When a Champion Wants You (9 page)

In an effort to get him to
smile, she said, “Good morning, Sir. Are you checking
in?”

Her plan worked. His lips
curved to form a smile befitting for his handsome face as he
responded, “Only if you’re coming with me.”

Melanie blushed, feeling
her face turn a shade of red. Seemed the temperature had shot up
ten degrees, even with the air-conditioning running. “Thank you for
the roses,” she told him.

“
What roses?” he asked
frowning, watching as a look of confusion washed over her. “I’m
kidding, Melanie.”

“
Oh,” she said, placing a
hand over her heart. “You looked so serious…”

“
I always look serious,
apparently…that’s something I need you to help me change about
myself since you love to laugh.”

She smiled. “So, what are
you doing here? You Champions don’t have a summit planned for
today.”

“
I’m here to take you to
lunch.”

“
And what if I told you
I’ve already eaten?” she asked, noticing that Dimitrius’ eyes were
fixed on her lips.

“
Then you can come and
watch me eat while simultaneously getting to know me a little
better.”

“
Um…” Melanie said. It was
very rare that she had lunch outside of the office. Yesterday, when
she’d met Emily was a special occasion that warranted lunch with
her girlfriend, especially since she had to fill Melanie in on the
interview. If it wasn’t for that, she would’ve stayed at the hotel
and warmed up a Lean Cuisine in the break room.

“
Stop thinking of a reason
to turn me down and come to lunch with me, Melanie.”

“
I’m not thinking of a
reason…it’s just that I don’t typically leave for
lunch.”

“
Well, make an exception
for today, like you did yesterday.”

“
Alright,” she caved. She
knew he wouldn’t stop until he got what he wanted. “Let me grab my
purse.”

After walking away and
stepping into an office for a few moments, she was back, meeting
Dimitrius in the lobby.

She loved the fact that he
was a gentleman, opening the door of the hotel, as well as the
passenger door of his black Maserati. Once she was in comfortably,
he walked around the back of the car and opened the driver door,
taking a seat inside.

“
What is there to eat
around here?” he asked looking at her while sliding some tinted
shades on his face that enhanced his already striking
appearance.

Goodness
, Melanie thought to herself.
Had he said something? If he did, she hadn’t heard a word of it.
Sitting behind the wheel of a luxury sports car and looking as fly
as he was had her heart speedily thumping in her chest and all she
could hear were the beats of her own heart.

“
Melanie.”

With raised eyebrows, she
replied, “Huh?”

“
Are you okay?”

“
Yes. I’m fine.
Why?”

He chuckled. “I just asked
you a question.”

“
Oh…right. Food. Ah…Let me
think,” she said. “Oh, there’s a rib joint right around the
block.”

“
You’ve eaten there
before?”

“
Yes, a few times. Can’t go
too often, though.”

“
Why not?”

“
Those ribs will have my
butt a lot bigger than what it is now.”

“
I don’t see anything wrong
with that,” Dimitrius responded.

She playfully slapped his
firm thigh and mumbled, “I bet you don’t.”

“
Is that the place right
there?” he asked, pointing.

“
Yeah. Turn behind that red
car,” she told him, and he did.

After they’d parked, he
opened the door for her again, following her inside the
restaurant.

When they were comfortable
at a table, she told the waitress to bring water, and then she
said, “So why’d you send me roses, Dimitrius?”

“
Just wanted to thank you
for having dinner with me. I had a good time last night, even
though you were eager to leave.”

“
It wasn’t that I was ready
to leave…I was just baffled that you actually wanted to go with
me.”

“
Why?”

“
Because you seem to be
after a more prim and proper woman. I guess I am that woman to a
certain extent, but I like to have fun, eat, laugh and live. I
don’t spend inordinate amounts of time worrying about my hair my
nails and what brand of clothing I’m wearing.”

“
Good. You’re just the type
of woman I need in my life.”

Melanie gave him a playful
squint. “If you say so.” Even though he was a gentleman and had
shown her somewhat of a good time last night, she still had to keep
in mind that he had a reputation and the things he was doing with
her, was something that he’d done with countless other women,
making them feel like they could be
the
one
when, in actuality, they weren’t close
to being a thing. And did he really want to settle down as he
claimed?

“
What? You still don’t
believe me?”

“
Of course I don’t believe
you. How does a man, who can get any woman he wants, ends up in a
rib shack with me?”

“
If I can get any woman I
want, why are you giving me such a hard time, darling?”

Game, it’s all
game
. Melanie couldn’t help but notice how
intensely he was staring at her. For the first time, she saw desire
in his eyes – a look that made her quiver. A look that made a moan
escape her lips, and then she quickly corrected the sound by
clearing her throat. “Let’s be ready to order when she comes back,”
she said, changing the subject. “This place gets pretty busy around
this time of day.”

* * *

Dimitrius didn’t understand
why lunch with her seemed more awkward than the dinner they’d
shared last night. He wasn’t a complete stranger anymore as she’d
like to say. They had spent time together last night, and he
thought they had made some progress. She even seemed to love the
fact that he was thoughtful enough to send roses, but during lunch,
she was quiet. When he tried to get her to talk about things that
were relatable to her, such as the nightlife on this side of town
and what types of things she liked to do on her spare time, she was
pretty tight-lipped with the exception of one or two word phrases.
He didn’t like that one bit. He wanted to progress with her, not
regress.

After they had finished
eating and were wiping their hands with lemon-scented Wet-Naps he
looked at her and said, “You got the job.”

“
I did?”

Instead of being happy, he
noticed that she looked to be more in a quandary. Did she still
want the job? “Yes. You did. You made quite the impression on my
brothers.”

“
Yeah, but you…not so
much…”

He smirked. “I have to
admit, I was pretty hard on you, but I had my reasons.”

“
Such as?”

“
Well, tardiness is a pet
peeve of mine, and then there’s the fact that I wanted you so much,
I wasn’t sure we could work in the same building
together.”

“
That’s why you were so
mean to me?”

“
Yes. That’s precisely
why.”

“
Then what makes you think
you can work with me now?”

“
Because I think you’re
starting to like me a little, and besides, I like being close to
you, Melanie.”

“
After one dinner and one
lunch, you like being close to me?”

“
Yes, I do.”

Melanie tried to disguise a
frown but was unsuccessful. No woman like to be gamed, treated like
a queen for a little while until the man was done with her, then
tossed aside. And it’s not like she was inviting Dimitrius into her
life – he was forcing himself into hers.

When the waitress came by
with the check, Melanie reached for the bill folder but Dimitrius
quickly grabbed it.

“
I pay. I always pay.
Remember that.”

Melanie smirked and took
the last few sips of water. She couldn’t wait to get back to work.
She needed to come up with a way to let Dimitrius down easy and
still remain cordial with him. After all, they had to work
together, and there was no need to start off on a bad
note.

Once they arrived back to
the hotel, Dimitrius shut off the engine right outside of the front
lobby entrance of the hotel. The short drive back had been
uncomfortably quiet, and he knew why.

“
Now what are you doing?”
Melanie asked.

“
I’m dropping you
off.”

“
Then why’d you shut off
the engine?”

“
Because I would like to
walk you to the door if it’s not too much trouble.”

She offered up a flimsy
shrug and said, “It’s fine.”

Walking beside her to the
entrance he said, “I guess we could count lunch as our interaction
today. You need to think about what we’re going to do
tomorrow.”

“
Hold up…first of all, I
didn’t say I was going to do this yet.”

“
Your actions are saying it
for you,” he said, backing away from her, opening the door to get
in his car.

“
Dimitrius, I
don’t—”

“
Be thinking about
tomorrow, and call me,” he said, getting inside of his car. He sat
there until she was safely inside the hotel and when he started the
car, he blew a breath. She was going to be quite the woman to tame.
Either that, or he would have to allow himself to be under her
influence.

Chapter 12

She would have
to see him today…

Melanie checked her makeup
again. She wanted to look decent for tonight, since she would be
going to Dante and Emily’s for dinner. Dimitrius would be there,
she knew, and she wasn’t ready to see him – not after she had
intentionally avoided him Wednesday and Thursday. He’d called, left
messages and she hadn’t bothered returning none of them. Tonight,
she couldn’t ignore him.

She dressed comfortably in
a pair of dark stonewash jeans that fit her size twelve rump
perfectly. A white short-sleeved T-shirt and a pair of pink and
white Nikes completed her outfit. She fixed her free hanging curls
in the mirror, applied some lipstick and gloss to her lips and was
out the door.

* * *

Upon arriving at Emily’s
house, she noticed Dimitrius’ car was already there, parked behind
Desmond’s motorcycle. She parked directly behind them then walked
to the door. Upon entering, she could hear the men laughing and
having a good time like brothers did.

They were so engrossed in
conversation, they hadn’t noticed she’d walked in until Emily
looked up and said, “Hey, girl!”

“
Hey, Emily. Hi everybody,”
Melanie said.

“
Hi Melanie,” Dante
said.

“
Hey, Melanie,” Desmond
responded.

“
Hi, Melanie,” Dimitrius
finally said. He was staring at her like it was his first time ever
laying eyes on the woman. Maybe it was the fuchsia lipstick that
brought out the shape of her lips. Or maybe it was the fact that he
hadn’t seen her in two days. Whatever the case, she was downright
irresistible, and he wondered why she had been avoiding him. He
would find out tonight, even if he had to
make
her tell him.

“
Can I do anything to help
you in the kitchen, Emily?” Melanie asked, continuing on past the
guys.

“
Yes. I’m sweatin’ in
here.”

“
You should’ve told me you
were cooking. I would’ve come over sooner. I assumed you guys were
hiring chefs.”

“
Dante wanted to hire a
chef, but I told him I preferred to cook. Now, I’m so tired, I wish
we would’ve gone with a chef.”

“
Well, let me know what I
can do.”

“
I’m pretty much done
cooking. I do need to reheat some of it, though. Can you stir the
greens?”

“
Yep. I’m on it,” Melanie
said. She washed her hands, then grabbed a spoon. While stirring
the food, she glanced back at Dimitrius. He was wearing a
button-up, red shirt and a pair of black khakis. He looked
breathtaking, handsome and well put together, but something about
his attire made him stuffy and boring.

His brothers were wearing
jeans and Polo tees, but not Dimitrius. He always had the preppy
look. Melanie took her attention back to the greens, then glanced
over at Dimitrius again. This time, she met his heated gaze and
quickly turned away.

* * *

“
So, Dimitrius, do you
think you can work with Melanie without daydreaming about taking
her inside of your office and locking the door behind you?” Desmond
asked discreetly so that the women couldn’t hear him.

“
You
would
ask something like that,”
Dimitrius responded. “I’m a professional, Des…at all
times.”