Broken Melody (Rock With You #2) Rock Star Romance (6 page)

She
took a step closer, placing her hands on Ryan’s chest. He tensed briefly at her
touch, a faint frown creasing his forehead.

“Melody…something’s
changed.” He cocked his head, looking at her closely, eyes narrowed.

Her
heart was racing and she hoped Ryan would attribute it to passion and she
forged ahead. “I’ve changed, I guess. Things are different now.”

“Different
since your trip? Is there trouble in paradise?”

His
mouth quirked up in a smirk. “I had the impression everything worked out for
the best, with you and…your client.” Ryan relaxed slightly, leaning into Melody’s
touch. She ran her hand slowly over the starched front of his shirt.

She
cast her eyes down, shaking her head slowly. “It’s not what I thought it was
going to be. Seeing someone in their own setting, where they come from…you were
right. It’s all beneath me.”

Melody
moved forward, closing the small space that still separated her and Ryan. Her
breasts were pressed against Ryan’s chest, her hands still over his heart. He
slowly slid his hands down the curve of her bare spine, palms coming to rest on
her hips. His fingers clenched against her, rucking up her tight skirt.

“I
think you’re a smart girl. I’m glad you’ve seen the error in your ways. It’s
not too late to make some changes. But we have a client due here any minute.
I’m not sure this is the time to take this further.”

Melody
kept her hands on Ryan’s chest, raising her eyes to meet his. “There’s always
time to take things to the next step. Don’t you want me to succeed? I want to
make partner; you want to help. I’m not asking for…well, let’s say we have time
to start the discussion. We can always finish it later…much later.”

She
stood on tiptoe, hesitating briefly before her lips brushed his. His breath was
warm on her mouth and as she held his gaze the caution in his eyes gave way to
the hunger and lust she’d seen there before.

Her
heart thumped painfully against her ribcage but her voice was steady.

“I’m
yours, Ryan. Same page, same sentence. Same words now.”

His
lips were on hers, hard and possessive, his hands pulling her hard against his
body. The intensity of his kiss made her gasp. There was no pleasure in this
kiss, it tasted of total control, all take and no give.

Moving
with all the confidence of knowing he owned her, Ryan’s hands moved up her
back, sliding around to cup her breasts. With ease he parted the silk, slipping
his fingers beneath, his thumbs skating across her nipples. Melody squirmed,
not from pleasure but from repulsion. Her movements only made Ryan hold her
tighter, his kiss deepening, his tongue forced against her teeth.

At
the soft knock at the door, she broke their kiss, pressing herself forcefully against
Ryan, hands gripping his shirt. She turned her head, saw the doorknob turning,
the door swinging open. Ryan looked between her and the door, suddenly wary. He
tensed beneath her hands, his fingers briefly convulsing against her
breasts.  She cried out in pain and surprise.

The
door swung open wide. Lori was frozen in place, the doorknob slipping from her
grasp, the door banging against the wall. Behind Lori was Logan, eyes dark,
body tense, fists clenched at his side.

“Ryan!
You bastard. Let her go.” Logan strode into the office as Ryan pushed Melody
away. She stumbled against the table, grabbing her suit jacket and shrugging it
over her arms, trying to cover herself.

“She’s…”
 Ryan’s face was contorted in anger, his eyes darting between Logan and Melody.

Logan’s
fist connected with Ryan’s jaw with a deep thud, sending him sprawling against
his desk. Logan advanced again, but Melody caught his arm.

“No,
Logan. No more.”

Logan
took a step back from Ryan, his arm around Melody. Lori was still in the
doorway, eyes wide, hand over her mouth. The color had drained from her face
and for a moment, Melody thought the woman was going to faint.

“You’re
making a mistake, MacKenzie.” Ryan rubbed his jaw, shaking his head.

“I
don’t think so. I know what I saw.”

The
barely restrained anger in Logan’s voice scared Melody. She held his arm, the
muscles tensed beneath her fingers, his hand still curled into a fist.

“You
saw her all over me. She’s been doing that of late. And apparently doing it
with her clients as well.” Ryan straightened, adjusting his tie, smoothing down
his lapels.  The change was instant and remarkable. Except for the angry
red mark on his jaw, it appeared as if nothing had happened.

Casually,
Ryan leaned back against his desk. For all the world it looked as if he were
holding a client meeting, not just been on the receiving end of a fist to the
jaw. Melody wanted to run but she was mesmerized by Ryan’s ability to retain
his composure.
Got to give him points for that.

“At
the bar, you kissed me, remember? Or perhaps you were too drunk. I understand
you have a bit of a problem with alcohol.” Ryan’s lips were curved into a
smile, but it held no warmth. And nothing reached his eyes. They were cold,
moving back and forth between Logan and Melody.

“You
really think you can go anywhere with this? You’re sleeping with your client.
That’s a breach of ethics. You’ve been the one making advances, in order to
secure being made a partner.”

Melody’s
breath caught in her throat. Ryan looked at her, pity in his gaze. He shook his
head slowly.

“Melody.
How can you possibly think that anyone would believe you, of all people, in a
claim against me? I told you, my name is on the letterhead. I’m pretty much
bullet-proof.”

“Here,
at work, you’ve practically thrown yourself at me every chance you get. The
minute the door closes…” Ryan pointed toward the open door.

“No,
she hasn’t.”

Three
heads turned simultaneously toward the door. Lori was still standing in the
doorway and Ryan was pointing directly at her. Melody stepped out from behind Logan.

“Lori.
What are you saying?”

“She’s
not saying anything. Are you?” Ryan straightened, glaring at Lori.

“I’m
saying enough is enough, Ryan. You’ve done this before and I’ve stood by,
silently, while you’ve ruined careers and lives. And now, I’m not silent
anymore.”

Ryan
took a step toward Lori, a look of panic in his eyes. But Logan was there,
between them.

“Back,
Ryan. Step back.”

“She’s
lying. She’s jealous because I rebuffed her advances. That’s all, just
jealousy.”

Melody
turned to Lori. “Who else?”

“The
woman who you replaced. And the woman who left for Hirschbeck last year. An
intern two years ago, who ended up getting divorced. And Melissa.”

Melody
rounded on Ryan. “You did this to Melissa too?”

“I
never touched Melissa.” Ryan was indignant. “She’s a paralegal.”

“No,
but you had her fired. Because of what she knew…what she saw at the bar, with
you and Melody,” Lori said.

“You
bastard! She was my friend and you made me believe she wasn’t a competent
employee. But she saw what you did and you knew it, and you fired her? How
could you?”

There
was a noise in the hall and Melody turned. A small crowd had gathered and
pushing his way to the front was Joe Hunter. He stepped into the office,
closing the door behind him.

“There
have been complaints regarding a fight. Ryan…” Joe was peering at Ryan’s
bruised jaw. “Do you need medical attention?”

“No.
I’m fine. Really. There’s nothing here you need to worry about.”

“I
need to know what happened here. Marshall, you stay here. You two…” He motioned
to Logan and Melody. “Come with me. To my office.”

* * *

Logan
and Melody had finally emerged from Joe’s office, Joe assuring both he’d be
following up with them and start a formal investigation, if that’s what Melody
wanted. As they left, Lori emerged from a nearby conference room carrying her
purse and coat. She followed them to the elevator, riding down to the lobby
with them.

“I
have no desire to be anywhere near that man. I’ve been sitting up here, writing
out a statement. Joe’s told me to take tomorrow off and then I’ll be
temporarily reassigned until some decision is made about Ryan.”

“Did
Joe say anything else?” Melody tried to stay as far away from Logan as she
could, trying to maintain the façade of attorney and client. But she longed to
be next to him, to feel his arm around her. Even though Lori had heard
everything Ryan had said, Melody hoped Lori would just chalk it up to Ryan’s
anger at being caught, that it was just him spewing vitriolic words at Melody.
She and Logan had known they’d be taking the risk of exposing their affair to
Lori, trusting she’d be so caught up in whatever happened it wouldn’t really
register to her what she was seeing.

“Just
that he thinks it would be best if Ryan were on leave. He certainly can’t come
to work. Not now.” Lori snorted in disgust.

“He’ll
be on paid leave. It won’t make any difference to him, at this point. Other
than the damage to his ego. And believe me, that man has an ego bigger than the
Empire State Building but as fragile as spun sugar. When his ego or his pride
is damaged, look out.”

Melody
frowned at the woman. “What do you mean?”

“I
mean, I think he’s wounded…you’ve wounded him where it hurts. And you’ve
damaged his reputation.”

The
elevator deposited them in the lobby. Lori turned, her hand on Melody’s arm.

“I’d
be careful if I were you. He’s like a wounded lion now. Unstable and
dangerous.”

The
cab ride to Logan’s hotel was brief. They were in his room before Melody
finally was able to let herself let go of her tightly controlled emotions. And
when she did, the tears started. Logan held her, pulling her down on the couch
beside him.

“Shhh…it’s
over. It’s done. You’re fine…” His words grew less distinct, English slowly
replaced with soft Gaelic, the words gradually forming the rhythm of music. It
wasn’t long before Melody recognized the melody of the song from the gig in
Scotland. The song about home.

She
raised her head, her tears trailing away to sniffles. “Thank you, Logan. For
everything. For thinking of this…for being there when I needed you.”

An
involuntary shiver ran through her body. “I can still feel his hands on me,
touching me. I knew I had to let him, but still…it was worse pretending I liked
it, that I wanted him…and for you to see that…”

“Melody.
Enough. I know why you did this; hell, I was in on the idea. Let it rest.
You’ll make yourself ill.”

He
sat back, pulling her onto his lap. “I just hope he’s not ruined you for all
men. He hasn’t now, has he?”

The
teasing light in his eyes and his gentle smile made her relax. She shook her
head, smiling down at him, arms around his neck.

“No,
not at all.”

Logan
slid his hands beneath her suit jacket, fingers brushing against the silk. It
was so different from Ryan’s touch and Melody pressed against Logan. He was
watching his hands as they moved over the material, over her breasts beneath,
his eyes half-closed and dreamy, as her nipples grew hard, pushing against the
silk.

“You’re
not hungry, are you? For dinner I mean?” His eyes met hers. She shook her head,
and the seductive smile she received in return set off a small explosion low in
her belly.

With
his help she shrugged out of her jacket, letting it fall to the floor. Logan’s
eyes traveled slowly down over her body and she enjoyed every moment of his
gaze, the fire and passion in his eyes mirroring the heat that was blossoming
inside her.

“Logan,”
she breathed his name. She leaned forward, her lips on his, gentle but
insistent.

The
pressure of his hands increased and soon she was moaning against his mouth. She
was growing frustrated at the confines of her clothing and shifted on Logan’s
lap, tugging her skirt up her legs, straddling his hips.

The
touch of his fingers on her inner thigh sent a shiver through her body. They
crept higher, and she spread her legs a bit further, each caress of his hand
sending a wave of pleasure through her.

Logan
suddenly looked up at her, eyes widening. “Melody. I’m shocked. You’re not
wearing anything under your dress.” His laugh was low and sexy, and he drew his
brows together in mock reproach.

“What
exactly were you planning for today?”

Melody’s
smile was just as seductive as any she’d seen on Logan’s lips. “I was covering
all the bases…or in this case, making sure they were uncovered.” His fingers
had moved further north, stroking her softly, and her hips were moving in
response, slowly undulating at his touch. When she spoke, her voice was a
breathless whisper.

“I
didn’t know how far he’d go. Or how far I’d have to let him.” She met his gaze,
lips parted.