The Italian's proposal

Melody

Melody stayed in the kitchen while she changed her mind about the coffee and poured water to make herself a chamomile tea, it was either that or just drink the hot water. The kitchen was practically empty, in the cupboard there were only a few boxes of colored cereal, which she loathed, and some canned peach juice, one of the many things that made her vomit. Lucy had again forgotten to go to the grocery store a few blocks from the apartment. Her friend could be as good as she wanted, but when it came to organization and shopping, she was awful. It wasn’t the first time she’d been to Lucy’s, only this time she’d definitely lived there, even though things weren’t exactly going well, she’d be incredibly grateful for the opportunity to let her stay at her place for a while, until she knew what to do with her baby and her life in general. She drank the cup of tea slowly, stirring the tea bag with the leaves it contained, it was a combination of chamomile with cinnamon, and she didn’t like to drink this kind of infusions, but on that occasion, she needed to do something, and drinking alcohol had never been part of Melody’s life.

Timothy was watching her from the other end of the room, observing each one of her movements, watching every detail she made. She stood across from him, separated only by the small, short, striped breakfast bar.

“You’ve got to be kidding, I really don’t think you came for that,” she commented uncertainly. He was looking at her so seriously that Melody was beginning to wonder if he was really being serious. “Is there a hidden camera?”

“Why do you find that so hard to believe? You’re quite a beautiful woman.”

Melody let out a nervous laugh. Beautiful?

The man must be blind, she wasn’t amongst the beauty standards at all.

“Beautiful me? You’re wrong. I am common. Passable. I’m not blonde and I don’t have endless legs, not to mention my tiny nose that hardly gives me enough to breathe.”

“Have you seen yourself in the mirror?” he asked approaching her.

“For twenty-two years I have, I’ve always seen the same skinny girl and big eyes, like something permanently scares me, so don’t come getting creative by saying I’m beautiful. You don’t need to say that to make me like you.”

“Wow,” he scratched where his beard should have been, but was perfectly shaved.

“I’m not insecure, I’m quite realistic,” she continued, ignoring his stare “You must know better than that, after all, you have money, I’m sure you’ve been with the most beautiful women in Manhattan, Oh, come on! Don’t look at me like that Timothy, it’s pure reality. You’re a young man, with money, lots of women must throw themselves at you every day.”

“Beauty sometimes is a mask to hide the shit we are.”

Melody looked at him trying to figure out the reason for such an analysis. He must have known someone so terrible that it scarred him for life.

“I’m sorry for what they did to you,” she told him taking his hand and squeezing it.

“Nothing happened to me,” he let go and brushed away a lock of hair that had fallen across her forehead. She had her hair down and bangs on her forehead that made her look younger than she was. “What makes you think someone like me can be hurt?”

“Call it sixth sense.”

“Will you be my wife?” he changed the subject drastically and went back to his wild proposal.

The insecurity returned and this time stronger, Melody stared at him, her gray eyes trying to find a logical reason why he decided to propose to her, the first thing she should do was ask him why he wanted to marry her, because something must be behind that façade, behind a simple question to a stranger.

But the question was not simple, Melody told herself. Not simple at all. To be honest with herself it was quite complex, no one asked a person they didn’t know to marry them unless they had a logical reason to do so, a compelling reason and she suspected that such an intelligent, wealthy, and presumably complicated man would not lightly ask such a question to a person he had met just that morning.

But what bothered her most about the whole situation was that she didn’t let him know that Equilay Thompson was related to her, that he was her brother-in-law, and that bringing him to justice for the theft of the three million, he would be destroying her sister’s life and her nephew’s. She didn’t have the nerve to tell him. She didn’t have the face to tell him, she blushed and turned her eyes away, she didn’t know how to explain the mess she had gotten herself into alone.

“What’s going through your beautiful head, Melody?” he asked grabbing her by the jaw, making she landed her gaze on him, slowly her eyes went to his lips and she blushed even more than she thought possible. “If you accept my proposal, we’ll share more than kisses,” she shuddered at that implied promise.

“I don’t understand why you want to marry someone you don’t know.” His hand was a gentle caress on her face, he didn’t remove it and she didn’t pull away either.

She let out a yawn and Timothy realized she was tired.

“I think you’ve had enough for today. I’ll pick you up tomorrow at Doyle’s coffee shop...”

“Tomorrow I have to clean up at the...”

clean houses?” he asked, frowning, and looking at her as if she’d blurted out something out

than one job to pay for our stuff,” she angrily defended herself. “I go and help them with simple things, things that don’t weigh much, clean the house, throw some

was still a multimillionaire who never in his life experienced a situation similar to hers, this took him completely away from the reality she was forced to live in at that moment and she suspected she would have to deal with for quite some time, she didn’t care anymore about having to clean a house, that wasn’t so important. She didn’t mind having to wipe an old lady’s ass or having to pick up trash on the street, as long as she wasn’t doing anything wrong. Melody knew she would do whatever it takes to provide for her son with just enough and

you have no money, you told me that this morning, but I didn’t think your situation was

money. Don’t make that face,” she told him when she saw him get upset. “It’s the truth. I was pretty much the same, well except I didn’t have a driver and my family didn’t have a company...okay,

Melody didn’t move. She couldn’t, her feet were welded to the

right away that she knew Equilay, but she wanted to have one more moment

noticed that already. You look like

thank you. Any other

you make me hard as a rock, crazy to have you under

about him, she was ashamed to do it, but it was impossible for her not to see him and lust after him at the same time, so strong and masculine, so vigorous that it

will finish the little stability I have left,” he

She put her arms around his neck and pressed herself against him, Timothy put his hands on her waist

never been kissed like that, she had never felt anything like this with any of the men she had kissed and that included Richard. She felt his hands settle on her ass and squeeze them, she let out a moan of

he pulled away from her and looked at

do

in college, and with Richard who was the one she lost her virginity to, she hadn’t even been able to feel the pleasure she read so much about in romance novels. Sex was a disappointment for her, it must have been underrated. Maybe doing it in Richard’s car played a part, although he came out saying it was a good fuck, which

contrary, if we go on like this,

where to stick her shame. She

like that if he didn’t want to take her

looking at her as if

more complicated than she realized.

from him and went straight to the

left she was going to

this, as heated as she felt, so

“See you tomorrow.”

She was playing with a double-edged sword, with a knife that was sharp on the top and the bottom. She forced herself to put her

moved

I felt when you were kissing me a moment ago.”

You kissed

put up a fight, or hit me, or pull away. I think you like me and don’t want to admit it. But relax...” he took his tailored jacket and pulled down his shirt sleeves, groomed himself perfectly and ran his hand through his blond hair, “the desire you feel is normal. It’s what I cause in

to him, the Italian must have a pact with the devil himself, no

opened the door and pointed him

you up and we’ll go to lunch, wear something

smiled, as if nothing mattered to him, while she melted by just having him around,

feel more impoverished and minimized than she should. Melody was not the kind of woman to be intimidated for any reason. There was an economic difference between the two of them, but that didn’t mean that she wasn’t educated enough or that she didn’t know how to dress properly, maybe not in silk clothes, not with diamonds or pearls around her neck, but

when you walk into the place, the people who are there will stare at you as if you are less than them. You must learn something now that you are going to be my wife, we live in the media spotlight, therefore, we have an image to

I’m not going to

to. It suits both of us. It’s the right

pregnant? In less than six months I’m going to give birth to a child, one that’s not yours. Doesn’t it even bother you to think about it? You don’t look like

end of the fucking world to me,” he put his hands on either side of her face, making a prison that Melody couldn’t get out of, she raised her eyes to him, because Timothy was several inches taller than her. “I need a

“Not your money.”

that. You women are easy to please, you’ll see how you get used to it. Think of

Timothy. You’re just a millionaire who thinks he can solve everything by

I’m not going to deny that I want you, but this thing we’re going to do will be a contract sort of thing, it’s an all-out proposal.

doubt it,” he murmured.