Free When a Champion Wants You by Tina Martin Page B

womenfolk in the
kitchen. “Look at you all dolled up.”
    “ Oh, this is nothing,”
Sherita said, “But that lipstick you’re wearing is
everything.”
    “ Thanks,” Melanie
said.
    “ Yeah, it is everything,”
Emily said, “Especially considering Dimitrius can’t seem to keep
his eyes off of it.”
    “ See, Emily, you already
trying to start something,” Melanie said.
    “ Wait…” Sherita said,
looking at Melanie. “You and Dimitrius?”
    “ No,” Melanie answered
quickly.
    “ Yes,” Emily said. “Don’t
know why she’s trying to fight it, Sherita.”
    Melanie grinned. “Whatever,
Emily.”
    “ Hey, Sherita,” Emily said.
“Can you do me a favor and set the table?”
    “ Sure.” Sherita grabbed a
stack of plates then walked over to the table. “Excuse me, fellas.
I’ve been instructed to set the table.”
    “ Do your thing, Rita,”
Dante said. “Never mind us.”
    She set the plates down,
one-by-one and when she set a plate in front of Desmond, he pushed
it to the center of the table, then gave her a look.
    She looked back at him,
then it dawned on her where she knew him from. “Well, if it ain’t
Mr. Double-shot-of-expresso.”
    “ In the flesh,” Desmond
responded.
    “ I knew you looked
familiar…now that I see y’all together, I see the
resemblance.”
    “ Yep…these are my
brothers,” Desmond said.
    “ Right. I know Dante
already.”
    “ And that’s
Dimitrius.”
    “ Hi. Nice to meet you,
Dimitrius,” Sherita said, even though she’d seen him in passing.
Still, they hadn’t officially met.
    “ And I’m Desmond. Desmond
Champion.”
    “ Also known as Superman,”
Dante joked. Then he looked at Sherita and said, “And you would be
his krp—”
    “ Pay my brother no mind,”
Desmond said, cutting Dante off. “He has issues.”
    Dimitrius grinned, just
barely. He wasn’t in much of a dinner-party mood tonight. His mind
had been on Melanie and why she had been avoiding him for two days.
Even now, she didn’t say much to him. She stayed in the kitchen,
glancing at him every now and then, but wouldn’t hold eye contact
longer than a few seconds.
    Emily brought over a basket
of rolls to the table which prompted the men to grab one and begin
eating.
    Melanie brought over a pan
of barbecue chicken and set it on the table where she didn’t have
to be close to Dimitrius.
    He noticed.
    Sherita returned to the
kitchen to get macaroni and mashed potatoes, then Emily came back
with a pan of collard greens. Melanie brought cups and
sodas.
    Now that they were all
seated, the men on one side of the table and the women on the
other, everyone began helping themselves to whatever it was they
wanted to eat.
    A few bites in, Dante said,
“Well, I want to officially congratulate Melanie for her new gig in
becoming the marketing manager at The Champion
Corporation.”
    After everyone offered
their congratulations, Melanie said, “Thank you, everybody, and
while we’re on the subject, I have to give a notice at my existing
job, so I won’t be able to start for two weeks. Will that be a
problem?”
    Dimitrius frowned. Why hadn’t she told him that? They’d had lunch together on Tuesday and she hadn’t mentioned
anything about it. That irked him, so much so that he didn’t want
to continue his meal.
    “ I don’t foresee a problem
with that,” Desmond said. “Do you, Dante?”
    “ Not at all,” Dante
responded. “That’ll give you more time to get your ducks in a
row.”
    “ Perfect,” Melanie said.
“When I told my boss I was leaving, he looked like he was going to
have a nervous breakdown.”
    “ That’s how you know you’re
a good employee,” Dante said.
    Melanie smiled and glanced
up at Dimitrius who was glaring back at her. She could only imagine
what he must have been thinking. After all, she had been ignoring
him, not trying to engage in any sort of conversation with him all
night. She just glanced at him every now and then and that was
it.
    Later, when she