“I’m pretty sure he knows that now. He felt my ring when I shook his hand.”
“You are to never touch him again. I’m going to have to talk to him tomorrow.”
“Max,” I laughed, shaking my head and I walked out onto the sidewalk. My car was parked out front, but I wanted to wait until I was off the phone with Max before heading home. “It’s fine. He was an arrogant asshole who didn’t have any idea until it was too late and then I put him in his place. Trust me, nothing happened.”
“And nothing will. You stay far away from him, Melanie.” There was silence on his end of the phone. I pulled it away to check to see if the call had dropped, but Max was still there. “Please.”
“I have no intention of ever seeing Jack again, Max. Trust me, that’s the last thing on my mind.”
I turned toward my car to see the one and only Jack Moran standing next to it. The look on his face unmistakable. He had heard every word I had told Max. From the look in his eyes, I couldn’t tell if he believed the promise I had told Max or if he was calling my bluff.
I knew I was going to stay far away from Jack but I just had to get out of the damn state first.
One
Jack
Five Years Later
“Lookwho decided to finally show his face around here.” Greg pushed open the door to the fortress. It’s what I called my office, since it was lined with computers for different projects I was currently working on. Everyone also knew to never come into my office but my twin brother knew no boundaries. Except when it came to his wife and our mom.
“Go away, Greg.”
I didn’t look up from the screen in front of me as I added the blurb to the cover I was working on. I was part owner of The Ink Well and the head of the publishing department but my main focus was graphics and marketing. It fueled me to make photos and videos that had our books flying off the shelves. It was up to the author to write the book but it was up to me and my two right hands, Marcus and Stella, to sell it to the world.
“Nope. Max heard you were in the office and is coming this way. Figured you’d need back up.” I finally looked up from the screen, my glasses falling from the bridge of my nose. I only wore them when I was on the computer or drawing.
“Jack!” Max’s bellow could be heard from the end of the hall.
Shit.
Max was the owner of The Ink Well, while myself, my brother and our best friend Chase, were all partners in the company. And while we were all very close, I thought I had more time today before Max was going to blow on me. It was probably that new receptionist, Myrtle, downstairs that ratted me out. Maryann would have never done that since we had an agreement. I liked my privacy and I hated visitors.
I hadn’t seen anyone but my brother since last week at Max’s son’s birthday party. Apollo had turned seven and it was a get-together for not just our friends but for the whole company and all of Apollo’s friends. All had been going smooth, until Max’s half-sister Melanie came charging in.
Okay. It wasn’t charging but that’s what it felt like because that’s what I saw her as. She was this bull on a mission and couldn’t be stopped but it drove me to her. She was sassy but classy and my heart practically beats out of my chest when she was around but in the end, she was married. She’d left almost five years ago to move to California for her husband’s job and I’d met her just months before she left.
I’d walked into my mom’s office one day and there she was, sitting there in brown suede dress pants and matching boots, with a cream shirt and navy blazer to cover it up. She was the epitome of sophistication and it was no wonder that I hadn’t realized she was Max’s sister at first. I’d seen a photo of Max and Melanie in his office many years ago but hadn’t equated that the little girl in the photo had been the same woman sitting in front of my mom. Max had told us a little about his sister but she’d only come to the office once and I was on a dead line and couldn’t leave the fortress. Besides that, holidays with the four of us weren’t usually a thing as we all had obligations amongst our families first and then work second.
What I’d learned about Melanie was that she was four years younger than Max and five years younger than me but you wouldn’t have known it by just looking at her. She was a woman who could command any room she walked in to, which was why when I first saw her it was almost like love at first sight and as the years have gone by that feeling hasn’t seem to have gone away.
“Where the hell have you been?” Max came bursting through my already open door. He didn’t stop to see Greg standing there but beelined for me, stopping at my computer and leaning over it. Normally he didn’t care where I worked, as long as the work got done but this last week, after seeing Melanie, I fled.
I left the party moments after she got there, not telling anyone. I went home to Helen for the week and spent time with my mom and dad. I needed a distraction knowing that Melanie was back in town.
I remembered every little thing when she walked into Max’s house. She was wearing a white with pink floral dress and holding onto the hand of a little girl who wore a dress that perfectly matched. The other thing I noticed was that thin ring I had felt on her hand five years ago was no longer there.
She’d said my name and I’d said hers but I couldn’t allow myself to stay in the same space that she was, especially not with Max around. After I first met Melanie, Max chewed me out for even looking at her. He was more pissed that I, in her terms, “came on to her.” If I had known she was married, I wouldn’t have but a part of me was elated that we’d had that interaction without the knowledge. She may have been married but the blush that had crept across her face the moment she saw me, well, it fueled the fire.
She might have left the state of Georgia with her husband but that fire stayed lit. She was on a pedestal, that no other woman came close to, and it’s why I never bothered to try and find someone else. No one would have ever been able to compare to her.
Now that she was back in town, it was my chance to find out what had happened and create a plan for what I wanted to happen. If she was no longer married, I wanted her. If she was with someone, be it her husband or any other man, I would probably have to quarantine myself or move out of state.
“Good morning, Max.” I looked down at my computer and continued to work like he wasn’t in my personal space.
“Cut the shit, Jack.”
“Cursing this early? That’s not like you, Max.” Greg spoke up behind where Max was standing. For only a second he turned away and the look he must have given Greg had him leaving and closing the door behind him.
