Forever and Always by Beverley Hollowed Read Free Book Online Page B

brightly at her and seemed almost embarrassed.
    A man appeared at their side and ushered them to a quiet table at the back of the restaurant. Sam introduced Melanie to the man who showed them to their table as they took their seats. His name was Joe. He took Melanie’s hand and kissed the back of it and smiled broadly at her then he turned to Sam and told him he should hang on to such a beautiful young lady.
    The table was set for two and was covered in a snow white table cloth and in the centre the was a small candle flickering bright even though the effect was lost a little because it was still daylight out. Never the less the atmosphere was romantic and comfortable.  Well it should have been but for some reason Sam had become suddenly quiet and Melanie felt a little uneasy.
    “I am sorry about Rachel” he said once they had ordered their food. “The down side to a small town is everyone knows your business”.
    “I guess so” Melanie replied not completely sure what Sam was really apologising for.
    They chatted all the way through lunch and as time passed, Sam became more relaxed again. Melanie discovered that Sam was actually from New York. His Mom was a doctor and his Dad was the CEO of a large multinational company. His brother Andrew, who was six years older than him was a lawyer and lived in San Francisco. His parents were currently in the Far East. His Dad had some business out there and they decided to make a holiday of it. Sam had just finished Pre Med in collage and was due to start at Harvard in September.
    Melanie felt a little overwhelmed. Sam was obviously from a wealthy family and was also extremely clever. She was just plain old Melanie O’ Reilly from Swords in Dublin. Yeah her dad was a solicitor but he wasn’t some high flying Lawyer from a posh Law firm in San Francisco. Suddenly she felt so out of her depth.
    She had lost her appetite. So as Alex sat happily chatting away, she just picked at her food and listen to him quietly.
    After he paid the bill, he took Melanie’s hand and led her back out onto the street.
    “Are you ok” He asked as they walked back towards his car. “You have gone very quiet”.
    “I’m fine” she replied staring down at the ground. He stops abruptly and pulls her in front of him and slides his arms around her
    “I know how girls work Melanie” he said staring deeply into her eyes. “And when a girl says she is “fine” well that is never a good thing. I want you to talk to me. You know you can tell me anything. Please don’t shut me out already. Give me a chance”. Then he leans forward and kisses her softly on the lips.
    Melanie’s head spun. It was soft and gentle but it was perfect. He pulled back slowly and smiled. Then still holding her hand he started back towards his car.
    “Come on I want to show you something” he said as she followed him closely. She knew right then she would follow him anywhere.
    When they reached the car he pulled the scarf he bought her from its bag and carefully wraps it around her. “You are beautiful Melanie, you know that right”.
    “How is this happening to me?” Melanie thought to herself. “This doesn’t happen to 17 year old girls from Dublin. This happens to pretty blonde girls that live in Beverly Hills”.  Melanie’s head felt dizzy. Sam once again opened the door for her to climb in. Then closed it and hurried around to his side. A couple of minutes later they were driving out of town in the other direction. Melanie glanced over at Sam and he quickly sho t her a look and smiled brightly at her. God he was gorgeous.
    Ten minutes later they pulled off the main road and down a little sandy side road. After a minute or two they pulled to a stop. Sam jumped out of the car and hurried around to open Melanie’s door and took her hand as she stepped out of the car. Their bodies were so close together they were almost touching. Sam traces across his finger across Melanie lower lip and he smiles at her. “Come