Read Online Wild For You (Always a Bridesmaid 3) by Jessie Evans - Free Book Online Page B

the sliver of lamplight and the promise of safety on the street outside.
    “What’s wrong?” Nick asked. “Melody—”
    “Let’s get out of here, please just-get-out-of-here,” Melody said, her words running together as she hit the door and pushed.
    Nick followed without another word, staying close behind her as she tumbled out onto the sidewalk. With a quick glance up and down the street, she ran for the opposite side of Main, bound for the door of the tattoo shop, where she planned to lock her and Nick inside where they would both be safe.
    Seth wasn’t following them, and even if he did Nick was probably capable of taking care of the other man—Seth was more muscled, but Nick was taller and looked like he could handle himself in a fight—but Melody wasn’t thinking rationally. She was thinking with her survival brain, and her survival brain wanted a locked door or three between her and Seth as soon as possible.
    They reached the shop and Melody grasped desperately at the door, a whimper rising in her throat when it didn’t move in response to her tugging.
    “Just a second,” Nick said in a gentle voice, his hand resting on her shoulder as he dug his keys from his pocket.
    Immediately, comfort flowed from his hand into her clenched muscles. The effect of his touch was so dramatically different from Seth’s that it was almost dizzying. When he pulled away to fit the shop key into the door, Melody felt the loss of his warmth like a punch in the gut.
    If someone had told her ten seconds ago that she would be dying to be held in a man’s arms— any man’s arms—she would have told them they were crazy. But as soon as Nick closed the door behind them and flipped the lock, Melody launched herself at him, twining her arms around his neck, burying her face in his white button-down shirt, the one that still smelled of food and spilled wine and other hazards of cater-waitering. It was a comforting smell, safe and familiar and almost as wonderful as the feel of Nick pulling her close.
    “What’s wrong, Mel?” he asked, stroking her hair with a gentle hand. “What happened in there? I heard you scream, but when I opened the door it was so dark I couldn’t see anything.”
    “I don’t want to talk about it.” Melody took a shaky breath, and squeezed her eyes shut. “It’s over, I’m just glad it’s over.”
    Nick tried to pull back, but Melody tightened her grip on his neck. After a moment, he relaxed and resumed petting her hair, which Melody soon decided was one of the nicest feeling things ever.
    They stood there for several long minutes, Melody clinging to Nick, and Nick rocking her back and forth, stroking her hair until finally the storm inside her began to calm. She loosened her arms, pulling away just far enough to look up into Nick’s face. The lights in the tattoo shop were off, but there was enough light from the streetlight outside for her to see how worried he was.
    “It was a guy, wasn’t it?” Nick asked, his jaw tight.
    Melody nodded, still not wanting to say Seth’s name or what he’d done out loud. It would only make it more real, and she didn’t want it to be real. She wanted to pretend it was all some terrible dream and forget about the terrifying feel of Seth’s hands on her forever.
    “Did he hurt you? Do we need to call the police?” Nick asked softly.
    Melody shook her head quickly, panicked by the thought. “No, I don’t want to call the police.”
    “Mel, if he hurt you, we have to—”
    “He tried…but he didn’t,” Melody said. “He didn’t,” she repeated when Nick frowned. “You opened the door and I got away before… Before.”
    Anger filled Nick’s eyes, his rage so immediate and intense Melody would swear she could feel it heating the skin beneath his shirt. “But what if I hadn’t opened the door?” Nick said. “Do you think he would have raped you?”
    Melody backed away, slipping out of Nick’s arms as she dropped her eyes to the black and