Despite her best efforts, Mel’s visits to her parents’ house were still strained. They were still hurt and she couldn’t really explain it to them without implicating her sister. Occasionally Mel would go for a walk with her father, but their conversations now would focused on her work, not but nothing personal. Her talks with her mother were loaded with unspoken meaning. And her grandmother just looked at her, shook her head in disgust, and poured another martini. It was with heavy heart on night that Mel sat in the living room of harry’s home, looking out at the beautiful view, and wondering if she’d ever be able to fit in her old life again.
Her day had not been improved by work today. One of the foster children that Mel represented had run away from home. And Mel was trying to work out what were the main issues within the foster home that coursed the child to run away from home. And now she has one more issues to deal with Aria. She had be granted full authority as Aria’s adopted mother, but the one problem now is if harry would accept it.
“Mel?”
“Harry. Hi, I didn’t expect you home early,” she said sitting up and passing her hands briefly over her eyes to make sure that he didn’t see any bits of tears.
“Are you alright?” he asked gently.
“Yeah just a hard long day,” she admitted. “How was yours?”
“It was fine.” He took a hard look at her, but didn’t pry. “I’m headed out of town next week for work. I would be leaving on Monday and get back by the weekend.”
“Does that mean that I have to pack as well?”
“Nah, it just a business trip, but I would arrange plans for you to visit the other side 0f the Styles family in London.”
Mel nodded. “Okay. Thanks for letting me know.”
“Do you want a glass of wine?”
“Thanks but not tonight. There are leftover foods in the fridge if you want to eat,” she added.
Watching him leave, Mel looked back out the window into the night. Sitting here wasn’t helping her frame of mind, she thought. Maybe she’d go down to the kitchen and keep harry company while he ate, before she informed him about Aria.
When she walked into the Kitchen, harry was already eating.
“So what made your day so trying?” he asked as he ate.
Mel sighed. “I went and see my parents. They still haven’t forgive me for this,” she said, waving her hands back and forth between them.
Harry shrugged. “It’ll work out.”
“It might or it might not. Even when Lilli come home things might not ever get back to how they were.”
“Is that a bad thing? If they don’t see you for who you are, as an adult able to make her own decisions?”
“Because harry, they are my family and I know that I hurt them.”
“Maybe they hurt you too by not trusting you to make the right choice based on your life. You don’t need to run everything you do to them, Rose”
“No, but this was marriage. They have a reasonable expectation of being informed before their daughter goes off and marries someone.”
“Lilli took off with some guy. They’re worried about that but you marriage?”
“Of course they are, but that’s normal behaviour for Lilli.”
“I don’t understand the problem here- what’s good for Lilli is not acceptable for Rose”
“No I don’t think so. But they are not happy with me for this, just like you are not always happy with me.”
“But I am not family.”
“Yes you are. You’re my husband.”
“Not exactly,” he said dryly. “Our relationship is based on a business arrangement, not on anything else.”
“I am aware of that,” Mel returned. “But we’ve approached the boundaries of a friendship.”
Harry shrugged. “We’re not friends, Rose. We get along just fine and we play our role well. But I have friends.”
“Do you have the same definition for a friendship that you have for a relationship? A mutual acknowledgment of what you can get from each other?”
“Rose...”
“Oh never mind. I’ve got a few things to do before going to bed.”
“Oh and harry I got granted Aria’s authority to be her adopted mum.”
“What? I don’t like kids?”
“See that one of the reasons why I question your humanity.”
“Well I am cold heartless, remember!”
“You know what never mind.”
“Rose, I don’t know how to deal with kids.”
“You may even like her. Eventually.”
“Are you trying to use Aria as an excuse to leave our marriage?”
“How dare you, harry?” Mel couldn’t believed that harry would say such a thing. She stood up and grabbed harry’s plate, putting it into the sink.
Harry stood as well. “Rose, you’re overreacting again.”
For some reason, harry words hit Mel hard. After a bad day at work and a difficult visit with her parents and now her frustrating husband was criticism her feelings was like throwing petrol on fire. Her words exploded out of her in frustration.
“Overreacting? Because we have different opinions about relationship and about me being Aria’s adopted mother? You assume that I’m wrong about our relationship so you want to assume too that I can’t be a mum to Aria?”
“Calm down, Rose. This isn’t worth getting emotional about.”
“No? Then what is, harry? Are you ever emotional? Other than showing some slight amount of anger or annoyance at me? Tell me something, harry. Do you feel anything? Ever?”
The look on harry face was unreadable, but Mel was too angry to dwell on his feeling now.


Harry POV
Something in Rose words, seemed to snap harry for response. He moved faster than Rose have ever seen, in seconds he was nest to her, his hands gripping her arms, his entire body pushing her back until she was up against the kitchen wall. He moved forward, slid his hand down her arms until they reached her wrist. His face was inches from hers, his eyes burning down at her as he responded roughly, “Feel? Do I feel anything? What do you think Rose?”
She gasped, her eyes flying up to meet his. “Harry, What....?”
He continued as if he hadn’t heard her. “For months, I’ve watched you in my house. Out with my friends and their girlfriends, talking with my sister and even my aunty. I’ve seen you in shorts, in dresses designed to increase my blood pressure to boiling point, even in your bathrobe. Gosh and you ask me if I feel anything, Rose?”
Still holding her hands with one hand, he moved the other up to the side of her neck, causing waves of sensation to give out from her core. Rose closed her eyes, moaning softly.
“What about you, Rose? What do you feel?” he asked softly, his voice husky with need. He gently kissed the side of her neck, behind her ear. He felt her writhed around him, but he held on tight. She was expertly making him want her just as he wants her. And that was the problem, he was in control and she was at his mercy, but he didn’t want it like this. He wanted Rose to accept is desire for him by not forcing her.
Without a word, he let her go, stepping back as she fought for breath, cowered against the wall.
“Don’t do that again,” she said quietly, once she’d caught her breath.
“You asked, Rose. I was just responding to your question,” he replied evenly.
“No, harry. You were making a different point. And I got it,” she said with a sigh.
But harry just pinned her with his gaze, the same predatory gaze that he knows caused chills to run up Rose’s spine. “I’m not sure you do. I want you Rose. True, that wasn’t part of the original deal, and I’m not the kind of man who forces himself on others.
“No I know that.”
He nodded, moving away from her toward the door. “Good night, then.”

Notes

Would harry accept Aria as his?