In Bed with Her Boss

A few minutes later, after ending the call with Colleen, she glanced across the table to find her two sisters staring at her with smug looks on their faces. “What?”

“You do have a crush on him,” Pearl said.

“I do not,” she persisted.

“Yes, you do. You get this funny little smile on your face each time you mention his name. Just like you did just now, while talking to Colleen.”

“You’re imagining things,” Opal said, taking a sip of her tea.

Ruby smiled at her over the rim of her cup. “Okay, keep your secrets, but you can’t fool us. I agree with Pearl. You have a crush on your boss.”

One thing Opal had discovered about her sisters while growing up with them was that, if they truly believed something, trying to convince them they were wrong was nearly impossible, a waste of good time. So she decided not even to try anymore. In time, they would discover their assumption was incorrect.

Later that night, when Opal slipped between the sheets in her bed, she tried drowning out the sound of the loud music playing next door by thinking how nice her new apartment would be. She thought of the time she would spend decorating and how, since the new place was more spacious, she would no longer feel cramped.

She glanced at the clock on her nightstand. It was ten o’clock. She wondered if D’marcus was still at the office or if he’d already gone. He had been on an important international conference call when she had left. She breathed in deeply as she recalled how she’d stuck her head in his office to let him know she was leaving, and found him sitting on the corner of his desk talking on the speaker phone.

Once again, she had been struck by just what a good-looking man he was. Even while conducting business, he spoke in a deep, husky voice that actually had made her pulse race. And the way his trousers stretched tight across his firm, muscular thighs had made her heart pound in her chest.

She had silently mouthed the words, “I’m leaving now,” and he had held her gaze and nodded, letting her know he’d understood what she had said. For just a heartbeat, she’d thought their gazes had held for a moment longer than necessary, but now she was sure she had imagined it.

She turned on her side thinking how wrong her sisters were about her feelings for D’marcus. She would be honest and say she was attracted to him, but that was as far as it went. And, as she had told Ruby and Pearl, she wasn’t sure he would be staying late with her over the next two weeks, but if he did, she was determined that things would be kept on a strictly professional basis. She couldn’t imagine him having it any other way.

Chapter 4

D’marcus released a deep breath before taking a sip of coffee as he stood at his office window and watched his ever-efficient administrative assistant walk across the parking lot.

There was a businesslike tilt to her head, and her walk was brisk and measured. He glanced at the clock. She was early. Usually he arrived after she did so he never knew exactly what time she arrived at work each day. He wondered if coming in at least an hour early was the norm for her or if she had done it today because of all the work she would be tackling this week. If coming in early was a habit, she definitely hadn’t been recording it on her time card.

He frowned. He was a person who believed in paying his employees for the work they did and the hours they worked. He would definitely have a discussion with her about it.

He glanced back out the window and watched as another one of his employees, Ted Marshall, from the accounting department, conveniently began walking beside her. D’marcus stiffened inwardly when he noticed Opal smiling at something the man had said. Were the two dating? For some reason the thought irritated him. He knew that Marshall was divorced and, from what D’marcus had heard from his last administrative assistant, Marshall thought himself quite the ladies’ man. Definitely not the type of person Opal needed to become mixed up with. He shook his head, thinking, who was he to determine who his employees should be involved with?

He moved from the window and sat behind his desk, staring at the files spread across it. He had more to do with his time than to be concerned with the love life of Opal Lockhart.

Opal drew in a sharp breath when she sat down at her desk and realized Mr. Armstrong had already arrived at work. Usually she had plenty of time to get settled into her work before he got there.

While her computer booted up she went about watering the plants in her office. There were a number of them and she intended to keep them alive and healthy.

She turned when she heard D’marcus open the door to come out of his office. She flicked a glance in his direction and immediately studied his face, wondering just what sort of day she would have. His expression was unreadable.

“Ms. Lockhart.”

“Good morning, Mr. Armstrong.”

“I have an off-site breakfast meeting this morning with the other two owners of the Chargers. I should be back in a few hours. Then you and I need to get together to discuss the inventory for the two new stores.”

“Yes, sir.” She tried not to notice how nice he looked from the toes of his expensive shoes to his dark suit and white shirt. The man was immaculately well groomed and sexy as sin.

“We may have to work through lunch so I suggest you order us something.”

Opal raised an arched brow. “You want me to order something for lunch? For both of us?”

“Yes, by all means. I need your assistance the better part of the day but I don’t want to rob you of your lunch. And I might as well eat something myself since I plan on working rather late tonight.”

She nodded. He had just answered the question that had been tugging at her mind—whether he would be working late each night, as well. “Is there anything you prefer? Any particular type of sandwich?”

He shook his head. “No, but I prefer they hold the mustard.”

“Yes, sir.”

“And, Ms. Lockhart?”

“Yes?”

“Do you come in early every day?”

“Just about.”

“Then make sure you’re adequately compensated for any extra time you spend here by including it on your time card,” he said curtly, and then he walked away.

D’marcus glanced up when Opal entered his office carrying bags filled with their lunch. He quickly got up and walked around the desk to relieve her of them. It didn’t help matters that he had to stand close enough to her that he got a good whiff of her perfume, the same perfume he’d found to be totally seductive.

She glanced up at him. “Thanks.”

He nodded and took a step back. “No problem.” He placed the bags on his desk. “What do we have?”

She smiled. “Turkey sandwiches, cream of broccoli soup and iced tea.”

“Sounds good. Let me clear an area on my desk so we can pull everything out of the bags.”

Opal lifted a brow. He wanted them to sit in the same room together and eat? She’d assumed they’d be taking a break and she would be going back to her desk to eat.

He must have seen the strange look on her face because he asked, “Is something wrong, Ms. Lockhart?”

“No, but I assumed you would want to eat lunch alone.”

He shrugged. “Normally I do, but I’m expecting a call from Bob Chaney any moment and I’ll need you here to jot down what he says when I place him on the speaker phone.”

He then eyed her for a moment and asked, “Do you have a problem doing that? If so, I can ask Human Resources to send me one of the women from the typing pool.”

“No, I don’t have a problem with it.”

“You sure?”

No, she wasn’t sure, but she wasn’t about to tell him that. “Yes, I’m sure.”

“Good.”