“Nonsense. I’ll get your drink. I’m going to put it in a to−go cup, and then we are going to talk about business. Now, sit down and relax. Don't stand. I don't know how much more my back can take helping you up off the floor."
“You’re a funny guy,” she shook her finger at Ben, and he gave her an award-winning smile, leaving us alone.
We didn’t say anything. We sat in awkward silence, and the only thing that kept running through my mind was how much things had changed. I used to be so in love with this woman and staring at her now made my heart flicker a little with the old emotion. She was always so good at anything and everything. I had to prove myself somehow to her when we were in school. I had to be better at something. She was always so happy go lucky, bubbly, outgoing, smart, and yes, clumsy, but in a way that suited her. I couldn't imagine her not being a total accident waiting to happen.
Even after that time we got drunk on the teacher's punch and kissed, we had competed. And God that kiss … let me tell you; it shattered my world. Nothing had felt better than her lips—even to this day—I had never felt a pair as soft. The next day, when I was walking up to her at the dance, she had simply blanked me. Blanked me! Probably thinking she was too good for me. She hadn't known about my dad. Hadn't known I wasn't from the right side of the tracks. That I was just a boy with a scholarship to a good school, no one knew. I never took anyone with me home to meet my family. But I'd opened for her a bit that night. Not that I'd shared any secret. No, I'd just...been more present. Not just set on being Mr. Perfect.
After that, the battle between us turned into a war, and even now, silently, it raged on. Once a year or so, I Googled her to see what she was up to, and she seemed like a great person. She loved charities and fundraising. Melinda did good for the world, and I admired that. If only she hadn't had that Little Miss Perfect attitude.
I’d never tell her that I admired her, but that was okay. She didn’t need to know that I thought about her even after all this time. She didn't need another fan. If I could remember, men had thrown themselves at her.
“Alright, let’s get to work, shall we?” Ben sat down and slid the to−go cup over to Melinda and tossed his arm over the back of the booth. He was nowhere near touching her since she settled in the corner next to the wall, but it still annoyed me. This jealousy igniting in me was kind of foreign. I hadn’t felt it since high school when she went on a date with Brian Edwards.
Fucking still hated that guy. For no other reason than that. A man must hate at least one man for something silly, mustn’t he?
Ben started to go over her resume with me and shared some ideas she had to market the resort—Melinda chipping in here and there. I just sat there and listened, aggravated that her ideas sounded so damn good. I wanted to pick her apart. I wanted to tell her that a spoiled little socialite like herself wouldn’t do well here in the mountains in stiletto heels, which was what she was wearing right now. Hell, it was no wonder she fell over herself. No woman could walk in those things.
“How do you think you’re going to fit in here?” the words were out of my mouth before I could stop them.
Ben's smiled faded fast, and he set the paper down on the table. Melinda, on the other hand, didn't look offended. She batted her eyelashes and sipped her drink.
“Chris…” Ben whispered.
“No. I’m just curious. You are from the city. It’s different here.”
“I’m ready for different.”
“Well, you can’t climb a mountain in six-inch heels, Melinda,” I crossed my arms on the table and leaned forward, licking my dry lips.
She mirrored my position, grabbed her resume from Ben, and slid it in front of me. “Watch me.”
“Ohhh, tough gal,” Ben laughed.
The challenge in her voice made lust boil my blood, but it all came to a quick end when Bess showed up next to the table again, hands on her hips, pissed off with the bruise quickly forming. Maybe she'd run out to hide her tears, not her bruise? Her right jaw had started to swell, and it took all I had not to laugh, but I had to be careful with her. She was important in these parts. Everyone wanted to be her, and every guy wanted to fuck her. Except me. Sure, she was hot, but she only wanted to snag someone like me for ego purposes. I couldn’t fuck her for fun, and I would never be in a relationship with a woman like that. It was a hard balance—I had to be friendly, but I couldn’t get too close and give her the wrong idea. Her father owned most of this town while I was still an outsider. And being an outsider, I had to be nice to as many people as possible, or I'd get thrown out headfirst.
It was stressful. On top of getting everything ready for the opening, I worried about my brother being in rehab in town, and now Melinda was in town, resurfacing memories I thought were long gone.
After speaking with the doctor, he had informed me that Charlie staying with me right out of the hospital was a bad idea. My brother needed rehab, and then afterward, he would stay with me. It gave me time to “drug proof” the house. I couldn't drug proof the entire town, but at least in the house, I could keep him safe.
“You owe me an apology,” Bess said, tapping her foot against the hardwood.Tap, tap, tap.
Melinda swallowed her drink and stood. “I am so sorry. You’re right. I didn’t mean to hit you in the face. I tripped. If there is anything I can do to make it up to you, please let me know.”
Bess narrowed her dark eyes at Melinda and huffed. "I will. I only came back to grab my jacket." She yanked it off the rack and kissed me on the cheek. “See you around, Chris.”
I waited until she left to wipe my cheek on my shoulder, and Melinda sat down with a confident demeanor and started talking business again with Ben.
I had too much on my plate for this. With Melinda being here, everything just got a million times harder, and looking at her, while she enraged me, it was like coming up for fresh air all at the same time.
How the hell was this going to work?
