“You guys are so crazy.” Kendall said tiredly. “If you spent all of that energy you had talking about men and relationships and came and volunteered at my nonprofit, you could really make a difference in the world. You could make a difference in the community.”
“If I remember correctly, my company did all your events for free for the past five years.” Telah said sharply, turning to Kendall. “That’s a lot of time and money I spent helping you out.”
“Am I going to have to break up another spat?” Ashanti said gracefully as she sauntered up to the table and flounced down in a floral print summer dress with matching pink Louboutins.
“‘Shanti, you made it!” Harper said excitedly. “I thought you were meeting with a client tonight? The guy that just bought that big mansion in that Hillbrook neigborhood?”
“He cancelled.” Ashanti shrugged. “I’m glad I get to spend some time with my girls, though.”
Kierra came back to the table.
“Sorry, ladies, but the private room just got booked. Someone from across the street. That fancy hotel. They didn’t give the name but I’m assuming it’s someone important.”
“It must be that Roman Santos dude.” Lola said.
Ashanti turned to look at Lola. “Are you serious? The internet guy?”
“The one and only.” Lola answered.
“Damn, I’d love to have him as a client. I’d love to get into corporate interior design.” Ashanti said enthusiastically.
Harper’s curiosity was piqued. She’d get to have a good look at Roman without him knowing who she was. She considered briefly whether or not she should go and introduce herself when he came in. But people like that probably preferred being left alone during their private time.
But what she really wanted to know was what was going on between those two men. The cousins. Why were they both interested in making the buy? Was there something that her boss wasn’t telling her? And how would she manage to make sure she could broker the best deal both for the owner and Lola, while maximizing the likelihood that Harper could use this experience to get herself up as a parter.
“Girl, you’re a million miles away.” Telah said, nudging Harper slightly.
“Just thinking.” Harper said with a smile. “Just planning my next steps.”
But Harper was at a loss. She didn’t know what she could do without spending more time with both of the men. She needed to find out what was in their hearts. Were they both cold-blooded capitalists who wanted to bleed the label dry and extract what remained? Or did they really want the label to flourish under the new management?
That’s something that Harper would have to find out for herself.
CHAPTER NINE
“So what’s he like? Is he standoffish? Nice?” Ashanti inquired.
“I barely interacted with him.” Harper said, hoping they’d drop the topic.
“But wasn’t he excited to see you again? I mean, he hit on you at the club, right? He didn’t ask for your number or something.”
Harper looked down and set her fork down on the plate.
“What?” Ashanti said with a confused look on her face. “Are you saying…I mean, what aren’t you saying?”
Harper took a deep breath before delving into what had transpired in their first interaction after the club.
“It was as if…he had no idea who I was.”
“That can’t be true.” Lola said after taking a sip of her drink. “You’re gorgeous, honey. Of course he’d remember you. You’d be a fool to think otherwise.”
“He just shook my hand. Other than that, nothing.”
“I see.” Ashanti said. She obviously realized she was treading on dangerous territory.
“And he brought along this little assistant of his. Victoria something.” Harper’s skin crawled. “I bet they’re hooking up.”
“How do you know she’s not in a relationship? Not married?”
“I saw her cell phone. She had a picture of them together. On the beach.”
“Well, that could mean anything…” Ashanti said, but then Lola shot her a look with her eyebrows raised. “Okay, maybe not. But there are other fish in the sea, Harper. You know that.”
“It just means he’s a player. If he’s hooking up with his secretary and then going around hitting on women and not even remembering the women the next day, he’s definitely not the one for you.” Kendall said with an annoyed look on her face.
“For someone who has such an aversion to relationship talk, you certainly have quite an opinion there.” Telah said as she took out a stack of papers from her briefcase. “Sorry, girls. But I’m going to have to do some work while we chat. I have a big event coming up.”
“What type of event?” Harper inquired.
“Some big merger is happening. Some secret investor just bought out this tech company here in town. They’re having a big celebration for it.” She shrugged. “Sounds kind of boring. Tech guys wearing jeans and sweatshirts when I say it’s strictly black tie. They just don’t listen to me!”
“They have more money than they know what to do with.” Harper said. “I’ve known guys in the tech field. The rules don’t exactly apply to them. They have no one to impress.”
But Harper was certainly impressed when Roman Santos walked into the room. A hush descended in the restaurant as everyone turned to gawk. He sure was a stand-out. He looked a little bit like a younger David Beckham. He had a defined chest and broad shoulders. She could just imagine the six pack under his shirt.
“Damn, he’s cute.” Ashanti said as they watched him go to the back room with a couple of other men around his age. Early 30s, probably.
“You guys are so shallow.” Kendall said, still munching on some french fries. “He’s more than just a pretty face. He’s one of the country’s biggest philanthropists. Both him and his cousin.”
“His cousin? Who are you talking about?” Kierra said.
“Bryce. Harper’s Bryce.” Kendall said with a smirk. “They also give to my charity every year. Once Bryce’s main company — he has a dozen or so, you know — called and asked how much Roman gave. He wanted to double it.”
“Did he do it?” Kierra asked.
“Not exactly. It’s against our policy to disclose how much people contribute without their express consent.” Kendall said seriously. “So he just guesstimated…and let’s just say that he was more than generous.”
“How did you know they were cousins?” Harper asked. “It was news to me.”
“Whoever called from Bryce’s staff mentioned it.” Kendall shrugged. “I thought it was common knowledge. But then again, I don’t keep up with celebrity gossip like most people.”
“Whatever their relation, they both have the ‘hot’ gene. That’s for sure.” Lola said.
Harper stood up and sat her glass down on the table. “Okay, divas. I need to go home and get some beauty sleep.”
“Umm, I don’t think so.” Lola said, standing up and gently pushing Harper back down onto her seat.
“Okay, you’re holding me hostage?”
“We’re going clubbing.”
“But it’s Monday night! I have work tomorrow.”
“Puh-lease, Harper.” Lola said comedically. “You don’t have to be there ’til 10 in the morning. If you go to bed at 3, you’ll still get like 7 hours of sleep.”
“Well, I was planning on teleworking tomorrow.” Harper thought to herself. “I just have a teleconference at noon. And it's probably going to get cancelled anyway.”
“See?” Lola said with a smile on her face. “I need us to go out and promote my single. I need to make sure all the DJs play it a few times so I can get it on the 100 Hot Dance Singles chart. You know that remix that French producer did just came out, so I need to go make sure it gets played.”
Part of Harper just wanted to go home and take a bubble bath and reflect on what went on that day. But she knew that due to her slightly…obsessive…personality, if she was left alone to her own de
vices to mull over her innermost thoughts, she could be up all night obsessing about what happened.
Every word, every glance, every moment that she experienced today would be pulled apart and examined from multiple angles: that interaction with Victoria, the fact that Bryce didn’t seem to recognize her, and now the new knowledge that his cousin was in town and trying to get the label too.
“You know what? Maybe going out wouldn’t be a bad idea. But I’m not going to stay out all night.” Harper admitted.
“That’s what you always say.” Kendall said authoritatively. “And that’s why I’m dipping out now. Goodnight, divas.” Kendall swung her worn and frayed hippie-ish bag over her shoulder and said her good-byes.
“Well, I’m definitely going.” Ashanti said. “I really need to get out on the dance floor and let loose.”
“Kierra?” Lola asked.
“I need to finish up here. Text me where you are and I’ll meet up.”
“Teelah?”
“Ugh, fine. But only for a little bit.” She said as she stuffed her reams of guest-lists and other documents into her Louis Vuitton briefcase. “But I need to drop this stuff off at home first.”
“Sounds good.” Lola said as they all stood up and got ready to go. She took out her lip gloss from her purse and applied it.
“I’m so tempted to go back there and see him.” Ashanti said, facing the private room that had the doors shut and curtains drawn. “Just ask if he has any new offices in town or something. If he has a designer in mind…and, you know, suggest that I could help him out.”
“So you’re thinking he’s the one who’s doing that merger that Telah was talking about?” Harper asked.
“It crossed my mind.” Ashanti said, her arms folded. “Why else would he be here?”
“It crossed my mind, too. But why all the sudden interest in this city? Wouldn’t they be better suited elsewhere? Silicon Valley? Someplace like that?”
“I have no idea,” Ashanti said. “But I have a feeling that things are going to get a whole lot more interesting with those two guys in town.”
“I can’t help but agree.” Harper said with a smile on her face.
CHAPTER TEN
“Shots for everyone!” Telah cried as they settled in the VIP section of the “Panther” club, one of the city’s most upscale and exclusive club for the grown and sexy.
“I told y’all I wasn’t drinking anymore.” Harper said. She put a hand to her face, shaking her head, wishing she had declined the invitation when she had the chance.
But if she was at home, she’d know what she would be doing. Obsessing about Bryce. And should couldn’t fall down that rabbit hole.
“Just one, okay” Lola said as she passed a shot a vodka to her.
“Fine.” Harper shrugged and waited for the shots to be distributed to the other divas. Maybe the shot would help her relax a little.
“Harper, you really need to chill.” Ashanti said. “You worry way too much. Look at yourself. You have it all. A beautiful home, a prestigious job, a beautiful face, a great body.”
“I am relaxed. I just…” Harper shook her head. “I just thought by now I’d be more settled in life. It’s like things are still so up in the air.”
“But that’s life, honey.” Ashanti said reassuringly over the beat of the Lil’ Wayne track that was playing in the background. “Things never settle down. Things is always gonna change. People are always going to come and go. Your days will always be different. Change is the only constant.”
“I guess I just have to accept that my life isn’t going to be exactly as I’d hoped it would be.” Harper said with a sigh. “You know, the perfect life.”
“How is your life not perfect?” Ashanti grimaced at her playfully. “You’re out with me on a Monday night. At this amazing club. How could it get any better than this?”
“I’ve just had children on my mind recently.” Harper said. She bit her lip before proceeding. “I just feel my biological clock ticking. And I know the longer I wait, the harder it’s going to be.”
“Okay, girl, all that baby talk is making me nervous now.” Ashanti took a swig of her iced drink and paused a moment, thinking deeply. “This is something that all women think about. And as women with careers, it’s going to be even harder to juggle once we have kids. And who knows how we’ll be treated in the business world. I’ve known women who didn’t get promoted after they had children. It was never said outright, but people would whisper about them leaving too early for work to go pick up their kids, or take too many sick days to take care of their kids.”
Harper nodded. “Yeah, I’ve heard and have seen things like that, too. It’s just not fair.”
“When men do it, they’re thought of as being great dads and are rewarded at work for doing things like that. When a woman do it, they’re saying she’s distracted or not giving her job her all.”
“It’s such a double-standard.”
“That’s why I’m glad I started my own business.” Ashanti said. “Sure, it might be harder because I have to hustle for work and have to be the boss, be the one in charge making sure I keep my ass in gear. But it gives me that independence I crave.”
“It sounds so nice.” Harper said.
“And when — or if — I have children, I know that I'll be able to make them the priority. Not some stupid boss’s outrageous demands.”
“Cheers to that.” Harper said as they clinked their glasses. She looked around. “Where did the other divas go?”
Ashanti stood up, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “They’re over there.” She put her hand over her eyes like a visor to block the strobe lights from blaring in her eyes. “Oh, shit. It looks like Telah is dancing with a guy!”
“I wanna see!” Harper said. She kicked off her heels and stood up on the plush couch so she could get a better look. The man was a tall, black guy who was very muscular - she could tell that even through the exquisitely cut suit he wore.
“From 1 to 10?” Ashanti asked, looking up at Harper.
“I’d say an 8.5 from here. It’s hard to tell.” She said as she took the hand that Ashanti offered her and got back down on the floor. But something bothered her about that man. She thought she remembered him from somewhere, but she just couldn’t place his face.
“What’s wrong?” Ashanti said with a quizzical look on her face.
“Nothing.” Harper said with a laugh as she sat back down on the couch.
Moments later, Telah came over to them, leading that guy she had been dancing with by the hand.
“Hey girls. I want you to meet Devin.” Telah said in an uncharacteristically seductive voice. “This is my girl ‘Shanti.” Telah said, gesticulating in Ashanti’s direction.
“Hey.” Ashanti said, shaking his hand.
“And this is Harper.” She said, turning their direction to where Harper was on the couch.
Harper stood and shot him a pleasant smile as she shook his hand. She looked into her eyes and felt a sudden fear sweep over her body. I know this guy from somewhere, but where? She wondered to herself as she felt a cold sweat break out on her skin.
“You look so familiar.” He said as he held onto her hand. His grip was just a little too tight to be comfortable. She tried to pull away slightly, but he held on. It was like he didn’t notice just how uncomfortable he was making her.
“Heh,” Harper said, looking around nervously. Telah and Ashanti were deep in conversation, probably discussing the guy who was currently still staring menacingly into her eyes.
His otherwise handsome face was contorted into one of pure rage. He reluctantly let go of her hand, but he still stood so close to her. Way too close to be comfortable.
“Harper. That’s a rare name, isn’t it.” He said. It was more of a statement than a question.
“I guess so.” She said with a shrug.
“My brother Trever…I remember ten years ago at his case, some little bitch lawyer named Harper helped put him away…
for life.”
Harper’s eyes shot open in horror. She had heard stories from other attorneys about being accosted and harassed by family members who thought their loved ones didn’t deserve the sentences they deserved. But until this moment, Harper never had a run in with them.
“I’m an attorney, but I don’t recall —“ She said haltingly, her eyes going back to her friends who were still talking, completely ignoring her.
“I’m pretty sure you do.” He said with a sardonic laugh. “I can tell how nervous I’m making you. You like putting people away for life? For crimes they didn’t commit? Does that get you off?” He said, folding his arms in front of his bulging, muscular chest.
ROMANCE: His Ebony Blood Jewel - A Novel (BWWM, Paranormal, Vampire, Billionaire New Adult Romance) Page 5