“It is expensive. It is actually the most expensive restaurant in the area.”
A bit of a growl rolled past her lips. She suddenly felt under-dressed and out place. “What made you pick a place like this?”
“I just wanted to impress you…” he said with a sad voice.
She sighed and rolled her eyes. “I’m sorry. I’ll try not to be so judgmental.”
Maverick cocked his head to the side and she could tell he was a little baffled by her response. “You’ve done absolutely nothing wrong.”
She laughed. “I just mean the roles are reversed. Normally, you would be expecting the rich person on the date to judge the poor person for their clothes, dinner choices, and just the way they are. But here I am judging you because of how fancy and expensive things around you are. That isn’t fair.”
The two were seated at a private booth. Melody looked around and smiled. The place smelled nice, looked nice, and felt nice. Even the seat was the most comfortable restaurant seat she’d ever been in.
“Mr. Maverick?” The waitress said with a smile as she brought over a list of wines and appetizers.
“We are going to need a few minutes. My…” He paused and looked at Melody. “My friend has never been here before.”
The waitress smiled at Melody and nodded at Maverick. “All right. Might I suggest the wine and appetizer sampler? Great for someone who has never been here. I’ll come back in a few. Just wave if you are ready before I return.”
“She knows your name?” Melody questioned when the waitress walked away.
“Well, of course. You have to make reservations well in advance in order to eat here.”
“And you had reservations at this booth for tonight? Who were you supposed to be eating with?” She asked, trying not to sound jealous.
Maverick smiled. “Nothing like that. This is my booth. I have it permanently reserved here as I actually do a fair amount of business in Atlanta. One of my designers has a studio here and some of our clothing is produced and stored here.”
“Oh,” Melody said softly as her face turned bright red. That wasn’t exactly the response she was expecting. It wasn’t lost on her that he’d caught on that she was jealous again. She really needed to rein that in.
Melody cracked open the menu to have a look only to catch a glimpse of the prices. She slammed the menu shut.
“Hmm?” He didn’t look up from his own menu.
“These prices are higher than I expected.” She took a sip of her water.
“Did I make you think you would have to pay?” he said
“Well no… But, I think maybe we should try going to some restaurants where I could pay if I wanted to.”
Maverick laughed. “In case I go to the bathroom and decide to ditch you?”
“That isn’t funny!” she hissed. “You could ditch me by running out the front door. This restaurant is so big, I’d never know.”
Maverick laughed again and snatched the menu from her. “I’m going to order some sample platters and miscellaneous items. You don’t need to stress yourself out looking at that menu again. Is there anything you are allergic to or don’t like?”
Melody shook her head. “Nope. All good.” She let out a sign of relief. She was overwhelmed with the choices, and knew he wouldn’t steer her wrong with the food.
Maverick placed the order with the waitress and the two settled in to wait for the food to arrive. “I have something for you,” he said as he reached in his pocket and pulling out a large jewelry box.
“Do you remember when you told me about your mother’s pearl necklace?”
“I do.” Of course she remembered telling the story. Her surprise was that he remembered the conversation. Since when did a man listen to anything you had to say?
Maverick handed her the jewelry box and watched her face light up as she opened it. Inside was a pearl necklace just like the one she didn’t have anymore.
A few tears slid down her cheek. “Maverick… I don’t know what to say. It looks just like my mom’s necklace. These must have cost so much…”
“Nonsense,” Maverick said with a smile. “You seemed devastated by the loss of the necklace. So I wanted to make sure you had these. The price isn’t important, the look on your face is what’s important.”
“They are lovely.” She stood from the table and walked over to kiss him, not caring who saw. She was overcome with emotion. He was surprised, but kissed her back gently holding the back of her head. Then the food came and she returned to her chair wiping tears from her cheeks.
Sometime later she was stuffed to the gills. All the food was delicious and she sipped on a glass of wine.
“Ready to get back to your hotel ma’am?” He was really formal with her and she loved it. He stood and pulled the chair out for her and helped her into her coat. Outside, he opened the car door for her so she could climb in first, Melody started thinking she could get used to the gentleman treating her so nicely.
At her hotel she got our and then turned to look in the open window. “I had a really great time, Maverick, I hope to see you again soon.” She leaned in and kissed him, not lingering too long. It was too early to invite him up and she didn’t want anything to get too heated quite yet.
“You can count on it.” He kissed her hand.
Then he got out of the car, nodding at Remington. He took her arm and started into the hotel. She turned to him with a questioning look.
“We’re staying in the same hotel,” he gave her a sly smile.
She laughed and shook a finger at him. “Naughty, naughty.” She winked and made her way to the stair well. She was only on the second floor so there was no need to use the elevator.
She decided not to shower until the morning to wake up for her flight, so she started to get undressed next to the bed. She took off her jewelry, but she left the pearls on for a little while, liking the weight of them against her neck.
As she turned the covers back she heard a thump in her bathroom. The hair on the back of her neck stood up as she inched towards the bathroom door in her slip and peered inside. She didn’t see anyone but she had a bad feeling. Just as she turned to go back towards the bed someone lurched through the shower curtain and grabbed her. She screamed and threw her hand forward, hitting the attacker in the nose and buying a little time to run for the phone.
He recovered too quickly and grabbed her just as she was dialing. It was no use, he was too strong and he got the phone out of her hands. He slipped a cloth over her mouth. Her vision started blurring and knew she wouldn’t get away.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Maverick stopped by the bar in his hotel to have a drink. He was feeling good about the evening and as he made his way to his room he wondered if he should have invited her back with him. He sighed and beat himself up for a minute before deciding it was better she didn’t come with him.
As much as he wanted to see what she looked like under those clothes, he wanted to be a gentleman too. He didn’t want to rush this relationship. He had rushed so many relationships in the past and they had ended so badly. He really liked this girl and he wanted this to work.
He stripped out of his clothing and adjusted the temperature of the shower before stepping inside. He couldn’t stop thinking about her. No matter how hard he tried to focus on enjoying the shower he couldn’t seem to get her out of his mind. He smiled and decided to enjoy it.
After his shower he took a Coke from the mini-bar and cracked it open. He took a sip and grabbed the remote to flip through the channels until he could find something to watch. That was when he noticed a note on his pillow. He tilted his head to the side as he picked it up and unfolded it. Who would have even been in his room? Was it Melody? No that wouldn’t make any sense.
His eyes widened as he realized the note was not from Melody, but about her.
I’ve got your pretty fly girl. The note was written with the same handwriting from the note that was found on his private jet. The day someone tried to
kill him. Or did they try to kill him? Maybe this was their plan all along? They just wanted to scare him. To hurt him. This crazy bitch took Melody. He had to find a way to get her back. But first he needed to make sure the note actually held water. It was possible the person was just trying to scare him. He swallowed hard hoping that was the case.
Maverick’s heart began to race and his stomach twisted into an uncomfortable knot. He quickly whipped his phone out of his pocket and called Remington who he knew was close by, either getting something to eat in the hotel or in his room.
“Do you need to go somewhere, sir?”
Maverick was breathing heavy and stuttered on the phone. Not saying anything that made any sense.
“Sir? I’m sorry, sir, but maybe we have a bad connection because I cannot understand anything you are saying. Do you want me to come to your room?”
Maverick sighed and took a few deep breaths. “You need to get the manager.”
“Why sir? What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”
“Someone left me a threatening note. They took Melody. Get the manager to her room at once.”
“I’m on my way to the front desk now, sir, but are you sure it isn’t just someone trying to scare you? Have you tried calling Melody?”
Maverick grabbed his room key and left the room before hitting the elevator button several times. When he saw that the elevator was all the way at the bottom he sighed and ran down the hall to the stairs. “I don’t know,” he hissed at his driver on the phone. “I don’t know. I don’t know,” he continued like a CD stuck and skipping.
“Sir. I’m getting the manager now, but what are you doing?”
“I’m going to her room to knock on the door. Just get the manager and meet me at her room. Please. Room 280. I saw her key!” He hung up up and shoved the phone in his pocket as he made his way down the stairs to her room and knocked on her door.
“Melody?” He shouted before knocking a little louder. “Melody?!” He slammed his fist on the door as loud as he could. Someone in the room next door came out to see what all the noise was.
“Take a hint, buddy. Maybe she doesn’t want to let you in,” said a tall scrawny man with jet black hair.
Maverick turned and glared at him. “Go back in your room or shut the hell up.”
“I’m calling the manager if you don’t leave,” a little old lady in a room across the hall shouted with her phone in her hand.
Maverick turned to the woman. “Listen, I mean the girl no harm. I just need to know she made it back to her room all right and she’s not answering me.”
“She doesn’t have to answer you if she doesn’t want to!” The lady said, waving her cane at Maverick. By this time several more people had come out of their rooms.
Finally, his driver and the manager made it to the floor and pushed their way through the crowd.
For the most part the people had kept their distance, but the old lady had started striking Maverick in the shoulder with her cane.
The manager went up to the door and knocked on it. “Melody?” he said. “Ma’am? Do you mind if we enter your room?” He placed his ear against the door and heard nothing. “Ma’am, we are coming in.” He used his key card to unlock the door.
Maverick pushed both his driver and the manager out of the way before racing in the room. “Melody!” He shouted. He checked the entire room and couldn’t find her anywhere. That was when he saw it. The pearl necklace he had just given her earlier at dinner, broken and shattered, lying on the floor. His heart sank. She was gone. Someone took her to hurt him.
To be continued…
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Publisher’s Note: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.
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ISBN: 9781683680895
Taming a Maverick, Book 1 Page 3