She had just nodded off when the ringing of her phone jolted her awake. Her closest friend for six years and counting, Destiny listened as Eva recounted the bizarre day she’d had without skipping one small detail. Eva was twenty-four now, and had met Destiny her senior year of high school. Unlike her, Destiny hadn’t grown up in a bad neighborhood and had led a fairly cushy life. Her father owned a small electronics store, and because of its prime location it did quite well. Despite the differences in their backgrounds, the two had hit it off and quickly became inseparable. During their senior year, Eva routinely spent the night at Destiny’s house and was welcomed with open arms. The two hadn’t been able to see each other as often lately due to conflicting schedules, and the engine blowing in Eva’s car six months earlier didn’t help. Destiny didn’t like venturing into her friend’s sketchy neighborhood, something Eva didn’t blame her for, and a new car wouldn‘t be working its way into her budget in the foreseeable future. The two settled for daily phone calls every evening around 5:00 pm when they’d talk for five minutes or five hours depending on how juicy their day had been. Given the events of Eva’s day, she knew this conversation would be lasting a while.
“So, wait, he left you three hundred dollars and he was hot?” Destiny asked after Eva had finished relaying the drama she‘d been through. It was just like Destiny to fixate on those two details, and Eva chuckled at her friend’s obsession with money and cute men.
“Yeah, and normally something like that would really piss me off, but with him it was different. He wasn’t doing it to show off. He seems to really feel bad about me getting canned,” Eva explained as her friend hung on her every word.
“Girl, it sounds to me like he wants in your panties,” Destiny joked with a ring of truth to her quip.
“Maybe. I don’t know. He seems so nice. He wants to go out with me, but… eh.” Eva twirled her long, dark hair around her finger as she stared at the television without even absorbing what she was watching.
“So go out with him? What’s the worst that can happen? You need to get out more anyway. I know how you feel about these loaded guys, but even you said he’s nice and sexy.” Destiny’s voice rose higher as if to illustrate her very valid point as she added, “It’s not easy to find a man like that these days, girl!”
“It’s just… why me, you know? He could have anybody. He’s probably married and just looking for some ghetto booty on the side.” After a momentary pause Eva added, “I didn’t see a ring, but he could have taken it off. You know how guys are. He probably thinks I’m just some dumb chick from the hood who’ll put out. A quick fuck,” she said pessimistically.
“You’re always so negative,” Destiny replied pointedly. “When was the last time you got laid, anyway? Wasn’t it, like, last year with that Eric idiot? Who cares if this guy wants to sex you up. He’s rich and good looking. You could do worse.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Eva said dismissively. She loved Destiny, but she also knew the girl would never understand her minimalist ideals. She quickly changed the topic with a sigh. “I need to find a new job. Can’t use Mr. Jameson as a reference now, that’s for sure.”
“You really told him to go fuck himself?” Destiny laughed. Eva was relieved that her sly subject switch had worked.
“Along those lines,” she chuckled back. “Man, the look on his face…”
“I bet,” Destiny replied. Her voice suddenly perked up with, “Oh! You know, I think my brother’s office is looking for a new secretary. I’ll ask him if the position’s still available. You’d be perfect for it! It beats working at a call center. My job sucks.”
Destiny’s older brother had passed the bar exam three years earlier and had launched his own small law firm downtown soon after. It was faring moderately well, but with a work history consisting of a mom and pop pizza joint followed by Bon Appétit, Eva highly doubted that she would be a good fit for a law office. She wasn’t opposed to trying something new, but the chances of anyplace respectable hiring a young, black woman whose only work experience consisted of carrying a tray was slim to none.
“Yeah, right, like he’d hire me,” she said bitterly while rolling her eyes.
“Shut up,” Destiny laughed. “I wish he’d hire me but he won’t ‘cause he refuses to hire family or some bullshit. I just think he hates me. And he thinks I’m stupid which doesn’t help. You’re definitely smart enough, though. Plus he’s always thought you were hot, so there’s that.”
“I don’t really want to get hired by somebody who just wants to fuck me.” Eva sighed loudly while realizing she couldn’t exactly be picky with the rent due so soon. “But, yeah, okay. If you could see if they’re still hiring that’d be great.”
“Will do!” Destiny replied with exuberance. “I’ll give him a call and let you know what he says the minute I hear back.”
It was this unwavering support that had cemented their friendship. No matter what, Destiny always had her back, and it didn’t go unnoticed or unappreciated by Eva. She loved Destiny for the optimism she’d counter her pessimism with, and how she looked out for her more than her own family did. Eva rarely spoke to her two half-brothers, her dad had wound up in prison when she was only five thanks to a botched liquor store robbery, and her mother had up and moved to Florida within a week of Eva graduating high school. They’d keep in touch with the occasional phone call, but even those were becoming less and less frequent. Hell, she hadn’t even talked to her mother in nearly four months, she realized as Destiny offered her words of encouragement.
“You keep your chin up, girl. You got this.”
“Thanks. I needed to hear that. I’ll talk to you later, okay? I need to go lay down for a bit.” Eva waited for Destiny’s goodbye before hanging up the phone and heading into the bathroom to draw herself a warm bath. Relaxing in the tub, her mind still aflutter with the craziness that was her day, she once again resolved to forget about a love life, especially with Devon Cross, and focus on her crumbling home life. She didn’t want nor need a date with some rich guy whose motives were still unclear. No, what she needed right now was job security and a steady paycheck. Romance could wait, and when she was finally ready for it, it wouldn’t be some affluent business tycoon.
Burley had followed her into the bathroom and taken a spot next to her on the floor’s plush bath mat. She peered over the side of the tub at him, smiling at how content her furry friend looked. His life was simple, yet he was perfectly happy. She wanted the same for herself, and refused to settle for less. She’d hold her head high, hopefully land a job with Destiny’s brother, and save every penny until she could enroll in college and further her education. She didn’t care about making piles of money, but was smart enough to realize that a degree made landing a decent job that much easier. With an actual career, she could move out of her crumby apartment and someday buy a small house away from the commotion of the city. She’d make it on her own, she promised herself, and would someday live the quiet life she’d always dreamed of.
It was worth a shot, anyhow.
Chapter Three
If she had to find one positive thing about being unemployed, it was that she got to spend more time with Burley. As dumpy as her neighborhood was, the run down park just up the street from her building was the perfect place to walk him. She wouldn’t dare go there at night, but in the early morning hours she felt completely at ease and would allow Burley off of his leash to get the exercise he so desperately needed. Two days had passed since she’d been fired, and as her and her loyal canine companion stepped back into her apartment after exploring the neglected park, she heard the faint sound of her phone ringing and hurried to fish it out of front pocket.
Her illuminated cell phone screen was displaying Bon Appétit’s number. She looked at it curiously while deciding whether or not she should take the call. It was likely Mr. Jameson reminding her to return her uniform, and she really wasn’t in the mood to deal with the schmuck. Despite her trepidation, curiosity got the better of he
r and she nervously answered the phone anyhow.
“Hello?” she greeted cautiously.
“Eva, it’s Robert,” the voice on the other end replied. Suspecting that Eva had no idea who he was, he cleared his throat and clarified with, “It’s Mr. Jameson.”
“Oh, hello…” she said flatly, unsure of where this was headed. In all the time she’d known the man, Mr. Jameson had never once referred to himself by his first name.
“Okay, well, let me cut to the chase. I feel terrible about how things ended between us. I realize now that I may have been a little hasty in letting you go. I said some things, you said some things. It got a bit heated, and I think I overreacted. We both did.”
There was a pause so lengthy that Eva wasn’t sure if the man was still on the other end, and she pulled her cell away from her ear long enough to check the LCD screen to see if they were even still connected. They were, and as she placed the phone back to her ear the silence was finally interrupted.
“I’d like you to come back to work, Eva,” Mr. Jameson blurted.
Eva stood in shock. The last thing she had expected was for the same man who claimed he didn’t like her to apologize and offer her job back. The previous evening, Destiny had made her routine phone call and informed Eva that, yes, her brother’s law firm was still looking for a secretary. The pay wasn’t very good, however, and its downtown location meant longer, more expensive bus rides. By the time it was all said and done, she’d be making a good deal less than she’d been making at the restaurant. Mr. Jameson was a jerk for sure, but if she could suck it up and play nice with the man, she’d be able to pay her bills easier and could look for a better job in the process. Still, a forced insincerity in his voice made her hesitant to accept the invitation back.
“Why?” she asked skeptically. “I thought you hated me, remember?”
“Oh, you know me, Eva. I’m a loudmouth with a temper. I was just having a bad day and took it out on you. Truth is, you were my best server and, as the saying goes, ‘you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.’ Come back, Eva.”
He definitely sounded disingenuous, and Eva knew from the two years she’d spent working for the man that he wasn’t one to have a change of heart. She’d seen him fire countless waitresses during her time there, and he wasn‘t exactly nice about it. Out of fairness, most of them did deserve it, but he never rehired anyone and surely never called to offer his apologies. She suspected something was awry, yet her mind couldn’t stop drifting to how much she hated riding the city’s public transportation. The bus ride from Bon Appétit to her neighborhood wasn’t even ten minutes, yet it felt like an hour and she hated every grueling second of it. The bus always smelled like a mixture of sweaty feet and urine, and as if that weren’t bad enough, it always carried a load of delinquents and crazies who made her extremely uncomfortable. She’d stopped carrying her purse to work in fear she’d wind up getting stabbed for the damn thing. If she could barely tolerate that short bus ride, then the forty-minute trip downtown would likely cause her rapid decline into one of the crazies she so regularly turned her nose up at. It only took a quick weighing of her options to reach her decision.
“Sounds good. Sorry about blowing up on you. When do you want me to start?”
“Wonderful!” he exclaimed in clearly feigned joy. “I need you for the breakfast shift tomorrow. That okay?”
“I’ll be there,” she said before ending the call with a push of a button. She wasn’t the least bit sorry for exploding on the man less then forty-eight hours prior. Screaming “fuck you” in his face had not only been the highlight of her year, but a moment she’d proudly remember forever. Alas, she had to make en effort to get along with the middle-aged despot, so her hollow apology seemed like a smart move. He likely sensed it was just lip service, but since he sounded as though he were being insincere as well she didn’t feel too bad about it. Eva decided another waitress must have quit, perhaps taking a cue from her and telling Mr. Jameson where to go, and feeling the pinch of a short staff he had no choice but to swallow his pride and ask for her back. She was just relieved to have a source of income again, regardless of his motives.
“Did you hear that, Burley?” she asked excitedly while dropping to her knees to rub her four-legged friend behind his fluffy ears. “Momma got her job back!”
The words had just left her lips when she heard her phone sound off again. She swallowed hard, her face turning serious and her heart thudding in her chest. Burley tilted his head to the side and widened his eyes, a clear indication that he was both curious and concerned by his human friend’s sudden change of demeanor.
Great, Eva thought as she stood up and reached into her pocket to retrieve her phone for the second time. This is where the asshole calls to tell me he was just kidding, or to tell me he’s only hiring me back with a pay cut.
Rather than displaying the restaurant’s familiar number, her screen flashed that an unknown caller was dialing her. Her wary nature made her nervous when it came to unrecognizable numbers, and she answered the phone with the same cautious tone she had when Mr. Jameson had called minutes earlier.
“Hello?”
“Hey, you! It’s Devon Cross. From the other day? The guy who left your restaurant looking like a Jackson Pollock painting?”
She didn’t laugh at his joke. She was too confused, and a tad concerned, by how this man had acquired her phone number. She rarely gave it out, yet he somehow knew it. This was unsettling since, despite their brief time together, he was still a stranger.
“How did you get my number?” she asked with a twang of irritation that he was astute enough to pick up on.
“Yikes. Sorry, but numbers aren’t that hard to find if you have some disposable income. I was just calling to ask if you took your job back. You did, right?”
“Wait, how did…” Eva trailed off as her mind pieced together the obvious reason Mr. Jameson had rehired her. She kicked herself for having not made the connection sooner, as she had always prided herself on being a fairly sharp girl. Yes, Devon Cross had clearly used his influence to score her job back, and had she realized this while she was on the phone with Mr. Jameson, she likely would have thrown a few more four-letter words his way.
“I told you I’d fix things,” he said, and she sensed he was smiling on the other end of the phone.
“I didn’t ask you to do that,” she replied politely, refraining from jumping down this man’s throat as a deep confliction ran through her. A part of her was flattered that he’d made good on his word and had gone through the trouble of getting her job back, while an equal part was upset by his intrusion into her life. She’d already made up her mind that she wasn’t going to see or speak to him again, but by unwittingly answering his phone call he’d managed to ruin that resolve. He’d basically forced her into talking to him, and she wasn’t sure if that sat right with her.
“I had to overstep your boundaries after over-pushing my chair!” he said in jest, his attempt at levity successfully causing Eva to erupt in a fit of laughter. She didn’t know what to make of this guy, but couldn’t deny that he did have a certain charm.
“You’re stupid,” she responded playfully. “And, yeah, I took the job back. I didn’t want to, believe me, but I need the money, so… thank you, I guess.”
“I stick to my word,” he replied confidently. “Now, about that dinner…”
“I never agreed to dinner,” Eva reminded him sternly. “I remember telling you ‘maybe.’”
“You got me there,” he replied. “I’d like to turn that ‘maybe’ into a ‘yes.’”
Eva opened her mouth to reply but was stopped by a series of bursts that sounded like a car horn. The loud beeps, each too drawn out to be a car alarm, echoed through her neighborhood, and in annoyance she dashed to her window to identify the source of the incessant blaring. Pulling aside the curtain of her second-story window, Eva peered down at the street and was shocked to see Devon leaning against the side of his limou
sine and smiling up at her. At the sight of her curtain being tugged aside, he waved and widened his grin knowing that she was likely the one peeking down at him.
Oh, lovely, Eva thought as anger welled inside of her. Not only does this guy know my phone number, he knows what apartment I live in, too. Before she got a chance to blast into him, he beat her to the punch.
“I know, I know. Overstepping. I also had Robert give me your address in case you didn’t pick up your phone. Come talk to me for a second?”
“I’m really busy right now, sorry,” she shot back with hostility as she quickly drew her curtain closed. “Thanks for helping with my job, and thanks for stopping by. I have to go.”
“Wait!” he yelled in hopes of catching her before she disconnected the call. It worked, and he proceeded with, “Please, just come down here for one minute and then I’ll leave you alone. I just want to see you. That’s all I ask, nothing more. I promise. Come down?”
“I don’t know…” she replied hesitantly. Two days ago she’d decided against any further contact with this man, yet he’d roped her into talking to him by getting her job back. She couldn’t help but feel as though he was intruding on her life, and also wondered what reason he could possible have for taking such an interest in her. He was undoubtedly a very important man, and she knew he had to stay quite busy. Why was he taking the time out of his schedule to pursue her so aggressively? She questioned whether or not her defensive disposition was making her overly paranoid. Maybe he had no hidden agenda, but that didn’t change the fact his life was the antipode of hers. Again, internal conflict tore her in two different directions. She knew she may regret it, but chose to head outside anyhow in hopes of uncovering what possible reason he had for his apparent flirtation.
“I’ll be down in a second,” she conceded unenthusiastically. Burley, who seemed bothered by his bipedal friend’s irritation, lay on the light beige carpet beneath her while locking his eyes onto her in concern. She clipped his leash to his collar and the two headed downstairs to greet the persistent entrepreneur. Stepping outside, she was surprised to find Devon Cross just as excited to meet Burley as Burley was to meet him. Her furry roommate tugged on his leash, practically toppling Eva as he rushed to get acquainted with the stranger standing on the curb just beyond the building’s front steps.
Misjudging the Billionaire - (Contemporary BWWM Romance) Page 3
