Money Man's Fiancée Negotiation (11 page)

On the conference table was a cake, then he noticed the hand-drawn banner draped from the ceiling.

Congratulations, Mr. Melody Trent.

P
eople started milling over to Ash, shaking his hand and congratulating him on his engagement. Brock and Flynn and Jason Reagert. Gavin Spencer, Celia Taylor and Celia’s fiancé, Evan Reese. There were even a few public relations people, several creatives and a large group of his financial people from the fifth floor.

Everyone knew.

Dammit. So much for it not being a big stink when he dumped Melody.

Between handshakes someone stuck a drink in his hand and he took a long swallow. “You guys really didn’t have to do this,” he said.

“When we heard the news we knew we had to have some sort of celebration,” Flynn said. “We wanted to invite Melody, but Rachel didn’t think she would be feeling up to it.”

Jesus, what a nightmare that would have been.

Rachel, the person he assumed was responsible for this fiasco, was on the opposite side of the room so it took him a few minutes to make his way over. When he did, she gave him a huge smile and hugged him. “Congratulations, Mr. Williams.”

“You are so fired,” he said, hugging her back.

She knew it was an empty threat, so she just patted his arm and said, “You’re welcome.”

Celia approached and handed him another drink. “I figured you could use it. I know you hate big productions like this.”

“Thank you.” He accepted the glass and took a long drink.

“I can’t tell you how thrilled I am for the two of you,” she said. “I know how hard the past couple of months have been. I’m so glad everything worked out. Have you set a date?”

He took another slug of his drink. “Not yet.”

“I hope you’re not planning to elope, or get hitched in Vegas. You know everyone here is expecting an invitation.”

Well, then, everyone here was going to be very disappointed.

He finished his drink and someone gave him another, then someone else handed him a slice of cake. As desperately as he wanted to get the hell out of there, he was more or less stuck until the party wound down around three. And though he could have easily drunk himself into a stupor, he stopped at five scotches—although two were doubles. He wasn’t drunk by any means, but tipsy enough to know he shouldn’t be driving.

When everyone but the executives had cleared out, Ash figured it was finally safe to get the hell out of there. He
hadn’t gotten squat done. Not work anyway, and he was in no condition to go back to his office.

“I’m going to call a cab and head home,” he told everyone.

“We’re heading out, too,” Celia said. “Why don’t you let us drive you? You don’t mind, do you, Evan?”

Her fiancé shrugged. “Fine with me. If you want, Celia could take you home in your car and I can follow. That way you won’t have to take a cab into work.”

“That would be great,” Ash said.

Feeling pleasantly buzzed, he said his goodbyes to everyone else, and the three of them headed down to the parking garage.

When he and Celia were alone in the car and on their way to his condo she told him, “There’s something we need to talk about.”

“Is something wrong?”

“No. Everything is actually going great. But it’s clear that the long-distance relationship Evan and I have is going to get tedious.”

“But things are okay with you two?”

“Yeah. Things are so good, I’m moving to Seattle at the end of the year.”

Ash hated to see her go, but he wasn’t exactly surprised. She had fallen pretty hard for Evan. He just wanted her to be happy. “I guess this means you’re leaving Maddox?”

“Technically, no. I’ll be handling all of the advertising for Reese Enterprises as a consultant for Maddox. I’ll just be doing it from Seattle.”

“Wow, that’s great.”

“I told Brock and Flynn I was thinking of leaving, and they didn’t want to lose me.”

“That’s because you’ve made them a lot of money. They know a good thing when they see it.”

“I’m excited, but I’m going to miss everyone here.”

“Who’s going to take your place?”

“His name is Logan Emerson, he’s going to start working with me Monday. I’ll train him for a couple of weeks, then I’ll be exclusively on the Reese account. I’m sure I’ll be doing a lot of traveling back and forth until I make the move.”

“Well, we’ll miss you, but it sounds like an awesome opportunity.”

They reached Ash’s building and he directed her down into the parking garage, then they walked up to the street where Evan was waiting.

“Thanks for the ride,” he said.

Celia smiled. “No problem. See you Monday. And say congratulations to Melody for us. We should all get together for dinner sometime, when she’s feeling better.”

“Definitely,” he said, knowing that would never happen.

Ash waved as they drove off, then he went upstairs. The condo was quiet so he figured Mel was probably out for a walk, but then he saw her key on the counter. He walked to her room and looked in but she wasn’t in bed, then he heard water turn on in her bathroom. He crossed the room, and since the bathroom door was open, he looked in.

Hot damn. Melody was in the shower.

He wondered if she might be in the mood for company. After watching her watch that video the other day, he had the feeling it could get very interesting.

He shrugged out of his jacket and tossed it on the bed, then kicked off his shoes.

He stepped into the bathroom, not being particularly stealthy, but Mel was rinsing shampoo from her hair so her head was thrown back and her eyes were closed. Suds ran down her back and the curve of her behind, and all he
could think about was soaping up his hands and rubbing them all over her.

He waited for her to open her eyes, so she would see him there, but when she finally did she turned with her back to him. She grabbed a bottle of soap and poured some out into her hand then turned away from the spray and began soaping herself up. He had a fantastic profile view as she rubbed suds into breasts and her stomach and down her arms. It was far from a sensual display, but he was so hot for her, she might as well have been giving him a lap dance.

She finished her arms then her hands moved back to her breasts. She cupped them in her hands, her eyes drifting shut as she swirled her thumbs over her nipples. They hardened into two rosy pink points, and he could swear he saw her shudder.

Goddamn.

God knew he’d seen Mel touch herself before. So many times that, honestly, the novelty had sort of worn off. But this was different. Maybe because she didn’t know he was watching. Because she wasn’t putting on a show for him. She was doing it because it felt good.

She did seem to be enjoying it, and he was so hard his slacks were barely containing him. He watched, loosening his tie as she caressed herself. He tossed it across the back of the toilet and started unbuttoning his shirt.

Melody’s hands slipped down off her breasts, then moved slowly south, stroking her hips and her stomach and the tops of her thighs. It was obvious what her final destination would be and he thought,
oh, hell, yeah
. Unfortunately she chose that moment to open her eyes and see him standing there.

She shrieked so loud he was sure the people living beneath them heard it.

“You scared me half to death!” she admonished when she realized it was just him. He half expected her to try to cover herself, but she didn’t. Her cheeks did flush though. “How long have you been standing there?”

“Long enough to enjoy what I was seeing.”

He could see that she was embarrassed, which made it that much more arousing.

“You know it’s rude to spy on people,” she said, then her hands came up to cover her breasts. “Tell me you don’t have a video camera out there.”

He chuckled. “No camera,” he assured her, unfastening the buttons at his wrists. “And I wasn’t spying, I was watching.”

“Same thing.”

“You make it sound like I was looking through a peephole in the wall.” He tugged the shirt off and dropped it on the floor.

Mel watched it fall, and when she saw the tent in his pants her eyes grew larger. “W-what are you doing?”

He pulled his undershirt over his head and dropped that on the floor, too. “Taking off my clothes.”

Her eyes strayed to his chest. He didn’t think she realized it, but she was licking her lips. “Um…why?”

“So I can take a shower.” He tugged off his socks then unfastened his pants and shoved them and his boxers down.

“With me?” she said, her voice suddenly squeaky and high-pitched, as if she’d been sucking helium.

“Unless you have someone else in there with you.”

He crossed the room and pulled the shower door open, his hard-on preceding him inside. If Mel’s eyes opened any wider they would fall out of her head.

“I thought we were taking this slow,” she said, backing against the far wall, looking worried.

“Don’t worry, we are.” He stepped under the spray, slicking his hair back. “We’re just doing it naked.”

If they didn’t make love that was okay with him; he just needed to touch her, get his hands on
some
part of her body. If she let him get her off, fantastic, if she returned the favor, even better. He was going to let her set the pace.

Mel stood in the corner watching him, chewing her lip. “This is going to sound stupid, because we’ve done this before, but I’m really nervous.”

“That’s why we’re taking it slow.” And if the anticipation killed him, well, he would at least die with a smile on his face. “So, tell me what you’re ready for. What can I do?”

She thought about it for several seconds, then swallowed hard and said, “I guess you could…kiss me.”

The logical place to start. He didn’t want to corner her, so he took her hand and pulled her to him, so they were both under the spray. But when he leaned in to kiss her, the head of his erection bumped against her stomach. She jumped with surprise, then laughed nervously.

“Outdoor plumbing,” he said with a shrug.

“I know, I’m being ridiculous. I’m sorry.”

The weird thing was, he liked it. He liked that she wasn’t trying to take charge, that for once he could be the aggressor.

“You know what, I have a better idea. Turn around.” He grabbed the soap and poured some in his hand.

“What are you going to do?”

“Wash your back.” She cast him a wary look, and he said, “Just your back. I promise.”

She turned and faced the wall, bracing her hands on the tile as he smoothed the soap across her shoulders and down her back.

“Hmm, that feels nice,” she said, as he used both hands to massage her shoulders, and he felt her begin to relax. He
worked his way down, but as he got closer to her behind, she tensed again.

“Relax,” he said, sliding his hands back up. “This is supposed to be fun.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t know why I’m so nervous. I wasn’t like this in the hotel.”

“Maybe it’s because you knew you weren’t able to do anything then.”

She shrugged, and said without much conviction, “Maybe.”

His hands stilled. “Why do I get the feeling there’s something you’re not telling me?”

“It’s stupid.”

He turned her to face him and she looked so cute, water dripping from her hair, her brow crinkled with the weight of whatever it was that troubled her. “If something is bothering you it’s not stupid. If you don’t tell me what’s really wrong, we can’t fix it.” And he would
never
get laid.

“It’s those videos.”

“The shower one?”

She shook her head, eyes on her feet. “The other two. I know it was me, but it’s
not
me anymore. That woman…she was just so confident and sexy. I don’t think I can do and say the things she did. I can’t be her anymore.”

He shrugged. “So what?”

Her eyes met his, so full of grief and conflict that he felt his scotch buzz wither away. “I’m
so
afraid I’m going to disappoint you, Ash.”

This wasn’t one of the silly sex games she used to play with him, or even a mild case of the pre-sex jitters. She was genuinely distraught. He’d never seen her this confused and vulnerable before. Not even in the hospital.

“Mel, you
won’t
disappoint me. That’s not even a possibility.”

She didn’t look as though she believed him. She lowered her eyes but he caught her chin in his palm and forced her to look at him. “Listen to me. I don’t want the Melody who was in those videos. I want
you.
”

He realized it was probably the most honest thing he had ever said to her. He wanted her in a way that he’d never wanted the other Melody.

So why was he still expecting her to act like her? Did he think that, despite being nervous and wanting to go slow, she would just magically shed her inhibitions the instant he touched her?

He wanted her, God knew he did, but not if it was going to hurt or confuse her. It just wasn’t worth it. Physically she may have been ready for him, but emotionally she just wasn’t there yet. He was pushing too far too fast.

Jesus, when had he gone so soft?

He turned and shut off the water.

“What are you doing?” she asked, looking even more confused, not that he could blame her. First he said they should wait, then he all but molested her, then he put on the brakes again. At this rate he was going to give them both whiplash.

Just because he bought her a car, and planned to give her a couple of credit cards, was he back to thinking she owed him? She hadn’t asked for anything.

“We’re getting out,” he told her.

“But—”

“You’re not ready for this. And I’m really sorry that I pushed you. I feel like a total jerk.” He didn’t just feel like a jerk, he
was
one. He grabbed the towel she’d hung on the hook outside the shower and wrapped it around her, then he got out and fetched one for himself from the linen
closet. He fastened it around his hips, and when he turned Melody was standing in the shower doorway, wrapped in her towel, watching him, her brow wrinkled.

“Everything okay?” he asked.

She nodded, but she didn’t move.

“We should get dressed. And if the offer for dinner is still good I’d love it if you cooked for me. Or if you prefer we could go out. Your choice.”