The last place Melody Lawson wanted to be was at work. But she had responsibilities to her clients, Logan MacKenzie among them.
Logan…her heart clenched at the thought of him, the worry lines that had been a permanent fixture on her face since last night deepening. Logan… she loved him, and he loved her. Love at first sight…
Her desk was a mess, and there was a new paralegal standing in her doorway, hesitant, anxious, almost painfully eager to please. Melody looked at her, already exasperated. Ryan Marshall, exerting his control as her boss, had apparently cut Melody out of the hiring process; she’d interviewed no one—not even been given the chance—and this woman wouldn’t have been her first choice. Not that she cared. At this point she just wanted to get through the day. And to try to find Logan.
“Come in. You’ll need to get used to the chaos…and learn to help me control it.” Melody waved the woman to the chair by the desk.
“Your name is? I had your resume…” Melody shuffled the papers on her desk.
“Victoria Hull…Victoria is what I go by. It’s nice to meet you.” The woman looked at Melody, made a half-hearted attempt to extend a hand, and then withdrew it.
“Look, Victoria. I’ll be frank. I’ve got a mess here. Melissa, my…the previous paralegal, left abruptly. I’m under some pressure here, on a lot of fronts, and things have gotten a bit out of control. I’m trying to keep things—really important things—from falling through the cracks.”
She scooped up a stack of envelopes and papers. “What I’d like you to start with is this. It’s mail from the last few days. Open it, look for notices of filings, requests for information, stuff that needs my attention. Date stamp and put it back on my desk. The rest, correspondence and stuff, date stamp and save. I’ll look through it later.”
Victoria took the pile of papers from Melody, rifling through the stack. “Anything you’re looking for in particular?”
“Yes, actually, anything to do with the MacKenzie-Ashton case. Here’s the case file. It was just filed and I’m hoping for a quick reply from Ashton, or possibly a counterclaim. But anything really.”
Just saying Logan’s name sent a flood of emotions through Melody. Chief among them at the moment was the smoldering anger directed toward Ryan Marshall.
And to be honest, anger at herself, for letting things with Ryan get so far out of hand. She’d spent most of her sleepless night berating herself for what had happened, for letting Ryan manipulate her so thoroughly. She had yet to think about facing him, but it was inevitable, sooner or later, she would have to deal with Ryan. After I get the paralegal settled.
“I’m going to ask you to sit in with me on client meetings as well. We have one scheduled at ten in the conference…” Melody’s frowned deepened. Victoria was shaking her head.
“Mr. Marshall asked that I don’t do that…at least for now. He said he’d let me know when I could start sitting in.” Victoria’s finally words trailed off into a whisper.
Melody clenched her fists as the first flush of anger rose in her cheeks, and by the look on Victoria’s face, Melody was pretty certain her face radiated pure anger at the moment. She took a deep breath, held it and then let it out slowly. It’s not her fault…
Forcing a smile on her face, she relaxed her hands, folding them demurely on her desk. “Fine. We’ll work up to that. For now, take the mail and the file. If you have questions, ask me. If I’m not here, ask Lori, Mr. Marshall’s paralegal. She’s been here longer than anyone and she’ll know what to do.”
Melody rose, but Victoria remained seated, looking at Logan’s file. Melody resisted the urge to tap her foot. At the moment, she wanted to see Ryan, to ask him why he was now taking over the training of her paralegal. She took another deep breath.
“Is this Logan MacKenzie from Revival? I wanted to see them in concert for so long, but all the US dates have been sold out for months. He’s great. They’re heading back to Europe though, I think next week, so there goes my chance till the next tour.” She sighed, gathering up the files and papers, finally heading toward the door.
“Thanks, Victoria.” Melody all but pushed the woman out of her office, closing the door behind her. She was angry at Ryan for so many things, but Victoria’s comment about the tour made Melody’s heart leap.
She could find Logan by his tour schedule. It was so simple, there right in front of her, but she’d been so overwhelmed by what had happened, by Ryan’s sudden and utterly unexpected appearance at her door the night before. By his almost delusional statements about wanting her, long before she’d become involved with Logan. It all made her sick to her stomach.
And then Logan was there in the open doorway, watching as Ryan held her, kissed her…touched her. She didn’t know how much Logan saw or heard, but it was enough to make him leave. Enough to not take her calls, to check out of his hotel without a word.
Melody sat behind her desk, clicking a few keys on her computer and doing a quick search for Revival’s schedule. She quickly found the band’s website. They were playing one more show in the States, tonight, in Boston.
“Damn…” Her calendar was booked with clients through the end of the day. There was no way she could get to Boston for the concert. And, as Victoria had said, it was sold out.
She scrolled further down the page. There were concerts listed in Europe, the first in London in just a few days, also listed as sold out. But there was one in Scotland, in Inverness the day after that, at what appeared to be like a small, local place. She clicked on the link and scanned quickly through the information, her heart racing. One more click, one more link and she found what she wanted. Yes!
She had a ticket to the concert. Now, I just need a flight…and to tell Ryan I’m taking off from work.
The flight proved to be costly but doable. She booked the flight for the day after next, and leaned back in her chair. She had no real plan other than to get to Inverness, but at least she knew she’d be in the same place as Logan. For the hundredth time that day, she dialed his cell phone. It went straight to voicemail and she left the same message she’d left so many times over the past twelve hours.
“Logan, please…please call me. I can explain. Please…”
There was nothing more she could do now, except face Ryan.
* * *
Ryan’s door was open and she knocked lightly. He was sitting at his desk, reading glasses perched on his nose, a file open on his desk. Glancing up, he regarded her a moment before closing the file. With deliberation he removed his glasses, briefly pinching the bridge of his nose.
“I’ll never get used to these things, I guess.” He smiled and rose, coming around his desk. “Come in. Please, have a seat.”
She stepped into his office. “I’d rather not sit. I’m not going to be here that long.” She tried to steady her breathing, but her heart raced and her hands were shaking. Get it under control, Melody.
“I’m taking some time off, soon. Starting tomorrow afternoon. I’m…I don’t know when I’ll be back. Maybe not for a week.”
She knew she was treading on thin ice with Ryan. Even when their working relationship had been more stable, he’d required at least a week’s notice for time off. But now, with Logan leaving for Scotland at any moment, Melody was desperate. And she was angry enough with Ryan at this point to deal with however he reacted.
“Melody, you know you can’t take leave with such short notice, unless it’s an emergency.”
He walked toward her, reaching behind her to push the door closed. The sound of the door slamming was loud and she jumped.
“What’s gotten in to you? You’re jumpy, you’re rushing off to who knows where on a whim…I bet I know where you’re going…who you’re’ going after.” Ryan watched her a moment, hands clasped behind his back, moving slowly behind her. I’m the prey and he’s the lion.
He stopped behind her and she felt his hands come down on her shoulders. “I think there’s something you’re not telling me. And I want to know where you’re going.”
“Ryan. Take your hands off of me. Now.”
The stir of his breath on her neck as he spoke made her cringe. “Or? We’ve had this conversation before. You’ll go to Human Resources, you’ll file a complaint. I know…you’ve told me this. And I’ve said go ahead. Because no one will believe you. And now you’re being an insubordinate employee, by not following protocol. You’re being willfully disobedient. I could write you up, you know.”
His lips were suddenly on her neck and she jerked out of his grip, spinning around, anger fueling her movements.
But Ryan was watching her calmly, a smug smile on his face.
“Are you going to slap me again, Melody? I enjoyed your little outburst last night.” He moved closer. “And I liked the pain.”
“You’re sick, you know that?”
“As to your leave…”
“I’m taking it. I’ll be out of the office after lunch tomorrow. You can check with the new paralegal that you hired—I forget her name—if you need anything with my cases. Or Lori can help you. And you can write me up, if you want.”
Melody could hear the rising anger in her voice, but for once did nothing to lower her voice.
“There are things in my life you cannot control, and this is one of them.”
“You’re making an unwise choice, Melody. I’m sorry to see things heading in this direction.”
Ryan walked behind his desk and sat down, opening the file in front of him, adjusted his glasses. Without looking up he spoke.
“You’re granted leave…indefinite leave. Do what you think you must. Just know there are consequences facing you when you return.”
Melody’s hands were shaking as she opened the door. Lori was at her desk, looking up briefly as Melody walked past.
“Melody, about Victoria…” Lori swiveled in her chair as Melody hurried past.
“Later, Lori. Not now.”
She pushed open the stairwell door, walking one flight down before she stopped, sinking down on the top step. The last thing she wanted to do was anger Ryan further, but there was no way that she was going to let him stand between her and any chance she might have with Logan.
When her hands had stopped shaking and her trip-hammering heart had slowed, she finished the descent back to her floor.
Victoria flagged Melody down as soon as she came into view, waving an envelope. Melody detoured to Victoria’s desk, as the woman waved an envelope in the air.
“From Ashton’s attorney. I thought you’d want to see it right away.”
“Yes, thanks.” Melody ripped open the thick envelope, pulling out the creamy sheets of paper, scanning them quickly, a scowl creasing her forehead.
“Shit…they want to file a counterclaim. I thought this might happen.”
‘What are you going to do?” Victoria’s words were left behind as she walked away, still reading through the dense legal language on the papers. She disappeared into her office, closing the door behind her.