Boys Dem Sugar

 

Several thoughts breezed through her mind as Benjamin Levy aimed his killer blue eyes at her head. The first was that he had fallen in love with her because of their kiss and planned to stalk her like a creepy serial killer from a Lifetime movie.  

The second was slightly less extreme, but equally unnerving. Perhaps, Benjamin Levy had misunderstood their accidental kiss as an intentional come-on. Assuming that she had known who he was from the start, did he think that she had concocted an elaborate plan to throw herself at him? Did he expect some kind of illicit arrangement to stem from that?

It just didn’t make sense. Why else would he pay extra-attention to her after their awkward first encounter? Couldn’t he sense her discomfort? Or did he just not care?

“Is your hand really okay?” he asked, gently grasping her fingers and examining every inch of her arm. His palm cradled hers and her fingertips grazed his callouses.

He had rough hands for a businessman, large hands. She recalled the feel of his embrace when he’d caught her downstairs, but brought herself back from traveling that road just in time.

“It’s fine,” Kelly said, briskly tugging her hand from his hold. “If you don’t mind, I have work to do.”

He folded his arms over his chest. “You left something downstairs.”

She bristled and faced him. “If you’re about to say: ‘I left my heart in your hands’ I’d like to warn you. That’s very unoriginal.”

He arched an eyebrow, his handsome face lighting up with amusement. “Is that so?”

“What happened in the lobby… I honestly had no idea who you were. Don’t misunderstand.”

“There’s nothing to misunderstand. I caught you, and you kissed me.”

She winced and fisted her hands at her sides. “I did not kiss you. I tripped and my mouth somehow landed on yours. In any event, I would really appreciate it if you would wipe that entire fiasco from your memory.”

“Alright.” He agreed easily. “Just let me check something.” Before she could utter a word of protest, Benjamin Levy reached out and drew her long, straight hair behind her ear.

Kelly’s mouth opened, but no sound came out. Heat zinged through her core and sparked an explosion in her chest. Why did her body react to that gentle touch? Why couldn’t she speak?

“As I suspected,” Benjamin muttered. His blue eyes locked on hers and she couldn’t look away.

The man had a chiseled jaw, sharp cheekbones and a strong forehead. The aristocratic planes of his face fit her imaginations of a Russian mobster to a T.

But those eyes… they were too expressive to make it in a life of crime.

“W-what are you doing.”

“Is this yours by chance?” He fished a delicate silver earring from his pants pocket.

Kelly’s hand flew to her ear and she pressed against the lobe, gaping when she found emptiness where her precious earring had been that morning.

“Did I drop this in the lobby?” she asked, cupping her hands to receive the jewelry.

“That’s my guess. It’s a nice piece.”

She flung her hair behind her shoulder and fixed the earring as she said. “It belonged to my mother. It was the last gift she gave me before she died.” Kelly froze, wondering why she had shared such personal information with her new boss.

“It’s okay,” he said, interpreting her expression. “I know what it is to lose someone.”

“Oh.” Kelly recalled Errol’s words at the beginning of the meeting. “Your father. My condolences.”

“He was a good man.” Benjamin nodded. “It’s my dream to be just like him in business and in relationships.”

Those eyes—they were killing her. She didn’t know this man and yet the frank sincerity in his gaze unnerved her something fierce. If it was lust or anything on the planes of a purely physical attraction, Kelly could handle it.

She had shut down more than a few bosses who had heard the rumors about her personal life and made their own assumptions about her professional character. Work was always, always separate from what she did after hours.

Kelly didn’t compromise on that.

Yet there was a distinct quality in the way Benjamin Levy looked at her—something she couldn’t quite put a finger on. It was an interest that leaned heavily on emotional curiosity, as if he were a child poking at a worm he’d found on a rock.

Kelly didn’t want to be an experiment and she didn’t want to be crushed. That meant squirming away as fast as she could.

“I should go,” she said huskily and then cursed herself for the whispered tone. They weren’t having a ‘moment’. Why would she treat his intense appraisal of her as some kind of sacred exchange?

She walked away, head down, and he let her go.

Kelly scurried into the Business Office and stopped in her tracks when she saw all the women of D&T gathered around her desk waiting for her.

“How do you know Benjamin Levy?” Harley demanded without so much as a ‘how-do-you-do’.

“I don’t know him.”

“Then why did you stay back to speak with him in the meeting room?” Gladys, who worked in HR, croaked.

“Gladys, why are you asking me that? You’re engaged.”

The older woman turned her ring over so that the diamond pointed down. “I’m not married yet!”

“You guys are ridiculous.” Rene hopped off Kelly’s desk and walked over to her. “Kelly doesn’t have to tell you anything.” In her ear, Rene threatened. “If I don’t get the juicy details later, heads will roll.”

Kelly shrugged her friend off. “You should scatter before Errol comes and chases you out.”

“I’m not leaving until I hear everything,” Harley said stubbornly. The other women took her cue, unmoved by Kelly’s warning.

“I don’t know what else to tell you! I met Benjamin Levy for the first time today like all of you.”

“Puh-lease.” Harley flicked her wrist. “Do you know who that man is? Who that man’s family is?”

“No.” Kelly exchanged a glance with Nelly. “Did everyone look him up except me?” The women nodded. Mutters of ‘yeah’ and ‘pretty much’ rumbled on the wind.

“The point is, Benjamin Levy is not someone you can just talk to. He’s like royalty. It’s like freaking Queen Elizabeth coming to Belize for the second time. And he just coincidentally chose to talk privately with you? That doesn’t make sense! Do you understand what I’m saying here?”

Kelly tilted her chin and stared Harley down. “Benjamin Levy is not Queen Elizabeth. Whether or not he makes a lot of money or has a lot of connections is not my concern. Good for him if his family is well off and his business makes a crap load of profits. As for me, he’s the one who signs the checks. That’s it. Satisfied?”

Harley narrowed her eyes in suspicion. Tilting her head, Kelly kept her expression blank and waited for the ladies to leave so she could focus on all the work that needed to be done.

Realizing that no one was prepared to budge, Rene cupped a hand over her ear and leaned forward. “Is that Errol I hear?”

The reaction was immediate. Women vaulted over desks, climbed over chairs and scrambled to exit the office until Kelly and Rene were the only two female employees left.

“I should thank you.”

“I’ll take my payment in the form of the truth.” Kelly glanced around and Rene assured her. “Nobody’s here. Dish. Why were you and Benjamin Levy locked in the meeting room for five minutes?”

“He wanted to return my earring.”

“Your mom’s?” Rene’s eyes widened. “How did you lose it?”

“There was an accident in the lobby.”

“I’m guessing it involved Mr. Levy?”

“I might have… sort of kissed him.”

“What?” Rene gaped. “You ki—” She covered her mouth and hissed. “You kissed him?”

“I was rushing. I tripped. Our lips smacked together. That was it. My earring came off in the scuffle and he returned it to me after promising to forget that entire episode ever happened.”

“You flung yourself at Benjamin Levy! Way to step up, girl!” Rene offered her hand for a high-five.

Kelly rejected her friend’s congratulations. “It didn’t mean anything.”

“That’s a heck of a way to get a man to notice you.”

“Didn’t you hear me? I said: It. Was. An. Accident. I didn’t want it to happen. You know I don’t play around with men from work. I don’t even look at people who work in this building. That’s how serious I am.”

“He must have liked it if he kept you back,” Rene said, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

Kelly threw her arms in the air. “Forget it. Get out!”

“Calm down. I’m leaving.” Rene tossed a wink at Kelly. “I have a feeling this particular guy might change your mind about in-office dating.”

“Good bye, Rene.” Kelly switched on her computer and pretended to be engrossed in the spreadsheets, but Rene’s words echoed in her head so that she could barely read the screen.

The truth was… Kelly had a feeling Benjamin Levy would do his best to change her mind too.