When a Champion Wants You (2 page)

Then there was the time at
the business summit a year ago…

Dimitrius had been on his
way out of the hotel, toting his briefcase and eyeing her as he
walked by the receptionist desk with a proud, unmistakable swagger,
demanding the attention of every woman nearby.

Refusing to lock eyes with
the man again, Melanie doodled on the notepad next to the phone,
pretending to be busy. She was busy alright – busy getting her
heart rate under control as she avoided the likes of Dimitrius
Champion.

“
Mel, you
there?”

“
Oh…yeah. I’m here. I was
just reading over some interview tips, in case I decide to
go.”

“
You should go, Mel. When
is it anyway?”

Brows furrowed, Melanie
asked, “You don’t know? Your husband is the C.E.O. of the
company…”

“
Dante doesn’t talk
business when he’s home. We’re busy doing other things.”

“
I bet you are
busy
doing other things,”
Melanie joked.

Emily laughed.

“
Anyway, the interview is
tomorrow. Nine o’clock sharp.” Melanie folded her laptop shut and
set it on the nightstand, releasing a nervous sigh into the expanse
of her bedroom.

“
Okay, so get your butt to
bed so you can be ready. I know for a fact that Dante wants you for
this position, Mel.”

“
Oh, but I thought you
didn’t discuss work-related things at home,” she playfully
mimicked.

“
We don’t. I know he wants
you because he chose you, Melanie. Dante is definitely a man who
knows what he wants. Now, I’m not so sure about his brothers,
especially Dimitrius. He can be extremely picky, meticulous and
just, ugh…”

Melanie felt a knot form in
her stomach at the mention of Dimitrius’ name. And it didn’t help
to settle her at all that Emily characterized him as being
picky
. Would he be the
one to give her a hard time at the interview?

She didn’t know much about
Dimitrius – only things she had heard – things she really didn’t
want to pay attention to, because you can’t believe everything
people said. But sometimes, rumors had merit. Sometimes…

She knew Dimitrius hadn’t
been married and had no plans to marry. She’d also heard he was a
straightforward guy, highly unapproachable and he unintentionally
came across as a jerk when he conversed with people. But he was
loyal to his family – to his brothers and the business that they
were building together.

“
You know what, Em…I think
you’re right. I better get this butt to bed since I’m going to be
triple-teamed by the Champion men tomorrow.”

Emily grinned. “You’ll do
fine, Melanie.”

“
Yeah, thanks,” she said,
unconvinced. “I’ll call you tomorrow after it’s over…that’s if I
make it out alive.” Melanie listened as Emily laughed.

She chuckled
too.

“
How about we meet up for
lunch tomorrow?” Emily asked. “Sherita is working at the boutique
with me tomorrow, so I can get out of there for a little while
without having to rush back.”

“
Alright. I’ll meet you at
the boutique and then we can go from there.”

“
Perfect. I’ll see you
tomorrow then.”

“
Okay, Em. See you
tomorrow.”

Melanie set her phone on
the nightstand, pulled her thick, curly hair into a ponytail then,
after flicking off the lamp, she slid beneath the covers. Tomorrow
was a big day and she wanted to be well rested and ready for
whatever the Champions had to throw at her. And she hoped that
Dimitrius would be on his best behavior.

Chapter 2

It was so
quiet, you could hear a pin drop – or in this
case, the aggravating taps of Dimitrius’ pen against the tabletop
as the brothers sat in the executive conference room on the tenth
floor. They had been waiting for Melanie to arrive so the first
interview for the day could begin.

Dimitrius noticed that
Dante and Desmond didn’t seem to be bothered by the fact that
Melanie was four minutes late. They were busy on their laptops,
probably checking email or in Dante’s case, reviewing the revised
business plan for the re-launch of eRoll, the website company he
formed three years ago. Its purpose was to specialize in providing
outsourcing to companies who didn’t want to do their payroll
in-house. Like Grieving Hearts Connect, eRoll was also a
million-dollar venture, but it still hadn’t gained as much momentum
as Grieving Hearts Connect had. The potential was there, but its
visibility in the market was not. That’s why there was an urgency
to hire a marketing manager. The role would free up a lot of
Desmond’s time to travel, especially since they would be
re-launching eRoll in Vegas in a month.

Dimitrius suspired and
checked his Seiko watch once again. Now she was five minutes late.
Where was she? “Am I the only one who realizes that this woman is
five minutes late?”

Desmond didn’t respond,
almost as if he hadn’t heard a word Dimitrius had said.

Dante didn’t respond
either. He’d been on cloud nine since returning home from Paris,
two weeks ago, where he and Emily had a late honeymoon.

Plus, the brothers learned
to ignore the idiosyncrasies of Dimitrius a long time ago. So what
she was five minutes late. They could easily recoup five minutes
off of the back end of her interview to make sure all the others
stayed on time.

“
Hello? Am I talking to
myself here?” Dimitrius said, frowning.

Dante hid a smirk. “Calm
down, Dimitrius. Phyllis pinged me to let me know that Melanie is
in the lobby getting badged up. She’ll be up here in a
few.”

“
Well she should’ve
messaged all of us to say that,” he snapped.

Dante shook his head. After
notifying Dimitrius that Melanie was on the way up, Dimitrius still
seemed bothered. If only Dimitrius would stop pretending like he
didn’t have a thing for Melanie, then maybe she could end up being
the woman to calm his spirit. He certainly needed someone to do
it.

Dimitrius checked his watch
again. When it came to promptness, he was strict, even on himself.
If he told you he would be somewhere at five, then he was there –
at five. He noticed that his brothers were more lax about their
time now, especially Dante. Seemed that since Dante had married
Emily, he was more relaxed, less uptight and calm.

Dimitrius sat up straight
when he heard voices outside of the door – one of which he
recognized as Phyllis. He knew the other must’ve belonged to
Melanie.

Phyllis opened the door and
said, “Good morning, gentlemen. This is Melanie Summers, here for
your nine o’clock. I’ll let you guys take over from
here.”

“
Thank you, Phyllis,” Dante
said.

“
You’re welcome, Sir,” she
responded before closing the door.

Dante stood to shake
Melanie’s hand. Although he knew her well, since she was his wife’s
best friend and all, he wanted to keep things professional,
realizing that his brothers didn’t know her. And one brother, in
particular, seemed to want to get to know her a little
better…

Dimitrius was in a trance,
staring at her as she offered a warm smile to him, then to Desmond.
Usually when he saw her, she was busy at the receptionist desk at
the hotel, on the phone or assisting customers.

Today, she was bubbly and
bright – didn’t look like the same woman he remembered – maybe
because he’d never been this close to her. She looked different
with her deep black, curly hair laying softly on her shoulders. The
color of her eyes were as black as granite. Her skin was a shade
lighter than caramel – a little lighter than his.

Gorgeous. Just plain
gorgeous
, he thought to himself trying to
keep the rigorous thumps of his heart at bay. It didn’t help that
her flowery scented perfume wafted across the table, nearly
intoxicating him. And the red blouse she wore – boy did it
compliment her as well as matched her lipstick choice. The black
slacks she had on didn’t (well it couldn’t) hide her shapely hips.
And he noticed that she was tall, too – probably a few inches under
six feet.

“
So guys, this is Melanie
Summers,” Dante told his brothers, officially introducing them,
since they already knew Melanie somewhat, having seen her around
his house a few times. “I know she’s not a complete stranger to
you, but I still think introductions are appropriate.”

“
Hi,” Desmond said,
standing up and reaching for her hand. “I’m Desmond.”

“
Hi Desmond. It’s nice to
officially meet you.”

“
Nice to meet you too,
Melanie.”

Dimitrius didn’t bother
standing up. He was so annoyed, he couldn’t help himself. How was
he going to work with this woman? She needed to go away, and fast.
He had mastered avoiding her the past year, but how would he do
that if the woman worked in their building for goodness
sakes?

When Dante realized that
Dimitrius wasn’t so cordial, he said, “And, Melanie, this is my
brother Dimitrius.”

“
Hi Dimitrius,” Melanie
said, offering him a smile. She hadn’t extended her hand to him
because he hadn’t extended his hand to her.

“
You’re late,” Dimitrius
drawled out, shooting her a penetrating gaze.

She hid a frown and
responded, “Yes, I’m aware of that. I wasn’t too familiar with the
parking and such, but I’m here now.”

“
Yes, I can see that,” he
hissed. “Now if you’ll have a seat, we can get started.
Finally…”

“
Alrighty then,” Melanie
said, taking her seat on the opposite side of the table from where
they were sitting. She realized that Emily, and the rumors she’d
heard, were right. Dimitrius was somewhat irascible and
quick-tempered – his problem, not hers. She didn’t know what it was
that climbed up his butt, but she wasn’t going to let it ruin her
chances of getting this job. She’d studied too hard for this
interview.

Dante folded his laptop
shut, briefly glanced at Dimitrius and Desmond to make sure they
were ready to begin then, to set Melanie’s mind at ease, he asked,
“So how are you doing this morning?”

“
I’m doing well, Dante.
Thanks for asking.”

“
Would you like some coffee
or anything?”

“
No, thank you. I had some
earlier.”

“
Okay, well, let’s get
started. As you know, Desmond heads up of the entire marketing
department currently, and managing thirty people in addition to his
own workload, has proven to be time consuming. With the steady
growth within the company, we’re looking for a marketing manager –
someone to oversee the day-to-day, while Desmond focuses his
attention on building TCC’s brand and all the web companies we
represent. So, since he is the person you’ll be reporting to, I’ll
let him have the floor.”

“
Thanks, Dante,” Desmond
said. “Let’s get right to it. Why don’t you start off by telling me
a little about yourself?”

She smiled nervously. “Like
what?”

“
Well, for starters, are
you from Asheville?”

“
No. I’m originally from
Charlotte. I moved to Asheville about ten years ago.”

“
And how long have you
worked for the hotel?” Desmond inquired.

“
Three, going on four
years.”

“
What exactly is it that
you do there?” Dimitrius asked with a frown. He had to chime in
somewhere. And to be honest, he could care less what she did at the
hotel. He just wanted to see her mouth move. Wanted to see the
cherry red lipstick on her plump lips move.

He tightened his jaw.
Another thing he wanted is for her to look him in the eyes, talk to
him, to see if the feelings that shot through his body when he saw
her at Dante’s house were still there. He needed to know why this
woman evoked feelings in him that he hadn’t felt in a long time. It
vexed him.

Melanie looked at
Dimitrius, locking eyes with him. Why was he frowning? In his eyes,
she saw the same heat she remembered the last time they locked
gazes at the hotel. It almost seemed as if he was looking right
through her, an uneasy feeling for a woman to be examined like this
by a man – especially one who seemed to have a chip on his shoulder
for no logical reason at all.

“
Well?” Dimitrius asked
when she hadn’t responded.

“
Oh, ah…I’m the front desk
manager,” she answered.
Get it together,
Melanie
, she coached herself.
Don’t let him intimidate you.

“
What does being a front
desk manager entail?” Dimitrius asked, condescendingly.

Ignoring the attitude,
Melanie focused more on his question and responded, “Well, I’m
responsible for greeting visitors, answering incoming calls, I
handle mail, organize business travel, schedule employee work
shifts and some light bookkeeping. I also handle the
payroll.”

That caught Desmond’s
attention, especially since payroll was his next order of business
with the re-launch of eRoll. “About how many people were on the
payroll?” he questioned.