Total pages in book: 123
Estimated words: 115833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115833 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
“Oh. Yeah. The whole lifestyle thing has been put on hiatus.” She wore a tight smile and completely avoided my eyes. I studied her, trying to figure out what else she wanted to say.
“I get it.” I bobbed my head toward the bar. “Let me introduce you to Whitney and EJ.” I led the way, and of course my sister and teammate were in the middle of yet another heated debate.
These two always got into debates about the most random things, like if Marvel or DC was better. Who would win in a fight, Patrick Mahomes or Russell Wilson? Who’s the better artist, Whitney Houston or Aretha Franklin? Tonight, they were debating which song on one of Kendrick Lamar’s albums was better.
“I’m telling you, ‘Money Trees’ is a pure masterpiece. ‘Bitch, Don’t Kill My Vibe’ was more commercial, and you can’t say it wasn’t, because Jay-Z hopped on the remix, and that man is about nothing but commercial shit,” EJ declared. “I don’t blame him, though. That’s where the money is.”
“I still stand by what I said,” Whitney said after sipping her drink. Her eyes swiveled to mine as I stepped closer. “Oh, hey, bro!”
“What are y’all arguing about now?”
Whitney handed a flute of champagne to me. “Something EJ is clearly wrong about.” My sister put her focus on Davina again. “You must be Davina. Hi, I’m Whitney, Deke’s big sister.” Whitney offered a hand to Davina, and Davina pasted on a big smile as she shook it.
“I am. It’s so nice to put a face to one of the names Deke always mentions.” She gave me a little wink. I swear on everything, we were having foreplay. “And you’re EJ McCoy, right?” Davina asked, eyeing my teammate.
“Look at that? She already knows who I am, Deke!” EJ beamed, showing off the gold grill on the bottom row of his teeth again. “Look, if you ever need a new face for your company, I’m the guy, all right? This skin looks good because it requires a lot to make that happen.”
Davina laughed and said, “I’ll keep that in mind.”
“How do you know who this corny-ass dude is, anyway?” I jerked a thumb at EJ.
“Oh, I looked into the whole team after Tish told me you were coming in to discuss a deal with us,” Davina said with a pop of her shoulder. “Thought it’d be nice to familiarize myself with the roster.”
“A woman who does her homework.” I tossed her a wink. “I feel that.”
She brought her glass to her lips, hiding a smile.
“I just have to say, I love your products, Davina!” My sister moved closer to her. “Thank you for all the samples and for the leftover stuff. I told Deke the honey shea body butter is my favorite! My skin is always so soft when I use it.”
“Stop. It’s my pleasure, Whitney. Really. I’m just glad to hear you love them and that someone is putting the products we send your brother to good use.” Davina eyed me with a playful smirk.
“Hold on now. You trying to say I don’t use your stuff?” I asked, laughing.
“Well, you did tell me you only took the deal with me so your sisters could have an unlimited supply of GOC products.” Her lips pursed, like that was the end of the conversation.
“He told you that?” Whitney scowled at me.
“No, hold on. Hold on.” I dug into my pocket and pulled out a travel-size hand cream. “What’s this then, D?”
She dropped her eyes to my palm and saw the hand cream with her company’s name on it. When her eyes flickered back up to mine, she murmured, “I stand corrected.”
“I’m sorry, what was that? I didn’t hear you.” I leaned toward her, cupping my ear.
She laughed and loudly said, “I stand corrected!”
“Oh, okay.” I smirked. “Good to know.”
She looked into my eyes, sinking her teeth into the corner of her bottom lip. I don’t think she was doing it to tempt me but more as a nervous habit. Either way, it was turning me on.
“I like the hand cream,” I told her. “Keeps my hands soft.” I sounded stupid, but I didn’t know what else to say. I just wanted to keep hearing her voice. Keep her near me.
“I’m glad it helps.” She locked eyes with me for a fleeting second before giving her head a little shake and distracting herself with a sip of her drink.
“Davina?” someone called behind us. I looked back, and it was her friend Tisha. When Davina looked back, Tisha gestured for her to come.
“Well, that’s my cue,” Davina announced. “Whitney, it was really lovely to meet you. You as well, EJ.” She turned to me, placing a hand on the upper arm of my tux. “Deke, thank you so much for coming. I know there are plenty of other places you could be.”