His to Claim by Opal Carew

not mad?”
    “No.” She smiled. “But I do think it says you have feelings for Melanie.” She rested
     her hand on her chest. “Which I think is sweet. Especially since I know she’s sweet
     on you. Have you told her how you feel?”
    He shrugged. “I don’t know how I feel.” Jessica should know more than most. He’d believed
     he was totally in love with her, and she had felt the same about him, but in the end
     they both realized it was Dane she was meant to be with.
    She pointed at the paper. “Really? You’re sticking with that?”
    He scowled and pushed the paper aside. “Damn, what a shitstorm.”
    The headline read, SAVAGE, BUT NO KISS , then the article talked about how Rafe Ranier, head of the huge conglomerate Ranier
     Industries, confronted lead singer of the band Savage Kiss. It went on to reveal the
     fact that Rafe was also Storm, popular guitarist with the band, though they didn’t
     have all the facts straight.
    “I hear Dane isn’t too thrilled with you. He’s set up a few meetings with key business
     partners to discuss the article and ensure they aren’t uncomfortable with a rock musician
     being one of the executives at Ranier Industries.”
    “Great, so I’ve disappointed my brother, punched your brother—”
    “And given him some great press.”
    “None of that matters.” Rafe rubbed his hands over his face. “Not when I’ve disappointed
     Melanie. She stormed out of the restaurant and I doubt she’ll even talk to me again.”
    “She might be annoyed,” Jessica said, “but I’m sure she’ll talk to you again. Especially
     if you tell her how you feel.”
    *   *   *
    At a knock on her apartment door, Melanie put down her magazine and walked across
     the room. She peered through the peephole to see Storm standing on the other side
     of the door. Her heart leapt at the sight of him, but lingering annoyance still remained.
    She pulled open the door. “Hello.”
    “Hi,” he said with a sheepish smile, then held up a bouquet of flowers. White roses
     and a stem of pink lady slipper orchids.
    She took the flowers and breathed in the delicate scent of the roses. “They’re lovely.
     Thanks.”
    “May I come in?”
    She nodded and stepped back. He came in and closed the door.
    “I’ll go put these in water.”
    Storm followed her into the kitchen, where he watched as she grabbed a vase from the
     cupboard over the sink and filled it with water, then cut the ends off the stems before
     she put the flowers into the vase.
    “Melanie, I want to apologize for yesterday.”
    “Apologize for what exactly?” It was great that he wanted to make amends, but was
     he just apologizing in general, or did he understand what he’d done wrong?
    “Trick question, right?” He gazed at her, as if seeking a clue to what she was looking
     for. “I’m sorry I interrupted your lunch with Travis, and that I started a confrontation
     with him. And I’m sorry I hit him.”
    Surprise rocked through her. “You hit him?”
    “I take it you haven’t seen the newspaper today.”
    “It was in the paper?”
    Storm sighed. “Yeah. It seems someone took pictures on their cell phone. I guess it
     was a slow news day.”
    “Or they thought their audience would be interested in an executive from a huge company
     getting in a fight with a rock musician. I bet your brother isn’t too happy with you.”
    “True.”
    “Oh, I guess Jessica isn’t either, since it was her brother you hit.”
    He shrugged. “She seemed to think he probably deserved it.”
    Melanie laughed despite herself. “Is Travis okay?”
    “Yeah. I didn’t mark that pretty face of his.”
    “That’s good.”
    At Storm’s sharp sidelong glance, she could tell his jealousy was as strong as ever.
    “So back to your apology, which wasn’t sufficient.”
    “Why not?”
    At her frown, he said, “Huh.” Then he scratched his head. “Uh … could you help me
     out here?”
    Damn. Men never got it.
    “You want to