Changing the Rules

by Sindee Lynn

  She groaned in frustration and glanced over at the clock on the nightstand. Two-thirty. She reached for her phone and scrolled through her caller id. If his number wasn’t there then it wasn’t meant to be and she would move on. When she found what she was looking for, she paused. Her heart was pounding in her chest as she pushed the recall button.

  Ring … ring…

  What if no one answered? Should she leave a message? What if …

  “Hello,” Dylan answered sounding surprisingly awake.

  Sasha hesitated. Okay now what, she asked herself. This is why she didn’t act on impulses. She’d never been any good at it.

  “Hello?” called the voice again.

  “Hi. Did I wake you?”

  “No I couldn't sleep and found myself lying here contemplating counting sheep. But I’d much rather talk to you.”

  Warmth spread through her body.

  “I couldn't sleep either.”

  “Anything you’d like to share.”

  Share? There was no way she could tell him the real reason she was wide awake at this time of the morning, or could she.

  “I ...um...I was thinking about your call. Well actually I was thinking about you after your call and that’s why I couldn't sleep.”

  She cringed at the way she was stuttering and stammering. She was an intelligent woman and thus should be capable of putting more than two words together at a time. She threw her arm over her eyes and felt her face heat with embarrassment. Oh god. She should have just rolled over and tried counting sheep herself.

  “I must say that comes as a surprise especially given the way you’ve been denying any attraction to me whatsoever. But I will admit I definitely find the thought pleasing.”

  “Just because I didn’t admit it doesn’t mean it wasn’t there. Besides I thought you were interested in Cat,” she responded settling a little further under the covers.

  “Ahh yes, the infamous kiss on the hand. I can see where you could have gotten the impression we were hooking up,” he said laughing.

  Her insides quivered. She could listen to him laugh all night. Well not if he was going to continue to laugh at her.

  “Okay I believe we’ve already been down this road. There’s no need to revisit it,” she said cringing when he laughed louder.

  “Fair enough. What road would you like to travel now Sasha,” he asked. All hints of laughter gone.

  There was only one path she wanted to take with him. She was tired of fighting her attraction to him. And there was no denying he caused her to react in ways she never had before. Yet still she hesitated. Was it the whole black white thing that was bothering her so much? Searching deep, she didn’t think that was it. Inter-racial relationships were more the norm than the exception today and where there would be some who turned up their noses there would be more people who didn’t bat an eye. Was it his position at the company? She felt as if she were getting warmer. Dating a fellow co-worker had not gone well at all the last time she’d done it. But this was different. Dylan was no ordinary co-worker. He was for all intents and purposes her boss. And the last thing she wanted was for anyone to believe she was receiving preferential treatment because she was sleeping with him. Her stomach fluttered at the thought. Sasha stopped listening to all the arguments going on in her head and decided to listen to her body for a change. The deep seated need that had begun the moment she’d glanced over to see him leaning so casually against the elevator wall took center stage. She was tired of fighting against what she wanted and God help her, what her body was demanding.

  “I think we should see where this takes us,” she said hoping she sounded more confident than she was feeling at the moment.

  There was no mistaking Dylan’s sharp indrawn breath from the other end. She had shocked him and possibly herself in the process.

  “Would you like to have dinner at my house? Tonight?”

  “I would love to. What time?”

  Relief washed over her at his acceptance.

  “How about seven o’clock? We could do later if you’re working late.”

  “No I will definitely be leaving the office on time. Seven sounds great to me. I’ll bring the wine.”

  “Will you be coming from the office? I need to give you directions.”

  For the first time in weeks, she felt at peace.

  “It’ll probably be easier especially if you live close to the office. I live in Gurnee,” he said naming an upper crust suburb surrounding Chicago.

  “I live about thirty minutes from the office in Waukegan. So let me give you directions from the office.”

  “Okay hang on,” Dylan said.

  When he came back to the phone she gave him directions.

  “Okay I got it. I’m looking forward to dinner Sasha,” he said his voice soft.

  A smile lifted her lips up. She realized she was too.

  “So am I Dylan. G’night,” she said and hung up.

  Sasha lay for a minute just staring into space waiting for the nagging doubts over her actions to come. Surprisingly they didn’t. She smiled into the dark room and took a deep breath. She felt good about her date. But what about Cat? Her smile faded. Sure Dylan wasn’t interested in Cat but was she interested in him.

  “Dammit why was nothing ever simple,” she said into the dark room.

  There was no way she was going to get any sleep tonight until she made sure things were going to be okay between her and Cat especially if she began seeing Dylan on a regular basis. A shiver of excitement raced through her. Cat had to be happy for her about this, she thought reaching for the phone one more time. She just had to be.

  “Hello,” the sleepy voice on the other end of the line answered.

  “I’m sorry to wake you up but I need to talk to you.”

  She almost laughed at Cat’s deep sigh. She could just imagine why Cat thought she was calling.

  “Just for the record, there will come a time when I will be able to call you in the wee hours of the morning and harass you like this,” Cat grumbled.

  Sasha smiled. She couldn't wait for the day a man got Caitlyn McPherson all tied in knots. She wanted a front row seat for that one.

  “Well I wanted to tell you I have a date for tonight,” she said.

  It was a good thing no one could see the huge grin on her face. They’d think she was nuts. But she couldn't help it. She was excited and she wanted to share that excitement with someone. She wanted to share it with Cat and she wanted Cat to be happy for her.

  “I would say it’s about time. He only asked you out two weeks ago. I don’t know what took you so long to say yes.”

  Sasha giggled. She couldn't help it. It just came out.

  “My date’s not with Louis.”

  There was a pause on the line. This time she covered her mouth so her giggle wouldn't escape. It wasn’t often she got the opportunity to catch her always on top of it friend off guard.

  “Then who is it with?”

  Her smile faded a little. Oh god here comes the hard part, she thought. What if she wasn’t happy for her? What if she had planned to go after Dylan for herself? Well she can’t have him because he’s mine. Sasha was startled by how strongly she felt about the situation. It kind of caught her off guard but she didn’t feel any remorse for it.

  “It’s with my boss. No, well he’s kind of my boss. He’s the CFO of Presco,” she said stumbling over her words. She took a deep breath to calm herself down and tried again. “It’s with Dylan Matthews the guy from the bar on Friday night. The one who bought our table a round of drinks.”

  She held her breath while she waited for Cat to say something. The silence was almost deafening. She found it odd that calling Dylan and asking him over for dinner had not been as hard as this was turning out to be.

  “Cat are you still there?”

  She checked her phone to make sure the connection was still there.

  “Yeah I’m still here. So let me get this straight. You’re no longer interested in
your neighbor what’s his name? Eugene? Malcolm? Boring?”

  Sasha laughed through the nerves. Cat had never been terribly impressed with Louis and hadn’t hesitated in telling her so. But to her credit she had continued to offer advice on what to do to get him to notice her.

  “His name is Louis and no I’m no longer interested in him,” she said humor lacing her voice.

  Another pause.

  “And we’re not talking about a business dinner of some kind are we. Because business dinners don’t count,” Cat questioned further.

  “No it’s not a business dinner. It’s a real honest to god date.”

  Bit by bit her giddiness was returning. Sasha covered her mouth with her hand to keep from laughing out loud. She had no idea where all of this was coming from. She hadn't had any of these crazy unexplainable urges when Louis had asked her out. But just knowing she had a date with Dylan made her want to get up and dance about screaming it over and over from the top of her lungs.

  “So what do you think?” she asked cautiously holding her breath and sending up a silent prayer at the same time.

  “Well, I think that if you had to go white you sure as hell picked a nice place to start. Dylan Matthews is hot,” Cat said.

  That was her undoing. All the giddiness broke free from her and it wasn’t long before she and Cat were both laughing hysterically. She had Cat’s blessings. Sasha wondered how her other friends would take it. How would her sister, B.J., react? The thought threatened to rob her of her good mood but she pushed it back. There would be time to worry about that later.

  Chapter 12

  “Hi,” Sasha said opening the door for Dylan. He was right on time.

  She noticed he’d changed from the suit she’d seen him in earlier at the office into a pair of tan khakis with a baby blue button down shirt. The color of his shirt really made his eyes stand out. Did this man look gorgeous in everything he wore?

  “Hi,” he said handing her the wine.

  “You may need to put that in the fridge. It was chilled when I left work, but it took me a little longer to get here. Traffic,” he said in way of explanation.

  “That’s okay. We can have it after dinner. Are you ready to eat?”

  At his nod, she led him down the short hall to the kitchen, which was set at the back of the house. The kitchen was bright with an eat-in area. The family room was directly off of it, allowing for easy conversation between the two rooms. There was a formal dining room which she rarely used and had no intentions of using tonight either.

  Dinner was a pleasant enough affair with conversation being light between them. They talked about a little of everything. From their childhood to how they came to be in their current careers. They also discovered a mutual love of jazz, rainy days and having a lazy Sunday every now and then. But all through the conversation the sexual tension was evident. It hung in the air between them like a combustible substance ready to ignite at any moment. Sasha had thought she would go up in flames a few times during dinner when they’d both reached for a roll at the same time. Tingles of pleasure had moved through her where their hands had touched. And the way his eyes had glazed over when he’d watched her lick sauce from the corner of her mouth had caused a responding groan of pleasure to become lodged at the back of her throat.

  Once dinner was over she stood and began clearing the table. To her surprise Dylan rose as well. With a dirty dish in each hand, he walked to the sink and began running water. She stood watching him, her mouth slightly ajar, as he rolled up his sleeves. He turned the water off and glanced at her over his shoulder.

  “You gonna bring me the dishes or you want me to come get them,” he asked with a lopsided grin.

  Her breath caught in her throat. He looked way too sexy with his sleeves now rolled up to his elbows and his hands covered in soapsuds.

  “No I’ll bring them to you,” she said smiling like an idiot.

  Once the dishes were done and the kitchen was clean she turned to him once more.

  “Since we didn’t get to have it with dinner would you like some wine now. I think it should be chilled. If not I think I can offer you a choice of something else.”

  She walked over to the refrigerator and peered inside to take stock of its contents.

  “I have bottled water, soda, beer? If you’d like something a little stronger I think we have some left over stuff from the last time the girls were here.”

  Sasha waited for his reply but none came. Instead she felt his warm hard body pressed against her back.

  “What I want can't be found in the refrigerator,” he said licking her earlobe.

  Her stomach clinched in arousal. She stood up and leaned back against him. The cool air from the refrigerator against her front contrasted with the heat against her back. She stepped back, surprised he allowed her enough room to close the refrigerator door, but Sasha quickly found herself sandwiched between the hard cool form of the refrigerator and the heat of Dylan’s hard body.

  She licked suddenly dry lips before she answered.

  “And what is it that you want Mr. Matthews?”

  Dylan cupped her small breasts and squeezed. She was barely able to contain the groan at the back of her throat.

  “Do you have to ask Ms. Jordan? You make me hotter than I’ve ever been. And now I have you just where I want you,” he said licking down the side of her neck to her shoulder where she felt his teeth grazing her skin.

  A shiver ran through her body. Dylan stepped back and turned her around to face him. The same desire running rampant through her body was reflected in his gaze. She moved her hands up his massive chest to circle his neck.

  “Sasha,” Dylan breathed her name softly before lowering his head to hers.

  Nothing could have prepared her for the first touch of his mouth on hers. The instant their lips met, she felt the shock waves run through her body. Sasha leaned in closer to the heat of his body while his hand cupped the back of her head as he deepened the kiss. Her mouth opened to allow him full access. She lost herself in pleasure when his tongue slowly licked hers. So soft was his touch, as if he were baiting her – daring her to join him in play. Uncertain, her tongue moved cautiously at first to touch his and her universe shifted. Her body felt on fire and he was the only one who could douse the flames.

  Finally, he lifted his head, allowing them both to take a much needed breath. His forehead rested against hers as he ran his fingers through her hair. She sighed at the pleasure of his massaging touch on her scalp. So pleasant was the place she was in Sasha didn’t want to ruin it by opening her eyes and allowing the reality of the situation to rush in. She was hooked on Dylan Matthews. Any illusions she’d tried to wrap herself in were quickly disappearing the longer she remained wrapped in his arms. She raised her gaze to meet his eyes and was almost gone again by what she saw reflected there. He was feeling it too. All she could think about was how short a trip it would be to her bedroom upstairs and how good it would feel to have the full weight of his body covering her smaller one. But was she really ready for that? Not wanting him to know how at odds she was, she lowered her gaze to stare at his chest. She was so confused. She didn’t know what she wanted any longer. No, that wasn’t true. She knew what she wanted but it contradicted everything she knew. Things had been so simple before she had met Dylan and she wanted that simplicity back. But would it really ever be the same now that she’d tasted him?

  “I think it’s time for you to go.”

  She spoke softly, her eyes still fixed on his chest. She didn’t want to see the look on his face for fear it would be her undoing. His hand stilled in her hair. She felt the weight of his gaze upon her.

  “I don’t understand. Why?”

  Sasha detangled herself from him and moved to lean against the island. Immediately she felt the loss of his heat. But she needed to think about this and she couldn't do that with him here, in her space.

  “Because I need to think and ... and you are a distraction,” she said honestly f
inally lifting her gaze to meet his.

  Dylan moved to stand in front of her. He rubbed his hands up and down her arms, moving his body against hers. There was no denying how she affected him. The proof was displayed for all to see. And it excited her to know she was the cause of the bulge pressed suggestively against her.

  “Yeah, the same could be said about you. Do you feel what you do to me?” He whispered in her ear as he lightly ran his tongue along the outside of her ear. “How about we distract each other?”

  Sasha couldn't stop the chills running up and down her spine at the thought of what kind of distraction he had in mind. Her resolve began to waiver. Not wanting him to see the war being waged within herself, she lowered her gaze and put some space between them. She needed time to think this thing through and she couldn’t do that with him here. She ran her fingers through her braids before lifting her gaze to his stormy blue eyes.

  “No,” she said on a breathy whisper.

  “Dylan, I can no longer deny I have feelings for you and I’m pretty sure I’d like to explore them. But this is all new to me. I don’t do casual sex and I’ve never gotten involved with a white man before. So I just need some time to make sure this is something I can handle.”