The Risk: A Billionaire Romance (Wagered Hearts Series, Book 2) (6 page)

I looked at her for a moment, trying to gain my footing. Something about her was throwing me completely off balance. It scared me because it was all so unfamiliar. She looked at me expectantly, her fingers drumming the table.

“What would you like to know?” I said. “Ask away.”

“Hmm…Tell me about your childhood,” she said after a moment’s reflection.

“There’s not much to tell. It was a pretty typical childhood. Next question.”

“Oh come on. That’s not fair. Tell me what you were like as a kid, about your family….unless that’s a sore topic for you,” she added.

“Not at all,” I said, trying to put her at ease. “You’ve met my sister, Helen, right?”

She nodded her head.

“She’s ten years younger than me. I was off in college while she was still in elementary school. My parents were both teachers. I grew up in the suburbs, played too many video games, and ate too much junk food. You know…typical stuff.”

“What do you do for a living? I mean obviously you seem well off.”

“Thank you for noticing,” I said wryly. “I’m just your average business man.”

I didn’t know why I was being so vague about my accomplishments. It had taken years of hard work and slugging through the trenches to be where I was at right now. It was something that I was extremely proud of. Unlike other people, I’d actually had to work and hustle for every penny and dollar I earned. Every deal and contract was due to hard work and determination. My parents hardly left anything to my sister or me when they died, not that they had anything to pass down anyway.

Mel sat back and looked at me shrewdly. Her arms were crossed over her chest and she had her head cocked to the side. I knew she was assessing me and I felt myself squirm under her gaze, though I tried not to show it. Could she tell I still had a chip on my shoulder?

“I’m sorry but an ‘average businessman’ doesn’t wear bespoke suits or Patek Philippe watches.”

“And why do you take such an interest in my business?” I asked.

“I thought we were trying to get to know each other,” she said innocently. “Don’t worry. I’m not a gold digger; I have no intention of sleeping with you.”

“Is that so?” I asked taking it as a challenge.

“You know I could just Google you,” she said. “That’d probably be easier. Getting answers from you is like pulling teeth.”

“Are you really that interested?” I asked.

Mel shrugged her shoulders casually. “I guess it beats sitting here in awkward silence.”

“All right then. If you must know, I started a gaming company while I was in college. It was a huge success and I sold it to Eversoft Tech a few years later for an obscene amount of money. Since then I’ve continued to develop games as well as started a new gaming distribution platform, and investing in whatever else tickles my fancy.”

“Wow, that’s quite impressive,” she said.

“What about you?” I asked.

“Oh, there’s not much to tell. I’m not nearly as accomplished or successful,” she said, rather modestly.

“Well, tell me anyways,” I said. “I’m not letting you off the hook after you badgered me for my story.”

Mel’s eyes flashed in indignation and I had to hold back a chuckle. It was so easy to rile her up, something that I found I quite enjoyed. “I did not badger you,” she said. “For your information, I’m a junior editorial assistant at Chère magazine. I’ve been there for a couple of months, and before that I was editor at lookbookstyle.com an online fashion blog.

“That seems like a step down for you,” I mused.

Her face reddened as she looked at me. I couldn’t tell if it was from anger or embarrassment. “The job at Chère is a great opportunity,” she said.

It sounded as if she’d spoken those words many times before, as if trying to convince other people or herself that it was true. I could tell it was a sore subject for her so I didn’t pursue it further. Still, it got me wondering why she was wasting her talents as some peon under her mother’s thumb when she was so successful at her previous job. Even I’d heard of Look Book Style, and I wasn’t even interested in the fashion world.

“I’m sure they’re very lucky to have you,” I said.

“Thanks. So, let’s talk about the party now.” Mel sounded weary, her mood having done a complete one eighty. I didn’t want to push her or upset her further so I just went along with it. There was something there that was upsetting her, and I found to my surprise that I wanted to fix whatever was wrong.

“I’m all ears,” I said. “Do you have any ideas?”

“There’s the typical get drunk and hire strippers route,” Mel said.

“I think Roman would kill you if you hired male strippers for Lily’s bachelorette party.”

“Roman should mind his own business. This is Lily’s party and I’m sure you guys aren’t going to be knitting sweaters for puppies at his bachelor party,” she scoffed.

“No, you’re right. I don’t think that will be on the cards that night,” I said, trying and failing to keep the laughter out of my voice.

She shot me a sheepish grin before giving her head a tiny shake. “The truth is, I wasn’t really serious about the strippers. Lily would kill me, and besides, strippers are so cliché. I had originally planned something simple. Maybe drinks, dancing and karaoke. It’s what we used to do in college.”

“You party animals,” I said teasingly.

“Well, what’s your bright idea then?” Mel asked, crossing her arms over her chest and eyeing me expectantly.

“Like I mentioned earlier, I was thinking of taking a weekend and heading to Vegas. It’ll be fun.”

“Hmm, I’m not sure if Lily would go for that, although it does sound like fun.” She bit her bottom lip in thought. I could tell she was warming up to the idea, but the thought of Lily’s reaction was holding her back from giving it her complete support.

“I’m sure you can convince her,” I said.

“You don’t know Lily. She can be quite stubborn.”

“Why not just kidnap her and not tell her then. Once she’s on the plane, there’s nothing she can do about it,” I suggested.

Her eyes flashed for a moment before she tamped down on it. I wondered what she was thinking, not for the first time. Finally, she threw her head back and let out a bark of laughter. “That’s brilliant!” she said a moment later.

“Great. You can leave everything else up to me. All you have to do is get Lily on that plane,” I said, smiling at her enthusiasm.

“Wait, I still insist on having separate parties. It’s not as fun if Lily and Roman are just making googly faces each other the whole night.”

“Good point. All right, how about we just have dinner together and then go our separate ways.”

“That sounds like a plan,” she said.

The dinner passed by soon afterwards and I drove Mel back to her apartment. The car ride was filled with a comfortable and companionable silence up until we got to Mercer Street just a few blocks away. I could almost feel the change in her as her body tensed and her breathing became shallower.

“Now, don’t get any funny ideas. I’m not going to let you seduce me, so you can put away any idea of inviting me up out of your mind right now,” I said.

Her head snapped back to look at me in utter shock, before she burst out laughing. She was still trying to catch her breath as I pulled up to her building.

“You’re just too ridiculous, Ryan,” she said.

“I should be offended you called me ridiculous,” I said. I wasn’t. I was too busy focusing on the way my name sounded coming from her lips.

“No, you shouldn’t be. I want to thank you for tonight. You actually managed to turn my shitty day around.”

“My pleasure,” I said.

Mel leaned over and planted a quick kiss on my cheek before pulling back and looking up at me. “Goodnight Ryan,” she whispered.

It took all I had not to reach over and cup her face and kiss her senseless. She was so irresistible. Her nearness almost overwhelmed me—her scent, her warmth, the way her eyes looked playfully into mine.

“Goodnight, Melanie,” I said instead. I fought down that urge, not wanting to frighten her.

She got out of the car and walked into her building, turning around one last time to wave at me. I pulled away from the curb and sped off, marveling at the effect this petite little firecracker had on me already. It was the strangest thing and I couldn’t help but hear Natasha’s words in my head again: “One of these days, you’re going to fall in love…”

I shook my head, trying to clear it of the ridiculous notion. Me, in love? No thank you, and especially not with Mel Abelgard. I could admit that I found her intriguing and refreshing and attractive, but that was as far as I was willing to go. I barely even knew her, and as I very well knew, looks could be deceiving

“What are you smiling about?”

I turned my head to see Candace staring at me curiously. I couldn’t blame her. All morning I’d been humming to myself and feeling pretty smug. I really didn’t know what had come over me, but since last night and the dinner with Ryan, I’d been feeling on cloud nine.

The dinner had gone surprisingly well after the wreck of a day I’d had before that. He was kind and charming and considerate, and I knew he was trying to cheer me up. There was no awkward sexual tension either. Ok, well maybe there was on my end, but he didn’t have to know that.

“Can’t I be in a good mood?” I said.

“Uh huh. This wouldn’t happen to have anything to do with your date with Ryan Marsden, would it?”

“How did you know about that?” I spluttered.

“It wasn’t rocket science. I was there when he asked you out, remember? And you should probably close your mouth unless you’re trying to catch flies,” she teased.

I snapped my mouth shut and pinned her with my glare. “It wasn’t a date, for your information. We just went to dinner to talk about Lily’s party.”

“Sure, sweetie. You keep telling yourself that.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that man wants to gobble you up. If I were you, I’d let him, unless…you already did?” she prompted.

“Yeah right, Candace. I’m not on the market for a new relationship, remember?”

“Who said anything about a relationship? Just enjoy him for what he is, remember?” she shot back.

“That’s just the problem. I’m not looking for any flings and Ryan is too much of a playboy for me to even consider him in that way. Besides, I just got out of a relationship.”

“Months ago,” she said, dismissing it with a wave of her hand. “Hello?” she added when I didn’t respond.

Candace looked at me expectantly, but my attention was already turned elsewhere. Stepping off the elevator was my mother and Ryan. I couldn’t help the sharp gasp that escaped my lips as I watched them walk towards Candace and me.

“Speak of the devil,” I heard Candace mutter in wonder, as she turned to see what had gotten my attention. “Close your mouth,” she added, giving me a quick jab with her elbow. I snapped it shut and nervously patted my hair. “Stop fidgeting,” I heard her mutter as they got closer.

“I can’t help it,” I shot back in a whisper. “What the heck is he doing here and why is he with my mother?”

“We’ll find out soon enough,” she said.

I half thought they’d take the right just before our cubical and head over to my mother’s office. A part of me doubted Ryan had actually seen me at all. I was proven wrong when they both stopped directly in front of my desk.

“Melanie, Candace,” my mother bit out in greeting as if the words were pulled from her involuntarily.

“Ms. Abelgard. How can I help you?” I said.

I hated the uncertainty I heard in my own voice and inwardly cringed when I saw how Ryan eyed me curiously after I had greeted my mother. I guess he found it strange that I called her Ms. Abelgard. I had to remember that not everyone knew her as well as I did or was as used to her behavior as the other employees here at Chère. He probably thought we were a dysfunctional mess, and I couldn’t blame him.

“We were just stopping by and Mr. Marsden here,” she dipped her head slightly in his direction, “expressed an interest in touring the offices.”

I glanced over at Ryan and saw him flash me a warm smile that melted my insides. “Hello Melanie,” he said in his smooth deep voice.

“Why would you be visiting?” I blurted out, immediately regretting my words. My mother sent me a sharp questioning glance, but remained silent, thinning her lips into a frown.

“Well, I do own part of Titan Media, so I thought it was only right to stop by and get myself familiarized with one of our premier brands,” Ryan said.

“You own Titan?” I asked. Again, blurting it out without much forethought. Inside I was cringing over my gauche behavior, but I was just so surprised to see him at my work, and with my mother no less, that all my normally calm and collected composure went right out the window. It didn’t help that he looked stunning as usual in a navy blue wool suit with a crisp white dress shirt and dark grey tie. It took all my effort not to ogle him.

“Only a small stake,” he said, giving me a sheepish smile. I wasn’t sure if he was trying to be modest or not, but it was a charming look on him.

“Really Melanie, you’re being quite tedious with these questions. We don’t have much time and Mr. Marsden and I were about to be on our way. Make sure you have the accessories sorted out for the shoot tomorrow morning, and don’t forget to make sure all the samples are accounted for and returned. You’re always too lenient and everyone knows they can take advantage of you and steal from the shoot. And don’t forget we need to discuss the finalized guest list for the party,” she ordered before turning on her heel and walking away.

Ryan stood there a moment longer, a sympathetic look on his face as I flushed in embarrassment. It was one thing to have my boss basically humiliate me in public, but for her to also be my mother was a special kind of misery. Yet again I wondered what the hell I was doing here. I’d gotten so used to her behavior that to see the surprise on the face of someone like Ryan, someone not used to her ways, made me realize how abnormal and downright awful it really was.

He didn’t try to say anything or give me meaningless platitudes, probably sensing my embarrassment. He left without much fuss, but not before sending me another warm smile. I let out a heavy sigh once they were both out of view and plopped back down into my chair.