“You have great boobs; you should show themoff more.”
Melanie was trying to come up with a responsewhen a knock sounded on the door. She looked at the microwave. Itwas noon exactly. She hadn’t realized so much time had passed sinceKathy with a K left their apartment.
She nearly knocked her stool over when sheleapt up from the counter. Lucy set her mug down and, gripping hershoulders, stared at Melanie.
“You can do this. You’re going to be fine.Now, go put on something a little tighter while I answer the door,”Lucy said.
Melanie almost argued with her about changingher clothes, but she stifled her reply. She wouldn’t mind a coupleof minutes to calm down.
She hurried away from the galley kitchen andacross their small living room. Her feet were noiseless on the bluerug as she passed Lucy’s room and the bathroom they shared beforeentering her room. She closed the door as Lucy opened the apartmentdoor.
“Hi,” Lucy’s muffled greeting came throughthe door. “Come on in; Melanie just has to finish getting ready.Can I get you anything?”
“No,” Kyle said.
He entered the small apartment, and thepetite, black-haired girl Melanie was with last night closed thedoor behind him. She wore a baggy T-shirt and a pair of sweatpantsthat looked like they belonged to someone else. Last night, hershort, spiked hair stood on end, but now it fell around her pretty,angular face.
“I’m Kyle,” he said and extended hishand.
She clasped his hand. “Lucy.”
She closed the door behind him and crossedthe blue carpet to the small kitchen. Two stools stood by theFormica countertop; a coffee mug sat in front of one of the stoolsalong with a phone, and another mug sat near them. Checkered blueand white curtains framed the window over the sink, and there wasno table.
The living room had a small TV and a graycouch with a circular, glass coffee table in front of it. Nopictures decorated the white walls.
Across from him were three doors, and one wasopen enough to expose the corner of a bureau. The other open doorrevealed a bathroom with a white tiled floor. The closed dooropened, and Melanie stepped out.
For a second, the world stopped again as hedrank in her beauty. She wore a simple black shirt and jeans, butthey were as enticing as the sexiest lingerie. She pulled nervouslyat the bottom of her shirt as her gaze met his and a small smiletugged at the corner of a mouth designed to do wicked things.
Melanie could hear Lucy’s eyes roll fromacross the room when her friend realized she hadn’t changed. Butshe felt comfortable in these clothes, and that was more importantto her than showing off her breasts.
“Hi,” she greeted and hid a wince when sherealized she sounded like a kid.
She couldn’t recall a time when she’d beenthis nervous or excited, but she was torn between laughing andthrowing up. Between the two choices, crazy laughter was probablythe better option, but she’d probably come off like the Joker,which wasn’t the best way to start a date.
She cursed her father for her inadequacieswhen dealing with people, but she wasn’t this inept around otherpeople. Maybe at the beginning of her college career, she was abumbling idiot, but over the past three years, she’d gotten betterat engaging in small talk.
She didn’t feel like an awkward, shelteredidiot amongst people who had lived regular lives anymore… until shegot around him.
“Hi,” Kyle greeted. “Are you ready togo?”
“I am.”
“Have fun, you two,” Lucy said and winked ather.
Melanie gave her ahelp melook thatonly made her friend smile over her coffee cup. She snatched herphone off the counter and strode across the room to join Kyle.
After sliding her feet into the sneakers sheleft on the rubber mat beside the door, she stepped into the hall.He closed the door behind them.
CHAPTER 8
“Do you still wantpizza?” he asked.
“That sounds great.”
She wasn’t drunk last night, but she’d hadenough alcohol to make greasy food sound like a little bit ofambrosia. She led the way, and he followed her down the woodenstairs, with their black rubber in the middle of them, and out thefront door. He fell into step beside her on the sidewalk, and theystrolled down the street toward the restaurants.
“Can you tell the difference between thecolors blush and coral?” he asked.
