she explained. “I don’t want to be up all night.”
Jamal had been having such a good time, he’d all but forgotten about her having to work in the morning. In his world, if it took all night to consummate a deal, so be it, but this was her world, and there were parameters. He felt the need to apologize. “I’m sorry, and here I am keeping you up, too. Forget the pie, let’s have a quick conversation, and we can work out the details by phone or something later.”
“I’m good. Have your pie and coffee. As long as I’m in bed by eleven, I’ll be okay.” She passed him a plate and a fork.
“What time do you usually get up?”
“Around four-thirty, and on the road no later than five-fifteen.”
“That’s early.”
“That’s life in hotel housekeeping.”
“How long have you worked housekeeping?”
But before she could respond, he groaned pleasurably in response to his first taste of the pie. “This is so damn good.”
Pleased by his testimonial, she replied, “Gram’s from Louisiana. She can make a cardboard box taste good.”
He glanced her way. “You cook, too?”
“Yep, but not as good as she does.”
“I’d be big as a Klump if I lived here.”
She chuckled. “First time I ever heard it put that way, but to answer your question about working in housekeeping, almost two years.”
That gave him pause. He wanted her to sing, not be on her knees scrubbing tubs even if it was good honest work. “Do you like working at the hotel?”
“I do. The guests can get on your nerves sometimes and it’s hard work, but it’s a job. In this economy, I’m glad to have anything that pays the bills.”
He knew she was right of course. The sheer size of his personal wealth insulated him from having to worry about the everyday issues that impacted folks on the opposite end of the economic spectrum, and it made him wonder how the Vaughn women were doing financially. Were they up-to-date on their mortgage or in danger of foreclosure? There was food in the house and they had lights and heat, but were they robbing Peter to pay Paul in order to make their bills? He didn’t know them well enough to ask something so personal, nor would he be so disrespectful, but she couldn’t be making much money cleaning rooms. Did she have health insurance? “Being in the music business can change your life.”
“For better or worse?”
He studied her over his raised cup. “I’d say better.”
“I’d say, depends.”
“Why?”
“I just do.”
“Come on, girl. You can’t just throw that statement out there with no explanation. What’s up with all this negativity?”
For a moment she didn’t respond, but he could see from her unfocused stare that she seemed to be elsewhere. “Talk to me, please?” he asked softly.
Reggie was debating whether to tell him the truth. He’d been so polite and nice all evening she supposed he’d earned it. Maybe when he heard what she had to say, he’d understand the other reason why she was so hesitant to throw caution to the wind. “My mother had one of the best voices in the city. Sang backup for one of the Grady girl groups. A record executive turned her on to heroin and she overdosed one night in Copenhagen.”
Jamal’s heart turned over. This wasn’t even close to what he’d been expecting to hear. “How old were you?”
“Twelve.”
“I’m so sorry,” he whispered. “My condolences.”
“Thanks…”
She looked haunted by her sadness. Seeing it filled him with an urge to make it so she’d never experience such pain again. “I’m not going to rip you off or give you drugs. You have an amazing voice and you could go so far in this business. How’s your grandmother feel about my offer?”
“She’s all for it, of course. When I told her about meeting you, she called me Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz, and said it was time for me to put on my ruby-red slippers and start walking down the yellow brick road.”
“I like your grandmother.”
“She liked you, too.”
“But you don’t agree with her?”
“I do, but it’s hard to know what’s right. I have a job and prospects for a better one if I can keep saving up and finish school.”
“Okay, tell you what. I’m going to leave you alone for a few days. I’ll fly back to L.A., and then call you to see if you’ve made a decision.” He was not going to let the best voice he’d discovered in nearly a decade slip away. “You still have my card, right?”
She looked embarrassed. “No. I tossed it after you left.”
“You’re a mess, you know that?”
Holding his humor-filled gaze, Reggie wondered what it might be like to have him in her life for real.
“Do you believe in fate?” he asked her.
She shrugged. “Not really.”
“Well, I do and I believe that I was supposed to run into you at the hotel.”
“Why?”
“To hear you singing.”
She didn’t respond.
“The music gods have sent me to show you the way to the mountaintop, and I’m not coming back empty-handed, so know that.”
“Now who’s a mess?”
He shot her a dazzling smile before glancing down at his watch. “I should get moving so you can go to bed.”
Reggie hadn’t expected to have such a nice time. “Thanks for understanding where I’m at.”
“No problem, but like I said, this ain’t over.”
She got the sense that he was enjoying the challenge. “If you say so.”
“I do.” He drained the last of his coffee and took out his phone to call his driver.
Jamal wasn’t anxious to end the evening. Watching her, he wanted to sit in her cozy little kitchen with his pie and coffee and talk to her until sunrise. He’d learned a bit more about her tonight, so he supposed he’d have to be content with that.
While he made his call, Reggie checked him out. Instead of the usual black he was wearing gray. On his wrist was an elaborately carved silver bracelet with a huge blue sapphire in its center. The handsome face hadn’t
