Hello everyone. It's me again. I have a new story that I just had to put out. I'm still working on Pinks and Blues, so don't worry. I will try to alternate updates between both stories, but I never know where my feels might take me. This is a different take on Dacey so I'm eager to see where this story takes me. I hope everyone enjoys my latest creation. Feedback is greatly appreciated. As always, I use that to decipher whether I will continue with a story or not. My time is very valuable and I wouldn't want to waste it putting a lot of effort and energy into a story that people don't like and don't read. So again, if the bad reviews outweigh the good, I will not continue.

I'd like to Thank my loyal readers, followers, and reviewers. I do this for you guys. I do not get the praise and support some other writers get, so I appreciate you more than you know and I don't take it for granted at all. You guys make me smile and it's a pleasure writing for you. :)


Lacey Porter was having the morning from hell. After having a pretty good weekend, she spent her Sunday night tossing and turning. She was too tired to not get any sleep. After completely frustrating herself, she just laid in the dark totally mad that she didn't get any sleep and that would make her day horrible. When her alarm finally went off, she slammed down on it so hard she actually hurt her hand. She got out of her bed and headed straight for the shower. She hoped that the water would somehow revive and invigorate her. She knew she would definitely need a major cup of coffee to get her through the morning. After she got out of the shower, she went to her closet and tried to find something to wear for work. Lacey decided on a red skirt suit. She loved how she looked in red and happened to love that particular red suit. She hardly ever wore it, probably just twice because it stood out too much. It fit her like a glove and really showed off all her best assets. Lacey had a feeling that the attention she'd get from wearing that suit, might make her feel better. And she was trying to stand out so that her bosses would give her something extremely important to do so that she could really make her mark. She knew that red meant energy and passion. She wanted her bosses to see that she was a go getter, passionate and driven about her work. She hoped that she would stand out when they selected the associate to work on the new case.

Not that she had trouble with standing out. Lacey would stand out anywhere. With strikingly beautiful good looks, and a body to die for, Lacey Porter was impossible to miss. She turned heads every where she went. Lacey had the kind of beauty that stopped traffic. And although she knew she was gorgeous, she was very modest in that aspect. She didn't want to be seen as just beautiful. She was highly intelligent too and wanted people to see that as opposed to just seeing how beautiful she is. She graduated from Columbia and went even further by getting her MBA. Lacey was much more than a stellar body and a pretty face.

Lacey was anxious and eager to start her day and was mad that she was facing this important day on so little sleep. She stubbed her toe on her dresser and had to change her pantyhose twice because she put runs in them. She decided to take a breather and relax herself. She was impatient and anxious, and it was getting to her. She took several deep, cleansing breaths and slowly got her nerves and her anxiety in check. She finally got dressed, did her hair, skipping the makeup routine lots of women went through, except for lipstick, because Lacey Porter honestly didn't need to wear makeup. She would put it on to go out, but it was totally unnecessary on an average day. She headed out to her car and turned on some old Britney Spears to revive her. She was winding up or down, however you looked at it and was starting to feel better when she ran into an accident on the beltway. Traffic was a pure headache. Lacey sighed in frustration.

Could this day get any worse?


Lacey stopped at the Starbucks that was thankfully on the first floor of the building she worked in. The owners really knew what they were doing by putting it inside of the state of the art food court in her building. Lacey was just getting her feet wet in the world of Financial Analysis. She was currently a Junior Analyst at Burke, Murphy and Wheeler. She was trying to climb her way up the ladder in a male dominated world. It was unfair, but also a part of life that she had to work harder than her male counterparts. She had to work extra hard because she had looks that belonged in Vogue or Maxim. Lacey couldn't help being born beautiful and she was willing to work hard to prove that brains and beauty can go hand in hand. She also had to work even harder being that she's a Black woman in a White male dominated world. That's the hand she was dealt, and she wanted to play her cards wisely.

Lacey walked up to the Starbucks and saw the walking erection, Danny Desai flirting with the company slut, Valerie. It was no secret that Valerie slept her way through the building. She was trying to make her way to the top, but Lacey figured that Senior Analyst Danny Desai was just a minor fork in the road. Danny was the object of desire for all of the women in that building. Except for Lacey. Lacey seriously disliked Danny Desai. He didn't like her either. She thought he was a cocky, pompous jackass, essentially an asshole, who hid behind his money and good looks. He was so cocky, it was sickening. Danny thought Lacey was a cold, frigid bitch. He hated that she pretty much paid him no attention, and wasn't at his beck and call like other women were. Danny thought Lacey desperately needed to get laid, and he was willing to help her out with that. She acted like he didn't exist though. He didn't have to wonder just why she hated him so much. Everyone else thought she was nice and a pleasure to be around. Nobody else ever witnessed the chagrin between the two. Lacey was nice and extremely popular with the entire building. That wasn't the case with Danny. She mostly ignored him unless it was absolutely necessary. He didn't like it, but he guessed he understands it. He can partly see why she hates his guts, but she was just borderline nasty to him. So he was a complete prick to her any chance he got.

They both tried to pretend that they didn't see each other, but they did. Lacey noticed the black suit he was wearing. And he had that ridiculous long hair out. She preferred that he wear that mess in a bun like he normally did. She figured he had it out to flirt. Maybe he thought it made him sexier. She pictured Fabio on the cover of one of those cheesy romance novels. That is immediately what she thought of when she looked at Danny Desai with his hair almost flowing in the wind. And the brunette bimbo he was chatting with didn't make it any better. It would have been totally cliché if she was blonde, but it really didn't matter with this particular female. Lacey didn't respect women like her. Ones that slept their way to the top. It made women like her have to work harder to prove themselves, and at the end of the day, someone would still be willing to give her the world on a silver platter. If she just slept with him.

Lacey also pretended not to notice him notice her as he licked his lips and pretended to be focused on Valerie. She saw that he was watching her as she strolled past. She knew he used that as a way to undermine her. Like she didn't go to college and graduate school and work hard to get where she is like he did. He just wanted to reduce her to just another pretty face. She knew that his pretty face got him places, but she wasn't willing to sell herself out like that.

He whispered something in Valerie's ear and she smiled and walked away. Danny then walked up behind Lacey and stood in line. If she had eyes in the back of her head, she would have seen that he looked her up and down and licked his lips as he imagined her out of that red suit. He then focused on her butt and he really wanted to reach out and either grab it or slap it. He knew that would rile her up. So he decided to taunt her.

Danny leaned forward and whispered in her ear. "Good morning, Ms. Porter."

Lacey became rigid at him speaking to her and standing so close. "Morning." Lacey replies while never actually turning around to acknowledge him.

"You look nice today. You really look good in red." Danny countered while not trying to disguise the sultry sound to his voice. He knew that would get to her.

Lacey just turned and looked at him and gave him a look between disgust and annoyance. She let out a small, "Tsk" before replying. "Thanks." Lacey was finally at the counter and placed her order. She was naturally polite to the man behind the counter. She stood off to the side to wait for her drink and Danny placed his order. He then walked over to Lacey and she didn't even bother trying to hide how not pleased she was that he was standing next to her.

"You aren't going to tell me that I look good today too?" Danny says as he smirks at her.

"No." Lacey says as she shifts and folds her arms across her chest and almost hits him with her briefcase.

"Why not?" Danny asks, with his taunting smirk still planted on his face.

"Because I don't think you look good." Lacey says.

Danny lets out a scoff. "Yes you do." Danny says.

Lacey locks eyes with him. God he's sexy. "No, I don't." Lacey says with finality and Danny chuckles just to make her madder.

"Is it my hair? I know you like it better when I wear it in a bun." Danny says to further taunt Lacey.

Lacey looked at him and cut her eyes at him. He was going above and beyond picking with her. "I don't care what you do with your hair, Mr. Desai." Lacey says.

"Why does it seem like you do?" Danny asks.

"Beats me." Lacey says as she hunches her shoulders. "I think you have me confused with Valerie, or one of the other women in this building."

Danny thinks for a minute. He grins and shakes his head as he rubs the hair around his mouth and on his chin. "No, you would be hard to confuse with another woman." Danny says almost seductively. He again licked his lips and stared at hers.

Lacey tried to rack her brain to think of a comeback when she hears the guy behind the counter call her name. She was extremely grateful that she was saved. She went to get her drink and left the coffee shop and darted for the elevator. She sighed with relief after she pressed her floor and leaned against the elevator wall. The door started to close until a hand appeared to stop it from closing. Danny entered the elevator with a smirk.

"Thanks for holding the elevator for me, Ms. Porter." Danny says as he presses the door close button.

Great.


Lacey and Danny rode the elevator in silence up to the ninth floor. They headed in opposite directions to their offices. Lacey settled in hers and drank her coffee. She was still a little riled up by her interactions with Danny. She was sipping her coffee and unsuccessfully trying to calm down when Whitney Taylor walked into her office.

"Good morning, Lacey." Whitney says as she walks over to sit in one of the chairs facing Lacey's desk.

Lacey looked up and smiled. "Good morning, Whitney. How are you?"

"I'm good for a Monday morning. How about you?" Whitney asks.

"Terrible. I didn't get any sleep last night. And then I'm having a terrible morning on top of it." Lacey says as she takes another sip of her coffee.

"I saw you get off the elevator with Danny." Whitney says as she smiles widely at Lacey.

Lacey frowns. "Don't remind me." Lacey says with a scoff.

"You know you wanna hit that." Whitney says while still smiling widely.

Lacey frowns again. "No, I don't." Lacey says.

"We know he's a cocky bastard, but he's a hot cocky bastard. Just think of how amazing the sex will be." Whitney says.

"I don't need to imagine having sex with Danny, Ms. Taylor."

"Why? Because you already hit that? I still say you did. I don't know why you won't admit it." Whitney says.

"We are not having this conversation, Whitney." Lacey says with a smile.

"I know I'm right. That's the only way to explain you two "hating" each other." Whitney says as she puts major emphasis on the word hating by adding quotations with her hands as she said it.

Lacey opened her mouth to speak, when Phoebe Daly poked her head in Lacey's door. "Morning Ladies. Meeting in the conference room with Mr. Wheeler." Phoebe says as she smiles and lingers in the doorway.

"Morning, Phoebe." Lacey says as she smiles and stands.

"Hey, Phoebe." Whitney says as she stands and heads towards Lacey's door. The three women walk into the conference room and are the first to arrive. They each sit at the huge cherry wood table and wait for their colleagues to arrive. Danny walks in with the other hottie, Cole. They're talking about basketball. Danny makes it his business to sit across from Lacey. She knew he would do that after bothering her the entire time she was getting her coffee. Lacey forces herself not to roll her eyes when he sat down and grinned at her. Lacey just turned her head towards Phoebe and Whitney.

"How was your weekend, Phoebe?" Lacey asks.

"Great. I went to visit my parents and then me and my mom went to a movie. She didn't once bring up grandkids." Phoebe says.

"I'm glad my mother doesn't do that to me. I think she knows I might not have any." Whitney says.

"My mom hasn't started bugging me about that yet. She just wonders when I'll get married." Lacey says as she rolls her eyes.

A few more colleagues come into the room and sit down. Mr. Wheeler enters with his secretary and begins the meeting. "Good morning, Ladies and Gentlemen. How is everyone today?" Mr. Wheeler asks as he looks around the room and smiles at his employees.

Everyone murmurs, "Great", "Fine", "Excellent", and a few other replies.

"That's great to hear. I know most if not all of you know exactly what this meeting is about. I know a few of you may have heard that we're taking on a potentially huge project with the Biometrics and the Deputy Instruments merger. This project has the potential to make us a lot of money and to really put the Burke, Murphy, and Wheeler name out there. And this has the potential to have an analyst really make their mark and shine during this project. I know you all are wondering who will be selected for this merger. Since this involves merging two companies happily and successfully, I'm choosing two analysts to handle this project." Mr. Wheeler says and pauses for emphasis. "I think it will make the job a lot easier to put two brains together on this one. And I'm choosing a Senior and a Junior analyst for this one. I think the Senior Analyst will bring forth expertise and the Junior analyst will bring a freshness to this and the opportunity to learn something from one another. So without further adieu, the Senior analyst I've chosen is Danny Desai and the Junior analyst is Lacey Porter."

If Lacey could have objected, she would have. She wanted this opportunity, and she got it. How ironic is that? She was praying her bosses would admire her drive and tenacity just that morning, and they did. And now she was being forced to work with the person she despised.

"I think you two should work wonderfully together. I'll meet with you two in my office in an hour to discuss further details. Meeting adjourned." Mr. Wheeler says and he's out of the conference room in a flash with his secretary following closely behind.

People started to get up to return to their offices, but Lacey was a little too stunned to move. She finally stood up to push her chair under the table when she saw Danny straighten out his tie, smirk, and wink at her.

Great, just great. I have to work closely with this jackass. Lacey thinks as she practically stomps to her office like a toddler throwing a tantrum.