Changing the Rules

by Sindee Lynn

  “Someone from our human resources department will be in touch with a starting date.”

  “Excuse me,” she asked turning around to face him. She was surprised to find herself facing his back still.

  He glanced over his shoulder an amused look on his face.

  “Yes Sasha a start date. Despite anything else, you are still the most qualified applicant for the position. That is if you still want it.”

  The challenge was clearly written in his gaze.

  “Of course I do but I don’t want there to be any confusion about what I’m accepting. I am accepting the job with Presco Financial. I am not interested in pursuing any relationship with you other than the professional one my job dictates.”

  Her heart hammered against the wall of her chest as she waited barely breathing for his response.

  “Naturally, I look forward to any professional relationship that might grow between us. I’m sure it will be a most fulfilling one. However, allow there to be no misunderstanding on my part. What I am after from you is strictly personal.”

  She was about to comment when he held up a hand.

  “I believe for all your protests you feel this thing between us just as I do, but for whatever reason you don’t want to acknowledge it. Denying it doesn’t make it any less true.”

  He fixed her with a look that left no doubts this was far from over. A thrill ran up her spine. She decided to question it’s meaning later when she was alone and could think clearly.

  “Allow me to be the first to say, congratulations on the job Ms. Jordan. I’m sure I’ll be seeing you around,” he said turning back towards the window before she could see the full smile now gracing his face.

  Sasha didn’t say another word, simply turned and walked out the door, closing it softly behind her. She headed towards the elevator and then rushed across the lobby floor. It seemed an eternity since she’d walked across its massive marble layout.

  Once outside, she took huge gulps of air to calm her frazzled nerves. The parking lot, which had seemed to take forever to get across earlier, now seemed like nothing. She fumbled in her purse to find her keys when she saw her car. Finally, having located them, she pushed the button to unlock her doors and practically fell into the seat. She leaned her head back against the headrest. She was emotionally drained. She could still see the determination on his face. The intensity in those blue eyes. She tried to stop the excitement racing through her veins.

  She ran her fingers through her braids in an attempt to push thoughts of Dylan Matthews from her mind. But it was no use he was seared into her brain. What was she going to do now? She’d gotten the job of her dreams. But what about the man who seemed determined to be apart of her benefits package?

  Chapter 5

  As promised, someone from the human resources department called Sasha the day after the strangest interview she had ever had with a start date. It allowed for a thirty day notice. She hadn’t needed it though. Her boss had been aware of her chances of obtaining the job with Presco so the number of projects she was in charge of had drastically decreased so she had been able to begin her new job two weeks sooner than expected. She had just finished her second week and was out celebrating with her best friends, a month after her first encounter with Dylan Matthews. She hadn't told any of them about that day. As she sat sipping her brandy, pretending to be interested in the conversations going on around her, she was glad she’d decided to keep the encounter to herself. For all of Dylan’s big words he hadn't made any attempts to contact her. And it wasn’t as if he didn’t know where she was. The first morning she’d seen him, she’d braced herself for the encounter. She’d felt confusion over her odd feelings. On the one hand she had hoped he would ignore her presence and continue his conversation but on the other she’d wanted him to immediately excuse himself and come over to greet her. A grunt of irritation passed her lips. She gave an exaggerated cough to cover it when eyes turned in her direction. Waving off their concern she took another swallow of her drink and nearly choked in earnest this time. Served her right for being so damned hypocritical. He’d kept on with his conversations as if he hadn't even seen her. She’d told herself with each passing day she was glad he hadn't sought her out. It was the way she wanted it. Maybe he’d finally come to his senses and realized there could never be anything between them except a working relationship. It was funny how that thought depressed her as much now as it did each time she’d said it over the last two weeks. She couldn't possibly have been giving serious thought about a relationship with him. Could she? Sasha shook off the crazy thought. Of course not. She who preached religiously to her friend Cat about dating outside of ones race. Now there was someone who had no hang ups about dating a white man. Or any other color of man for that matter. There was someone she could introduce Dylan to if he wanted to try a black woman. Her hand paused midway to her drink. Sasha was sure she should have found the thought amusing, but somewhere she must have lost her sense of humor.

  She was still deep in thought when the back of her neck began to tingle. She got the distinct impression someone was watching her. Turning in her chair, her brown gaze scanned the crowd of people around her, not really knowing who she was looking for but knowing who she’d like to find. Murphy’s was crowded tonight even for a Friday. But as her gaze continued to scan the crowd she didn’t notice anyone looking in her direction. What had she expected? That a chief financial officer of a major financial institution would have nothing better to do on a Friday night than show up here? If he wasn’t interested enough to see her at the office where it was convenient he sure as hell wouldn't go out of his way to come to a little out of the way bar. A few minutes later the feeling returned but she didn’t turn around this time. What was the use?

  “Hey earth to Sasha. Are you still with us here?” Cat called out from her seat directly across from her.

  Sasha looked up from where she’d been staring into the bottom of her glass to find four pairs of eyes all staring at her. She felt her face heat. She had been so deep in thought she hadn't even noticed she had become the center of attention.

  “Of course, I’m still here. Where else would I be?” She replied forcing a smile to her lips.

  If she didn’t get out of this funk soon she would have a lot of explaining to do. As much as she loved her friends they could smell a problem a mile away and wouldn’t relent until they got to the bottom of whatever was going on. This was one thing she was determined to keep to herself.

  “Oh I don’t know. Maybe off in lala land with your next door neighbor,” Cat said wiggling her eyebrows up and down, a wide smile on her face.

  Everybody laughed including Sasha. Aw irony, she thought taking another sip of her drink. For five long months she had been concentrating her efforts, and those of her friends, on getting her neighbor to notice her. He was after all the type of man she went for.

  Louis Wainwright was a successful attorney and was your classic tall, dark and handsome black man who appeared to be headed in the right direction. It looked like their efforts were finally paying off. They’d been talking almost every night for the past three weeks and Louis had finally asked her out a few days ago. Sasha knew she should be overjoyed. She’d put some serious time into that man. And he was after all the type of man every black woman hoped to find and marry. After their conversations, she knew Louis had his mind headed in the direction of the alter within the next two years. It was a direction she’d like to move towards herself. Only after getting to know him a little better she didn’t know if she wanted to move in that direction with him. Louis was from a good old southern home in Alabama where his mother never worked outside the house who had raised nine kids. So his old fashioned ideas of a woman’s place didn’t really sit well with her. Oh he was accepting enough of a wife who worked, at least until the babies started coming along. Then he fully expected her to stay at home going forward. Sasha could almost wrap her mind around the concept but could she really see spending the rest of her l
ife with a man who was only happy when talking about the law? She had endured countless lawyer jokes and lingo which would have meant nothing to her had she not had a fascination with the mystery channel and an old southern lawyer with a bad gray suit from Atlanta, Georgia. All of those things combined with the fact he bored her to tears had made for really long nights on the phone. She refused to allow herself to admit there was another reason for her sudden lack of interest. She refused to even entertain the thought of it.

  “Naw I’m actually good right here. Thanks,” she finally replied.

  “Then what’s your deal? You have an awesome new job and the professed man of your dreams is finally taking notice. You should be dancing on top of the tables. But you're sitting there like a bump on a log,” Cat said, a look of concern in her brown gaze. “What’s going on?”

  How could she tell them everything that was going on with her? Oh she was sure Cat would love nothing better than to hear she was no longer interested in Louis. She’d never been too impressed with him anyway. What had she called him? A pompous ass with no social skills. She’d come to that conclusion after only one conversation with him at a neighborhood function last year. But she would definitely want to know what had brought about the sudden change. As would all of her friends. And that was something she wanted to keep to herself.

  “I know. I guess I just have a lot on my mind,” she said shaking her head and smiling as she recalled all the other things Cat had said about Louis. She hadn't found them funny at the time, but they were quite amusing now.

  “A lot of what on your mind or should we be saying who?” Safari Lawson asked from the other end of the table and everyone laughed.

  Sasha simply smiled and hunched her shoulders. Relief filled her when her friends resumed their conversations, thankfully taking the attention off of her.

  “Did something happen at work? Something you want to talk about?” Cat asked having moved beside her, her voice was lowered to prevent anyone else at the table from hearing.

  She noted the serious expression now displayed on her friend’s face and knew she had to find a way out of this funk. One concerned friend she could possibly put off, but four. There wasn’t a chance in hell with those odds. She loved her friends dearly and they’d seen each other through some pretty rough times. Sasha knew she could tell them anything. But would they understand what was going on? Hell, she wasn’t even sure she understood it herself. And in reality what was there to talk about? She refused to believe if Dylan had been serious about pursuing her that he wouldn’t have found a reason, made up or real, to contact her. No matter what she said. The Jerk.

  “It’s nothing like that. I guess I'm a bit overwhelmed with everything that’s been going on.”

  At least it wasn’t a complete lie. She was definitely overwhelmed. Overwhelmed by the amount of time she spent thinking about Dylan Matthews. Overwhelmed by the number of times she had dreamed about him in four weeks. And definitely overwhelmed by the need she felt to see him.

  “Ok, so how is the new job going?”

  “It’s great. And the people are really nice,” she answered smiling, grateful for the change of conversation.

  “Good,” Cat said looking around. “So how long are we gonna be here before we blow this place to go dancing? But don’t let me rush you. This is your party after all.”

  Sasha laughed at the expression on her friend’s face.

  “It doesn’t matter to me. Let’s get a group consensus. Hey,” she called to the rest of the group, "what time are we gonna be leaving for the club? I know B.J.’s got an early showing in the morning so she can’t be out late.”

  She smiled over at her sister, who sent her a look of thanks for remembering. Their friend, Lynn Saunders, answered. “I say we give it about another hour or so. Is that ok with everybody?” She asked checking for nods around the table.

  “Well then I believe this calls for another round of drinks,” Cat said looking around for their waitress. Her eyes grew wide when the waitress stepped up to their table with their order already on her tray.

  “What’s this?” she asked the waitress.

  “A gentleman at the bar has bought your next round of drinks,” the waitress said putting them on the table.

  Sasha's stomach grew queasy. She told herself to stop being silly. It couldn’t be him. Not here. It was someone else. It had to be. But still she couldn't keep a glimmer of hope from springing forth.

  It was Cat, the non-stop flirt, who responded.

  “Well, I guess we should do the nice thing and at least thank him.”

  She rose from the table, pulling down her unbelievably short mini skirt and followed the waitress.

  As Sasha watched her go she sent up a silent prayer that it was anyone but Dylan. Cat had never met a sexy man she didn’t like and Dylan Matthews was dripping sexy from every pore. And he was just her type. Male.

  Chapter 6

  Dylan smiled as he watched Sasha from across the room. He had managed to not only locate Murphy’s Bar & Grill but had been coming here for the last couple of weeks since his interview with her. In the beginning it had been with the sole purpose of a chance meeting. Despite the fact he hadn't had any luck until tonight, he had kept coming back. He’d even brought a few friends with him. It was different from the normal places they went to unwind. He didn’t have to worry about the social climbers who typically went with that type of environment nor the annoying flash of a camera in his face at every turn of his head. It was a much welcome change. He liked the laid back atmosphere and the food was excellent. But tonight was what he had been waiting for. He’d been sitting at the opposite end of the bar, nursing a beer, when she had walked in with a group of women. He’d sat and plotted his move all night but hadn’t come up with anything that wouldn't have him sounding like a bad pick up line. Then a stroke of luck had come his way. The waitress serving their table had stepped over to the bar to place a drink order. He had wondered what a woman like Sasha would drink. Then his opening had hit him. He had immediately motioned the waitress over. He had explained to her he wanted to order a round of drinks for a specific table. His most winning smile combined with a very healthy tip had gotten him the assistance he’d been looking for. Out of curiosity he had asked what they were drinking and instantly knew the brandy was Sasha’s. Smooth and dark, apparently how she liked her men. But he was about to change all of that. Before he was done she would be trading in that snifter of brandy for a sophisticated and palette pleasing white wine.

  Dylan was still congratulating himself on his actions when he felt a presence behind him. Yes, he thought to himself fighting the urge to pump the air with his fist. He turned around slowly and barely managed to hang onto the smile on his lips. Though he recognized the woman standing in front of him as one of the women at Sasha’s table it was not the one he’d been hoping for. But he had noticed this one as well when the group had come in. The woman in front of him appeared to be in her mid to late twenties with shoulder length black hair with hints of what looked like burgundy running through it. Her complexion was lighter than Sasha’s and she had the most intriguing smile. As he looked closer he saw she only had one dimple, making her appear mischievous. Or was the glint of humor in her brown eyes the reason. Whatever it was he liked her instantly.

  “Hello. It’s my understanding we owe our round of drinks to you?”

  The woman in front of him asked. A smile played around the corners of her mouth as she glanced from him to the chair beside him. Dylan, feeling a little embarrassed at his lack of manners, motioned for her to take the seat beside him. As she sat down in the chair, he noticed the graceful way she moved. The directness of the gaze slowly taking him in and the confident way she had approached him. This woman was very much used to the game men and women played. While she continued her silent perusal, he glanced past her shoulder to where Sasha sat at their table, her back still to him. Tonight she had her hair down allowing her braids to flow past her practically bare s
houlders. When he’d seen her walk in wearing the flowing sundress that had barely come to her knees it had set his blood on fire. As she’d gotten closer he’d noticed the deep v of the bodice. There was no way she could be wearing a bra with an outfit like that. His dick had come immediately to life. It had taken everything in his power not to walk up to her and throw her over his shoulder like some damn caveman and storm out of the bar.

  “You know it’s rude to be gazing longingly at another woman while in the presence of one. Especially one who’s not used to being ignored by a man.”

  He wasn’t sure what he expected to find when he turned his attention back to her, but he wasn’t prepared for the gleam of amusement in her eyes. The women he normally dealt with would either have been pouting by now over his lack of attention or spitting daggers at him. Either way it would have made for an impossible situation. But the woman in front of him seemed not a bit concerned.

  “My apologies I hope I didn’t offend you.”

  She tilted her head to the side and looked at him again. He saw the intelligence flashing in her eyes and a slow smile spread across her face.

  “No apology needed. So who’s got your attention since it’s obviously not me,” she said a soft chuckle escaping her lips.

  His smile widened. Yeah he definitely liked her. How would she react if he told her it was her friend he’d been practically drooling over? Would her smile vanish? Better to keep his cards close to his chest for now.

  “No one in particular,” he said flashing her a huge smile meant to put her off the scent of how close she was to the truth.

  She paused as if in thought for just a moment.

  “Hmm, is that right? Funny I would have thought you were trying to impress someone or at the very least gain their attention. You did after all just send an eighty dollar round of drinks to a table of black women you don’t know. Or do you?”