t spelled it out so clearly that our relationship was a professional one.
He’s the artist, and I’m just a muse, like a muse isn’t a big deal for the artist, even if the muse’s every waking thought is about the artist and her nights are filled with dreams of him. In my dreams, he does inexplicable things that make me moan and cry in ecstasy.
I snort at the turn my thoughts are taking.
A girl like me shouldn’t even dream of being with a man like him. I keep telling myself that, but still, my thoughts find their way back to him.
It’s funny how quickly I’ve gotten so comfortable around him, even when he can turn me into a bumbling mess with the slightest compliment or tease.
How did I go from being conscious to careless to laughing hard at his jokes?
He’s slowly bridging all of my defenses, and I seem powerless against the tides.
I sigh deeply just as the bell on the door sounds, indicating the arrival of a customer.
I sit up, smoothing my hands over my clothes and hair.
“Welco....” The words get stuck in my throat when I see who it is, Jack.
I freeze, watching him approach with growing dread.
“Hello, Melody,” Jack says loudly, walking toward me with an excited smile. He stops in front of the counter and places his hands on the counter surface. “What have you been up to? You haven’t been home in days. I’ve been worried sick.”
I throw a nervous glance around the empty store, hoping another customer will walk in.
I swallow nervously and return my gaze to Jack. His smile has gone grim as he stares at me, his eyes narrowed intently on my face.