When a Champion Wants You (12 page)

“Who says I was
crying?”

“Your eyes are a dead
giveaway.”

Man, he’s
observant
, Melanie thought. “Anyway,
thanks for the compliment.”

“You’re
welcome.” He started the car, shifted it into gear and when he did
so, Melanie was drawn to his hands again, remembering those same
strong hands on her face last night while he kissed her. She’d
learned he was good at it, was downright possessive and something
stirred in her lower stomach just thinking about it happening
again. Knowing Dimitrius, it
would
happen again…

She glanced down at his
long legs. They were muscular, hairy and lean. Then her eyes roamed
up to his chest where she could see the print of his thick pecks
pressing against his shirt, complimented by a pair of massive,
broad shoulders. He was solidly built with features that set him
apart from other men – even his good-looking brothers. There was
his angular jaw line, a regal nose, thick neck and a goatee that
distinguished him. He was perhaps the most attractive man she’d
ever seen in her life.

* * *

After they had breakfast –
he had an omelet and she enjoyed a small stack of blueberry
pancakes – the pair found themselves sweaty and panting midway
through the hiking trail at Mount Pisgah.

Melanie bent forward,
resting her hands on her knees and asked while panting, “Why…did
you…want to come…here again?”

“To spend some time with
you. And, since you think I’m boring, I thought I’d show you my
adventurous side.”

“I
didn’t…say…you…were…boring,” she corrected, in between
pants.

“You didn’t have to. I’m a
smart man. I can read you well, Melanie Summers, soon to be Melanie
Champion.”

Melanie Champion
– she hadn’t thought about her name being Melanie
Champion. It did have a ring to it, but they needed to know so much
more about each other for her to consider his proposal.

Dimitrius unzipped his
backpack and took out two bottles of Aquafina. He handed her a
bottle, then unscrewed the top off of his bottle and chugged some
water down quickly. “I didn’t realize it would be so warm here,” he
said, sitting on a huge boulder.

“Me either,” she
responded, taking the spot next to him. “Usually it’s cooler at
this elevation.”

“I guess today is the
exception,” Dimitrius said, finishing his water.

“Guess so.” Melanie took
another sip of water. She watched as sweat ran down his face and
trickled the length of his neck.

While they rested, they
watched as more hikers ran by.

“So, Melanie…”

“Yes?”

“We’ve been hanging out
for almost a week now, and I feel like I haven’t scratched the
surface of you, yet.”

Melanie looked at him.
“What is it that you want to know?”

“A lot of things. I want
to know why a beautiful, funny, smart woman like yourself is
single.”

“I told you why I’m
single.”

He shook his head. “No. I
don’t recall getting an answer to that.”

“Okay. I’m single because
I haven’t met anyone yet.”

“That’s a simple, widely
used, generic answer. But I know there must have been a close
call…you know the man who almost took you off the
market.”

Melanie sighed evenly.
Quietly. Dimitrius was unknowingly forcing her to think about Scott
again. How could she ever forget him if she had to keep bringing
him up in conversation? As it was, she already avoided his favorite
restaurants and places to shop so she didn’t have to run into him.
If she was willing go that far to avoid him, then she definitely
didn’t want to keep talking about the man who broke her heart. So
keeping her answer as simple as she possibly could, she responded,
“Yes, there was a close call. His name was Scott, and, well, things
didn’t work out.”

After a long pause,
Dimitrius said, “You’re good at glossing over things.”

“I answered your question,
didn’t I?”

“Yeah, you did, but I want
to get deeper, Melanie.”

She smiled uncomfortably
and shook her head. By his expression, she knew he was sincere and
really making an effort to get to know her. But she didn’t want to
get too deep into a discussion about her ex, and she definitely
wouldn’t mention the real reason they parted ways. But to satisfy
him for now, she said, “Scott and I were together for two years
and, well, we realized that we didn’t want the same
things.”

“Such as?”

She hated to lie again.
One lie was enough. Actually, one lie was one-too many, and now,
she knew he had to tell another one to avoid the truth. So she
said, “He didn’t want children.” She instantly felt a guilty punch
to her gut for lying.

“He didn’t want children?”
Dimitrius asked, as if he needed some clarification.

“No.”

A look of confusion washed
over him. How could she date a man for two years and not know that
he didn’t want children? It didn’t make any sense. So he asked her,
“Wouldn’t the topic of children have come up early in the
relationship?”

To avoid looking him in
the eyes, she kicked a pebble and said, “It did, but—”

“He changed his mind is
what you’re saying.”

“Yes. He changed his
mind.”

“Well I want children,” he
said, “And I won’t change my mind about it.”

Melanie took a sip of
water.
He wanted children and wouldn’t
change his mind.
The moment he found out
she couldn’t give him children would send him running, same as
Scott.

“What about you,
Dimitrius? What woman came along and broke your heart?”

He chuckled a bit. “No
one. I’ve broken plenty of hearts, but I’ve never had mine
broken.”

“Spoken like a true
player.”

“I
was
a player…I’ve
been reformed.”

Melanie shook her head.
“It baffles me how men were born with the inability to feel love as
deeply as a woman does.”

“That’s not
true.”

“It is. Look at you…you’re
a handsome successful man. I know you’ve dated some pretty
women…women who had the potential to be more than just a
booty-call.”

Now he was getting
uncomfortable. But he had asked her to get deep and she was
definitely putting him in the hot seat. “Okay, so there was one
woman.”

“And? What
happened?”

“I was with her for about
two years…thought she was the one. I was thinking about settling
down, popping the question, being a one-woman man…all that. Then
Dante called me one day and told me that he saw her…ah…” Dimitrius
stopped, took a breath and shook his head. The subject was still
difficult to broach.

“What happened?” Melanie
asked softly when she saw him struggling with it. It surprised her.
From what she thought of him so far, he was arrogant, controlling
and testy. Maybe it was all an act to hide something he’d been
struggling with. “You know what, Dimitrius…we don’t have to talk
about it.”

“No. I want to. I’m
cool…just needed a moment.”

“Are you sure?” she asked
and placed her hand on top of his. Instantly, she felt energy flow
from his hand to hers. From the look in his eyes, she knew he felt
it to.

“I’m sure,” he said,
looking down at her hand. “Dante had called me and told me that he
saw her coming out of an abortion clinic.”

Melanie opened her mouth.
Speechless.

“She aborted my baby, did
it all behind my back and when I confronted her about it, she lied.
I had to make her tell me the truth, and she finally confessed.
Said she wasn’t ready to be a mother, and that she didn’t want to
ruin her figure.”

“Oh my gosh. That’s
terrible.”

He nodded. “I never
would’ve thought she would do something like that. Never thought
she was so shallow. She was such a smart woman.”

“Dimitrius…I’m so sorry,”
Melanie said.

He exhaled sharply and
said, “It’s over and done with now. I’m looking to move forward
with my life.”

“After a traumatic
experience like that, are you sure you’re ready?”

He clutched her hand,
brought it up to his mouth and pressed his lips against the
backside of it. “Yes. I’m ready.”

“Well I have something
baby related to tell you about myself?” Melanie said. After he told
her the story about what his ex did to him, she couldn’t keep her
infertility a secret.

“What? You don’t want
children now?” Dimitrius asked.

“I do want
children—”

“Then that’s all I need to
know, baby,” he said, looking at her.

Melanie smiled.
No, that’s not all you need to
know
, she thought. How could she tell him
that she couldn’t have children now?

Dimitrius leaned close to
her and pressed his lips against her cheeks.

The feel of his lips, a
breath away from her lips, made her entire body tingle. She turned
to look at him, and then she did something she never thought she’d
do in a million years. She leaned forward to kiss his lips,
pressing her lips against his while feeling his hand settle at the
nape of her neck.

Melanie pulled her mouth
an inch away from his when she felt things getting heated. It was
hot enough outside already and if they kept on, they were sure to
start a forest fire.

With the tips of their
noses touching, she smiled.

Dimitrius smiled
back.

“I guess we better get
going,” she said softly.

“Yeah, we better,”
Dimitrius said, sneaking a small kiss from her lips. He stood up,
then reached for her hand to help her stand.

Melanie grasped his right
hand with her left. Once she stood up, she realized Dimitrius
hadn’t intended on letting her hand go, which was fine by her. She
didn’t want to let his hand go either.

Chapter 15

“I’m not going
to lie, Emily…I had a good time with Dimitrius
today,” Melanie said, all smiles. She was busy doing laundry, a
typical chore for her on Saturdays. If Dimitrius hadn’t made a
pop-up visit to her place this morning, she would’ve had it done by
now. Instead, she was just getting started at three in the
afternoon.

“Where did you guys
go?”

“First, he took me out to
breakfast, then we went hiking.”

“That sounds like
fun.”

“It was. I was sweating
profusely on the hike, but overall, it was nice.”

“I’m glad you had a good
time. I was a little worried when you left here last
night.”

“I know. I’m sorry about
that. I had a breakdown, apparently.”

“If I were in your shoes,
I probably would have, too. I wish you would’ve told me what Scott
did to you. You know I would’ve had your back.”

“I know, Em,” Melanie
said, loading the washer. “I was too embarrassed to say
anything.”

“So why did the doctor say
you couldn’t have babies?”

“Because I have an
abnormally shaped uterus and only one functioning fallopian tube.
She said it was a congenital abnormality.”

“And there’s nothing the
doctors can do about that?”

“No. That’s just the way
my body is, unfortunately.” Melanie poured a cap full of laundry
detergent in the washer.

“But what about corrective
surgery or something, Mel.”

Melanie shook her head.
“No. She said I had a unicornuate uterus…something I’ve never heard
of before, so I did some research. It confirmed everything the
doctor told me…that there is no corrective surgery to fix my
condition and the chances of me getting pregnant are slim to
none.”

“Slim to none is better
than no chance at all, right?”

“I thought so too, until I
also found out that, if by chance I did get pregnant, there’s a
great possibility that the pregnancy would end in a
miscarriage.”

Emily sighed, not knowing
what else to say. “Are you going to tell Dimitrius?”

“Not if I can help it.
We’re not serious, Emily.”

“Well, seeing how the man
wants you for his wife, maybe you should, Melanie.”

Melanie shook her head.
“For now, I’m going to let everything remain as it is between
Dimitrius and I. Besides, I don’t know if we’re getting married
yet. This is just an experiment, remember.”

“Maybe for you it is, but
Dimitrius Champion doesn’t do experiments.”

Melanie grinned. Emily had
a point. However, she couldn’t tell Dimitrius this now. She liked
him. He was growing on her. She felt like they’d had a breakthrough
today and even as she washed clothes and tidied up around the
house, she could still feel the sensation of his kiss on her lips.
“Emily, it’s fine. I can handle Dimitrius. Now tell me what’s been
going on in your world? What have you and Dante been up to this
afternoon?”