Page 29 of Pursued by the Player

Chapter 8

“Sorry I’m late,” Mel said as she slid into her seat in the conference room.

“No problem,” Greg drawled as he waved his head in the air. “Kennedy hasn’t arrived yet.”

“He had his assistant pop her head in to say that his phone call is going longer than anticipated,” Joel said as he examined his fingernails. “He’s going to be here in a few minutes.”

“Thank goodness.” Mel put her things on the table. She didn’t feel up to listening to Kennedy lecture her on punctuality. After the night she had, she was surprised that she was present and functioning at work at all. After the date, Mel had gone home and tried to sleep, but she couldn’t seem to shake Jett form her mind. He had really opened up to her last night and shown her a glimpse of the man behind the asshole façade. She had actually liked that man and wanted to get to know him better. She could hardly wait until they met up for dinner tonight. There was going to be no more fancy restaurants, no more limousines. They were going to take the subway to a burger place he knew on the other side of the city, but Mel couldn’t be happier if he was taking her for a five-course meal on top of the Eiffel Tower. This was the real Jett, the unpretentious, sweet man who loved hot dogs and baseball. She felt so much closer to this man than the one he projected to the media. Perhaps, with a little persuasion, she could get him to be himself in public as well as private. He might be surprised how much closer his fans will feel with him if he stopped pretending and just been himself.

Greg started tapping his pen on his notebook. “This is ridiculous. I know that you aren’t busy, Mel, but Joel and I have a project to run.”

Mel straightened in her seat. “Actually—”

“Anyone know why he called this meeting?” Joel interrupted.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” Greg said. “Kennedy has seemed rather distracted lately. I wonder what’s going on.”

As if on cue, Kennedy strolled into the conference room and shut the door behind him. Immediately Mel, Greg, and Joel straightened in their chairs.

“You’ve done it this time, my dear. You’ve done it.”

“Did what?” Greg put down his pen.

“Who are you talking about?” Joel asked.

Kennedy stopped at the head of the table and looked at the men as if they were insane. “Why Mel, of course.” He waved his hand in Mel’s direction.

“Her?” Greg asked. “What on earth did she do?”

“Someone’s in trouble. . .” Joel whispered.

“No, no, nothing like that.” Kennedy clasped his hands together. “This is good news. Good news.”

“What happened, Mr. Brach?” Mel asked.

Kennedy rubbed his hands together and nibbled his lower lip. “Your date, my dear. I couldn’t have planned things better myself.”

“My date?”

“What do you mean?” Greg asked. “Mel doesn’t date.”

“She doesn’t do anything,” Joel muttered. Mel gave him a sharp look of disapproval.

“Honey,” Kennedy said, drawing her attention back to him. “That kiss he gave you outside the restaurant last night was genius.”

“What?” Mel asked.

“Congratulations, my dear,” he said as he pulled out his cell phone and swiped the screen. “You are now a social media sensation.” He showed her his newsfeed, where she saw a picture of Jett kissing her outside the restaurant. She was blushing, he was attentive, and many on the internet were already speculating if they had sex and how long the relationship was going to last.

“Oh my God.”

“Let me see,” Joel nudged her out of the way and stared at the phone. “Wow.”

“I want to look.” Greg grabbed the phone and glanced at the screen. “It’s just a kiss.”

“A kiss felt around the world. Look at the emotion on her face. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that scoundrel look so smitten. Bravo, my dear. Bravo. Everyone is talking about it.” Kennedy scrolled through the feed, shaking his head.

A sinking feeling settled in Mel’s chest. “I don’t see how any of this—”

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