Melt

Chapter 1

Lark

"How big do you think it is, Lark?"

"I think it's average, but I'm not the best judge when it comes to stuff like this." I smile at my co-worker, Dexie Walsh. "Everyone thinks I'm the expert, but seriously, I have no idea."

"Who thinks you're the expert?" She applies a thin layer of pink stained gloss to her lips. "I know your stats. If we're going by that, I'm more of an expert than you are."

My stats? The only statistic that matters when we're talking about our end of the year bonus is my relationship to the Chief Operating Officer of Matiz Cosmetics. My older brother, Crew, signs those checks and he's been tight-lipped about what's inside the envelopes he's going to hand out at this meeting. All I know for certain is that my check will be the same amount as every other junior executive who works in marketing for the company. No special favors are granted to me. The fact that I didn't get a bonus at all last year is proof of that.

"My brother is responsible for the bonuses." I finger one of the buttons on the front of the navy blue dress I'm wearing. "That fact alone means I'm more of an expert than you'll ever be."

"Who the hell is talking about bonuses?" She leans closer to me, lowering her voice. "I'm talking about Mr. Moore's dick."

I squirm in my seat, resisting the urge to cover both of my ears with my hands. This is not a conversation that's suitable for the boardroom. I'm not going to talk about Ryker Moore's nude photo scandal at this conference table. Ten of our co-workers are here. They're all within earshot and even if Dexie and I whisper they'll know what we're talking about.

It's been the primary discussion topic for the past two days. Everyone in the office, except for most of the men, has been focused on the candid shots of Mr. Moore and his girlfriend that were posted online last Friday night. I thought that people might forget about them over the weekend, but that didn’t happen. Bright and early Monday morning I arrived at the office to see several of my co-workers huddled together whispering and staring at the screen of a phone.

Those pictures left nothing to the imagination. The two people in the photos were completely naked and apparently unaware that they were being photographed.

"I'm not talking about this." I elbow Dexie as I shoot her a look. "How would you feel if someone took naked pictures of you and posted them online without your permission?"

"I'd send them a fruit basket and my latest purse as a great big thank you." She laughs. "If it takes flashing a camera to get more eyes on my line of handbags, I'm up for it."

I think she's kidding about going nude for publicity, but I wouldn't put it past her. Dexie works at Matiz for two reasons and two reasons only. She's using the bulk of her pay to fund her burgeoning handmade purse business, and she's soaking up all the marketing knowledge that our boss, Ryker Moore, is always dishing out.

He's a genius when it comes to selling cosmetics. That's impressive on its own, but before he came on board as the head of marketing here, he helped Liore Lingerie reach a billion dollar in sales. My brother thinks Mr. Moore can shoot Matiz's numbers into the stratosphere.

"You'll catch a break one of these days, Dexie," I say as I eye the doorway expecting Crew to walk in at any second. "I've been sharing all of your designs on my social media accounts. I don't have a ton of followers yet, but every little bit helps, right?"

"I can't argue with that." She starts to sketch something with a pencil on the notepad in front of her. "My time will come."

"Speaking of time," I segue awkwardly. "Crew is late. This meeting was supposed to start at ten, wasn't it? It's almost ten-thirty."

She glances up at the circular clock hanging over the doorway. "The email Crew sent out specifically said that we all had to be in the boardroom at ten or risk having to get him coffee for the entire month of January. He never follows through on those threats, does he?"

The only person he'd order to get him coffee would be me, but he knows that I'll flip him the bird in response. Working at Matiz under the watchful eye of one of my three older brothers has been both a blessing and a curse.

I'm grateful knowing that Crew always has my back even if I've told him on more than one occasion that I want to be treated the same as every other employee in the organization. He's done exactly that since I started working here thirteen months ago. We may be siblings, but I'm making a name for myself as one of the most innovative members of the marketing team. Knowing that he's in the same building as me every day offers a sense of comfort that I've never admitted to him I need.

"Did either of you see this one?"

I immediately turn to my left toward the voice of Christine Smith. We were hired within a week of each other. She's holding her smartphone in her hand, the image on the screen an all too familiar one of Mr. Moore on a Caribbean beach last week. Dexie glances at it briefly before she directs her attention back to the sketch she's working on.

"Put that away, Christine." I nudge her with my shoulder. "If Crew catches you looking at that during work hours, he'll reprimand you."

"I wish." She swipes her thumb over the screen of her phone to bring up a meme made from one of the nude photos of Mr. Moore. A cartoon tongue is hiding everything a swimsuit should have been. "I'd seriously burn the building to the ground if it meant your brother would take me over his knee and give my ass a good swat."

"Gross," I say the word with a light chuckle. "Don't talk about Crew that way and stop staring at Mr. Moore's pictures. You know those pictures are an invasion of his privacy, don't you?"

"I know these pictures are what I look at when I'm having some private time with my battery operated boyfriend."

I try to stifle a laugh. "I don't get the fascination but to each her own."

"Who do you think you're fooling?" She turns in her chair as she lowers her tone. "His cock has to be at least nine inche

s, Lark. I've never been with anyone bigger than a seven. He was a thin seven who had no idea what he was doing. Ryker's working with some serious equipment and I get the impression that he knows how to handle every thick inch of it."

"I don't think about things like that," I half-lie. I'm not about to admit that I stared at the pictures when they first went viral. It's not every day you see your gorgeous boss completely nude.

Christine moves her thumb across the screen of her phone yet again. "Who do you think you're fooling? Every single woman in this room has rubbed one out to those pictures."

I look around the table before my gaze falls back on her phone. The meme that's now on display has a rainbow that ends right between Mr. Moore's legs. Whoever made that one obviously thinks my boss's dick is a treasure.

"I seriously doubt most of the women in this room have seen the pictures, Christine."

"Let's find out." She spins her phone in her hand, so the screen is now facing the center of the conference table. "If you're a man close your eyes. If you're a woman, raise your hand if you saw this picture or any picture of Mr. Moore with no pants on."