“I’m sorry about your job and your car,” he said. “I want to offer you something, Stassi, but the timing isn’t ideal. It’s going to feel like I’m saying it because of what I saw today, because of the situation I know you’re in financially and it ain’t like that. I been wanting to say this to you.”
Why am I holding my breath? This man makes me so nervous.
“Offer me what?”
“The timing is crazy, but if you say yes, worrying about your finances will be the last thing on your mind. I want to offer you a job.” Finally, air entered her lungs. She sighed in relief and chuckled nervously.
“Oh my god, Day. If you hire me, I swear I’ll work my ass off to prove I deserve it. I promise, whatever event the label has, I’ll take it. I don’t care how small it is. I just kind of need to rebuild my…”
“It ain’t for the label,” he interrupted.
She frowned. “Sooo, what are we talking about? What kind of offer?”
“A hunnid thousand,” Day stated.
“For what?” She asked. Her stomach tightened because she knew whatever came out of his mouth next would up the stakes between them. This would no longer be a friendly flirtation between them. She felt it in her soul, and she wanted to stop him. She didn’t even want to hear the details, but she couldn’t find words. She couldn’t interrupt because no way was any man audacious enough to say what she thought he was going to say.
“For you,” he answered.
Except Day. Day was audacious enough to say it. “See, you on some other shit. You can have your driver turn this car around.”
Stassi couldn’t calm her heart. Suddenly it was thundering in her ears, deafening her, causing her throat to dry up and her stomach to hollow.
“What kind of woman do you think I am?” She asked. She was disgusted that he would even try her like that. “I don’t sell pussy, Day. I’m in a bind, but I’m not desperate, and if I was, it’s plenty other shit I could sell before I sell my soul.” Her face was bent in judgment, and her neck jerked back. She hated that he was so calm. He didn’t even look at her; he just kept scrolling through his phone like she wasn’t even talking. “You buy pussy? All these women I’ve seen throwing themselves at you for free and you out here paying to play.”
“A transaction is regulated, baby.” Still, not even the courtesy of eye contact. “It’s agreeable by both parties. Ain’t no leaving dissatisfied, ain’t no talking to the blogs afterward, ain’t no feelings or promises involved. I prefer clear communication. I’m not looking for anybody to invest their heart with me, so the expectation for more or love isn’t a factor. Everybody’s clear when a bag is involved. Anything free ain’t quality. I pay for luxury everything. Luxury clothes, cars, food,” he paused andtilted the drink he had poured to his lips. The grimace on his face as he swallowed it down made her palms go wet. He was fucking attractive. “Drinks,” he added. “Women are no different. I want luxury pussy, and I compensate very well for it. If a hunnid ain’t your price, state it, and it’s paid. I’m open to negotiating. We were gonna end up here anyway, might as well get paid for your trouble.”
She was blown. Stassi couldn’t even think straight as she tried to process his words.
“Everything has a price. Women normally pay with their hearts when their feelings get destroyed after niggas finesse them just to fuck. That ain’t my game.”
“No, you just treat women like prostitutes,” Stassi shot back.
“I treat women like commodities, like valuable, priceless commodities. I establish value, then I pay your worth because there’s shit I can’t do to you for free.”
Stassi was nervous and overwhelmed and a little afraid because suddenly he felt like someone she didn’t know. Still, there was a mystery to this offer. Did he do this often? Was one hundred thousand the going rate? Was she cheap or top-notch? The fact that Day didn’t have to pay for a woman’s time yet chose to was both confusing and intriguing, but most of all, it was intimidating. She couldn’t help but feel insulted.
“Yeah, this ain’t it,” she said, leaning forward to tap the driver’s shoulder. The fact that he did not react told her that this was too common of an occurrence. She was uncomfortable. “Excuse me, can you turn around and take me back home?” He lifted his eyes to hers and nodded. “I’m sorry it didn’t work out, kid,” he said. Arrogant-ass nigga turned his attention right back to his phone. Everything about this man was attractive. Even his posture was a fucking vibe, the way he slouched in the seat, thumb scrolling down the glass screen, brows dented in seriousness. He wasn’t phased by her rejection, as if therewere a hundred girls in that phone that would welcome the offer without thinking twice. Powerful men just had powerful auras. They were persuasive and protective in a way that made women consider absurd shit just like this.
Do I give off that vibe?
She wondered what she had done to even send the message that she would be down for something so illicit. Silence accompanied them all the way back to her place, and when the car rolled to a stop, she popped open the door.
“You have a good day, miss lady,” he said without looking at her. She hated his masculinity in that moment because it was alpha-level manhood. He smelled like a man, walked like his dick was a gift, and my God, the way he talked to her, the depth of his voice, the lust that crept out when he was saying the most casual phrase… she hated that she was so intrigued by him.
The scent of his cologne stayed with her as she exited the car. His proposition lingered in the air long after he was gone.
She couldn’t get inside her apartment fast enough. She closed the door, locked it, and rested her back against the wood. She felt like she had run mental laps the way her thoughts were racing.
What the entire fuck?
She had never had a man approach her with such disrespect, but somehow she still felt a simmering in her soul, or maybe it wasn’t her soul, maybe it was her clit. Yup, it was definitely her clit. She could feel herself heading toward the land of bad decision-making because no way should she be wet for him after the bullshit he had proposed. Had he not thrown out his desires so boldly, she was almost positive she would have ended up in his bed. Instead, she had ended up alone, inching her hand into her panties and fondling her clit as thoughts of him took her over the top.
Chapter 6
Can you turn me up?” Charlie asked as she stood behind the recording booth, holding onto her belt loops as the engineer behind the table waited for her to sing. “I can’t hear myself.”
“You sure you want to go again? That last layer was perfect.”
