“Mel! Wait up!” Callie’s voice sounded from behind her. She turned to see her friend jogging up to her.
“Hey! Oh my god, how did it go with Noah? Did you guys talk? Did you do more than talk?” Callie was bursting with excitement, and seeing that, Mel knew she had to start building those walls right now.
“Oh, it was good, but nothing is going to happen,” she said, trying to sound casual and flippant. If she could dig deep enough to find the carefree Mel from before, the woman who lived for flings and one-night stands, maybe she could convince her friend that everything was fine.
Callie’s face fell. “What? I’m confused. You guys finally got together and now you’re saying nothing is going to happen? Was he that bad in bed? What am I missing here, Mel?”
Melanie forced out a laugh. “No, he wasn’t bad in bed. But you know me, I’m not interested in anything serious. I might have lost sight of that for a minute, but not anymore. I don’t want to be tied down, and Noah with a baby is the definition of tied down. Besides, what if he finds Connor’s mom? I’d just be in the way.” She shrugged, ignoring the fact that the idea of Gigi coming back made her cringe inside.
Callie looked at her closely, as if she could see right through the façade Mel was projecting. “Hmmm. I see. So, you had great sex with a great guy who has a great baby, and you’re walking away from that because of a not great woman who might or might not come back into his life?”
Mel didn’t respond. She didn’t need to.
“Mel, I know you’re scared to fall in love again. But aren’t Noah and Connor worth it?”
This time, when Melanie looked up at Callie, she could feel tears shining in her eyes and blinked them away furiously. She took a deep breath, determined to answer without her voice wavering.
“No, Callie. Nobody is worth that kind of hurt.”
Chapter 14
Noah had always respected Melanie’s job and admired her for her dedication to it. But now, after three days of her working nonstop, he was beginning to see that she was using the hospital as a way to avoid him. She’d even slept there between shifts the first day, something that he knew she didn’t do often. She was backing away at top speed, and he couldn’t see how to stop her.
By the time she was finally off for a few days, he had reached the decision that he would also back off and let things settle back into their usual friendship roles for a while. As much as he despised the back and forth of their feelings, he knew Mel well enough that to push too hard would only make her run the other way.
So, on her first day off, he made her coffee and breakfast while Connor lay in his swing. When Mel eventually awoke and stumbled into the kitchen, bleary eyed, he gave her a friendly smile.
“Morning, sleepy-head, I made you some breakfast.”
She nodded at him sleepily. “Thanks. Need coffee.”
“It’s on the counter,” he replied as he walked over to the couch and opened his computer. “I’ve decided to start looking for a house,” he said casually. The truth was, he didn’t want to leave Mel’s apartment, but eventually he and Connor would need to move out, and instead of returning to his bachelor pad, he had decided it was time for a real home.
Mel shuffled over and dropped to the couch beside him, her coffee in one hand and plate of food in the other. She took a sip of coffee before leaning over to see what he was looking at. When she saw the types of houses he was searching for, her eyes widened, and Noah knew exactly what she was thinking.
“Noah, those houses are beautiful, but crazy expensive. I mean this in the nicest way possible, but how are you going to afford that as a single father?”
There it was. The perfect opening for Noah to come clean to the woman he was falling in love with, about his true financial status. A secret that no one knew, except Ryan and his mom.
“Yeah, well… I guess I should tell you something,” he began, feeling slightly uncomfortable about it all. He had never intended for it to be such a big secret, but as time went on, it never felt right telling people. “So, in college I was taking a course on technology in business and finance, and one of our projects was to design an app to help in the financial world. I designed one that allows you to take a picture of a receipt, and it auto loads it into a tax software. After graduation, I tinkered around with it a bit longer, then on a whim decided to see if I could sell it. Long story short, I did, but retained partial rights to it, so got a tidy payout and I get royalty payments every time someone downloads it.”
Mel’s jaw dropped open. “Wait. So, you’re crazy rich? Why do none of us know this?” She slapped him on the arm.
Noah shrugged. “Because I didn’t really care about the money. It doesn’t change anything about who I am. I helped Mom with her mortgage and gave Ryan the money for his down payment on the pub, but I also asked them not to say anything to anyone else. Money makes people weird.” When he saw Mel’s eyebrows raise, he quickly went on. “I’m not a billionaire or anything, but my bank account is healthy. Let’s just say that.”
“Jesus, Noah. That’s insane! I mean, I’m proud of you, but also, holy crap, I can’t believe I didn’t know this about you.”
The incredulity in Mel’s voice filled him with pride. She was the one woman, other than his mother, whose opinion truly mattered to him.
“Anyways, you can see why I can afford a house like this. I want my son to have the best.” Noah shrugged, trying to play it off as no big deal. In truth, a house had never been important to him, very few material things were. He spent money on his bikes and gear, but that was all. No flashy car or luxury home, it wasn’t necessary. This was the first time in years he had considered spending a large amount of money, and he couldn’t think of a better reason than his son.
He looked over at Mel with a hopeful grin. “Does house hunting fall under fake-fiancée duties? I could use a second opinion,” he asked.
Melanie nodded enthusiastically. “Absolutely. I love going to open houses, it feels so sneaky seeing into other people’s homes, but it’s totally acceptable. Let’s do it!”
He had to laugh at her response. So typical Mel, bold and confident, and ready for anything. Just then her phone beeped with an incoming message. She opened it and turned to him, fidgeting with her phone in her hands.
“So, ummm, I forgot to mention something. My mom wants you to come to dinner tonight. It’s going to be hectic because my mother and nonna will go nuts over Connor, so if you think it’s too much we don’t have to go, but I promised I would ask you so…” Her voice had increased in pitch and speed as she spoke, before trailing off right at the end, as if she was nervous about asking.
