The Risk: A Billionaire Romance (Wagered Hearts Series, Book 2) (4 page)

“Are you listening to me Melanie? You’ve got that insipid look on your face again. If you can’t handle the responsibilities of your job, then you should speak up and tell me now,” my mother said.

I snapped my head up and looked at her. “No, I heard you perfectly, Ms. Abelgard,” I said. She made me refer to her as Ms. Abelgard at the office. It felt strange calling my own mother Ms. Abelgard, but then again, she made everyone call her that.

“Good. So you know that I need you to work around the clock to fix your mistakes.”

I nodded my head, smothering the indignation that was bubbling up inside me. I had followed her instructions to the letter and now that she decided to change her mind, everything was suddenly my fault. A hopeless rage flittered through my chest but just as quickly died out. Going against my mother was a fruitless endeavor. It was just easier to go along with what she said.

Besides, it wasn’t like I had anything else to do. Since starting work at my mother’s magazine two months ago, I’d been regularly pulling twelve hour work days. This was the first time in a while that I’d been single without a man, so I didn’t have anyone waiting for me at home. Losing myself in my work was actually a blessing, and a part of me thought that if I could prove myself as a hard worker, my mother would eventually show me some little bit of approval or appreciation.

My mother turned her attentions to other matters, so I was off the hook for now. Thankfully the meeting was soon over, and I gathered my papers in front of me and shoved them into a manila folder. Candace waited for me and we walked out of the conference room together.

“It’s almost time for lunch. Want to head out early?” she asked.

I looked back to where my mother was still in the room talking to the managing editor. “Yeah let’s go,” I said turning back to Candace. “I could use a break.”

***

We were seated at a table almost immediately which worked out for us since we only had an hour for lunch.

“This is a nice change of pace from the cafeteria or eating in our cubicle,” Candace said looking over her menu.

“I needed to get out of there,” I said.

She put aside the menu and clucked her tongue. “I hear you. Those staff meetings are the worst. It’s feels like a game of Russian roulette and you’re just praying she doesn’t single you out, you know what I mean?”

“Trust me, I know exactly what you mean,” I said.

“She seemed extra bitchy today for some reason,” Candace mused, as she squeezed a slice of lemon in her water.

“Maybe the party is stressing her out. All I know is to stay out of her hair when she gets in one of her moods.”

Candace stared at me as she chewed on a breadstick, a thoughtful look on her face. “I can’t even imagine what your childhood must have been like,” she said shaking her head in wonder.

I was about to joke and make light of my relationship with my mother, like I always did whenever the topic came up, but my response died in my throat. My attention was focused at the front of the dining room at the couple entering the restaurant. It was him. The Hunk—er—jerk from Lily’s party. He had just walked in following a tall slender woman. They were being led to a table by the back corner of the restaurant.

He looked striking in a fitted black suit that looked like it was tailor made. I couldn’t help but notice that he moved with a natural grace, weaving through the tables with ease and finesse. I wanted to stop staring, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away from him. He finally spotted me and I could tell the moment recognition hit him. He paused briefly before shooting me a bright smile—a smile that sent shivers up my spine. I couldn’t help the way my stomach was doing somersaults and I mentally chastised myself. Why did I feel anything at all?

“It’s him,” Candace said looking over her shoulder to see what had gotten my attention. “And he’s coming this way.”

My heartbeat sped up with each step that he took closer towards us. I nervously sipped my water, wetting my parched lips. What was it about this man that made me so nervous? I’d seen plenty of good looking guys before. Hell, I worked at a fashion magazine where the world’s most beautiful models came and went every day. So it wasn’t just his looks that held me enthralled. There was something more about him.

As he stood there in front of me, I felt waves of energy just radiating off of him. He overwhelmed me with his presence and bombarded all my senses.

“Hello again,” he said in that deep smooth voice of his.

I stared at his chest, not able to bring my gaze up to look into his eyes. Somehow I knew it was safer this way. My eyes focused on the top of his shirt where the first three buttons were undone, showing a hint of light chest hair. Ok, maybe I shouldn’t look there, I realized, as the picture of me running my fingers over his chest suddenly took root in my mind. I blushed at the direction my thoughts were headed.

“Hi, I’m Candace. I don’t think we’ve met,” I heard Candace say, as she held out her hand.

I took the small reprieve to try to calm my nerves, breathing in and out slowly. When I finally looked up, my eyes fell on the woman he was with. She seemed a bit older up close, maybe in her early forties. She had brown hair that was streaked with blonde highlights. It hung stick-straight down past her shoulders. She wore a professional and chic gray pencil skirt with a white silk button down shirt tucked in at the waist. She smiled blandly at Candace and me, but when I met her eyes, she looked almost mocking.

“It’s nice to see you again, Mel,” he said turning back to me. “So I was thinking, we should get together sometime soon.”

“Why would we do that?” I asked, surprised by his familiarity.

His eyes twinkled at me in amusement as he bit back a smile. “Since you and I are best man and maid of honor for Roman and Lily’s wedding, I thought we should get together to plan their bachelor and bachelorette parties,” he said.

“Why would we do that?” I asked again. “I mean, they’re two separate parties.”

“Well, I was thinking we could combine them both and have a big bash out in Vegas,” he said.

I was about to ask him why we would do that, but I caught myself. I’d never been so tongue tied around a man before. I reminded myself to think before I spoke.

“A bash out in Vegas?” I finally managed to say. Ok, so it wasn’t the most brilliant or witty reply, but it was a start.

“Yes, that’s what I said. And before you ask me why we would do that, I think it’d be a lot more fun and special for Roman and Lily. I also think they’d appreciate having the parties together.” His tone was serious, but he couldn’t hide the slight twitch of his lips as he spoke. I knew he was probably laughing at me, and I should have been offended, but I couldn’t find it in myself to feel that way.

“Hmm, I don’t know about that. Lily mentioned to me that she didn’t want to do anything too extravagant or over the top. She actually didn’t want a bachelorette party at all,” I said.

“Is she crazy?” Candace chimed in. “Vegas sounds like fun and I’m sure once we’re out there, Lily will come around.”

“Candace is right,” he said. “We’ll make sure she has a great time. Besides a bachelorette party should always be a little over the top, don’t you think?”

So he and Candace were on a first name basis now? I had to fight to keep from rolling my eyes the way she beamed up at him. He was too damn charming for his own good.

“What do you say?” he asked.

“I didn’t take you for such a party planner,” I replied.

“I’m full of surprises.”

“Yes and I’m sure your poor assistant will get stuck hammering out the little details,” I said sarcastically.

“Well she’s right here, and you’re right, she probably will be the one to make sure everything gets taken care of. She’s good like that, right Natasha?” he said giving her a smile.

Natasha didn’t say anything, but the look of annoyance was clear on her perfectly made up features. She gave me a curt nod of the head and I couldn’t help feeling embarrassed at my big mouth.

“So, how about dinner sometime this week and we can go over our ideas,” he said. Staring into his eyes, I found myself saying yes before I realized what I did. “Great! Why don’t you give me your phone number and I’ll give you a call later on,” he said.

I rattled off my number and he programmed it into his phone. “I look forward to seeing you,” he said before he turned to head back to his own table.

After he walked away, I shook my head, trying to clear it of the muddle he’d made of it.

“Damn, that man is smooth,” Candace said, looking over her shoulder at him walking away.

“Did I just agree to go to dinner with him?” I asked, still slightly dazed.

“You sure did. Lucky girl.”

“Am I though? Or did I just get myself into trouble?”

“If that man is trouble, you can sign me up,” she said.

“Be serious now, Candace.”

“I am being serious. You just need to relax a little. You’ve been stressed out lately with work and then your break up with Chad. Ryan might be the distraction you need right now. It won’t hurt to have a little harmless flirtation with a handsome man like that. I could think of worse things to do with my time.”

“So he’s Ryan now?”

“Don’t try to change the topic, Mel. You deserve to have some fun in your life.”

I remained silent, letting her words sink in. It was true that I’d been a bit of a funk lately. I couldn’t even blame it all on the breakup either. The truth was, I’d been feeling a growing restlessness since before Chad decided to walk out of my life. It was as if I had no direction and so I clung to him to give me an identity or a purpose. While I was with him, I could blind myself to those other areas where my life was lacking. Now that he was gone, I couldn’t hide anymore. That was what probably hurt the most—that loss of identity. I thought I’d been doing a pretty decent job trying to fix the mess that my life had become, but maybe I wasn’t as far along as I should have been.

“I don’t know,” I finally said.

Thinking about all of it was giving me a headache. I was so confused by my reaction to Ryan Marsden and all the feelings he brought out in me. Could I just have a casual fling with this man and not get my feelings involved? Did I even want to?

Looking at him, he seemed like someone who always got whatever he wanted. I was sure he wasn’t hurting in the sex and casual companionship department. He probably had a string of girls who’d love to sit by the phone and wait for his call. Why would he even want to bother with me? Especially when he held such a low opinion of my mother. Remembering his words brought me up short. It was like a bucket of cold water being thrown in my face.

Even though my mother wasn’t what you’d call loving or supportive, or compassionate or kind, or a million other things, she was still my mother and I wouldn’t stand around while some random person spoke badly about her and me by extension. I didn’t care if he was Roman’s best friend. And I didn’t care that his eyes were impossibly blue or that he had a dimple on his left cheek. And I most definitely didn’t care about the way he made me feel when he said my name and looked at me like he was trying to see into my soul.

“What are you chuckling at?”

I looked at Natasha and grinned as we headed to our table. “Nothing at all. Just enjoying life,” I said casually. The truth was, I was still amused by the expression on Mel’s face as I walked away. She looked dismayed that she had just agreed to go out with me. It was a good thing I took the opportunity to get her number before she changed her mind. Ever since Roman’s engagement party, I’d been hoping to see her again.

I knew she’d overheard me talking about her and making rude remarks about her mother and I felt guilty about it. When she confronted me at the party, I was about to apologize, but then she surprised me and put me in my place. She gave as good as she got and I found myself drawn to her, wanting to find out what made her tick. At least that’s what I told myself.

“Oh please,” she said rolling her eyes. “You’re at it again, aren’t you?”

“At what again?” I asked.

“You’re going to make that poor girl fall in love with you and then dump her when you get bored with her,” she said rather harshly. “She’ll be crushed.”

I shook my head, not understanding where Natasha was coming from. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I have no intention of hurting her.”

“That’s the problem, you never do,” she said.

“For your information—”

“Save your excuses for someone else. I’ve known you too long to be blinded by your boyish smile and charming ways.”

“Boyish smile? Oh Natasha, I’m flattered, but as your boss, I think it would be inappropriate—”

“Oh shut up,” she said rolling her eyes. “As if I’d be so foolish. I’m perfectly happy with Amy, thank you very much. I’m just saying one of these days, your womanizing ways are going to come back and bite you in the ass. You’ll really fall in love and get your heart broken and then you’ll finally understand what you’ve been doing.”

“I have been in love before, Natasha,” I said, a little of the humor gone from my voice.

“Correction, you only imagined yourself in love. The fact that you can sit here and smile and joke about it is one clue you never felt anything more than lust or infatuation. It’s always the same, with Amanda, and Liana, Mariko, Juliana, Beatrice, Carly, Shayla—”

“Ok ok, you don’t have to list all my exes. It makes me feel positively rakish,” I said giving her a wink.

Though I tried to play it off lightly, hearing Natasha go through a list of my exes left me a bit unsettled. I knew I was no saint, but the fact that I’d gone through so many women surprised me, and she hadn’t even named a quarter of them. Was it true what she said? Was I leaving a trail of broken hearts where ever I went? I never intended to hurt any of them, but then again, I never really took their feelings into consideration. Despite my casual proclamations of love, I wasn’t serious about any of them. In fact, I hadn’t been serious about anyone since Kylie.

She was my first love. We met when we were both in college. I thought the sun and moon revolved around her, but then again I was still so young. I could be excused for my foolishness and naiveté. She proved to be nothing more than a manipulative gold digger. I didn’t know it at the time, but she was just using me to try to get to Roman.