Free Meltdown by Ruth Owen Page A

with him as soon as I get back.”
    Melanie’s head snapped up. “You’re leaving?”
    “A buying trip. Dad’s been approached by some fast-talking salesman from Abilene, and wants me to check out his merchandise.” He neglected to add that he’d almost come to blows with his father about having to go.
    Melanie turned away, drumming her fingers unevenly on the desk top. “Of course. You must go and protect Sheffield’s interests. It’s only right.” She paused, brushing her hand over the papers on the desk. “It was decent of you to work up the presentation before you left.”
    Decent?
Decent was about the last thing he felt at this moment. Melanie was within arm’s length of him, and her proximity jumbled up his insides like a Mixmaster. Tawny tendrils of her unbound hair curled softly around her neck, and he had the most irresistible urge to reach out and wrap one around his finger, pulling her against him with a slow, gentle pressure. He wondered what the data-entry departmentwould do if he followed his instincts. He wondered what Melanie would do. “Melanie—”
    “Tell me about this presentation,” she said, interrupting him before he could finish the rest of his sentence. She put her glasses back on and started wholeheartedly to examine the transparencies. “This is the one you’re giving to the board, isn’t it?”
    “Providing you approve.” He didn’t really want to talk about the presentation. He wanted to talk about Melanie, and the way he’d felt when she’d walked into the office. It was as if a broken part in him had suddenly switched back on. He’d missed her. Much as he hated to admit it, he’d honestly missed her.
    “Chris, this is really good.”
    “Think so?”
    “Absolutely. You’ve covered all of Einstein’s major features, but you’ve done it in a way that’s both interesting and easy to understand. It’s incredible. You must have spent hours on it.”
    He shrugged. “A couple.”
    She gave him an incredulous smile. “You’re such a liar. No one works up a presentation like this in a couple of hours. You must have worked like a dog to get it done.”
    “Careful, Miss Rollins. You’re coming dangerously close to complimenting me.”
    There was nothing condemning in his tone. Yet her smile softened with a tinge of sadness. “Am I that bad?”
    “No,” he said gently, taking her hand. “No.”
    He meant the gesture kindly, as friend to friend. But her touch had a much more profound effect on his senses. Her warm, slight hand lay against his like a small bird poised for flight. Her every action echoed in him tenfold. She stilled, and a deep calm filled him. She trembled, and he felt an earthquake.
    He stroked her wrist, lingering over the strong, hotpulse at the base of her hand. Did she feel it, too, this incredible, instantaneous bond between them? Impossible to tell. Her face was shut tight against emotion, and her eyes were unreadable behind those awful glasses. He’d never known a woman so determined to make herself look undesirable. And who was so thoroughly unsuccessful at it. “Melanie—”
    He stopped, unsure of what words to use for these strange emotions that filled him. But Melanie read an entirely different message in his pause. She withdrew her hand from his grasp. “You’re right, of course. We’re still on display. Anything between us will be blown out of proportion, even an innocent gesture like holding hands.”
    Innocent gesture? There’d been nothing innocent about it as far as Chris was concerned. Apparently, he’d been mistaken. The deep bond he’d felt between them had been nothing more than a mirror of his own emotions. She’d felt nothing. Nothing at all.
    His jaw tightened perceptibly. “Why don’t we just pull down the blinds? That would really give them something to talk about.”
    Melanie looked at him, amazed. “How can you joke about this? If they even suspected we were romantically involved, I’d never have a moment’s