Heartstrings (Rock With You #1) Rock Star Romance (8 page)

 “Yes.
Pretty much.”

Logan
sat up, pulling Melody onto his lap. “Melody, you know I can’t ask you to risk
your career for me.”

“I’m
not asking…I’ve already made my decision.”

A
smile tugged at the corner of Logan’s mouth. “And God knows once you make up
your mind, there’s no changing it, is there?”

She
shook her head, winding her arms around his neck. “Not a chance.”

He
pulled her against him, his mouth finding hers, briefly tentative but as she
deepened the kiss, Logan responded with the passion she was familiar with.

 
She reached past him to turn off the
lamp. But he caught her wrist, pulling her down to the bed with him, rolling on
top of her.

 “I
want to watch you.” He bent his head, kissing her hard now, no hesitation, claiming
her lips. Melody kissed him back, just as hard, and gave herself over
completely to Logan.

* * *

When
she finally left, the sky was just turning pink in the east. The cab Logan had
called for from his room was waiting in front of the hotel. On the ride to her
apartment, she replayed her night with Logan. Everything had changed in the
space of twelve hours; he wasn’t the opportunistic rock star who’d taken
advantage of her. He was an honest man who had apparently fallen for her hook,
line and sinker. And had told her he loved her, in two languages.

She
smiled at the improbability, the utterly amazing series of events that had
landed her here, in this tentative but exhilarating new relationship with Logan
MacKenzie. If she’d tried to imagine this, nothing in her wildest dreams would
have come close.

And
she chastised herself for letting this happen.

The
cab finally arrived at her apartment. Melody nervously checked her watch,
tempted to have the cab wait, but decided to chance getting another one after
she was dressed. Right now, a hot shower and clean clothes sounded like heaven.

But
luck deserted her once she was ready. The cab she called was late, and as she
waited impatiently in front of her building, she calculated just how late she
was going to be. She debated calling Melissa then, letting her know she was
going to be late, but maybe traffic would be light. She really couldn’t tell
anyone she’d decided a second session in bed with Logan was more important than
work.

The
cab finally pulled up and she climbed in, giving the driver the address.

“I’m
late, can you hurry?”

“Yeah,
lady. You and everyone else.”

Melody
sighed, settling back against the seat. It was her own fault. And now she
really should call someone.

She
opened her cell phone, dialing Melissa’s direct line. The phone rang for what
seemed like an eternity before going to voice mail.
Odd, Melissa should be
there by now.

Pushing
buttons on her phone, she maneuvered her way through the company phone system,
eventually ending up with the receptionist.

“Hey,
Jenny. This is Melody Lawson. Is Melissa Montgomery there? I’m running late and
wanted to let her know. If she is there, just put me…”

Jenny
interrupted her. “Melissa? Oh, um…well…just a minute. I better connect you with
Mr. Marshall.”

Before
Melody could speak, Jenny’s voice was replaced with canned phone music. Melody
listened impatiently, bewildered as the call went through. The cab was stuck
behind a truck belching smoke, obviously not going anywhere soon.

“Melody?
Where are you?”

“I’m
stuck in traffic. Where’s Melissa? I tried…”

“You
should be more concerned about being at work…on time…than with Melissa. We’ll
talk when you get here.” The line went dead.

Melody
made a beeline to her office, gathered her files and notes and took the stairs
two at a time rather than wait for the crowded elevators.

When
she arrived at Ryan’s office, the door was open. She knocked, stepping inside.

“I’m
sorry…”

Ryan
was at his desk, head down. Without raising his head, he held up one index
finger, silencing her.

Melody
clutched her files and papers to her chest, trying hard not to shift from foot
to foot in the doorway. Ryan finally closed the file in front of him and looked
up at her.

“Have
a seat. We have a great deal of work to do. Close the door.”

Melody
closed the door quietly, taking her usual seat at Ryan’s worktable.

“Ryan,
I…”

Ryan
held up his hand. “We have work to do. You can tell me your excuses after we
finish discussing the MacKenzie-Ashton case. Please, we have a great deal of
work to do.”

They
spent the next hour going over the case file, Ryan reading through Melody’s
notes, helping her to start the first draft of the initial complaint. Finally,
Ryan sat back, scanning the document once more.

“I
think this will do for now. You can work on this today and then bring it back
to me to review at the end of the day.”

He
looked at her over the top of his reading glasses, smiling for the first time
since she’d entered his office. “You’ve done good work here, with your notes
and your interview with Mr. MacKenzie. I must say I am impressed.”

Ryan
removed his glasses, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “But there are other
issues we need to talk about, things that aren’t going so well. Let’s start
with being late. That’s not like you, especially when you’re keeping a partner
waiting. So don’t do that again.”

Melody
bristled, feeling like a child being reprimanded, but held her tongue. Ryan was
right, she was late. But Ryan went on.

“And
about Melissa. I’m afraid Melissa has been let go.”

“Let
go? You mean fired? But why?” Melody felt the color drain from her face.
Melissa was her rock, her organizational system, the person who kept her on
track. She was her friend.

“You
know she’s been dropping the ball lately; you remember we had a brief
conversation about that earlier. And her behavior with Mr. MacKenzie was
inappropriate and unprofessional. I’m sorry, but it’s something that needed to
be nipped in the bud before it became a real issue. It impacted her
performance. And it reflects on you that you let it get so far out of control.”

“But…who…what
am I supposed to do about having a paralegal? Melissa knew everything I did,
she’s the one who keeps…kept me on track.”

“Lori
will be available for the MacKenzie-Ashton case. For the rest, you can use the
float pool; Human Resources will send you someone later today. Your schedule is
light right now, so it shouldn’t be a problem until we hire someone new.”

“But
I don’t want anyone new!” Melody had the irrational urge to stamp her foot. “I
like Melissa.”

“That’s
part of the problem. You had lost your objectivity. She became your friend and
that does not work well in a relationship like this. You let things go too far,
let things slide that should have been addressed.”

Ryan
grew thoughtful, gazing past her as if she were invisible. “You know, I should
probably have a talk with the partners about this as well. As a partner, you would
be responsible for your staff. If you’re not able to handle disciplining one
paralegal, how would you be able to manage an entire department?”

He
stood, moving around the table. Melody watched in alarm as he thumbed the lock
on his office door as he passed.

“You
know, there is something you can do to help this situation. I know you’re
willing to do almost anything to succeed, with this case and with making
partner. We can chalk up this issue with Melissa as a learning experience, and
I won’t talk to the senior partners.”

Ryan
was standing in front of Melody, his legs almost touching her knees, his body
looming over her. He leaned forward, placing his hands on the arms of the
chair. She wanted to look away, to turn in her chair, but there was nowhere to go.
Her heart started pounding and she was forced to crane her neck to look up at
his face, only inches away from hers.

“What
do you think you could do, Melody, to help me make up my mind not to go to the
senior partners with this?” Ryan’s voice was low, barely audible.

Ryan
slid his hand behind her neck. Melody stiffened, her arms braced against the
chair as he pulled her forward.

“Why
so resistant? You’ve made it clear, Melody, that there are things you’re
willing to do. We can resolve this issue right here, right now, and we can all
go back to work. Otherwise, I’ll have to take your unwillingness as a sign
you’re not ready for this…either the case or partner.”

“But…you
can’t…this is wrong!” Melody blinked in disbelief.

“You’re
the one who’s made the first moves, Melody. I’m just following your lead.”

“I’ll
go to Human Resources, file a complaint.”

Ryan
laughed, a low sound that sent chills up her spine. “Go ahead. I could follow
right behind, counter every claim you make. You kissed me, remember? You threw
yourself at me the other day; there are witnesses. You’ve locked the door
today. Who do you think will be believed?”

Melody
felt the blood drain from her face. “Who are you? Why are you doing this?” Her
voice was barely a whisper.

“I
am your mentor, Melody. I’m the one responsible for your success here.” Ryan
leaned forward, his lips almost touching hers. She could feel his hot breath on
her cheeks as he spoke.

“I
am the person who stands between you and being made partner. And I stand
between you and the door out of here…and if you choose to go that route, then I
stand between you and your entire career outside of the firm of Marshall, Avery
and Shaw. I don’t think you realize how much clout I actually carry, both here
and out there.” Ryan inclined his head toward the window, the New York skyline
visible.

“The
firm is, after all, Marshall, Avery and Shaw. My name comes first, for a
reason.”

Ryan
was still holding Melody and with a sinking awareness, she realized he was
pushing her knees open with his legs, her skirt sliding up her thighs as he
moved her legs further apart.

“You’re
teasing me again, Melody, and if we were somewhere other than here, I’d show
you just how that teasing makes me feel. But, alas, there are other matters to
deal with.”

Ryan
stood suddenly, his hand trailing across Melody’s cheek as he straightened. He
was standing in front of her, his legs spread, and against her will her eyes
dropped to the front of his pants. There was an unmistakable bulge that had
formed at the apex of Ryan’s thighs.

Melody’s
eyes went wide and she turned her head away, but not before she saw Ryan
watching her, his lips turned up in a knowing grin.

“See
what you do to me, Melody? It’s always been like this, you lead me on and then
leave me wanting. Even when you were engaged to Patrick.”

Ryan
stepped away from Melody and she instinctively brought her knees together,
tugging her skirt down. She rose shakily from her chair, gathering her notes
and files while Ryan took a seat behind his desk. She glanced at him and
cringed; she was certain he had his hand in his lap, but there was no way she
really wanted to find out for sure.

“I’ll…I’ll
drop off the draft later, with Lori.” Melody ducked her head, turning the
doorknob. The door refused to open and she tugged harder, making the door
rattle in its frame.

“Melody…unlock
the door.”

She
thumbed the lock, jerking open the door and all but tumbling into the narrow
hall that separated Ryan’s office from Lori’s cubicle. Lori looked up,
startled, as Melody gained her feet and ran around the corner.

Melody
flung open the door to stairs, heading up a flight to the law library rather
than back to her own floor, taking the short hallway to the back of the
library. Clutching her files, she darted into the farthest corner of the
stacks, pulling out a chair at one of the empty tables, dumping her files
carelessly across the polished mahogany.

What
the hell just happened?
She realized belatedly she was shaking, and she sat hunched forward, clutching
her hands between her knees, taking deep breaths until she felt calmer. In the
quiet of the library, she allowed herself to think about her meeting with Ryan.

It
was clear he was harassing her, but where did that leave her? He threatened no
only to take away this case, but ruin her entire career.

She
couldn’t abandon Logan now, not with his case against Ashton just starting. And
he’d asked for her. And she didn’t want to risk her career either.

But
she knew too that Ryan held a great deal of power in the firm. He’d made his
mark long ago, and his rank among the other senior partners proved it. Anyone
who’d crossed Ryan would find themselves out on the street. And in the small
world that lawyers inhabited, word got around fast. Those who were out were
usually out of more than just Marshall, Avery and Shaw. They usually found
themselves out of a job anywhere.