Need You Now (Love in Unknown) Read Online Free PDF

me your number and insisted I give you a call to set up a date.”
    She’d known this was coming, but Mel still had a “deer in the headlights” moment. If she wanted to back out of this, now would be the time. But she’d asked for this. She wanted to make her mom happy and she needed to get on with her life. No more living in past hurts. “Yeah, she mentioned that you’d be calling. What did you have in mind?”
    Ian cleared his throat, a reassuring sign that he was just as nervous as she was. “I thought we could meet at Sage Place at seven tomorrow night.”
    Meeting at the restaurant. Smart move. Sage Place earned him extra points. The nicest restaurant in town was the perfect place for a quiet date. Fancy enough to be impressive, but also not so popular that they’d run into half the town there. More time to get to know each other a little better, less chance of getting run through the gossip mill. “That sounds perfect. I’ll see you then.”
    “I look forward to it.”
    “Who are you going to see?” Gage’s voice made her jump in her chair. He stood in the doorway, an eyebrow raised at her, obviously more interested in butting into her personal business than using the manners her mama taught him.
    Glaring at him, she sat her cell phone aside. “Ever heard of knocking? I swear, Gage Maddox, you’d think you were raised in a barn.”
    “Best friend’s privilege. So, who are you going to see?” Gage sat down across from her, looking rakishly handsome with his grin and nicely pressed navy blue uniform. She knew from their many phone conversations that he only wore the uniform when he had to go over to the courthouse on official business.
    “If you must know, Mr. Nosy, I’m going on a date tomorrow night.” Mel shuffled the papers, not wanting to meet his eyes. She loved Gage like a brother, but it felt awkward talking about her love life with him, especially given the fact that he was the brother of one of her exes.
    “A date? Really. Who with? Where’d you meet him?” Gage immediately shifted into big brother mode. She hated when he did that.
    She sighed, fighting the urge to press her fingers into her temples. She didn’t need an interrogation right now. “I haven’t met him yet. Mama set me up with him. His name’s Ian Douglas.”
    "A blind date? You? What in the world for?" Gage sat forward, bracing his arms on his knees. "Pretty woman like you, letting your mother set you up?"
    Mel rolled her eyes. Friendship obviously caused blindness as well as over-protectiveness. "In case you haven't noticed, I've never exactly been swimming in boyfriends. Besides, I haven't been in town long enough to meet anyone. Mama offered to set me up, so I let her. We're just going to dinner, Gage. Not eloping.”
    Gage knew better than anyone that she'd only had three boyfriends. Her second boyfriend, Daniel Ericson, had asked her out the day they started their second year in med school. They’d met at a mixer hosted by the dean of the medical school and hit it off right away. To Mel's eye, he’d been everything Caine Maddox wasn't. A scholarship student from Maine, Daniel worked the nightshift at the hospital as an orderly to pay for books and rent. Blond floppy hair and a wiry frame gave him a refreshingly adorable, nerdy appearance.
    For three years, they’d been the perfect med school couple. They rarely saw each other except to have sex or study together. Everything was easy and comfortable. If they talked about serious commitment, it was in that far away land of “after we’re done with residency.” Still, she’d thought she loved him and that he loved her. That is, until, on graduation day, she’d walked in on him screwing his roommate –-- whose name happened to be Christopher.
    "Ian Douglas? I think he's that new fireman that moved to town a few months back." Gage frowned a little, eyes narrowing. "Don't know too much about him. Keeps to himself. Which means you need to be careful."
    Mel shook