by Karen Booth
“Hold on two seconds,” he blurted as she wrestled on her dress. He shook his head, smirking as if she were crazy. “For God’s sake, let me do the zipper.”
She turned, but that sense of Adam approaching her from behind, knowing that her stretch of back was exposed to him, sent a zillion goose bumps racing over the surface of her skin.
Zip. He quickly grasped her shoulders and pulled her close, her back to his chest. “Talk to me.” He delivered the words straight to her ear in a low, tone that reverberated in her body. “I can tell that you’re panicked, and I need to know why. I have a feeling it’s about more than a meeting.”
Hearing his voice, her body wanted nothing more than to be naked with him all day, especially when his warm breath brushed the tender spot behind her ear. Her brain, however, was waging a counteroffensive, about to force her to blurt something about needing to leave, which meant her poor heart struggled for itself, stuck in the middle. “I just...” She sucked in a deep breath. How many times had she uttered these words? Surely Adam was tired of them. She sure as hell was.
“You just what? You’re just worried? That what we did last night was wrong?”
She blew out a deep exhalation. “Yes.” There was nothing left to say. He’d boiled it down to its essence.
He turned her around and pulled her into a hug. “I understand.” He rubbed her back reassuringly. “Listen, we both know that this isn’t ideal, but we have nothing to be ashamed about. I wanted you, you wanted me. It’s as simple as that.”
“But your dad. The contract.”
He only reined her in tighter with his arms. “Don’t worry about my dad. He’ll never know a thing.” He kissed her forehead. “Now, let me walk you downstairs and put you in a cab so you aren’t late for your meeting. I’d have had the doorman arrange for a car if I’d known you needed to be out the door so soon.”
Melanie reared back her head, shaking it. He was being so sweet. And so stupid. “What if someone is outside your building? Photographers?”
“I’ll call downstairs and make sure the coast is clear. The doormen are extremely efficient at clearing away the riffraff by now.”
“You call, but I’ll go by myself. It’s safer that way.” Her stomach wobbled. Sneaking around was so far outside her comfort zone.
“What kind of gentleman would I be if I didn’t escort you downstairs?” He scrubbed the scruff along his jaw with his hand. “Tell you what. I’ll ride with you down to the lobby. I won’t take no for an answer.”
Melanie collected her things while Adam made the call. He threw on a sweatshirt and slid his feet into a pair of running shoes, leaving the laces untied. They stepped onto the elevator, no words between them, but Adam took her hand, rubbing it tenderly with his thumb.
Melanie’s head swam. What were they doing? Was this a one-time thing? These were questions that needed to be asked, but there was no time for answers, at least not this morning. And regardless of the answers, he had to continue with the charade of Julia at least through the gala. How would she handle that emotionally if she and Adam were even entertaining the notion of romance?
Nothing about this insane situation bode well for a genuine, long-lasting relationship anyway. She could see it now, their children asking how she and their father had met. Well, Daddy had a fake girlfriend because Mommy told him it would get him good publicity, and your grandfather didn’t want us to even touch each other, so of course Mommy and Daddy gave in to temptation and had a torrid, secret affair and lied to everyone.
Adam’s phone beeped with a text message and he pulled it from his sweatshirt pocket. He smiled warmly at the screen. “My dad, congratulating me for the Midnight Hour.”
The elevator dinged and the doors slid open.
“You were amazing,” she said, stepping into the lobby as Adam held the elevator door. “I’m sure you’ll get a lot of that today.”
His phone beeped again. This time he didn’t smile when he read the message. Instead, all blood drained from his face. “Hey, Carl,” he yelled, panicked, across the lobby to the doorman. “Get Ms. Costello in a cab, right now.”
“What’s wrong?” She struggled to read his expression, her voice just as frantic as his when she had no idea what was going on.
“You have to go,” Adam blurted, lurching for the elevator button. “My dad’s on his way.” The door slid closed.
Oh my God. No. The doorman rushed Melanie outside, but it was too late. She nearly ran straight into Roger Langford.
“Ms. Costello,” Roger said. “Are you?” He peered through the glass door into the lobby of Adam’s building. “Were you meeting with Adam?”
Melanie had never been so mortified in her entire life. “Uh, yes. Yes, sir.” It felt awful to say it. “There was such a great response to Adam’s interview last night. Just want to make the most of it. Make sure all of the media outlets are talking about it. Adam and I were just going over a few things.” Stop talking. Stop digging yourself a hole.
“That’s what I like about you, Ms. Costello. Always thinking, always working hard, never letting an opportunity pass you by.”
Now she felt one million times worse. “Thank you, sir.”
The doorman finally managed to flag a cab, signaling her with a wave.
Melanie was desperate to make her escape. “I should go, sir. I need to get into the office.” Technically not a lie, but getting through life on technicalities was no way to go.
“Sure, sure.” Roger nodded. “Have a good day.”
* * *
Adam paced in his kitchen. Had Melanie made it into a cab before his dad arrived? He had his answer as soon as his father stepped off the elevator into the apartment.
“I ran into Ms. Costello downstairs.” His dad slowly unbuttoned his coat.
“Ah, yes,” Adam replied, not wanting to offer any detail in case his story didn’t match up with Melanie’s. “Dad, please. Have a seat.” He pulled out a bar stool just as he received a text. He glanced at his phone long enough to read Melanie’s message.
We can’t do this. It’s not right.
He answered. Don’t freak out.
“Hard worker, Ms. Costello.” His dad slowly eased onto the high seat, his height making this a good spot for him to sit. “I only came by for a minute, Adam. I just wanted to tell you in person how happy I was with your appearance last night. I received several favorable phone calls from board members this morning. They were very impressed. I was very impressed. You were perfect.”
Every word of praise from his father made Adam more conflicted. Now he understood firsthand exactly why Melanie was so uneasy. What if he told his father then and there that he and Melanie were involved? What would he say? Would he be disappointed? Accuse him of going back to his old ways?
The answer didn’t matter. Melanie would be furious. If he stood any chance of keeping her, he couldn’t jeopardize everything she’d worked so hard for.
If it was Adam’s call and his professional butt was on the line, he might be tempted to throw caution to the wind, risk every personal achievement and dollar in the bank to have the opportunity to be with Melanie like that, every night. It wasn’t merely as good as he remembered. It was so much better.
By the time his dad was gone and Adam could reply to Melanie’s text with something of substance, he wondered if he’d managed to calm her with his last message. He took care to be reassuring in case he hadn’t.
Take a deep breath. Everything is fine. I’m coming to your office.
Her response was too quick for his liking.
Please don’t. It will just make things worse.
He fired off a text to his assistant to move his morning meetings. He then turned his phone facedown on the kitchen counter. He wasn’t about to get into an extended back-and-forth with Melanie via text message, like a
couple of love-struck teenagers. He had to see her. Once he had her in his arms, everything would be fine.
He showered quickly and once downstairs, instructed his driver to get to Melanie’s office as fast as possible. Every red light they sat at was torture. Adam’s phone kept ringing, but he couldn’t concentrate on work and finally had to silence it. Business would have to wait. Nothing was more important than seeing Melanie.
He practically leaped out of the car when they arrived at her office building. The elevator was out of service and he took the stairs two at a time up eight flights, all in a suit and tie. He pushed open the door at Costello PR, the office eerily quiet, except for the chime that announced the arrival of a visitor and his heavy breaths.
“Mel? Are you here?” He straightened his tie and jacket, striding through reception and back to the hallway leading to her office. He craned his neck around the corner. Her door was open. He heard sniffles. Oh, no. She’s crying. He cleared his throat loudly, not wanting to frighten her. “Mel?”
She peeked out of her office, cheeks red and tear-stained, still as beautiful as could be. “Adam. I told you not to come. I don’t want to talk about it. Just go away. We can’t do this. I won’t do this. It’s not right.”
“Mel, it was just a close call with my dad this morning. He doesn’t know or suspect a thing. It’s fine.”
She ran her slender fingers through her blond hair, leaning her shoulder against the wall as if it was too difficult to stand. “That’s so easy for you to say. You don’t have as much to lose as I do. This isn’t just my business or my profession. It’s my whole life. My entire identity is tied to this stupid office I can’t afford. My whole life revolves around keeping the lights on and moving forward. I have nothing else. I can’t afford to make a mistake.”
His heart twisted in his chest. How he hated that word—mistake. “And do you think last night was a mistake?”
“If I get fired from the most important job of my career, then yes.”
His mind scrambled, unwilling to believe that she would really be that bad off if she got fired. There had to be a way around it. “What if I pay you the fee that he’s promised you? Or let me buy your office space for you. Let me fix it if it all goes south.” He stepped closer, longing to touch her, all the while sensing the impenetrable fortress she’d built around herself, and most important, her heart.
“Do you really think I want your money? That I want you to rescue me? I have to do these things for myself. I’ve been on my own since I was eighteen. I don’t know any other way. And don’t forget that the entire world knows I’ve been working on this project. Every future client is going to ask me about it, they’re going to want to know what Roger Langford had to say about the job I did. If he has to tell them that he fired me because I slept with his son, I’m destroyed. I’m done. There’s no coming back from that.”
“If I came back from my scandal, you could absolutely come back from that.”
“Our situations aren’t the same. You’re Adam Langford. Your family represents the American dream and you’re smart and handsome and a self-made man. The world wants to love you. I just had to show them the good in you. I’m nobody, Adam. If this comes out, I’ll become a footnote, and I can’t turn into that. I won’t slink back to Virginia with my head held in shame and tell my dad that he was right, that I had no business moving to New York and thinking that I could run my own PR firm. I just don’t think you understand the ramifications.”
He did understand where she was coming from, but it didn’t change the fact that standing here, even with her trying to claw her way away from him, he wanted her in his arms. He wanted her in his life. “I hear everything you’re saying, but taking a chance on what’s between us is more important than all of that. I think this is about more than your career or my family.”
The look that fell on her face was one of utter confusion. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. There is nothing else.”
He dared to inch closer, grasp her elbow. The instant he touched her, he felt exactly how much she’d closed herself off from him. “Think about what set you on this path. Your ex. He’s the reason you’re in this situation with your finances and your career, but I think he’s also the reason you’re so afraid to let somebody into your life.”
Her eyes swept back and forth across his face. “No. You’re wrong. It’s been more than a year, and I’ve made it work without him.”
He nodded in affirmation, seeing that she was struggling with this particular revelation. He knew how she felt. He’d given in to tunnel vision before, focusing on a single goal so hard that he’d forgotten what mattered. “I care about you, Mel. A lot. I understand what it means to be hurt. We’ve all been hurt. Maybe I haven’t gone through exactly what you have, but I understand. I do. And I know that there could be something real between us if you’ll just let me in.” He gazed into her stormy blue eyes, which were clouded with bewilderment. She needed time. He could see it. As hard as it would be to give her time, he had to. “I want you to think about that. I really want you to think about what that means.”
She straightened her stance, sucked in a deep breath. “This isn’t just about what you want, Adam. This is about what I want, too.”
“Then tell me what you want.”
“Right now? I want you to leave and go on with your life and promise me you won’t think about me at all once the gala is over.”
It felt as though someone had a stranglehold on his heart. Those were not the words of a woman who was ready to think about everything he’d said, everything he’d put on the line. “I can promise a lot of things, but I can’t promise that. Not after last night.”
“Well, you’re going to have to try because I have a job to do.”
Sixteen
Friday marked five days without a word from Adam. At least not directly.
Most of his interviews were complete, but there were a few loose strings to be dealt with, and most important, they needed to polish the speech he would give at the gala. They had a back-and-forth about his remarks for Saturday night, but it had all been funneled through his assistant. However much it crushed her, she couldn’t blame Adam for shutting her out like that. After all, she’d told him flat out to forget her.
The person Adam had apparently not shut out was Julia. The two of them quickly cropped up in the papers again, holding hands while shopping in SoHo, only two days after Melanie and Adam had made love. By now, the photographers had an uncanny ability to find Julia. Either Julia’s publicist was feeding them information or Julia and Adam had figured out how to do it on their own. It certainly wasn’t Melanie’s doing.
In fact, the whole thing was Melanie’s undoing. How did she end up right back in the same boat she’d been in weeks ago? Scrutinizing pictures in a newspaper like a crazy woman, looking for absolute confirmation that Adam and Julia were either real or fake. She hated that she was still asking these questions. She hated that she still cared, but she did. She cared so much that it felt as if everything inside her was dying.
The things Adam had said to her that morning in her office played on a continuous loop in her head. There could be something real between us if you’ll just let me in. She wasn’t convinced it was that simple. If anything, it was the impossible, masquerading as simple. Was Adam right? Had Josh damaged her so badly that she’d become incapable of trusting someone? Was her heart really that closed off? She didn’t want to believe she’d become that way, but maybe she was used to it. And if she were that way, what would fix it? Therapy? Meditation? Leaping off the curb into the path of an oncoming bus?
Melanie took in a deep breath of resolve, stepping onto the elevator up to Adam’s apartment. Today was the day they’d planned to go over his speech and discuss what he would wear for the gala tomorrow night. You can do this. You’ll be fine. She didn’t have much of a plan for dealin
g with Adam, beyond being professional. Adam, hopefully, would do the same. He’d run through the speech and show her what he planned to wear. She’d give him the thumbs-up and disappear. Then her only remaining hurdle would be the gala, and that involved an open bar, fully stocked with champagne—sweet, merciful champagne.
When the elevator doors slid open, Adam was getting up from one of the bar stools at his massive kitchen island. “You’re late.” The icy edge to his voice made her feel about two feet tall.
“I am?” Melanie consulted her watch. “It’s three minutes after five. You’re always late.”
“We aren’t talking about me, are we? I have things to do tonight.”
She sighed. So that was how he’d play this. She didn’t want to take the bait, but the way he’d run back to Julia really ate at her. “Hot date with America’s sweetheart?”
“Would that make you feel better? If your suspicions proved true?”
Adam’s words hurt, even when she couldn’t blame him for being angry. She’d been awful to him the last time she’d seen him.
“Let’s deal with your suit and the speech, please.”
Melanie followed Adam as he stalked back to his bedroom. The instant she was through the doorway, it felt as if something punched a hole in her chest, right where her heart was. The bed caught her eye, pristinely dressed with silky white bedding. It took no effort to remember exactly what it felt like to be with him tangled up in those sheets, the two of them so perfectly in sync. There were no issues in bed. It was everything outside the bedroom that was complicated.
If she’d thought this through, she could’ve moved the wardrobe discussion and speech practice to a less-intimate venue. Too late.
“I picked out three suits if you want to weigh in on it,” Adam said, apparently unbothered by the presence of the sumptuously appointed, pillow-soft horizontal surface between them. “I’m leaving the tie to you.” He stepped into his walk-in closet, pointing to the valet hooks where the suits were waiting, as well as his vast selection of silk ties.