LITMIR.BIZ

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hurt this Melody.

      Jesus, he was whipped. He’d gone and let her get under his skin. The one thing he swore he wouldn’t do.

      “No,” he said, pulling her into his arms and holding her. “I’m not upset. Not at all.”

      May as well enjoy it while it lasted, he thought, as she snuggled against him, burying her face in the crook of his neck. He knew, with her memory slowly returning, it was only a matter of time before the evil Mel was back and the good Mel was lost forever.

      It was inevitable, but damn, was he going to miss her.

      Leaving Mel and going in to work had been tough, but not as tough as it would have been staying with her. Sex had been the furthest thing from his mind the past couple weeks, but now, after one damned kiss, it seemed it was all he could think about. As a result, he was having one hell of a time concentrating on work.

      He took an early lunch, early being noon instead of two or three, and though he didn’t normally drink during work hours, he made an exception and ordered a scotch on the rocks. It helped a little.

      On his way back to his office he ran into Brock Maddox.

      “I was just going to call you,” Brock said. “Can I have a quick word?”

      “Of course.”

      He gestured Ash to his office, and when they were inside he closed the door and said, “Flynn told me what happened with Melody. I wanted you to know how sorry I am.”

      “Thanks. But she’s actually doing really well. She had an appointment with her neurologist today and everything looks good.”

      “I’m relieved to hear it.”

      “Was that all?” Ash asked, moving toward the door.

      “There’s one more thing. As you’ve probably heard, we didn’t get the Brady account.”

      “I heard.” Brady Enterprises was a fairly large account, and the fact that they didn’t get it was unfortunate, but Ash wasn’t sure if it warranted the grim look Brock was wearing. As CFO, Ash knew they were financially sound with or without Brady.

      “They hired Golden Gate Promotions,” Brock told him.

      “I heard that, too.” It was never fun to lose, especially to a direct competitor, especially one as cocky and arrogant as Athos Koteas, but obviously Golden Gate pitched them an idea, and a budget, they couldn’t refuse.

      “Did you hear that they low-balled us out of the deal?” Brock asked, and when Ash opened his mouth to respond, he added, “Using a pitch that was almost identical to ours.”

       “What?”

      “That’s more the reaction I was hoping for.”

      “Where did you hear this?”

      “I have an acquaintance over at Brady and she clued me in. She said it was even suggested that Maddox was stealing pitch ideas.”

      “Are we?”

      The question seemed to surprise Brock. “Hell, no! That was our idea.”

      “So, how did Golden Gate manage to pitch the same thing? Coincidence?”

      “Highly unlikely. The only explanation is that someone here leaked it.”

      If that was true, they had a serious problem. “What does Flynn think of this?”

      “I didn’t tell him yet.”

      As vice president, Flynn should have been told about this immediately. “You don’t think he needs to know?”

      “I wanted to talk to you first.”

      “Why? As CFO, this really isn’t my area of expertise.”

      “Look, Ash, I’m not sure how to say this, so I’m just going to say it. You know that I’ve always liked Melody, but is it possible that she could have had anything to do with this?”

      The question was so jarring, so out-of-the-blue unexpected, it actually knocked Ash back a step or two. “Melody? What would she have to do with this?”

      “It just seems coincidental that right around the time we started laying out the framework for the pitch, meetings you were in on, she disappeared. I would understand completely if maybe you went home and mentioned things to her, never suspecting that she would leak it to our competitor. Maybe they made her an offer she couldn’t refuse.”

      Ash’s hands curled into fists at his sides, and had he been standing within arm’s reach, he might have actually slugged Brock. “The idea that you would accuse Melody of all people of corporate espionage is the most ridiculous, not to mention insulting, thing I’ve ever heard.”

      “Considering the way she took off, it just seemed a plausible scenario.”

      “Yeah, well, you are way off base,” Ash said, taking a step toward him, all but daring him to disagree.

      Brock put his hands up in a defensive posture and said, “Whoa, take it easy, Ash. I apologize for offending you, but put yourself in my position for a minute. Like I said, I had to ask. There’s a rumor that she didn’t leave on the best of terms, so I figured—”

      “So we’re listening to rumors now? So should I assume that you’re screwing your assistant?”

      Brock’s brow dipped in anger and Ash had the distinct feeling he’d taken this argument a step too far, then Brock’s attention shifted to the door.

      “Mother, would it really be too much for you to knock before you enter a room?”

      Ash turned to see Carol Maddox standing in the now-open doorway. Small and emaciated but a force to be reckoned with nonetheless. And oh, man, she didn’t look pleased. Of course, as long as Ash had known her, disappointment and contempt were the only two expressions that had ever made it through the Botox. In fact, he couldn’t recall a single incidence when he’d seen her smile. She was probably one of the unhappiest, nastiest people he’d ever met, and seemed hell-bent on taking everyone else down with her.

      “I need to have a word with you, dear,” she said through gritted teeth, or maybe the Botox had frozen her jaw. Either way, she looked royally pissed off and Ash was in no mood to get caught in the crosshairs.

      “I take it we’re finished here,” he said, and Brock nodded curtly.

      As Ash sidestepped around Mrs. Maddox to get to the door, he almost felt guilty. The remark about Brock sleeping with Elle didn’t seem to go over well with good ol’ mom. But that was what he got for accusing Melody of all people of leaking company secrets.

      Even if Ash had told her about the campaign—which he definitely hadn’t—she was not the type to go selling the information to Maddox’s rival. And somewhere deep down he would always resent Brock for even suggesting that she would.

      Wait a minute …

      He gave himself a mental shake. Wasn’t he being a touch hypocritical? Why was he so dead set on defending the honor of a woman he planned to use, then viciously dump? This was the evil Mel they were talking about, right?

      Because, although she may have betrayed Ash’s trust, it would be against everything he believed to castigate someone for something they didn’t do. And for this, she was completely innocent.

      When he reached his office Rachel greeted him anxiously. “Oh, there you are. I’ve been calling you. Miss Trent called.”

      “Sorry, I forgot my cell in my desk. What did she want?”

      “She said she needed to talk to you and she sounded frantic. Completely unlike herself. She asked to have you call her immediately on her cell phone.”

      Melody wasn’t the frantic type, and that alone alarmed him. “Did she say why?”

      “No.

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