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Melody waited impatiently on the tarmac for the airplane door to open. Colt had been on the road for two months. Despite the fact they were together for much of it, the last two weeks without him had been excruciating, but a lot needed to be done for the ribbon cutting ceremony tomorrow. The door opened, and an attendant stepped out. Then her man.
“Heyyy!” he yelled.
She hopped around, not able to help it. She held on to her new hat with one hand—a black felt hat, shorter than a cowboy hat and more circular. She had dressed up for him, wearing a lightweight, off the shoulder ivory shirt.
He rushed down the stairs, threw his carry-on to the ground, and spread his arms out. She ran into them, and he swung her around for one solid revolution, sending the hat flying, then set her on her feet so he could kiss her. He was wearing a tan tweedy vest, a blue shirt, untucked, solid blue tie, and a nice pair of jeans, with chocolate brown suede shoes.
She grabbed the vest’s lapels, jerking him closer. “This new?”
He placed a hand on each of her hips, rocking her from side to side. “Uh-huh.”
“Very nice,” she purred, brushing her lips over his.
His eyes twinkled wickedly. “You approve?”
“I do.”
Colt ran a finger from her neck across her bare shoulder. “This new?”
“Uh-huh.”
“I approve.” He bent and kissed her skin.
DJ bumped him in the shoulder as he passed. Hard. “Get a room.”
He had picked up Mel’s hat and plopped it on her on his way by.
But walking another couple of yards, he dropped his bag, too, and held his arms open. “Honey. I’m ho-ome!” Pam beamed at him, and he threw one massive arm around her and dipped her, kissing her passionately. She laughed, but buried her hands in his hair and became fully engaged in welcoming him home.
“Whatever,” Colt said with a sneer. He grabbed his bag, wrapped an arm around Mel’s waist, and as they neared the other couple, he spoke up. “Hello, Pam.”
She came up for air and nodded to him. “Colt.”
Melody observed them. Once beyond DJ and his wife, she leaned in. “What was that about?”
Colt shrugged, looking back over his shoulder. “What?”
Mel twisted around quickly. DJ lifted his chin with a grin. And if Pam smiled any wider, the corners of her mouth would have been off her face. Mel chuckled and jerked her head in their direction. “That.”
“What?” Colt answered with exaggerated innocence. Melody stared at him. Colt tugged on the brim of her hat. “You ask too many questions.”
“Uh-huh.” She held his gaze. “What are you up to?”
He raised a brow. “Me?”
She socked his arm. “Yes, you.” Narrowing her eyes, she commented, “Rock stars don’t do innocent well.”
He laughed, reaching his new sporty BMW, which Melody often drove while he was touring. He opened the passenger door for her. “Get in,” he ordered.
Colt told a couple of stories from the road, then glanced at Melody. “Mind if we stop by C&M Music before dinner.” He grinned when he said it, showing his love for the new name of the company.
They’d spent the past few months repairing the damage the fire had done. Luckily, Gabriella and Edward were no bomb experts, and, while much of the first four floors was ruined, and windows were blown out all the way up to the sixth floor, the structural loss was minimal.
“Stop by the office,” she whined. “I just got you home.”
“Whoa. Check the basement for pods. Where’s my Melody? She would never pass up an opportunity to go into work.”
“I would if it meant getting you home and into my bed faster.”
“Wow. You really have missed me, haven’t you?”
She leaned over, as they were at a light, and kissed him. “I have.”
“Well, believe me, I’m eager to get you home, too, but I really want to...I don’t know...check the place out myself before everyone else gets there. And I want to show you our floor.”
Colt had insisted the tenth floor, which was where the new executive offices were, look completely different from their former offices. Neither of them wanted to re-envision the scenes that had played out there before the fire. And Colt made all the design decisions because he wanted to surprise Melody.
She smiled. She loved the little-boy-with-a-new-toy excitement he had in the project. “Fine.”
Colt’s lips turned up. “Okay, then.” He patted her leg then put his hand back on the wheel.
As they neared the building, Colt leaned over. “I really like our logo.”
“Yes. I know you do.” He had come up with the idea, and Mel drew it out. She had sketched a very simple guitar, then inside, they’d incorporated a “C” in the upper left side of the body, and “M” in the lower right, and the bottom loop of the “&” was the guitar’s sound hole. Checking out the soft glow of their sign against the dark, she had to admit it was pretty cool.
Colt parked and leaned over to open the glove box. “We need one of these.” He was very proud of their new security system. Without the proper card, an employee couldn’t get in the door, or, once in, onto a floor they didn’t belong on.
They exited the car, and Colt grabbed her hand as they walked up the drive. Melody was ready to get out of the drab temporary offices they were renting. She knew she’d become spoiled since moving away from Aberton. It irritated her that she enjoyed her lush environment so much, but what could a girl do? While out of their offices, they had taken the opportunity to restructure the company as well. They’d divided it into two divisions. One in charge of the guitar manufacturing side of their business. The other handled the studio work. And having a new name, new logo, new surroundings, and new organizational chart, it only made sense to rewrite the bylaws, setting up more checks and balances between the board and the shareholders. In addition, the insurance was forced to pay out on the fire damage as the policy had been canceled without the proper authority, and Edward had forged signatures.
Colt “buzzed” them in and held the door for Melody. He headed for the elevators, but she stopped, gesturing to the right of the lobby area.
“You mean, you don’t want to go play with all your music toys?”
She teased him from the start about all the whizzy equipment he bought for the renovated studios. If there was a bell, whistle, or guitar to be purchased, Colton Remkus had it. The hall outside the sound booths had recessed alcoves with special lighting to set off the guitars hanging in them.
He grinned. “I’m good. Come on. I want you to see your floor.”
“My floor?”
“Our floor. But the one I designed with you in mind.”
The new, streamlined elevator was fast and virtually noiseless. Colt could hardly keep still, and his enthusiasm was contagious. When they passed the ninth floor he asked, “Are you ready?”
She nodded, squeezing her hands together in front of her. The door opened, and he gestured for her to step out. “Oh, Colt.” The ceiling was black, with thin lines of lights ribbing it. Some of the offices and conference rooms had been moved to other areas of the building, so the floor was much more open. A big, central desk with accent lighting defined one edge of the waiting room, and cozy couches in grays flocked it in groups, drawn together with unique guitar-shaped coffee tables with smoky glass on top. The bottoms of the tables were red, as was the long wall leading to the office area. A huge, metal piece of artwork depicting their logo hung on the wall behind the desk.
“Cool,” she breathed, revolving in a slow circle and taking everything in. The edges of the red wall curved like the outside rim of a guitar and pieces of metal, matching the metal of the logo sculpture, continued the front of the guitar on the wall on either side of the opening. She crossed to the area to admire the wavy lines and run her hand along them.
“Is it too much?”
“It’s perfect,” she reassured him. He waved his badge in front of a censor and huge glass doors opened, allowing them access to the executive wing. While the outer walls of the offices remained glass, the inner walls were drywall. The hall was wide, again with lit alcoves with guitars.
“I know you want to check out our offices, but I can’t wait to show you something else.” He opened a door on the right and waited for her to pass through. She entered a small, circular room with wide steps tapering upward to a door.
“Is this the roof access?”
“Yep.”
“Wow. Fancy.” The old area had been unadorned, with concrete steps and iron handrails. This was as lovely as the outer hall.
He gestured. “Go on. Go up.”
“Oh.” She climbed a couple of steps. “You want me to go out on the roof.”
“Yes.”
She gave him a quizzical look.
“Humor me.”
“Okay.” She climbed a few steps. “Did you renovate the roof, too?”
“You’ll see,” he replied mysteriously.
She turned her head. “Is there going to be a bat signal light with our logo?”
“No, but that’s a good idea.”
“Oh, Lord.” She opened the door and stepped out. In front of her was a large circle of candles, and one was also lit on a small, cloth-covered table in the middle. Next to that was a large vase of white roses and a small Bluetooth speaker.
“What’s—”
He came through the door and took her hand, led her over to the table, then released her.
“I thought we’d have dinner up here tonight. The caterer will be here in—” he checked his phone “—ten minutes.”
“How did you get all these candles lit?”
He looked at her out of the corners of his eyes. “Pam.”
“Ahh. You got her in on this?”
He nodded. “And, they’re not actually lit. They’re those battery-operated ones.” He frowned. “I wanted the real thing, but in my trial run, the wind kept blowing them out. But these flicker like real candles.”
“Yeah. I noticed.” She scrutinized his work. “I thought they were real.” She returned her gaze to his face, searching it. “What are you up to?”
He spread his arms out. “Oh, about the tenth floor.”
She frowned. “Ha. You know what I mean.” She was truly confused. “Is this a special occasion I forgot about? It’s not my birthday. Or...did you do this all to celebrate the new building? That’s it, isn’t it? How sweet.”
He stepped forward and took her hand. “No. I did this...” He took a deep breath. When he spoke next, she could tell he’d thought about what he wanted to say. It was almost like he was reading cue cards at first. “Melody...” He glanced down for a second, gave his head a half shake, and continued “...I brought you to this roof before, and I was being a jerk...” He paused. “That’s where you were supposed to interrupt me and say I’m never a jerk.”
She drew her brows together. “Umm. I see.” She didn’t say anything more. “Go on.”
He gave her a wry smile. “In any case...I brought you here, and I was being a jerk...and I got on one knee in jest.” He slowly kneeled before her.
“Oh, my God. What are you doing?”
“Mel, since you came into my life...” She could tell the cue cards had been thrown aside. “...well, it was like I was one of these candles and you lit me up, warming my blood, and giving me life. I never knew things could be so good before you. I want that feeling to last forever. And I want to try to...I don’t know...spread that flame to you? I want to spend every minute of every day showing you how appreciative I am for you and how much I love you.” He reached inside his vest then appeared alarmed, dropping his hand and patting the outside of the vest. He tapped the other side and exhaled. Smiling at her and taking her hand again, he pulled something out. He held a ring. “Melody Marie Hawkins, or Spearman, or whatever your alias is today...” He grinned. “I want the sweet Melody of my life to go on and on. Please, consider another name change. Say you’ll be mine and become my...” He became choked up. “...wife, Mrs. Melody Remkus.”
She couldn’t speak over the lump in her throat.
He looked off to the side. “You’re killing me here, Mel. What do you say?”
She swallowed and took a breath. “I say yes.” She jumped around. “Yes. Yes! Hell, yeah!”
He laughed. “DJ said you’d say that.” He slipped the ring on her finger, and rose. Brushing a hand over her cheek, he looked her in the eye and added, “I love you.” Then kissed her tenderly and held her close as the breeze wrapped around and embraced them. Below cars honked, but they were lost to each other. After a minute, he started. “Oh. I almost forgot.” He pulled out his phone. “DJ would have killed me.” He pushed something on the phone and waited for the speaker to pick it up. Music played, and he increased the volume. “He insisted on this.”
Melody recognized the opening chords of “Hell, Yeah!” and chuckled.
Colt slipped his arms around her again and swayed with her. She laid her cheek on his chest, and he caught her gazing at the ring. He leaned back. “Is it good? Pam helped me.”
“It’s...” She beamed, putting a hand over her heart. “...perfect.”
He squeezed her. “Good.”
They continued to rock to and fro. He grinned. “This isn’t exactly slow dance music.”
She played with his hair. “It is for us.” She kissed him, thinking about all they had gone through—the good, and the bad—but mostly dwelled on moments spent talking in bed, the night they ate chicken fingers on their motel room floor, times he and DJ teased her mercilessly, and the words he said to her lying in a parking lot while a building exploded behind them. She looked in his eyes. “I love you, Colton Joe Remkus.”
He held her tight. A moment later, he lifted her off her feet and swung her around with a shout of glee, and she laughed, knowing their happily-ever-after lay before them.