“Dance with me,” the words slipped out of my mouth before I could register them.
“What’s going on here?” Max stepped in at that moment, placing a hand over mine that had Melanie’s wrist.
“Nothing, Max,” I snapped at him. I had Melanie right where I wanted her in my life and I didn’t need Max butting in.
“Let her go, Jack. She doesn’t want to be here.”
I looked Melanie in the eyes, knowing one thing for sure. It wasn't that Melanie didn’t want to be here, it was the fact that Melanie didn’t understand why she wanted to be here and that terrified her.
“Jack, I’m going to go home.”
Max’s hand dropped from ours and a look of triumph crossed his face.
“If that’s what you want, love.”
This time when I said the nickname, all of our friends could hear. I watched Max’s composure falter and Alexa and Lilly gasp and cover their mouths. The only response I cared about was Melanie’s and the nickname did nothing to her or at least she didn’t let on that it did anything for her.
“I’ll see you around, Jack.”
She turned her wrist in mine, grabbing for my hand, and then squeezed twice, before she pulled away and walked out the front doors of the bar.
I paid no attention to the reprimanding that Max was giving me about the nickname I’d chosen for his sister or the fact that Alexa was trying to calm him down. All I could focus on was the lingering feeling of Melanie’s hand in mine and the smell of the alcohol we’d shared.
I had no idea when I was going to see her again but where I’d thought I’d might lose hope before, now I knew I had an in with her. She said she’d see me around and that she would. I’d learn her schedule just as Max had because right now, all I wanted to do was win this woman over and that started right this second.
Five
“Arethere any new clients on the roster that I’m not aware of?” I asked Max, looking up from my laptop.
“No new clients this month. We took on almost double what we normally do last month and I want us to be ahead rather than behind.” Max fumbled with the stack of papers in his hands as he addressed not just me but the entire conference room.
Every beginning of the month we did an overview of what our projections were and this month was a busy one for me. Luckily it wasn’t unusual for my plate to be full with designs.
“I have down twenty covers to make, sixty teasers, and ten formats. Does that sound correct or were there any last-minute adjustments?” I looked around the room to Chase who shook his head no and then to Alexa who was looking over her spreadsheets on her laptop.
“I have a client who is wanting to take a step back for family reasons and will be pushing back her dates two months. I’ll send you over her information, Jack, so you can take her off your list for this month, to lighten your load.”
“Much appreciated.”
I scanned over my spreadsheet again, expecting Max to dismiss us, as we’d been going over specs for two hours but then the door to the conference room opened and in walked Melanie.
“Melanie,” Max jumped out of his chair, heading straight for his sister with open arms. “What brings you in today?”
“I wanted to grab lunch today but I didn’t realize you were in a meeting. Sorry, guys.” She peaked around Max, sending us all an apologetic smile.
“I was about to order lunch from Bakers and pick it up for all of us. We have a few clients that I need to discuss with everyone before we leave for the day.”
“I can go pick those up, that way you don’t need to worry about leaving!” Seeing the energy radiate from Melanie as she talked to her brother put a smile on my face and had me forgetting about the work that was sitting right in front of me.
“I can go with you.” The words were mine but I had no control of them coming out of my mouth. It was like my voice had a mind of its own. All eyes turned toward me but the only ones I cared about were Melanie’s.
“It’s a lot of food so I’ll help.”
“I don’t think that’s necessary, Jack.” Max raised an eyebrow at my enthusiasm to spend even just a second with his sister, even if it was just grabbing sandwiches from across the street.
“I could use the help,” Melanie’s voice was soft but I definitely heard the words that came from her mouth. She was defending what I had said and was going against her brother’s wishes. Max’s head shot back to his sister and they shared a moment in front of us all, until Max turned around, muttering under his breath, and waved his hand at me, dismissing me for the moment to help his sister.
“Yes,” I hissed to myself but it was clear that Max heard me from the glare he shot me as I got out of my chair. I placed my glasses on top of my computer as I stood and made my way over to Melanie. Max wasn’t the only one who heard my excitement, because when I finally stood in front of Melanie, she rolled her eyes but I saw something else on her face. A slight smirk that she tried to hide by turning away and leaving the room first.
