The tears began to roll down her face, which made her feel embarrassed crying in front of her boss. She quickly wiped her tears away with the back of her hands.
Raymond felt sorry for her. “If it starts to go south, you know how to get out of there.”
Jayda nodded, her courage returning. “If they don’t start none, there won’t be none. But if they start that crazy stuff, I know how to book it up out of there. You better believe that.”
But then she frowned.
“What is it now?”
“This doesn’t feel right,” Jayda said, shaking her head. “Something just doesn’t feel right about this job. It don’t make sense that they would want me. Unless it’s gonna be one of those wild parties where the servers are expected to serve more than wine and cheese.” She shook her head. “I’m gonna call and cancel right now,” she said, pulling out her phone.
Raymond could see his five-hundred-dollar persuasion fee going up in smoke. “But you need the money, Jayda. Don’t forget that. You need the cash.”
“But at what cost?” Her face was anguished. “I’m not putting myself in a position that could destroy my reputation. Orme,” she added. Then she exhaled and rubbed her forehead. Because Raymond was right. She desperately needed the money. But as soon as she refused to prostitute herself at that party, they were going to kick her out and not pay her anyway. But what if it was legit? She rolled her head around to relieve the stress. She didn’t know which way to go!
Raymond could see her stress. It was all over her face. Jayda was one of a kind, that was for damn sure. And although he knew he was taking advantage of her confused state, he decided to give it a try anyway. He’d been thinking about it for weeks. Why not now? “Maybe we can go somewhere after work,” he said to her. “You look stressed and I’m always stressed. We can blow off some steam together.”
Jayda looked at him as if he couldn’t be serious. It was the first time he’d come on to her like that. “What?”
He tried to smile it off. “Maybe we can hook up after work,” he said more plainly.
She frowned. “You’re married, Raymond.”
He smiled even more broadly. “So what? I’m not asking you to be my girl. I’m just asking for a night, that’s all. You’re the only girl that works here that haven’t given me at least one night,” he bragged. “What you say? Yes or no?”
She gave him that hard, disgusted look he never liked because it made him feel like the asshole he knew he was. “I say no,” she said bluntly. “I say hell no.” The regret in her eyes, he could tell, was because he had let her down.
And he had.Not Raymond too, was her thought as she wiped her tears away with the back of her hand again and stood up. Was there any such thing as a good man on the face of this planet anymore?Had there ever been one???
Raymond was already regretting coming onto her that way when he should have known she’d turn him down. But it angered him too. Because of the way she made him feel. Why did that bitch of all the bitches on that job turn him on so easily? She wasn’t the prettiest one. She didn’t even have the kind of curves he liked. Her personality wasn’t bubbly like that. Why her ass?
Then he realized he was blaming her for something that wasn’t her fault.She was the only woman alive that he still respected, and she just proved to him why. No girl on that job had ever turned him down ever. And that included the married ones like him. But she didn’t hesitate to tell him to go fly a kite. She didn’t flirt around with him or play hard to get: none of that shit. She made it clear, without hemming and hawing, that she was not that girl.
She gave him hope that there was still such a thing as a good woman in this world.
His respect for her didn’t diminish by her turndown. It increased exponentially. He could only hope he hadn’t blown it.
“I was just trying to get you to smile, Jayda, dang. Loosen up.”
Jayda didn’t even look at him. She knew he wasn’t kidding. She knew a come-on when she saw one.
Raymond knew she wasn’t buying his golly-gee shit either. “Still gonna turn down that job?” he asked her.
But Jayda only looked at him with thatwhat do you thinklook on her face. Then she realized she never did accept the job anyway. Raymond accepted it on her behalf! She slammed that business card against his chest. “You’re gonna turn it down since you were the one that accepted it,” she said to the boss that had disappointed her too. And then she walked away.
Raymond fumbled and nearly dropped the card as he watched her get back to work. He wished to God he could take back his flirtatiousness, but that damage was already done.
Then he looked at the card and knew he had to act.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
The CEO and COO of Bainbridge Capital Trust got into their chauffeur-driven limousine and left the restaurant together. Carter, who rode over with Harrison, was seated inside Harrison’s limousine waiting for him to end his conference call. And that was when Raymond knocked on the window.
Carter frowned when he saw who it was and pressed down the window. “What’s the meaning of this?”
“She said no.”
“Who said no?”
