Beautiful Surrender. Sherelle Green

spun in his chair and reached for the red folder he’d placed aside before Mya arrived. He quickly glanced at her before removing a sheet of paper from the folder and handing it to her.

      “What’s this?” Mya asked, not even bothering to look down at the paper.

      Malik crossed his hands in front of him on the table. “If you take a look at that document, you will notice that I need to be involved with every step of the process.”

      Mya yanked the paper off the table and skimmed the contents stated. “A contract? You drafted a contract? For what? You’re just a cohost, so all you really need to do is support, promote and be present for any rehearsals and of course the day of the auction.”

      He smirked and ignored the hitch in her voice. He knew she wouldn’t like the idea of working with him more than she’d planned. But she’d just have to deal with it.

      “It’s not a draft,” he stated in a calm voice. “If you pay close attention, it’s an actual contract that Lex, Imani and Cyd signed when I left your office the other day.”

      Mya stood from her chair and slammed the paper on the table in front of him. “I don’t know what bullshit you’re trying to pull, but I never signed this contract and since I’m the lead planner of the event, this isn’t valid.”

      He shot her a sly smirk, knowing the action would make her even more upset, but he couldn’t help it. He enjoyed seeing her all hot and bothered. “Quite the contrary, Mya. It clearly states in the fine print that only two members from Elite Events need to sign off on a contract.”

      He watched the rise and fall of her chest as she came to the realization that he had her pinned in a corner. “If you look closely,” he continued as he pointed to the document, “I have three signatures, so your signature isn’t needed.”

      She squinted her eyes at him. “Why are you doing this?” she asked him softly.

      Malik studied her expression, hoping that he hadn’t made a mistake by pushing her to work more closely with him. “Before I even talked to you about the charity date auction, Lex had filled me in on the efforts Elite Events were trying to make. I believe in giving back to the community and I wanted to help.”

      He slid an envelope to her that had Elite Events written on it. “Here, open this.”

      Mya looked hesitant at first, but she took the envelope and opened it. Her eyes grew big in surprise before she responded. “Is this for our after-school program?” she asked as she glanced back down at the check.

      “Yes, I decided to help sponsor the date auction and I have a few more checks coming from a few business friends of mine who also want to help your cause. As you stated before, you need help if you’re going to achieve this goal.”

      Malik watched some of her frustration subside, but he knew she still had a lot of fight left concerning his close involvement. Mya wasn’t the type of woman who liked being strong-armed into anything, but he could also tell that she really cared for the Chicago students and wouldn’t let her pride get in the way of helping them out.

      “I need to make a call,” she said as she stood up from the conference table and smoothed out her blouse. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be right back,” she said before walking out of the conference room and firmly shutting the door behind her.

      Malik leaned back in his seat and titled his head to the ceiling. I wonder how long it will take her to process everything. The food was due to arrive any minute, but he wasn’t sure if he could even talk her into staying after the news he’d just dropped on her. A part of him felt wrong for putting her in this situation, but little did she know, if they didn’t seem to work well together, he would back off and let her continue preparing for the date auction alone. He truly did admire her determination to start a new after-school program and he didn’t want anything standing in the way of her achieving that...not even him.