A Road to Let Go (Fallen Tuesday #4) (12 page)

They were dark. They were on fire.
They were deep.

“
You
’
re an ass,
”
Cara said.
“
I
’
m
leaving.
”

“
I
’
m sorry,
”
Jake said.
“
That
’
s all I
’
ve got. This is who I am.
”

“
Where
’
s my phone?
”
Cara asked.

“
Coffeemaker.
”

Cara rushed to the kitchen and Jake
looked at Melanie.

Sorry,
she mouthed but Jake
could only smile.

“
I
’
m.. sorry to you, too,
”
he said to Melanie.

“
That
’
s not good enough,
”
Melanie said.
“
You slept with someone else?
”

Cara came storming through, bumping
into Jake. She paused and looked at Mel.
“
No,
we didn
’
t sleep together.
We were in the same bed, but he couldn
’
t
get it up.
”
Cara scoffed.
“
Good luck with that, sweetheart.
”

Cara left the hotel room. Jake
wondered if and when that story would end up online and how it would be
perceived. Chances were it would get lost in the mix of rumors and bullshit,
since there were no pictures to prove a thing.

The door slowly shut and Jake found
himself damn near speechless in front of Melanie.

“
That
’
s not true, by the way,
”
he said.

“
What
’
s not? That you are a complete
ass? Because
…”

“
No,
”
Jake said.
“
About the getting it up part. I
…
can
…”

“
You
are an ass.
”

Jake nodded.
“
Yeah. I am.
”

Melanie turned and grabbed the door
handle.

“
Hey.
Wait.
”

She looked back. Her hair dangled
in front of her right eye.

“
Thanks
for doing that,
”
Jake said.
“
I
’
m used to having the rest of the guys to bail me
out on this stuff.
”

“
I
expect a big tip,
”
Melanie
said and smiled.
“
And I
like your music, by the way.
”

“
Yeah?
Thanks.
”

Melanie opened the door and Jake
moved forward, grabbing the door.
“
What
’
s the rush?
”

“
My
job,
”
Melanie said.
“
I figured this room would take
me hours. You know, since there was a rockstar partying in it.
”

“
You
knew who I was before you got here?
”

“
Yeah.
”

Jake nodded. This woman was so
interesting. And yet she was a housekeeper in a hotel. It seemed so odd. And
looking at her, Jake could see that something was off about her. Maybe not bad,
but definitely something that kept his attention.

“
I
’
m not that kind of person,
”
Jake said.

“
What
kind? The kind that wakes up with a stranger in your bed?
”

“
She
wasn
’
t a stranger,
”
Jake said.
“
I knew her name.
”

“
When
did you meet her?
”

“
Last
night.
”

Melanie shook her head.
“
Listen, just let me know when
you
’
re leaving. I
’
ll go take care of some other
rooms first. You
’
re going
to catch hell if you stay later than checkout time.
”

“
Oh
yeah? What happens then? Do they send you to come kick me out?
”

“
Maybe
they will,
”
Melanie said.

“
Then
it
’
s worth staying,
”
Jake said. He backed up into
the room, still holding the door.

He couldn
’
t believe he was actually trying to flirt with this
woman right now. Especially after all that had happened last night and the fact
that Chloe was in his apartment.

“
Well,
enjoy then,
”
Melanie said.

“
Hey,
can I get you something?
”
Jake offered.
“
Breakfast?
Coffee?
”

“
I
’
m working.
”

“
I
didn
’
t mean this very
second, Melanie,
”
Jake said.

He liked saying her name.

“
Most
people call me Mel.
”

Mel.

That worked even better.

“
Try
not to trash the room,
”
Melanie -
Mel
- said.
“
Okay?
”

“
What
if I do that?
”

“
Then
I have to clean it. And report all damage to management.
”

“
You
want to check the room now? Just in case.
”

Mel smiled and her face turned red.
Jake loved that feeling. He wasn
’
t
sure why, but there was something about feeling cool and maybe even powerful in
front of Mel.

“
Have
a good day,
”
Mel said.
“
Good luck with the band.
”

“
You
should come check out a show,
”
Jake said.
“
I can score
some great seats
…”

Mel laughed and continued down the
hall.

Jake didn
’
t move. He stared at her. He was being obvious, but
he didn
’
t care. Her white
shirt hugged her body. Her curves were intoxicating and Jake caught himself
bobbing his head left to right, following the movement of her hips.

Mel looked back at Jake, the smile
still on her face.

Now that was a woman who could have
fun. Stranger or not, Jake had a lot of questions running through his mind. He
decided to get dressed and go ask Mel those questions.

*

Mel made it to the corner and then
when she was out of view, she started running. The wheels of the cart were wobbling
and squeaking. After a few seconds, Mel stopped and the cart rolled. It cut to
the right and bumped into a wall.

She didn
’
t care.

Mel fell back against a wall and
couldn
’
t stop smiling.

Not only had she just met a famous rockstar,
he had been flirting with her.

That had been flirting right?

Or maybe that was just how Jake
acted. He was in a band and toured the world, made lots of money, and spent
time with lots of women.

Like the woman that was in his
hotel room.

Mel couldn
’
t believe she actually went along with Jake
’
s idea. Even though actually
pretending to be with him lasted all of a minute, it was still something
different and exciting. And the truth of it was that Mel had seen the name on
the sheet and had been told who was staying in the room. She purposely went to
the room a little bit early hoping to meet Jake. In her mind, she would have
seen him, gotten an autograph, and left.

That didn
’
t go as planned.

Mel looked up and down the hall. Then
she strained her neck and bit her lip as she tried to look at her own butt. She
wanted to see how these pants worked for her. When she started to step and
spin, resembling a dog chasing its tail, she stopped and sighed. She grabbed
her hair, pulled it back, and used the hair tie on her wrist to put it back up
again.

What about the way he looked at
you?

Mel scoffed at herself. He had
probably just woken up and realized a woman was in his bed. That
’
s all that was.

Yet he did offer her breakfast. Or
coffee. Or something once her shift ended. Mel only had another two hours until
she was done until she was scheduled to bartend later that night.

“
Stop,
”
she whispered.

One of the doors opened and Mel saw
another housekeeper, Sally, backing out of the room. She had the largest butt
Mel ever saw on a person. Sally gladly did everything butt first. Her joke that
she liked to say was
‘
with
an ass like this, you lead with it!
’
.

Sally was in her late fifties and was
the primary caregiver of her two grandchildren. Her daughter was killed in a
car accident a few years ago and her grandchildren
’
s father wasn
’
t
in the picture. Mel couldn
’
t
imagine that kind of life, but Sally genuinely enjoyed it. She worked hard and
provided, and loved giving Mel little tidbits on life and love. Mel felt
comfortable talking to her. In fact, Mel confided in Sally about the real
reason she was in New York, which was more than she had even told her
best
friend
Alex.

“
Hey
Sally,
”
Mel said.

“
Girlfriend,
”
Sally sassed.

She was such a grandma trying to be
cool. It actually made her cool.

“
How
’
s your morning?
”

“
Always
a treat,
”
Sally said.
“
Heard you got the fun room over
there.
”

Sally smiled and nodded.

“
What
room?
”

“
The
rockstar.
”

“
Oh.
Yeah. I
’
m sure that
’
ll be fun.
”

“
Look
at you, girl,
”
Sally said.
“
If that was me, I
’
d unbutton a few of those
buttons and see what the rockstar was all about.
”

“
Sally
…”
Mel felt herself blushing
again.

Sally let out a laugh.
“
But that
’
s me. Hey, you know what they say about doors,
right?
”

“
No.
What?
”

“
You
’
ve got to open as many as
possible,
”
Sally said.
“
And look where we work. You
never know when something amazing is waiting behind one of these doors.
”

Sally turned and before Mel could
say goodbye, her cell rang. She wasn
’
t
supposed to have her cell with her at work, let alone have it turned on and
ringing in a hallway. But this was one rule she always broke. She felt safer
with her phone, just in case, and she needed it handy if Jon had some kind of
news for her.

And that
’
s exactly who was calling.

Mel looked around again to make
sure nobody was around. There were security cameras in the corners of the hall,
but the chances of someone seeing her and caring were slim to none.

“
Jon,
”
she said.

“
Are
you okay? You sound like you
’
re
whispering.
”

“
I
’
m at work right now.
”

“
Oh.
Okay. Well, sorry.
”

“
No.
Don
’
t worry about it. What
’
s happening?
”

“
I
looked into things more,
”
Jon said.
“
But first, are
you okay with everything? Yesterday you kind of stormed out on me.
”

“
I
didn
’
t mean that,
”
Mel said.
“
I just thought I would get a
little luck.
”

“
You
did. You got a name. And a place.
”

“
A
place on the opposite side of the country.
”

“
Better
than finding nothing, Mel. You have to look at the positive. I normally don
’
t find a lot when I help people.
”

“
Okay.
I came to New York thinking I was in the right spot.
”

“
You
are,
”
Jon said.
“
You found me. Now let
’
s move forward.
”

“
Right.
”

“
Your
aunt knew about your father,
”
Jon said.
“
She worked with
his NPO
’
s more than once.
”

“
That
hurts to know.
”