When a Champion Wants You (17 page)

Still, every time he
brought up the subject of her moving in with him, she’d quickly
dismissed it. Even after they’d made love last night, he mentioned
it, only to listen to her shy away from the subject. Not anymore.
He planned on finding out why she was hesitant to make the move
over dinner tonight.

* * *

Melanie stepped inside
Emily’s boutique, watching her as she chatted with some customers.
She walked further in, looked around, remembering how Dante had
surprised Emily by redecorating the place.

When Emily was able to
break away from her customers, she walked over to Melanie and said,
“Hey, girl. Give me two minutes, okay?”

“
Okay. Take your time. I’m
in no hurry.”
Not like I have a job to go
to
, Melanie thought since she wasn’t due to
start working at The Champion Corporation until Monday, something
she realized Dimitrius was tight-lipped about discussing. It almost
seemed as if he hadn’t wanted her to work there with him. Did he
see it as a problem for husband and wife to work
together?

Emily met her last customer
at the register, then after handing them a small bag with their
merchandise, she wished them a nice day. She looked at Melanie and
said, “Let me grab my purse. I’m starving.”

“
Hey, Sherita’s not working
today?” Melanie asked.

“
No. She had to fly out to
Myrtle Beach for a photo shoot,” Emily said. Once she was back with
her purse, she locked up the boutique and they walked across the
street to the sandwich shop where they settled at a table by the
window.

“
So, how’s married life?”
Emily asked all school-girlish.

A small smile came to
Melanie’s face, one that she’d somewhat forced there. “Dimitrius is
a phenomenal man.”

“
That’s not what I asked
you, though. How do you like being married to your
phenomenal
man?”

“
I would love it so much
more if I wasn’t keeping something from him.”

Emily’s mouth dropped open.
“Mel, you still haven’t told him?”

Melanie shook her head.
“No. Don’t know how to tell him. And now, he seems to be upset by
the fact that I haven’t moved in yet.”

Emily’s eyes widened. “You
haven’t moved in!”

“
No. I haven’t.”

“
Melanie…”

“
I can’t move in with him.
I did make an attempt to pack some things to take over there, but I
paused because I don’t know if I can go on living this
lie.”

“
Melanie, I wish you would
tell him already. Dimitrius genuinely loves you.”

“
I know. That’s why this is
so hard. I should’ve stopped this before we married. Now, I don’t
know what to do. I’m always on edge whenever I think of telling him
and I just can’t seem to find the right time or the right
words.”

“
Then I’ll tell
him.”

“
No, Emily.
Don’t!”

Emily sighed.

“
Look, we’re meeting for
dinner tonight and I think I’ll tell him then, okay. I’ll be sure
to call you and tell you the moment he asks for his ring
back.”

Emily shook her head. “Why
do you automatically think of the worst?”

“
Because I went through
this before, Emily. I know how this is going to end.” She sighed
heavily and said, “You know what…I’m not in the mood for lunch. I’m
just going to go back home.” Melanie stood up and hooked her purse
on her shoulder.

“
Melanie—”

“
I’ll talk to you later,”
Melanie said, then walked away from their table and out the
door.

Chapter 24

Dimitrius tried to
disguise his frustration when he called Melanie,
asking her what time she would be ready for him to swing by and
pick her up. If she was already living with him, he wouldn’t have
to call and ask her. That in itself was upsetting enough. It riled
him even more when she notified him that she would meet him at
Connelley’s.
Meet him
. Did she not want to ride with him?

* * *

Dimitrius sat alone, leaned
back in his chair with a glass of wine in front of him. The time
was 7:05 p.m. He’d told Melanie to meet him at 6:30 p.m. and she
had yet to arrive.

He took a sip of wine,
thinking about how she was becoming increasingly distant and not
the same, loving, passionate woman he’d exchanged vows with, bonded
with and made love to. When they came back from Vegas, she’d dodged
his advances, wouldn’t even kiss him unless he initiated it, and
made love only twice – including last night – and that was because
he had initiated it.

“
Hi,” she said, cutting
into his thoughts.

He was so disturbed by
thoughts of the last few days that he hadn’t seen her approaching
the table. He looked up at her, watching her hair pulled back with
a headband holding it in place. She had on a black shirt and a pair
of blue jeans – an outfit that was completely out of code for an
upscale restaurant like Connelley’s.

“
Sorry I’m late. I was so
tired, I passed out and woke up a little later than I wanted
to.”

Dimitrius didn’t say a
word. He just analyzed her. Looked her over. He saw something that
bothered him right away – the puffiness of her eyelids, and the
fact that she tried to pretend to be chipper and in a good mood
when it was obvious she’d been crying.

He brushed a finger across
his mustache and said, “I’m going to cut to the chase, Melanie. Do
you want to be with me or not?”

“
I thought we came here for
a nice dinner,” she replied.

“
We did, but look at how
you’re dressed.”

Melanie snapped her head
back. “What’s wrong with the way I’m dressed?” she asked, feigning
ignorance. She knew she wasn’t in the proper attire for the
restaurant. Only thing is, she didn’t care. She hadn’t wanted to
come in the first place.

Dimitrius shook his head.
“Since we’ve been home from Vegas, your attitude has changed,
Melanie, and don’t bother lying to convince me otherwise. Now, I
want to know why you’ve been stalling and delaying your
move.”

Melanie sighed. Before she
could open her mouth to speak, she saw a familiar face heading her
way – Scott Porter. There was a woman holding a baby walking
directly behind him. They were obviously together, and it seemed as
if Scott was heading straight for her table, especially after she
had made unintentional eye contact with him. She quickly looked
away, hoping her avoidance would be enough to make him continue to
walk by.

It didn’t work…

Only steps away from the
table, he said, “Hi Melanie.”

Reluctant at first, Melanie
said, “Hi.”

Dimitrius sat straight up
in his chair, prompting Melanie to say, “Dimitrius, this is Scott.
Scott, this is my husband, Dimitrius.”

“
Oh, your husband,” Scott
said, sounding surprised.

Dimitrius nodded and said,
“Yes. Her husband. Dimitrius Champion.”

“
Nice to meet you,” Scott
said.

Dimitrius didn’t feel the
same way. He was already boiling over with frustration and he was
in no mood to meet his wife’s ex-boyfriend. If anything, he wanted
to punch a hole in the man’s face for interrupting their
dinner.

“
Uh, this my wife, Jackie,”
Scott continued telling Melanie, “And this is our son,
Jordan.”

Melanie swallowed hard. She
didn’t know why Scott felt the need to introduce her to his wife.
It’s not like her relationship with Scott had ended on good terms.
They hadn’t remained friends. He left her, thus breaking her heart
into pieces because she couldn’t have children and now, it seemed
he was flaunting his new wife and baby boy – a cute little boy who
looked just like him. All it did was remind her of what she
couldn’t give him and now, what she wouldn’t be able to give
Dimitrius.

“
Enjoy your dinner,”
Dimitrius said frowning, giving Scott a hint to get away from their
table and away from Melanie. Why was he still standing there,
looking at her like they’d had unfinished business to attend
to?

“
You as well,” Scott
replied, then finally walked off.

Dimitrius took a sip of
wine, set the glass back on the table and said, “Your
ex?”

Melanie nodded. “Yes. That
was Scott.” Melanie got her bearings then said, “Look, Dimitrius…I
have been reluctant to move in with you—”

“
Why?”

Melanie thought about how
Jackie, Scott’s wife, was able to give him a baby. Instantly,
reality set in for her. It didn’t matter how much she loved
Dimitrius – she could never give him a child, something she knew he
wanted. He wanted three to be exact, even had their bedrooms
designated already.

“
Melanie?”

Melanie glanced up at him
then shamefully looked away. She knew she had to end things with
Dimitrius. He deserved better – deserved to have his own children,
especially after the ordeal he went through with his ex. She had an
abortion without his knowledge and he was still crushed about it.
Melanie could only imagine how he would react once he found out
that she couldn’t give him a child at all.

So, sliding the ring from
her finger and fighting back tears, she said, “I’m sorry,
Dimitrius.”

“
Sorry for what?” he asked,
confused.

“
I can’t be with you
anymore.”

Dimitrius frowned as he
watched her place he ring on the table. “What are you talking
about, Melanie?”

“
I can’t be with you,” she
said again.

He narrowed his eyes at
her. “You can’t be with me when, just a few days ago, we exchanged
vows? When just last night, you made love to me? Now, all of a
sudden, you can’t be with me?”

“
Dimitrius, I—”

“
Melanie, cut the crap and
tell me what’s going on. Whatever it is, we can work through it,
baby. I don’t want to lose you.”

Melanie batted a tear away
from her face.

“
Melanie, just talk
to—”

“
I don’t love you,
Dimitrius,” she said tearfully. Then she stood up and said, “There.
I said it. Goodbye.”

It was a lie, but it was
one in which she felt she needed to tell in order to convince
Dimitrius that it was really over between them.

Her words cut through to
his heart like a jagged knife. He had invested a lot of time and
effort into making things work for them. And he loved her, he
genuinely loved her, but she didn’t love him. And now, he was
sitting alone, staring at the ring she’d left on the table, feeling
anger circulating through his blood stream. No matter how mad he
was, it couldn’t mask the hurt he felt at her admission – she
didn’t love him.

Chapter
25

Dimitrius sat
brooding
behind his desk. He had no
motivation to work, but he would work, because, well, that’s what
he was accustomed to doing. While he scanned through emails and
read through reports, he thought about how his life had turned
upside down so quickly. The woman he loved didn’t love
him.

The knock at the door
interrupted his thoughts. He looked up and saw Dante peeping around
the door.

“
Hey, man,” Dante said,
stepping in, closing the door behind him.

“
What’s up?” Dimitrius
asked dispirited.

“
Nothing much. I had a
break in between meetings, so I thought I’d come by and chat with
you for a minute. How’s everything on the home front?”

Dimitrius glared at his
brother. “Dante, don’t pretend you don’t already know when Melanie
is best friends with your wife. I’m sure Emily has told you
everything.”

Dante frowned. “And what is
it that she was supposed to be telling me?”

Dimitrius leaned back in
his chair. Okay, so maybe his brother didn’t know what was going
on. So he said, “Melanie gave me the ring back…told me she didn’t
love me and I haven’t spoken to her in two weeks.”

“
What?” Dante asked,
completely shocked and as equally disappointed.

Dimitrius could sense,
right away, that his brother hadn’t known anything. So he
continued, “When we came back from Vegas, she began withdrawing
from me and I knew something was wrong when she kept making excuses
why she couldn’t move in with me.”

“
Have you tried contacting
her?”

“
Of course…called her
twice, stopped by her place once but her car wasn’t in the parking
lot.”

Dante mumbled something
under his breath and said, “You have to try harder than that,
Dimitrius, especially if you love her.”

Dimitrius frowned. “Yes. I
love her, but she told me she didn’t love me, man. Why should I
chase a woman whom I’ve given my heart to when she doesn’t love
me?” Dimitrius sighed.