“Okay, champ,” she said, squaring her shoulders and taking a fortifying breath. “As Bart said, let’s do it.”
Without another glance at the mirror, Mel picked up her tote and headed for the living room.
The stunned expressions that met her entrance warmed her as nothing else could have done. If she blushed with pleasure, it only added to her appeal. Then she noticed Bart and let out a low whistle herself. His suit was coal black, as was his shirt and tie. Highly buffed dress shoes and sparkling cuff links and tie tack completed his transformation. Mel’s smile spread as she took him in.
“I think Kitty Konstantine will meet her match today,” she said.
“And we’re gonna double-team her,” Bart replied, offering her his arm.
Mel laughed as she took it. “The rest of you look pretty good, too,” she added, looking at each brother in turn. They had changed into clean, pressed jeans, tucked in their plaid flannel shirts and added jackets. They must have brought Matt his suitcase, because he, too, had changed.
“You ready, then?” Matt asked, crossing to her.
“Oh, yeah.”
Matt grinned. “Then let’s go.”
* * *
Because Mel’s apartment was located between downtown Nashville and Opryland, they were able to avoid the worst of the Monday mid-day traffic as they headed out. Since it was after noon when they arrived, parking near the front door of the Konstantine Talent Agency wasn’t a problem, as many of those who worked inside were out to lunch. Kitty would still be in, Mel was certain, as she stepped out of her car and waited for Bart to park their van. Her boss never took lunch meetings on Monday, and usually spent the day going over the reports from her minions on what they had “discovered” over the weekend. Mel signed in with the security guard at the front desk and had no trouble taking her “entourage” into the heart of the Agency. They certainly all looked as though they belonged there.
Mel felt eyes staring at her as she made her way through the lush interior of the Agency’s home office toward Kitty’s inner sanctum. The few who recognized her were shocked by her appearance, she knew. Those who did not recognize her were equally taken with her companions. Mel kept her shoulders back and her head high, knowing full well attitude was everything. Always walk into a place like you own it, Gran used to say, cause if you do, then someday you will.
Mel put a little extra swing into her stride as they passed her coworkers’ offices, just to be on the safe side.
Kitty Konstantine’s office was guarded by one of her “stud muffins,” as Mel thought of them—a series of very good looking, very young men Kitty hired as her secretaries. Kevin was the latest incarnation: tall, blond, and built like a model of men’s underwear, just as Kitty liked them. Mel had the satisfaction of the young man’s double-take when she sauntered up to his desk. His look of unabashed appreciation was replaced instantly by shock as his eyes rose above her shoulders and he recognized her.
“Where have you been?” he asked sharply. “Ms. Konstantine has had us looking all over for you!”
“I’ve been busy,” Mel said, “but I’m here now. I’ve brought some gentlemen to see Ms. Konstantine.”
“No, way, Ms. Darling. You know she doesn’t like to be disturbed on Mondays.”
“Well, Kevin,” Mel said, settling a hip on his desk and leaning close conspiratorially, “she’ll have to make an exception, won’t she? These gentlemen won’t wait.”
She saw Bart look at his watch, his face a mask of impatience. “It’s now or never, Miss Darling.”
Kevin eyed Bart nervously and visibly shrank back when their eyes met. He glanced nervously at the Saint brothers, but they weren’t paying any attention to him.
“You heard the man, Kevin,” she said, straightening. “Do you really want to be responsible for Ms. Konstantine missing this opportunity? Remember what happened the last time Duncan and Associates signed a new artist Ms. Konstantine never had the chance to get her hands on.
“Oh, that’s right. You weren’t here, then. It was your predecessor who let that one get away.”
The implications of her words were clear, and Kevin took a deep breath. “This one’s on your head, Ms. Darling, he said, pushing the intercom switch.
“You bet!” Mel said cheerfully. She might have felt sorry for the guy, if he had spent less time looking at her breasts just now.
“Ms. Darling to see you, Ms. Konstantine,” Kevin announced.
They didn’t hear the boss’ response, but they could see Kevin wore an ear bud when he got up to open the inner office door.
Mel went in first, wondering if this was to be her last encounter with the woman who had been making her life miserable for the past six months.
“You seem to have forgotten, Ms. Darling, that I don’t take meetings on Monday,” she said, her eyes narrowed menacingly.
“Not at all, Ms. Konstantine, but these gentlemen need to see you.”
Ms. Konstantine seemed to notice Bart and the brothers for the first time, but she seemed unimpressed.
“That would be my fault, Ms. Konstantine,” Bart said, stepping forward to hand Ms. Konstantine his card. “I told the boys that this meeting wasn’t really necessary, since we already have an appointment with Timothy Duncan this afternoon, but Ms. Darling was so good about showing us around last evening and providing breakfast for us this morning, they insisted we give her agency a chance, first. If you’d rather we didn’t, then…”
“No, no,” Ms. Konstantine said, finally standing and coming from behind her power desk. “That’s quite all right, Mr…?”
“This is Mr. Bartholomew Saint, Ms. Konstantine,” Mel said. “He represents his nephews, The Four Saints. That’s Matt, Luke, Mark, and John.”
Ms. Konstantine shook hands with Bart and nodded to the others.
“And just what kind of music do you play?” she asked, leaning back on her desk.
“They have a CD, Ms. Konstantine,” Mel said.
“Of course they do,” Ms. Konstantine muttered. She didn’t quite roll her eyes, but she definitely was not happy as she took the offered disk from Bart. She wasn’t foolish, though. If she thought Tim Duncan was interested in this band, she couldn’t not listen to what they had.
“After seeing them perform on Saturday night,” Mel said, accepting the CD from her boss and heading for the sound system built into her wall of shelves, “I am certain you will enjoy it.”
Mel put in the CD and cued up the third cut, which Bart had suggested. In another moment, the brothers’ voices filled the room, and Mel smiled. It was the love song that had so taken her on Saturday night. It was a song about a man’s love of home and hearth, kids and family, but most of all, his love for his wife. She had to blink back tears before turning back to the room, knowing Ms. Konstantine could always hide her own response to music but hoping for some hint of approval.
Ms. Konstantine hadn’t moved from where she leaned on her desk, but her expression showed far more than polite interest. Mel smiled to herself. Even Ms. Machiavelli can’t stand up to it, she thought. Mel had wondered if their songs would lose their punch when heard in a recording rather than live, but she needn’t have worried.
Mel glanced toward Matt, and their eyes locked. The deep golden light of his made her insides tremble, and though it was only a recording, she knew he meant to sing this song for her.
When the song ended, Ms. Konstantine took a deep breath.
“All right, Mr. Saint. Let’s talk.
“That will be all, Ms. Darling,” she added to Mel, as she tried to herd the men to a seating area across from her desk.
“I don’t think so,” Bart said.
“What?”
“I understand this is your agency, Ms. Konstantine, but Miss Darling here did all the heavy lifting to get us here, and we’ll only do business with her. We’ve gotten to know her over the past couple of days, and we trust what we know. So if we consider your representation, it will only be with Miss Darling
in the mix.”
Ms. Konstantine looked about to argue, but the CD had moved onto the next song, and Mel suddenly knew her boss wouldn’t give them up.
“All right. We’ll do this your way.”
Bart’s smile was predatory, but he sent a wink toward Mel. Mel had to suppress a giggle as she reached for her notebook. This was going to take awhile, but she didn’t doubt that Bart would have every one of his conditions met in the end.
* * *
Mel stepped into her apartment and slipped off her shoes. She had been in them for far too long today, but it had been worth every excruciating minute. Bart Saint had handled Kitty Konstantine like a magician handled a rabbit. Kitty hadn’t known what had hit her, only that she had to have The Four Saints in her stable of artists. She’d even unbent toward Mel at one point, promising that she would see a bonus in her next paycheck. Mel wasn’t going to spend the money until it actually appeared in her account, but she had confidence that Bart, whose control of Kitty throughout the meeting would have been unimaginable to Mel only last week, would see that she got her bonus.
“What’re you thinkin’, darlin’?” Matt asked, coming up behind her as she stared out the front window.
Mel smiled. “I still can’t believe how well Bart handled Ms. Machiavelli.”
Matt chuckled. “Uncle Bart can handle just about anyone ’cept his mama. Great Aunt Cecilia’s the only one who handles him.”
Mel laughed. “I’d like to meet her.”
“You will.”
She turned and stared at him, for his voice had turned serious.
“Will I?”
Matt nodded slowly as he crossed to her. Mel felt something move inside as his golden eyes locked onto her blue ones.
“You know I want you, don’t you?” he asked, reaching out to brush back a stray tendril of hair.
She swallowed hard. “I’d hoped you did,” she confessed, though she was suddenly very nervous. His golden eyes reminded her of the huge bear that had been in her bedroom just last night.
“You’re not afraid of me are you, darlin’?” he asked.
“Not exactly.”
“But?”
Mel reached out to lay both hands on his broad chest. She felt his heart beat through his flannel shirt.
“I guess I’m more afraid of me, of what I’m feeling,” she whispered. “I’ve never felt this way about anyone before, and I didn’t expect I ever could feel this much for someone who…”
“Is a Shifter?” he asked, and she felt him withdraw.
“No,” she said, letting go of a huff of breath and stepping into him. “I never imagined feeling this way about a man who is so much larger than life in every way.”
She looked up and smiled. “I never imagined a man like you would look at me the way you do. Would want me the way you do.”
She turned away from him in an attempt to gather her thoughts. “I can’t say it doesn’t matter—that you’re a Shifter, I mean. It’s incredible. You’re incredible.”
She glanced back at him and shook her head in amazement. “I just can’t believe someone like you wants someone like me.”
“Believe it,” he said, stepping to her and taking her shoulders in his big hands.
“But why?”
He shook his head. “Maybe it’s only because you’re not afraid of me. You’re not put off by what I am, but you’re also not drawn to me, just because of what I am.”
“You mean, like a groupie? I’ve seen the kind that hangs around stage doors, but are there really Shifter groupies?”
His laughter this time had the low growl of the bear he could become. “Not exactly, but you know how some women seem to be drawn to scary men, just for the thrill of it?”
She considered. “I guess so. I’ve always thought women like that were a little bit nuts, though.”
“No question about it.”
She stiffened and glanced up quickly. “You don’t Shift while you…I mean, when you’re …” Thoroughly embarrassed now, she couldn’t quite say it, and she would have pulled away again, but he chuckled again and held her tight.
“That’s a different kind of heat, darlin’,” he told her, pulling her into his arms. “Don’t worry. When I’m with a woman, I stay a man, ’cause all that heat isn’t about self preservation.”
“Oh. Okay.”
“Okay?”
She looked up again and a smile tugged at her lips. “I did wonder.”
“Why don’t I help you gather some empirical evidence to prove it?” he suggested, wrapping his arms around her. “That way you can be sure the next time.”
Her smile blossomed. “Why don’t you?”
But when he leaned down to kiss her, she suddenly laid her hand on his chest once more and leaned back in his arms so she could see his face clearly.
“Will there be a ‘next time’?” she asked, for the first time uncertain of where this was leading.
He seemed to understand her question.
“I know it seems kind of quick,” he said.
“Only two days,” she reminded him.
“The thing is, we Saint men tend to fall fast and hard, if you know what I mean.”
“I think so.”
He smiled. “We also tend to know, right from the get-go, who we want to spend the rest of our lives with.”
“Do you?”
“Uh-huh.”
“Oh. Well. In that case…”
She reached up to take his face in her hands and stood on her toes so she could reach him. When their lips met she felt the proverbial fireworks going off inside her, and as their kiss deepened, she knew that she would soon be able to fly.
An angry car horn from the street below, brought her up short, and she pulled back just far enough to look around. They were standing right in the middle her living room windows.
“Uh, maybe we should move this to the back,” she said, her breathless voice sounding strange to her own ears.
Matt’s deep, rumbling chuckle was followed by a not-too-gentle nip on her jaw.
“Good idea.”
Mel laughed and pulled away, though she kept his hand clasped tightly in hers as she led him back to her bedroom, turning out the lights along the way.
* * *
Once they were safely inside her bedroom, with only the streetlight outside her window for illumination, she raised her lips to his once more, and their hands began to roam. Matt slipped her jacket off and tossed it toward a chair while she pulled the tail of his shirt free, unbuttoned it then sent both shirt and jacket to the floor. He reached for the zipper on her slacks while she reached for his belt, thrilled by what she could see in the front of his jeans. In moments they were both naked and rolling across her double bed, which was dwarfed by his size.
“You’re so beautiful,” he murmured between kisses as he explored every inch of her body with his callused fingers, which sent tingles coursing through her.
“I’m not really, you know,” she whispered, fighting to give as good as she was getting.
KIKO (MC Bear Mates Book 3) Page 59