Page 28 of Stay Away from Him

“Come back to bed.”

“I don’t know,” Thomas said, but there was no fight in his voice. “Shouldn’t we go back to the kids soon? They’ll be wondering where we are.”

“It’s still early. Come on. Make me feel good.Dr. Danver.”

She added the last bit as a little improvisation, and Thomas seemed to like it. Suddenly he was on top of her again, his mouth on hers, his tongue darting past her teeth. Then he kissed down her neck to Melissa’s chest, her stomach.

She lay back and let him do what he wanted—telling herself that there was nothing wrong with any of this. Nothing dangerous.

Telling herself that because Thomasfeltgood, he mustbegood.

Chapter 7

Thomas’s hands were somehow still all over Melissa on the drive back to his house, even with him driving. Darting across the gap from the gearshift, gripping at her thigh as he steered around the lake. She accepted his touch, placed her hand over his and inched it higher, lacing her fingers with his. She was aware of her body, aware ofhis, in a way that was only possible after recently having sex. As a state of being, it felt both hot and embarrassing at the same time. They didn’t call it the “walk of shame” for nothing. Melissa felt as though she were still naked, even with all her clothes on, and—glancing over, remembering what he looked like, what his skin felt like against hers—that Thomas was too.

“Do you think they’ll know?” Melissa asked.

“Who?” Thomas asked, turning into the cul-de-sac.

“The kids.”

“What? That we’ve—”

“Yeah,” Melissa said. “I feel like it’s written all over us.”

Thomas pulled into the driveway. “They’re kids. I don’t think they’ll have a clue.”

Melissa wasn’t so sure about that. Bradley might not know—he was only five. But Thomas’s girls were grown. Fifteen andseventeen. Aware of the world, aware ofsex, in a way that Thomas might not have wanted to think about. Girls had to be, Melissa knew, to protect themselves. It was a matter of survival.

She didn’t say any of this, though. He probably wouldn’t want to hear it.

They got out of the car and walked toward the house. On the front walk, Thomas caught up to Melissa and grabbed her hand. She yanked it away.

“Not here,” she said. “Let’s not make it too obvious.”

He grabbed it again. “No, let’s.”

Melissa eyed him, pausing just outside the front door. “You sure? Even if the kids don’t know that we—well…”

“Made love?” Thomas offered.

“Sure,” Melissa said, smiling in spite of herself. “Even if they can’t tellthat, seeing us holding hands will tip them off aboutsomething.”

“You don’t think the fact we went on a date has already tipped them off?”

“Maybe, but—didn’t you just tell your girls I was a friend?”

Thomas shook his head. “Nope,” he said. “Before you came over, I sat them down and told them I was going out with a woman I liked a lot. Romantically.”

“You didn’t.”

“I did.”

“Why?” Melissa asked.

“Because my girls and I are honest with each other,” he said. “We respect each other. And that’s part of how we show respect. They tell me everything. And in return, I tell them everything too.”

“Including when you go on a date?”

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