“Woah, are you getting sappy on me?”
Ryan tossed the bar towel at Noah. “Fuck off, bro. You’re just jealous because I’m happy and in love, and you’re by yourself.”
Before Noah could answer, Ryan looked up, just as a faint scent of lilacs flooded Noah’s brain.
“Hey, Mel, Anna and Callie are in the booth over there.”
Noah turned to meet the newcomer and felt a shock of electricity run through his body—unlike anything he had ever experienced. He eagerly drank in the woman standing at the bar, chatting easily with his brother. Her long, brown hair cascaded down her back in silken waves. Dark, almond shaped eyes filled the most beautiful face he had ever seen, with perfect bow shaped lips that were turned up in a smile. Something stirred within his heart, a certainty that he needed to know this woman, that she could be it for him. Fate. He had always believed in it, but never experienced it, until now.
When the goddess in front of him turned to him and stuck out her hand, he looked at it dumbly for a moment before shaking out of his reverie and giving her his, feeling a giant grin stretch across his face.
“You must be Ryan’s brother. I’m Melanie, I work with Callie at OMH.” Even her voice was magical, its musical yet strong tone washed over him.
“Yeah. I’m Noah. It’s really nice to meet you,” he replied, cringing at how pathetic his response was. Before he could follow it up with something better, Melanie had turned back to Ryan, picked up her drink with a wave of thanks and was off to join her friends.
“Dude. You’re drooling.” Ryan’s laughter penetrated the haze, bringing Noah back to reality.
“Whatever. How have I never met her before?” Noah demanded.
Ryan just shrugged. “I have no idea. She works crazy hours like Callie, so maybe you’ve just never been here at the same time. She’s cool, actually you guys should talk about riding together sometime soon. She does those insane long-distance rides you enjoy as well.”
That cemented his desire for Mel. A fellow cyclist, who looked like that, and brought up every feeling of arousal, attraction, and wanting for forever he had ever dreamt of.
It had not taken long after their initial meeting for Noah and Mel to fall into an easy friendship. He had never told anyone how strongly he was drawn to her, but Ryan must have suspected as much based on how he would tease Noah when they were alone.
Now, they were living and caring for a baby together. If ever there was a chance to get Mel to take the next step in their relationship, this had to be it. He could feel that she was softening toward him; the connection between them was changing, deepening.
When they finished cleaning up from dinner, Noah was startled to realize it was getting quite late in the evening. That fact was punctuated by Mel’s yawn. Neither of them had gotten much sleep last night, thanks to the little man waking up to be fed so often. For all that she had initially claimed she wouldn’t participate in diaper changes or late nights, Melanie had been there right beside him all night last night. He could tell she was drawn to Connor, just like he was. Still, he wasn’t her responsibility, and Noah wanted to make sure she knew he wouldn’t take advantage of her kindness.
“Hey, Mel, why don’t you go take a bath or something while I deal with the little dude,” he offered, then winced as he realized the situation he was potentially setting up for himself—Melanie, naked in the bath, with only a door between them.
But when she looked at him gratefully, he knew his torture would be worth it.
“That would be amazing. Hopefully he sleeps a little better tonight. But let me just say, I’m not sleeping on that damn couch again.”
Noah smiled. The couch wasn’t the most comfortable, but waking up with his son and Mel in his arms? Every stiff muscle was worth it.
“Yeah, I’ll take him into the spare bedroom tonight. Maybe even try to get him to sleep in the bassinette for a while.”
Mel laughed. “Good luck. Okay, I’m going to hop in the tub before he wakes up. Thanks, Noah.”
He watched as she walked into her bedroom and shut the door. He could hear her turn on the taps in her en-suite bathroom, and dropped his head down into his hands. It was too easy to picture Mel taking off her clothes and climbing into the bath. He could imagine her sinking down into a pile of scented bubbles, her luscious hair piled on top of her head. Her eyes would close as she relaxed, her lashes brushing her cheeks. Those cheeks would flush from the heat. Maybe she would need something, a drink or a book. He could walk in there to bring it to her, and maybe she would invite him to stay. Or even better, to join her.
He stood up abruptly, before the spontaneous fantasy got away from him. As it was, he had to muffle a groan and adjust himself in his shorts, as thoughts of Melanie in the bathtub had given him an uncomfortable erection. Maybe he would take a shower tonight to deal with his pent-up arousal.
When Connor let him know with a squawk that he was done with chilling in the swing, Noah was grateful for the distraction. He picked up his son, and when he caught a whiff of his diaper, his arousal was doused. “Nothing like a shitty diaper to kill the mood,” he muttered to himself.
Once Connor was changed, Noah sat back down on the couch and laid his son down on his legs. They looked at each other, blue eyes staring into blue eyes. Carlisle eyes. It was still so wild to Noah that he had a son. His own flesh and blood. Maybe Connor hadn’t come into his life in the most conventional of ways, but Noah couldn’t bring himself to regret what had happened. Not as he drank in the sight of his child, with his tiny hands waving in the air, the chubby rolls at his ankles, and the tuft of reddish hair on his head again cementing his place in the Carlisle family.My son.
After a few minutes, Connor started to fuss and Noah stood up with him in his arms to go and get a bottle ready. He couldn’t hear any sound coming from Melanie’s bathroom, and briefly debated checking on her. She was pretty tired after all, what if she fell asleep in the tub? As he battled with himself about whether knocking on the bathroom door would be creepy or kind, he heard her voice call out.
“Hey, Noah, can you hear me?”
“Yeah, what’s up?” he responded immediately, walking over to her bedroom door. Connor let out a squawk at being denied his bottle, which Noah had forgotten about entirely. He quickly gave it to him, adjusted his position in his arms, and waited for Melanie’s reply.
“Can you, ummm, grab my towel for me? I forgot that I left it hanging on a hook inside my bedroom door.”
Noah could feel himself swell in his pants. His fantasy was coming to life, and he was going to be cock-blocked by his son. Sure, it probably wouldn’t be the last time that would happen, but he also didn’t want it to be the first.
