First Love: Jake & Sabrina (interracial romance) *completed story* {prequel}

Chapter Six

"Jake, we're going to need you and a few of the other guys to stay late tonight. Is that cool?"

Jake gave Mack a quick nod and continued to carry more computer equipment into the storage closet. Whatever big meeting the company had coming up had forced almost everyone at the office to stay late. It explained why he hadn't seen or heard from Sabrina since the night at her apartment, but his patience was starting to run its course.

No one was that busy they could return a call or text message.

Despite all of his calls and messages this week, she hadn't returned any of them. Now it was Friday, and things around the company were now a bit calmer. He'd hoped Sabrina would find the time to answer one of his calls, but still nothing.

Jake was slowly starting to realize her avoidance could have little to do with work and a lot to do with what happened outside her apartment the other night. He knew he may have come on a bit too strong, but he meant what he'd said about not wanting to rush her. She was obviously wary about starting anything with him, but her response that night confirmed for him that his attraction to her wasn't one-sided. That kiss had been more than he'd expected and had only fueled his salacious thoughts of taking her to bed and losing himself inside her.

It had only been a week since Jake had seen her and yet he missed her the hell out of her. And after such a shitty week, he had been looking forward to seeing and talking with her again.

Jake completed his task and made the short trip down to marketing. He'd be damned if he'd just let her ignore what was clearly something special between them.

It was a little after two when Jake arrived at her cubicle only to find it empty. Suppressing his disappointment, he picked up a notepad and left her a quick note before he made his way back to the elevators. When one finally arrived, Jake stepped aside to let the two riders out and instantly recognized the woman's laugh. Sabrina.

And she was with Dale.

Jealousy like Jake had never experienced pierced through him at seeing the two of them together, but he fought to contain it. She had obviously been laughing at something the other guy had said, but the minute she made eye contact with him, her smile slipped.

Jake waited for any sort of acknowledgment from her, but instead of the small smile he'd grown accustomed to or a flash of recognition in her dark brown eyes, she quickly looked away from him and continued down the hall with Dale.

Jake stared after them, an overwhelming sense of possessiveness coming over him. Of course, she would be with Dale. They worked on the same team together. That thought did little to lessen Jake's irritation. It took everything he had not to drag her into the nearest conference room and demand to know why the hell she was ignoring him. His hands fisted at his side as anger and resentment burned in his gut. He continued to watch the pair, staring after them until they turned the corner and disappeared from his sight.

At least now for certain, he knew.

She was avoiding him.

****

Sabrina forced a smile to her lips when Dale made another off-color joke about working in corporate America. Not that she didn't find him pleasant enough, especially when it came to working late hours like tonight, but Sabrina was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to go home and crawl into bed.

She hadn't anticipated another late night at the office, particularly on a Friday, but it was a little after seven and they were still trapped in a conference room, going over their slide presentation one last time.