He plays with a lock of my hair, grinning. “Is that so?”
“Yes. All I could think about this morning was the beginning of a much naughtier book. I’m going to go in a new direction now that I have way more information than I had before I met you.”
“Yeah?” He smirks.
“I’ll need a new pen name if I’m going to go full-on filthy. The material you provide me with is very dirty, Mr. Wilde.”
He chuckles. “Is it?”
“I couldn’t even start at the beginning of the book. I jumped right into the middle. The heroine has been kidnapped and taken to a human dairy farm where she was given hormones that made her boobs grow into giant udders within days. Now, she’s a sex-crazed hucow who needs nearly constant milking while she fucks herself with a giant dildo.”
Brody laughs. “That’s not realistic. Why would the hero let her fuck her own pussy? You’ll need to change that. He should definitely make her wait, her pussy dripping with need, until he feels like filling it.”
I fall to the side in a fit of giggles. “You’ve created a monster.”
He grabs my face and kisses me. “My monster.”
Eventually, I sit up between his legs again and lean back heavily against his chest. I hold up the book. “This is going to be so anticlimactic because you don’t read romance novels, so you won’t have heard of me. But it’s a big deal for me to share this with you.”
He rubs my arms. “I could pretend I’ve heard of you and gasp dramatically.”
I roll my eyes. “Not necessary.” Finally, I open the package, and I’m left holding one of my babies. The one I never received in the mail. This is a big deal to me for that reason alone.
Brody slides his hands up my arms and takes the book from me. He flips it over and reads the back. He strokes the cover reverently as though it’s as important to him as it is to me. “I’m so proud of you, Melody.” He sounds choked up.
I turn in his arms and rearrange myself so I’m straddling him. “Thank you.”
He sets the book on the nightstand and grabs my hips. “Just so you know, I have heard of you.” He smiles.
“You have not.” I roll my eyes.
“I have, because one night about a week ago, Claire, Reagan, and Arianna were talking about you. They were speculating who you might be, and they tossed out several names. I’m certain this was one of them. They’re going to freak out when you tell them.”
I giggle. “Seriously? Are you sure?”
“Positive. They were running through all the authors they knew who had very little social media presence. Those who never make public appearances. Authors who don’t have their picture or any information available to the public. That’s how you got on their suspicious list.”
I’m grinning because that’s kind of cool. “Yeah, they know of my books because Arianna passed out a list of potential choices for us to read in one of our upcoming book club meetings. That book was on the list.”
His eyebrows rise. “No shit?”
I nod. “It was so cute. I had to work hard to pretend I’d never heard of me.”
“Do you want to go tell them now before we go to the town hall?”
“Yeah. We should. After all, they are family. They should know before the rest of Wilde.”
Half an hour later, we’re all gathered in the library. I’m fucking nervous. Not because I think these women will judge me. They won’t. But that doesn’t mean they want their lives flipped upside down. They deserve a say in whether I should be allowed to live in the mansion.
I’m holding my book in a brown paper lunch sack so no one can see it. Everyone is anxiously sitting around the middle of the room, the women grinning, the men mostly smirking indulgently.
Brody is behind me, his hands on my hips. He speaks first. “I have something to say before I let Melody take over.”
I twist around when he releases me, wondering what’s on his mind.
Suddenly, the love of my life drops onto one knee in front of me and holds out a small purple jewelry box. “Melody Thorne, I’ve loved you from the moment I heard your filthy mouth flapping in the library a few weeks ago. I’m going to love you for the rest of your life. I know it’s fast, but I also know it’s right. You’re the woman I was meant to spend the rest of my days with. This is the home where we will raise our children. Will you marry me?”
I’m so stunned that I cover my mouth as tears stream down my cheeks. I was not expecting this. He told me he would ask me on Saturday. It’s only Tuesday. But a lot has happened since our first discussion a few days ago.
