There was a sea of people across the street hoping to catch a glimpse of their favorite star. And in front of the venue, the red carpet stretched long, going up the grand staircase to the old library. On either side of the red carpet was a wave of photographers from across the globe, fighting to catch the money shot as stars and socialites got out and made their way up the famous steps. A person was temporarily blinded each time a limousine door opened.
Finally it was Mel and Aston’s turn. Aston got out of the car to the cheers of the crowd. He smiled humbly as he turned to Mel and put out his hand and winked. For a moment, she wished she had her glasses, but she left them in her bag, going for her contacts tonight and a more dramatic eye. She took his hand, stepping out. The flashbulbs popped as the crowd cheered. There were yells from the paps of, “Over here! Mel, turn this way! You look fantastic! Are you two dating?”
Mel stayed her usual stoic self while Aston smiled and brought her hand to his lips before leading her up the stairs. Oh great, well that should shut down the Nolan pics. Mel let out a breath as she took another step up.
The flashbulbs started all over again as another limo door opened and the photographers went wild. “Would you look at her? Well she’s done it again! Is she really nude? Hey, Mel isn’t that your mystery man?”
Mel turned, almost scared to look, but look she did and there was Remy Costa preening for the photographers. And no, thankfully she wasn’t nude, but hell she might as well have been in the mostly sheer body-hugging piece of fabric Mel wasn’t sure she’d call a dress. It was nude-colored with a handful of icy crystals strategically placed on the area of her nipples and over what would be her triangular V. Remy turned around and showed off what Mel knew had to be a brand new silicone-enhanced ass and hips. There weren’t enough crystals in the world to take care of that. And on her arm was her tall and gorgeous new flavor of the moment by the name of Nolan Parker.
“Hey, Mel,” one of the paps yelled, “isn’t he the guy we saw you kissing all over Facebook?” At Mel’s shocked look and Nolan’s hardened expression directed back her way, Mel felt a flashbulb go off right in her face and she winced. Shit.
Fucking Facebook. Damned social media will burn you every time.
As Nolan watched Mel turn and head up the stairs with that action-figure looking dude, he knew he’d royally screwed up. Why did he agree to come to this stupid party? And to agree to go with his new partner’s girlfriend was the worst. What was he thinking? He should have vetted her for sure, but how was he to know she was a total exhibitionist freakazoid? All he was thinking was this was a way to reconnect with Mel without showing up at her job like a creepy stalker. Instead he’d gone and made things way worse.
The look on her face said it all. She wanted nothing to do with him. And she looked mad cozy with pretty model boy. Fuck! That rubbed him wrong. Nolan wanted to go home but he had to get Remy into this party first and stay at least until his partner got there. As it was his plan of seeing Mellie and possibly connecting, well, it looked like that was blown to hell.
Shit. He really did want to tell Mel about the possible job with Facets Park Avenue Associates when he saw her at the reunion. But how could he after he’d heard her declaration of a weekend fling, not to mention, how she felt about people using her? The fact that they were advertisers in her magazine would make it seem like he was up to some angle for sure. Besides, he was more than a little embarrassed coming from where he’d come from to now work for a firm where their claim to fame was the celebrity ass of the moment.
Nolan frowned and moved said celeb ass forward then felt terrible. Remy may be an exhibitionist, but she used her flash for good and his partner, Alan, assured him he could do good work with them. He and Remy both were passionate about many causes, one of which was helping the underprivileged. So he’d be able to continue taking on some pro-bono cases of those less fortunate. They even thought he would be good for the business to help turn their reputation around. There had to be some good in that.
Nolan looked up the stairs and wondered how he could get that message to Mel when, at the moment, he seemed to be the last person she wanted to see.
* * * * *
Twenty-minutes later, Nolan pushed through the surrounding crowd to give Remy her drink. It was so packed he didn’t see how anyone could be having a good time at this party. All it was to him was a packed house with overly loud music, beautiful table settings you could barely see, and overdressed people taking selfies of each other. And where was the food? At least at the Timber Falls reunion there was meat. Nolan stepped back from the crowd and once again took a sip of his beer.
“How can you look so miserable at a 20K a plate dinner?”
He almost spit the beer out but recovered, covering his mouth as he turned to Lexi. “Are you kidding me? Twenty large?”
She tilted her head in the affirmative.
“Shit, I’m just filling in for my new boss. Hell, this tux is rented.”
Lexi laughed at that. “I thought it was a TD man special. I know my threads.” She then looked serious. “So there’s nothing going on with you and…” She pointed to her behind.
Nolan shook his head. “Really? Hell no. She’s with my new boss, Alan. I just signed on with Facets Plastic Surgery Associates. Like I’d do that to Mel.” Panic hit him. “Shit. Does Mel think so too?”
Lexi frowned. “Probably. But, hey, good for you on the job. So that means you’ll be living in the city?”
Nolan let out a breath, trying to squash his panic. “That I will. My folks are here. And as soon as I find a place, I’m good. Their couch will get old quick.”
“Well, I’m glad to hear it.” She pulled out her cell. “Give me your number so we can stay in touch.”
Nolan pulled out his cell and they exchanged numbers, then he brought up the elephant in the room. “Speaking of contacts, I went looking for you and Mel that morning, but you guys had gone.”
Lexi looked sheepish. He knew she didn’t want to break her girl code, and he hated putting her in an awkward situation but he was desperate. “Yeah, she well, we had to get out quick.”
“And now she won’t respond to my messages on Facebook and I don’t have another way to contact her. Honestly, I only agreed to come here to see her. Though in here it’s practically impossible.”
Lexi looked around with shifty eyes, and when she didn’t see Mel, she leaned in close to him. “Well, if you don’t see her around, I suspect she’s playing conductor and orchestrating this little extravaganza from her secret war room down that back hall, second door on the left. But you didn’t hear it from me.”
Nolan smiled and kissed Lexi on the cheek. “You’re the best, Lexi. It’s good to have a friend in town.”
Lexi raised a brow. “Just make sure you do her right, and we’ll stay friends.”
* * * * *
Mel gave the okay for the midnight acrobatic troupe’s change in music and then leaned back with a sigh as the frantic coordinator exited. As for how the gala night went, only three meltdowns were considered a win. Still, Mel was tired and she couldn’t get the image of Remy with Nolan out of her mind. Why did this have to happen just when she had reconciled with herself that she wanted to reconnect with him? She should have known she couldn’t trust her intuition when it came to men. Trusting only got her heart broken. It was safer if she kept to herself.
Tears threatened to come so she quickly blinked them back. Her makeup was freshly touched up and she wasn’t in the mood for another retouch. Besides, there wasn’t time for tears when she had guests waiting. Just as she pushed off from the small desk to leave, the door opened and Nolan walked in.
“What are you doing back here?”
“I heard you were here,” he said, voice low and calm.
“Well, how did you get past security?”
“It wasn’t that hard. I guess your guy took a break.�
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She went to reach for her phone. “Well, he can take one forever because this is the last night he’ll be working for me.”
Nolan reached out and stilled her hand. The fissure of excitement it gave her was an unwelcome shock to her system. “Please, don’t. I’m just being an ass. I snuck by him. Blame me but don’t go firing people because I pissed you off.”
Mel stared at him.
“Come on with that. If anyone should be pissed it should be me. It was mighty cold of you to hit it and quit it like you did.”
Mel crossed her arms over her chest. “Please, men have been doing it for years. Don’t tell me you’ve never done it.”
“Well, I haven’t. Even with a quickie, I say goodbye when I leave. Damn, woman, you’re cold.”
Well, he had a point there. “Okay, I’m sorry. Goodbye. It was a lovely night. I shouldn’t have left you without saying that. Now can we go? I have a party out there, if you didn’t notice.”
He stepped in closer. “Can you tell me why you left without the goodbye first? Not to mention, why you didn’t answer my messages? I had no way to get in touch.”
Mel felt her brows come together. She didn’t want to do this. Not now. Not ever. “No, but can you tell me why you’re here with Remy Costa? What are you, her latest boy toy? If you needed an investor, you could have just asked me. At least then I would have known I was paying for the screw.”
At that Nolan reared back. His eyes filled with hot anger. “Dammit! You are such a hard ass. So dense that you can’t see what’s right in front of you.” He then stepped forward again. “Here, this one is free.” With those words he stepped back into her space and captured her mouth in a kiss.
A kiss that was hard and almost bruising and all together possessive as he ran his large hands up the front slit of her dress and willed her mouth open with his tongue. Sucking her in deeply while his hand continued his ascent and her traitorous legs spread open for him to step between them. When his blunt fingers brushed surprisingly gently across the peak of her center, she let out a low squeak and felt the moisture pool in answer to his call. Shit, what am I doing? Why am I giving in to him? Mel had to hold on to control. Sucking in a breath through her nose she pushed back at his chest with both hands. Nolan staggered back and looked at her with glassy eyes.
“I want you to go. I have a party and a date waiting, and so do you.”
Nolan wiped his mouth. “Fine, Mellie. You go to your party and your date, but do your homework, Ms. Independent. She’s not my date. I came here for you. You may have been the smartest in our class, but you don’t know everything.”
Mel watched him leave without saying another word. Instead she worked on getting her breathing back to normal. She pulled out a compact and checked herself in the mirror with a long sigh. Oh hell. Now she really would have to get her makeup retouched.
Chapter Fourteen
Mel was finally starting to feel like herself again. Well, at least that was the line she was telling herself.
It had been weeks and she hadn’t heard from Nolan since the party. She had checked his story and found out he wasn’t lying. It turned out Remy was dating his new boss and partner at Facets Plastic Surgery. It would seem that in taking on Nolan, they were moving past their super-silicone image and trying to go more serious and philanthropic. But still, she didn’t reach out to him. Their last encounter showed her how easily he took her out of her comfort zone. How quickly he could take her temperature from chill to a rapid boil in no time flat. With him, she was in the danger zone, and that she couldn’t have. Nothing had changed for her there. She had to protect herself. She had to protect the world she’d built and Nolan had proven that her foundation was dangerously unstable.
Fall was coming to an end and winter brought a not totally unwelcome chill to the air. Mel loved celebrating the holidays with Bailey and her mom. Today she and Bailey were out in Brooklyn heading to Lexi’s annual “The Holidays Suck But We’ll Make It Through With A Little Help From Our Friends” Winter Kickoff Party. It was a party with the longest name ever, but the sentiment was right. Lexi opened her house to her friends in the fashion industry who came from out of town and now lived in New York away from their families. It was potluck, so Mel brought over her mother’s greens and cornbread, which she was totally going to try and scam off as her own.
Lexi opened the door and ushered them both in with hugs and too much knowledge as she sniffed the air. “Yay, you brought your mama’s greens. I was hoping you would.”
Mel twisted her lips. “Quiet! I was going to pass these off as my own.”
Her friend raised her brow. “Girl, you can try but nobody here would believe it. You may be good with the magazine empire and all, but you’re no domestic goddess.” She then hugged Bailey. “So good to see you, baby.”
Bailey hugged her back, shrugging off her jacket. “Thanks. Are Jeffrey and Chris here?”
Mel and Lexi gave each other looks over her head as Lexi spoke up. “That they are. They are playing Xbox in the TV room. Be careful on the stairs though, and watch out for Boo. Don’t let him out of my room. He’s been really hanky with people lately. I don’t want him scratching you,” Lexi warned of her temperamental cat.
As Bailey went off running to see Lexi’s young nephews who visited from New Jersey with her sister for the annual party, Mel shook her head. “Can you believe it’s starting already?”
“I can’t,” Lexi said. “Where has our baby gone? The worst is when you think of us at that at age. Do you remember?”
“Oh God,” Mel said, “I don’t want to.”
“I don’t mind remembering. I always thought you were sweet.”
Mel’s eyes popped up and connected with Nolan at the sound of his voice. Lexi reached out to take the packages of food from her hands as Mel hissed at her under her breath. “What is this? Sisters before misters. How can you break the code?”
Lexi shrugged. “Sorry. He’s new to town and needs friends. I thought I could slip him in on a technicality.”
Mel growled as she tugged off her jacket and shoved it into the hall closet along with Bailey’s. “Technicality my ass. You know I can’t deal with him right now.”
“Him or feeling?” Lexi quipped.
“You’re really pushing it.”
“I aim to please.”
Mel walked past Nolan and went into the small kitchen, passing old friends and greeting them with a now strained smile. The whole time she felt Nolan’s eyes following her every move. Shit. What was Lexi thinking inviting him here? Into their space? With their friends? She felt her temperature start to rise and willed it down. She could handle this. She had to. She would not let feelings take over and make her lose control. Mel tried to sit and socialize, but it didn’t work so she got up, brushed her hands on her jeans, and went to help Lexi set up the buffet. She’d be better if she were busy. But all too quickly Nolan was again by her side.
“Can we talk?” he asked over the green beans. But Mel dodged, picking up potatoes and heading to the microwave.
“We don’t have anything to talk about,” she said, setting the timer.
“I think we have plenty to talk about. I’d love to start over.”
She looked at him. Damn, he looked good enough to lick. All easy and casual in those well-worn jeans again, but this time topped with a body skimming long-sleeved tee. It was really annoying how he sent her hormones into overdrive as if on command. Mel shook her head. “No. Starting over only works in rom coms. It’s not for real people with real lives.”
“Neither is reconnecting on Facebook, but we did.”
She gave him a hot look. “Yeah, and you see how that worked out.” Mel turned back to the potatoes. How the hell long was a minute and a half anyway?
“Oh come on. Just give me time to talk to you. Can’t you take a chance for once? Give up a little and come o
ff that tight-as-hell control just a bit?”
Shit. Why did he do this to her? Always going right to her core. Mel felt the threat of tears form in the back of her eyes. “I don’t know if I can do that.” Her voice sounded embarrassingly weak to her own ears.
“I know,” he replied softly. “I know it’s not easy for you. But you have to know I’m not here to make it hard.”
Mel wanted so badly to believe him and though her heart told her to, everything in her head screamed no.
As if sensing her hesitation, Nolan reached out and gently took her hand, his touch so gentle she almost didn’t know how to receive it. “I’d love for you to trust me,” he said. “Know that I understand it’s not easy for you and I get that it’s unknown but that’s just how life is. Believe me, I’ve learned how fast life can change on you and take you out of the game. Nothing is promised and we can’t control what life throws at us but what we can do is take the time we have now and not waste it, use it while we can and enjoy it loving each other.”
Mel looked at him in almost breathless shock as his words washed over her, breaking down her walls of resistance. With a hesitant smile, she opened her mouth to respond as the microwave bell rang and a scream let out. Bailey!
She and Nolan both set off running towards Bailey’s scream, and when they got to her there was her little girl at the bottom of Lexi’s wooden steps and there was blood. So much blood. It came from behind her head and her leg was askew and there was a wicked-looking gash over her right eye. Instantly Mel panicked and dived for Bailey. “Bailey! Bailey! Talk to me!” But Nolan yelled at her and put a hand up to stop her from touching Bailey.
“Don’t move her, Mel! Please, let me check her first.” He yelled out for someone to call 9-1-1 as Mel started to shake uncontrollably.
Romancing the Fashionista: The Flirty Fashionistas, Book 1 Page 9
