Chapter 12

Meli

When I sawwho was waiting in front of my bake shop, I dropped Cairo's hand and began to run. "Daddy!"

My father turned around, his wide mouth breaking into a smile as he saw me coming. He stopped trying to open the door—did he not see the closed sign?—and opened his arms. When I slammed into him, he oofed and staggered back, a reminder I wasn't a little girl anymore.

"I missed you, baby," he whispered against my hair, and I felt a sense of peace fill me.

"I'm so glad you're here, Daddy! Where's Mom?"

He untangled himself, holding me by the shoulders and glancing me over. "She and your sister and Simon are already at the bed and breakfast. You know your mother—she insisted she needed an hour's nap. I figured I'd come help you but looks like I'm interrupting something."

His eyes were twinkling, and I glanced down at myself.

Oh.

When Cairo had agreed to go to the beach with me this afternoon, I hadn't thought about the fact that my family would be arriving later. I was only thinking about him, and seeing if I could make his eyes glow green again, the way they did when he seemed particularly turned on.

The bikini I was wearing under a sheer cover-up was bright red, and far stringier than the kind allowed at my parents' country club. Blushing, I tried to cross my arms in front of my chest, but that didn't hide my boobs so much as push them front and center.

Embarrassed, awkward, I dropped my arms again, already planning to run upstairs to my apartment and find a robe…when Cairo stepped up beside me.

"Here," he grunted, and offered me the single beach towel I'd brought.

It was the bright pink one—of course it was—with the flowers, which I'd shoved in the bag with his tools. Only twenty minutes ago, when we'd stood up from my not-quite-successful-attempts at making a sand cupcake, to find his knees were covered in sand, I'd handed him the towel and said, "Here, use this to beat it off."

Cairo had winked and said, "I haven't been doing much beating off lately," before bending over to wipe his legs.

We'd laughed.

Then we'd kissed.

Right there on the beach, where everyone could see, and I loved it.

But now, I nodded gratefully to him, wrapping the towel around my shoulders. "Daddy, this is my boyfriend, Cairo. Cairo, this is my father, Richard O'Donnell."

I realized I'd grabbed Cairo's arm as I introduced him, but now I looked into his face hopefully. Daddy was one of my favorite people in the world, and I really wanted Cairo to like him.

After a long moment, Cairo stuck out his hand. "Mr. O'Donnell." It wasn't particularly friendly, but then, neither was Cairo.

When my father didn't immediately pull him in for a cheerful hug, I glanced at him. And was surprised to see him studying Cairo—and the offered hand—with a carefully blank expression. Finally, he slowly accepted the handshake, both of them acting as if the move hurt them.

"Mr. Cairo," Daddy finally said. "My wife has told me…all about you."

Oh no.

Why, ohwhy had it not occurred to me that the first thing Mom would do would be to call Daddy and complain about my boyfriend ruining her plans to set me up with Simon's brother?

Because you don't stick your nose in other people's business and think you know best?

Yes, that, thank goodness.

I latched onto Cairo's arm again and offered my father a grin. "Good things, I hope?"

"Your mother told me your new boyfriend was an auto mechanic."

I winced. The way he said that made it sound like a bad thing.

"Cairo taught himself all about cars, Daddy. He's the best mechanic on the island—everyone comes to him."

My father opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again. A sick feeling rose in my stomach as I realized the two men I cared for most in the world didn't approve of one another.

It was Cairo who finally offered, "I can imagine what your wife had to say about a mechanic dating her daughter. Especially a dirty orc."

I twisted around, ready to snap at him for saying something like that, an ache in my chest I didn't understand. But he wasn't looking at me; he was staring at my father, eyes flickering green, brows drawn in, his scowl making his tusks more prominent. Funny how I didn't even notice them when he smiled.

My father sighed. "It's not like that, son…"

"I'm not your son," Cairo snapped.

And me, desperate to infuse any cheer into the situation, blurted, "Burgers for dinner?"

When they both turned to me, I smiled widely. "I was thinking burgers for dinner." I pointed to the second floor, where my tiny apartment would not be big enough for my mother, father, sister, Simon, me…and Cairo. Especially not with this tension he was giving off. "You know, super-low-key and easy."

Daddy was already shaking his head. "Your mom has her heart set on that seafood restaurant she loves. She wanted oysters—"

"They're not in season, Daddy."

"She's already decided the mussels will do. I had to bring a tie and real shoes, just for this place."

Silently, I groaned. "You'd rather go to The Golden Pearl and spend too much for not enough food, in uncomfortable clothing…rather than have good old-fashioned hamburgers made by yours truly?" I'll admit, even I heard the desperation in my voice. "Please?"

Daddy sighed. "Sorry, baby. You know your mother is trying to impress Simon."

"Ah, yes, the doctor." Irritated, I turned to Cairo, but he was already shaking his head.

"You have fun with your family." He didn't sound happy about it, but his expression was neutral as he stepped away from us. "I'll catch you later. Tomorrow?"

Tomorrow? Not tonight?

Maybe my panic showed in my expression because his frown eased just slightly for him to mumble. "Whenever."

Did that mean he did want to see me tonight? When he turned and walked down Main Street, I watched him go like a kicked puppy.

Why didn't he want me to come back to his place tonight?

Why did it matter?

He's your pretend boyfriend, remember? You introduced him to Daddy, who cares if they don't get along? As long as your family knows you're not available to hook up with someone else, that's all that matters, right?

But…no. No, that was wrong.

Cairo did matter.

"Well, baby, I brought my toolbox," my father said brightly.

Pulling the towel tighter around my shoulders, I glanced down to see him nudge a metal box by his foot. "What?" I asked numbly, not understanding.

"You know. To work on your shop." When I continued to stare, my concentration half on the orc walking out of my life, Daddy sighed. "You told me you had a fan that wasn't working properly, and an outlet that needed some tweaking. No, actually, what you said was ‘the electricity plug thingy doesn't make the light go on' but I interpreted that."

Reluctantly I smiled, then hoisted the beach bag. "We can go around back, that door has the keypad." That's how I reached the stairs to my apartment too. "But I don't need your help with the outlet or the fan or the mixer." Or a dozen other small fixes.

Humming, Daddy picked up his toolbox and followed me. "And why is that? Have you decided to set fire to the place and claim insurance?"

He loved to tease me. "You know I don't own it."

"And you know I'd be happy to loan you the money so you could buy it. The bakery and the apartment."

That would be nice. But I sighed, reaching the back door. "And you know I know you know—wait." I started again. "I want to stand on my own."

"Hmm. Is that why I'm hearing about you expanding to the mainland? You're not happy with what you've built here on Eastshore?"

I led him up to my apartment. "I know it's hard for you and Mom to believe, but I really am happy here, Daddy. I love Eastshore. I know you think I should be doing more with my life—"

He stopped me with a hand on my arm. "I think you're doing fine, baby."

Yeah, well…his actions didn't say that. He was a fancy-schmancy aerospace engineer, and he'd most definitely looked down his nose at a mere mechanic. An orc mechanic, at that.

Cairo was right.

My parents didn't think he was good enough, did they? And if they thought that…then they thought the same about me too.

"Now, where are these things you need me to fix?" Daddy looked around eagerly.

I sighed. "They're already fixed, Daddy. Cairo might not have an advanced degree, but he's just as smart as you. He fixed all those little things, because he takes care of me."

As I said it, I realized I was right. Cairo did take care of me.

And I loved him for it.

Fuck.

I'd gone and fallen in love with my orc fake boyfriend.

Ignoring the look of shock on my father's face, I stomped toward the bedroom to change.

Meli

My phone dingedas I kicked my heels into the closet. Where the heck was—oh, yeah, my purse.

I hated carrying a purse; it was so much easier to shove things in a pocket. Pockets are great, man, and every time I fall in love with a pair of stretchy black leggings without pockets, I want to extend two middle fingers to the void. Dresses were even worse.

But of course Mom insisted I get dressed up for The Golden Pearl, which meant digging out one of my unused purses. I found this one hanging on the back of one of my kitchen chairs.

"Fuck the patriarchy," I muttered as I dug through it.

Tissues, a hair tie, my extra set of keys for Sweetcheeks—No, don't think of the car right now. Here's the damn phone.

It had been a text from Jess:

CMWYHAC6

Call me when you have a chance. The six was a level, one to ten, how important the topic was. The way I felt right now, anything less than a five I might've ignored, poured myself a glass of wine, and tried not to cry in the tub.

But a level six was important. And besides, I had to paint my nails.

Rolling my eyes, I typed a quick reply. Call me in 5.

Five minutes later, I was out of my dress, my hair was pulled back, and I was wearing a pair of shorty PJs when the phone rang.

"Hey, Meli, whatcha up to?"

I laid down a paper towel on the ottoman. "Painting my nails."

"Really?" My bestie sounded surprised. "Pink, I assume."

"Of course. This one is…" I flipped over the bottle, mid-shake, to read the name. "Flamingo tits. I didn't know flamingos—oh, it's Flamingo Tips, my bad."

Jess chuckled. "Pretty sure I got that one for you like three years ago, for your birthday. I didn't think you'd ever used it. I didn't think you liked to do your nails."

I don't. I mean, I don't mind going to the nail salon, because a hand and foot massage? Yes please. But I work with my hands all day, and it's just not worth it.

"I went out to dinner with my family tonight," I offered, as an explanation.

"Ahhh. And let me guess, your sister's nails looked fabulous."

I snorted. "Of course they did. Tastefully painted in patriotic colors. My mother made the biggest deal out of them."

A pause, then Jess asked hesitantly. "And did she tell you to paint your nails? Or…?"

"No, she didn't outright tell me to paint my nails." I plopped one bare foot on the towel and unscrewed the polish. "She just made a big deal out of Harper's and then pointed out how that sort of attention to detail—I kid you not—is what landed her a doctor. Then Simon asked to see my nails."

Jess gasped, suitably outraged. "That twerp!"

"Right?" I began to paint my toes. This really was a pretty pink. "Mom laughed and said I never painted my nails—"

"Which is true."

"Yeah, but then he says, ‘Even her toes?'"—I'd screwed up my nose to sound snooty as I did my impression of my soon-to-be brother-in-law, who wasn't my favorite person—"and actually tried to look under the table."

Jess can't whistle, but she did a good enough impression. "Oh my god."

"Yeah. So after my mom took me aside—"

"And told you to paint your toes?" she guessed.

"And told me I needed to do a better job shaving my legs! Can you believe it? She said I didn't want Simon reporting back to his brother that I didn't take care of myself."

While my best friend was suitably outraged on my behalf, I moved on to my other foot. No, I wasn't an expert when it came to painting my toes—hell, I wasn't even totally limber enough to get up close!—but I figured from eye level, they looked okay.

Jess was still ranting. "Shaving shaming! I can't believe it."

I couldn't either. I'd been so shocked when Mom whispered that; I didn't know what to say. Humiliation had burned, sudden and cold, followed by anger. I wanted to snap: Cairo thinks I did a good enough job! Cairo doesn't think I need to paint my nails!

But honestly, I didn't know what Cairo thought.

My family hadn't extended a dinner invitation to him, and he hadn't asked. He'd just walked away earlier, making it clear I wasn't welcome back at his place tonight.

And that was the real reason my heart felt so heavy, and I wanted a good cry.

I could hear Jess talking to someone, probably Karnak. "Okay, okay! I'll ask." Her voice came back stronger. "Meli, the code six was because Cairo's not answering Karnak's texts. I told him I didn't want to bother you if you were climbing him like a tree, but he's worried about Cairo."

There wasn't a lot I could say except, "Oh."

I finished my second coat of nail polish while Jess clearly waited for me to say more.

Finally: "Well? Is everything alright? I told Karnak that if you two were screwing, it was no wonder Cairo hadn't texted back…"

When she trailed off expectantly, I sighed. "I don't know, Jess. I haven't seen him since this afternoon. I'm assuming he's at his house."

She gasped. "You're painting your nails at your place? Oh my god, all this time, I thought he'd gone to dinner with you!"

"Um…no." I tried to sound pithy but failed. My legs dropped from the ottoman, and I bent forward, over the cell phone, to work on my left hand. "And that wouldn't have gone well."

"Do not tell me your mother got all snooty—"

"It was Daddy, if you can believe it."

Jess was quiet for a moment. "Actually, I can't. What was he snooty about?"

"I don't know!" In my irritation, I blobbed pink across my second knuckle. "Fuck!"

"What?"

I wiped my hand in irritation. I was even a failure when it came to painting my nails! "I introduced them this afternoon. Daddy got all quiet and judgy, like…I dunno. Like Cairo wasn't good enough for me, or something."

Jess didn't answer, which surprised me. I wanted her to be angry on my behalf, I realized. In the quiet, I tried to steady my breathing, and I went back to work on my middle finger.

Finally, she said, "What if he doesn't think Cairo is good enough? I thought this was just a fake thing that turned into some fun."

It had turned fun.

Jess was my bestie; she'd taken one look at me the day after Cairo had made love to me and squealed happily. It was as if she'd known just by looking at me. Maybe she had; maybe I'd been smiling gloriously or something.

The point was, she knew we were having sex. She also knew I'd only told my family Cairo and I were dating because I didn't want them to hook me up with someone else.

On the other end of the phone, I heard Jess say, "Hon, I'm going for a walk. Yes, I'm fine—no, I don't know what's going on with him. You call—oh, just be a big boy, dudes can talk on the phone! Yes, I think he might need it!" Then the slam of the front door.

"Okay, Meli." Her voice was lower this time, the way it was when she walked and talked. "What's going on? This was just supposed to be a fake thing for your family."

"And my family doesn't like him," I pointed out, fanning my hand through the air, trying to dry it off. "So the point is moot."

"No, the point of this—this deception was so your family wouldn't make you bring Simon's brother to the wedding, right? Thank God they didn't drag him to Eastshore this week. The lie worked, right? They don't have to like Cairo, they just—Oh my god."

Thinking she'd tripped or something, I sat up suddenly. "What? Jess, what?"

"You fell in love with him," she whispered. "Didn't you? This isn't fake anymore, is it?"

I was staring at my stupid pink fingernails, a lump in my throat the size of Idaho. Which might not be the biggest state but is still pretty damn big.

"Meli?" Jess prompted.

"Yeah," I managed. I'd fallen in love with Cairo.

"Oh, Lord," she groaned, and I imagined her sitting on the curb, flopping back to lay on the grass. "What are you going to do?"

I swallowed. "What is there to do?" I switched hands, carefully holding the brush thingy in my left hand. "My family—"

"Oh, screw your family. What are you going to do about Cairo? Why aren't you at his house, boinking his brains out?"

The phrase made my lips twitch. "First of all, because that sounds messy. And second of all…" I took a deep breath. "He left me. Today. He made it clear he didn't want to see me tonight."

This morning, when we'd been in bed together, he'd held me tightly and kissed the top of my head, almost reverently. I realized now it had felt like a goodbye.

"Because of your family?"

"Because—" I blew out said deep breath. "I don't know. To him, this was all just pretend. He was doing me a favor. Maybe—maybe he thinks that it's over now since they're back."

Jess was quiet enough that I could hear the crickets in her yard. Actual crickets. Finally, though, she made a little noise like clearing her throat. "Has…Cairo said anything to you…about Mating? Since that night at the Waterfront with the guys?"

I remembered the way Sakkara had called me Cairo's Mate, and I swallowed, knowing it meant something more than girlfriend.

"I'm guessing he hasn't," Jess said quietly. "Meli, to orcs, Mating is like…"

I frowned at my pink fingernails. "Not dating?"

"No!" The word burst out on a kind of laugh. "It's not even marriage. It's something…they are. It's who they are. Karnak wasn't kidding when he said they get a new name when they're Mated; it changes who they are."

I could feel a sort of panic building in me. "So? What's this got to do with me?"

She made a clicking noise with her teeth. "Karnak says that Cairo is going through a Heat."

I shot upright. "What, like a dog who hasn't been spayed?"

"No—well, kinda." I could hear Jess's wince. "Apparently, if an orc finds his Mate, but she rejects him, it can be super painful for him. Have you noticed his eyes glowing green?"

"What?" I shrieked. "No! Yes, what? You think I'm his Mate?"

"I don't know what to think," Jess murmured. "I'm not the one to have this conversation with."

Appropriately, I burst into tears.

"Whoa, whoa, Meli," my best friend said soothingly. "It's not that bad."

"Yes it is," I managed between my sobs. "My fake boyfriend might be my real boyfriend only he doesn't want anything to do with me and my parents don't want us to be together in the first place and I don't know what to do!"

"Oh, honey, I wish I was there to hug you. You want me to come over? I can bring ice cream?"

"No," I managed, trying to screw the top of the nail polish back in with my new nails. "No, I'm half-naked and exhausted and emotional." I needed a tissue. How was I supposed to blow my nose with wet fingernails?

As I sniffled pitifully, I heard Jess stand. "Okay, Meli, here's the plan. Ignore everything I told you, right? Just get through your parents' visit, then we can figure out what to do about you and Cairo."

"I don't want to say goodbye to him, Jess!"

"I know, honey, I know. You love him, don't you?"

"I do!" I wailed.

"Go get in bed. Right now."

My head ached; my chest ached. My heart ached. I decided to obey. "Okay," I sniffed once I was stretched out on my bed, my fingers spread beside me so I wouldn't smudge anything.

"Okay, close your eyes, honey. Did you?"

"Yes," I murmured, glad for the darkness.

Jess's voice lowered. "Everything's going to be okay. I promise. You have me, and I will stand right beside you, through thick and thin. And Cairo has Karnak—all the guys—whether he wants them or not. We're going to get you through this."

"Like a family," I murmured.

"Yeah!" I could hear my bestie's smile. "Like a family. A better family, who thinks you two are perfect for one another." She paused, then lowered her voice. "Now, Meli, go to sleep. It'll be better in the morning."

Tomorrow was the Fourth of July. I had all day planned—working in the morning, then joining the sand-sculpting contest with Cairo in the afternoon. I needed all my rest, and frankly, I was too drained to do anything except sleep.

I decided to obey. "Goodnight, Jess," I mumbled.

She might've said something else, but I didn't hear.