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I take Mel’s hand, ignoring the surprised glance she gives me, a desperate plea to know what’s going on.
“It’s not what it looks like.”
He still looks slightly outraged. I happen to know this is something he never, ever expected to see. Not from me, of all people.
“This is my fiancé, Mel Atkinson.”
Mel blinks and it’s as if a curtain falls perfectly over her features. She schools her expression into a demure, shy politeness as she reaches to shake Roy’s hand.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Dupont. We haven’t met yet. This is probably a surprise.”
“It is,” Roy manages to choke out, then laughs. “A fiancé. You’ve been keeping this to yourself, Jenson?”
He’s all smiles, but the quick look he gives me turns my stomach to stone. He’s not all in, not yet.
“It was recent, and we wanted to keep it quiet. For a few reasons, actually.” I put my hands in my pockets, rocking on my heels lazily. “Actually, we were just going to grab a coffee. Would you like to join us and I’ll explain?”
Mel gives him a stunning smile and he agrees, looking slightly dazed. The three of us head to the lobby, to the café where I pay a small fortune for two coffees and a tea. Mel wraps her hands around the cup and keeps her eyes on the steam.
“No ring yet, Sharpe?”
I cut a glance to Roy, who is searching my face. Looking for a lie, a crack.
“Oh.” Mel looks between us quickly. “It’s because—well, we didn’t want anyone to know yet.”
A frown, so I jump in.
“Mel was just hired as our head of marketing. When she was considering applying for the position, we weighed all our options. I’ve spoken to HR already,” I assure him. I’d just done so this morning, as soon as Valeria, the head of HR, walked in. “Everything is signed off and appropriate.”
I give Mel a small, smokey smile that makes her blush. She’s either very good at acting or still caught off guard by that kiss. My eyes drop to her lips.
“At least, everything but what you caught us doing. I can’t seem to help myself around her.”
Roy shakes his head, grinning at the two of us. “If it’s aboveboard with HR, then I’m sure you’ve conducted yourself appropriately, Jenson. I’m just surprised after all of our talks…”
I know where he’s going with this.
Why didn’t you tell me about the engagement? Why keep it a secret when I explicitly told you I was interested in your future, your plans?
“I try to keep my private and work life separate.”
That’s a lie; I barely have a private life. But Roy doesn’t know that, not really. He only suspects it.
“So you’ve been hiding her, then.” He gives Mel a kind smile, one she warms to immediately. At least she doesn’t need to act like she likes him. Roy is one of the most genuine, kind people I’ve ever met.
Which is why a part of me feels rotten for doing this.
“Yes. You know a little about my dating history, Roy. Something like this—like what we have—I wanted to be sure. And I wanted to make sure she’d say yes.”
I reach for Mel’s hand, rubbing my thumb over her knuckles. She doesn’t know it yet, but there’s a ring in my office. One I’d intended to give her after this talk, maybe, though I wasn’t expecting Roy to show up.
Will she like it?
It doesn’t matter.
“Actually,” Mel cuts in, “I should probably get back up to my floor. I need to meet with the copywriting team and make sure the content for the new website pages is ready to go.”
“Of course, of course.” Roy stands, looking pleased, but still slightly suspicious. “It was a pleasure to meet you, Mel. I wish I’d known about you sooner, but Jenson has always kept things close to his heart.”
