Melody expected them to leave right after Lolly Landry made her hasty exit, but Cisco seemed in no hurry to go anywhere. He meandered down the front path of the house but never actually made it to the stairs.

“What?” Melody frowned and stared back at him. “What’s wrong?”

“I was just thinking that we should go check out the backyard while we’re here,” he suggested.

Melody raised her eyebrows and tried to come up with any reason why that might further their investigation or agenda or whatever. “Um, why?”

“Just for fun?”

“Fun?” Melody was trying to figure out why this would be fun or necessary when he took her hand and tugged her along behind him.

It was a beautiful evening. That was for sure. The sunset was winding down, and the sky was beginning to turn a gorgeous shade of indigo. Crickets chirruped, and somewhere in the trees far above, a night bird sang a few sweet notes. The new spring grass was thick and green. The scent of damp earth and fresh air permeated everything. The other homes in the neighborhood were brightly lit with stately carriage lamps flanking their detached garages and front doors. The windows were warm with yellow light, and in some, Melody could see families sitting down together. It was homey and so very serene. In fact, Melody could not even imagine what it would be like to live in a place like this.

Cisco’s hand was warm. His fingers were laced gently with hers, and there was a feeling of contentment so foreign to Melody that it made her almost twitchy with unease and unfamiliarity.

“What are you thinking?” he whispered.

They rounded the corner of the house, and the backyard spread before them. There were multiple levels of patio connected by stairs. The bushes were carefully trimmed to form borders, and there was more than one stone bench in sight.

“I’m thinking that I cannot even imagine what life would be like in a place like this.” Melody whispered the words because once again it felt like they were in church.

“I think it would be wonderful.” His words were soft, but it was what was behind his words that made her heart start pounding.

He tugged her toward a bench. “Come and sit for a moment. We’ve got some time.”

“All right?” What was happening? She felt her heart begin to pound and could not even begin to imagine what all of this meant.

“I’ve always dreamed of living in a house like this.” The way he said it made her feel as though he were admitting something very serious to her. “I love the idea of living in a neighborhood like this. It’s full of other people in financial and social positions of influence and power.”

He was sitting so close to her that she could feel the heat of his body against hers. For just a moment, Melody entertained the notion of what it might be like to be married to a man like this and live in a huge house with all the trimmings of the American dream. Cisco cupped her cheek in his hand and gently ran his thumb over her lower lip.

When had that become such a normal and natural interaction between them? Her pulse was racing, and yet as she gazed up at him, she could feel nothing but the sweetest anticipation. She put her hand over his and snuggled in closer to his side. He put one arm around her.

Melody held her breath. She could feel it coming. The kiss. It was slow and it was very, very deliberate. Cisco lowered his mouth to hers and gently captured her lips in the most wonderful, dizzying kiss she had ever experienced. The one before had been chaste in comparison. Now he moved his mouth over hers and let his tongue gently tease the seam of her lips until she parted them to welcome him inside.

Moving his tongue into her mouth, he rubbed it against hers until she could not hold back a moan. Desire awakened inside her body. A heavy feeling of need developed below her navel, and she squirmed on her seat. She wrapped her arms around his body and lifted her hands to his hair. The strands were so very soft as they sifted through her fingers. She loved the texture and the feel of him. He was so big and powerful. She felt tiny beside him. His shoulders were broad and his back was muscled. She could feel each and every curve and groove of his sinew and bone beneath his dress shirt. She was suddenly glad that he’d ditched his suit jacket. This was better.

“You taste so good,” he whispered against her lips. “It’s like an aphrodisiac and I only want more.”

She dragged her nails over his shoulders. He shuddered beneath her touch. She loved that she could get that kind of reaction from him. It made her feel like a queen. She sucked lightly on his tongue and felt him stiffen beside her. His hands grew more insistent. They moved from her face to her sides. They tickled over her ribcage and then settled down near the hem of her polo shirt.

Melody hated it that she was still in her uniform, but Cisco did not seem to mind. He found the hem and slipped his hands beneath it. Pressing his palms flat against her sides, Melody sucked in a quick breath of surprise and excitement. Her breathing was ragged, and her skin felt more alive than it ever had before

He moved his fingertips toward the undersides of her breasts. Her stomach shrank reflexively as she struggled not to moan and writhe against him with the depth of her need. The sensation of his fingertips grazing the skin beneath her breasts caused her nipples to plump up and pay attention. Blood rushed to her breasts, and she arched her back and pushed herself into the contact.

It felt so damn good. And when he slipped his hand beneath the thick elastic band of her sports bra, she welcomed it. He cupped her breast in his hand even as he gently pulled her body onto his lap. She continued to kiss him, making love to him with her mouth even as she moaned and begged him without words to give her more.

There was a bulge at his groin. She felt it beneath her hip and it excited her. There was something so incredibly arousing about knowing that this man was attracted to her. This was not about something he wanted because it was available. It was more. He truly felt desire for her. It made her want him all the more powerfully because of it.

“Cisco,” she murmured. “We’re outside.”

His low laugh sent chills across her skin. “I’m not going to misbehave,” he told her in a voice rough with need. “I promise.”

Then he tugged her all the way onto his lap. Her legs straddled his, hanging off the back of the bench and letting her sit facing him on his lap. This new position let her wrap her arms firmly around his neck and kiss him with even more fervency. She tangled her tongue with his as he lifted her polo shirt and bared the skin of her sides to the evening air.

He lifted her shirt and bared the tops of her breasts. He ended their kiss with one last hungry nip of her lower lip. Lowering his head to her chest, he pressed his face to her cleavage and laved his tongue over the creamy skin. She grabbed his head and dug her fingers into his hair. She scored his scalp with her nails.

Then he began to suck at the skin of her breasts. The feel of that pressure was incredible. She squirmed to ease the ache between her legs. Her whole body felt so alive! She wanted him so badly right now that she was glad they weren’t in a private place where she might be faced with that decision.

His hands were everywhere. They gently pressed against her ribs. They cupped her breasts. He sucked and licked and tickled her cleavage until she was pulling his head in closer and closer even while she leaned back to let her head loll backwards in the rising night breeze.

The slam of a car door ended it all. It was somewhere out on the street, and yet it was like the rudest wake-up call. Melody grabbed the hem of her shirt and yanked it back down. She was so very aware of the horrid possibility of being caught like this in the random backyard of a house that was currently on the market for sale. It would be embarrassing and probably illegal.

Cisco did not seem as affected as she. He nuzzled her neck and gently blew a series of light kisses over both the column of her neck and her jawline. She could not stop herself from tilting her head to give him better access. It felt so good to have his lips on her skin. Not even the threat of discovery and the possible embarrassment that would accompany it could fully reel her in.

“Cisco,” she whispered. “We should stop.”

“Why?” Her neck muffled his voice.

She laughed. “Because we aren’t teenagers.”

“Oh, really? Then why do you make me feel like one?”

“I don’t make you feel like a teenager.” She sighed and ruffled his curly dark hair. How badly had she wanted to do that just a few days ago? Now she was putting her fingers in his hair and touching his cheeks as though she had a right to do so. How odd things had become!

“I do feel like a teenager,” he told her suddenly. “I’m making out with a beautiful woman, and I feel as though I have the world at my fingertips. My career is taking off. I’m working for one of the best law firms in the city. And now I’m sitting in the backyard of one of the most beautiful historic homes in the city.”

“It’s not your house,” she pointed out. “Unless you wanted to buy it. I suppose you could. That’s totally up to you, but I swear that I had no intention of making you feel like you had to make an offer on this place when I called Lolly Landry to arrange a showing.”

“Wouldn’t you like to live here?” He threw his head back and looked up at the home’s full brick facade. “Look at it. This would make a fantastic home for a big family. Don’t you think?”

Melody couldn’t really disagree, but she couldn’t really agree either. “It is a beautiful home,” she admitted. “But it’s huge. It would take a million years to clean it. And the neighborhood is kind of snooty. I wouldn’t fit in someplace like this. I wouldn’t even feel like I could try. And I’m not sure I really want to feel like I have to try and fit in with these people either.”

“Fit in?” He seemed mystified by her words. “You’d fit in just fine.”

“I work in a coffee shop,” she reminded him. “I make their coffees. Do you know how many of my yoga pant wearing soccer moms probably live on this street?”

“So what?” He shrugged.

She climbed off his lap. She didn’t want to sit there anymore. She wasn’t feeling exactly friendly right at the moment. Actually, she felt kind of invalidated. Finally managing to stand up, she remembered that her poor friend was still passed out on the couch in a shabby apartment across town.

“I think I should go check on Allie now,” Melody told him softly. “That’s my people and my neighborhood and my version of normal.” Melody spread her hands to indicate the million dollar house and its surroundings. “This isn’t. I think it’s probably as simple as that.”

“Melody, don’t be that way.” His voice was so soft. She wanted to cave. She really did. He sounded so nice and so very—loving! It was almost a loving way that he spoke to her, and yet there was nothing like that between them and no real chance of anything like that ever happening.

“Don’t be what way?” She forced herself to be calm and very firm. “This is the way that I am. This is me. You and I don’t come from the same place. We aren’t the same type of people. We don’t have the same expectations from life. It’s just—It’s just not going to work.”

She walked energetically away from him. The yard was beautiful. It looked like a fairytale. But for once, Melody had her own version of the fairytale. She had something that she wanted and something that she could dream about.

“Melody, don’t you want more than what you have?”

“No.” She turned and smiled at him. Could he not see that she had everything she wanted? It just wasn’t quite within her grasp. “The only thing I want is that ranch. My ranch. That’s what I see when I close my eyes. That’s what I see when I dream about my future. I want that house and that history and that past. I want it all. I want to know where I came from.” Melody shook her head at Cisco and wondered if he would ever really get it. “You’ve had that all of your life. I don’t even know if you’ve really understood it or appreciated it, but you’ve had it. I haven’t. So, if this is what you want”—she gestured to the big brick house—“then you go get it. I’m sure it wouldn’t be a big stretch for you to buy a million dollar house in a fancy neighborhood. Then you could keep trying to be the most connected man in town.” She turned to walk off. “But if you’re going to live here, you might want to talk to that woman in the blue dress. I’m sure she’ll fit in fine.”

Melody headed for the front of the house and the street. There had to be a bus stop around here somewhere. She could find a bus and get the hell out of here and be done with fancy town for the night. That was what she needed. It was the only thing occupying her for the moment. She could hear Cisco calling out for her, but she ignored him. Walking energetically away from the huge house in the fancy neighborhood, Melody walked until she found that bus stop. Then she got on and left all of the confusion behind.