Xavier strolled to the empty chair in the room and paused, then took an eye over to Hunter. Hunter nodded as if to say, everything is good, and Xavier took his seat.
“Now that we’re all here, let’s get right to it,” Leslie Valentine said. Leslie gave Christopher eye contact. “I know we’ve had our differences in the past, but—”
“You call purposefully undermining us to sneak your bids on the Lotus housing development at the last second differences? You knew the sale was a done deal, but like a snake, you slithered over to the associate with your smooth talk, throwing an asinine amount of money on the table to steal it right from underneath our noses.”
It was Jaden who’d spoken.
“It’s the cost of doing business,” Lance intervened. “That’s how you win a bid when the competition is sleeping.”
It was a direct hit, and the Rose men felt it.
“However,” Lance continued. “This development we have decided to come to you with a proposal and not sneak as you put it, and steal it from underneath your noses. But,” he went on, “we could if you’d prefer it.”
Another direct hit, and Jonas was done playing games just that quick.
“Are you willing to fight for it?” Jonas said.
All eyes on the Valentine’s side of the table went to him, each of them wondering if he was speaking in reference to a bidding war or a physical fight.
Hunter responded, “You know Jonas, I know you’re undefeated inside the ring, but do you want to test out that theory outside of it?”
“Time and place, Valentine,” Jonas responded.
“Fellas, calm down,” Christopher said. “There seems to be too much testosterone in this room. We all came here to try and come to an agreement. Let’s continue down that path and not this other one.” He always tried to be the voice of reason. Christopher glanced at Jaden. “There’s nothing we can do about the Lotus Development now, son. Be easy as you young men put it.”
That seemed to tickle Leslie as a chuckle slipped from his throat.
“The Fairburn development belongs to us,” Christopher said matter of factly.
Xavier’s brow arched. “That’s your way of coming to an agreement?” Xavier said.
“That’s what he said.” This time it was Jonathon who’d spoken.
“That’s not how negotiations work,” Xavier continued, “And if I didn’t know any better, I’d suspect you all didn’t come here to work this out at all. So why waste our time? I’m sure we all have more important things to attend to instead of showing off which one of us has bigger balls.”
“We all know who has bigger balls, X,” Jonathon said, causing a round of laughter to roll from the Roses.
Xavier chuckled. “Oh yeah,” Xavier said. “I dare you to place the highest bid on it; we could even let you pick the judge, guarantee you mine are bigger, baby boy.”
“Fellas, this isn’t getting us anywhere,” Jordan said, finally inserting his voice.
Jonathon held daggers on Xavier, and Xavier puckered his lips and blew him a kiss. “Anytime,” Xavier mouthed, tired of the shit show going on in the room. He’d rather be anywhere but here, but especially with Corinne. He flipped his wrist and checked the time. The last time he’d spoken with her she and Camilla were on their way to lunch, and if he could get out of here quick enough, he just might be able to catch her.
There was a knock on the door, and everyone turned their attention to it.
“Expecting company?” Kyle asked.
Christopher also checked the time. “No, any of you?”
Leslie glanced at his sons and they declined. “It doesn’t appear so,” Leslie said.
“Come in,” Jonas barked.
The door opened, and London Jones tiptoed into the room. London was the part-time caregiver for Jaden’s mother-in-law Adeline. She glanced around the modern executive space and was taken back by the fierce-looking gorgeous brothers in the room. She’d been privy to the charm of the Rose men for years now that she worked for them, but seeing them in the room with the Valentines brought all the sexiness in one place to a mind-screeching halt. She could barely remember why she entered. Her eyes traveled over Lance’s braided locks and chocolate brown skin, but it was when her eyes fell on Kyle Valentine that a buzz hit the core of her body so hard she almost jumped out of her skin. Oh, my damn, she thought. I have surely stepped into the Lion’s Den.
Chapter Ten
Kyle’s lips spread into a sexy smile, and he winked then took an eye over London’s complete form. London perused him right back, taking notice of his sharp haircut, designer shades that didn’t hide his light brown eyes behind tint, and the milk chocolate skin he was designed in. Another crawling buzz skittered down her skin, and chills populated all over her body.
“London, is everything okay?” Jaden asked, rounding the table to stand in front of her, effectively cutting off her view from Kyle. London wondered if he’d done it on purpose but didn’t have time to ponder on it since she’d left Adeline in the car.
“Yes… um, no,” she said, thrown off her game. “Adeline has misplaced her keys, and I don’t have mine, so neither of us can get in the house.”
“Where is Adeline now?” Jaden asked.
“She’s downstairs in the car waiting for me to come back. Should we wait for your meeting to be over? I didn’t know if you’d want me to or not, and Claudia is still at S & M Financial.”
“No, I’ll give you my key. Just make sure to place it in the bowl in the foyer when you get home so you don’t lose it.”
“Yes, sir.”
Jaden removed his keys and handed them over to London.
“Thank you, sorry for interrupting.”
“No problem, see you later.”
London left the room but not before sparing one last glance back at Kyle who still held a piercing eye on her parting form. Again, he winked, and London blushed then shuffled out the door.
When Kyle brought his attention back across the table, he was met with glares from all of the men except Christopher. Kyle chuckled.
“You guys should relax more often,” he said. “I’d send you over my own personal masseuse if it would help you enjoy life more.”
“We enjoy life just fine,” Jonathon said.
“Let’s wrap this up, shall we?” Xavier prompted.
Hunter spoke next. “This is the reality. We’ve both placed bids on the Fairburn development. I want it because my wife wants to start a charity with the three hotels in the development’s district. It’s important to her, and she’s important to me. I’d like to give her the chain of hotels as a wedding gift.” Hunter’s gaze hopped to each of their faces. “Surely, you can understand the gift of giving, right? The need to have The Fairburn development is not a selfish one, so I’m inclined to ask you to drop your bid, so we can do right by the property.” He paused again. “However, if you need an extra push, we’re willing to make you part owner of the Lotus Development in return.”
“Therein lies our problem, Hunter,” Jonas spoke back. Hunter was tired of Jonas already; he liked to ruffle Hunter’s feathers. “We want the housing development for charity as well. We plan to house victims of home invasions in that district. As you know, our mother was killed in a home invasion when we were adolescents. We’re dedicating Fairburn to her legacy.”
They all eyeballed each other.
“So, the bidding war continues then,” Kyle said, summing it all up.
“If you don’t want to hand it over, so be it,” Jaden said.
Hunter exhaled harshly and shook his head.
“This is unfortunate,” Leslie added.
“Yes, I would say so,” Christopher responded.
The men waited another beat just to make sure neither of the families would bite.
“Okay, then,” Xavier was the first to stand. “It was interesting catching up with you fellas.” He rebuttoned his jacket. “Until we meet again.”
Leslie stood next, along with Kyle and
Lance. They filed out of the room one behind the other, leaving the Rose men looking after them with disdain.
“I can’t believe I got you out of that apartment,” Corinne said.
With a hair flip, Camilla waved down a waiter, and the women skipped over to their table. The light pink baby doll blouse Camilla wore fit snuggly around her bosom, uplifting them but flaring around her small pouch of a stomach. The top three buttons were unfastened, and a sterling silver necklace hung from her neck and disappeared between her cleavage.
“Hi, yes,” Camilla began, “my friend and I have been sitting here twenty minutes, and no one has come to take our orders. Is everyone on a break or?”
“I’m so sorry,” the woman responded. “I’m Alana. I can take your order.”
“But will you be our waitress?”
“Yes, ma’am, I’m sorry. I did just come back from lunch.”
“It would’ve been nice to know that ahead of time.”
Camilla glanced at Corinne. “Do you know what you want?”
Corinne laughed. “Girl, that pregnancy must have you hungry as a horse because I’ve never seen you get an attitude over food.”
“A horse has nothing on my appetite right now.”
Corinne giggled and placed her order as did Camilla. The waitress apologized again then scurried away to place their order.
“Now back to what you were saying. Don’t hate, I could never get enough of Hunter. He’s like nobody I’ve ever known.”
“Puts Steven to shame, huh?”
“Steven who?”
Corinne laughed. Steven was Camilla’s ex-fiancé. After calling off their wedding, she’d had enough of him and uprooted her life in their hometown of Miami to take on the position as anchor for WTZB in Chicago. Soon after, she met Hunter, and everything from there was history.
“Exactly. Just for the record, I love this new hairdo,” she said, pointing out Camilla’s fresh bob.
“Oh, thank you, baby, it has to get transformed every other day because Hunter—”
“TMI!” Corinne screeched.
“Oh, sorry not sorry.”
They laughed, and Camilla pointed out, “Yours looks good, too. When did you ever have time to get it done, and that’s a new outfit.”
Corinne smirked. “Don’t pretend to act like you know what my wardrobe looks like,” she joked.
“Oh, honey, please, I know a new fit when I see one, and that jumpsuit you’re wearing is fresh off the rack and fire.”
“It does fit my curves nicely, doesn’t it?” Corinne asked, rising to her feet to pose left then right, sticking her hips out.
Camilla laughed and nodded. “It does.”
The all white one-piece had been similar to the peach one she’d worn during her paragliding adventure with Xavier. Corinne had noticed the way Xavier stared down every inch of her womanly figure, and the locking of his jaw hadn’t gone past her either. She reclaimed her seat.
“Maybe I was looking to get a little attention today.” She flipped her shoulder-length hair, revealing diamond stud earrings that were attached to her lobes.
“Attention from who, I don’t go both ways.”
Corinne choked out a laugh, and Camilla joined in on her glee. When she calmed enough, Corinne responded.
“Don’t act like you don’t want all of this,” she said, making a show of waving a hand down her body like Vanna White on Wheel of Fortune.
Camilla laughed again, and the waitress jogged to their table with their drinks.
“It will be about five minutes. I’ve put in a rush order.”
“Thank you,” they both chimed.
Camilla took a sip of her sweet tea then went back to their conversation but her phone rang stealing her attention.
“Hold on for a second,” Corinne said rummaging through her purse. When she lifted the smartphone to her face, she blew out a frustrated breath and considered answering it but decided not to.
“Who was that?” Camilla asked gauging her reaction.
“Unknown Caller,” she said waving it off. “It’s the second time I’ve gotten that type of call and it’s annoying.”
“So which one of your ex-boyfriends is it?” Camilla teased.
Corinne shrugged her shoulders and teased back, “Who knows.”
They laughed and returned to their conversation.
“You must’ve talked to Xavier to be bossed up and looking all sparkly and shit.”
Corinne chuckled. “I always talk to him.”
Camilla was delighted and intrigued as her brows rose in response. She exhaled and relaxed against her seat. “So, what’s going on with you and Xavier?”
Corinne licked her lips, and her eyes closed for a hot second before reopening.
“That good, huh?” Camilla said.
“When you said you’ve never met anyone like Hunter, I have to say I understand.”
Camilla nodded.
“We’re dating,” Corinne blurted.
“Dating as in officially a couple or just seeing where things go, or friends with benefits.”
“All of that,” Corinne said, “well except for the benefits part if you’re talking about sex. That hasn’t happened, but Xavier can’t keep his lips off of me, and I can’t deny him either.”
Camilla was nodding again, and a smile cruised across her lips.
“I just want to thank you now for introducing us. Even if this doesn’t turn out the way I hope, I still thank you for this experience.”
Camilla giggled deeply. “My pleasure. Hey, you guys hit it off, and really you should thank Hunter. If he hadn’t proposed and we hadn’t double dated, you wouldn’t have met Xavier.”
“Well not at that moment, but with you guys engaged…”
“Right, you would’ve met him eventually, I see where you’re going.”
“Yeah, so thank you anyway, and thank Hunter for me.”
Camilla laughed again.
“We’re going to Africa.”
Camilla’s eyes bulged. “When?”
“Next week.”
Camilla gasped. “Why?”
“I told him about the little girl I sponsored when I was young, and he asked me if I’ve ever been to Zambia before. The next thing I know, we were planning a trip.”
“Oooh, now I think I’m jealous.”
“Don’t be, you can come with if you want. Trust me, Xavier and I would pay you and Hunter no mind.”
They both laughed.
“I’m sure, but I couldn’t get on a plane right now. The way my nausea is set up, I wouldn’t be any fun.”
Corinne pouted.
“Besides, I would need at least a month of a heads up to give WTZB.”
“Oh please, who do you think you’re fooling?”
“What are you talking about?”
“Camilla you’ve got WTZB wrapped around your fingers. Honey, you made your debut in Chicago, snagged one of the wealthiest bachelors off the market, became the face of WTZB, and have already been promoted, and you haven’t been there 90 days. Who does that?”
Camilla wiggled her eyebrows and pointed to herself. “Me, that’s who, I’m an all-around superwoman.”
The women laughed louder, garnering the attention of some nearby patrons. A few men in the restaurant winked over at them, and the ladies nodded back.
“How can you stand all of the attention?” Corinne asked.
“Honestly, I hardly notice it because when I’m with Hunter, the only thing I see is him. It’s quite scary at times.”
Corinne’s smile dropped slightly. “What do you mean?”
“You said it yourself, he’s one of Chicago’s wealthiest bachelors. Women don’t care, they will continue to throw themselves at him to see if he’s game, and I’m so in love with him, Corinne. What happens if—”
“Oh no, we are not about to do that,” Corinne interjected. Corinne sat upright from her slouched position and crossed her legs. “Do you really think Hunter would hurt you like
that?”
Camilla’s gaze wandered off for a brief second then she grimaced. When her eyesight returned to Corinne, a small smile cornered her lips. “No, he just seems too perfect you know.”
Corinne did know. Thoughts of Monica’s warning of Xavier were never too far from her mind. But the way Corinne saw it, she couldn’t let that fear hinder her and possibly lose out on a lifetime of happiness or a month of happiness. However long the happiness lasted, she wanted to soak up every second of it.
“Look I get it, but, Camilla, don’t you dare let anything come between you and Hunter. Especially those types of thoughts. They’re the devil and meant to ruin your relationship.”
“You’re right.” Camilla perked up and Corinne tapped the table with her hand.
“I know I am, now, let’s have a conversation worth its weight in gold.”
“Which would be?”
“Your wedding!”
This brought on another elaborate smile from Camilla. She sighed dreamily.
“It’s in a month, Corinne said. “How will you ever get the whole shebang done in time?”
“Girl, Hunter has contacts, I mean the kinds that could reach out to the President of the United States. So, when I tell you it will go off without a hitch, believe me.”
Corinne nodded. “Damn, a man with all the fixings. Must give you a toothache to be so freakin’ sweet.”
Camilla laughed with a nod. “I’ve got the feeling you’ll find out soon.”
That comment just about took Corinne’s breath away.
“Girl, don’t even play with me like that.”
“Who’s playing?”
“I could only dream.”
“How does he treat you?”
“Like a princess.”
“That’ll change,” Camilla said.
Corinne frowned. “What?”
“That’ll change. Right now, he’s treating you all delicate. Holding your hand, touching you gently, kissing you passionately. Am I right?”
Corinne’s eyes roamed from side to side. “Yeah…” She was afraid of where this was going next.
“But then there are times when he clutches your body, like a grip here, a solid hold there, he might even growl just a bit but not too much to scare you away, am I getting warmer?”
A Risqué Engagement Page 8