Free Songbird (A Sinclair Story #1) by Jaymin Eve Page A

pressed against her
side, and everywhere he touched was warm and tingly. She felt so safe and
comfortable, and then for the first time in Melodee’s life she fell asleep in a
room with strangers.

 
    Nathan knew he was being a
creepy asshole, but he couldn’t tear his eyes from Melodee. As she slept, he
couldn’t believe how sweet and innocent she looked. Awake, there was no
mistaking the depths of hell that Melodee had traversed in her life, but
asleep, the long dark lashes folded down, hiding her eyes and her pain.
Reaching over, he grabbed one of the wool throws and draped it over the cuddled
pair. He figured he’d just close his eyes for a minute. He was sure it wouldn’t
be long until Melodee woke and realized where she had fallen asleep. And
probably kick him in the nuts for drooling all over her. He shrugged. Worth it
for sure.
    It
took him quite a while to lose himself to sleep. He couldn’t understand why he
felt such a need to protect the two females sleeping soundly next to him. Maybe
it was how alone they seemed. He knew he was lucky. Despite the fact his
parents were absent and selfish assholes, he had awesome brothers, and until the
helicopter accident a few years ago, grandparents who gave freely of their
love. Melodee seemed to have no one, and yet she seemed tough and independent and
not completely fucked up. Her strength touched something deep inside of him. He
knew he wouldn’t be able to stop himself from helping her, and as he relaxed
and let the first drowsiness of sleep wash over him, he had one last hope that
this would all have a happy ending.

 
    A loud clanging noise woke
Melodee from the deepest sleep she’d ever had. Her face felt cold, but the rest
of her was warm. Her right cheek was numb and she realized it was pressed
against something hard. She opened her eyes, all drowsiness fading, and she was
immediately alert. Jewel was still snuggled into the hollow between her
breasts, her rosy mouth open slightly, her baby smell so sweet. And then
Melodee realized why her pillow had been hard, it was a muscular chest. Holy shit balls , she’d fallen asleep on
Nathan Sinclair, the damn star of Syracuse basketball team and all around
golden boy of this town. And why the hell did he smell so good? He could at
least do her a favor and be less attractive, both physically and scent-wise.
She must have suffered some type of damage in that car crash, somewhere in the
vicinity of her common sense and survival instincts.
    The
front door slammed open, and by the time the figure had dashed into their room,
Melodee had already slid Jewel onto the couch and moved in front of the
vulnerable sleeping forms of the others. She let out a relieved breath when she
realized it was only Miguel.
    “The
snowplow has been through. They found the crashed cars, and the police are here
to talk with you.” He spoke quickly, but quiet enough not to disturb anyone
else. Or so Melodee thought until Nathan shifted.
    “Don’t
say anything to them without me, Dee,” he said, jumping to his feet and moving
to her side.
    She
felt confused. “Why? I’m not the biggest fan of authority, but there’s no way
they can pin the crash on me.”
    “We
need to present a united front in case they want to take Jewel straight away.
I’m not letting that happen until we know she has a decent family to go to.”
Nathan started to move forward and Charles was somehow already at his side
despite the fact that he had been asleep all of five minutes before.
    Pulling
on her jeans and black boots, Melodee picked up the still-asleep Jewel and
followed the men out of the warm room. The air was like ice away from the fire,
so she quickly ducked back and grabbed a blanket to cover the baby. Leaving
again, she headed toward the open front door, and all Melodee could see was the
blinding sunlight reflecting off the snow. Stepping out onto the wide front
deck, there looked to be at least four cars parked around the large circular
drive. Further