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“Jonesy, I need you to make Melanie a very special drink. She loves mojitos. Anything you can get close to that?”
Jones scoffed. “Are you kidding me? I spent two years in Puerto Rico after I was in the military. I make the best mojito ever. My wife grows the mint out at our place in Staten Island.”
Melanie saddled up to the bar, perching in a swivel stool and crossing her splendid legs. “That sounds wonderful. Tell me about your wife. How long have you been married?”
“Her name is Sandy. Been married twenty-seven years. Not counting tomorrow, of course.” Jones winked at Melanie as he got out a pint glass.
What the hell? “How did I not know you could make a mojito?” Adam asked.
“Maybe because you never ordered one.” Jones went to work, muddling mint and sugar in the bottom of a cocktail shaker. “Maybe because you never ordered anything more than a bourbon or a beer. And maybe because lovely Melanie is the first woman you’ve ever brought in here.”
Melanie rested her elbow on the bar and turned back to look at Adam. She flashed her beguiling blue eyes. “The first woman ever. I feel so special.”
He knew she was being sarcastic, but he loved bringing out that side of her—the sassy, flirtatious side. It made his entire body tight, especially everything below the belt. He opted not to sit next to her, instead draping his arm across the back of the bar stool. Here, in a place where he could be anonymous, he didn’t mind allowing his mind to wander to thoughts of what it would be like to be with Melanie. To have her as his girlfriend, or more.
In that world, he could deal with his other problems in a much better fashion. If he had Melanie, she would understand his work stresses. She would understand at least some of his family stresses because she’d dealt with similar things herself. And damn if she wouldn’t be a sight for sore eyes after a long day.
Jones finished up their drinks. “I’ll put yours on your tab, Adam. Melanie’s is on the house.” He again winked at her, which elicited an uncharacteristic giggle.
Adam wasn’t shocked by Jones’s attempt at flirtation. How could a man not be drawn to Melanie? Aside from her beauty—deep blue eyes and soft pink lips, curves designed to make him lose all sense of direction, and that was only the start—she had something within her that was simply magnetic. There was her staunch independence and her fiery devotion to her work, but she also possessed vulnerability. There was a caring and gentle woman inside, as well.
Melanie stirred her glass, poking at the ice with her straw. “Jones, this is delicious. Absolutely the best I’ve ever had, and I’ve had more than my fair share of mojitos.”
Adam drank in the vision as Melanie skimmed the corner of her mouth with her tongue and flashed a satisfied grin. He had both feet firmly planted on the ground and still he felt as if he might fall over. “Let’s take one of the booths in the corner,” he said.
“Keeping her all to yourself?” Jones asked.
“I’m no dummy,” Adam replied, taking his drink from the bar.
They settled into the small, half-round booth, Melanie placing her large purse squarely between them.
Damn. He’d been counting on a chance to inch closer. “Talk to me about Costello Public Relations. I want to know how you can run a one-woman shop. And don’t tell me you’re keeping it lean and mean. I don’t buy it.”
Melanie cocked her head to the side. “What is so mystifying about the concept? I’m capable. I get stuff done.”
“I never said you didn’t. I only said that you’d get more done if you had support staff. You must be bringing in enough money. I know how much my dad is paying you and it’s substantial.”
The sound that came out of Melanie was equal parts frustration and resignation. “Let’s just say I’m upside down in my office lease and I’m still paying off the furniture.” She shook her head and took another long draw of her mojito. “If you must know, that’s the real reason I don’t have a staff. I can’t afford it. Yet.” She planted her finger on the table. “Someday I will.”
“Why’d you spend so much money on your office? You had to have had a business plan, a budget for the first few years.”
“It was my former business partner’s idea.”
“So sue her.”
She paused before she answered, seeming to calculate what to say. “Sue him. And it’s not that simple.”
“Sure it is. You have to be ruthless when it comes to things like this. It’s just business.”
“It’s not just business.” Melanie took a sip of her drink that was so long, he thought she might make it all the way to the bottom. “It’s personal. Very personal.”
