Chapter 11
Melinda heard her name being called out and spotted Dwight and her business proffer headed their way.
“Melinda, do you have a moment?” Dwight asked.
“I have a few,” she told them walking over to the side of the quad. “Look if this is about being in both programs, I was told it wouldn’t be an issue, and I am almost finished with them both without missing any deadlines.”
“We just want to ensure you’re not overdoing it,” Dwight told her. “You’ve managed to fit what should have been four years into three and you’re also enrolled in two full-time masters programs.”
“I know,” she said with a laugh. “I’m the one taking the classes. Honestly, I’m fine. I just want to get done with it. Jordan’s looking to expand again, and I want to be able to take over more of his burden once I have all of this finished.”
“Melinda you’re doing all of this as well as working full-time, when do you sleep?” Harold inquired.
“Sleep…oh right that’s the thing that I find myself doing between three and five each morning,” she joked. “If it gets to be too much I’ll cut back, promise, but now I’m out of moments and need to go. I have to check on the development across campus and make sure it’s under control.”
“Doesn’t Jordan usually take care of that?” Dwight asked walking with her.
“He does but he’s out of town right now. He should be back tomorrow though so it’s my last day having to take care of this.”
“Melinda,” he stopped when she shot him a look. “Mel, Jordan doesn’t care if you get your MBA or not, why not just wait? Finish up the program, take a break, and relax. You’re what…twenty-two?”
“Twenty-three in a couple days and as soon as I’m done with school Jordan and I are planning on taking off a bit. We’re going to turn the business over to Tate and Ford for a month and do nothing but relax.”
“I can’t talk you out of it, can I?”
“Nope, thank you for caring but I’ll be fine. Now, if you can convince my engineering teacher to give me an A…”
“I don’t think there’ll be a problem with that Mel; you’ve been my best student for years.”
“I try,” she said giving him a wave before heading over to the site. She couldn’t believe how much they’d gotten done in four years. All of the structures should be finished by the end of the summer, ready for the beginning of the next year.
She saw Tate surveying a group of students from the high school and gave him a wave.
He brought one of their other supervisors over to deal with the group and hurried towards her.
He pulled her into a hug kissing the top of her hair and she had to marvel at the changes in him.
He’d grown an inch in the last four years and now was about six fee event, but he’d buffed up working long hours on the structures during the summers.
“How’s my favorite girl?” he asked looking at her intently. “Jordan’s still not home?”
“Tomorrow…how’s it going?” she asked nodding towards the building.
“Ahead of schedule but you’re working too hard again.”
“Says the guy who managed to earn a computer engineering and structural engineering degree in three years so I wouldn’t graduate before him,” she said bumping him with her hip.
“You still managed to beat me, your architecture, structural engineering and business degree and now nearly done on two masters.”
“Okay, I’m going to head into the office.
If you need anything let me know,” she said kissing his cheek before heading towards the parking lot.
She spotted her Jeep and grinned. Jordan wanted to buy her a new car since this one was getting high on mileage, but she couldn’t give it up yet.
It would feel like she was losing something special and she was already worried about her future with Jordan now that she was closing in on the end of school.
Mel sighed when she pulled into her spot at the office.
The entire area in front of the building was full of cars, which meant either visitors or customers, and she didn’t know if she wanted to deal with either.
She was completely exhausted trying to work ahead in both of her programs in order to keep Jordan from finding out exactly how much work it really was for her.
He’d insist on hiring someone else to handle her office duties and she wasn’t ready to let go of them.
They’d never talked about what would happen when she was done with school.
She didn’t think he was going to walk away but he’d also never told her he loved her, though to be fair she’d never said the words either, at least not privately when it would ring true.
Inside the place was chaotic, they had three prospective clients who’d stopped in on a whim, and she knew they would want to hear their whole pitch.
Normally she didn’t mind entertaining the new clients, but she’d been on her own for almost two weeks while Jordan was out of town completing a job at another college they’d been asked to submit a bid for thanks to their amazing accomplishments here.
It was only for one new building, but they wanted the same sort of program they were using at Whitmore and Jordan had been in and out of town the past year and away the last two weeks straight, the longest she’d ever been without him, and it sucked.
She pasted a polite smile on her face and introduced herself. They were still using Holmes and some days it got confusing especially since she was listed as Holmes and not Turner in her classes though her degree had Turner on it.
It was after seven before she managed to get everything in order and set up for the next day.
She thought about driving home, to the little house they still lived in, but she didn’t want to sit behind a wheel that long.
Tate still stopped by occasionally, but he had his own place in town and was content with entertaining his friends there.
She could always pop over to Nicole and Caleb’s, but she didn’t want to interrupt them either. They’d gotten married two years ago and were expecting their first baby, something that thrilled her in-laws to no end and Gabrielle kept dropping hints about her and Jordan being next.
She figured that would be Jake and Susan, or Alana and Stuart but they seemed to be content with their two. Grant was the only one who was still single and claiming that he was going to stay that way. She loved them all and couldn’t begin to imagine not having them in her life.
Mel walked over to the drafting table that held piles of blueprints they’d gone over and were working on to boost their portfolio.
Tate would take them and make the 3D models once they were finished but there was one set that neither Tate nor Jordan had seen.
She cleared the others from the board and sat down adjusting the lights to dim the rest of the room.
She lost track of time until she felt a set of arms slip around her waist and she jumped. She flipped around and her fear fell away replaced by a bright grin. “I didn’t think you were going to be back until tomorrow.”
“I couldn’t stay away any longer,” Jordan told her as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her deeply.
“Mmm…” She moaned as the kiss deepened further. He pulled back dropping a light kiss on her lips as he hugged her tightly to him. “I think we should go home now.”
“Why’s that baby?” he asked with a light laugh as he dipped his head for another kiss.
“I think you know exactly why Jordan.” She sighed as his hands slipped below her top.
“Why go all the way home when there’s a perfectly good couch in my office?” he asked nipping at her bottom lip as his hands travelled further up her stomach. He picked her up, carried her into his office, and shut the door though they were alone, and the outer door locked.
“Jordan…”
“Did I shock you? That makes two of us but being away from you for two entire weeks…I’ve dreamt about you, holding you, kissing you, making love to you,” he said against her lips, and he grabbed the hem of her shirt lifting it over her head as he briefly cut off the kiss.
“Jordan, please.” She sighed as his hands found the clasp for her bra and unhooked it while her hands searched for the buttons on his shirt.
“I wasn’t going to stop in here. I was going to go directly home and pull you into my arms and kiss you until we were both naked.”
“I think you’re doing a pretty good job of that,” she teased stepping out of her jeans before letting him do the same.
“I had no idea what I was doing here until I saw the Jeep out front,” he told her as he sank into her body.
She stalled his talking by kissing him deeply until they were both lost over the edge of oblivion.
She felt herself drift off as he held her tightly against him and when she finally roused, she was alone on the couch with the throw from her office wrapped around her.
She spied Jordan’s shoes and dress shirt on the floor still telling her he definitely hadn’t left her entirely alone and slipped into the top.
She peeked out the door as she buttoned it and rolled up the sleeves wondering if he’d gotten up to go to the bathroom or get a drink perhaps. When she heard a small sound from her office, she went into it to check on what Jordan was doing.
“How long have you been working on this?” Jordan asked the moment she appeared in the doorway.
“A few months, they’re not done yet,” she admitted crossing over to hide them.
“They’re brilliant Mel,” he said pulling her back into his arms. “Are they for school, our portfolio…”
“Us…I just thought, I mean if you don’t like them, we don’t have to,” she rushed in with and this time he stalled her with a kiss.
“I love them and they put mine to shame,” he said with a laugh ushering her across the hallway to his office. He pulled out a set of blue prints and spread them out over his drafting board for her to see them. “See, yours are perfection compared to these.”