3. Chapter 3
After meeting Melanie last night, Levi canceled his date with the vet tonight. That meeting he had observed and photographed wasn’t even supposed to take place until later in the week. It had just been lucky that he was replaying some surveillance from the day and found out about it in enough time to arrive just before it all went down. Destiny. Fate. Luck. Whatever it was, he was glad it had worked out. Getting to share a meal with a beautiful woman had just been the icing on the cake.
As he checked his emails from his couch, he sent Andrea a text.
How’s Avrie?
He didn’t expect her to reply for a while but he wanted her to know he was thinking about them. When he found nothing exciting in his email, Levi scrolled the cloned phones of some people in DeLaney. Apparently Sabrina had gotten drunk again last night and sent a bunch of texts that made him laugh. Scarlett’s reply was the best one so far.
Just for once shut the fuck up, Sabrina.
That was rich coming from Scarlett who had plenty of experience drinking away her pain. Sabrina had been off the rails for a while now. She was no longer in charge of the escort service. Actually, her only ‘job’ seemed to be Valerie’s assistant. That was when she wasn’t on a bender.
With the job of finding out who was selling the law firm’s information over, he put the pictures in an email with his case notes and sent them off to the named partner of the firm along with his invoice to their accounting department. That only left one case on his plate. If there had ever been a good time for Andrea to ask him to give up his business to join DeLaney it was now. With such a slim caseload, he wouldn’t have to hand anything off to other private investigators in the city. He could wrap up his last case and close up shop.
All he needed to do now was catch a cheating husband in the act. Thank God this would be the last guy he had to follow to a shady motel to take pictures of. He already had the guy’s phone cloned. Now, he was just waiting for him to make his next appointment with the girl he seemed to favor who worked for the Red Stars. Levi didn’t figure that it would happen until the end of the week though. So he had a whole day off to do whatever he wanted.
What he should do is go pack up his office, but he was still sore from his fence building yesterday so maybe he would just stay inside in the a/c and binge out on some mindless TV. But before he did, he wanted to send Melanie a message so she didn’t think he forgot about her because he most definitely hadn’t. Even though he said he would call, Levi didn’t think she would mind a morning text. It wasn’t like he was the only one who felt the attraction last night. She had been ready to kiss him at that table in the diner, and the only reason he didn’t kiss her goodnight last night was to keep the anticipation up.
He got her number out of Scarlett’s contacts and after writing and deleting the same message about ten different times, he finally decided on playing it safe.
Hey Melanie, it’s Levi. Thanks again for being my sidekick last night. When can I see you again?
Maybe it was forward, but he knew she wouldn’t shoot him down. Now it was a waiting game. With a big bowl of cereal in his lap, he flipped on the TV to a show about aliens and settled in.
He was just about done with his cereal when his phone beeped with a text. It was from Andrea.
Very little change.
That sucked. There had to be something they could do. The poor kid was only three. He didn’t even want to think about what that would do to everyone if she didn’t get better.
Sorry. Did you get some sleep? You’ve gotta take care of yourself too.
If she responded at all, she was going to tell him not to worry about her and he knew that, but he sent it anyway. Sometimes she needed to be reminded to eat and sleep. He knew what it did to her even if she tried to hide it.
Three episodes of aliens passed before he got a response from Melanie. He smiled as he read it.
Should I be freaked out that you got my number without asking for it? Dinner at my place tonight?
Now who was being forward? Women didn’t invite men over to their homes and cook for them if they didn’t want to have sex. Not that he was complaining, but he didn’t just want to sleep with Melanie and that be the end of it. They were about to kind of work together. He didnt want it to be awkward if they crossed paths. Which probably meant starting any sort of relationship with her was the wrong answer. It was impossible to think about not seeing Melanie again tonight though. He hadn’t had a long-term girlfriend in a long time. Didn’t he deserve to have a chance at that?
I’ll be there. Can I bring something?
The dots started floating around almost immediately. He felt like an idiot just sitting there waiting and smiling.
I have wine but if you want something different bring it.
Before he could reply she sent another message.
You’re not vegan are you?
Levi laughed out and shook his head.
God no. Meat all the way.
He got off the couch and took his bowl to the sink. Maybe he could pick up something for dessert instead of alcohol. Wine would be fine, but he didn’t want to get drunk and ruin anything before it even got started. He read Melanie’s last message.
Me too ;) see you at 7
A smart, attractive woman with a sense of humor. It felt good to find someone who didn’t just portray those things on a dating app but who actually had them and who he knew he could hold a conversation with.
At three, Melanie packed up her stuff, locked her office, and headed out. She passed Scarlett in the hall on the way to the elevator and internally squirmed. Melanie never left early. In fact, she was usually at HQ long after everyone else had left. With Andrea out dealing with her personal stuff, Scarlett was walking around this building like she owned it, but Melanie didn’t answer to Scarlett. Andrea had made that clear from the beginning.
“Going home early?” Scarlett asked as Melanie hit the down button.
“Yes.” She wasn’t particularly fond of Scarlett and her sometimes bipolar, childish attitude.
“Need me to look over the papers you’ve been holding back for the Boss?”
“No. She called earlier. I’m going to meet her in the morning to go over the urgent stuff,” Melanie replied and stepped on the waiting elevator car. It was also when she told Andrea she was going to leave early to which the Boss had told her ‘about time!’
Scarlett hit the P1 button for her but nothing else. Apparently she was going to ride down. “Tomorrow maybe we can sit down and you can show me a little about how all the finances work. It’s the one area I can’t step in on if something happens to Andrea,” Scarlett said, too casually for Melanie’s liking.
She wasn’t sure what the angle was. There was always an angle with Scarlett. “I’ll talk to Andrea about it. She told me before I disclose any information about our finances to anyone I need to clear it with her.” It was easy to put it on Andrea. Somehow those tiny little shoulders carried the weight of the world and never seemed to crumple.
The elevator opened, and she stepped off. Scarlett didn’t look happy, but she said, “Have a good night.” With a sigh Melanie headed to her car. She wouldn’t let Scarlett ruin her evening or her plans. A hot guy was coming to her apartment later. Melanie was more excited about that than anything in the world right now.
She made a quick trip through the local Bartinson’s to get the stuff to make beef tenderloin with mushroom sauce and mashed potatoes with roasted brussel sprouts. It was easy enough to do and looked like a meal that took a lot longer than it actually did. Hopefully Levi would appreciate it. Her mom always told her that the way to a man’s heart was to make him a good meal and get on your knees when you needed to. It was probably fucked up of her mom to say, but the woman had been married for forty years now so there had to be some truth to it.
With the potatoes already boiled and ready to blend up and the tenderloin in the oven, Melanie cleaned up some of her mess—which was mostly just papers that were scattered across her coffee table and dining room table. Then she made her bed with clean sheets just in case. She wasn’t planning on sleeping with him necessarily, but if it felt right, then she wasn’t against it. For sure, they were going to have that kiss they didn’t have last night. Also just in case, she took an exceptionally long time in the shower shaving and getting all her lady bits back into order after the long hiatus.
Just before seven, she was stirring the mushroom sauce when the buzzer for the main door downstairs went off. Melanie took a deep breath and turned the burner down then rushed over to the box to press the button. “Hello?”
“It’s Levi.”
She buzzed him up and smoothed her hand over the green summer dress she was wearing. Last night Levi said she had pretty eyes. She hoped this outfit accented them. Honestly, she was probably trying too hard, but it felt good to dress pretty for someone again. While she could, Melanie planned to take advantage of it.
With the door open, she waited, trying to keep her hands from getting sweaty. When he stepped out of the elevator in a pair of dark jeans and a black button-up shirt with his shaggy hair looking like he didn’t put any effort but too much, she had to remember to breathe. God, she felt like a schoolgirl with her first crush.
“I opted for dessert instead of drinks. Hope that’s ok?” He raised a carton with what looked like cupcakes.
“They look great!” Melanie smiled, taking them from him. It surprised her when Levi took her freehand and kept her from turning to lead him inside.
“Hey,” Levi said quietly before leaning in to give her a sweet kiss to her cheek. She wished she would’ve thought to turn her head and put her lips in his path, but it was a cute gesture and warmed her insides. “That dress looks great on you,” he said when he pulled back.
Images of Levi pulling the dress off of her flashed in her mind and she felt herself blush. “Thank you. You’re very charming,” she said, trying to keep her smile from looking too ridiculous. “Come in. Dinner is almost ready, and I left the sauce on the stove.”
He took a small step back, releasing her hand. “Lead the way.”
Melanie’s place was about three times as nice as his apartment. Even though it was well decorated, he couldn’t help but think that it was missing something. Personalization and character were missing. It looked like she hired a designer and forgot to tell them what she wanted so they just gave her a cookie cutter look. But the food was fantastic, and he was more than excited about the company.
His life had been lonely lately. This was an opportunity to change that. Melanie was a woman who had her life together. He needed someone like that. As long as no cats jumped out of the closet at him, there was a good chance this could work. They carried the plates over to the sink and Melanie grabbed his.
“I’ll wash them later,” she said with a smile. She was beautiful. Levi couldn’t resist. He took his chance. Dinner breath be damned. He captured her lips with his and wrapped an arm around her waist to cushion her back when it bumped into the cabinet.
If he believed in things like destiny and love at first sight, he would think that kiss was their moment. Melanie pushed into it, making a pleased sound. His primal side wanted to know what other sounds she could make. But he was going to be a gentleman tonight. That they were going to be working together soon made that a necessity. Especially until she knew about him coming to work for DeLaney.
“Wow,” he breathed when he finally pulled out of the kiss.
Melanie giggled and licked her lips. “Most definitely wow.” Her grin was contagious, and he felt silly smiling so big.
Just when he was going to kiss her again, his phone rang over on the table. “Sorry,” he said, pulling away to go grab it. He didn’t miss the way she smoothed her dress down or the back of her hand touch her cheeks. The blush looked beautiful on her. “Hello?”
“He just left the house to go meet his business partner, but it was a woman on the phone. I could hear her!”
Fucking great. The psycho wife with the cheating husband. “Ok. I’m on it.” He hung up before she could say more. That woman drove him nuts. Pulling up his tracker app, he saw James, the husband, driving toward the motel he frequented. His phone cloning app told him he was on his way to meet the Red Star hooker. This was his chance to wrap things up and be ready to start at DeLaney, but he was with Melanie.
“Do you have to go?” she asked, coming closer.
“Uh…yeah but I don’t want to.” He slid the phone in his pocket. It was a split second decision, but he said it before he could think too hard. “Do you want to go with me to take some pictures of a cheating husband?”
Melanie smiled and looked around. Her eyes landed on the cupcakes. “Dessert and a stakeout?”
It made him laugh. “Sure.”
“Ok. Should I change?” She looked down at her dress. That was the last thing he wanted. Women took way too long to change, and that dress did things for him.
“No. It won’t take long. Come on,” he said and grabbed her hand. He snatched the cupcakes too. “I’ll have you home in an hour.” They were only about ten minutes from where they needed to go. It shouldn’t be a problem to beat James there.