Access Granted (7 page)

Chapter Eleven

“Good morning, beautiful.”

The three little words were whispered from directly behind her. Placing her coffee container on the roof of her car, Sabrina tried to fight off her initial excitement at the sound of Zander’s voice. She was almost late for work after her sinful dream about him.

Visions of both of them naked making love in the shower was dancing around in her head. Sabrina wondered if she turned around if Zander would be able to read the need in her eyes.

No matter what kind of drama was going on around them Zander always knew when something wasn’t right with her. Sometimes, it almost seemed like he could read her most private thoughts.

She shivered at the mere idea of Zander being able to read what she wanted from him. Fighting off her constant reaction to him was a daily battle. Plus after the surprise conversation with her mother last night  Sabrina found it even harder to face Zander this morning.

“Sabrina, are you going to pretend that I’m not even here. I know you hear me,” Zander said stepping closer to her. His body warmth surrounded hers.

Great! She wouldn’t be able to get away with standing like this for a second longer. Squaring her shoulders, Sabrina slowly turned round and gasped as her nipples brushed across Zander’s hard chest.

“What are you doing here?” Sabrina asked the first question that came into her head.

“Aren’t you ever happy to see me, Sabrina?”  Placing his hand by the side of her head, Zander leaned into her body unconsciously drawing her into the sensual web that surrounded him.

“I’m always happy to see you, Zander. Why wouldn’t I be?” Sabrina eyed him wondering if he saw how fast her heart was beating underneath her top. She couldn’t have slowed it down if she wanted since it only got like this with Zander.

“After the way you kicked me out of your house the other night, I was concerned you might be holding a grudge about our kiss,” Zander confessed as his eyes dropped down to her mouth. “Your friendship means a lot to me and if we can’t be more than friends I will have to learn how to deal with your decision.”

He traced her bottom lip with the tip of his finger. Back and forth it went making her body sizzle for his mouth against hers. “I will just have to allow the memory of our one and only kiss keep me going. I can do that for you.”

Sabrina listened to Zander with rising dismay. She couldn’t shake the odd twinge of disappointment filling her body. She dropped her lashes quickly to hide the sudden hurt in her eyes. Zander didn’t want her anymore? Why was he paying attention to what she told him now after ignoring it so many times before?

“Sabrina, are you okay?” Removing his finger from her mouth, Zander placed his large, warm hand underneath her chin and lifted her face making her stare him in the eye.

Despite that fact, all she wanted to do was brush past him and get to work. She wouldn’t do it. She had a question first. “Can I ask what made you change your mind?”

This conversation would be in the back of her mind for the rest of the day which would clutter her ability to give her usual 110% to her job.  Too many important people were depending on her skills as a court reporter to be let down by her doing a sloppy job.

“You made me change my mind,” Zander confessed. He moved his hand away from her chin and grabbed a piece of her hair playing with it between two of his long, thick fingers. “I couldn’t take the chance of losing you altogether, so I’m going to hold on to what I have with you.”

I should be happy, so why do I feel so empty
, Sabrina wondered as she closed her eyes trying to grasp her emotions missing the pleased look that passed over Zander’s face.

Sabrina reopened her eyes and watched as Zander removed his hand from her hair. She swallowed down the intense regret that lodged in her suddenly dry throat. She had pushed Zander away. He was going to leave her.

Just the thought of him no longer being around her devastated her to no end and she wasn’t sure why. The feeling was like she was losing something more important than just a friend.

“Thank you for coming by and telling me. I’m glad you listened to me.”  Sabrina pulled her purse strap back on her shoulder as it started to slip down her arm.

“Are you sure you’re pleased with my decision. You aren’t acting like yourself. Usually you’re filled with so much energy in the morning. Did you have a bad night?” Zander questioned.

Her eyes shot back up to Zander’s. She searched his trying to find any signs that she might have done something to give herself away, but she didn’t find any clues there.

Taking a deep relaxing breath, Sabrina shoved her fear to the bottom of her stomach. Why was she so worried? Zander wasn’t aware of her x-rated dream featuring them in the shower.

“I’m fine,” she lied. “Could you please step back? I need to get to work. I can’t be late. There’s a big case I need to get set up for.”

Zander studied her face tracing her features with his steel gray eyes before finally stepping back like she requested. “I apologize for holding you up. I know how important your job here is to you. Do you think you’ll be free for lunch later?”

Sabrina’s eyebrows shot up to her hairline. “You’re really asking me out to lunch instead of demanding I go with you,” she said, clearly surprised.

Instantly, she went on high alert. Something was up with Zander. There wasn’t a requesting bone in his entire gorgeous body. Zander Irizarry only knew how to demand or bark out orders.

“Yes, I’m asking you. So how about it?”  Zander grinned at her sending her stomach into a somersault. “Would you really let me eat lunch alone?”

Titling her head to the side, Sabrina wondered what Zander was up to now. She had known him too long to believe he had changed this suddenly. He didn’t have it in his make up, but she would go along with him just to see what he was plotting.

“I haven’t gotten any other invitations since I arrived in the parking lot this morning, so I wouldn’t mind spending my lunch hour with you. It’s not like I’ve seen Brent or Sean for either one of them to ask me.”

Steel gray eyes flashed for a moment then went out at the mention of the other two men’s names. Sabrina pressed her mouth together so she wouldn’t grin at Zander. She knew the highly jealous Zander was still lurking in there. He hadn’t completely changed and she liked it.

“Thank you for accepting. I will be waiting for you in the hallway outside the courtroom.” Reaching down, Zander grabbed her hand placing a kiss on the back. She took a quick sharp breath at the scorching awareness that bulleted down the length of her arm.

Sabrina jumped when the tip of Zander’s tongue licked the same spot as his kiss only seconds before. He dropped her hand and took a step back.

“Have a good morning and I’ll see you at lunch, beautiful.” Turning around, Zander walked away with a confident stride only he could pull off.

Holding her hand against her chest, Sabrina couldn’t get over how Zander was an ever-changing mystery. Most of the time he was domineering and only saw things one way─ his; but this morning he was calmer, more laid back. She wasn’t sure which man turned her on the most.

She stood in the parking lot until Zander disappeared around the corner of the building towards the visitor’s parking lot.

****

Zander continued around the building until he couldn’t feel Sabrina’s hazel eyes staring after him anymore. God, he almost lost it back there when he read her mind. He hadn’t wanted to do it, but he couldn’t resist any longer. He needed to know what was going on with her.

Sabrina dreamt about them in the shower
!

He had pulled her into his fantasy without even knowing it. God, he had to find Jax and tell him about this.  His connection with Sabrina was growing more and more each day and in the end it was going to be so strong. She wouldn’t be able to find any excuses to deny him...or them. Whistling to himself, Zander headed for his car parked at the very end of the parking lot. Lunch today with Sabrina might end up turning out better than he thought it would.

Chapter Twelve

“Who in the hell was that gorgeous man and where have you been hiding him? God, his ass was so tight in those jeans I could have bounced a rock off them.”

Looking out of her peripheral vision, Sabrina tried not to groan underneath her breath when she found Janet Tapp standing next to her. They both worked on the same floor, but Janet worked in the clerk’s office. Sometimes they went out to lunch together, but not that often since Janet loved to gossip about anything and everything. Today wasn’t a day she was in the mood to deal with Janet.

“Zander is a friend of the family.” Spinning around, Sabrina grabbed her now cold coffee container off the roof of her car. She would throw it away when she got inside of the building.

“Why have you been keeping that gorgeous man hidden away from the rest of the world?” Janet asked her. “I wouldn’t waste my time on Brent or Sean if I had that guy interested in me. How long have you been seeing him?”

“I’m not seeing Zander. We’re only friends.” Sabrina walked away from Janet towards the front of the building. If she didn’t go now, she would truly end up being late and she was never late for work.

“Wonderful news for me,” Janet said as she strolled behind her. “I guess that means the next time I see him I can ask all of that hot male perfection out on a date?”

Shocked by Janet’s forwardness, Sabrina spun back around and faced the taller woman. “No, you can’t ask him out on a date. Zander stays extremely busy with his security job. Most days, he doesn’t even have time for lunch. I don’t think he’s even looking for a girlfriend.”

Robin blue eyes sparkled with understanding as Janet grinned at her. “How do you know his lunch schedule so well?” She laughed. “I thought you were only friends with Zander. Sounds like you want to be more. I’m positive you wouldn’t have cared if I wanted to go out on a date with Brent or Sean.”

Sabrina opened her mouth ready to deny it, but she couldn’t. Damn it to hell! Zander was getting to her and that kiss is what stirred up all of this and got the ball rolling. Well, she would have to put the brakes on it. No matter what her mother might think, Zander wasn’t the man for her.

“Janet, you’re wrong,” Sabrina denied as she turned back around, opened the glass door and continued on inside of the building leaving her co-worker standing behind her.

****

“Good morning, Sabrina. I was worried you weren’t going to be here today when I didn’t see you in the cafeteria earlier.”

Spinning around from the table near the front of the courtroom, Sabrina watched as Sean hurried toward her with a huge grin on his face. She tried to keep the frown off her face at the excitement in his voice. She already had enough problems with Brent not knowing to take no for an answer.

Hearing her continuous rejection didn’t seem to bother him in the least; in fact, it only appeared to fuel his pursuit of her. How did she allow herself to get into this kind of situation with the two of them? Sabrina had no clue, but if she did she wouldn’t have let it happen in the first place. Now all she desired was a way out of it.

“Morning to you too, Sean” Sabrina answered, trying to be polite as she could. “You shouldn’t have been worried about me. Have I ever missed a day of work since I started working here?”

Sean glanced away from her with deep embarrassment written all across his face. “No, you haven’t. You are always here and on time,” he replied, looking back at her. “That’s why I was so concerned when I didn’t see you earlier.” His dark brown eyes held her like he was seeking her approval about something, but she didn’t know what it could be. Sabrina didn’t like how Sean was so attached to her. He needed to take five steps back into his own personal space. They were only co-workers and nothing more.

“Don’t worry. I’m here.” Sabrina smiled before turning away, she wasn’t trying to encourage him but she couldn’t be down right mean either.

“I can see you’re here. I could never miss that pretty face of yours,” Sean flirted behind her.

Sabrina twirled back around. Her eyes glanced around the courtroom making sure they were still alone. She couldn’t let anyone overhear Sean’s compliment. If he didn’t stop, Sean would get both of them into big trouble.

“How many times do I have to tell you to stop with all of the compliments? They aren’t going to make me change my mind about you. We are only co-workers and that isn’t going to change.”

Why couldn’t he listen to her
? It truly came across like her words were going in one ear and coming out the other.

Sean’s lids came down over his eyes as he glared at her. The sudden change in the air made Sabrina take a step back from him. She wasn’t normally scared of Sean, but he was scaring her right now.

“Why is Brent good enough for you to go out on a date with but I’m not?” he demanded.

“How did you even know about my date with Brent?” Sabrina exclaimed, taking another step back. She hadn’t told anyone but Zander that she even went out with Brent.

“I saw you at the club with him,” Sean answered. “How could you even pick him when I’m so much better looking? Does he even have a real job?”

The shock of figuring out what Sean’s problem was hit her full force. He was never interested going out with her. He was in a competition with Brent. She had heard in passing that Brent and Sean knew each other since childhood and were always fighting over something.

Well, she wasn’t going to be the new thing they battled over.

“Sean, I think you need to leave now. I have to finish getting set up for work,” Sabrina said, walking away from him. When she got a chance, she would also have a very long talk with Brent. He might  have been friends with Avery but he wasn’t going to use her like this. She wouldn’t stand for it.

“Are you seriously dismissing me like I’m a child? You should be happy I gave you some attention. A lot of women around here would be thrilled to get me to notice them,” Sean bragged in his usual arrogant manner.

Blowing out a deep breath through her nose, Sabrina swallowed down her initial comment as she tried to make sense of what was going on with her today. She had to get her anger under control. With a deliberately casual movement, she turned and faced Sean.

“I’m not interested in dating you or Brent. I’m still mourning the death of my brother. All I want to do is work and that is all. Don’t take it personally. Not that I need to explain myself to you, but I have told Brent the same thing as I just told you.”

“Have you told Zander this same song and dance or is he the one you want helping you through your difficult mourning period?” Sean snapped before he turned around storming off.

Standing still, Sabrina watched with a tiny bit of pleasure as Sean left her alone inside the courtroom. She’d never felt a connection with him. Anytime he was around her, she honestly couldn’t wait until he was gone. If it was actually possible, Sean was more of a pain than Brent came off most of the time.

The only time she felt intensity for a man was when she was with Zander. He just brought out all of these racing emotions that scared her. She shouldn’t feel those things for a man she considered like a second brother.

Something was wrong with her, but she couldn’t figure out what was going on. Sadly, the one person she could confide in was gone. She had no close girlfriends to talk this over with and talking to her mother about Zander was out of the question. As much as she loved her mother dearly she needed an unbiased opinion about her growing fascination to Zander.

What in the world was she going to do? Zander was too much for her: Too masculine...Too good-looking...Way too sexual. Something about his charisma made her want to strip the layers of his clothing off his body and have her way with him.

But could Sabrina Watley, the virgin, seduce a man with the sexual history Zander surely possessed. Zander wasn’t a man who was lacking in the past lovers department which made it even more difficult for her to understand. Why he was so interested in her? Did he feel obligated to take care of her because of his friendship with Avery?

So many things were running around in her head and Sabrina wasn’t sure which one to address first. However, one thing was for sure. When she went to lunch with Zander today she was going to find a way to make him open up more to her. Sometimes, he came across like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.