The Day I Kissed An Older Man

It seemed that Lucas was not keen on letting Stella know the truth of their relationship.

"Friend? As in, 'girlfriend' or just a normal friend?" Stella teased.

"Just a normal friend," Lucas replied without hesitation.

Melody reacted somewhat awkwardly and pursed her lips. "Yes. Mister Lucas and I are friends-new friends, I might add. I heard about this event and persuaded him to bring me along and experience the sights. I hope you don't misunderstand our relationship."

Stella to know about them, she dutifully

toward Melody's remark and reached out to hold Lucas' hand. "A friend of Lucas is a friend of mine. Speaking of which, what was your name again?" "My name's Melody," she answered. Despite playing the role of Lucas' wife for so long, she had never been so intimate with him in public. He was, after all, averse to physical contact with members

come with me." Stella smiled magnanimously and

Melody pushed open a door as she entered with Lucas. "Where were you, Stella? We've all been waiting to raise a glass to you!" someone called out to Stella as soon as they entered. "Oh, and

with well-dressed young men and women. They were all laughing and conversing like old friends. Melody recognized none of them, nor could she understand what they were talking about. She did

soft expression when speaking to Stella that it was almost as if he was a different person from his usual self. For some reason, Melody felt a little sad when she saw Lucas sitting there with Stella. She was his wife-granted, in name only-yet he treated her like a