by Lynn Galli
“Because I’m the evil dragon lady who’s going to take their jobs from them?” I couldn’t help but tease.
She smiled at my description. “You don’t get tired of being the scapegoat for their anger? Why don’t they see that it’s whoever hired you that’s to blame?”
“Because I’m Lizzie Borden, or are they not calling me that here?”
This time her laughter wasn’t controlled, and the sound tickled up my spine. “Lizzie Borden? They actually call you that to your face?”
“Oh, no, the phraseology is usually much more colorful by the time I leave a company.” I joined her laughter, glad to have someone else make light of what is often a tense situation.
“Creative. Well, I hope no one’s giving you that kind of a hard time around here. You’ve won over Kelly, so you’re probably a real softy.” The mention of Kelly shuttered my expression. This woman was so smart, and she was screwing her underling who not only directly reported to her but looked about fifteen years her junior. What was she thinking? “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean any offense by that,” she backtracked, noticing the air had changed between us.
“No offense taken.” I decided then that I should give her some notice about what I planned to discuss with Archie at our summary meeting. Just because she was reckless didn’t mean I didn’t like her. She deserved a little warning before I annihilated her personal life. “I should let you know that I’ve noticed some pretty big gaps in the employee manual regarding code of conduct. I’ll be recommending some changes that will alleviate a number of potential employee lawsuits.”
She frowned for a moment, probably trying to figure out how to handle my statement. “Taking away ambiguity in what is considered unacceptable behavior is always a good thing.”
Her complete acceptance of my suggestion baffled me.
“I think so.”
“Did you want me to look at your recommendations; is that why you told me? HR isn’t within my purview, but as a manager, I can certainly offer another opinion.”
“No.” I waved off her offer. Perhaps she thought she’d be immune as a member of the family. “It’s just that some of the recommendations might be hard to comply with for certain people.”
“Give me an example, and I’ll let you know how I think people will receive it.” She seemed not at all concerned that any suggestions might affect her.
I could have chosen any of the other recommendations I’d planned to make, but instead I decided to go for it. She’d been decent to me, and I should give her some notice that her ill-advised affair would have to be even more illicit or risk getting fired. “I’m going to recommend instituting a restrictive policy on workplace relationships among coworkers in the same department.”
She contemplated that for a moment then nodded her head thoughtfully. “That’s a good idea, and it may cut down on the few awkward situations that have transpired in the past. What about if they’re in different departments?” My turn for a frown. Kelly not only worked in her department but directly reported to her. How did she think she could get around that? “Honestly I think it’s best to eliminate all fraternization unless they sign a waiver on sexual harassment claims, but that’s a draconian principle.”
“Draconian? Great word. Just how smart are you?” She pinned me with an inquisitive stare that lit off a blush.
“Never mind, you’ll probably downplay it. You’re right, though, cross departments would be a little hard to push through, but I think you’re on the right track with putting something in the manual about office relationships. Always good to cover your bases. I can’t believe HR didn’t think of it.”
I shook my head, still perplexed by her approval. “You mean you’re all for limiting office romances?”
“Sure, I think it’s a huge distraction, and when it doesn’t work out, there’s always a lot of awkwardness.” Okay, about a million things didn’t add up in her statement. All right, only three. One, she’s having an office affair. Two, if Kelly’s actions yesterday were typical, clearly it was a distraction. And three, “when it doesn’t work out”?
Interesting that she thinks office romances were doomed from the start. Maybe Kelly was only a casual fling for her.
Because I wanted to make sure she got it, I clarified, “My recommendation will include all supervisor-subordinate relationships, regardless of department.” Her frown came with an interested lean this time, depositing her face only a foot from mine across the table.
“Is there something you’re trying to tell me? Some good gossip that I’m missing out on? I don’t usually seek out gossip, but you’ve got me wondering now.”
“Well, no. I just meant that if HR accepts this policy change, it might make it a little more difficult for…” I motioned with my hand for her to fill in the blank.
She tilted back in her chair, studying me intently. “For what?”
“Well, for one to have, that is to say, for anyone to conduct a…”
“Now, you’ve really got me curious. Oh God! It’s not one of my relatives, is it? If it is, I don’t want to hear about it. I’ll let HR deal with it.” So, she was going to continue to deny that she was having an affair with her assistant. She probably thought she covered it up well, but wouldn’t Kelly have told her that she’d blown their cover? Although, maybe not. If my significant other snatched and kissed some other woman by mistake, I wouldn’t want to know about it.
“Probably the best course of action, yes. Sorry I brought it up.”
“All right. I’d better get back to my office if I don’t want to be on your list of recommendations.” She winked at me, actually winked at me, and it looked incredibly sexy when she did it. Sexy? Wow, that kiss really did a number on me.
“Wise, yes.” I watched her get up and leave, torn between wanting to admire her intuitiveness and scold her for exploiting a gap in HR policy. Either way, the view she offered as she walked away twisted my gut into more confusion than it had endured in probably all of my years.
Chapter 5
O pening night. I just loved opening night. It meant three, possibly four months of nonstop thrills whenever the team was in town. Still, opening night was always special.
They had another sell out, but dammit, they were playing Los Angeles again. Why did the schedulers always put these two together on opening night? Half our team just got here a week ago; they weren’t prepared to play L.A. yet.
As I made my way into Key Arena with the rest of the crowd, I felt the excitement burn through my veins. How sad was it that I considered basketball one of my vices?
Thankfully, this wasn’t the type of vice I’d need to give up.
The worst that happened with this vice is that I neglected the friends who wouldn’t go to the games with me over the summer. Too bad, they didn’t know what they were missing.
“Slyn!” My favorite seatmate, Trinity, strode toward me with her girlfriend. A Storm bandana covered most of her reddish blond hair and her bright green eyes sparkled with rowdy excitement. Until I’d met Trinity, I didn’t think anyone else got as much enjoyment from these games as I did.
“Hey, Trin, hi there, Kayla,” I greeted them. “Opening day!” Trinity and I chanted together and high-fived because we became wholly unlike ourselves at these games. Kayla resisted rolling her eyes, but I knew she was happy for her girlfriend’s excitement.
“Are they ready?” I asked Trinity, knowing she’d been in her seat early enough to see the pre-game warm ups with the team.
“They look great. LJ’s not hurt, Birdy isn’t wearing a mask, and they actually seem to have a bench this year. Did you read this week’s articles?”
“Haven’t had a chance to surf the site yet, been a little negligent.”
“Loafer. You are damn lucky you sit next to me.” Three years ago, Trinity showed up in the seats next to mine, and we’ve been making sure our seats remain together each year. Most games we’re yammering away about team stats, league history, play by play or sitting quietl
y tense until LJ decides to take over the game and get the win for her team.
“Joslyn?” a voice called out from behind me.
“Raven?” I questioned when I turned to find the normally pristinely pressed woman standing in threadbare jeans and a fitted Storm t-shirt.
“I didn’t know you were a Storm fan.” She stepped toward me as if wanting to hug me hello but stopped when she realized that we barely knew each other and she was technically a client of mine.
“From the start,” I stated proudly then introduced Trinity and Kayla. She in turn introduced me to the three women with her. If I hadn’t known about Kelly already, I’d wonder if one of these women was her girlfriend. All were pretty enough and certainly looked at her with enough fondness.
“A founding Storm fan, really?” she asked as her friends and mine took up places in the coffee line behind us.
“Truthfully, I got tickets because I wanted to support the only professional women’s sports league in the country. But, damn, that first year was tough to watch. It took two first round draft picks before we finally had ourselves a team. Now, I’m hooked. What about you?”
“You’re putting me to shame. I started going the first year they made the playoffs. Very exciting.” She grinned widely, her brown eyes dancing with some sort of secret.
She probably had a crush on one of the two stars like half the arena.
“Hey, baby.” Strong arms circled my waist from behind and a kiss dropped onto the back of my head.
I fought the sure blush at Chase’s affectionate display in front of someone he didn’t know. “Don’t call me that.” Annoyance slipped into my tone, but I dropped it to make introductions. “Raven Malvolio, this is Chase McCovey. Chase, Raven’s working at the company I’m evaluating right now.”
“Nice to meet you.” Chase shook her hand.
She gave him a penetrating look, somewhere between surprised and appraising. Her eyes dropped to his hand wrapped around my waist before a kind smile graced her mouth. “Likewise, Chase. Where do you sit, Joslyn?”
“Jos has courtside,” Chase said with exasperation. He was insanely jealous of my tickets, which cost one-tenth the amount they charged for his beloved Sonics.
“Oh really? Jos does, eh?” Raven smiled at me. “I’ve been trying for courtside for a couple of years now, but nothing’s ever open.”
Inexplicably, the sound of the familiar version of my name from her lips sent a ribbon of heat through me. “You’ll have to sit with me at one of the games.” Her eyebrows rose in anticipation but Chase stepped over any reply. “Yeah, please. God knows I don’t want to go to all these games.”
“I went to enough of your Sonics games, mister, so pipe down,” I admonished. He shook his head and pointed toward the Pyramid Ale stand, calling out a goodbye.
“Looks like you have a pseudo fan on your hands.” She stared after him.
“His first game. I hadn’t planned to bring him, but my usual Storm buddy had to attend his daughter’s play tonight instead.”
“Is he a true fan?”
“Converted and very loyal, yes, but his daughter has to come first.”
“Understandable.” Raven nodded approvingly.
“He usually has to miss four or five games every season because of stuff with his kids. Maybe next time you can sit with us? You can’t beat the view.”
“Thanks, Joslyn. I’ll look forward to it.” She glanced back at her friends. “I’d better get over there or we’ll never make it to our seats before intros.” I was dying to ask where Kelly was, but her affairs were her business. “Yeah, I’ll see you tomorrow.” I watched her disappear into the crowd and felt the excitement ratchet up a notch at the prospect of sitting with her at a game.
* * *
“Where are you going?” Chase twisted back to glare at me in his darkened driveway.
Seeing as I’d just given him what I thought was a goodnight kiss, I assumed the question was unnecessary.
But now he stood on his porch with an expectant look, wondering why I was headed back to my car. “Home. The dogs need to be fed, and I’ve got a ton of work to look over.”
“You’re kidding, right?” A brief snort escaped as he worked through whether or not I was putting one over on him.
“No, I told you I could only make the game tonight.”
“You can do your work here.” He walked over and pulled me into his arms again. “You’ve got auto feeders for the dogs; they’ll be fine. Come on, baby, stay the night.” Having only ever stayed the entire night with him once, I was a little surprised by his request. Up to this point, we had an understanding: dinner or something out once a week then maybe some horizontal activities back at his place.
Informal, just the way I liked it. “Not tonight. The game was my break; I really can’t take any more time away from work.”
“Why do you always do this? Every other woman would want to spend the night with her boyfriend.” I bit back what would have been a rude sigh, but damn I was tired of this argument. “You know I don’t sleep well.
Even if I didn’t have all this work to do, I wouldn’t want to keep you up.”
“I can sleep through anything, baby.” He smirked and leaned down to slant his mouth over mine for a possessive kiss. “Let’s head inside, you can do some work, then we can get some real business done. I promise it’ll be worth your while. I’ll make you come so hard you’ll be screaming my name tomorrow at work just from the memory.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
Considering I’d never once screamed his name in the throes of sex, I doubted he’d get his wish. Not to mention he’d never once made me orgasm. I imagine that piece of information alone would crush this newly evident, oversized ego. “Unlike you, I can’t sleep through anything.
I’ve got a big day tomorrow, and I can’t risk not getting any sleep. I had a great time tonight. Thanks for going to the game with me.”
His lips started in on my neck, ignoring my attempt to say goodnight. Hands drifted from my shoulders to squeeze my breasts like he was working out his aggression on a stress ball. It didn’t matter how much I coached him, he never got it right. After a few moments, he finally recognized that I wouldn’t be swayed. “You know, when we’re married, you’ll have to spend the night. Oh, and no more condoms either. In fact, let’s not wait to get married on that one. There’s lots of other birth control we can be using.” The off the wall topic would have warranted a long discussion on birth control not being the only necessary protection if I hadn’t been so shocked by what he said. “M-married?” I stammered.
“Well, yeah. Isn’t that where we’re headed here?” He dropped his hands to my waist and leaned back to search my eyes. “I’m not on bended knee right now, but we’re in love and that’s where couples in love end up.” Christ! I knew there was a chance he might get there eventually, but usually, guys move more slowly than this.
I’d never once returned Chase’s declarations of love. So far, he hadn’t noticed. Now, he was boosting the pressure level, and I didn’t think I could deflect this one.
“We haven’t discussed marriage, Chase. I didn’t realize you were ready for that.”
“I wasn’t until I met you, baby, but these past six months have been the best of my life. You’re the last thing I think about before I go to sleep at night and the first thing I think of when I wake up. That’s true love.” Actually, that’s an overused cliché, but I didn’t think it would be a good idea to mention that right now. Even I’m not that insensitive. “That’s sweet. I just thought it would be a while before we started talking about marriage. I’m not really ready for that. I’m not sure if I ever will be.”
“What?” He seized my hips; the motion shaking me in place. “You don’t want to marry me?” I placed my hands on his forearms to keep him from crowding me. His tall, semi annoyed form looked a little daunting. “It’s not just you, Chase. I’ve never really thought of myself as the marrying kind.” I tried for a lighter tone. “I thought we
had a good thing here. It’s been a lot of fun.
Why get so serious so quickly?”
“Because I want to. You’ve become important to me. I wasn’t going to ask so soon, but now that we’re discussing it, I have to know. Are you going to marry me or not?” My jaw dropped open. Didn’t he see that I was trying to dissuade him from the idea of marriage? Who the hell proposes to someone when she’s trying to flee the scene?
Not to mention his slightly desperate and miffed state. Oh yeah, I was living a best selling romance right here. “Can’t we talk about this some other time? We haven’t given any thought to combining households, lifestyles, finances, or anything else. Marriage takes planning and consideration, we haven’t done either.”
“I know that I love you and you love me. That’s all we need. We’re practically married already. Let’s make it official.”
“No, we’re not.” I began to wonder if I was in the same relationship he was in. We saw each other once a week and I never stayed the night. That was hardly the equivalent of being married. “We’ve only known each other for a short time. I don’t want to hurt you. I do care about you, but I’m not ready for marriage and neither are you.”
“Don’t tell me I’m not ready for marriage. I want an answer.” He gripped my arms emphatically. “Throw caution to the wind for once. Say yes, baby.” I blew out an audible breath. “This is exactly what I mean. I’ve asked you not to call me baby at least once every time we get together because it’s degradingly infantile. I’ve tried to tell you that I’m not at the marrying point yet and I might never be, but you’re not listening. I can’t marry someone who doesn’t hear me.”
He looked like I’d slapped him. “God, you’re not even considering my feelings. I’m throwing my heart out here and you’re stomping all over it.”
“Chase, please, I don’t mean to.” I lifted a hand to touch his cheek. “You’re the one pushing here. I have great affection for you.”