Kiss Is a Four-Letter Word (15 page)

****

Sherry stood with her back against the door, panting harshly. What the hell? Where did they come from? She pressed a hand to her mouth, shocked at how badly she was trembling.

"Sherry? Are you okay?" Melody came into the room through the connecting door.

Sherry startled and looked up. Melody held a sheaf of printouts. The long, shiny conference table had been set with water glasses and folders. Oh, shit. The meeting!

"Oh crap, I forgot the meeting was going to be in here. I'll get out of your way." She forced herself to move away from the door.
If only it had a lock.

Melody huffed out a breath. "Yeah, no. You look like you're going to faint. What's going on? Sit down." Sherry's friend pulled out a chair and shoved Sherry down. She pressed a glass of water into her hand and Sherry sipped at it absently. "We have a couple minutes. Tell me what the hell just happened. You look like you've seen a ghost."

Sherry shook her head and drank some more of the water. "Who did you say this meeting was for again?"

Melody narrowed her eyes. "I didn't say."

Sherry frowned. "You had me do the initial marketing plan but you never told me who it was for." Now that she thought about it, that was kind of weird.

"My uncle Bill asked me to keep it quiet. It's a high-profile client and they didn't want the press or another corporation to get wind of the deal," Melody explained.

Sherry rolled her eyes. "We're a marketing company not a tech startup trying to protect intellectual property."

Melody smiled. "I know. I said that exact same thing to him and he just shrugged. He's the boss." She sat down, taking Sherry's hands in her. "Geez, your hands are freezing. Tell me what's wrong. Please? I'm your friend."

Sherry looked away. Outside the generous windows she saw storm moving up the island. Since they were on the fortieth floor, she had a clear view of the lightning just starting to flash in the dark clouds. It was definitely going to pour in the next half hour. She sighed and faced her friend. "I saw someone in the hall."

"Who?"

Sherry swallowed. "You know those guys I was dating? The charity ball?"

Melody's mouth dropped. "Oh!
Those
two guys. The ones you said were so gorgeous." She leaned closer and lowered her voice. "The ones you gave up your ridiculous virginity for?"

Sherry flushed. "Yeah. Them."

"The ones you
never called back
. Which was totally insane, in my opinion, as you know." Melody poured herself a glass of water and took a long drink. "Girl, if I had not one, but two hot men dying to go out with me, at the same time, I would grab on with both hands and not let go. Two guys. Kissing each other. God, that's hot." She fanned herself.

Sherry sighed. "I was scared."

Melody put her glass down. "That's the first time I heard you say something completely honest since you broke it off with them."

Sherry rubbed her temples. "I know. I think it took me this long to admit it to myself. I mean, it was kind of overwhelming. I'd held out for so long. I wanted my first time to be special."

"Honey, your first time was so special I don't know how any man is ever going to measure up to that. You really oughta give them a second chance."

"Yeah. I guess you're right. No. I
know
you're right. And now they're here, just down the hall." Sherry looked apprehensively at the door.

"Wait a second. The two guys you were dating, the ones you wouldn't tell me anything about, are Eli Moest and Simon River?"

Sherry nodded.

"My word," Melody breathed. Her gaze sharpened. "Good God, stand up! You've got to pull yourself together." She hauled Sherry to her feet and brushed at her arms. "At least you had the luck to wear this gorgeous dress today." Melody picked some lint off Sherry's shoulder and snatched her water glass.

"Mel! What are you doing?" Sherry backed away from her friend's hands.

"You are going to go out there and talk to them. And you are going to look fabulous doing it. Fix your hair." Melody whisked the dirty tumblers away into the other room. Sherry gingerly smoothed her hair back from her face and Melody nodded approvingly when she came back with two clean glasses.

"Now, unless I've somehow lost my brains in the last five minutes,
which I haven't
, Eli and Simon are the big-wig clients my uncle's been stressing out about for the last week."

"Wait, you mean I prepared that plan for
them
?" Sherry felt faint. Now she'd
have
to talk to them.

"I'd be willing to bet money on it," Melody said.

"Oh God." Sherry's stomach fluttered. Was she really going to talk to them?

She thought about the last two months, how she'd had to figure out what she wanted to do with her life. Melody's uncle offered her a job as soon as she interviewed with him. Said her internships and work experience were spectacular, especially since she'd done it all while still going to school. Since she'd been fired from her last job, Sherry threw herself into learning the ropes at her new position. After a month, Melody's uncle moved her into his niece's department so the two of them could work as a team on the bigger contracts. It was better than being a journalist ever was. Sherry had no idea she would enjoy working in marketing so much, but she loved it.

Unfortunately, the entire time she'd been putting herself back together she'd missed Eli and Simon. They'd only really had one night together, but Sherry felt like she'd broken something special when she walked out. At first she didn't want to call them because she didn't feel right about it. She was an unemployed loser. They were wealthy investment bankers. When she felt better about herself, she thought of calling them, but was ashamed she hadn't done it sooner. The entire situation spiraled into an emotional catch-22. Add that to her worry they'd find out what happened to her in high school and she couldn't make herself pick up the phone.

"Melody, I don't know what to say to them. I refused all their calls. All of them. And they called a lot."

"Oh, Sherry. If what you had was as special as you say, I know they'll forgive you," Melody said, sympathetically. When the door behind Sherry opened, Melody's expression went from encouraging to neutral.

Sherry's heart started pounding. She felt sick. She slowly turned around to see Eli and Simon standing just inside the door. She sucked in a deep breath, swallowed thickly, and bolted.

****

What the—? Simon watched Sherry rush out the rear door of the room.
This is ridiculous.
He frowned.

"She ran. Again," Eli said.

Simon looked at the attractive black woman standing by the table. Was she a friend of Sherry's? Her face held a mixture of dismay and surprise. "Miss?"

The woman blinked at him. "I'm so sorry. I can't believe she did that."

Simon laughed. "I can. Where does that door go?"

The woman shook her head, muttering under her breath. "Unbelievable. After all we talked about." Simon could only make out what she was saying because he'd moved closer.

"The door?" He prompted her. Eli leaned in, brushing against his shoulder. At least Simon didn't have to deal with
him
running.

The woman's gaze firmed. "It goes to another conference room, then out to the offices. I'll take you. I think I know where she went."

Simon smiled. "Thanks. I'm Simon River and this is Eli Moest, by the way."

The woman was already walking but she twisted to smile over her shoulder at him. "I know who you are. I'm Melody Tekel, marketing director. Sherry is my co-director. And my friend, too. Or at least, she's supposed to be but I don't know what'll happen when I choke her to death."

Simon grinned as he followed her through the door into another conference room. It was identical to the other except the table was bare. "Why 'supposed to' instead of is?"

Melody snorted. "She promised me she was going to talk to you. Then you walked in and she ran. Oh, she is in so much trouble." She led them to another door in the far wall and paused before opening it. "She told me about you two."

Eli laughed. "Simon and I get first dibs on her."

Melody smiled and turned the knob. "Yeah, okay." The door opened into a spacious room dotted with open-plan cubicles. Melody walked through the busy office, nodding to some people and smiling at others, but she didn't stop. Simon followed her, ignoring all the curious eyes. He knew some of them recognized who he and Simon were and he didn't care. If Sherry wanted to have this conversation in front of a thousand people, he would do it.

"There, she's in our office, just like I thought." Melody pointed to a corner room. The inner wall was a single window that ran from the ceiling to the floor. The office held two desks and a row of windows along both walls. Inside the room, Sherry frantically shoved papers into a leather briefcase. She had her head down and didn't see them coming. Simon chuckled under his breath. If she thought she was getting away from them this time, she was sadly mistaken.

"You share an office?" Eli asked as Melody slowed down.

"Yeah. Lucky for you," Melody flashed him a smile. She walked right up to the door and wrenched it open. "Where do you think you're going?" she asked her friend.

Sherry jerked her head up and paled when she saw them. "Melody." Her eyes darted to Simon and Eli then back to her friend. "Um."

"Yeah, no. Not this time. Look who I ran into in the conference room?" She held the door open for Simon and Eli who crowded into the small space. Melody grinned at them. "Apparently they've been looking for you for a while."

Sherry glared at her friend. Melody smirked and backed out of the room. "I'll just leave you three to get reacquainted."

Simon had to admire her poise. Melody managed to back out of the room, shut the door, and wink at Sherry all in one quick motion. He nodded to her in thanks and leaned against the now shut door. The room had excellent soundproofing but the lack of blinds made it feel like he was in a fishbowl. He looked at Sherry, a riot of emotions coursing through him: affection, sympathy, hunger, desire. He and Eli were the sharks and Sherry was the little fishy. He chuckled and she flinched.

"Sherry. Why are you so afraid?" he asked her gently.

She bit her lip and looked out the window. The storm forecasted to pummel Manhattan was almost on top of them. The skies were dark. A flash of lightning illuminated Sherry's gorgeous dark hair.

"We'd never hurt you, you know that," Eli said. His friend's voice wasn't sharp but it held a note of hurt in it that Simon worried Sherry might interpret as an accusation. Simon flashed his lover a warning look.

"Sherry?" Simon moved away from the door and leaned on her desk. She looked small and scared in her chair. A few papers tottered precariously on the edge of her desk so he gathered them up and placed them safely on a shelf. He glanced at Eli, still near the door, and saw most of the office was watching them through the glass. Oh well.

"I know you wouldn't hurt me. I was just so ashamed," Sherry mumbled.

Simon frowned. “Ashamed?”

Eli moved closer and leaned against the desk. "Why would you be ashamed? Was it because of what we did that night?"

Sherry's head shot up. "No! Definitely not. That night was—" She broke off, swallowing, and tried again. "That night was wonderful." Her voice had gone soft.

Simon glanced toward the inner office. Everyone was still staring. Fuck it. He leaned down, put a hand on Sherry's cheek. "It was special for us, too."

Sherry looked up. She was on the verge of tears. Simon wanted to kick something. Why was she so scared? What the hell had happened? "Sherry, what's wrong? Why didn't you call us back?" He rubbed a thumb over her temple.

She looked out the windows at the darkening clouds but didn't try to move his hand. "I was a reporter, you know. I worked for a really aggressive online news site."

"We know," Eli said. Simon could hear the strain in his voice.

Sherry jerked her eyes back to them. "You know?"

Simon sighed, letting his hand fall. "Yeah. That was one of the first things Erica found out about you for us the day the photos hit the news."

Sherry's face was anguished. "I didn't tell anyone about us."

Simon had the sudden realization that for all Sherry's bravado and intelligence, she was still very young. He'd never really thought about the nine years that separated them before, but now he had the feeling her lack of experience was part of what had caused all the miscommunication.

"Sherry, I know that. Eli knows that." Simon smacked Eli on the thigh and sent him a 'say something' look.

Eli rolled his eyes at Simon but did as he asked. "I'll be honest. I thought that maybe you'd said something. That you'd somehow tipped off the woman who took the photos—"

"I didn't! I swear."

Eli raised a hand and put it gently over her mouth. "I know. Simon made sure I knew how much of an asshole I was being for thinking that. I was upset when you didn't call us back." Eli bit his lip, making his face look endearingly boyish. Simon thought that if Sherry could resist that look, she deserved a medal.