Mya stared at him for a while and didn’t say anything. He imagined that she was still trying to accept the fact that he would be residing in her city for a while.
She cleared her throat and nervously brushed her fingers through her hair before leaning back in the swivel chair. The act was done subconsciously, which made her look even sexier to Malik. She had a good poker face. He’d give her that. But he was paid to see beneath the surface and study a person’s actions. He wondered if Mya knew that her actions were proving just how nervous she was.
“So,” she said, recovering from his statement. “You said your assistant would be here too. Did she step out for a minute?”
“Actually, I told her she could go home early, so it’s just the two of us,” he responded.
“Oh, I see,” she said, her brown eyes growing slightly bigger before returning to their normal size.
He was sure she didn’t see the big picture. Not fully anyway. Malik was a careful thinker. He was the type of person who could develop a plan that would take years to execute. And he would maintain his patience until every task of the plan had been completed.
“Where will you stay?” she asked.
“I own an apartment complex in Hyde Park. I have tenants in all units except the penthouse, so I will reside there while I’m in Chicago.”
“Nice,” she said as she began removing items from her bag. “Did you decide how long you will stay?”
I’m sure much longer than you’d like. “Probably at least until the auction. After that, I’ll play it by ear.”
Malik stood up and walked to the corner of the conference room where the Keurig was placed. “Would you like some coffee?”
“I don’t drink coffee,” she stated as she jotted something down in her notepad. “But tea would be great if you have it.”
“Yes, I do,” he said as he placed the sugar holder and stirrers on the conference table. “So, how about you tell me the overall goal of the fundraiser.”
“Sure,” she said as she crossed one leg over the other. It took all Malik’s strength not to drop his eyes to her legs. He distracted himself with making his coffee and her tea instead.
“At Elite Events, there are a variety of organizations and events that we sponsor. One of my most cherished sponsorships is the work we do with Chicago after-school programs. There are two programs in particular that we donate a hefty amount of money to annually. But a few months ago we learned that our efforts to save those programs weren’t effective, and they will have to permanently close before the start of school.”
“That’s unfortunate,” Malik responded as he placed the hot drinks on the conference table.
“Exactly,” Mya stated. “After talking with my partners, we’ve decided to open our own after-school program. The employees who currently work in the programs that are closing have agreed to transition to our program since they will be out of jobs soon. It will take a lot of hard work to make everything happen in a little over three months, but we have a lot of support, so I think we can do it. I’ll also be spending one or two days a week as needed working in the office of the after-school program instead of the Elite Events office.”
“Wow,” Malik stated as he absorbed everything Mya had said. “I admire your dedication, it will really make a difference in the community.”
She smiled before she slid a piece of paper across the desk. “Thanks. I just hope we can help the students that benefit from the programs that are closing and also bring awareness to those who don’t follow what goes on in the education system. We can’t fund the entire program and keep it running without the help of the community, that’s why we are having the charity date auction next month.”
“I’d say you’re well on your way and I like the idea of a date auction to raise money. June is a good month to have a singles event because people probably spent last fall, winter and spring preparing mentally and physically for the hot weather.”
“Exactly,” Mya said nodding her head in agreement. “You know the streets overflow with people as soon as the weather gets above fifty degrees. And it will take place right after school ends.”
“So,” Malik said as he stirred around the sugar and hazelnut cream he’d poured into his coffee. “What help do you need from me?”
“Well, that piece of paper details everything,” she replied as she pointed to the paper she had slid across the table. “It’s a tentative schedule of all deadlines including dates for auditions to see what singles we want to auction off and many other details. My partners and I have settled on auctioning off twenty singles...ten women and ten men. Of the twenty participants, I want at least half to be business professionals or well known individuals in the Midwest states to up the ante and get singles more excited at the possibility of going out with a local celebrity. I already have two business women and two Chicago athletes who have agreed, so I’m looking for about six more.”
“I can definitely reach out to a few people as well,” Malik added.
“Great! We may charge a small fee to enter the auction and since we’re event planners, we will plan dates for a few lucky couples in the audience.”
“How would that work?” Malik asked.
“Two weeks before the auction, we will email a questionnaire for everyone to fill out. Anyone interested in winning a date will only have forty-eight hours to fill out the form and return it to us. Then we will shuffle through the data and match at least six singles. We will announce the matches at the auction.”
“It looks like you and your partners even have the media plan for the event taken care of,” Malik said as he skimmed the sheet of paper.
“We do,” Mya said as she nodded her head. “Which is why I knew we didn’t really have to meet tonight to discuss anything further. I will let you know when I need you.”
Malik laughed. Nice try. “That’s where you’re wrong, Mya.”
“How so?” she asked as she scrunched her forehead.
Malik spun in his chair and reached for the red folder he’d placed aside before Mya arrived. He quickly glanced at her before removing a sheet of paper from the folder and handing it to her.
“What’s this?” Mya asked, not even bothering to look down at the paper.
Malik crossed his hands in front of him on the table. “If you take a look at that document, you will notice that I need to be involved with every step of the process.”
Mya yanked the paper off the table and skimmed the contents stated. “A contract? You drafted a contract? For what? You’re just a cohost, so all you really need to do is support, promote and be present for any rehearsals and of course the day of the auction.”
He smirked and ignored the hitch in her voice. He knew she wouldn’t like the idea of working with him more than she’d planned. But she’d just have to deal with it.
“It’s not a draft,” he stated in a calm voice. “If you pay close attention, it’s an actual contract that Lex, Imani and Cyd signed when I left your office the other day.”
Mya stood from her chair and slammed the paper on the table in front of him. “I don’t know what bullshit you’re trying to pull, but I never signed this contract and since I’m the lead planner of the event, this isn’t valid.”
He shot her a sly smirk, knowing the action would make her even more upset, but he couldn’t help it. He enjoyed seeing her all hot and bothered. “Quite the contrary, Mya. It clearly states in the fine print that only two members from Elite Events need to sign off on a contract.”
He watched the rise and fall of her chest as she came to the realization that he had her pinned in a corner. “If you look closely,” he continued as he pointed to the document, “I have three signatures, so your signature isn’t needed.”
She squinted her eyes at him. “Why are you doing this?” she asked him softly.
Mali
k studied her expression, hoping that he hadn’t made a mistake by pushing her to work more closely with him. “Before I even talked to you about the charity date auction, Lex had filled me in on the efforts Elite Events were trying to make. I believe in giving back to the community and I wanted to help.”
He slid an envelope to her that had Elite Events written on it. “Here, open this.”
Mya looked hesitant at first, but she took the envelope and opened it. Her eyes grew big in surprise before she responded. “Is this for our after-school program?” she asked as she glanced back down at the check.
“Yes, I decided to help sponsor the date auction and I have a few more checks coming from a few business friends of mine who also want to help your cause. As you stated before, you need help if you’re going to achieve this goal.”
Malik watched some of her frustration subside, but he knew she still had a lot of fight left concerning his close involvement. Mya wasn’t the type of woman who liked being strong-armed into anything, but he could also tell that she really cared for the Chicago students and wouldn’t let her pride get in the way of helping them out.
“I need to make a call,” she said as she stood up from the conference table and smoothed out her blouse. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be right back,” she said before walking out of the conference room and firmly shutting the door behind her.
Malik leaned back in his seat and titled his head to the ceiling. I wonder how long it will take her to process everything. The food was due to arrive any minute, but he wasn’t sure if he could even talk her into staying after the news he’d just dropped on her. A part of him felt wrong for putting her in this situation, but little did she know, if they didn’t seem to work well together, he would back off and let her continue preparing for the date auction alone. He truly did admire her determination to start a new after-school program and he didn’t want anything standing in the way of her achieving that...not even him.
Chapter 4
“Who the hell does he think he is?” she said through clenched teeth into the phone as she paced the hallway. “I don’t care how much money he wants to donate. He can’t blackmail me into working with him.”
“It’s hardly blackmail,” Lex said on the other line. “He presented Imani, Cyd and I with an actual contract that we had our lawyer review. He isn’t asking Elite Events for anything more than allowing Madden Incorporated to cosponsor the date auction and be notified of all the steps of the planning process.”
“Sounds like blackmail to me since I’m the main Elite Events founder planning this event,” Mya huffed.
“Mya, it’s not as bad as it sounds,” said another voice through the line. Mya looked questionably at her phone before bringing it back up to her ear.
“Imani, is that you?”
“Yes, it’s me.”
“And me,” Cyd chimed in.
Mya slowly closed her eyes and dropped her head to the floor. “Let me guess, all three of you are together.”
They didn’t have time to answer before she heard the soft cooing of baby DJ in the background that proved her point.
“No need to answer. You all knew I was getting together with Malik tonight anyway. Ugh, this is ridiculous. I was really looking forward to planning the date auction drama-free.”
“Malik is by far the least dramatic person I know,” Imani responded.
“So true,” Cyd agreed. “You’re way more dramatic than he is. Just look at how you’re reacting right now.”
“I’m not even going to respond to that,” Mya rebuked.
“No need. I know I’m right,” Cyd replied.
“Listen,” Mya said ready to start a debate. She was fed up with the entire situation.
Before she could begin, Lex cut her off. “Mya, it won’t be that bad. The bottom line is, Malik is cosponsoring the event and donating an extremely generous amount of money. If I know you, you probably didn’t even read the contract in detail since your first thought was to reject whatever it stated. He isn’t asking for a lot and he is nowhere near as demanding as Micah was when y’all signed off on that ridiculous contract he had drawn up for me last year.”
Mya smiled as she thought about the part she’d played in the contract Micah had presented to Lex last year when he needed Elite Events’ help planning an event.
The sound of the elevator ding distracted her from her call. “Hold on, guys,” she said into the phone before placing them on mute.
She followed the food courier who had walked into Micah’s office suite. “Hello, can I help you?”
“Sorry, someone was leaving so I came right up,” the young man said with a smile. “I have a food delivery for Malik Madden.”
Mya observed the restaurant icon on the brown paper bag and wondered if he’d purposely ordered food from one of her favorite Spanish restaurants. If he did, how did he even find out? “I can take it,” she stated as she took the bag. “Hold on while I get some money for your tip.”
“No need,” the courier stated. “It’s already been taken care of. Have a great day, miss.”
“You too,” she replied as he walked out the door.
She glanced at her phone and unclicked the hold button. “Hey,” she said into the phone. “Did any of you happen to give Malik a rundown of all my favorite restaurants?”
Of course, they all said no, but Mya didn’t know how much she believed them. She sighed into the phone. “Okay, I’m not done with you guys, but I want to speed up this meeting, so we’ll finish this conversation later.”
She hung up her phone and briefly contemplated taking the food, getting on the elevator and heading to her South Loop condo. But she knew that wasn’t possible. Not only was her bag still in the conference room with Malik, but she also didn’t want to be that rude.
Why is he being so persistent? she asked herself as she began walking back to the conference room. She should have known that helping Micah get closer to Lex would come back to bite her in the butt. After all, Malik and Micah were brothers, and although they were opposite in personality, they probably had a lot in common, like how they chose to pursue women they were interested in.
Mya stopped walking abruptly. Malik had only officially asked her on one date, so that didn’t necessarily mean he was looking for a relationship. He wants to get a rise out of you. That had to be it. Malik wanted to make her feel uncomfortable so she would give in and go out with him, which was absolutely out of the question.
She took a few more steps. But you’re attracted to him too, and it’s been a while since you’ve had sex with a man that fine. She stopped walking again, surprised at the direction of her thoughts. “This isn’t like me,” she mumbled under her breath as she continued her walk back to the conference room. She didn’t spend time agonizing over men and the tactics they used to try and get with her. She was too fierce for that. Too independent. She’d spent too much time trying to become the person she was today and had gone through too many misfortunes to let the likes of one man jeopardize her character. She could handle this. So what if you’re more attracted to him than you are most men. Who cares! She’d overcome a lot in her thirty years and she could definitely handle a man like Malik Madden.
When she opened the door to the conference room, Malik’s back was to her as he stared out the window. It was dark outside now, but the city always looked good at night. He was positioned towards a well-lit street and he didn’t appear to hear her enter. She took a brief moment to savor how good he looked from the back.
Even through his gray dress shirt, she noticed how broad and muscular his shoulders and arms were. He had unbuttoned his sleeves and rolled them to quarter length. His hands were in his pockets so his pants stretched slightly forward, accentuating his butt.
Standing there ogling him felt somewhat invasive, but she couldn’t help it. It was hard e
nough trying to not sneak glances at him when he was watching her, so it was even harder to tear her eyes away when he didn’t know she was watching.
She failed to pick up on any signs that he was turning to face her and by the time he had fully turned around, he caught her gawking at him. Despite being caught red-handed, she darted her eyes away from him, refusing to look him in the face.
“The food came,” she stated as she placed the bag on the table.
“Are you okay?” he asked sincerely, the deep timbre in his voice catching her off guard. She forced herself to steal a glance in his direction and when she did, she’d instantly wished that she hadn’t. Oh, my. He had on his glasses. The glasses that he sported better than any man she’d ever seen wear glasses. He hadn’t been wearing them before she stepped out of the room so the sight of them now was even more unsettling.
He held her gaze, patiently awaiting her response.
“I’m fine,” she said taking the seat she had vacated. “We can continue with the meeting.”
He nodded and took his seat before he began explaining how he’d make as many meetings with the auctionees as possible.
Mya was barely listening to him. All she could think about was how in the world she would make it through him being in the same city as her. How can I get through the next month when I can barely get through this meeting, she thought as she sank into her chair a little.
She was screwed. Royally screwed. And it wasn’t the I-can-jump-back-from-this type of screwed. It was more like the Oh god, I will never sin again if you help me through this situation type of screwed.
“When is the first meeting with the auctionees?” he asked, oblivious to the inner struggle she was currently experiencing.
She plastered on a fake smile before responding to his question. “Next Wednesday evening I’m meeting with the four business professionals I was telling you about.”
“Great,” he responded. “This weekend I should hear from a couple people I reached out to as well. If they accept, can I invite them to the meeting?”
Beautiful Surrender Page 4