Page 50 of Stay Away from Him

“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.

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