When I pa.s.sed by Zina's desk she looked up with an encouraging smile. "Let me guess, it didn't go well?"

I laughed at her a.s.sessment. "Not really. Thanks for playing along, though."

"Sure, hey, heard you met with Raven earlier. How'd that go? Isn't she great?"

I c.o.c.ked my head at her fond tone. Didn't take a genius to realize she respected Raven. "She was very helpful."

A wide smile broke up that dark chocolate skin tone again. "I knew you'd like her." She leaned in to whisper, "She's nothing like the rest of her family."

"Is that so?" I gave an innocent look like I didn't know what she was talking about. Raven was definitely unique among the Pauls I'd met.

"Shut up, you saw it, too. She'll be your best resource, Jos. If you need anything from me, just ask. Oh, and you're taking my beautiful black self to lunch soon."

"Am I?" I laughed.

"h.e.l.l yes. I was the only one nice to your sales challenged a.s.s while you were here. I deserve a lunch." This was why I liked her so much. She'd made me feel welcome while I was working in the department, and she still made me feel welcome when nearly everyone else wanted to shoot poisonous darts into my neck as I wandered the corridors.

"Hey, I brought in some clients, you'll recall."

"Yeah." She eyed me suspiciously. "I've been wondering how you joined us pretending to be a salesperson yet managed to land the two largest clients we now have."

"I have my ways." Or former clients that would buy anything I told them to buy. I waved in parting. The clock on her desk told me that only a half hour remained on this rollercoaster of a Wednesday. At this point, I didn't know if I should consider that a blessing or not.

Chapter 4.

H oled up in my little conference room, I thought about putting in earplugs to block out the comments of people walking by the door. If they only knew I wouldn't be recommending significant reductions in workforce, maybe then they'd like me. Although with many of the other changes I'd been planning, probably not.

"Heard things didn't go so smoothly with Robert." A confident voice sounded from the doorway. Raven leaned against the open door, her slender body sheathed in dark blue today. Her confidence had nothing to do with c.o.c.kiness, more like complete and total comfort with herself.

"You must have a bad informant. The meeting went just as I expected." As a general rule, I never let my clients know when people rattled me, and I certainly wasn't going to insult her by belittling her cousin.

She laughed in soft rhythmic spurts. I wondered if that melodious tone was her knee slapping laugh then found myself hoping it wasn't. It was a nice enough laugh, just completely controlled. "That's the kindest way anyone's ever told me that Robert is difficult."

I waved my hands defensively. "No, I wasn't trying to imply..."

22*

"I know you weren't. I was just giving you a hard time.

Don't imagine many people try that with you." She grinned with an eyebrow flutter. She looked even more beautiful today than she had yesterday. Listen to me: beautiful? I get kissed and, all of a sudden, I'm noticing how attractive women are?

"Can't say as many do. And really, he was fine."

"You'll let me know if you need help with him? He's used to taking orders from me."

I could almost picture them as kids together with Raven bossing him around under threat of torture probably. That might explain his problem with women. "Family dynamics?"

"We all have them. So, how's it going?" Dropping into a chair facing me, she waited for me to reply rather than steal a peek at the printouts scattered on the table.

"You can tell Archie that he'll have my preliminary summary next week."

The controlled laugh sounded again. "He wanted me to make sure you were getting all the info you needed."

"I am, thanks."

"There you are, Raven." Kelly appeared in the doorway, nodded shyly at me and smiled at her boss.

"Oh, hey, you're in. How's the tooth? Rootless?" Raven grinned up at her.

"Don't remind me. Sanctioned torture, that's what a trip to the dentist is these days."

"Poor thing," Raven sympathized, raising a hand to stroke Kelly's upper back. "It's over now, but I thought you were taking today off, too?"

"I felt a lot better than I thought I would, and I knew you had that meeting with Mr. Paul later."

"Thanks, Kel, you're a dream." Raven squeezed her shoulder, and I bit down on my tongue so I wouldn't scream at how stupid she was being by carrying on with her subordinate.

*23 "I'll get started on everyone's quarterly inserts, but I wanted to see if by some miracle I'd made it into the office before you. I should have known better," she scoffed. "See you soon. Bye, Joslyn."

I tipped my head as she left then caught a quizzical expression on Raven's face. "I know Zina calls you Joslyn, but I thought everyone else was keeping it pretty formal with you."

"Because I'm the evil dragon lady who's going to take their jobs from them?" I couldn't help but tease.

She smiled at my description. "You don't get tired of being the scapegoat for their anger? Why don't they see that it's whoever hired you that's to blame?"

"Because I'm Lizzie Borden, or are they not calling me that here?"

This time her laughter wasn't controlled, and the sound tickled up my spine. "Lizzie Borden? They actually call you that to your face?"

"Oh, no, the phraseology is usually much more colorful by the time I leave a company." I joined her laughter, glad to have someone else make light of what is often a tense situation.

"Creative. Well, I hope no one's giving you that kind of a hard time around here. You've won over Kelly, so you're probably a real softy." The mention of Kelly shuttered my expression. This woman was so smart, and she was s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g her underling who not only directly reported to her but looked about fifteen years her junior. What was she thinking? "I'm sorry. I didn't mean any offense by that," she backtracked, noticing the air had changed between us.

"No offense taken." I decided then that I should give her some notice about what I planned to discuss with Archie at our summary meeting. Just because she was reckless didn't mean I didn't like her. She deserved a little warning before I annihilated her personal life. "I should let you know that I've noticed some pretty big gaps in the employee manual 24*

regarding code of conduct. I'll be recommending some changes that will alleviate a number of potential employee lawsuits."

She frowned for a moment, probably trying to figure out how to handle my statement. "Taking away ambiguity in what is considered unacceptable behavior is always a good thing."

Her complete acceptance of my suggestion baffled me.

"I think so."

"Did you want me to look at your recommendations; is that why you told me? HR isn't within my purview, but as a manager, I can certainly offer another opinion."

"No." I waved off her offer. Perhaps she thought she'd be immune as a member of the family. "It's just that some of the recommendations might be hard to comply with for certain people."

"Give me an example, and I'll let you know how I think people will receive it." She seemed not at all concerned that any suggestions might affect her.

I could have chosen any of the other recommendations I'd planned to make, but instead I decided to go for it. She'd been decent to me, and I should give her some notice that her ill-advised affair would have to be even more illicit or risk getting fired. "I'm going to recommend inst.i.tuting a restrictive policy on workplace relationships among coworkers in the same department."

She contemplated that for a moment then nodded her head thoughtfully. "That's a good idea, and it may cut down on the few awkward situations that have transpired in the past. What about if they're in different departments?"

My turn for a frown. Kelly not only worked in her department but directly reported to her. How did she think she could get around that? "Honestly I think it's best to eliminate all fraternization unless they sign a waiver on s.e.xual hara.s.sment claims, but that's a draconian principle."

*25 "Draconian? Great word. Just how smart are you?" She pinned me with an inquisitive stare that lit off a blush.

"Never mind, you'll probably downplay it. You're right, though, cross departments would be a little hard to push through, but I think you're on the right track with putting something in the manual about office relationships. Always good to cover your bases. I can't believe HR didn't think of it."

I shook my head, still perplexed by her approval. "You mean you're all for limiting office romances?"

"Sure, I think it's a huge distraction, and when it doesn't work out, there's always a lot of awkwardness."

Okay, about a million things didn't add up in her statement. All right, only three. One, she's having an office affair. Two, if Kelly's actions yesterday were typical, clearly it was a distraction. And three, "when it doesn't work out"?

Interesting that she thinks office romances were doomed from the start. Maybe Kelly was only a casual fling for her.

Because I wanted to make sure she got it, I clarified, "My recommendation will include all supervisor-subordinate relationships, regardless of department."

Her frown came with an interested lean this time, depositing her face only a foot from mine across the table.

"Is there something you're trying to tell me? Some good gossip that I'm missing out on? I don't usually seek out gossip, but you've got me wondering now."

"Well, no. I just meant that if HR accepts this policy change, it might make it a little more difficult for..." I motioned with my hand for her to fill in the blank.

She tilted back in her chair, studying me intently. "For what?"

"Well, for one to have, that is to say, for anyone to conduct a..."

"Now, you've really got me curious. Oh G.o.d! It's not one of my relatives, is it? If it is, I don't want to hear about it. I'll let HR deal with it." So, she was going to continue to 26*

deny that she was having an affair with her a.s.sistant. She probably thought she covered it up well, but wouldn't Kelly have told her that she'd blown their cover? Although, maybe not. If my significant other s.n.a.t.c.hed and kissed some other woman by mistake, I wouldn't want to know about it.

"Probably the best course of action, yes. Sorry I brought it up."

"All right. I'd better get back to my office if I don't want to be on your list of recommendations." She winked at me, actually winked at me, and it looked incredibly s.e.xy when she did it. s.e.xy? Wow, that kiss really did a number on me.

"Wise, yes." I watched her get up and leave, torn between wanting to admire her intuitiveness and scold her for exploiting a gap in HR policy. Either way, the view she offered as she walked away twisted my gut into more confusion than it had endured in probably all of my years.

Chapter 5.

O pening night. I just loved opening night. It meant three, possibly four months of nonstop thrills whenever the team was in town. Still, opening night was always special.

They had another sell out, but dammit, they were playing Los Angeles again. Why did the schedulers always put these two together on opening night? Half our team just got here a week ago; they weren't prepared to play L.A. yet.

As I made my way into Key Arena with the rest of the crowd, I felt the excitement burn through my veins. How sad was it that I considered basketball one of my vices?

Thankfully, this wasn't the type of vice I'd need to give up.

The worst that happened with this vice is that I neglected the friends who wouldn't go to the games with me over the summer. Too bad, they didn't know what they were missing.

"Slyn!" My favorite seatmate, Trinity, strode toward me with her girlfriend. A Storm bandana covered most of her reddish blond hair and her bright green eyes sparkled with rowdy excitement. Until I'd met Trinity, I didn't think anyone else got as much enjoyment from these games as I did.

"Hey, Trin, hi there, Kayla," I greeted them. "Opening day!" Trinity and I chanted together and high-fived because we became wholly unlike ourselves at these games. Kayla 28*

resisted rolling her eyes, but I knew she was happy for her girlfriend's excitement.

"Are they ready?" I asked Trinity, knowing she'd been in her seat early enough to see the pre-game warm ups with the team.

"They look great. LJ's not hurt, Birdy isn't wearing a mask, and they actually seem to have a bench this year. Did you read this week's articles?"

"Haven't had a chance to surf the site yet, been a little negligent."

"Loafer. You are d.a.m.n lucky you sit next to me." Three years ago, Trinity showed up in the seats next to mine, and we've been making sure our seats remain together each year. Most games we're yammering away about team stats, league history, play by play or sitting quietly tense until LJ decides to take over the game and get the win for her team.

"Joslyn?" a voice called out from behind me.

"Raven?" I questioned when I turned to find the normally pristinely pressed woman standing in threadbare jeans and a fitted Storm t-shirt.

"I didn't know you were a Storm fan." She stepped toward me as if wanting to hug me h.e.l.lo but stopped when she realized that we barely knew each other and she was technically a client of mine.

"From the start," I stated proudly then introduced Trinity and Kayla. She in turn introduced me to the three women with her. If I hadn't known about Kelly already, I'd wonder if one of these women was her girlfriend. All were pretty enough and certainly looked at her with enough fondness.

"A founding Storm fan, really?" she asked as her friends and mine took up places in the coffee line behind us.

"Truthfully, I got tickets because I wanted to support the only professional women's sports league in the country. But, d.a.m.n, that first year was tough to watch. It took two first *29 round draft picks before we finally had ourselves a team.

Now, I'm hooked. What about you?"

"You're putting me to shame. I started going the first year they made the playoffs. Very exciting." She grinned widely, her brown eyes dancing with some sort of secret.

She probably had a crush on one of the two stars like half the arena.

"Hey, baby." Strong arms circled my waist from behind and a kiss dropped onto the back of my head.

I fought the sure blush at Chase's affectionate display in front of someone he didn't know. "Don't call me that."