Free Tangled Hearts (Passion in Paradise) by Sarah O'Rourke Page A

doesn’t sit very well with me.”  Gasping as the hunk from
this  morning draped a heavy, possessive arm around her shoulders and smiled
down at her, Melody could only blink as he complained with a look toward her
parked car, “Woman, I thought I told you to take care of that tire this
afternoon.  That spare isn’t going to get you very far for very long.”
    “I…you…” Melanie
sputtered, unable to believe this was happening.  Was the redneck caveman
actually berating her for not getting the tire to her car – which she bought
and paid for all by her lonesome – changed? 
    “Her new man?” Bradley echoed
on a hiss, his furious eyes darting from Melody to the huge man standing
protectively at her side.  “Who the fuck is this person, Melody?” he
barked, taking another step toward her.
    “Callum Valentine,”
Melody heard the highhanded asshole standing beside her snap back at Brad, his
voice as sharp as a razor.  “Cal, to my friends, but since you and I most
definitely aren’t gonna be buds, you can just call me the guy that’s gonna kick
your ass if you don’t step the hell back from my woman and change the tone
you’re usin’ with her really fuckin’ quickly.”
    “ Your woman?”
Brad scoffed, his smile mocking as he eyed Cal as though he was gum on the
bottom of his shoe.  “I don’t think so.”
    “I’m living with her
now, man, so I’m pretty confident of what my status is here.  You, on the other
hand, seem to have overestimated your importance to my girl,” Cal retorted, his
hand tightening on Melody’s hip when she would have opened her mouth to give
him hell.
    Looking from Brad to
the man she now knew was called Callum or ‘Cal’ if she was to be included among
his friends, Melody tried to remain calm as Cal continued to hold her against
his side, playing the part of protective boyfriend to the hilt.  She wasn’t
sure what the hell his game was, but she couldn’t deny that his presence was
coming in quite handy at the moment.  As long as he wasn’t deluded enough to
believe the crap he was spouting, she just might not be forced to kill him
after all.
    Maiming him, however,
was still on her agenda.  In fact, it had leapt to the top of her priority
list.
    “Damn it, Melody, say
something!” she heard Brad order her loudly.  Jerking her attention back to the
matter at hand, she blinked, trying to clear her muddled thoughts.  “What?”
    “I said, is what this
hulking Neanderthal says true?  Are you with him?  Are you seriously sharing
your breathing space with this… this… man ?” Brad grilled her, his eyes
almost black with rage. 
    Shivering at the sheer
force of his fury – a fury she’d never seen in him before – Melody moved closer
to Cal.  “Does it look like it’s true, Brad?  He came out of my house, didn’t
he?’ she asked, trying to keep her nervousness out of her voice.  If Brad
smelled even a split second of weakness, he wouldn’t stop until he’d tried to
fully exploit it.  She’d honestly never seen Brad like this.  The man was
usually so smooth and suave.  The degree of resentment she saw reflected in his
eyes made her stomach pitch.
    “Jesus, Mellie, I know
I broke you, but you didn’t have to go slumming,” he returned snidely, eyeing
Callum.  “No matter, though.  I forgive you.  See… I’m big enough to look past
your mistake.  Now, if you’ll try to do the same with mine, we can get on with
our lives together.  We’ll reschedule the wedding and…”
    “No.” Melody said the
word clearly, calmly, and definitively, leaning more heavily against Cal as she
became aware that Patience, Maggie and Zeke all stood in silent support to the
side of them. 
    “Damn you, Melody!”
Brad’s temper snapped and he reached his hand out to grip the wrist of the hand
not holding her gun and yanking her toward him.
    Melody yelped as the
punishing hold Brad had on her arm magnified, absently noting that his grip was
going to