In Bed With Her Boss (Kimani Romance) Read Free Page A

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