Playing With Fire (Excerpt Only) - BWWM Interracial Romance

Playing with Fire (Chapter 4)

CHAPTER FOUR: SERIOUS BUSINESS

Janet decided to have lunch with Eric again the following day, and this time, she let him choose the place. She was glad when he chose Sub Hub too since she didn't have to compromise her diet.

She was finally starting to relax around Eric a little, and she knew that the more contact she had with him, the easier it would get to pretend she felt little more than what she usually felt for coworkers, so she silently planned to eat with him for about a week.

They only had to work closely on their project in the beginning as they sorted everything out, but she knew he would soon spend less and less time in her office and calling her on the phone, and they'd have major contact only when the next phase was reached or if they had to regroup.

She felt a sudden sadness at the thought.

Still, as much as she wanted to, she knew that regular lunches with him would only be trouble, but she convinced herself that she was doing them now only to help them get familiar and comfortable, in order to maximize their compatibility for working together, and ultimately, their efficiency. It was all logical.

She had blown Liz off for the second day in a row, but Liz was understanding and even sounded conspiratorial in the way she told her to take all the time she needed getting to know her new coworker. But Janet knew Liz didn't expect to get dumped completely, and she planned to get back to having lunch with her by the following week. Eric would understand.

As she and Eric settled down to eat, Janet was horrified to see a familiar face entering the diner and immediately thought: He's following me.

With the lack of contact attempts, she had begun to think that David had finally gotten the message and was moving on, but she now realized how very wrong she was.

"What are you doing here with him?" David demanded as he came up to them, thumbing rudely in Eric's direction.

"Excuse you? Why else would someone come here but to grab a bite to eat?"

"Yeah, I don't think it's a bite he wants to grab," David said, disgust etched in his face as he briefly looked at Eric.

Eric sat quietly, his eyebrows raising slightly as he looked from her to David.

Janet felt embarrassed even though she knew David's rudeness wasn't her fault.

"That's none of your goddamned business, David. What the hell's wrong with you, acting all crazy over my lunch with a coworker, especially when it's no longer your concern?"

"It'll always be my concern, Jan—I love you. Look, I'm sorry I was a jerk, but you have to take me back. We were gonna get married, for Christ's sake—how could you turn your back on us like that?"

Janet almost choked. "I'm the one who turned my back? David, get out of my face—and my life—for good."

David opened his mouth as if to say something, but Eric stood up with force, hitting the table accidentally so that everything shook on it.

David's eyes turned to him.

"How many times does the lady have to tell you to beat it?" Eric said, and his voice was quiet, but Janet detected something underneath it—like a barely constrained rage.

"What are you now, her bodyguard?" David said, scoffing.

"I can be," Eric asserted, not only turning fully toward David but stepping into his space. "Seriously, man—what you're doing is called stalking. Her next step is a restraining order, and I'm not sure you want to find out the next step."