Page 59 of Melted by a Man

I guess so.

Attempting to be sly and not on the verge of jumping out of my chair, I glanced down to see a pen against my thigh. I looked around, confirming that nobody was looking at us, before I focused on her.

She wasn’t looking at me.

She was scrolling on her iPad, following along with the presentation Brandon had up on the projector. In her hand, below the table where nobody else could see, Jacqueline silently offered me the digital pen that was paired with her iPad.

Something warm and thrilling filled my lungs at the realization of what was happening. Though I was taking too long to respond, because without looking up at all, Jacqueline tapped the pen on my thigh again.Tap, tap, tap.

I fought a grin when I finally slid the pen out of her fingers, careful not to touch her skin with mine.

Underneath the table, one hand resting on my leg, I twirled the pen like I usually did.

My mind and body almost immediately relaxed.

I inhaled a deep breath to help calm my anxious nerves, focusing on the familiar movement of twirling the pen again and again.

I snuck another peak at Jacqueline by my side, but she still didn’t look at me. She lifted her gaze and, I swear to god, was entirely focused on Brandon’s meeting.

So I tried to do the same.

Suddenly, Brandon stopped talking, and everyone checked their phones and watches while he pulled something else up on his laptop for the meeting.

“This is so exciting,” I heard the blue-haired woman murmur on Jacqueline’s other side. I leaned forward in my seat to glance at her, wondering if she could provide additional context for what was happening.

“It’s pretty cool,” Jacqueline whispered back with a nod. When she saw me leaning forward, listening to her, and the other employee’s conversation, she gave me a frown.

But not a disapproving frown.

No, this was one of my favorite Jacqueline frowns. It was a frown that looked like an upside-down smile. Her eyes crinkled in the corners, and her lips softened with the movement. It was a frown designed to hide her true feelings, which I assumed was something positive as her gaze dropped to the pen moving in between my fingers.

I gave her a small, professional smile in return in an attempt to communicate my appreciation.

“Okay, here we go,” Brandon announced, making us all sit straighter while the screen displayed a FaceTime call.

The name at the top of the screen just said “Graham” and I was still lost.

Finally, the call connected, and a moment later the screen was filled with what looked like a dirt field.

“Graham,” Brandon spoke as he smiled up at the screen, “Flip your camera.”

“Huh?” A deep voice responded, echoing through the conference room.

“Oh, my,” the blue-haired woman whispered to Jacqueline. I glanced to my side just in time to see Jacqueline smile at her before facing forward again.

“We see the field,” Brandon explained as he turned his own laptop to face all of us, “Flip your camera. Say hi to everyone.”

The image blurred for half a second before a man’s face filled the screen. His eyes were squinting under the rim of his cowboy hat, and then he turned to face away from the sun so he could properly view his screen.

“Oh my god,” the blue-haired employee—Violet! Her name was Violet—breathed.

I fought a laugh at her response before I glanced over and saw Jacqueline staring wide-eyed at the handsome man’s face projected on the screen too.

Pardon?

I focused back on the call, taking in all his features.

He looked a lot like Brandon, and after clocking his hazel eyes and sandy blonde hair, I figured this must have been Brandon’s brother up in Northern California. The only difference was that this man spent way more time in the sun and had a full blonde beard. Suddenly, everything was making sense. Brandon had mentioned FaceTiming his brother when we were ready to merge Boson Motors’ and Sun Steer’s tech, letting everyone in the company meet the owner of the first farm who would be using the machinery.

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