an awful thing to think,” Becky said. “You’re my dearest friend and I love you to pieces, but I’m absolutely terrified that you’re about to do something you’ll regret.”
“Are you worried for me or for the business?” Melanie asked cynically.
“You, of course,” Becky said without hesitation. “Though I have to think that your professional reputation could suffer, too, if people perceive that you’re literally in bed with one of your major accounts.”
“I am not sleeping with Richard,” Melanie retorted.
“Yet,” Becky said, not backing down.
“I’ve made it clear that I won’t sleep with him,” she insisted.
Becky sighed. “We’re in a funny business, Mel. We spend a whole lot of time helping people to create a public perception. We’re best at it when perception and reality are the same. We’re both too honest to do a very good job of spinning the truth.”
“In other words, if people suspect I’m sleeping with Richard, it won’t matter if I’m not,” Melanie said, defeated by what was obvious even to her.
“Bingo.”
“How the hell did I get myself mixed up in this mess?” she asked a little plaintively, even though she knew the answer all too well. She’d caved to Destiny’s sneakiness and Richard’s insistence.
“That one’s easy,” Becky told her. “You wanted to do a favor for a friend.” She grinned. “How were you supposed to know you’d fall head over heels in lust at first sight?”
“I’m not in love with Richard,” Melanie said emphatically.
Becky’s grin spread. “I said l-u-s-t,” she corrected. “But I find it very interesting that that’s not what you heard.” She stood up. “My work here is done. I’m going home.”
“It’s not even three o’clock.”
“I know, but you need time to yourself to get all gussied up for tonight.”
“Maybe I should wear sackcloth,” Melanie said.
“I doubt it would help. Something tells me Richard’s too smitten to notice.”
“It’s a charade, dammit!” Melanie shouted, but Becky was already gone. Melanie heard her chuckling as Becky closed the front door behind her.
She scowled at the pile of résumés she’d wasted most of the day studying. It would serve Richard right if she told him to hire some inexperienced, incompetent idiot, but she wouldn’t. She’d make him take her seriously yet. After all, Becky was right about one thing—when their farce of a relationship ended, she needed to make sure that her professional reputation emerged unscathed.
Chapter Ten
Richard knew he’d made a tactical mistake canceling that meeting with Melanie the instant he saw her face. There was no welcome in her expression, no hint of a sparkle in her eyes. She was cool, polite and about as distant as any stranger he’d ever met. If he didn’t fix this fast, it was going to be a long evening.
Fortunately, he’d anticipated something like this and made a couple of quick adjustments to the evening’s schedule. One wouldn’t come into play until later, but for now he pulled an extravagant bouquet from behind his back. “I thought you might like these,” he said, watching her closely for some sign that the gesture was making inroads.
“They’re beautiful,” she said softly, burying her face in the fragrant assortment of lilies and roses. “Let me put them in water.” She fled the room without a backward glance.
Satisfied that at least she hadn’t tossed the flowers right back in his face, Richard took the time to look around her living room, which he’d barely glimpsed on his earlier visit. He supposed it was done in that style they called shabby chic, an assortment of old and new pieces assembled with a certain flair for color. It was not something he would ever have chosen for his own decor, but it was surprisingly inviting. If this evening hadn’t been so important to Destiny, he’d have been content to stay right here, even with Melanie’s gaze shooting daggers at him.
He glanced around when she came back with the flowers in a large crystal vase. She set it in the middle of the low, glass-topped coffee table, then regarded him with another cool glance.
“We should be going,” she said stiffly.
The formality grated. Richard couldn’t seem to stop himself from reaching for her. “Not until I’ve gotten this out of the way,” he murmured right before he kissed her.
She resisted for half a heartbeat, then sighed against his lips. When he finally released her, she stared at him with more heat in her eyes.
“You don’t play fair,” she accused.
“Only as a last resort,” he said. “I couldn’t think of another way to cut through all that ice.”
“You could have said you were sorry about canceling that meeting after I spent the entire day preparing for it,” she said. “It made me wonder if you really cared about my input after all. This deal of ours is only going to work if you take me seriously. Otherwise, I want out now.”
He’d guessed that would be her interpretation. “Of course I do, or I wouldn’t have asked for it,” he reassured her. “If we’re going to work together, you need to understand that my schedule changes all the time. It’s a fact of life. I have to respond to emergencies, react to last-second opportunities. I had two hours to get an offer on the table for a company I’ve been after for years. We really had to scramble once we found out there was a chance the management might look favorably on an offer from us in order to stave off a hostile bid from someone else. I was in with the attorneys right up until the deadline at five o’clock.”
Melanie looked somewhat satisfied with the explanation. “Okay, I overreacted, probably because I saw this as my first big chance to impress you. Plus, you seemed to take it for granted that I’d drop everything to get ready for that meeting, and you didn’t even bother to have your secretary reschedule.”
“Because I was going to see you tonight myself. I was hoping the flowers would get me off the hook,” he said.
“Admittedly, they were a nice touch,” she told him, a smile finally teasing at her lips. “But a few sincere words would have been better.” She gazed into his eyes. “Then, again, I imagine you’re not used to apologizing to anyone for your actions, are you?”
“I do when it’s necessary,” he said, disconcerted by her too-accurate assessment. He wasn’t used to anyone questioning his actions. What was it Destiny had said, that too many people bowed to his every whim? Taking another person’s feelings into consideration was going to be a new—and most likely humbling—experience, at least if tonight was any example.
“Which you deem to be the case how often?” Melanie inquired tartly. “Once a year? Less?”
“Less,” he admitted with a shrug. “I am sorry for canceling the meeting. My schedule was too tight in the first place, even without that unexpected opportunity to bid on the company I want. I should never have scheduled
