Melinda smiled as she enjoyed a bloody orange pomegranate mimosa and a box of chocolate strawberries. She thought about the unexpected changes to her life, the happiness, the pain, and the grief. Biting into a strawberry, she wiped a tear that ran down her face. She remembered the day her father explained death to her. She remembered when they lowered her mother into the ground. She thought about the reason she'd vowed never to fall in love again. Sitting up in her beach chair, she looked at the two small children building sandcastles next to her.
It was a regular night out dancing with her girlfriends and a coffee shop encounter the next day, that brought the man of her dreams into her life. James McKnight was tall, dark, and handsome. Her girlfriends liked to tease her about her love of chocolate and how James fit in well. Most of them referred to him as her chocolate delight. He was a self-made millionaire with a sex appetite to match hers. She had yet to meet a man that could keep up with her sexually. She'd also overheard her girlfriends call James by other names, most she refused to repeat.
Relaxing in her beach chair, Melinda took in all the beauty around her. She enjoyed her solo trips to the Bahama. Thinking back to James, she smiled again, she was finally going to have it all. She had proved her girlfriends wrong. As one-half of M&S Elegant Designs, Melinda loved working with her best friend Sam. Sam had always been there for her, and she had never regretted their decision to become partners. Together, they were a powerhouse couple, and they knew it. Life had been hard without her mother, but it was all coming together.
James McKnight loved how the ladies flocked to him. He loved being told that he was, "Sexy as hell." He loved being single, and he had no intention of ever settling down. He laughed as he thought back to some of the dating traps he'd avoided. That was until his path collided with Melinda St. Thomas, he wondered what her game was.
Laying his head back, he stared at the ceiling in his office. He wondered, how could a man love so much what he never knew he wanted? She'd came into his life and asked for nothing. He'd fallen victim to her spell and her beauty. He wanted love, commitment, and a family. He wanted the forever love. He wanted her. Looking out his window at the sky, she had exuberated passions that fueled his desires. She had mystery's that he had yet to uncover. She invaded his dreams every night, and they were steamy dreams. He wanted her bad, in his life and in his bed. How could he deal with the fact that she only wanted a friendship? He wondered if he could be there for her only as a friend, and if so, for how long?
