The following day

"Call Mr Watson informing him to meet me at Roses restaurant. We need to go over a few things," Linc told his PA.

Picking up his phone he headed down to IT to fetch Mel.
"I need you close to me so henceforth you are my new assistant," he stated in greeting.
"I thought your mother taught you manners," she said getting up and fetching her bag.
"Good afternoon sweetheart," he murmured kissing her forehead before apologizing.
"Hmmm that will suffice," she said before greeting him back.

Walking out of her office they made their way to Roses.
"Ah Mr Shields your table is right this way, sir," the manager said leading the way. "Your guest arrived a few minutes ago," he said looking at Lincoln only to receive a slight nod.
As they reached the table Chris stood up upon seeing Lincoln, his smile faltered when he saw Mel come into view once Lincoln took a step aside.

"Mr Shields, good afternoon."
Lincoln gave him a slight nod in greeting pulling out Mel's chair.
"Sir I'm sorry but may I ask. Is this a business meeting?"
"Why yes of course it is. Why do you ask?"
"Well..." He said looking towards Mel and taking a sip of his water.
"My fiancé is free to attend any business meeting of mine. She is after all my better half," he said taking her hand.

"Fiancé!" Chris choked wiping water from his mouth.
"Yes. Did you not get the memo? I believe it's all over the news," Linc said leaving them alone to take a call.

"I see you did not waste your time sinking your claws into his money," he spat out. "I still wonder. Why are you hiding the fact that I am your ex-husband from him," he said rather harshly.
"Well dear, I don't need to tell him about my past because he doesn't care about it. Imagine what would happen if I told him you are the one who hurt Zach, he believes my son slipped and hurt himself. I wonder what he would do if I told him the truth, he is very protective of him, unlike his biological father. Now be a good boy if you want this business deal to go through without a hitch," she said in a voice filled with sarcasm. "After all it is my company that is gaining interest," she smirked turning away to look towards Linc.
Lincoln came back smiling at her saying, "Missed me already?"
"As always darling," she said pulling him towards her for a kiss.
"So shall we order?" He asked with a slight chuckle as Chris balled his hand into a fist.

Lifting his hand he called over for a waiter.
"I wanted some grilled chicken but it seems they don't have any on their menu," she mumbled disappointed. "I'll just have the green salad," she said smiling at Linc.
The waiter returned to take their orders. Lincoln indicated to Chris to go ahead and order his meal.
"I'll have the Greek salad and the steak with potato wedges."
"Very well sir."
"We will have the chicken noodle soup as the starter, then for our main meal grilled chicken with the spicy rice and steamed vegetables."
The waiter looked up from his notepad and said, "Sir, I'm sorry, but we do not have the means to fulfil your order. If you so wish we could recommend another restaurant that caters to your request," he said nervously as Lincoln glared at him.
"You are new here so listen. The next 20 minutes are crucial and will determine if you keep your job. Go in there and make sure they have my chicken on the grill if you want this establishment to continue operating," he said as the waiter ran off to the kitchen.

"Linc, let's just pick something else off the menu," she whispered.
He smiled at her confusing her by his cool manner.
"Don't worry sweetheart our food is coming," he said only for the head chef to burst out of the kitchen with a pan in his hand.
"Who is making demands in my restaurant?" He screamed out angrily.

The waiter pointed to our table as the man stormed toward us.
"Who do you think you are? You do not come into my establishment and make demands. What you see is what you get," he growled out angrily as Lincoln stood up easily towering over the chef.
"Lincoln please," Mel pleaded clutching his arm and trying to pull him down to his seat.
"If I don't make such demands this place wouldn't be open, now would it," Lincoln said a smile appearing on his face only to embrace the chef who broke into a fit of laughter.

Turning to Mel he said, "Mel I would like you to meet Jose, Andre's brother. His lovely wife Rose runs the restaurant whilst he runs the kitchen.
Relief washed over her features.
"Ah this is the Mel, Andre has been speaking of. You should join me in the kitchen, my dear, Andre praises your skill," he said kissing both her cheeks in greeting.
"He is the pro, I am just average compared to him."
"No no, when Andre says you are good, then you are magnificent."

"Sit down I will have your order ready in 20 minutes," he said running back to his kitchen.
"Well played Mr Shields and here I thought you wanted to just create a scene."
"I did promise to give you all your heart desires. I am a man of my word," he murmured against her lips before kissing her.

Mel's POV

This was our third kiss and it seemed to get better and better. My oh my, is he a good kisser or should I say actor, I don't know anymore. When we pulled apart he left me breathless as I replenished my poor lungs with the air they desperately needed. His eyes held me captive as he gave me a smile filled with unknown promises. I hadn't even realized he had pulled my chair closer to his as I felt his hand on my thigh sending heat waves up my body. Trying to steady my erratic heart, I took a deep breath closing my eyes, only to open them and still find his gaze fixated on me.

Chris cleared his throat making us snap out of our daze.
"Excuse me," I said standing up Linc stood up out of respect, Chris followed suit out of obligation.
"Are you alright love?"
"Yes, I am fine. Just need to use the ladies."

Whilst in the ladies she was tormented by her emotions. Not knowing if she could continue with the charade she was slowly developing feelings for a man she called her friend.

We are just friends. He is helping me get my revenge on the man who ruined my life, the man who made me lose my baby, the man who hurt my son. We are just friends. Right?

She left the bathroom to join the gentlemen once more.
Settling down a woman came over to their table greeting Chris with a passionate kiss as he tried to pull her off him.
"Would you care to join us, Miss," Linc asked politely trying to hide his smirk.
With a raised eyebrow Mel looked over the woman before her, dressed in a skimpy little dress with high heels, her blonde hair running down her shoulders. The shocking thing was the baby bump she was sporting.
"That is very kind of you. Chris what's wrong you don't seem excited to see me," she said with a smile.
"Gwen I'm in the middle of a meeting," he snapped.

"Nonsense she can join us. After all, it seems you are both very close the meeting does not concern any legal issues," Linc said taking Mel's handand  seeing her tense.
"So Gwen how did two meet?" Mel inquired with a devious smile.
"It was love at first sight, about a year ago in Paris. So there I was...." She rambled on about their meeting as I smiled at Chris loving every minute of his discomfort.

Lincoln's POV

The way she was looking at him could make a dead man want to be buried deeper in the ground. Six feet wasn't just enough for the embarrassment Chris must have felt at that moment.
"So how did you two meet?" Gwen asked.
"Well it's a sad story actually, but Linc was my knight in shining armour."
"After being evicted from my apartment my son and I ran into a bit of trouble. Luckily Linc was there to save us, but I lost my baby in the process," she said as I took her hand comforting her.

"Oh, I am so sorry. How old is your son?"
"Three and a half, he is growing up way too fast," she said pulling out her phone to show her a picture of Zach.
Looking at Chris I saw pain etched in his features on hearing of the loss of the child he had rejected.

I had to give the guy some credit, fooling three women was no easy feat. One woman is all I can handle.
Our food arrived and as we were enjoying our meal, I spoke with Chris about the advertisement strategy, firstly starting with the demonstration of the software at a dinner he would organize.
"Hmmm that looks yummy," Gwen blurted out eyeing Mel's plate.
"Oh, you can have mine. I know how it is with pregnancy and all," she said with a smile.
"No. Please enjoy your meal."
"It's alright. We will share mine," Linc said signalling a waiter to come to remove Gwen's plate he pulled Mel closer as he fed her.
Continuing our previous conversation I went over the details of unveiling the program with Chris.
"That is an excellent idea, sir. How much time do we have to prepare?"
"When is that gala we have to attend baby?" I asked Mel as I held the glass of grape juice out to her.
"Hmmm tomorrow I believe," she said sipping the juice.

Looking at my watch I looked at him with a smirk.
"Well, currently you have thirty hours on the dot."
"What?" He asked surprised.
"You have until tomorrow at seven p.m. sharp. So if I were you I would finish up my meal and get to work," I told him looking at Mel as she placed her fork down.
"Desert?" I asked her.

"Hmmm maybe later," she said with a sly smile as Chris sat fuming.
"We should be leaving," Chris said pulling Gwen to her feet.
"But I'm still eating."
"You can eat later. Let's go."

Following them at a slow pace we waited for Walter to arrive with the car.
"Did you see the look he had, it was like he wanted to murder you right there and then," Mel said laughing out loud.
"And it seems he is stringing along Gwen and Iris."
"Yes, I feel sorry for them though even though they are the reason behind my marriage falling apart," she said softly.
"Hey, don't worry. We will put him in his place."

"Too bad he doesn't know the gala isn't tomorrow," I laughed.
"Hmmm, such a shame indeed," she laughed. "Wait what is on tomorrow?"

"Oh, nothing. I have a rugby match."
"What! Wait a minute are you playing?"
"Yes," I told her taking her hand.
"No, I will not let you. That sport is brutal, you could get hurt."
"Relax Mel. I can take care of myself very well. Plus the team we are playing against is no match against us."

"If you say so, but don't come crying to me when you get hurt," she muttered crossing her arms.
He only laughed at her comment as they pulled up in the private parking spot.
"Whose team are we playing?" She asked.
"Rafael Rodriguez," he said in a hateful tone.