I should wear sackcloth,” Melanie said.
“I doubt it would help. Something tells me Richard’s too smitten to notice.”
“It’s a charade, dammit!” Melanie shouted, but Becky was already gone. Melanie heard her chuckling as Becky closed the front door behind her.
She scowled at the pile of résumés she’d wasted most of the day studying. It would serve Richard right if she told him to hire some inexperienced, incompetent idiot, but she wouldn’t. She’d make him take her seriously yet. After all, Becky was right about one thing—when their farce of a relationship ended, she needed to make sure that her professional reputation emerged unscathed.
Chapter Ten
Richard knew he’d made a tactical mistake canceling that meeting with Melanie the instant he saw her face. There was no welcome in her expression, no hint of a sparkle in her eyes. She was cool, polite and about as distant as any stranger he’d ever met. If he didn’t fix this fast, it was going to be a long evening.
Fortunately, he’d anticipated something like this and made a couple of quick adjustments to the evening’s schedule. One wouldn’t come into play until later, but for now he pulled an extravagant bouquet from behind his back. “I thought you might like these,” he said, watching her closely for some sign that the gesture was making inroads.
“They’re beautiful,” she said softly, burying her face in the fragrant assortment of lilies and roses. “Let me put them in water.” She fled the room without a backward glance.
Satisfied that at least she hadn’t tossed the flowers right back in his face, Richard took the time to look around her living room, which he’d barely glimpsed on his earlier visit. He supposed it was done in that style they called shabby chic, an assortment of old and new pieces assembled with a certain flair for color. It was not something he would ever have chosen for his own decor, but it was surprisingly inviting. If this evening hadn’t been so important to Destiny, he’d have been content to stay right here, even with Melanie’s gaze shooting daggers at him.
He glanced around when she came back with the flowers in a large crystal vase. She set it in the middle of the low, glass-topped coffee table, then regarded him with another cool glance.
“We should be going,” she said stiffly.
The formality grated. Richard couldn’t seem to stop himself from reaching for her. “Not until I’ve gotten this out of the way,” he murmured right before he kissed her.
She resisted for half a heartbeat, then sighed against his lips. When he finally released her, she stared at him with more heat in her eyes.
“You don’t play fair,” she accused.
“Only as a last resort,” he said. “I couldn’t think of another way to cut through all that ice.”
“You could have said you were sorry about canceling that meeting after I spent the entire day preparing for it,” she said. “It made me wonder if you really cared about my input after all. This deal of ours is only going to work if you take me seriously. Otherwise, I want out now.”
He’d guessed that would be her interpretation. “Of course I do, or I wouldn’t have asked for it,” he reassured her. “If we’re going to work together, you need to understand that my schedule changes all the time. It’s a fact of life. I have to respond to emergencies, react to last-second opportunities. I had two hours to get an offer on the table for a company I’ve been after for years. We really had to scramble once we found out there was a chance the management might look favorably on an offer from us in order to stave off a hostile bid from someone else. I was in with the attorneys right up until the deadline at five o’clock.”
Melanie looked somewhat satisfied with the explanation. “Okay, I overreacted, probably because I saw this as my first big chance to impress you. Plus, you seemed to take it for granted that I’d drop everything to get ready for that meeting, and you didn’t even bother to have your secretary reschedule.”
“Because I was going to see you tonight myself. I was hoping the flowers would get me off the hook,” he said.
“Admittedly, they were a nice touch,” she told him, a smile finally teasing at her lips. “But a few sincere words would have been better.” She gazed into his eyes. “Then, again, I imagine you’re not used to apologizing to anyone for your actions, are you?”
“I do when it’s necessary,” he said, disconcerted by her too-accurate assessment. He wasn’t used to anyone questioning his actions. What was it Destiny had said, that too many people bowed to his every whim? Taking another person’s feelings into consideration was going to be a new—and most likely humbling—experience, at least if tonight was any example.
“Which you deem to be the case how often?” Melanie inquired tartly. “Once a year? Less?”
“Less,” he admitted with a shrug. “I am sorry for canceling the meeting. My schedule was too tight in the first place, even without that unexpected opportunity to bid on the company I want. I should never have scheduled another meeting, but I knew how anxious you were to get started and I wanted you to see that I intend to listen to your advice.”
For the first time since his arrival, her expression brightened. “You do?”
Richard laughed. “Don’t let it go to your head. I said I’d listen, not that I’d act on it.”
She grinned. “That’s a start. I thought you were just dismissing me today because you figured whatever I had to say wasn’t important.”
“Honestly, Melanie, I do want to hear your impressions. You can tell me in the car.”
“How far away is this fund-raiser?”
“Ten minutes.”
She nodded. “I’ll talk fast. There are only a few people worth talking about anyway.”
When they walked outside, she stopped and stared at the limo waiting by the curb. “Very fancy.”
“I find it useful when I hope to get some work done.” He met her gaze as he ushered her into the luxurious car. “Or when I want to devote all of my attention to the person I’m with.”
“Oh, boy,” she murmured. “How am I supposed to concentrate after you say something sweet like that?”
“We could just put aside all these pesky business things till later and go back to kissing,” he suggested slyly. He was fairly certain he’d never get enough of kissing her.
When he started to lean toward her, she held him back. “I don’t think so. You didn’t hire me for my kissing prowess.”
He laughed. “You sure about that? We do have two deals, you know.”
She gave him a look filled with confusion. “Believe me, that has not slipped my mind for a single second. Something tells me it’s going to be keeping me awake at night.”
Richard bit back another laugh. “Trust me, sweetheart, I’ve had the same thought.” He regarded her hopefully. “If we’re going to be awake anyway, we could spend the night doing something interesting.”
She gave him a look clearly meant to freeze his libido in its tracks.
“I don’t think so,” she said icily.
Richard might have taken her at her word if there hadn’t been the tiniest flicker of pure fire in her eyes. He was counting on that flame to defrost all that ice eventually. He just prayed he could manage to control himself till then. Exercising his restraint was getting to be more difficult with every second he spent with her.
Melanie was startled when the first person they ran into as they entered the hotel ballroom was Mack. He seemed to be on the lookout for them, because he instantly latched on to Richard’s arm and pulled them right back into the