The Game Changer by Marie Landry Page B

smile was bitter. “No, I always told you to shoot me if I turned into my mother.”
    Fighting more giggles, Melody picked up a napkin and dapped carefully at her eyes where tears of mirth had formed. She glanced around to see if anyone appeared to be contemplating having the two of them committed, and her gaze landed on the man who had been watching her on the dance floor earlier.
    He was reclining on one of the long couches against the wall with one leg crossed at an angle over the other, and one arm draped over the back of the couch. His dark hair was short and slightly tousled, and he was impeccably dressed in charcoal trousers and vest with a pale blue dress shirt that was open at the collar. His dark eyes drank her in from across the room as he raised his glass in a silent salute.
    Warm tingles shot through Melody; tingles she hadn’t felt in a long time, and couldn’t quite identify. The guy was ridiculously hot, and he was just sitting there all casual, watching her.
    She gave him an almost imperceptible nod, part of her afraid he was looking at someone behind her rather than actually at her. He flashed a quick grin that had Melody’s breath catching, and she turned away quickly, realizing she had missed something Olivia said.
    “Sorry, what?”
    Olivia gave her a sly smile. “Doesn’t matter. I know I’m not as interesting as Mr. Tall Dark and Scrumptious over there.”
    Melody tittered nervously. “He was watching us before on the dance floor,” she said. “And now there he is again.” She turned to look at him once more and her stomach dropped when she saw a leggy blond perched on the couch beside him, her hand on his leg. “Just a coincidence, I guess.”
    Olivia shook her head, her eyes narrowing in their direction. “He’s not interested in her,” she said matter-of-factly.
    “No? You’re a mind reader now, are you?”
    Olivia rolled her eyes. “Seriously, Mel, look. His posture hasn’t changed at all. If he were interested, he’d uncross his leg and turn his body toward her. And there, look, he took his arm from the back of the couch and tucked it against his body so she couldn’t lean back against it.”
    Melody wondered if Olivia’s next hobby would be anthropology or psychology. The girl was hyper-aware of everything around her, and observant in a way Melody never had been.
    “Damn,” Olivia said, looking at the stranger a moment longer before turning back to Melody. “Someone clearly won the genetic lottery.”
    “I’ll say.” Melody tried hard not to look over, but out of the corner of her eye she could see the blond rise and walk away. When she strode past them, Melody thought the woman didn’t look very happy, and wondered if the guy had let her down easy or simply told her he wasn’t interested.
    “He’s staring over here again,” Olivia commented. “You should go talk to him.”
    Melody almost choked on a fry. “Are you kidding me?”
    “No, as a matter of fact, I’m not,” Olivia replied, leaning back in her chair and taking a sip of her drink. She looked like something out of an ad for a liquor company. Drink our vodka and you can look as good as this woman .
    Melody scoffed. “Pass.”
    “Why?” Olivia sat forward again so she didn’t have to speak so loud over the music. “You don’t have to marry the guy, Mel, you just have to sleep with him. Maybe let him buy you dinner. He fulfills a few of your basic needs, and then you move on.”
    Melody sputtered in disbelief. “When have you ever known me to be the type of girl to do that?” She stopped herself short of saying ‘That’s your thing, not mine’, because she didn’t want Olivia to take it the wrong way.
    Olivia shrugged. “Maybe it could be your thing. You’re newly single, starting over. You’ve said yourself that you want big changes in your life. This could be a great place to start.” When Melody remained silent, staring intently into her glass, Olivia said, “I bet a guy like him