“Make that a gin and tonic with lime.” After her runin with the sexy ogre, something stronger was in order. Sliding into the booth, she occupied the spot Jeff vacated when he went to get her drink.
She moved over when he came back with her drink in hand and a mouth full of apologies. Deciding to forgive and forget, she slowly sipped her drink. Jeff rested his arm on the seat behind her.
“So, I guess we can thank good old Harried Tres for your presence tonight. If he hadn’t made you angry you would probably still be in your office working before you headed home, not to be seen again until bright and early Monday morning,” Jeff teased.
“It’s called having a work ethic. You should try it sometime.” She gave Jeff a sarcastic smirk before breaking into a smile at his nickname for the boss. Jeff had made up a funny way of referring to the Harrington men. While he alternated between Harry and Harried as a pseudonym for Harrington, it was always followed by Uno for the big boss and Tres for Latonya’s nemesis.
“There is nothing wrong with my work ethic. It’s workaholics like you and Harried Tres that need to reevaluate themselves. I believe in having a balanced life.” Jeff took a swig of his beer and bobbed his head to the salsa music playing in the background.
“Whatever. Some of us really need our jobs and some of us have to work twice as hard to make up for not being the right race or gender.” She didn’t have the privilege to buck the system like Jeff might.
Jeff feigned outrage. “Was that a white-male crack? Because some would say that as a white man working for a large black-owned company, I would face more than my share of discrimination. In fact, I may have it worse than you,” he joked.
“Well, as the only woman in a department full of men of all races, colors and creeds and with a temporary boss who can’t seem to stand me, I think I have it the worst. And I don’t have the luxury of being able to quit my job at any time and go work for my dad at the family empire.” She took a sip of her drink and gave Jeff a pointed look. His old money family hadn’t taken it well when he’d declined to join the family business and set out on his own. They were always trying to get him to change his mind.
“You know you could always quit this job and let me take care of you. I have a sizable trust fund. You’d never have to work again. All you have to do is say the word.” Jeff, the flirt, couldn’t go for five minutes without making a pass.
Juan saw that as his opportunity to jump in. “Hey, mamacita, you know I don’t have a trust fund. But if you’re taking offers, I’ll put my bid in. I’ll work ten jobs for you, bonita.” Juan was tall and slender and of Afro-Cuban origin. He had a face that could only be described as beautiful. His eyes were warm and expressive, and the longest lashes she had ever seen on a man framed them.
Stan snorted before adding playfully, “The sistah isn’t interested in either one of you. When she’s ready to stop working so hard she’ll coming looking for an African-American brother like myself.”
Latonya smiled sweetly before she lit into the three flirtatious devils. In their own way they were just trying to cheer her up because of her constant run-ins with their new boss. A girl could have worse things happen than a multicultural alliance of handsome men working together to lift her spirits.
“You know what I think?” She spoke in a sexy, sultry whisper before moving in for the kill. “I think that when I am ready to leave Harrington Enterprise, my sexual-harassment case is going to be so airtight against this department, I won’t have to work.”
“She’s playing the sex card! Okay, mamacita.” Juan laughed as he threw up his hands in mock defeat. “You know we’re just playing with you. Lighten up, bonita.”
“Yeah, girl! How are you going to do a brotha like Anita did Clarence? You know I was just joking with you,” Stan teased.
“Mmm-hmm, ha, ha, ha.” Taking another sip of her drink, she felt the stress from the work week slowly leave her.
Jeff let his arm drop from the seat to her shoulder and smiled. “I’m not playing. You just let me know when and I’ve got you, darling.”
“Please, stop playing. You know the company frowns on hanky-panky between employees.” She smiled at him as she took another sip of her drink, musing that the risk of censure hadn’t stopped Jeff from making his way through the other women on the staff. It would, however, stop her from even remotely considering the Ben Affleck look-alike and his offer.
“Who’s talking hanky-panky? I’m talking you and me forever, till death do us part. And you won’t even give me a chance. Tell the truth—it’s because I’m white, right? That’s discrimination. You won’t give a man a chance because he’s a little melanin challenged. That’s cold.”
Breaking into a fit of laughter, she playfully popped Jeff upside his head.
“Good, you’re laughing. I knew we could get you to smile sooner or later.” Jeff let his hand touch her cheek.
Just then, the sound of the younger Harrington’s deep voice interrupted her laughter. “It’s good to see my department getting along so well.” His eyes fell on Jeff’s arm draped lazily around Latonya’s shoulder and the hand that softly stroked her cheek. It became obvious what Carlton meant to imply. She almost shoved Jeff’s arm off of her. But against her better judgment she simply sat there and gave Carlton her best interpretation of a polite smile.
It wasn’t as if the company actually stated it was against office dating, but it certainly didn’t encourage it. People got skipped over for promotions when they didn’t adhere to the unwritten codes of protocol. The last thing Latonya needed to do was to give Carlton Harrington III another reason not to like her.
“Hey, boss, you came to join us?” Jeff queried, breaking the ice.
“No, that’s all right. Thanks for the invitation. I’m meeting some people here and I would hate to interrupt your cozy situation.” Carlton gave Latonya a pointed stare as he emphasized the word cozy.
What does he mean by that? What was he implying about her with those snide comments and veiled looks? She mentally counted to ten in an effort not to blast the man where he stood. How dare he!
“Well maybe next time, boss.” Juan smiled, clearly trying to diffuse the growing tension.
“Yes, maybe. Oh, and Stevens, I’ll need you to come into the office tomorrow and work with me on the Biltmore project.” Carlton’s voice sent a shiver through her in spite of the hot Miami air.
She tried to keep her tone even and polite, but she was fighting a losing battle. “It’s not my project. It’s Jeff’s,” she spat before she could catch herself.
“It’s yours now. I’ll see you tomorrow bright and early.” He nodded briefly to everyone in the booth before walking away to meet his party.
Latonya didn’t waste her time being shocked. The man’s obnoxious attitude and complete disregard for her was par for the course. If he were not rude to her then she would have been surprised.
Even though she’d come to expect Carlton’s attitude and his treatment of her had become the running joke of the department, it didn’t take away the sting. The way things appeared the younger Harrington had it in for her. She would’ve quit, but Latonya really needed her job.
Her colleagues were hell-bent on consoling her. Instead, she insisted she was okay, put on her brightest smile and let them know that she had to leave and get some rest so that she was ready for whatever Carlton Harrington III felt like dishing out in the morning.
Chapter 2
Sitting across from Carlton in the department’s conference room, Latonya found herself sweating even with the air-conditioning on full blast. Once again, she cursed her intense reaction to a man who, for all intents and purposes, thought of her as a walking, talking idiot.
So far, she’d done a halfway decent job maintaining her composure while they were in the room together. She even managed to get a lot of work done. Every once in a while she would literally feel herself getting hotter and look up to find Carlton staring at her. His perplexed expression would always turn into a glare when she caught him. She tried not to wonder about what her workdays would be like if he could stand the sight of her or if he brushed those soft thick lips across her own.
Snap out of it, Latonya silently chastised as she shook her head to clear out the visions of kissing Carlton. Getting up from her seat and picking up her laptop, she walked over to where he sat on the other side of the conference room. As she walked toward him, she wondered why he sat so far away.
“I think I found the problem here.” She pushed his laptop aside along with a stack of papers and placed her computer in front of him. Leaning over Carlton, she pointed at the spreadsheet she’d created.
She waited for him to respond, but he just sat there still and silent. He almost seemed to be holding his breath.
Latonya was tempted to check herself for body odor. She knew she’d perspired a little due to her nervousness, but she didn’t think that she stunk or anything.
