Good Karma (10 page)

Jolene leaned in and whispered, “Does he have
a girlfriend? I heard he doesn’t. Do you know?”

Cold dread and defeat sank like lead inside
Karma’s stomach. Jo was the kind of girl men didn’t say no to. If
she had her sights set on Mark, the game was already over.

“I don’t know,” she said quietly. “I…I don’t
think so.”

Why fight it? Jolene was everything Karma
wasn’t. Jo had never had to work for attention her entire life. She
walked in a bar and men lined up to buy her drinks. She got sick,
and men fought to hold back her luxurious blond hair.

Jo giggled quietly. “He’s so slammin’
hot.”

“I hadn’t noticed.”

Jo was already quick stepping away from
Karma’s desk, aimed like a laser toward the conference room.

Karma’s shoulders sagged. Well, having Mark
to herself had been fun while it lasted. Her stomach sank as she
watched Jo stop a few paces from the doorway, fluff her hair, and
then move in for the kill. Jo was the kind of girl Karma imagined
Mark would normally date. She was Barbie. He was Ken, except Ken
had never been
that
sexy. Ken only alluded at sexy. Mark was
the real thing.

Jolene knocked on the door. “Excuse me,
Mark?”

Mark turned, briefly caught Karma’s eye, then
looked at Jolene. “Yes?”

“Hi. I’m Jolene. We haven’t met, yet.” Jolene
fell into her patented come-hither pose. Breasts high, shoulders
back, chin down so she could bat her lashes at him. She tilted her
head so that her long, blond hair fell to the side.

“Mark.” He stood and shook her hand.

Jolene let hers linger a couple of extra
seconds in his then let go.

“You’re the sales admin, right?” Mark
said.

“Yes.” Jo brightened as if the fact that he
knew what position she held meant he had been checking her out,
too. “If you ever need anything…sales reports, sales data…anything
at all, I’m your girl.”

If Jo even knew how to pull a sales report,
it would be a miracle. Karma was the one who pulled those reports
and manipulated the data for the sales staff, not Jolene. In truth,
Jo should have been fired a long time ago. The only reason she was
still around was because her boss drooled after her, and she
flirted incessantly to keep him wrapped around her little
finger.

Mark smiled politely. “Well, I’ve got all the
help I need, but thank you.” He gestured toward Karma. “Karma takes
excellent care of me.”

Karma’s face heated at the compliment, and
she sat a little higher. Jolene shot her an icy look.

“Well, of course,” Jo said. “Karma’s such an
eager beaver.” She laughed drily then turned back to Mark and fell
into her come-hither pose again, undeterred. “But hey, a few of us
are going for drinks after work. Would you like to join us?” Her
tone suggested more than just drinks.

Karma held her breath. He already had plans
with her, but he could easily change his mind and go with Jo.

“I’m sorry, but I already have plans,” Mark
said. “Maybe another time.”

Karma breathed a sigh of relief and smiled.
There was something satisfying about seeing Jolene get turned down,
especially by Mark. And the fact that Mark was honoring his plans
with her when he could have bailed and had drinks with Jo made
Karma respect him that much more.

“Oh.” Jolene sounded despondent. This had to
be the first time a man hadn’t fallen for her charms. “Okay.
Another time then.”

“Perhaps. Nice to meet you, Jolene.”

Karma glanced at Mark out of the corner of
her eye just as he glanced toward her. “Karma, do you have a
minute?”

She hopped up with a bit more pep in her
step. “Sure.” She grabbed her notebook and headed toward the
conference room.

Jo turned, scowled, then slinked off,
dejected.

Mark waited until Jo was gone, then said
quietly, “That was interesting.”

Karma clutched her notebook against her belly
and bit the inside of her bottom lip. “Jo thinks you’re the bee’s
knees.”

Mark laughed. “The ‘bee’s knees’?”

“Well, I’m paraphrasing. That’s not exactly
how she phrased it. I think her exact words were ‘he’s smokin’
hot.’”

“I see.”

She glanced at her shoes. “I can’t believe
you told her no.”

“I already have plans with you.”

“You could have cancelled.”

Mark didn’t respond until Karma met his gaze
again. Then he glanced past her as if to ensure they were still
alone, leaned forward, and said, “I don’t cancel on someone unless
I have good reason to. And drinks with Jolene isn’t good
reason.”

“Most men would disagree with you.”

Mark frowned, looked out the door again, and
shrugged with a subtle shake of his head. “She does nothing for
me.”

Karma opened her mouth then flapped it shut
like a fish breathing out of water. Had Mark really just said Jo
did nothing for him?

“She’s an open book.” He rocked back in his
chair, his gaze boring into hers. “I prefer women who aren’t
so…obvious.”

Karma fidgeted and scratched the toe of her
shoe on the back of her ankle. “It’s just that I’ve known Jolene a
long time, and men always look twice at her.”

Mark studied her for a moment then sat
forward. “Let them. But I happen to think there’s only one woman at
Solar who’s worth looking at more than once.”

If her heart could have stopped without
killing her, it would have. “Oh? Who?” She could barely speak, her
words wisping out on a breath.

With a grin, Mark leaned back once more. “I’m
looking at her.”

“Oh,” was all she could say.

“By the way,” he said, “I’ve been meaning to
tell you that you look very nice today. That’s a pretty color on
you.”

She wore a simple, magenta button-down blouse
she had bought during an impromptu shopping trip with Daniel and
Zach earlier in the week. She had paired it with black slacks and
the black shoes she had worn on Monday.

“Thank you.”

Mark’s eyes narrowed. “Although…” His mouth
curved into a crooked grin. “That blouse would look so much better
if you unbuttoned one or two buttons.”

Karma’s pulse quickened at the thought as she
lifted her hand to her collar. If she unbuttoned it, wouldn’t that
show too much skin?

“Just a suggestion,” he said as if noticing
her sudden discomfort. “But that blouse is made to be unbuttoned.
Trust me.” He smiled then turned back to his laptop, casually
dismissing her.

She returned to her desk and slowly sat down.
A cauldron of sensations stirred and bubbled inside her.
Excitement, daring, fear. She glanced at Mark. He was focused on
the screen of his tablet, seemingly oblivious to the storm he had
awakened inside her.

Why did she suddenly feel like one of
Pavlov’s dogs? Mark acknowledged her blouse with positive
reinforcement, and now all she wanted was to please him more. If
she did, would he keep paying her compliments?

Yet, she hadn’t expected him to say something
like
that
about her blouse. His words seemed so innocent,
but the tone of his voice, as well as the way his eyes glinted,
oozed a subtle sexuality she recognized as purely Mark. After their
trip to Finnigan’s, as well as a few innocent conversations at the
office, she had learned that nothing about him was overt. Every
move, every suggestion, came disguised as an innocuous expression
meant to provoke a response. For all its apparent innocence, Mark’s
suggestion to unbutton her blouse may as well have been an outright
challenge. It was as if he wanted to see if she had the guts to
push out of her comfort zone.

For several minutes, she sat at her desk,
unmoving, her mind racing. Mark was busy typing away, calm as could
be, while she broke out in a sweat over something as simple as
unfastening one or two tiny buttons. What the hell? Was this really
such a big deal? Women wore more revealing blouses than
hers—unbuttoned or not—all the time.

She looked down at her blouse. Maybe it
would
look better unbuttoned. She would certainly look less
like a nun. But then she risked showing off her scant cleavage.
Cleavage? Who was she kidding? She needed the help of a Wonderbra
stuffed with Beyoncé’s ample curves to give her cleavage, which
implied mounds of flesh pushed against each other. What Karma had
up top could not be described as mounds of flesh. Her childhood
classmates had made that abundantly and repeatedly clear.

She looked around the open space surrounding
her desk. No one was watching. Why not take a chance? Grow up a
little? Put the insults of her youth behind her once and for all.
Memories of Jolene and her brother laughing and making fun of her
flashed through her mind, and she frowned before glancing down the
hall in the direction Jolene had gone a few minutes ago.

The resulting jolt of anger provided
motivation.

Just do it, for God’s sake!

She rapidly unfastened the top button, then
the next one.

There. Take that, Jolene.

She had gotten over feeling exposed in the
red dress last Saturday night, and she would get over feeling
exposed in her blouse. Nothing to it.

A few minutes later, Mark packed up his
laptop and grabbed his jacket.

He approached her desk. “Karma, do you think
you could recommend—” His eyes dropped to the open collar of her
blouse. His brows gave an upward tick, as did the corners of his
mouth, and he stepped closer to her desk as he lifted his gaze to
hers and cleared his throat. “I’m hoping you could recommend a gym.
Maybe one that has basketball courts?” His eyes drilled hers with
obvious delight.

She took a shaky breath, certain that her
blouse had fallen open to reveal her breasts, but she refused to
fidget or cover herself. “The gym I use has four full basketball
courts.” Her mouth suddenly went dry. It was like she had a
mouthful of cotton.

“You work out?” A note of approval lilted his
voice.

She nodded and maintained eye contact,
quelling her nerves as she peeled her tongue from the roof of her
mouth. “Yes. Yoga and Pilates three times a week.”

He offered an appreciative tilt of his head.
“Nice. I try to run a couple of miles a day and do some weight
lifting. Do you ever lift weights?”

She shook her head and worried the tip of her
right thumb over the fingernails on her left hand. “No, not
really.”

Mark adjusted his bag over his shoulder. “You
should give it a try.” He lowered his voice. “Some men find it
sexy.” His gaze flashed to her blouse again.

Karma caught her breath, and her skin
prickled with heat.

He grinned, his eyes twinkling. “Not that you
need to worry about that.”

Mark was purposely trying to unnerve her. But
he could be so alluring like this, playful and flirtatious.

She bit the inside of her lip.

“Forgive me. I’m embarrassing you.” But he
didn’t sound like he really wanted forgiveness. It was obvious to
Karma that he knew exactly what he was doing and felt no remorse
whatsoever. To him, this was a game, and he was the master. And
yet…she still wanted to play.

“You’re not embarrassing me.” But the flames
running down her neck said otherwise. She couldn’t even hide behind
her hair, because it was pulled into her usual chignon.

He looked much too pleased with himself as he
adjusted his bag once more and checked his watch. “Well, perhaps
you could give me the name of your gym? I’d like to check it
out.”

As she grabbed a small notepad, she stole a
glance at her blouse. Whew! Still covered. She scribbled down the
name then tore the slip of paper from the pad. “They offer
temporary memberships, and it’s only about five minutes from here,
so it’s convenient.”

“So it is.” He folded the square of paper
before tucking it into his palm. “I’ll check it out next week. Who
knows, Miss Mason, perhaps I’ll see you there some night after
work.”

Mental note: Look good at the gym.
“Maybe you will.”

Then he leaned closer and whispered, “I’ll
see you in a bit.” With that, he turned and left.

Karma stared numbly down the empty hall as if
she could see the pheromone trail Mark had left behind. She had a
feeling things were about to get interesting in her boring little
world. And maybe, if she was lucky, Mark would misbehave again
tonight.

Chapter 11

No matter
how hard the past, you can always begin again.

-Buddha

By six thirty, Mark had found a parking garage near
St. Elmo’s in downtown Indianapolis. He and Karma had chatted
non-stop on the drive down. She’d asked where he was staying, and
he’d informed her that his company had set him up in a condo. It
was more cost effective than a hotel. They’d reminisced about their
trip to Finnigan’s Wednesday night, and about how they both shared
a love for jazz, as well as for watery locales. She’d told him that
her dream vacation would be to a tropical island with white sand
beaches and water so clear she could see all the way to the bottom.
However, for all their easy conversation, she seemed reserved, as
if she still needed time to get used to being around him.

When they got out of the car, they were met
with the savory aroma of grilled steak, barbecue, and a myriad of
other mouthwatering scents. They were smack in the middle of what
Mark referred to as Food Alley. Three city blocks of every kind of
restaurant imaginable.

A warm, blustery breeze tore between the tall
buildings as they walked the short distance to St. Elmo’s. He
opened the door, stepped aside to let her enter, then navigated her
through the Friday night after-work bar crowd as the hostess led
them to an intimate table for two along the wall.

After ordering them both an appetizer of
shrimp cocktail, he rested his elbows on the table and laced his
fingers together. “So, I’m dying to hear how an executive assistant
from Indianapolis ended up at an arts benefit in Chicago last
Saturday night.”