D’marcus, who was about to reach for the phone, stopped abruptly and narrowed his eyes at her. “I don’t need you to do that, Ms. Lockhart,” he said rather harshly. “If I get hungry I can very well order something up or stop what I’m doing and go somewhere for a meal.”
Although she should not have been, Opal found she was taken aback by his tone of voice. She really should be used to it by now. “Excuse me for making the suggestion, Mr. Armstrong.”
As she turned and walked out of the room she wondered why she even bothered trying to be nice to the man.
Chapter 2
“I’m glad you made it back,” Colleen Richards said when Opal stepped out on the patio.
“I told everyone I would,” Opal said, mirroring her smile. She and Colleen were more than first cousins of the same age. Opal considered Colleen her very best friend, as well. And Colleen’s sister, Paige, was Pearl’s best friend and roommate.
Opal glanced around. It seemed the crowd of guests had thinned. “What happened to the church group that was sitting over there?” she asked.
Colleen rolled her eyes. “Thanks to Amber, they left. I think a few of the sisters got disgusted with her brazen behavior. Megan Townsend left first, hauling her fiancé out of here so quick it almost made your head spin. And then when Amber started trying to flirt with a few others, their significant others hauled them away, as well.”
Opal sighed, shaking her head. “I thought Ruby asked Luther to talk to her.”
“From what I understand he tried but it didn’t do any good. He told Ruby that Amber said her flirting was harmless.” She shrugged. “It seems she was determined to get into mischief today.”
Opal glanced around the yard. “And where is she?”
Colleen chuckled. “When most of the single men left and she couldn’t do any more damage, she and that girl she was with left, too. She said they were going clubbing later.”
When Colleen fell silent, Opal released a deep breath. There was no way around it. She, Ruby and Pearl needed to have a serious conversation with their baby sister.
“Oh, and I might as well be the one to tell you that you were the topic of speculation among your sisters after you left,” Colleen said smiling.
Opal lifted a brow. “What sort of speculation?”
Colleen chuckled. “I tried to tell them D’marcus Armstrong wasn’t your type, but Pearl and Amber are convinced you should go after the man. He’s handsome, rich, looks good in his clothes, so they’re convinced he’ll look good out of them, and they think you’re what he needs.”
Opal rolled her eyes when she thought about how she and D’marcus had parted ways just moments ago. “Trust me, I am not what that man needs.”
“That’s what Ruby said. She doesn’t think he’s the type of person you should get involved with. He’s too moody. But Pearl and Amber said with all that money he has, they think you should be able to forget his moodiness.”
Opal shook her head. “Those two would think that way.”
“The three of them did agree on one thing though.”
Opal truly didn’t like the sound of that. “And what would that be?”
“They think you have a crush on the man.”
“What?”
“Just telling you what they said. I didn’t agree with them, of course.”
“Thanks, Colleen, I appreciate that.”
“But now they do have me thinking.”
Opal turned toward her cousin. “Thinking about what?”
“You are the most easygoing, tolerant and optimistic person I know. You always look on the bright side and usually don’t let anything ruffle your feathers. But D’marcus Armstrong has been doing just that.”
“There’s only so much any one person can take, Colleen. I’m not a saint.”
“No, but why is he getting next to you? If he’s that bad, just quit.”
Opal released a groan of frustration. “Mr. Armstrong is not all that bad, really. I think his bark is worse than his bite, and a part of me wants to think he deliberately tries getting on my last nerve.”
Colleen arched a brow. “Why do you think he would do that?”
Opal shrugged. “That’s the way some bosses are, I guess. They like to be in control. He just has a rough-and-gruff demeanor. I’m getting used to it. But trust me when I say that I don’t have a crush on the man. Of course, I think he’s good-looking and all that, but he is not someone I want to get to know personally. I like my space and I’m sure he likes his.”
Colleen nodded. “What do you know about him…personally?”
“Just what the gossip mill around the office says. He was raised by an aunt and uncle after his parents were killed in a car accident when he was six. He was engaged to marry his high-school sweetheart in his last year of college when she was killed in a boating accident two weeks before their wedding.”
“Oh, how awful that must have been for him.”
Opal nodded. She knew that Colleen, who was pursuing a degree in psychology, was probably trying to figure out if D’marcus’s past somehow had had an effect on his present state.
“You’re back,” she heard Pearl say behind them as she came out of the house carrying another bowl of potato salad. “What was so important that The Hunk had to call you away?”
“Nothing important,” she said quickly. Because of the often confidential nature of her job she never divulged any private information. “He just needed me to take a few notes for him.” And to change the subject quickly she glanced around and asked, “Where’s Ruby?”
“She’s inside trying to bring order to the kitchen,” Pearl responded over her shoulder.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” Opal said to Colleen. “I need to talk to Ruby about something.”
As she entered the back door into the kitchen, she paused. Ruby, who had fixed most of the food and gotten the meats ready for Luther to grill, was sitting at the kitchen table while Luther massaged her shoulders. It seemed her sister was taking a much-deserved quiet moment.
Opal smiled. Not for first time, she wondered when her oldest sister would finally open her eyes and realize that, although they claimed to be only friends, she and Luther were meant for each other.
She went back outside. She shook her head when she found Pearl and Reverend Kendrick involved in another debate. As long as this one didn’t turn as heated as the last, then it should be okay.
She noticed the couple who owned the house next door, Keith and La Keita Hayward, had arrived while she was gone, and she decided to go speak to them. As she walked crossed the yard, she glanced back and studied the Tudor-style single-family brick home. Located in inner-city Detroit, it had always been a home filled with love and warmth.
After their father’s death, she and her three sisters had been raised by their widowed mother, and their family had been one of the first African-American families to integrate into the neighborhood. Despite the urban blight that now surrounded the area, they had remained in their majestic family home basically on principal, not to mention their shoestring finances. Now everyone but Ruby had moved out. Opal couldn’t help wondering what would become of their home if Ruby ever decided to go live some place else. Would they sell the house? Rent it out? Or, now that it was paid for, would they leave it as a place they could come back to whenever they felt the need to escape and chill? Whatever decision she and her sisters made would be the right one.
Her thoughts then drifted to D’marcus. She couldn’t help but wonder if he was still at the office and if he had gotten something to eat. She knew how easy it was for him to work through lunch. Then she remembered the chill in his tone when he’d dismissed her offer of food. Well, as far as she was concerned, it was his loss.
She sighed deeply, thinking that she should be used to his curt and unfriendly nature by now. But there wasn’t a day that went by that she didn’t hope his attitude would improve. So far it hadn’t.
As she stopped in front of the Haywards, she smiled
and quickly decided that D’marcus Armstrong was the last person she wanted to think about. She refused to let his behavior completely ruin her day.
D’marcus tossed aside a file he’d been working on and glanced over at the clock. It was after five already. Where had the day gone? He heard the growling of his stomach and immediately thought of all that food Opal had named when she’d offered to bring him a plate from her family gathering. Maybe he should have accepted her offer. But a part of him felt he’d done the right thing by not doing so.
He leaned back in his chair as he picked up the framed photograph of the young woman. The woman who was to have been his wife. The pain of that loss was still with him even after six years. Tonya had been the one thing he had wanted in his life, the person he had loved with all his heart, and he’d lost her in one afternoon, two weeks before they were to marry. What really had torn him in two was finding out that at her death she had been a month pregnant with their child. He hadn’t just lost the woman he’d loved but also the baby that would have been theirs.
He placed the photograph back on his desk and walked over to the window. It had been a beautiful day, warm for the first week in October, although the forecasters were predicting a cold front sometime next week.
His gaze swept the empty parking lot where Opal’s car had been parked earlier. A part of him regretted his rude behavior to her. That same part knew there was no excuse for it. But another part, that part of him that had been protecting himself for the past six years, refused to agree. It believed there was an excuse. Opal Lockhart was a woman who could wiggle her way inside a man’s head and heart if he wasn’t careful. She was the first woman since Tonya who had ignited even a spark inside him. What was so sad was that he hadn’t been trying for that spark.
She had worked late one night, her first week with Sports Unlimited, and he had left the office for the day. He had gotten as far as the third floor when he remembered that he had left behind a file he needed to take home to review. He had returned and walked into her office area to find her standing at the window in deep thought. Because of the long day, she had taken off her shoes and jacket, and the fashionable scarf was no longer around her neck. He had stood studying her. Without knowing he was there, she released her bun and ran her hands through her shoulder-length hair. Without the jacket he’d seen her small waist and the delicate curves of her hips. She had looked beguiling, sexy, a total turn-on.
For the first time in six years, he had felt long-buried sensations. Sexual chemistry to a degree he’d never known before had nearly driven him to take her in his arms. Instead, he had regained control of his senses and left. But from that evening forward, he’d made it a point to make sure he placed distance between himself and his administrative assistant, and he took on a gruff demeanor to make sure things stayed distant. The last thing he needed was for the two of them to get too friendly with each other. The only woman he could ever possibly love had died six years ago.
Moving away from the window, he returned to the chair behind his desk. He would work for another hour or so before he called it a day. On the way home he would stop at one of the fast-food places and grab a sandwich. Usually he didn’t stay all day at the office on the weekend, but, after the press conference, he had decided to get a headstart on next week’s work.
He cringed in anger every time he thought about Dashuan Kennedy and his poor attitude. Players like him gave any game a bad name. He definitely wasn’t any kid’s role model. In fact, as far as D’marcus was concerned, whether they won or lost, the Chargers probably would be better off without Dashaun. There was no doubt Kennedy was a gifted young basketball player—but he was one who had some kind of a chip on his shoulder. D’marcus felt whatever issues Kennedy was having extended beyond his bad-ass ego problem. Frankly, D’marcus was ready to trade him, but the other two owners saw Dashuan as their hope for the coming season.
He felt a strange prickling sensation and looked up, surprised to see Opal standing in the doorway of his office. Before he could open his mouth to ask what she was doing there, she entered and placed a take-out box in front of him.
“I know what you said, but I couldn’t see myself letting you starve. If you don’t want to eat it you can trash it,” she said, before turning to leave.
“Why?” he asked before she had reached the door. When she turned around, his eyes flicked over her with a cool expression. “Why did you come back? With the food?”
She tilted her chin and he saw a stubborn glint to it when she said, “Because I refuse to become a grouch like you. Life has been too good to me this year for me to do that.”
“Then, I suggest you count your blessings, Ms. Lockhart.”
To his surprise, she smiled. “Trust me, Mr. Armstrong, I do. Maybe it’s time for you to start counting yours.”
His eyes narrowed at the boldness of her statement and before he could give her a reply, she was gone.
Opal quickly stepped onto the elevator thinking she could probably go ahead and kiss her job goodbye. However, today her boss had gotten on her last nerve. Maybe she was out of line for returning with food, but she had known he wouldn’t take the time to eat anything.
A part of her wondered why she even cared, but she did. Once the crowd at the reunion had begun dwindling, that part of her that was too filled with kindness to let even someone like D’marcus Armstrong not share in such a wonderful meal had decided that, no matter what kind of attitude he had, she would not let him dictate hers. By nature she was not a mean-spirited person and she refused to let him turn her into one.
As she made her way through the parking lot toward her car, she glanced over her shoulder and looked up. D’marcus was standing at the window in his office staring down at her. She sighed, deciding she would report to work on Monday as usual. If he asked for her resignation because of what she’d said, there was nothing she could do about it. But he’d needed to hear what she had said. He of all people should be counting his blessings.
As she got into her car she forced any worries about next week aside. Tomorrow, she would go to church and say a prayer for him. She would also make sure she got all the spiritual preparations she needed for when she saw D’marcus Armstrong again.
On Sunday morning Opal sat in a pew beside Amber and Ruby in the Lakeview Baptist Church. This was Pearl’s Sunday to lead a song, and they were all excited. Reverend Kendrick would be delivering the message after the scripture was read, and Opal felt she needed to hear the Word today, more so than ever.
D’marcus Armstrong might have pissed her off something awful yesterday, but that hadn’t stopped him from invading her dreams last night. Some of her thoughts had been downright corrupt, and a lot of what she had imagined them doing together was shamefully sinful. And, to make matters worse, she didn’t even like the man. Not to mention there was a good chance he would be kicking both her and her job to the curb tomorrow. Her sisters would refuse to believe that she, of all people—someone who never lost her temper—had actually gone off on D’marcus Armstrong.
She cleared her mind of the issues facing her with her boss when Pearl stepped up to the mic to sing. The church was packed—not unusual for the first Sunday of the month. And Opal thought the choir’s new robes looked really nice.
Pearl began singing “What a Mighty God We Serve” in a way that only Pearl could do. Within no time, the church was rocking, people were standing on their feet rejoicing, getting caught up in their own testimonies to the fact that God was truly awesome. Pearl and the choir members were singing out of their souls, but it was Pearl’s beautiful voice that was stirring things up, causing jubilation to spread throughout the congregation.
After Pearl’s song ended and the scripture had been read, Reverend Kendrick stood before a packed and electrified house. “I want to thank Sister Lockhart for that song, because while she was singing I was sitting there thinking about just what a mighty God we do serve.”
He paused to glance over the congregation, and for s
ome reason Opal thought he looked at her a little longer than the others. A guilty conscience will do that to you, she thought, shifting in her seat.
“How many of you ever pause to not only think about how mighty God is,” Reverend Kendrick continued, “but also about all the many blessings he bestows? Most of us just assume we’re at where we are in our lives because we are deserving. Well, that is not the case, because none of us are deserving. We have all sinned at some point in our lives. Some of us are still sinning.”
Opal hoped no one saw her blush when she felt her cheeks get a little warm.
“But God loves us anyway,” Reverend Kendrick continued. “He forgives us, and we have to find it in our hearts to forgive others, even those we may feel don’t deserve our forgiveness.”
D’marcus Armstrong suddenly flashed across Opal’s mind.
“But we have to forgive them, just like our Father constantly forgives us,” Reverend Kendrick went on to say.
Opal shifted in her seat, thinking it was too bad D’marcus wasn’t at church today. If he embraced the concept of forgiving and forgetting, then she wouldn’t have to go to bed tonight worrying about whether she still had a job tomorrow.
Reverend Kendrick interrupted her thoughts by saying, “We should especially forgive those who don’t deserve our forgiveness, and continue to pray for God to work to change their hearts. And I’m standing before you as a living witness that miracles can happen. You just have to believe that they can.”
Chapter 3
Monday morning Opal was seated at her desk when D’marcus arrived. He glanced over at her, gave her a curt nod as he crossed the room to his office.
“Mr. Armstrong, the minutes from Saturday’s meeting are typed and on your desk. I’ve also saved them in an electronic file.”
At her words, he’d slowly turned toward her and now she quickly searched his features for any indication that she was about to be fired. He wasn’t smiling—not that he ever did—but aside from that, she couldn’t gauge his expression. A part of her wanted to believe that he had gotten over what she’d said and that it was water under the bridge. However, she knew some men would consider her words disrespectful.
In Bed With Her Boss (Kimani Romance) Page 2
