Free When a Champion Wants You by Tina Martin

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