Betrayed By Husband, Stolen By Brother In Law
Chapter 147: Shy

Chapter 147: Shy

She needed a shot of courage.

Melanie paced her room like a restless cat, eyes narrowing at the door as if it were her own personal mortal enemy. Of course, it wasn’t the poor, innocent door’s fault—it was the not so innocent, no, downright wicked man sitting right outside it.

Every single time she even thought of stepping out, all she could remember was what the two of them had done against the other door... and she blushed furiously, her cheeks burning as something warm and wicked curled low in her belly. She felt aroused. Dam* it! This was just too much sensation.

Her stomach was already growling, clearly unimpressed with her emotional chaos, and all she could think of was the way his mouth had felt against hers—insistent, hot, and utterly unforgettable when she should be thinking of food.

Maybe she could just order takeout for the next few days? Ask the delivery person to avoid the front and come around the back window instead? Yes, that could work. A week of hiding should be enough to get over her sheer embarrassment... right?

Melanie shook her head at her own cowardly thoughts and forced herself to march up to the door. She grabbed the handle with sweaty fingers, steeling herself as she took a deep breath and muttered under her breath like a cheerleader, "You can do it. You can do it."

She opened the door a mere crack, and nearly jumped out of her skin when she came face-to-face with Adam, standing there like he had materialized out of thin air. He wore a grin that was all mischief and raised his eyebrows in amusement, one hand lifted in the air, clearly caught mid-knock.

"Hi, sweet melon," he said smoothly, voice full of amusement. "What are you telling yourself you can do, hmm?"

Melanie blinked at him, frozen in place. Then, realization dawned—and she cursed silently. Of course. The one time she decided to speak her thoughts aloud like some pep-talking lunatic, and he had to be right there to hear every single word of it! Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

She opened her mouth, trying to come up with some witty, or at the very least, logical response, but then he leaned in slightly and added with that cocky grin of his, "I know what you can do... You can do me."

He winked at her with zero shame and turned away casually, throwing the words over his shoulder as he walked back toward the kitchen. "Come on, sweet melon. I’ve got the food ready. So that you have the energy to do... your chores!"

Melanie hesitated for half a second before her treacherous stomach decided for her and she followed him. She needed food. She kept her eyes firmly on the back of his head, absolutely refusing to let her gaze wander anywhere lower. That would only spell more disaster with the imagery her brain was providing.

Think food think food... she told herself, making sure to say this in her head this time. At the dining table, she paused in wonder. What the... She looked at the array of dishes and then at him," How... how did you know I liked all of this?"

He pulled out a chair for her and as she walked towards it in a daze, she heard him say,"I have my ways, sweet melon. Of course, if you want to know them... you’ll have to share some of your naughty secrets."

Her mouth dropped open—and then promptly snapped shut when she realized she had absolutely no comeback that didn’t involve confessing to something mildly incriminating. So instead, she cleared her throat, lifted her chin, and sat down with a smile, "The dinner spread looks amazing. Really. Thank you."

As she sat down, she was ready to breathe a sigh of relief when Adam leaned down. She stiffened a bit, too aware of his closeness as he whispered near her ear," Hmm. You can thank me for dinner... and I’ll thank you for dessert."

She stiffened, her brows furrowing as she turned her head slightly toward him. "I didn’t prepare any dessert," she said, puzzled. "But I could order something if you—

Before she could finish, he stole a quick kiss from her lips—lightning fast, barely a brush, but still potent enough to make her pulse trip. He grinned against her mouth.

"You are the dessert I intend to have, my sweet little melon," he whispered as he straightened, and Melanie knew that no amount of pep talk could stop the blush from climbing up her cheeks. But since she’d already decided that eating the food in front of her was the most important, she kept her head down and concentrated on adding the mashed potatoes to her plate.

But, of course,just as she reminded her brain not to look up, what happened? She looked up.

And there he was—Adam, sitting across the table like he belonged in some kind of seduction manual, watching her with those slow-burning eyes, elbow casually resting on the table, fingers drumming lightly against his glass, staring at her.

Their gazes locked.

Melanie instantly dropped her eyes again, nearly knocking over her drink in the process.

Cool it, she scolded herself. You’ve kissed him. You’ve... done things with him. You’re too old to feel like a schoolgirl with her first crush.

But she did feel like that. This was her first time being so aware of someone’s closeness.

Added to that, every time she dared glance up to check if he was still watching...

Yep. There he was. His eyes still on her. Watching and waiting for her to finish so that he could get to the dessert... She ate slowly, chewing longer than necessary just to give herself something to do and wanted to ask him about why he was not eating but the words were stuck in her throat. And she was kind of worried that she would choke...

She took a sip of her drink to steady herself. Then another. Still no help. She needed the tension broken. Needed something—anything—to get rid of the way his gaze made her feel like a furnace trapped in human skin.

And before she could talk herself out of it, the words were tumbling from her lips.

"I’m sorry."

Adam paused mid-sip. Blinked. "For what?"

She exhaled slowly, fingers tightening around her fork. "For... for the audio. The one with Saira. That I shared without your permission. I had no right."

Even as she said the words, however, she was cursing herself! Why did she have to say this of all things! All the tension was now broken, replaced by a freezing drop in temperature.