Reunion
JC was signing by rote, smiling by rote – He usually loved the meet and greets, enjoyed meeting the fans. Today there was a restlessness foreign to him that went soul deep. He certainly hoped he wasn’t offending anyone with his absent attitude.
“Hi, JC!” a young voice chirped.
He looked up to see an enthusiastic blonde girl of about thirteen. He smiled up at her, then lifted his eyes slightly higher to the woman who stood behind her. Dark green eyes, familiar as his own, smiled down at him.
“Mel?” JC questioned, barely suppressing the urge to shake his head to see if the vision was real.
“Do you remember me, Josh?”
For a flash, he was transported back to when he and Melissa Madison were teenagers and he was doing the Mickey Mouse Club. She had been staying with her aunt in Orlando. He had fallen like a ton of bricks – and what was more amazing, she was enamored with him. In the way of teenagers, they had become each other’s first lovers. When she had announced she was leaving for college, he had first gotten angry, then panicked and proposed. Melissa wouldn’t do that to him, she’d said. On the night before she had left, they had made sweet love – then the next morning, she had left him behind, breaking his heart.
JC rose and walked around the table to hug Melissa. “A guy doesn’t forget his first love, Mel.”
“You know JC, Aunt Mel?” the girl asked, wide-eyed and impressed.
“Justin! Joey! Look who’s here!” JC called.
“Oh, my goodness! Justin really did grow up!” Melissa laughed as the tall, young man gave her a crushing hug.
“You know Justin, too?” Chloe gasped. To girls her age, Justin Timberlake was a god!
“When Justin was a little younger than you,” Melissa explained.
Joey gave her a bear hug. “I never got this close to you when we were younger.”
“Because you were always on the prowl,” Melissa quipped.
“And you were JC’s girl from day one,” Joey added.
“Aunt Mel, you dated JC?”
“That was a long time a go, sweetie,” Melissa assured Chloe she had not been holding out on her. She noticed the unhappy people behind the cozy reunion. “Guess we’d better get that picture signed and move on.”
“Can you hang around a little longer?” JC asked. He wanted to talk to her. He couldn’t believe how his heart had leapt when he saw Melissa, like he was coming alive again!
“Um…A little bit, I guess. That okay with you Chloe?”
“Sure!” She wasn’t about to turn down time with her favorite group! “Can I get another picture?”
“Anything you want, Chloe,” JC promised. He’d do just about anything to spend more time with Melissa.
“In that case—“
”Another picture would be lovely,” Melissa cut her off quickly. She teasingly tugged at the girl’s nose. “You greedy munchkin.”
Try as he might, JC couldn’t concentrate. His eyes kept drifting to where Melissa sat, waiting with Chloe. God, maturity had made her even more beautiful! She still had that cool poise, like nothing could ruffle her feathers. Those eyes with their exotic upward tilt and dark forest green color. That lush, long hair of darkest auburn – nearly so dark it was almost black. He’d never found the right word to describe it. Mahogany maybe? Her complexion was still creamy with the barest hint of a tan. She had always been one to use sunscreen. Which was why she could probably pass as the seventeen year old she had been when they had first known each other. He sighed wistfully. He was acting like he was seventeen again! The same besotted fool he’d been then, the one she had walked away from more than six years earlier.
When the meet and greet ended, Chloe was only too happy to have a private audience with the remaining four *NSYNC members while JC claimed Melissa’s attention.
“You look great, Mel,” he murmured as he took her hands in his. “You always did.”
”We’ve come along way.”
“Amen to that.”
“Listen, Josh, I’d love to stay and chat, but I’m sure you have things to do and I have to get Chloe home—“
“Come backstage after the concert.”
“I’m not going to the concert.”
“But you and Chloe—“
“Chloe’s mom couldn’t bring her today, so I offered. Nancy will bring her tonight.”
“Then tonight—“
“Josh, I’m busy tonight,” she stated gently. At his crest-fallen expression, she touched his cheek. “I sing at a little jazz club.”
“You still sing?”
“It’s a hobby really. I do it for fun.”
“I’d love to see you.”
She gave him the name and the address of the club. “You might make my last set.”
“I’ll be there,” he promised both of them.
Melissa reached up to brush her lips briefly to his. “Bye, Josh.”
JC stood there watching her say good-bye to the others and claim Chloe.
When she was gone, Joey came up to JC to snap his fingers in front of JC’s face to break the spell. “He’s gone again,” he muttered.
“Who is this Mel?” Lance asked.
“JC’s first serious girlfriend,” Joey answered. “All the guys were hot for her, but she fell for JC.”
“That’s ‘cuz you were panting after her like a hungry wolf,” JC added.
“Naugh. There was something about the first minute you saw each other.”
“Yeah,” JC sighed.
“She almost dumped him, because he was too shy to ask her for a real date.”
JC grinned. “So, I asked her to be my girl instead.”
“So…” Justin rubbed his hands together. “There’s still some spark there. She kissed you and you still get dazed at the sight of her.”
“I’m going to watch her sing tonight.”
“She sings, too?” Chris entered the conversation.
“She worked at Disney World. But she wanted to be a photographer, not a singer.” JC fervently hoped none of them wanted to go to the club that night. He wanted Melissa to himself.
“She’s been gone a while, folks,” the MC of the club was saying. “But tonight she finally returns to grace our stage. Ladies and gentlemen, Madison!”
JC watched as beautiful Melissa took the spotlight amid the applause and whistles. She wore her glorious hair loose and fluffy. The long, black evening gown made her look sophisticated and sexy.
Her sultry voice did fantastic justice to two old Brenda Russell standards, ‘Get Here’ and ‘Piano in the Dark’. Then she launched into the Beth Nielsen Chapman ballad, ‘From the Moment You Were Mine’.
“I’d like to dedicate this next song to Josh. Some feelings never die, baby,” Melissa announced before she sang Linda Ronstadt’s ‘I Keep It Hid’.
JC sat there gaping. Was she saying she still loved him? God, it had been so long! But no one had made him feel the way Melissa had.
“I never get away without singing this one, do I?” Melissa asked the saxophone player.
“Never, Madison,” the musician answered with a grin.
JC nearly fell of his chair when she sang ‘Give In To Me’ – a song he had co-written years earlier. When the last plaintive note of the sax died, the stage went dark and Melissa was gone. He sat there numb with disbelief for a long while.
“Sir?” A waitress tapped his shoulder. “Are you Joshua Chasez?”
“I—uh—yeah. Is Madison going to come back on?” He had to see Melissa. He didn’t want another hour to go by…
“She’s already left, sir.”
“Left?” He was incredulous. After all the wonderful signals she’d tossed his way, she merely left without speaking to him?
The waitress handed him an envelope. “She said to give this to you.”
After tipping her heavily, he tore into the envelope. The note was brief.
“I meant every word. If you want to see me, here’s my address…”
JC bumped into several people and knocked over a potted plant in his hurry out the door. “Taxi!”
Melissa paced nervously. Had she made a fool of herself tonight? Maybe she had been wrong about the signals JC had sent out that afternoon. After all, he was famous now. He had moved on as she had. He’d had plenty of girlfriends since her – she was sure. They were no longer starry-eyed, hormonal teenagers. Maybe…
The sound of the buzzer startled her. Pressing the speaker button, she said, “Yes?”
“Mel, it’s Josh.”
“Come on up.” She pushed the button that allowed him passed the security doors of her building, then she smoothed her sweaty palms along side her nightgown. Some femme fatale she made!
Soon, there was a sharp rap on her door.
God, she was so damned beautiful! That was JC’s first thought when she allowed him in and closed the door between them and the rest of the world. Dressed in a simply cut, silk nightgown, she was a vision from his fantasies. The pale peach fabric accentuated her exotic coloring.
“I came as soon as I got your note,” he told her in a rush. “I didn’t know you’d gone or I’d—“
She placed a gentle hand over his mouth. “You always did that when you were flustered or excited,” she mused. “Which is it?” She removed her hand to find him smiling.
“Both. I didn’t think I’d ever see you again and here you are – inviting me back into your life – That was an invitation, wasn’t it? God, Mel, I—“
This time, it was her soft lips that halted his monologue. It had proven effective in the past – and worked like a charm. Except JC had learned how to kiss! Previously, his technique was more youthful ardor than anything else. He had learned how to take full control and turn the tabled on her, making her quiver like a mass of Jell-O!
“Mmm…you still taste wonderful,” he purred as he raised his head. “I remember your flavor.”
“Josh?” She looked up questioningly.
“Yeah, baby?”
“Why are you really here?”
“Because, like you, I want to know if there is still something there.” He noticed her eyes dropping to the bulge straining his zipper. “Something to build on,” he added.
“For tonight, it can be old lust,” she offered.
“No, it can’t. Because all I’m feeling isn’t teenage lust.” JC smoothed her hair with both hands. “It wasn’t back then. I fell in love the first time I saw you, Mel. That won’t ever change. You were so strong and brave. I have you to thank for all I accomplished. If you had said ‘yes’ to my proposal, I know I never would have come this far.”
“You had so much to give the world.”
“So did you.”
“Music wasn’t my sole passion.” She waved her hand at various framed photographs that covered the walls of her tiny efficiency apartment. “Photography was. It’s what I still love doing.”
He recalled her ever-present camera at the end of their time together. He wondered why he’d never seen any of those photos.
Reading his mind, she said, “I could have made a small fortune off those, but I didn’t want to. Those were my memories to keep.”
“See, baby? It can’t be lust for either of us.”
Melissa traced the features of his dear face. He had out-grown that sort of coltish awkwardness and was a very handsome male.
JC nipped at the finger that ran along the seam of his lips. “So, why don’t you go put some clothes on and we’ll go some place to get reacquainted?” he suggested. If they stayed here with her dressed like an invitation, things were bound to get out of hand.
“Once I get home and comfy, I loathe going out again.”
“Mel…”
She smoothed the front of his shirt and gazed up at him with soft eyes. “Are you afraid of me, Josh?”
“Not afraid exactly. I don’t want to do something we might regret—“
She lifted on her toes to kiss him. “You would regret making love to me?”
“Hell no!” His lips caught hers. “But would you?”
“No. I made up my mind it would happen before I ever gave you my address.”
“You always were a no-holds-barred kind of girl,” he mused and he’d loved that about her. “Bold as brass…Sweet as honey…Hot as fire…” Each comment was punctuated with a kiss and his voice lowered to a husky octave.
“We used to have some of our best conversations after we made love,” she reminded him.
“Yeah.” JC scooped her up. “Where’s the bed?”
She nodded towards an alcove.
Carrying her to the bedroom area, he noticed the covers had been turned down and a fresh box of condoms sat beside the lamp on her nightstand. “You were a girl scout, right? Always prepared.” He set her in the middle of the bed and followed her down.
Their kiss was hungry, passionate and oh-so familiar. Melissa ran her hands up under his shirt, making him shiver at her soft caress on his ridged stomach.
“You didn’t used to feel like this,” she murmured when he released her mouth.
“That a problem?”
“Not unless you got a knuckle-dragger attitude to go with it.”
“Not with you, baby.”
Her hands traveled upward. “Mmm…nice here, too. Got around to growing chest hair?” she teased.
JC laughed. Melissa knew how to take the heaviness out of a situation. “Yeah, some.”
“Lemme see!”
He straddled her hips as he rose to his knees, then he whipped his shirt off and sent it sailing.
“Oooh, yummy!” she giggled.
He enjoyed her thoroughly! His laughter turned into a low moan of pleasure when she caressed his bared torso, exploring what the years had wrought. “Do you approve, Melissa?”
“Looks good to me,” she purred. “I mean you were no slouch before…” Her hands dropped to the bulge at the front of his pants. “Now, this seems real familiar.” She gave his a gentle squeeze, causing another moan.
“Yeah, like twenty-four/seven when you were around.”
She unfastened the pants, then reached inside to stroke him.
“Baby, you’re killing me,” he groaned.
“No more tightie-whities?”
“No.”
“Josh?”
“Hmm?”
“I think you need to undress all the way now.”
JC didn’t need a second prompt. He swung off her, to the edge of the bed. Jerking off his shoes, he then ripped off his socks. Standing to lose his pants and shorts, he heard the rustle of silk behind him. When he turned to rejoin her, Melissa was kneeling, naked in the center of the bed, gazing at him with hunger and awe.
“Joshua Scott, you are impressive,” she murmured, holding her hand out to him. Instead of the lanky boy, a lean muscular man stood before her.
It took a long moment for him to gather coherent thought. Melissa had never been model thin and he’d liked her generous curves. Rounded hips gave way to strong, supple thighs – and further up…those soft, plump breasts, not too large, not to small, just right. She had a beautiful lush body he could lose himself in.
“Josh?”
“I’d forgotten ho much I loved just looking at you.” His voice was rough with emotion and need.
Her small smile seemed to say she understood. “Come here, baby,” she said quietly. “Let me hold you.”
Inexplicably, JC felt the sting of tars in his eyes as he went to her. With her soft arms around him, they lay back on the pillows, his face against her shoulder. Her gentleness opened the floodgates. He hadn’t truly let himself mourn her loss years ago. He’d thrown himself into dating. Even his parents had been surprised at his rebound behavior.
“How could I have ever let you go, Mel? You meant everything to me?”
“Maybe to the boy,” she murmured soothingly, nuzzling him, holding him close. “You had more to do. I knew that.”
“But to lose you…”
“Hush, baby. It’s past.”
He took several shuddering breaths, trying to calm his six year old plus turmoil. He hadn’t realized how he had ached for what only Melissa had given him, a sense of completion. He had loved her with everything in him and had wanted to die when she had left him behind. He had tried to find her in every girl he’d dated – and later every woman. He’d been into ‘relationships’, but he hadn’t been any good at them, picking the wrong sort of companions. They had all been wrong – they hadn’t been Melissa. With a final sigh, he lifted his head. “You always did let me get away with being too emotional.” He gave her a pained smile.
She wiped away his tears with her fingers. “Only when I thought you needed it.”
“I’m sorry, Melissa.” He rolled away, totally deflated by his outburst. He stared unseeingly at the ceiling, blinking back more tears.
Melissa reached down to pull the covers over them. Reaching across him, she switched off the light. “You’ve probably had a full, busy day. You must be worn out.”
“You were always making excuses for me, too.”
“A little late for those complaints.”
After lying in the dark for a while, JC slid his hand across the mattress, seeking hers. He was heartened when she immediately laced her fingers with his. “Night, Melly,” he whispered.
“Night, Josh.”
JC woke hours later to find Melissa snuggled against him, one leg resting atop his and a hand resting on his chest. The part of his anatomy that had failed him earlier was ready for another try. He wasn’t about to rouse her from a sound sleep for that! Easing an arm around her, he could, at least, hold her close. Idly, he rubbed a hand up and down her arm.
He still couldn’t quite believe he’d found her after all this time – and she seemed to be the same old Mel! Sassy, taunting, sexy, bright, giving, loving…It seemed she still cared for him. Melissa had been the more mature one when they were seventeen. She was the one who took the lead when he was too shy or uncertain. She was the one with the poise, grit, and determination. Hell, it had been Melissa who had decided they were ready to be lovers! And she had been the one strong enough to let go when the time came – and no matter how badly it had hurt, she had done it as much for him as she had herself.
Melissa woke to the feel of JC’s hand moving on her arm; almost as if he was reassuring himself she was real. “Can’t sleep?”
“Did I wake you, Mel?”
She shifted to look up at him. “No.” She stroked his hair, making him purr like a big cat. “What’s keeping you awake?”
“Memories.”
“Bad memories?”
“Some. Mostly good. As first lovers go, you were pretty fantastic.”
“I wasn’t anything special. I was in love, too.”
JC took her hand and kissed her palm, then the delicate flesh on her inner wrist. His mouth traveled up to her shoulder before reaching her mouth. He kissed her in that old way that never failed to make her melt: top lip, lower lip, both lips with his tongue stroking the seam until she opened for him. He swallowed her sweet whimper of pleasure as their tongues tangled and mated.
The leg that had been draped over his rode his hip as he turned to face her. His aching manhood found its haven so close.
“Oh, yes, Josh!” she whispered as he nipped at her throat.
JC rediscovered the once familiar territory of Melissa’s body with his hands and mouth. She was still sweet to taste, smooth and soft to touch. He couldn’t get enough of her. He was greedy, wanting to possess her totally.
“Josh, please, now!”
Stopping to sheath himself, he slowly entered her. “Oh, God, Mel, you’re still so tight!” he groaned as he moved within her hot walls.
“There’s only been you.”
JC stopped, staring down at her in shock. “Mel?”
Melissa ran her hands up his chest and around his neck to bring his head down for another steamy kiss. “I’ve never wanted anyone else, Josh. Only you.”
He captured her lips as he began loving her in earnest. Her confession heated his blood and soothed his soul. This angel had waited so long for this reunion – he wanted to give her everything.
Melissa woke the next morning to the sound of JC’s cellphone chiming. He eased away to grab it, then lay back.
“JC…” He listened for a moment, then muttered, “I’ll be there.”
She started kissing his chest, capturing his attention. When she circled his flat nipples with her tongue, she elicited a groan of pleasure.
“Damn, baby!” Then he spoke into the phone. “I’m fine…Noon…all right…I know. Later.” He rung off and tossed the phone on the bedside stand. With his hands free, he cupped her face to kiss her softly. “Morning, sweetness.”
“Morning.”
“I like waking up with you.”
“I like waking up with you, too.”
“Then let’s do it more often.”
“More than every six or seven years?”
“A damn sight more than that!” JC wrapped his arms around her. “I don’t want to be away from you at all, baby.”
“Yeah, I’ll just pack up my whole life and be your groupie,” she mused.
“I wish you could.”
Her eyes were wide. “You do?”
“Hell, yeah! Not be my groupie but come with me.”
“It would take a little time to pull together…You really mean it?”
It was JC’s turn to be stunned. “You’re considering it?”
“If you really want—“
“Yes! Oh, God, sweetness, please.” He covered her face with kisses. “It’d be so great to have you with me.”
She giggled at his enthusiasm. “I have no assignments planned right away. I just came off a long one. I could come for a while, I guess.”
“You won’t regret it, baby, I promise.”
“How will the others feel about it?”
“Justin and Joey know how I feel – Lance and Chris’ll be cool.” He kissed her again. “Please, Mel, be with me.”
“Steve at the club’ll be mad.”
“Tell me what I can do to convince you to come – Name it and it’s yours.”
Melissa stroked back his hair. “I love you, blue-eyes. I don’t need a bribe,” she said softly.
“I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you, Mel. I’ve been missing you without ever realizing it. You fill all the empty spots in my soul.”
“I guess, I should feed you breakfast and let you shower before you leave.” Melissa reached for her discarded gown and put it on.
“What do you need to get ready to leave tomorrow?” he asked as he reached for his slacks.
“Laundry mainly. Notify the landlady. Get someone to water the plants and pick up the mail. Call my assignment editor and agent.”
“What can I do to help?”
“Make sure I have a place to sleep at night.”
“With me.” He pulled on his pants and went to her. “Promise me this is real, that it’s not a wonderful dream I have to wake up from and find myself alone again.”
“If it’s a dream, we’re in it together – so let’s not wake up.”
JC went to pocket his cellphone and saw the locket he had given her the night before she had left him so many years ago. He picked it up from the nightstand. Some of the gold color had rubbed off from wear it seemed. The inscription was barely legible. He popped the latch. The pictures inside had faded badly – the pictured he had chosen. “When it’s closed, we’re kissing,” he had told her. He looked at the front. The design of entwined hearts had been dented. He wondered how.
Melissa turned to see what held his interest and saw what he held. “When the chain broke, I almost lost it. I decided it was too precious to lose, so I carry it wherever I go and put it beside the bed.”
“You kept it all this time…”
“Of course, I did.” She hugged his back. “I know I need new pictures, but those are the original ones…”
“Looks worse for the wear.”
“It’s been a lot of places.”
“How did it get dented?”
Melissa did not tell him it had stopped shrapnel from a landmine, very probably saving her life – another reason was so precious. “I was on assignment,” she said ambiguously.
“You kept it all this time, Mel?”
“Why shouldn’t I?”
“Other guys…”
“There haven’t been a lot of other guys, Josh.”
“You were so popular. All the guys wanted to be with you.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t have the opportunity. I just wasn’t into dating. I finished college in three years, then hired on as an apprentice of sorts to a news correspondent from CNN for a while. I was just too busy for the dating dance.”
“And your heart wasn’t in it?”
“No, my heart was in Orlando.”
“And in Europe.” He turned within her arms. “You were right, Mel. I never would have left you to go to Europe. I wouldn’t have been able to do without you that long. I would have missed out.” He bussed her forehead. “You knew that somehow and took yourself out of the picture. How did you know?”
She shrugged. “I knew it was a competitive field. And I knew it was your dream.”
He looked at the locket in his palm. “I need to get you a new one.”
“No, this one has all the sentimental value.”
JC put one hand on the back of her neck to draw her close as he lowered his mouth to hers. The kiss was slow and sweet – a kiss more of caring and appreciation than passion. “I scarcely believe you would still love me after all this time, Mel. Even then I could hardly believe you were mine.”
“I was so yours.”
His smile was dazzling. “And that made me believe in all the other possibilities of life. If I could have the love of a girl like you, I figure I could do about anything.”
“I’m glad, baby.”
JC was rehearsing for a television performance in the afternoon when he was asked if Melissa Madison had clearance.
“Hell, yeah!” was his immediate answer. “Always!”
“Always?” came an amused female voice from beyond the stage lights.
“Always,” he confirmed when he spotted Melissa approaching. “You all set?”
“Nearly so.”
”Fantastic.”
“You’re lucky I already live a nomadic life. My apartment is just a place to dump my stuff.”
Justin came to stand by JC, looking down at Mel. “I hear you are coming with us.”
“Got a problem with that?” she asked.
“Hell no! You were my first big crush.”
“You, too?”
“Yeah, but I got over it. JC never did. Guess you didn’t either.”
Melissa smiled at JC. “No, I never did.”
JC grinned at her. “Am I ever glad.”
“So, what is the plan for tonight?” she asked him.
JC hopped down and went to her. Pushing the microphone on his headset down out of the way, he kissed her lingeringly. “After I perform, I’ll meet you at the club. We can go to your place and get your stuff. Then we’ll go to the hotel. The bus leaves early tomorrow morning.”
“Got room for my camera gear?”
“I’ll buy another bus if that’s what it takes to have you with me.”
“I’ve learned to travel fairly light.”
“Tell me again,” he demanded anxiously.
“Tell you what?”
“That you love me and you want to be with me.”
Instead of words, she pinched him.
“Hey!” JC protested.
“That proves you’re awake and not dreaming.” Then Melissa put her hands on his neck to urge his lips to hers. “I love you, blue-eyes. I want us to be together.” She followed her words with a seductive kiss. “Convinced?”
“Yeah – and that’s not all I am.”
She laughed. “You’ve always been easy, Chasez.”
“Where you’re concerned, yeah. You turn me on like a switch.” He rubbed his lips against hers. “I love you, sweetness,” he whispered. “I loved you the first time I saw you, like we were old souls waiting to be reunited. It was real and it was immediate.”
“I’d better let you get back to work.”
“I’ll see you tonight, Mel. Thanks, baby.”
Melissa was a damn fine singer, JC thought as she moved through the audience to his table after her final set. She should have been making records all along, not singing in a little club. When he caught her eye, he winked and lifted his glass in silent salute. She smiled then turned her attention to a tall, blonde man who intercepted her. He became aware of her frown and rose swiftly to go to her. “Problems, Melissa?”
She turned an uneasy smile his way. “Steve was just telling me how unhappy he is that I’m leaving him in the lurch again.”
“He’s not paying you and he’s damn lucky you grace this dive at all. A voice like yours deserves to be making records .”
“This would be your little boyfriend?” the man sneered.
At this, Melissa rounded on the man in full fury. “How dare you speak to me in such a manner? I have done this for two years for nothing! I certainly deserve respect for my guest and myself!”
“Madi—“
“Oh, shut it, Steve. You just made it real easy to walk away from this gig!” She waved him off as she took JC’s arm. “Want to finish your drink, Josh?”
“No, baby. Let’s just get you out of here.”
She nodded. “Come back to the dressing room and I’ll change into my street clothes.” The burgundy evening gown she wore certainly looked out of place with the blue-jean clad JC.
With her hand firmly in his, she led him to a hallway and to a small room.
“What a dump,” he muttered as he looked at the place Melissa used as a dressing room.
“I bet you’ve played worse,” she reminded him of his own struggle to be heard.
“Yeah.”
“Zipper, please.” She put her back to him.
JC lowered the zipper at the back of her dress once she held her hair to one side, leaving her neck vulnerable. Not being able to resist, he skated his lips down the sensitive, bared skin.
“Oh, Josh…” she whimpered as she melted back against him.
“Always was your sweet spot.” His arms came around her, holding her to his chest. He continued to nuzzle her neck. “Baby, this is a dream come true – you in my arms, having time together, making love and being able to be together for more than a few minutes afterwards.” He lifted his head and remarked dryly. “And don’t pinch me again.”
She raised her head, tipping it back so she could see his face. “Too bad it took so long to get here, blue-eyes. I missed you so much. I don’t think a day went by that I didn’t wonder if you were okay – and if the woman in your life was giving you what you needed.”
“No one has given me more than you, Mel. I guess, I was cheating them, measuring them by the impossible standards I set by your love.”
“I just loved you with everything in me.”
“Believe me, no one has done it since.”
“Maybe you didn’t let her.”
JC supposed she was probably right. He had been looking for Melissa in every one of them.
She finally pulled away. “As nice as this is, I have to change.” Shimmying out of the gown, she hung it with the others in a long garment bag. Off came the thigh-high stocking and heels. She pulled on a baby-tee and jeans then slid her feet into sandals. “I usually take off the make-up, too, but I’ll do it later.” She zipped the bag and grabbed a tote bag. “Let’s go, Josh.”
JC took the garment bag. “Lead the way.”
Melissa reached up to kiss him softly. “I love you so much, blue-eyes.” Her eyes were glittering with tears. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” she whispered. “I feel like my heart’ll flutter right out of my chest, I’m so happy.”
JC hugged her tight. “Me, too, sweetness.”
“I want to crawl inside of you, so we’ll never be apart again.”
That confession soothed something in his soul. Melissa had been the stronger of the two. Her vulnerability made him feel more equal. “I wish we could make it so we’d never be apart.”
Finally, she pulled away, more in control. “Let’s blow this pop stand.”