The man propped his hands on his hips. “We’ve met a few times. I’m in with a group from D.C. We’re doing some security training.”
“Well, Eli, it was nice to meet you.”
“You, too.” His head tilted to the side, his gray eyes regarded her with interest. “Hey, would you be interested in going for coffee? Sorry if I seem a little forward, but I feel like I know you a little bit because of Alex.”
Melanie tried to give him a friendly smile even though everything inside her was screaming for her to get away from him. “Thanks for the invite, but I’m not available.”
Eli’s eyebrow arched. “Is this a recent development? Alex mentioned that you weren’t dating when we talked a few weeks back.”
Melanie stared at the man. Was he for real? What was Alex doing discussing her personal life with this man? “You talked with Alex about me?”
“Not directly. I was just bemoaning the fact that I couldn’t find a woman who shared my interest in things like this.” He waved his hand to indicate the gun range. “Alex said he had a sister who was single and liked shooting. Guess he doesn’t know you’re not available.”
Now she was really regretting that she hadn’t gone to her usual shooting place. This was definitely a first. “I guess perhaps I should clarify. I’m not available for a short-term fling, and I’m not interested in anything long distance.”
Before Eli could respond, Melanie’s phone rang. She picked it up and turned it over to see the display. Tyler.
Keeping Eli in her peripheral, Melanie tapped the screen to answer the call. “Hey, Tyler. How’s it going?”
“It’s going fine. You?”
“Good. Just out at the range shooting.” Melanie saw Eli shift his weight, but he didn’t leave.
“Sounds like a…fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon.”
“No doubt you and Ryan were hunkered down watching some sport and eating pizza.”
Tyler chuckled. “You know us too well.”
“Sports and food. What’s to know?”
“True. So true. But listen, I called because I forgot to ask you last night if you thought it would be okay for me to pick Simon up for the evening. There is a men’s group meeting at the church tonight and when I mentioned it, Simon seemed interested in attending.”
“Sure that would be fine. I’m glad to hear he’s wanting to interact with people. That’s a definite improvement.”
“Yes it is, so I’d like to take advantage of this.”
Melanie looked over as she heard someone call Eli’s name. A man stood not too far from Eli, but Eli’s gaze was on her. “Just hang on, Les. I’m waiting for Melanie to finish up her phone call. Still trying to convince her to go for coffee.” Eli winked at her and made no move to leave.
Melanie was sure Tyler heard the comment.
“Uh, sounds like you’re busy. I’d better let you go.”
“I’ll talk to you later,” Melanie said, not happy with the sudden distance in Tyler’s voice.
When Tyler ended the call, Melanie stared down at the display for a moment before laying her phone back on the small shelf. In her mind, she was already rehearsing the moves she’d use on the man if he didn’t back off. She was not in the mood for games like that.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
MELANIE RAISED her head and met his gaze. “Not cool, Eli. Definitely not cool. I’m not going to change my mind about having coffee with you. If there was any man I’d go out with it would be the one I just got off the phone with.” She narrowed her eyes. “Alex must have neglected to mention that I don’t like it when people don’t take no for an answer.”
“Fair enough,” Eli said as he lifted his hands. “Sometimes women need to play hard to get.”
“But for most women, no means no. Plus, your approach is akin to a bulldozer. Try something with a little more finesse on the next woman.”
“I’ll take that under advisement.” His expression told her that he didn’t quite take her seriously. And that annoyed her even more.
“Here’s one other thing to take under advisement.” She clasped her gun between both hands and lifted it slightly. “You only get one warning. Stay away from me.”
She still wasn’t sure he took her threat as seriously as he should, but he gave a nod of his head, his eyes sparking with something that looked suspiciously like anger, before turning toward the man waiting for him. Melanie didn’t take her gaze from Eli as he walked away. When Eli passed the other man, Les turned to her and gave her a big grin and a thumbs up. Clearly, he’d enjoyed seeing Eli Bennett taken down a notch.
As she stood there, the silence of the range settled around her. She took a step back out of her lane and looked in both directions, confirming she was on her own. A frisson of unease skittered down her spine. She snatched up her phone and quickly scrolled through her contacts to call Alex.
“What’s up?” Alex said when he answered.
“What’s up? What’s up is that I just had a run in with one of the most arrogant men I’ve ever met. And he said he knew you.”
“Who are you talking about?”
“Eli Bennet. That’s who I’m talking about. The guy was not interested in taking no for an answer after finding out that I was your single sister who enjoyed shooting. What on earth, Alex? Why are you talking to guys about me? Especially guys like that.”
Alex groaned. “You’re out at the range?”
“Yeah. Imagine my surprise when he said he knew you and then told me what you’d said about me.”
“Sorry about that. I didn’t mean it in such a way that I thought he’d ask you for a date. I just mentioned I had a sister who enjoyed things like shooting.”
“Yeah, well, he apparently thought that was the green light to try and pester me into going out for coffee with him.”
“What did you tell him?”
“What do you think? No. And when he finally figured out I was serious, I also told him he’d better stay away from me. And I might have sort of indirectly threatened him with my gun.”
“Seriously, Melanie? Why would you do that?”
“Nothing else was making him back down. He seemed to take my negative answer to his date invitation as a joke. As if I wanted him to try harder to convince me to go out with him. Keep him away from me, Alex. You’d better make sure he gets the message, because I won’t be responsible for what I do if he doesn’t.”
“I’ll talk to him.” Alex sighed. “Just don’t shoot him. He’s part of an important contract.”
“Well, might I suggest that you let him know that all BlackThorpe female employees are off limits to him? I would hate to have him go after a woman who didn’t have my ability to say no. You might end up with a whole other issue on your hands.”
“True. Sorry, Melanie. But I gotta say, I’m proud of you for standing up to him. He’s a pretty formidable guy. I’ve seen men cower under his attention.”
“Yeah, well, he ticked me off. And he did it while I was holding my favorite gun.”
“That’s my girl.”
Melanie smiled at the affection in her brother’s voice. “Well, I’m going to do a little more shooting. I’m feeling a little bit aggressive at the moment.”
~*~*~
Tyler climbed behind the wheel of his SUV and backed out of the driveway. His jaw hurt from clenching his teeth ever since hanging up the phone with Melanie. He really had no right to be upset by the comment he’d overheard. He had no claim on Melanie. If she wanted to go out for coffee with a guy, that was her prerogative. But that didn’t mean he had to like it, because he most certainly didn’t.
“Everything okay, bro?”
Tyler shot Ryan a quick look before nodding. He didn’t plan to tell Ryan about what he’d heard. Given their past conversations, he was pretty sure the guy wouldn’t have any sympathy for him. Ryan had said on more than one occasion that he should just ask Melanie out on a date. Maybe if he’d done that, he wouldn’t be in this predicament.
&nbs
p; Ryan gave him a light punch on his upper arm. “You do know, right, that usually when I ask you that question it’s because I know that everything is not okay.”
“How would you know that?” Tyler said, his tone a little more defensive than he’d meant for it to be. “You can’t read my mind.”
“True, but I can read your body.”
“Excuse me?” Tyler turned his head to stare at his friend before looking back at the road.
“It’s my thing,” Ryan said mildly.
“Reading bodies is your thing?”
“Well, reading body language. And between the tight grip you’ve got on the steering wheel and the tense set of your jaw and shoulders, something is definitely not okay.”
“And that’s supposed to be a special talent? Seems pretty basic to me.”
“You make it easy since I know you, and you’re usually pretty easy going. Seeing you tense makes it simple to deduct that you’re upset about something.”
Tyler looked at Ryan to see if he was pulling his leg. “And when you say it’s your thing? Like it’s your job?”
“Part of it. It became a big part of my job when I was in the military.”
“No kidding?” And Melanie thought women were supposed to be all mysterious. Ryan was right up there with the stuff Tyler didn’t know about the guy even though they’d been friends for over six months.
“No kidding.”
“So how do you do it?” Tyler was more than happy to grab onto any subject except the one Ryan had been previously focused on. “I’m assuming it’s more than just your average hey, you look angry sort of thing.”
“Hard to explain. It’s just like I can read their bodies and absorb their emotions. Ever since I was a little kid, I’ve been able to do it.”
“Do you use this with BlackThorpe?” Tyler asked, somewhat surprised he hadn’t known this about his friend.
“To some degree. I analyze videos. Sit in on interviews. And observe the employees.”
Tyler’s eyes widened as he stared at the traffic ahead of them on the highway. “Observe the employees?”
“Yes. Marcus and Alex aren’t convinced that there isn’t someone within BlackThorpe that has been feeding information to someone. They want me to interact with the employees to see if I can pick up on anything.”
“So I guess since you’re telling me this that I checked out,” Tyler said with a laugh.
“You, my friend, are an open book. Very easy to read,” Ryan said. “Which brings us back to my original question. What’s wrong?”
Sighing, Tyler tried to loosen his grip on the steering wheel as he gave Ryan a brief rundown of the conversation he’d had with Melanie, what he’d overheard.
“You need to chill, dude. If you’re right in what you’re saying, it sounded like the guy was trying to convince her to go with him. Not that he’d succeeded. My guess is she turned him down flat.”
“You can’t even see her. How do you know that?”
“I just do. And honestly, if you think about it, I think you know that too.”
Ryan was right, but he wasn’t about to tell him that. No need to give the guy a swelled head. Tyler felt some of the tension ease from his shoulders. One thing he did know as a result of all of this was that he needed to ask Melanie if she’d consider going out with him. Sooner or later there was sure to be someone who would come along that she would say yes to. If he left it too long, it wouldn’t be him.
~*~*~
Melanie stared at the number on her cell phone display, not recognizing it. After a short debate, she tapped the screen to accept it.
“Melanie?” The voice was soft and tentative but familiar.
“Jenni? Is that you?”
“Yes. I’m calling to apologize.” Jenni paused. “I don’t hate you.”
Though not often given to tears, when dealing with Jenni and her situation, they were always near the surface, and this time was no different. They had been through so much together. Thinking that Jenni hated her had been gut-wrenching. But she understood why Jenni had felt that way. She’d wanted to be free from the pain this life was causing her, and Melanie had stopped that from happening. “Oh Jenni. I’m so glad to hear that.”
“I know you were only doing what was necessary. And I know it wasn’t easy for you. My mom told me that you were crying when you told them what needed to be done.”
Melanie swallowed hard, emotion clogging her throat. “I wanted to take away your pain, but I couldn’t let you do it that way.”
“I know. I’m getting help now. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to live my life the way you live yours, but hopefully the overwhelming fear will go away. Maybe for good this time.”
“You’re stronger than you think, Jenni. You know I have my own ways of coping with what happened that aren’t exactly healthy.”
“Will you come see me again soon?”
Melanie smiled even though Jenni couldn’t see it. “You bet. Maybe in a couple of weeks I can fly out again.”
“Thank you.” She paused. “Have you talked with any of the others?”
“No. It was your place to let them know what was happening if you wanted them to know.”
“I think, for now, just you knowing is enough.”
They talked a little bit longer and by the end of the conversation, Melanie felt like a weight she hadn’t even know she carried had been lifted from her shoulders. Hopefully, this was a turning point that would stick with Jenni.
She stared down at her phone trying to decide if she was surprised or not that her first instinct after hanging up with Jenni was to call Tyler and let him know about the conversation she’d just had with her friend. Unfortunately, she hadn’t seen or heard from Tyler since that conversation she’d had with him on Sunday afternoon. She’d been tempted to stop by his office after the meeting earlier that day but given the rumor that had already been going around, she decided that might not be wise.
It wasn’t unusual for them to go a few days without contact, but this time it felt awkward. Had Tyler been jealous? They’d been friends for so long. Was it possible for things between them to change into something more? And was she ready for that?
If she did choose to go out with him, it would be because she felt there was a future for them. She had never been one to date casually, and she wasn’t going to start now. Oh, who was she kidding? She didn’t date, period. Casual or otherwise.
With a sigh, she set her phone back on the desk beside her. She’d give it another day. If she didn’t hear from him by tomorrow night, she’d phone and tell him about Jenni’s call and ask how it went with Simon at church. And maybe, in the meantime, she’d pray about it.
Maybe.
~*~*~
Tyler slipped his phone into its case on his belt and reached for his suit coat from the back of his chair. He was already walking out the door of his office as he shoved his arms into the sleeves, lifting it into place on his shoulders. Simon hadn’t said what was wrong when he’d asked for Tyler to come see him as soon as possible, but he’d heard the distress in the man’s voice.
He told the receptionist that he was on his way to the Wellness Center and could be reached on his phone if anyone needed him. Thankfully, it didn’t take long to reach the Center since the midday traffic wasn’t as bad as rush hour might have been. He got through security then went up to Simon’s room instead of the physio room where they usually met.
“Hey, Simon,” Tyler said when the man opened his door to Tyler’s knock. He looked pale, and his lips were drawn tight. “What’s going on?”
“Can we go down to the garden to talk?” Simon asked.
Tyler was totally on board with that since the serene setting was intended for exactly this type of situation. He walked beside the man’s wheelchair as they made their way to the elevator that would take them to the main floor. Once in the brightly lit indoor garden area, Tyler led them to a spot where the sound of the waterfall would mask their conversation if it was any
thing sensitive.
He sat down on a bench next to where Simon stopped his wheelchair. Leaning forward, he braced his forearms on his thighs and looked at Simon. He’d come to consider the man a friend, and the strain on his features was a concern considering the progress the man had made of late. “What’s going on, buddy?”
Simon’s elbows rested on the armrests of the wheelchair, but his hands were clasped tightly in front of him. “I don’t know if I told you that I had a fiancée.”
Tyler felt a knot tighten in his gut. He had really hoped this was one experience he didn’t share with Simon. “No, you never mentioned it.”
Simon nodded as if he figured that was the case. “We were supposed to get married after I got back from that last tour. But then this happened.” He gestured to his leg. “And everything kinda went south.”
That would explain some of his attitude when he’d first arrived at the Center. Tyler could certainly understand that pain. “Have you been in contact with her?”
“No.” After a moment, Simon tipped his head enough so their gazes met. “She sent me letters, but I sent them back.”
Suddenly, Tyler got the feeling that maybe their situations weren’t quite as alike as he’d thought. “Were you the one to call off the wedding, Simon?”
The man’s gaze dropped as he nodded. “I thought it was the best thing for her.”
“Did she agree?”
“No. And she phoned me today.”
“She hasn’t phoned you before.”
Simon gave a single shake of his head. “I disconnected my cell number and when I got a new number I asked my family not to give it to her.”
“So what did she want?”
“She said she’s coming to see me.” Simon rubbed a hand down the thigh that ended in a stump. “Said she didn’t care if I had two legs or none, she loves me and refuses to take no for an answer.”
Tyler stared at the man. “Is this about you really feeling that you can’t be a good husband to her with just one leg? Or are you feeling that this is another instance where you can’t embrace happiness because of those who lost their lives in your accident?”
A Matter of Trust: A Christian Romance (BlackThorpe Security Book 3) Page 17
