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“You still haven’t told me.” Anika cut into her thoughts. “How do you know Barry?”
Xolani briefly explained, “We sat next to each other on the plane when I was coming back.”
Anika prodded, “And?”
“There’s no and. That’s all.”
Anika frowned. “Nothing happened between you?”
“Nope,” Xolani insisted. Her memory reminded her of the fantastic eight hours of conversation that they’d shared. She swiftly shoved that memory aside. “Nothing at all.”
Anika didn’t believe her. “But the way you guys were looking at each other.”
“All in your imagination, babe.” Xolani patted her friend’s shoulder. “All in your imagination.”
“But_”
Xolani was already on her way out of the bathroom before her friend could finish the sentence. “Bye, Anika. See you at lunch.”
Hours later, as Xolani sat at her desk, her mind wandered back to Barry. Pity, pity, pity! She took his business card from her purse and stared at it. She wondered if she should tear it into tiny little pieces so she wouldn’t be tempted to look for him.
His charger, the voice in her head reminded.
Oh, yeah. She’d forgotten about that. She’d use the business card to give him back his charger, then tear it up immediately after.
4
WHAT A DAMN SHAME! BARRY sighed as he sat at his desk, playing with Xolani’s card. What a damn shame!
Even though their encounter at the elevators had lasted for less than five minutes, hours later, she was still on his mind. How could she not be when she looked even better than when they’d shared their flight?
He’d never been one to notice women’s outfits unless they were shockingly outrageous. But he remembered everything Xolani was wearing that morning. The white trouser suit she had on was the perfect contrast to her dark skin. It made her look powerful and professional, yet somehow sexier too.
Her hair had been teased into a high bun that made her look fierce, regal, and eye-catching. Add in her height, and she’d looked like a queen who’d come down to supervise her subjects.
His whole body had reacted to her on sight. He’d felt warmer, and blood swiftly moved to his cock. There was no doubt in his mind that he was stupidly attracted to her.
Unfortunately, that attraction was going nowhere.
Barry had very few dating rules. But ‘never date a coworker’ was right at the top of that short list. Experience had taught him that breaking that rule led to more complications than he was willing or equipped to deal with.
Why did Xolani have to work in the same company as him?
Why? Why? Why?
Now he’d never have a chance to taste those succulent lips. He’d never have a chance to push his hands into her lush hair and cradle her head while they kissed. He’d never be able to see if her breasts were as much of a handful as they looked. He’d never be able to feel her long legs wrapped around his waist as he…
Stop it! He roughly rubbed his face with his palm. He needed to stop fantasizing about things that would never happen.
“Baaarrry!” A voice drew his attention.
He looked up to see Misty standing at his door. Instant irritation shot through him, but he swallowed it and smiled. “Hi, Misty.”
Misty had been pursuing him for the last month or so. As soon as she made her intentions clear, he politely let her down. She claimed to understand and only want friendship, but recently, she’d started getting uncomfortably close again.
Sometimes, he wished that being unkind came easily to him, and he could just go off on her. He wished that he could rudely admit that even with a gun to his head, he’d never date her. He wanted to yell at her to keep her damn hands to herself whenever she touched him, and to leave him alone.
But the nice boy inside him forced him to be polite even when all he really wanted to do was toss out some choice expletives.
