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Taking the paperwork, she left his office and returned to her desk. Despite her heartache, it was back to business as usual.
* * *
“Is everything okay with you, honey?” Richard frowned at Melodie from across the restaurant table where they were having lunch together. “You don’t seem quite yourself today.”
Silently, she admitted to being more subdued and quiet than usual, mainly because she couldn’t bring herself to be animated and cheerful when she’d spent a miserable week at work. She was slowly dying inside, while remaining outwardly indifferent to Cole’s presence in order to get through each day. And, at night, all she had were heated memories to keep her company, and more written fantasies she’d penned for Cole that he would never read.
As for work, despite the professional job she’d done with Cole on the Russell case, it was obvious that she’d made no more headway with him in terms of being more than a secretary for Sommers Investigative Specialists.
“I’m good,” she lied, and forced a smile that felt stiff on her lips. “I just have a lot on my mind.”
“Oh?” Her father set his fork down on his plate and swiped his napkin across his mouth. “Anything I can help you sort out?”
She’d confided in her father many times over the years on different issues, and he always imparted good, solid advice she valued. But this time she couldn’t bring herself to share the intimate details of her affair and breakup with Cole—for her sake as well as Cole’s. “I think it’s something that just has to work itself out on its own, if you know what I mean.”
“Sure.” He nodded in understanding, and reaching across the table, he settled his big, comforting hand over hers. “I hope you don’t mind me saying this, but other than you being distracted, I’m glad to see that you’re back to normal.”
She laughed, the surge of humor a welcome release. “Back to normal? How
do you mean?”
“Well, I admit to being worried by all the changes you’ve made recently, and while I think your haircut is great and I like the outfit you’re wearing today, it just seems that you’ve settled down and mellowed back into my little girl. I suppose I have Cole to thank for that.”
Cole? What did he have to do with anything? She frowned and pushed her plate aside, a niggle of unease fluttering in her belly. “What are you talking about, Dad?”
Richard clasped his hands on the table and ducked his head sheepishly. “I have to confess, I was concerned that the drastic change in your appearance was to get some man’s attention, and my biggest fear was that whoever he was had taken advantage of you. So, I asked Cole to keep an eye on you, just to make sure everything was okay.”
Melodie’s lungs constricted, and it hurt to draw in a breath. Could her week get any worse?
She didn’t want to believe what her father was telling her, but it made perfect sense and explained Cole’s quest to safeguard her the past two weeks. He’d been doing her father a favor, owning up to yet another responsibility. Despite the times they’d been together intimately, she’d ultimately been a duty for Cole, an obligation.
And she’d finally had enough from the well-meaning men in her life.
“You don’t need to look after me, Dad, and neither does Cole,” she said with more calm than she felt. She’d deal with her father now, and Cole later. “I’ve been on my own for years and I can take care of myself.”
“I just can’t help it,” he said, his gaze imploring her to understand a father’s concern. “I worry about you, and I knew I could trust Cole to make sure that you weren’t getting into a situation you couldn’t handle.”
She could handle the situation just fine—it was Cole that was having a difficult time coming to grips with all the conflicting issues in his life that kept him from taking a few risks of his own. And she resented that she’d been caught in the middle of an arrangement between the two men she cared for the most.
“I love you, Dad, but I’m not your little girl anymore,” she said, knowing the words needed to be spoken between father and daughter. “I know when Mom died you did your best to raise me and you were a great father in all the ways that mattered. I was so fortunate to have such a loving, caring dad who gave me the best of everything. But I’m a grown woman who needs her space to change and grow without feeling stifled, and that means no more trying to shelter or protect me. Let me make mistakes and learn from them.”
“You’re right,” he replied gruffly, earnestly. “I guess it’s just hard for me to let go of those parental instincts.” He tipped his head and regarded her curiously. “Can I ask…did a man bring about all these changes with you?”
She wasn’t going to lie, not when Cole had been such a huge part of her transformation into a stronger, more confident woman. “Yes, but it’s over.”
Compassion touched his features. “I’m sorry.”
“Me, too. I’m certain you would have liked him.” Smiling regretfully for what could have been, she got up from her seat, grabbed her purse, and came around the table to give her father a kiss on the cheek. “And now I need to get back to the office. There’s some unfinished business there I have to take care of.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Melodie came through Cole’s office door without knocking, and the accusing look in her eyes put him on instant alert. Suspecting she had something other than business on her mind, he saved the website he was researching for a case and braced himself for the reason behind her abrupt interruption.
She marched up to the front of his desk, bold and fiery and so incredibly beautiful his heart thumped hard in his chest as it had done numerous times the past week. “Why didn’t you tell me that my father asked you to look out for me like I’m some kind of child?” she demanded.
He winced at the underlying hurt in her tone and gave her the best answer he could, no matter how pitiful the excuse seemed, even to him. “Because I didn’t think it was necessary to tell you.”
“Or maybe it was because you couldn’t bring yourself to say no to my father. You did the job you were asked to so you wouldn’t disappoint him, despite my feelings on the matter,” she said.
