Riding the Corporate Ladder (Indigo) (27 page)

“That’s okay,” Deena said. “I’m not going to get embarrassed unless you turn me down.”

“I didn’t think you had this in you.”

“Are you stalling?”

He grinned. “You don’t think this is at all inappropriate?”

“It might be,” Deena said. “If I was your boss, I probably wouldn’t have tried it. But I don’t have any leverage over your career.”

“I have plenty leverage over yours.”

“But you didn’t initiate this.”

“I know,” he said. “But who’s to say how it’s remembered months from now?”

Deena felt like she had him, but she was arguing with one of the nation’s top lawyers. “I would never do anything to hurt you or your career,” she said. “Look, do you have a girlfriend or something? I am starting to feel embarrassed now.”

He shook his head.

“You’re not engaged or anything?”

“No, Miss Newman. I’m not seeing anyone.”

“Well, do you think you’d like to see me casually or not? And if you’re really worried about my intentions, we can go up to your office and have your secretary take a memo: I’m asking you out. There’s no harassment involved—well, not from your end at least.” She gave him a wistful smile. “We’re two sane and competent adults, and this has nothing to do with the firm.”

Mr. Markham nodded. “Miss Newman, I—”

“Please, call me Deena.”

“Deena, I really like you—as a colleague— and I’m impressed with your drive and determination. I mean, any woman who would trap me on an elevator just to ask me out, if nothing else, you’ve got balls.”

She waited, realizing he was letting her down easy.

“You’re a beautiful woman,” he said. “But I don’t think it’s appropriate for us to have a romantic relationship, especially given your bright future in the firm. I don’t ever want there to be a conflict of interests. You wouldn’t want that either, would you?”

That was her chance to back out, but Deena never backed out, backed up, backed off, or backed down. “I do have a good career,” she said. “If you get mad at me one day and I never move up again, I’ll still be happy with my accomplishments. If I let this moment go by, however, without telling you how I feel, I won’t be happy with that.”

That was the corniest line she could think of on the spur of the moment. It was also a bald-faced lie, but it appeared to do the trick. The director softened visibly. He chuckled, and when he opened his mouth to speak, Deena knew she wouldn’t be rejected.

“Sir, I think you should go out with her. Either way, I’m going to have to get this elevator moving, if it’s all right with you guys.” That voice came from the intercom, and both Deena and David laughed, a bit nervously.

Deena turned to unlock the elevator. It began to descend immediately, and she pressed number nine so she could get off on her floor. She looked back at the mark who still hadn’t given her an answer.

“So now I have to go down again?” he asked.

That wasn’t what Deena was hoping to hear. She never fought this hard for a man’s attention, and it was starting to piss her off. “I’m sorry to have wasted your time,” she said.

“It wasn’t a waste.”

She watched his eyes, but couldn’t read them. The elevator stopped again, and the doors slid open on Deena’s floor. She wasn’t going to vie for his affection anymore, but she didn’t want to leave it up in limbo, either. She stepped between the doors and turned with the friendliest grin she could muster.

“Thanks for hearing me out, Mr. Markham. I’m really so—”

“You can call me David,” he said. “Maybe not here, but if we go out, you can…”

A great flood of euphoria rushed through her, but it didn’t show on Deena’s face at all.

“Oh?”

He reached into his breast pocket and produced a business card. “My cellular number’s on there. Call me later on tonight.”

Deena took the card, but the letters got all jumbled up when she tried to read it.

“I thought you said it was a bad idea.”

“I still feel that way, Deena. But you’re a special lady. You know that. I don’t know a man who would turn you down.”

She liked that. It was a nice touch.

“Thanks.”

She backed away and the doors began to close. She maintained eye contact until the last moment and let out a big sigh when the mark was finally out of sight. She wiped sweat from her forehead. It was barely 8 a.m. and she already felt jittery and drained.

She couldn’t remember the last time she wanted a man so badly. She couldn’t remember the last time she felt so unsure of herself, either. That should have been a good reason to leave well enough alone, but quitting was the last thing on Deena’s mind. On the contrary, the excitement was like food to her soul; she hadn’t felt so good in years.

* * *

She didn’t get home until after seven that night. She was still in a good mood and eager to continue with The Seduction of Mr. Markham, but by then Deena had a few hours to consider exactly how she wanted things to go down. Phase One was to make the subject aware of her interest in him. She accomplished that goal with flying colors, but her second step was a bit trickier.

In Phase Two Deena planned to back away from the subject and make him pursue her instead. There were a lot of ways to go about this, but she didn’t think she needed anything too elaborate. As a matter of fact, Deena felt like she had game for days. She thought she could take care of Phase Two with just one phone call.

She showered and made dinner for herself and Boogie first. When she was done eating, it was eight o’clock, but Deena didn’t think the timing was right just yet. She watched a program she had recorded on her DVR and looked over a few briefs from work after that. When the news came on at ten, Deena watched the top stories before she fished Mr. Markham’s business card from her briefcase.

Her stomach did a little flip when she dialed the number, and Deena forced herself to remain calm. She was in control now, and there was no need for apprehension. Mr. Markham may be a millionaire, and he may have the power to destroy her career with one stroke of his gold-plated ink pen, but, above all of that, he was just a man. And men thought with their dicks ninety percent of the time—especially when they were sleepy.

After four rings Deena was poised to leave a message on his voicemail, but someone with a deep, groggy voice picked up.

“Hmmph. Hel-hello?”

“Hi. David?”

“Yeah.”

“I’m sorry—are you asleep?”

“Um, no. Who’s this?”

“This is Deena.”

“Deena?”

“Don’t play.”

“Oh. I mean—”

“You go to sleep pretty early, huh?”

“It’s a habit.” He sighed heavily. “You know how it is, early to bed, early to rise…”

“Looks like that worked out pretty well for you,” Deena noted. “You look pretty healthy, and wealthy…”

After a pause he said, “Are you trying to say I’m not wise?”

She smiled. “No. You’re plenty wise, too.”

“Well, thank you.”

“Hey, I’m going to let you get to sleep,” Deena said. “I just wanted to let you know that I changed my mind about us.”

The conversation skipped a beat, just as she knew it would.

“Really?”

“Yeah. I’ve been considering what you said, on the elevator, and I’m starting to think you’re right. I don’t want any problems down the road, either, and I definitely don’t want to chase after some man who isn’t interested in me.”

“I never said I wasn’t interested.”

Deena looked up to the ceiling, smiling pleasantly. This couldn’t have gone better.

“That’s not the way you made me feel,” she said.

“I don’t understand.”

“Well, I felt pretty undesirable when we were on that elevator, vulnerable even.”

He laughed. “You, vulnerable? Deena, that’s ridiculous. You were 100 percent in control.”

“Maybe at first,” she said. “But then you took so long to answer me. That security guard was listening, and I was embarrassed. All I wanted was a simple yes or no. You left me hanging until the last minute.”

“Oh, so I offended you?”

“It wasn’t cool,” Deena said. “I’m not used to being treated like that.”

There was another pause. When Mr. Markham spoke again, he sounded like he was in the courtroom. “That’s pretty distressing, Deena. And I’m sorry you felt that way. But I wasn’t born yesterday, you know.”

She sat up with a start. “Excuse me?”

“Well, I may be wrong, but I think I know what’s going on here.”

Deena didn’t like the way this was going. “What are you talking about?”

“I think you want me to chase you,” he said. “At first it felt like a good idea to come on to me, but that’s not what you want. Most women want to be courted, with style and flair. You want the man to take the lead in these things. If I’m wrong, let me know.”

Damn, Deena thought. It was out of character for a man to out-manipulate her. “I do want that,” she admitted. “And I think you never approached me romantically because you’re not really interested.”

“I’m very interested, Deena. But you know I couldn’t approach you—no matter how I felt.”

“Fine. So I opened the door for you.”

“And I’m glad you did,” he said. “I really am.”

“Then you can call me next time.”

“That’s fine.”

“And you can come up with an idea of where you want to take me for our date.”

He chuckled. “Yes, ma’am.”

“I’m not going to call you again until I feel like you like me,” she said.

“You’re a beautiful woman,” he said. “You have every right to be spoiled.”

“I’m not spoiled.”

He laughed. “I was just kidding.”

“I am a little spoiled,” Deena admitted.

“I know.”

“Whatever. I’ll let you get back to bed. I’m going to sleep, too.”

“And I won’t hear from you again until you feel like I like you,” David teased. “Right?”

“You think you know everything.”

“I know enough to know that I don’t know anything,” he said. “But I do know some things.”

“You don’t know me like you think you do,” Deena warned.

“I know ten times more about you than you do about me,” David countered. “I’ll talk to you later.”

“Bye.”

Deena hung up with an uneasy feeling in her gut. Technically her goal was accomplished, but Mr. Markham saw right through her ruse. She wondered why he went along with it anyway. This was a guarded victory.

Deena had to remind herself that there were a few men out there who actually thought with their brains rather than their dicks sometimes. They were few and far between, but they did exist. She would play it better in the future. David was good, but Deena was one of the best.

The rest of the week rolled by without much excitement. Deena finally got a chance to appear in court for her Fizz Cola case, but the proceedings were dry and dusty. The complainant admitted to contaminating his own soda with urine, as everyone knew he would, and the judge dismissed the case. The loser was then sentenced to nine months in prison for lying under oath and presenting the bogus lawsuit.

Deena also filed a civil suit against him, but no one expected much to come from that; the complainant and his brother were both dead broke and didn’t have any wages to garnish. They owned no property, and the net worth of all of their personal effects combined didn’t come anywhere near Deena’s legal fees.

It was a big victory for Fizz Cola, however, and it was a big victory for the firm as well. Deena had another successful litigation to add to her résumé, and that was probably the best part of the whole experience.

She knew she was one tick closer to the junior partner position, but Deena wasn’t going to rely on her outstanding efforts in the courtroom or the boardroom. The only room that mattered had satin sheets on the bed, and that route never failed her. It was as sure as science.

* * *

She didn’t hear from Mr. Markham again throughout the week, but that was no cause for concern. She knew he wouldn’t call for at least three days, just being a man. On Friday, however, Deena fully expected him to ring her line before she laid it down for the night. He didn’t have to go to bed early or get anything ready for work the next day. Plus if he wanted to do something with her that weekend, Friday was the best day to make those plans.

Deena got home a little before seven that evening. She took a long, soothing bath with mineral salts in the water and Lauryn Hill playing on the stereo in her bedroom. When she got out, she chilled a bottle of wine and made a delectable chicken parmigiana meal for herself. She ate well and lounged on the sofa later with one of her favorite Zane novels.

When the phone rang at nine o’clock, an evil smile parted her lips, but it was only the twins trying to get her to go to the Coco Lounge.