Tressie_Lockwood_-_Rival_Lovers(1).pdf

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Copyright © July 2008, Tressie Lockwood
Cover art by Amira Press © July 2008
Amira Press, LLC
Baltimore, MD 21216
www.amirapress.com
ISBN: 978-1-936279-04-3
No part of this e-book may be reproduced or shared by any electronic or mechanical means,
including but not limited to printing, file sharing, and email, without prior written permission
from Amira Press.
Chapter One
“What do you want, Sharon? Or should I say,
who
do you want?”
Who do I want?
She couldn’t count the number of romance novels she had read that featured best friends
becoming lovers. The theme was tried and true for many an author. But this wasn’t the same
situation. She eyed the sexy man giving his presentation in front of the whiteboard. His
manner, his bearing—his body—called out to everything that was base inside her. She
wanted Jason Cole bad, but they had been rivals ever since he had been hired at McCullough
Advertising.
Shifting her position so that her right ass cheek would have a chance to wake up after being
sat on for the last hour and a half, she eyed the question on her laptop, an instant message
from her buddy, Lisa.
“I don’t know.”
“Liar!”
“You tell me. Who do I want?”
She typed as quietly as she could. Everyone pounded out notes
on their laptops, but somehow when one was goofing off, the action seemed more suspect.
She glanced over her screen to Lisa, who had wanted to suck up to the new guy and their
boss by sitting in the front. Sharon was confident enough in her abilities to take the rear.
Besides, she didn’t have to hulk over her screen to hide the fact that she was on Yahoo!
Messenger.
“Jason Cole!”
Lisa’s message declared.
“And if you don’t make a move soon on that choice piece of beef,
I’m going to snatch him up.”
Sharon minimized her chat box. The taskbar slipped into invisibility. She tapped a nail
against the glossy tabletop as she considered her options. Noticing chipped polish on her
fingernail, she frowned.
“You have a problem with those figures, Sharon?”
She glanced up to find all eyes on her, chiefly Jason’s. His blue eyes twinkled. The jerk knew
she hadn’t been paying attention. She hadn’t missed the number of times his glance swept
over her while he spoke. This was his chance to make her look bad in front of the boss.
What the man who looked too damn good in those navy blue slacks didn’t know was that
she had poured over his presentation long before the meeting.
Called in a favor, dear Jason.
“Now that you mention it, Jason”—she liked his name, very suitable to his boy next door
looks—“yes, I do. Your projection of a fifteen percent increase is questionable, and here’s
why. . . .”
She proceeded to explain why his plan wouldn’t work as well as he hoped. With each word
she spoke, his handsome face reddened. When the meeting was over, he took her by the arm
and kept her back while the others filed out of the conference room.
“Is it your goal in life to try to make me look bad?” He grumbled.
She widened her eyes and imagined she had a sweet little innocent look on her face. “I don’t
know what you mean, but had I been trying to make you look bad, it’s only in retaliation to
what you did to me last week. Or have you forgotten?”
“So we’re children now?” His blue eyes had flecks of gold in them. Was that common? She
wanted to forget the rest of the day and just stare at him.
She glanced pointedly at his fingers biting into her arm, and he immediately let go. She
pivoted on the ball of her foot to return to her seat. Before she could shut down her
computer, Jason had moved up behind her, and his eagle eyes picked up on the chat box,
which she had maximized to close.
Shit.
“What’s this? My name?” He leaned closer to the screen. The heat of him behind her made
her long to shove her butt back against him.
Covering the screen, she snapped, “None of your business.” She shoved his hand away and
closed down the computer. She waited for him to make a comment about what he had just
read, but he said nothing, which made her feel like even more of an idiot for getting caught.
He apparently had no interest in a black woman, least of all her. Maybe Lisa would have
better luck, being a Latina.
Jason strolled to the door and paused. She didn’t make eye contact with him, but instead
focused on the urban scene paintings around the room. “Sharon, we can continue to butt
heads, or we can work together. I think we would make a great team.”
With supreme effort, she met his gaze and smiled. “We’ll see.”
He nodded. “That’s all I want.”
After he had left, Lisa rushed in, her knowing look making Sharon’s stomach hurt. Twenty
minutes ago, she had been longing for lunch. Now she just wanted to go find a rock and
hide under it.
Lisa pumped her hand. “Oh, girl, I didn’t hear shouting, so you must have talked about
something other than work, right? What did he say? What did you say? When are you two
going out?”
Sharon forced a laugh. “Slow your roll, Lisa. We’re not going out.” She sighed. “He saw your
note to me about making a move. He didn’t even blink. He’s not interested.”
“Oh, for real?” Lisa considered it. “Maybe he’s biding his time, thinking how to approach
you.”
Sharon shook her head. “No, he had the perfect opportunity, and all he said was he wants us
to work as a team. He said that’s
all
he wants.” She gathered the rest of her things and
headed for the door. “You know what, fuck him. I’m going out to the club tonight, have
some fun. You coming?”
Lisa grinned. “When have I not? I’ll be there, and who knows, you might get lucky.”
“Yeah, I’ll find another choice piece of beef.” She could barely get the words out before she
burst out laughing.
Her friend rolled her eyes and grabbed her hand to pull her out of the conference room.
“Okay, chica, make fun. But I know the package I saw, and it was yummy!”
Sharon smirked. “Uh huh, I doubt Mr. Cole has all you say he does. Probably stuffed a sock
down there.”
Lisa snorted. “Yeah, to impress McCullough.”
“To each his own.” Sharon chortled. “To each his own.”

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