She shifted under the weight of the question. She felt like he was asking for more than he let on. With a childish pout, Jennifer tried to shrug nonchalantly. Staring back at his dark, hazel eyes, Jennifer felt some of the anger subsiding. She didn’t have to spend all this time being angry with Melone, Andrew was right about that.
“You can show me around,” Jennifer said with a tense voice.
Andrew grinned mischievously. “Good enough for me. Ready to eat?” He held his hand towards Jennifer. She eyed it curiously before she gently slipped her palm into his firm grip. “See? I’m not so bad,” he said with a lowered voice.
His banter attempted to pull a chuckle from Jennifer. She cleared her throat instead. As they moved towards the door, Andrew drew her closer to his side. His body seemed massively disproportionate to her small frame. She looked towards him again. This time, her voice caught in the back of her throat when their gaze locked. He cleared his throat and smiled sheepishly before he finally answered her. “Thirty thousand.”
“What?”
“My buy-in,” he smiled genuinely. No games or the hint of that annoying tease; just a beautiful, gorgeous smile. “It’s thirty thousand.”
Jennifer didn’t have time to mask her shock. They were in the room, and five heads turned and stared directly at them. Andrew was wrong about Jennifer potentially being ignored on the deck. The mayor and the rest of his crew were quick to introduce themselves to her.
They questioned Jennifer extensively about Melone and his absence, and then began to interrogate Jennifer on her status within the company. At one point, she caught a glimpse of Andrew masking his chuckles from a lounge seat positioned along the wooden railing of the deck.
“You said you’ve worked with Mr. Melone for several years,” the mayor recounted after a waiter had topped his wine glass for the second time. “What exactly is your position within his firm? He’s never mentioned you,” he looked towards the men on the deck. “I mean, I think I’ve seen you before.” She heard some murmurs of agreement.
“She’s an assistant, his assistant,” a man to the right of the mayor said in answer. Jennifer hadn’t seen the man before, nor was his face recognizable.
“Jennifer has many positions and responsibilities within the firm,” Andrew spoke for the first time since they arrived. His deep voice commanded attention, and the men turned to him expectantly. “Fulfilling the role as Mr. Melone’s top level executive assistant is just one of the many ways she’s assisted him in building the growing company of Melone Group.”
Jennifer swallowed at Andrew’s save. He glanced towards her and gave her a devilish wink. Jennifer’s heart skipped a beat. Wait, that couldn’t be. Her heart only did that around Melone. The sound of another man speaking pulled her back to reality.
“Well, what else do you do?” The mayor asked, genuinely interested as he looked to Jennifer again.
“Writes and reviews proposals,” Andrew was speaking again, “corresponds with the presidents of most of the companies we represent and,” Andrew looked towards Jennifer, “Don’t you personally prepare most of Mr. Melone’s private speeches?”
The mouths of the other men had fallen slightly agape. They looked at Jennifer, waiting for her to answer with a renewed type of interest.
Clearing her throat, Jennifer nodded. “Actually, yeah—yes,” her nod firmed and she found her voice. “I’m here to assist Melone in whatever his most pressing needs are,” she cleared the frog out her throat and gave a strong nod. “I just usually work in the background so not many people understand everything I do,” she smiled widely, professionally, and then shot a quick glance in Andrew’s direction. He was definitely watching everything about her. For some reason, that didn’t unnerve her like she thought it should.
The mayor leaned forward and held out his hand. “Well, it’s a pleasure, Ms. Rhodes,” once he held Jennifer in his hand, he kissed the back and smiled widely. “Care for a glass?” He released her hand and motioned towards the wine. “It’s a 2011 Vasse Felix Heytesbury red blend.”
Jennifer smiled. Red wine wasn’t really her thing, but then again, neither was sitting on a private deck in the nighttime Chicago air with the city’s most influential men. She nodded and in an instant a waiter returned.
“A glass for the speaker,” the major ordered. After a nod, the waiter moved. With the break in attention, the men reorganized their seating. Two men flanked the mayor, one on either side while two more rested on small stools. Andrew was on a small lounge seat against the left deck railing with Jennifer on the other lounge chair against the right.
Their eyes met across the distance between them, and she felt the heat falling back from her face. He was still watching her and met her eyes without hesitation.
She mouthed a “thank you” to him with a weak nod for assurance. While she would have rather she was ignored, she knew it was better that the men regarded her as more of an equal than the mere “assistant” they were used to running over.
Within minutes, the talk moved to the matters that interested wealthy men the most: Tempting company mergers, daunting new startups, and worthy investment opportunities. Having learned a thing or two from Mr. James Melone, Jennifer was able to relax and follow the conversation with ease. Although she attempted to ignore Andrew, she was more than aware that he was most interested in the conversation whenever she had anything to contribute.
She wasn’t sure how long the benefit lasted for the regular guests. Three hours and many more wine glasses later, she was feeling more than relaxed and didn’t even care about the time. They had an early flight to Denver the next day, arriving at ten am local time. That meant she’d have to be ready for the nearly two-hour flight well before seven am. In less than eight hours.
Jennifer moaned and dropped her head back. She had excused herself from the deck several minutes ago to leave, but only made it as far as the atrium. The lights of the surrounding scrapes held her attention. She could faintly make out the faint shine of stars in the distance. She took a deep drag of the Chicago nighttime air and let the moment captivate her senses. This was the life, right? She wasn’t so sure of that answer. What thing she was certain of, however, was that it was her life, regardless of whether or not she approved.
“I thought you were headed out.”
Jennifer heard Andrew’s voice behind her but didn’t bother turning to him. She found herself thinking of Melone instead. She wasn’t sure if he was going to leave the meeting in her hands or show up at the last minute. Know Melone, the latter was exactly the type of thing he’d choose to do. He liked to have the last word and only felt comfortable making the first impressions.
He didn’t like doing a lot of work past the negotiation though. He was a visionary at heart and loved to delegate. Of course, that meant much of the delegation went to her, but he paid her well for what she did. She naturally assumed a boss taking ownership for that was standard. Like ghostwriters write books and others get the credit. She was kind of like that. A hidden professional behind the scenes. It was something she never concerned herself with until she had heard what the mayor said: He’s never mentioned you…
Jennifer tried to block the comments that had been circulating in her head all night. She was Melone’s assistant. I mean, I think I’ve seen you before… Like she was some side chick hanging around James. Jennifer rolled her eyes and scoffed. That anger was creeping back.
“Did you hear me?”
Jennifer opened her eyes this time and turned towards the voice. She pretended to just notice he was there. After a few awkward seconds, she offered Andrew a weak shrug. “Sorry. I was just lost in my thoughts,” she looked away, “had one too many glasses of wine I guess,” she grumbled.
Andrew smirked. “Need a ride?”
“What about you?” Jennifer kept her eyes focused on the starry sky.
“I had a driver drop me off.”
Jennifer considered Andrew’s question. She did feel a bit more than tipsy so th
e responsible thing would be to accept his offer and get a ride home. Her car had been safely escorted by the valet and was waiting to whisk her away like a fairy god-mother ordained chariot, or maybe that was just the red blend talking. She agreed to Andrew’s offer readily.
Mere minutes later and she was snuggled into the passenger’s seat of her Bentley. She lazily guided Andrew through the streets of downtown Chicago until they reached the curbside of North Canal Street. They were greeted by a valet man who came to take the car once Andrew and Jennifer had stepped out.
After a quick exchange, Jennifer was on her way to her condo on the 15th floor. She made a point to set an alarm for the next day before she dropped her body into the comforting sheets of her bed. Andrew had long since drifted from her mind, leaving only her thoughts of Melone to swirl in her head as sleep came to take her into the night.
Chapter Six
Mile High City
“LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, the captain has just turned on the Fasten Seat Belt sign. As we prepare to make our descent to the Denver International Airport, please take your seat and fasten your seatbelt. Make sure your seat backs and tray tables are in their upright position and that all carry-on luggage is stowed beneath the seat or in the overhead bins.”
As the flight attendant continued to give the descent briefing, Jennifer cleared her throat and checked her face in a small, compact cosmetic mirror. She hated to admit it, but she definitely had one too many glasses the previous night and her pounding head only attested to that fact.
“You look fine,” Andrew assured her. He sat on her right, in an aisle seat and smiled back at her warmly.
Jennifer met his eyes briefly before she glanced over the rest of his body. He didn’t wear a full suit today but still seemed prepared for business with a pair of smooth slacks, a dress shirt, and simple tie. She pursed her lips and focused on the back of the seat in front of her.
“So what did you want to show me?” She asked, offering Andrew another glance.
“A bit of Colorado. We could head south to the Springs and check out Manitou.” After a moment, he added, “I think you might really like Manitou.”
“What’s there?” Jennifer turned towards Andrew and watched him carefully.
“Touristy stuff,” he looked away from her. “Where are we staying?”
“A Courtyard,” Jennifer answered absently. She leaned to the left and looked out the window, feeling her body ease as the world beneath them began to emerge and come into view. “I’ve never been to Denver before,” she breathed and watched her breath fog in the thick windows.
“You’re going to love it.”
After landing, they headed towards baggage claim. Within thirty 30 minutes, they had grabbed the remainder of their luggage and retrieved the rental Jennifer had reserved, a 2013 Dodge Charger.
“What should I wear?” Jennifer asked, handing Andrew his white, smooth keycard.
“Depends. We can stay clean, or sweat and get dirty.” He smiled as her brows knitted tightly across her forehead. Jennifer crossed her arms. A bellhop had already taken their luggage to place within their rooms, and they now stood just to the left of the sprawling front desk manned by three different representatives.
James didn’t seem like he was going to offer more information. As each second passed, his smile grew wider. Jennifer couldn’t help but return his grin.
“I’ll be ready in twenty minutes,” she said with a voice that was still a bit too hard. She turned from him curtly and tried to stuff the grin away. Even as she walked away, she heard a faint chuckle from behind.
In her room she switched from her business casual traveling attire into a smooth, silk romper. Pulling her hair back into a ponytail, she secured it in place with a black hair tie and grabbed a small skinny strap purse to cross over her body. Jennifer grabbed her phone before leaving her room. She checked her voice mail. She knew James wasn’t likely to have called, and she didn’t have a notification for missed calls or voicemails, but still, she dialed her voicemail and hoped that maybe her notifications had simply been turned off and James had contacted her. He hadn’t. In the elevator, she checked her email and text messages. Nothing from James.
With a sigh, she placed the phone into her tiny purse. Without more direction from Melone on the upcoming meeting, Jennifer didn’t have anything to do. He had more than bogged her down with rearranging the presentation she had prepared for him to give for the benefit. That meant making a whole new speech to give as his assistant instead of a man as the CEO of his company. But now that the dreadful benefit was over, there were no new jobs awaiting her from James.
Jennifer saw Andrew immediately once she left the elevators in the lobby. The car garage was located on another floor, but she hadn’t paid attention to where. Andrew had changed from his slacks into worn jeans and a weathered graphic tee. She smirked when she saw him.
“Here for a good time, I see,” Jennifer commented with another chortle. She pointed towards his shirt: a white cotton tee with a martini glass with olive and the words GOOD TIMES spelled vertically down the left side. He smiled at her jest looked her over studiously.
“That’s a nice thing you’re wearing…” he lingered on the words.
“Ugh, it’s a romper,” Jennifer flipped her ponytail. “Can you stop staring at me?”
“It’s a beautiful romper,” Andrew replied earnestly. “I just don’t know if it’s the best for what we’re going to do.”
Exasperated, Jennifer crossed her arms and faced Andrew directly. “I’m only humoring you because James hasn’t told me what to do yet. Besides, you haven’t told me what we’re doing.”
Andrew’s smile faded at her words. With a careless shrug, he offered, “I thought you might like to see where America the Beautiful was penned.”
Raising an eyebrow, Jennifer’s face relaxed. “Like the poem?” She thought for a moment, “You said something about getting dirty.”
“Yeah, if you like to sweat and get a little dirty, there’s a waterfall I can take you to.”
Jennifer’s heart lurched at the words. “Waterfall?” All the edge had fallen from her voice. She had never seen a waterfall, not a real one at least.
Andrew was still hesitant, looking her over. “Yeah, a beautiful waterfall with nice, cold mountain spring water,” he laughed. “I don’t think you’re dressed for that though.”
Jennifer looked down at herself. The romper carried a floral pattern and ended a bit north of her knee, but she had adorned a pair of Adidas track shoes with ankle cutoffs. Unless Andrew was planning on taking her through a thicket, she felt she was more than prepared to hike to a waterfall.
“My shoes are good. I want to see a waterfall,” a childish urgency entered her voice. She smiled. “Please?” The more she smiled, she more her agitation at Melone seemed to ease. “I’ve never seen one before,” she said at length, searching Andrew’s face.
A chuckled escaped Andrew. “If you say so. It’s not an easy trek though.”
Jennifer rolled her eyes. Now she was starting to feel a bit annoyed. “You said I could choose, right?” Andrew nodded. “I want to see the waterfall.”
With a smirk, Andrew shrugged. “Okay then. It’s about an hour to the Springs and then thirty minutes more to Manitou.” His smile widened. “Ready?”
Jennifer couldn’t keep herself from smiling back. If Andrew wasn’t here, she knew she’d be retouching her hair and nails, eating alone or taking a long bath in her room. She still wasn’t sure how much she liked the tease Andrew seemed to carry in his voice for her, but at the moment, she was grateful for his company, even if she was doing a piss poor job of showing it. She was ready for any distraction to keep her mind off James.
“Sure, I’m ready. As much as I’ll ever be.” Jennifer shouldered her purse and followed Andrew as he led the way to the Charger. They rode the first half of the way in silence. Jennifer tried to keep the angry thoughts of Melone from flooding her mind, but was failing miserably.
She couldn’t understand what made Katie so special that he would drop everything and head to New Jersey. Furthermore, since when had he begun to keep secrets? Jennifer realized from the way her face had started to ache that she was scowling fiercely. She hated falling down this pattern of thinking. Melone was nothing more to herself other than a boss. That’s what she had to remind herself.
Were they close? Yes, but it was a professional close. He didn’t invite her over to his house for happy hour and the two of them sure as well didn’t sip martini’s on Saturdays.
Jennifer took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She didn’t want to spend the whole day being angry at a ghost. She’d never be able to tell James how he made her feel anyway, a thought that threatened to take her back into anger. With effort, she swallowed the feelings and forced another deep breath.
So far along the driver they had listened to old news stations. Jennifer accessed the XM stations for commercial free listening and settled on a smooth dance trance station playing hypnotic beats. It definitely wasn’t her type of music, but perhaps that was exactly what she needed to shake the funk off her attitude.
She tried to dance from the waist up, shaking her shoulders, head and hands to the rhythm flowing through the speakers. She turned towards Andrew and began to shake her head and twirl her ponytail; she tried to see if she could get her hair to smack him in the face. She missed barely. Andrew glanced towards her, trying to stifle a smile.
“Are you a secret raver?”
Jennifer’s eyes brimmed with entertainment. “Just on the weekends.” She lifted her hands, twirling and twisting them in front of her. She thought again about trying to hit Andrew with her pony tail and flipped her hair in his direction. She got him this time and grinned. He frowned.
“You’re distracting me.”
“That’s what all your winking does to me,” she responded in truth. Andrew glanced towards her. Their eyes met and she looked away. Perhaps she should have kept that last part to herself. Jennifer reached for Andrew’s right arm, but it was more like a snatch.
Millionaire Romance: In Love With My Boss - A Contemporary Romance (Millionaire Romance, Contemporary Romance, Comedy Romance Book 1) Page 4
