Page 40 of Free to Run
“I wantto see all the dresses, Alison.”
“I’m not living out some little fantasy you’ve got, Keene. You’ll get what I give you.”
I clamp my lips together to suppress the laugh that’s trying to escape. Saks isn’t incredibly busy on a midday Tuesday. Most of the people who are in the store are either tourists who aren’t paying attention or the few that are truly shopping couldn’t care less. I raise my brow at her.
She stomps off in bare feet toward the women’s dressing room. I take the opportunity to pull aside her sales assistant. “Please find her shoes for whichever dress or dresses she chooses. But make sure Jimmy Choos are included.” Her silver strappy pair from that first night flash in my mind.
“Yes, Mr. Marshall.” The assistant quickly scurries after Alison, and I make my way over to the couch to wait for the first dress. Dropping to the plush softness, I pull out my phone and scroll through messages that have been plaguing me all morning, I deflect some of them to Caleb and some to my assistant. Suddenly, hands clasp over my eyes from behind. I’m about to flip the person over my shoulder before I hear a breathless “Guess who?” from behind me.
Fucking hell.
Melody.
“Ms. Dempsey. What the hell are you doing in New York? Aren’t you supposed to be, I don’t know, working at your job in Washington?” I say in my coldest voice, shoving her hands away from me as I stand.
“I heard through the office grapevine you were off today. I thought I’d try to catch you so we could fix that silly misunderstanding from the other day.” Her face is a mask of false innocence. She knew where I was going to be. She reaches out to touch me as I step back. “I didn’t expect to find you here when I was picking up a few things to surprise you with later.” Her smile is both coy and sullen.
I am so beyond infuriated, I’m afraid I’m going to crack my cell phone before I have a chance to call Caleb to relay what’s going on. Not only does this mean we have a leak at Hudson, again, but it means we have a crazed lunatic running our office in DC. Not to mention, I finally have a chance to work things out with Alison, but I have to deal with someone I wet my dick with one time.
Fucking hell.
I hear muttering behind me. “Keene, I swear to God, I am not coming out after every dress, but if you tell me this one works…” Alison’s voice trails off as she spots Melody. “Hello.” Walking right up next to me, she demonstrates exactly why she’s meant to be in my arms, my head, and maybe if I’m lucky, my life.
Correctly interpreting the set look on my face, Alison walks between Melody and me and spins around in a slim-fit sheath that fits from just over her breasts to just below her knee. Two straps angle off each shoulder to meet in the lowered back. Glancing down, I see she has on a sexy pair of delicate heels as well.
She is perfection. My vision of it. My hope for it.
Stepping forward, I slide my arm around her waist and pull her as close as I can. “Are you sure we need to go out?” I murmur. Her husky laugh appeals to me.
“Down, boy. One dress down. How many do I need?” Her blonde eyebrow arches at me.
“Get a few, baby,” I say loud enough for her to hear, as much as I do for the woman staring at us both, her mouth agape.
“You realize I need other clothes too, don’t you?” Her voice is practically a purr. With her hand, which had been steady on my shoulders, she writes something out on my chest. It takes me a moment before I realize she’s spelling out W-H-O.
I shake my head in the negative. At some point, I’m going to have to explain this. Alison won’t take me completely brushing this off, but for the moment, she nods playfully. God, she would have made a great agent back in the day. “What else do you need, baby?”
She makes a big production of leaning forward and getting closer to my ear before whispering, “Running gear.”
I can’t help the smile that breaks out across my face. Nuzzling my nose against hers, I whisper, “We’ll have better luck at Lululemon.”
Alison steps back. Walking away, she says, “You say the sexiest things.”
I outright laugh.
Adding a little more swing to her step, Alison smiles over my shoulder at Melody and makes her way back into the dressing room. I follow every thrust and sway until I hear Melody say behind me, “Fucking slut.”
The ice that had been slowly thawing in my veins returns in full force.
Before turning around, I engage my phone to call Caleb’s directly. Knowing the line is open, I hold the phone in my hand. I turn my attention from the woman who snared it with nothing more than a smile to the woman who is trying to hold it hostage.
Her bullshit ends now.
“Ms. Dempsey, I’m at Saks in New York City. My first question to you is, again, why aren’t you at your post in DC at Hudson when you’re under review for poor job performance? Additionally, we have pending investigations. And lastly, do you want to repeat what you just said about my woman to me?” My jaw is clenched. I’m fairly certain my dentist is going to have a field day telling me I need a mouth guard or some bullshit like that.
“Keene, I told you, I heard you were taking a free day. I want to be where you are. You know that together we can do anything, and we’ll have so much fun doing it too.” Melody’s voice has dropped back to its seductive tone.
I’m not sure how I missed it in her background check, the crazy with the extra helping of batshit she has going on, but somehow, all of that slid through. And not only that, I compounded that error by breaking my own rule. But until Caleb gets this, I’m essentially fucked.
