Page 29 of Devanté
“Of course. I understand. I mean you’ve made a prominent name for yourself. I did some research before you came in and saw that your face has been in more magazines than any other male model in history.”
“You did your research, huh?” He leaned forward, pressing his elbows against his knees.
“I did.”
“Then tell me what my motivation is, Blake.” His dark eyes narrowed, focusing on my face and making my skin hot.
“I have no way of knowing that. It’s something personal, I assume.”
“It is. I just thought maybe you read it in an interview or something. You seem to be on top of things. You always have been though. No surprise there.”
“Our past has nothing to do with our meeting, Devanté. Let’s focus on you as the spokesperson of Shaw.”
“Motivation, Blake. What is it?”
“The definition of the word is…”
“No. You know what I mean. My motivation for building this empire I’m standing on top of.”
“Wow, you’re not short on confidence, are you?” I quipped, lifting an eyebrow.
“No. I’m not. Should I be?” Why did he seem so close when in reality, he hadn’t moved an inch? I tried in vain to still my thumping heart.
“I didn’t say you should be. I was just making an observation.” I watched as his face split in two with a bright white smile that I wanted to say was from teeth whitening and veneers but I knew better. Devanté Morgan had that smile all his life.
“Good. Because I don’t shrink myself for anyone,” he said. “Now, as for my motivation…for the past eight years it’s been having someone to share all of this with. Everything I’ve built with my own two hands from the ground up.”
An involuntary snort jumped from my mouth. Devanté studied me for a moment before continuing and ignoring the outburst. “It’s nice being able to look back on my accomplishments and be proud but I don’t have anyone to share them with. So, I keep pushing hard so that one day I can retire and enjoy it all with someone I love.”
“That’s beautiful, Devanté,” I deadpanned. “What does that have to do with why we’re here?”
“I want to make sure you know that I’m definitely in it for the business benefits but also because I feel like signing with Shaw will give me something else I can be proud of years later. I didn’t sign on to see you. I didn’t know I would see you until I read over the contract.”
I swallowed and nodded my head, shielding my ego from the quick blow. He hadn’t signed on with Shaw because he knew we were the firm handling their marketing. He made the choice based on his own merit and morals.
“Again, what can I do for you? How can I help put your mind at ease so you can sign on?” I was there to do my job and that was it. Land the big client for Shaw so Watson could thrive.
“I want to know that us working together won’t be a problem. I want to know that our past won’t get in the way…and I wanted to see your face up close and personal.” His eyes roamed my features leisurely and without apology.
What did he see when he looked at me? Did he see the years of self-love I’d painstakingly pumped into my veins? Did it glow through my skin?
“Our past is the last thing on my mind, Devanté. We were friends. Now we’re nothing.” My voice was cooler than I expected. It frosted the room leaving crystals on every surface, including Devanté. A shadow passed over his eyes and he leaned back in his seat as if to put as much distance between us as possible.
“Nothing?” He repeated the word but when he said it, it was laced with pain. “That’s harsh.”
“Is it?” I folded my arms across my chest.
“It is. We were best friends…”
“Were.” I cut him off swiftly.
“For eleven years, Blake. I’m not going to pollute our business dealings with our past but you better fucking believe we’re going to talk about this at some point.” His nostrils flared and the light in my office glinted off the gold hoop in his nose. It was very Tupac. I hadn’t noticed it before. It was a nice touch. It was subtly him. I liked it.
No…
Ilovedit.
I tore my eyes away from it before he noticed me staring.
