Page 67 of The Matchmaker and the Marine

“Adam.” She gave him a tight smile. “This is Nick.”

Adam stepped around Nick and slipped his arm possessively around her waist. He kissed her cheek. “How can we help you?” Melinda held her smile in check.

“I’m here to thank Melinda. She’s been working with me. I wanted to express my appreciation.” He looked at Melinda and grinned. “Gretchen is amazing.”

She accepted the flowers. “These weren’t necessary, but thank you. They’re lovely.”

“It’s a small token of my, or I should say, our appreciation.”

Gretchen got out of the car and strolled up the walk. She gave Melinda a slow smile. “Thank you, Melinda.” She slipped her arm through Nick’s.

“I’m thrilled for both of you.”

Nick held out his hand and shook hers. “Have a good night.”

The couple walked hand in hand back to his car.

Adam stepped away and smirked. “Sorry about that.”

“It’s nice to know you’ve got my back.” They walked inside and she closed the door behind them.

Adam trailed behind Melinda as she walked into the living room. She set the flowers on a side table. “I remember you telling me about one of your clients coming on to you. When I saw Nick, I figured he was the guy and I was hoping he wasn’t putting pressure on you to go out.”

“I’ll have to admit, I had the same thought.” She eased down to the sofa. “Please have a seat.”

Adam sat next to her and said, “You smell nice. Like lily of the valley.”

She hit a key on her laptop and it came to life. “I spent the afternoon in the garden and wanted to get cleaned up before you got here.” She waved her hand from head to toe. “This was as far as I got.”

“You look great.”

“Apparently you need to have your eyes checked.” She smirked and pointed to the screen. “I found three options for a hotel.” She turned it around so Adam could see too. “I like them all, full of old-world charm.”

He studied the screen. “Do you have a favorite?”

“Oh no.” She laughed. “I’m not saying a word until you rank them.”

“I prefer an inn over a chain hotel.”

Her eyebrow shot up. “Really?”

He clicked on the Captain’s Inn and scrolled. “What about this one? It’s not far from the mansions and within walking distance to downtown. Maybe we could walk around and have lunch while we’re there.”

“That sounds like fun.” She turned the laptop back around. Clicking keys, she pulled up the reservation link. “We’ll go down on Thursday and back on Saturday?”

“Let’s come home on Sunday. We can make it a long weekend.”

“I’ve never been to Newport, have you?”

Adam said, “No. But there must be a lot of stuff to do there.” He inched closer to her. They were thigh to thigh. “Let’s take a look.” His eyes twinkled. “This will be my first vacation in a long time.”

Melinda gave him a sidelong glance, ignoring the tingling sensation zipping through her blood. “Then we’d better make the most of it.”

With reservations confirmed and a plan for activities, which included a winery tour and a few other mansions after the wedding, Melinda set the laptop aside. “I’ll let Stacey know where we’re going to stay. Maybe they’ll want to stay at the same inn.”

Adam gave her a half hug. “That would be fun.”

She smoothed back her hair and asked, “Do you want to talk about your date with Beth?” Her heart felt like a weight in her chest.

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