I Married a Master(9)
Author: Melanie Marchande

Maddy was watching me, puzzled. Before she had a chance to voice a question, I turned the tables back.

"So," I said, glancing at the power couple. "You guys met at work, huh? That’s crazy."

A little bit of color rose in Maddy’s cheeks. "Yeah, I was doing the graphic design thing, and I guess…" She cleared her throat, glancing at Daniel, as if waiting for some kind of cue.

"I hired her for her talent," he said, with a halfway grin. "At least, that’s what the file says."

"Gets funnier every time," Maddy muttered, rolling her eyes.

"She actually did beat out ten other candidates with her portfolio," said Daniel, glancing at her. "H.R. would never let me actually see anyone until they were past the final interview stages. I think they assumed I was shallow, for some reason."

Ben snickered. "I can’t imagine why."

Daniel gave him a warning look.

"I got very lucky," said Maddy. "In more ways than one."

Ben smiled indulgently. "I guess it was only a matter of time before someone broke through that shell."

"It’ll happen to you, too," said Daniel, with a slight raise of his eyebrows. "Just wait. And I’ll be here to make fun of you for a week straight – so brace yourself."

"First of all, I’m not making fun," said Ben. "And secondly – I don’t have a shell. I’m an open book. Just haven’t met the right person yet."

"Right," said Daniel, quietly, with a private smile.

The drinks arrived, and I gratefully turned my attention to the vodka while the conversation went on around me. I could feel Ben’s eyes watching me intently from time to time, but I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction.

As we talked and laughed, I began to learn a little more about Grocery Store Jerk Ben. He owned a company called Chase Pharmaceuticals, which I looked up on my phone to find out that they basically owned the IP to every drug I’d ever heard of. I found myself giggling at his jokes – which I hated, but as my glass began to empty, I forgot exactly why.

That wasn’t accurate. I remembered our encounter, but I forgot why I cared so much.

Before long, we needed another round, and our server seemed to have disappeared. Daniel finally declared he was going to the bar himself to put in the order, but he disappeared into the throng and didn’t return before we’d all finished sipping the last of our melted ice from the bottom of our drinks.

"What the hell is taking him so long?" Maddy twisted her head around, trying to catch sight of Daniel in the crowd of people at the bar. "Okay, hang on. I’d better go rescue him."

Damn it.

I sat there, quietly, waiting for Ben to say something. The tension in the air was palpable, and I knew he wanted to, but perhaps wasn’t quite sure where to start.

"Jenna," he said, finally.

I looked at him, reluctantly. I didn’t want to talk about it. I wanted to forget about it, to forget about him, but I was starting to wonder if that was entirely possible.

"I wanted to apologize for my behavior at the store," he said. "I didn’t want to bring it up in front of everyone, because quite frankly, it’s embarrassing."

"I’ll say." Raising an eyebrow at him, I took another sip of my drink. "Just so you know, I’m not expecting one. I don’t really think it’s necessary. You can say you’re sorry all day long, but you’ve already showed your true colors."

Ben shook his head vigorously. "No. That’s not me. You have to understand – I hadn’t slept in two days. I barely even remember what I was doing. Just that it seemed really, really crucial to have some Karamel Sutra before I collapsed in bed."

"You probably shouldn’t have been out in public," I pointed out, feeling slightly mollified – but not wanting to show it. This could easily all be a lie.

"I absolutely shouldn’t have been out in public," he agreed. "Unfortunately, I live alone with two cats and neither one of them saw fit to stop me."

I snorted into my drink. "Are you painting yourself as a lonely spinster so I’ll feel sorry for you?"

He nodded. "Absolutely. And it’s working, isn’t it?"

"A little," I admitted, acknowledging his grin with a tiny smile of my own.

I was acutely aware that I had to be careful. People like him were nothing but trouble. All he had to do was turn on the charm for a few minutes, and he could get away with murder. Hopefully not literally. But either way, I couldn’t stand his type.

Don’t get sucked in, don’t get sucked in…do not look him in the eyes…

"So, I’m sorry," he said. "I hope you’ll give me a second chance to make a first impression."

I sighed. What did he want me to say? It wasn’t like he thoughtlessly cut me off in traffic – he’d been deliberately rude to me in two separate encounters, and delirium or no delirium, I felt like I’d be foolish to ignore it.

"Let me make it up to you," he said, quietly, chipping away at my resolve. "At least I should be able to buy you a drink – right?"

"Fine," I said. "One drink. But for the record, I have a job."

He blinked.

"You said, ‘some of us have jobs to get to.’ Or something like that."

"Oh." He chuckled slightly. "I don’t remember what the hell I said. I’m surprised I even used real words."

He was downplaying it so well. I almost believed him, I wanted to believe him, but there was something about the way he talked that made me think he wasn’t being completely sincere.

Right on cue, Maddy came back, Daniel and our drinks in tow.

"They’re very sorry about the slowness of the table service," she informed us. "They had three servers call in tonight. Apparently some big author is doing a book signing downtown and they didn’t want to miss it."

"You ever hear of Natalie McBride?" Daniel scowled slightly. "I haven’t, but apparently she’s worth missing a night of work over."

"Oh, yeah," I said, taking my drink. "Those books. His Secretary or whatever. She’s supposed to be the next E.L. James. Always been a hermit, so it’s kind of a big deal that she’s doing public appearances now."

Ben was staring at me.

"What?" I shrugged. "Some people read gossip about reality TV stars, I read gossip about authors. At least they’re contributing something to society."

"That’s debatable," Daniel grumbled.

"Oh, come on." Ben was smiling. "Think of all the marriages those kind of books have saved. Every couple years, somebody needs to come along and remind everyone that women actually do enjoy sex."