Page 46 of Truth or More Truth
“You, silly!” Emily exclaims. “He thinks you’re pretty.” She ticks this off on one finger. “He says you’re smart.” She ticks another finger. “And you put him in his place!” Now she throws both arms wide. “It’s a match made in heaven!”
In the silence following her declaration, I realize the entire table is watching us, and every single face holds a grin other than Melissa’s, though she seems to be fighting one. I, on the other hand, feel a bit sick to my stomach.
“Honey,” Emily’s grandma says as she lays a hand on the little girl’s shoulder, “let’s take things down a notch, shall we?” To Melissa and me, she says, “Sorry about that. She’s been really into weddings and people getting married ever since Wendy and Randall got engaged last summer.”
“Tell me about it,” Andrea mutters.
Emily’s head whips around toward her mother. “What did you say, Mommy?”
Andrea’s eyes go wide for a split second before she smirks at me and says, “I said, ‘Tell me more about it.’”
“Oh, you mean more about why they should marry each other? Well, I don’t know,” Emily says. “That’s all I know about Miss Melissa. Mr. Bobby, why else should you marry her?”
Thankfully the entire table erupts in laughter before Emily forces me to respond.
“You looked like a deer in the headlights,” Shannon says through his laughter.
I feel like a cooler of ice water has been thrown over me as the memory of last night crashes back into my brain. Melissa’s hand lands on my leg and squeezes just enough to pull me out of my head before anyone else has time to notice.
I force a smile and say, “Yeah, that’s the first time I’ve been asked why I should marry a woman I barely even know.”
Melissa’s hand slips off my leg, and I immediately regret my words, although they’re true. I glance at Melissa, who’s looking down at her lap, and I know I need to course correct, even though I can hear my pulse in my ears and am hoping I’m not about to plunge back into panic mode.
I place my hand on the back of Melissa’s chair and say, “However, over the last few days I’ve gotten to know her well enough to confidently say that in addition to being beautiful, smart, and assertive, Melissa is also thoughtful, caring, funny, and loyal. It’ll be a lucky man who gets to watch her walk down the aisle to him someday.”
Melissa’s eyes shoot up to meet mine, and her cheeks flush pink. “Thank you,” she says softly.
Emily claps her hands, and our focus shifts back to her beaming face. “It’s gonna be you, Mr. Bobby! I just know it!”
“Okay, Emily. That’s enough,” Andrea says. “Why don’t you tell everyone what we did for Christmas?”
As Emily chatters away about the holiday, I quietly leave the table and head toward the foyer. I need to step outside and getsome fresh air to help calm my body’s response to the deer-in-the-headlights comment. Okay, and also to thoughts of marrying Melissa. And to Melissa’s touch and the look in her eyes after I complimented her.
As I suck in lungfuls of chilly air on the front steps of the building, the door opens behind me. I can smell Melissa before I see her.
“You okay?” Her arm slips around mine and her hand grips my bicep.
I look down at her with a small smile. “Better now.”
She smiles back. “Good.”
We gaze at each other for several seconds, and then she finally looks away and leans her body against mine.
“You don’t have to go back in,” she says. “We can go back to the hotel. Leslie and Ash will understand.”
I don’t miss how she said “we” instead of “you.”
I shake my head. “They don’t need to know what happened. I don’t want them to worry about me. I’ll be okay.”
Melissa takes a breath as if she’s going to speak, but then she doesn’t.
“What?” I ask.
She tightens her hold on my arm. “You want to talk about last night? Will that help?”
I can’t keep leaning on Melissa like this and not tell her what happened to make me this way. Though this isn’t the ideal time or place, I need to tell her, and she’s given me the opening I need. Goodness knows I won’t initiate this conversation, but she deserves to have it with me. The more I’m around her, the more I want to try to make things work with her—for her. And I need to be honest with her about my family and my past if there’s a chance that could happen.
“What are you two crazy kids up to?” Diego’s voice booms from behind us, followed by a chuckle.
