Total pages in book: 48
Estimated words: 46619 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 233(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 46619 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 233(@200wpm)___ 186(@250wpm)___ 155(@300wpm)
She slowly raises her gaze to mine, her eyes filled with conflicting emotions. I smile softly into her eyes.
“You’re beautiful. You don’t know it, but I’ll show you. Can you just relax against the couch? You don’t need to hold a pose. Sit at ease and think about things that help you stay calm.”
Melody lets out a shaky breath and physically relaxes against the couch.
“Oh, that’s better. I think I have a little more respect for models. I can’t imagine holding that pose for hours.”
I chuckle in amusement.
“You’d do just fine,” I say, but I can see that she doesn’t believe me.
“Yeah, sure,” she mumbles with a soft snicker.
“So, tell me, Melody…,” I start in a conversational tone, keeping my face behind my huge canvas. “Have you always been such a good girl? Always so prim and proper?”
“I’m not prudish,” Melody says quietly. “Besides, is there something wrong with that?”
She sounds a little defensive, but that’s expected.
“Not quite,” I reply, peeping from behind my board to flash her a quick smile. “In fact, I used to like a straight-laced girl. She was my first love.”
“What happened?” Melody asks, her voice ringing with guarded curiosity.
“She broke my heart,” I reply simply.
Melody laughs softly, shaking her head. “I find that quite hard to believe. You don’t look like someone who’d get his heart broken.”
“Wanna hear about it?” I ask with a small shrug. Melody nods earnestly. “In return, you’ll tell me about your first.”
She lowers her lids, nervously biting her lower lip.
“I...I don’t... I’ve not...there’s no first time.”
My hands' pause, arranging my paints. I study her face, trying to determine the real meaning behind her words. It slowly dawns on me what she is trying to say.
My chest clenches and unclenches with a dangerous feeling.
I can’t believe….
“You’ve never been with anyone?” I ask incredulously.
It’s either she’s surrounded by saints or idiots. I’m sure it’s the latter because I can’t seem to wrap my head around the fact that anyone is able to resist Melody Hanson’s sumptuous curves and bewitching smile.
Melody clears her throat awkwardly.
“I don’t…. It’s not...,” she trails off with a frustrated sigh.
“Are you a virgin?” I ask again, just to be sure I didn’t imagine things.
“Yeah,” she replies, refusing to look at my face.
I run my hand through my hair with a surprised snort. How can she be so fucking beautiful and be a virgin?
“How old are you, Melody?”
“I’ll be twenty-one in September,” she replies and raises her head to look me squarely in the face. “I’ll have you know that keeping my virginity is by choice. I’ve had offers. It’s just that I want my first time to be with the right person, a person who’d make the whole thing special. I know it sounds silly, but it’s what I want.”
“Okay,” I reply with a small nod.
“Okay…,” Melody hesitantly drawls like she is waiting for me to disregard her choice.
She doesn’t seem to know how happy I am that she’s untouched. My chest swells with pride.
It means she’s all mine.
“Your choice is valid, Melody,” I say gently, calmly picking up a brush. “I respect it.”
I dip the tip of my brush into the azure blue paint. I make a long swipe on the canvas, enjoying the tranquility that usually accompanies this task.
“Really?” Melody asks in a small voice after a long silence.
“Yes,” I reply. “You are special, Melody.”
“Th...thank you?” she stutters, blushing adorably.
“Don’t mention it. It’s the truth,” I reply with a soft smile. I notice with satisfaction that she looks more relaxed on the couch than I’d intended. “Would you still like to hear about my first love and heartbreak story?”
“I’m sure you took the whole thing in stride like a real man,” Melody says with a teasing smile that draws my attention to her lips again.
My patience is starting to wear thin. Again, I push away the pictures of her lips against mine.
“Yeah,” I reply with a small shrug. “My high school girlfriend dumped me for the cool jock. So I got wasted and serenaded my step-dad with With Or Without You by U2. It was the worst day of my life, the fact that I embarrassed myself like that”
Melody laughs, and I’m mesmerized by the beautiful transformation.
Instead of a shy girl battling insecurities, there’s an amazingly beautiful woman whose eyes are filled with a zest for life.
I stare in awe, memorizing this image of her at this moment.
It’s more than perfect...it’s the image I crave. A free woman brimming with an alluring virility and contagious happiness.
I’m going to capture every little detail, from the crinkles to the little dent in the left side of her jaw.
Melody stops laughing, her brows pulling together in a slightly worried frown.
“Why... Why are you looking at me like that?”
“I like you, Melody,” I say, shocking even myself. “A lot,” I add, realizing how true my unconscious admission is.