Mail Order Stepbrother Read Online Free Page B

it.”
    Another smiling emoticon filled the screen. “Very efficient….which actors send you running to the local theater?”
    “Robert Downey Jr., Julianne Moore, and especially lately Shailene Woodward.”
    “Yeah? You’re in to those teen, dystopian type movies?”
    “Some of them. I have a—“
    “Patient” is what she was about to write, but she suddenly realized she didn’t want to tell him that she was a doctor. After some of her past experiences, she thought that it might be better to wait on that disclosure. Instead, she wrote:
    “—friend who loves the books and she made me go see the movies.”
    “They aren’t that bad.”
    “You’ve seen them?”
    “Yes. I could make up an excuse as to why, but the truth is…I have a niece who is a huge fan.”
    “That’s a good excuse.”
    “Tell my poker buddies.”
    Melanie laughed. She could almost picture him, even though she had no idea what he looked like, a cigar hanging from his lips as he tried to explain to a roomful of beer-swilling, poker-playing guys why he went to see a teen movie.
    What a scene!
    “You’re laughing at me,” he said before she had a chance to type in a response. “I can feel it.”
    Melanie laughed again even as she wrote a denial.
    He was so easy to talk to. She quickly found herself debating who would most like win in a one-on-one fight, Iron Man with his lack of supernatural powers, or Thor and his magic hammer. Nash was quite knowledgeable about a great many things, from pop culture to classical music to literature, keeping her on her toes with every topic they covered in their hour’s long conversation. She didn’t even realize how much time had passed until her computer flashed a warning about her quickly diminishing battery power.
    “My computer is about to die,” she told him regretfully.
    “Is it really that late? I guess I should go home and get an hour or two of sleep before it all starts again in the morning.”
    “Sorry to keep you up so late.”
    “Didn’t even notice the passing time.”
    Melanie smiled, glad he felt the same way she did. “Should we meet again tomorrow night? Maybe I’ll even remember to pack my power cord.”
    “I’d like that. Same time?”
    “Same time, same place.”
    “I’ll see you then. Have a good night, Melanie.”
    She closed her computer, unable to wipe away the smile that was glued to her lips. What were the chances of finding a perfect match the first time out? She wouldn’t have believed it if it had happened to someone else. And maybe she shouldn’t believe it for herself.
    But she desperately wanted to.
    ***
    “How was the honeymoon?”
    “Oh, darling, it was everything a girl could have asked for,” Melanie’s mother crooned in her ear. “We stayed in all these beautiful places, and the yacht? Just sublime! I never could have imagined anything better.”
    “Yeah, the pictures were pretty amazing.”
    “They were, weren’t they?”
    No humility. No embarrassment. Who was this woman and what had she done with Melanie’s mother? Funny how a little money could change a person.
    “I should go, Mom. I’m on call today.”
    “But you’re at home. You can talk for a little while, can’t you?”
    There was a touch of disappointment in her mother’s voice. Melanie could never stand to disappoint her mother.
    “Yes, of course.”
    “Good.” Clearly relieved now. “So, Burton’s birthday is in a few months. I want you and Burt and Alyssa and her family to all make an appearance.”
    “Burt? Have you even met him yet?”
    “No. But Burton assures me that his stubborn son will show up for the party, even if he has to make certain threats against him to get him there.”
    “Sounds like a tightknit family.”
    “Yes, well, Burt blames his father for a few things that went wrong in the past. But, I’m hoping that if we can get the family together in one room, we can convince him that his father is not the monster he thinks he is.”
    Melanie remembered