Page 27 of The Don’s Virgin Obsession

When she walked away, Vaughn stepped into my space, tall and confident. He was wearing his company shirt. It was in a forest green polo shirt, black, slightly fitted jeans, and Prada sneakers. I sized him up. It was hard not to.

“Good afternoon. Is this considered business hours?” he asked with a slight grin.

“Yes, it is… How may I help you?” I wasn’t attitudy. I kept my tone straightforward.

“I apologize for invading your space while you were at dinner, but I’ve seen your work in Living Good magazine, and it’s top tier. I can see your vision is never rushed. I’m impressed and want to work with you on a project.” The way he nodded showed me that he was serious. Not too many people knew I was featured in a magazine, either.

“Thank you. I appreciate you knowing my work before approaching me. Most people don’t. But I’m not interested in being boxed in with other designers. I don’t want to be put on a team with others that don’t work,” I told him truthfully.

“Who said that was going to happen?” he raised his eyebrow.

“No disrespect, but I’ve heard about the way you conduct your projects. I’m not interested in that.”

“I’m looking to hire you, your team only. Three projects, 70 units in South Central for Black families. You name the price.”

I glared at him, trying to find a reason to turn this down, but his offer sounded too damn good. Doing this would be a good look for me.

“Set up a meeting,” I told him.

“I’m on your time. You set it up. You still got my card, right?” He smirked.

“You know I left it behind because I’m not interested in anything but work.”

He walked closer to me, enough for me to smell his cologne.

His voice dropped. “You think I wanna fuck you?”

“I didn’t say that. I’m just letting you know.”

He snickered, pulled out a card, and slid it into my back pocket.

“Just set that meeting when you’re ready. I promise I’m not on anything other than business.”

He walked away.

Laila made her way to me.

“You heard what he said?” I asked her.

“I heard some of it,” she shrugged.

“Well, what all did you hear?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Man, I heard those seventy units. I hope you’re taking it. We can use the work. You can charge at least a million,” she informed me.

“I might.” I pulled the card from my back pocket and read it like I did at dinner.

Vaughn St. Clair

Urban Real Estate Developer

Same simple card, but something told me nothing about this man was simple, and it was more than business…

V Saint

“I don’t look for peace… I keep something around to quiet the noise.”

My team finally came down from the success high of the convention. Now we were in the middle of the week, sorting shit out. I was on lunch with a baddie named Nia Morgan. I wasn’t in the mood for somebody new, so I hit up a chick I’d smashed within the last year. Nia was cool, didn’t talk much, just liked good food and being in my presence. That was the kind of female energy I needed at noon, since I couldn’t seem to live without a woman in my space. Women came with baggage, but they were my peace.