by Box Set
Sweaty, panting, and limping a little, she pushed through the door of the Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf and scanned the faces scattered around the small cafe. She thought she remembered Jeremy well enough to recognize him, but people could change a lot in three years.
Melody was certainly proof of that—the Emma Watson-inspired pixie cut from her freshman year had grown out into longish brown waves, she’d started wearing glasses, and her interview power suit and four-inch heels were a far cry from the jeans and leather jacket she’d been wearing when they met. And those were just the physical changes.
Underneath it all, she was a very different person than the one he’d known in Boston. That adventurous, plucky girl who’d picked up a handsome stranger in a bar was a distant memory.
She recognized Jeremy immediately, sitting alone at a table by the window and staring at his phone. His hair was a lot shorter, and he was dressed in a business suit instead of the frat boy aesthetic he’d been sporting when they first met, but it was unquestionably him.
Her memory certainly hadn’t exaggerated how good looking he was. If anything, he was even more gorgeous now. Which didn’t seem like it should be possible, but there he was, basically looking like a Greek god in a suit and tie.
This is fine.
Nothing to freak out about. It was only her first date in almost a year. Not that it was a date-date. She wasn’t trying to date him. She was just renewing an acquaintance. Networking.
Breathe. Try not to think about how gorgeous he is.
Melody wound through the scattered tables and chairs, clutching the strap of her bag tight enough to make her fingers tingle as she approached him. “Jeremy?”
He looked up, and his mouth opened in surprise. “Melody? Is that you? Whoa.”
“Yeah, I guess I look a little different,” she said, touching her hair.
He stood and greeted her with a light kiss on the cheek. “I like it.” His smile hadn’t gotten any less dazzling, that was for sure. Or his eyes any less blue. “It’s a good look on you.”
She felt herself flush and ducked her head, hoping he wouldn’t notice. “Sorry I’m late. They kept me longer than I expected.”
“That’s okay. I haven’t ordered yet. What can I get you?”
“Nonfat vanilla latte?”
“Coming right up.” He gave her a flirty wink that only made more blood rush to her cheeks before heading to the counter to place his order.
While Jeremy got their drinks, Melody slipped into the ladies’ room to freshen up. The reflection in the mirror confirmed that the trek over had left her red-faced and shiny, and her lipstick was all but non-existent.
She did the best she could to blot the sweat from her face and pits with paper towels before touching up her makeup. Once she’d made herself more presentable, she took a few deep breaths to steady her nerves, and went out to face her very platonic coffee date with her superhumanly hot hookup from three years ago.
Jeremy was already waiting at the table with their drinks, and he stood when she approached, waiting for her to sit before taking his own seat again. He was gorgeous and he still had good manners. She’d almost forgotten men like that existed.
“Thanks for the coffee,” she said, reaching for the cup he slid toward her. It was too hot to drink, so she took off the lid and blew across the top.
Jeremy smiled and shook his head slightly. “I can’t believe it’s really you.”
A nervous laugh bubbled out of her throat. “In the flesh,” she said, trying to sound cool and nonchalant and not totally flustered. Her babble reflex was trying to kick in, so she took a sip of her coffee to head it off at the pass.
Shit! Ow! Still too hot. She swallowed the scalding liquid, trying not to let on that she’d just cauterized her tongue. So much for cool and nonchalant.
“You know what’s really funny?” Jeremy said. “I was just thinking about you not too long ago.”
Melody forgot all about her burned tongue. “Really?”
“Yeah, I thought I saw you at O’Hare a few weeks ago.”
“I’ve never flown through O’Hare.”
“She looked like you used to look, you know, with the short hair. Anyway, it got me wondering what you were up to these days and how you were doing.” He grinned and leaned back in his chair. “And now here you are. Crazy, huh?”
“Totally,” she agreed, lowering her eyes to the table. That smile of his was straight up unfair. It was like a solar eclipse: mesmerizing, but dangerous to stare at directly.
“So, how’d your interview go?”
She moved her hands to her lap so he couldn’t see how fidgety they were. “Pretty well, I think. They seemed to like me, and I think I managed to avoid making an ass of myself, so fingers crossed, I guess.”
“You were a freshman, right? You graduate this year?”
She nodded, impressed he remembered that much about her. “In just a few more weeks, which means it’s job market time—hence the interview.”
“Good for you.”
His hair looked a lot better short. It was spiky and attractively tousled on top, but on the sides it was tapered and smooth like velvet. It made her want to run her fingers through it to see if it felt as good as it looked.
Melody cleared her throat and reached for her coffee again. “What about you? Did you ever go back to school?”
His smile twisted into something wry. “Yeah, believe it or not, I finally stopped running from my responsibilities and buckled down. I’m almost like a real grown-up now.” He gestured to his suit. “Got a business degree and a job and everything.”
“That’s great—I mean, assuming you’re happy with it.” He didn’t seem all that happy about it.
He shrugged. “It’s not as bad as I thought it’d be. Sometimes I still miss the old days when I could party all the time, but mostly I’m glad I’m not that guy anymore.” The edge in his voice made it sound like he was trying to convince himself as much as her. He shifted in his chair, straightening his spine and rolling his shoulders back. “So, what kind of job are you interviewing for?”
“Corporate IT.”
“Just like you wanted.” Wow, he really did remember her.
“Yeah.” She felt herself flush again. “It’s just entry level, but there’s a lot of room for growth.”
“What company?”
“Sauer Hewson Aerospace.”
He burst out laughing. “You’re kidding.”
“What?”
He shook his head in amusement. “We never exchanged last names, did we? You really don’t know.”
“Know what?” she asked, starting to feel annoyed that she wasn’t in on the joke. “What’s your last name got to do with it?”
“My last name is Sauer,” he said with a smirk. “My mother is the CEO.”
Melody’s mouth fell open. “Your mother is Angelica Sauer? Are you kidding me? You have to be kidding.”
He reached into the breast pocket of his jacket and produced a Sauer Hewson security badge with his picture on it and the name Jeremy Sauer.
“Oh my god!” She clapped her hand over her mouth. “I can’t believe it. I had no idea. I never would have…if I’d known—I mean, I totally wasn’t trying to—”
Jeremy laughed again as he tucked his badge away. “It’s okay, Melody. I know you didn’t know.”
What were the odds that some random guy she’d hooked up with three years ago would turn out to be the heir apparent to the company she’d just interviewed with? It was unreal.
“Wait,” she said, “if your mother is Angelica Sauer, that means your father…” she trailed off as Jeremy’s expression darkened.
“Yeah,” he said, jaw clenching.
She’d done a lot of research on Sauer Hewson to prep for her interview, and one of the things she’d learned was Angelica Sauer had taken over as CEO after her husband, company founder William Sauer, died of pancreatic cancer. “Oh, Jeremy, I’m so sorry.”
He lowered his eyes
. “Thank you.”
“That was almost three years ago, right? Wouldn’t that make it around the time we, um…you know…met?”
He nodded grimly. “Dad was diagnosed the week after I got back from Boston. The doctors gave him three to six months—he only lasted two.”
Melody reached across the table for his hand. “I’m so sorry. It must have been awful.”
“It’s funny,” he said, looking down at their hands, “I think about that weekend in Boston a lot. It was sort of my last hurrah. The last time I can remember when my life was still carefree. After that…” He pressed his lips together and shook his head. “Well, I guess I grew up pretty fast after that.”
“I can’t even imagine,” she said, even though she could. She knew all too well how tragedy could change you—how you weren’t the same person when you came out on the other side. She’d lost someone of her own last year, and she still carried the scars to prove it. Not a parent, like Jeremy had lost, but someone she’d loved. Someone she’d thought she couldn’t live without.
Jeremy gave her a tight smile she interpreted to mean he’d rather be talking about anything else right now—and she knew that feeling, too. Oh, how she knew it.
She let go of his hand and picked up her coffee. “Tell me about your job,” she said, forcing brightness into her voice. “What’s your role in the family business, Mr. Sauer?”
He gave her a grateful look and started talking about work. He was in something called the Challenger Program, where management trainees did twelve-month rotations shadowing different executives and learning about the business. At the moment, he was working under the CFO, but he’d done his stint with the CIO last year, so he knew a lot of people in IT, including the hiring manager Melody had interviewed with.
They talked about some of the big projects the company was working on, then moved on to the pros and cons of living in Los Angeles.
Pro: it was sunny and seventy-eight degrees practically year-round.
Con: the traffic was apocalyptic and there were no decent public transportation options.
The longer they talked, the more convinced Melody became that she wanted this job. A lot. She’d interviewed with another company outside Seattle, but it was smaller and the starting salary wasn’t great compared to the cost of living. Also? It was only sunny seventy-one days out of the year in Seattle, which was outrageous. If there was one thing Melody had learned from her four years in Boston, it was that she was susceptible to seasonal affective disorder. Seattle did not seem like a great fit.
Los Angeles, on the other hand, seemed just about perfect.
It wasn’t only the city she was becoming enamored with, either. Jeremy was as easy to talk to as he had been three years ago. It was like picking back up with an old friend, right where you’d left off. She felt oddly comfortable with him—and more like her old self than she’d felt in a long time.
Before she knew it, two hours had passed and Jeremy was glancing at his phone. “Shit, is that the time already?”
“Do you have plans?” she asked and immediately felt like an idiot. “Of course you do. What am I saying? It’s Friday night. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to keep you so long.”
“It’s fine,” he said, getting to his feet. “I’ve still got time to make my dinner reservation if I leave now.” Then, almost apologetically, he added, “I’m meeting my girlfriend.”
“Oh,” Melody said, feeling thrown. “Right. Of course.”
She was being ridiculous and needed to stop it right this second. It was fine that he had a girlfriend. It didn’t matter to her one bit. And it wasn’t at all odd that he hadn’t mentioned her until now. Not odd at all. Except…it kind of was, wasn’t it?
She didn’t say anything as she gathered her purse and carried her empty coffee cup to the trash. Jeremy held the door for her, and they stepped out onto the sidewalk to make their goodbyes.
It was hard to know what to say in a situation like this, where you weren’t exactly friends, but you weren’t strangers either. Melody had no idea what they were, or if she was ever going to see him again. All she knew was everything felt awkward now.
“When are you flying back to Boston?” he asked.
“Tomorrow morning.”
He responded with a nod, followed by a pregnant pause. “Can I drop you somewhere?”
She shook her head and hooked her thumb over her shoulder. “I’ve got a rental car.”
“Right. Well, I guess this is goodbye for now.” Another pause. “It was good seeing you again, Melody.”
“You too.” There is no reason to feel weird. All she’d done was catch up with an old acquaintance and possibly make a useful business connection in the process. It was perfectly harmless and innocent, and exactly what she’d wanted out of this meeting. “Thank you for the coffee. And for making the time to see me.”
He bent down to kiss her cheek again. It was brief and perfunctory, like something he did with all his female acquaintances, not just the ones he’d slept with. “You’ll call and let me know if you get the job, won’t you?”
“Sure,” she said, not at all sure whether she actually would or not.
Jeremy gifted her with another smile before he strode off. She watched him walk away, feeling conflicted and a little embarrassed.
She was glad she’d worked up the courage to see him, but she’d let herself get carried away in the moment, and that had been a mistake. Nice as it was to know she was still capable of feeling that way, it was just as well that Jeremy had a girlfriend. The absolute last thing Melody wanted was to get romantically involved with anyone right now.
She wasn’t ready for something like that yet. Not after what had happened to Kieran, her last boyfriend—ex-boyfriend? Former boyfriend? Late boyfriend? Yuck. That made it sound like he was tardy instead of…
Anyway, it was a relief to know Jeremy was off limits. That way, there wouldn’t be any temptation or misunderstanding—on anyone’s part.
Everything was good. Everything was great. Couldn’t be better.
Chapter 5
Two weeks after her interview, Sauer Hewson made Melody a job offer—a seriously excellent job offer, much better than the one from the company in Seattle.
It was her dream job. The money wasn’t just good, it was life changing. As soon as she got off the phone with the recruiter, she spent a good five minutes dancing around her apartment, celebrating.
Only after the initial bubble of excitement had worn off did it occur to her that she might not have gotten the job on her own merits.
She hadn’t planned on calling Jeremy, despite what she’d told him, but now she grabbed her phone and scrolled through her contacts, needing to make sure he wasn’t behind this.
“Hey!” he said when he answered. “I was hoping to hear from you. Any word on the job yet?”
“I got it.” She was still a little out of breath from the spontaneous dance party. “Sauer Hewson just made me an offer. A great offer, actually. Almost too good to be true.”
“That’s terrific! Congratulations! Have you decided if you’re going to take it?”
She bit her lip. “Did you have anything to do with it? Tell me the truth.”
“Me? No, of course not.”
She didn’t say anything. She couldn’t tell whether he was lying or not. Not over the phone, anyway.
“Melody, I swear to you, I did not intervene. I haven’t talked to a single person at the company about you. You earned that job all on your own.”
She exhaled, feeling ridiculous for jumping to such an insane conclusion. Why on earth would she think he’d do something like that for her? What interest could Jeremy Sauer possibly have in whether she worked at his family’s company or not?
“I’m sorry,” she said. “I didn’t really think you’d do anything like that, but I had to make sure.”
“It’s fine, I get it. I thought about it, to be honest, but figured you didn’t need my help. And I was right. So, are you g
oing to accept?”
“I already did. I start next month.”
Melody took a few days off from preparing for her undergraduate thesis presentation to fly out to Los Angeles and go apartment hunting.
Jeremy had very kindly offered to help her find a place, and she had very kindly thanked him and told him she could manage on her own. She was starting a new chapter in her life, and she didn’t want to be dependent on Jeremy Sauer or anyone else.
Not that she was above engaging professional assistance—the Sauer Hewson offer had come with a relocation package, including a real estate agent to assist with her apartment search, and she planned to take full advantage of it.
The agent’s name was Santiago, and he looked like a movie star. Melody spent a whole day being chauffeured around Los Angeles in Santiago’s pristine black Mercedes convertible. Leaning back in the plush leather seats with the top down and her sunglasses on, she felt a little like a movie star herself.
They looked at nearly a dozen different places in her price range before she signed a lease on a modern two-bedroom twenty minutes from her new job. While the leasing agent made copies of the paperwork, Melody texted pictures of her new apartment, with all its shiny new appliances, to her mom.
OH MY GOD IT’S GOOOOOORGEOUS, her mom texted back, followed by a whole row of exclamation points and heart-eyes emojis.
It wasn’t the swankiest place by LA standards, but it was far nicer than anywhere Melody had ever lived. Growing up, she and her mom had moved from one shabby apartment and dumpy rental house to another, trying to stay ahead of the creditors. On one particularly memorable occasion, they’d had to pack up their meager belongings and slip out in the middle of the night to avoid a forcible eviction.
But with her new job, a nice apartment—one with a whole extra bedroom, a courtyard tub, working heat, and carpet that didn’t smell like cat pee or stick to the soles of your feet—was easily within Melody’s means. It was hard to believe this was all really happening.
She didn’t know how to live any way other than paycheck to paycheck. Money had always been a persistent, oppressive worry hovering under the surface of everything she did.
