that’s easier said than done.” Sitting down at her desk, she took a sip of her coffee, thinking she’d added just enough cream to make her coffee almost the exact color of Daman’s velvety, chocolate skin.
“Enough with all the serious talk,” Cyd said in an attempt to lighten the mood. “Let’s get down to the real business. Just how sexy is Daman in person?”
Imani shook her head as she thought about the right way to describe her first encounter with Daman. “Honestly, besides being arrogant and cocky, all I can tell is that he’s confident and successful.”
“Seriously?” Cyd asked, with a look of disbelief. “That’s all you got?”
Imani exhaled. “No, that’s not all. He’s also tall, nicely groomed and has smooth, chocolate skin, which I definitely like. His eyes remind me of dark chestnuts and his smile is so sexy. And goodness, what a body. If you could have seen how he looked in that suit...” Her voice trailed off when she noticed how quiet her friends were. The knowing looks on their faces proved that she’d said too much already.
“But that won’t change anything,” she quickly added.
All the women laughed. “Oh, yes, it will,” Lex said. “There is only so much a woman can handle. You’ve always been a sucker for Daman’s type, so I don’t see why this situation will be any different.”
“Lex has a point. The sooner you admit that we’re right, the easier he will be for you to handle,” Mya added. “We already know how the corporate world works and Daman wants the estate, too, so he’ll pull out all the stops to get it. You don’t need to suck it up and play nice. You need to get your head in the game and go out balls blazing. The two most important things are to help plan one of the biggest events that Elite Events has ever been a part of and win the estate.”
“You’re right,” Imani replied, allowing Mya’s positive energy to rub off on her. “Organizing such a grand event will be amazing and beneficial. Besides, I can work on convincing Daman that I should get the lake-view estate. Y’all know how convincing I can be when I want something.”
“Hell, yeah! Now you need to keep that attitude,” Cyd stated.
“And pull out all the tricks because you know he will, too,” Mya added.
“Cyd and Mya are right. But please don’t stress about your attraction to Daman,” Lex said with a smile.
Imani wondered if there was anything they didn’t know about her. She was still apprehensive because she usually liked to plan ahead before diving into things, but she would never have turned down such an important proposal as the one from Mr. and Mrs. Sims.
“You’re all right,” Imani replied.
“Then it’s settled?” Mya asked. “You already said yes to the Simses’ proposal. Give Daman a run for his money. Even if that means seducing him, like he probably will try to do to you.”
The situation really didn’t seem settled at all, but Imani always prided herself on seeing the bright side. Fidgeting with the nameplate on her desk, she tried to hide her apprehension. But she never backed down from a challenge, and Daman Barker was definitely a challenge. “Yes, it’s settled.” Let the games begin!
Chapter 4
When Daman walked into R&W Marketing Tuesday morning, he immediately felt at ease. Every time he walked into the firm that his boys, Taheim Reed and Jaleen Walker, had successfully established, he felt a sense of accomplishment. Two months ago, he decided to partner with his best friends full time to bring R&W to the next level. If Taheim and Jaleen could run a successful business and also be junior partners in their family businesses, he didn’t see any reason why he couldn’t, too. Daman had been traveling between his Detroit hometown and the windy city of Chicago almost every week by plane or car, but planned on making Chicago his permanent home by the end of the year. At thirty, he was proud of what he’d accomplished so far. Although Daman’s career was thriving with R&W, he couldn’t say the same for his feelings about Barker Architecture.
His father, Stan, and uncle Frank had opened Barker Architecture when they were in their early twenties. Now, Barker Architecture had grown to an astounding fifteen offices. They were responsible for much of the beautiful architecture and amazing landmarks throughout the Midwest. When Daman’s father passed away eight years ago, his uncle took over as president and chief executive officer of the company. His uncle had never had children of his own, so he treated Daman like the son he never had. Daman had just graduated from college and was working on his master’s, but his uncle picked up where Daman’s father had left off and began showing him all the ins and outs of the company. When Daman became vice president of Barker Architecture, he began noticing inconsistencies with some of the accounting documentation. Barker Architecture was one of the companies affected by the 2008 economic crisis.
In order to keep the company afloat, Barker Architecture reached out to several investors, many of whom were old friends of Daman’s father. When Daman became vice president in 2011, he wanted to focus all his energy into ensuring Barker Architecture would never be a victim of another economic crisis, so he began looking into the company’s accounting files. His uncle was quick to try and divert Daman away from his personal investigation, but Daman continued to question his uncle about certain accounts and customers. Was Barker Architecture really in trouble in 2008? Or was his uncle hiding something? A few months ago, Daman decided it was finally time for him to step away from the office to figure out what was really going on. Since their second largest office was in Chicago, Daman told his uncle he would work out of that office and return to Detroit weekly or biweekly as needed. His uncle agreed, considering he was also aware of Daman’s new partnership with R&W.
As Daman walked into R&W, he tried to put Barker Architecture out of his mind for the moment, but a phone call earlier that morning had been filled with disappointing news concerning just that.
“Hello, Mr. Barker!” the perky front-desk receptionist said, breaking his thoughts.
“Hi, Sherry. Are there any messages for me?”
Flipping her auburn hair behind her ear, she shuffled through a stack of papers. “Yes, you have several. Mr. Kingsberg called to recap last week’s meeting, and Mrs. Remmy called about her upcoming meeting. Also, Glamour Cosmetics, Franko Industries and William’s Whole Foods are all interested in starting an account with R&W. Mr. Reed and Mr. Walker would like you to begin working on those accounts.”
“Thanks, Sherry.”
“You’re welcome, Mr. Barker.” She snapped her fingers. “Oh, and I almost forgot! Imani Rayne from Elite Events Incorporated called your connected line and asked if you could call her back when you got a chance.”
Daman smiled. He’d wondered if she would call. His connected line was the private line displayed on his business card for Barker Architecture. That was the only line connected to both Barker Architecture and R&W Marketing.
“Is that all she said?”
“Yes, Mr. Barker. She left her work number for you to call back.”
“Thanks again, Sherry.”
Daman looked at the clock sitting on Sherry’s desk to see how much time he had before his meeting with Taheim and Jaleen. Noticing he only had three minutes to spare, he placed the paper displaying his messages in his suit jacket and headed down
