Queen of His Heart (9 page)

“Ha! Don't tell me that you've already run through the ten and a half million you got in the divorce.”

Tenetria shrugged. “I may have made a few bad investments.”

“I've been there before.” Keenan's gaze raked over her so that she didn't miss his meaning.

“Ha-ha. I'm serious.” She lowered herself into the chair across from his desk.

“I'm serious, too. And in case you've forgotten, we're divorced. I'm no longer your personal ATM. If you made some bad investments maybe you should write Congress and apply for a bailout. I can't help you.”

“You can't or you won't?”

“What difference does it make? The bottom line is that I'm no longer capitalizing your drug habits, shopping sprees and eighteen-year-old boyfriends.”

“There's no need to get nasty.”

“What can I say? You bring out the best in me.” He glanced at his watch. “Now, if you don't mind, I have a phone conference to prepare for.” He left the sentence hanging in the air between them.

Bitter disappointment twisted Tenetria's face. “Please don't make me beg.” Her chin dropped a few notches. “I really do need some money. The house has been foreclosed on, the Mercedes has been repossessed and what money I did invest was tied up with some jackass in New York running a ponzi scheme. I have nowhere to go. I'm flat broke. I wouldn't be here if I wasn't.”

Keenan's heart tugged and he dropped his harsh tone. “What about your parents?”

Tenetria rolled her eyes. “I can't go back there,” she murmured.

What she meant was that she
wouldn't
go back there—not after she'd treated everyone like dirt when she had money. She wasn't humble like her sister Nitara. Money had changed Tenetria, and to go crawling back empty-handed would be a humiliating experience for her—which was exactly why Keenan was eager for her to do so.

“I was thinking that maybe I could stay with you for a while,” she said, giving him a smile. “I can earn my keep.” She stood up and made her way back to his desk. “I could pick up around the house, cook a few meals and even keep the bed warm for you at night.”

“I have a maid, a cook and electric blanket that can do all of that quite well, thank you.”

“C'mon, Keenan. You're not about to let me live out on the streets, are you?”

“How on earth can you make it sound like I'm doing this to you? You broke
my
heart, remember? And I still did right by you. I gave you the house, the cars and half of everything I owned. Now that it's all gone you want to come back and
play house?
”

Guilt flickered across her face.

“Naw. I don't roll like that,” he said.

“I'm not saying it's a permanent situation.”

“What about Nitara—can't you stay with her and Martin?”

Tenetria stomped her foot. “I'm not staying with my family. I won't be a laughingstock.”

Keenan laughed in her face. “Sounds to me like you don't have a choice.”

She switched tactics. “C'mon, baby.” She sat on the
desk. “We've been through a lot together, and I know I put you through a lot of unnecessary changes. But I've changed.”

As her mouth moved, Keenan envisioned a snake hissing.

“I'll do right by you. I swear.”

He wasn't trying to hear any of this.

“You loved me once…and seeing how you're still not with anyone, maybe you still love me.” She slowly crossed her legs so he was sure to see that she didn't have on any panties.

“Tenetria—”

“Shh.” She pressed a finger against his lips. “Don't say anything.” She placed her foot in his lap and then leaned back and started unbuttoning her top. “Just think about it, Keenan. You and me. We used to be good together.”

The office door burst open and Nitara marched inside. “Keenan, do have those contracts for—” She stopped, her mouth falling open.

Tenetria hopped off the desk and turned, her silk bra falling out of her shirt. “Hello, sister dear.”

However, Keenan didn't pay any attention to the drama unfolding between the two sisters. His eyes zeroed in on the woman who'd walked in with his business partner.

“Jalila.”

J
alila blinked—and then blinked again. Still she was having trouble processing what she was seeing. Keenan was closed up in his office with a half-dressed woman. Was he truly one of
those
producers who operated using the proverbial casting couch?

“Did we catch you at a bad time?” Nitara asked, crossing her arms.

The half-dressed woman, who looked eerily like Nitara, responded, “As a matter of fact—”

“No, no,” Keenan insisted. “Tenetria was just leaving.”

Tenetria?
Jalila ran the name down in her memory database.
His ex-wife?
This information didn't have the same emotional effect as her ex-fiancé telling her that he was gay, but it was certainly up there. It took everything Jalila had not to tear across the office and whack
him upside his head. Somehow she kept the presence of mind to realize that she had absolutely no claim on Keenan. None whatsoever.

So why did Keenan look so guilty?

“But we haven't finished talking,” Tenetria said, turning her wounded expression toward Keenan.

“Yes, we have.” He took the woman by the elbow and ushered her toward the door.

“Wait a minute.” Tenetria snatched her purse up from the desk as he propelled by. “Keenan, what about my situation?”

“We'll talk about it later,” he hissed.

“But…but…”

Keenan shoved her out and slammed the door in her face.

Typical
, Jalila thought.
Once he's done with a woman, he certainly knows how to get rid of them.
She ground her teeth together and coached herself to stay cool.

“Sorry about that,” Keenan said, walking back over to his desk.

Jalila wondered if that was a personal apology or a professional one. She licked her lips and lifted her head.
One monkey don't stop no show.

Nitara cleared her throat. “I just came to see whether you had the final contracts for Ms. Goodwyn. I didn't know that you were, ah…busy.”

Keenan ignored the barb and pulled out his desk drawer. “Here you go.” He handed Nitara a manila folder.

She accepted the folder and then turned to escort Jalila out of the office.

“Glad to see that you're still on board,” Keenan said.

There. That said it all, didn't it? He wanted her to move on. Jalila stopped and glanced at him from over her shoulder. “Why wouldn't I be?” After a beat of silence, Jalila made the mistake of looking him in the eye.

“No reason,” he said softly.

She nodded and then walked out of the office. When she cleared the doorway, it felt like her Jell-O-filled legs were about to drop her like a stone. Suddenly, her eyes burned as if the tears she fought were made of acid.
Keep it together, girl.

“Are you all right?” Nitara asked. “I apologize about that. Keenan and my sister…well, it's a long story. I'm so sorry you had to witness that.”

“It's okay,” Jalila said.

“Tell you what, let's just use the conference room to sign these papers.”

“Fine.” Jalila marched behind Nitara to a spacious conference room toward the back of the building.

“Can I get you anything to drink?”

“Water would be great,” she said, wanting to steal a moment alone.

“One bottled water comin' up.” Nitara set the manila folder down on the table and exited the conference room.

Once the door closed behind her, Jalila released a long, frustrated sigh. Not until then did she realize that her heart was pounding as if it was trying to escape her chest. “Goddamn it, Jalila. What did you expect?” she asked herself.

Nitara returned with a cold bottle of water for her
and something that smelled like rum for herself. For the next hour, Nitara went over everything from the basics of the contract to Jalila's health history, also peppered in were permission and waiver forms, and of course, a confidentiality agreement. “I know you broadcast on YouTube,” she said, “but we need you to refrain from mentioning anything about the show for now.”

Jalila shrugged. “I can just take a little break from uploading videos for a while.”

“Great. Taping begins Saturday,” Nitara said. “The first night we're throwing a party out in Beverly Hills. There will be music and drinks. You and your girlfriends will work the room, talk to the men one on one. The cameras will film everything. At the end of the night, you and the girls will confer and then you will select three men out of the twenty-five that you'd like to date.

“From there, the three men will plan their courtships for the next four weeks. This is the part where we will follow you around your job and your friends, parents and, of course, your dates. This is to give the audience a thorough sense of who you are. The taping schedule will start from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. That will give you ten hours a day to yourself—some private time.

“We'll also arrange a room in your house where you can do a video diary. You'll talk directly to the camera and just tell America what you're thinking from day to day or date to date.”

America?
She would be talking to all of America?
Exactly what kind of ratings were they expecting to get out of all of this?

“After the four weeks, we, of course, will edit everything and splice it to get our thirteen episodes. In the last episode you'll select who you'd like to be a ‘queen' to. You can either choose to keep dating, or perhaps you can propose.”

“Propose? Me?”

“Well, maybe we'll get all three men to propose and you select which proposal you'd like. Oooh. I like that idea. Let me write it down.”

Jalila frowned. “Don't you think that's a bit staged?”

“It's a television show.”

Jalila didn't have a response to that. Still, who would get engaged to someone after having known them for only four weeks?

“Don't worry. If you like the guy, you can have a really long engagement. If it doesn't work out maybe we'll bring you back for season two.”

Season two?

After signing her name to an endless stack of paperwork, Jalila was tired and her writing hand was cramped.

“Looks like that does it,” Nitara said, stretching out her hand. “I guess we'll see you on Saturday.”

“I guess so.” Jalila shook her hand and stood to leave. As she walked out of the conference room and walked the main office, she prayed she would avoid seeing Keenan again.

No such luck.

Keenan stood at Dee Dee's desk, talking about something. As she walked by he stopped.

“Goodbye, Ms. Goodwyn,” Dee Dee said, smiling.

“Bye,” Jalila said, rushing for the door. She could feel Keenan's eyes follow her. He allowed her to escape like the chicken she was.
Damn him
. When Jalila was safe in her car, she clutched the steering wheel, filled her lungs with air and let out a long-winded scream. “Aaaaaaaarrrrrggggggghhhhh.”

Did it feel good? Yes.

Did she feel better? No.

One thing for sure, she wasn't about to let Keenan get the best of her. She would do the show, she would find herself a man—a
good
man—and then Mr. Keenan Armstrong could kiss her naturally tanned ass.

 

“Do you want to tell me what the hell is going on with you?” Nitara asked, storming behind Keenan as they returned to their private office.

“Drop it, Nitara. I don't want to talk about it right now.”

“You don't want to talk about it? Well, too damn bad,” she shouted. “Does this office look like a hotel suite to you? Are we suddenly running a porno outfit around here and you forgot to tell me?”

“No, it doesn't look like a hotel. Nor does it look like my old childhood bedroom and you certainly don't look like my mother.”

“Then maybe I should get your momma on the phone, smart ass.”

Keenan drew a deep breath. “Calm down, Nitara. I already apologized.”

“Calm down? Did you see the look on Ms. Goodwyn's
face? We're supposed to be professionals. I'm surprised that she didn't run out of here, telling us to take our show and shove it.”

“There are other women out there who could take her place,” he tossed out, dropping into his seat.

“What?” Nitara stepped back and held up her hands. “Did I just step into the
Twilight Zone
or something?
You
are the one who insisted that we build the show around her. Am I right or am I imagining things?”

Keenan swallowed. He realized that his glib comment stemmed from his disappointment that Jalila was continuing with the show—even though she had every right to do so. He didn't want a relationship, but he didn't want her to continue looking for a relationship. “That doesn't make sense,” he reasoned aloud.

“What do you mean that doesn't make sense? Dee Dee and I were in here when you pitched the idea!” she said incredulously.

“What?” He frowned, and then realized that he hadn't been listening to her. “Oh, I wasn't talking to you.”

“Well, excuuuuuse me if I thought my standing here and bumping my gums together actually meant that I was engaged in a conversation.”

Keenan slammed his hand down on his desk. “Well, damn it, I said that I didn't want to talk about it right now!”

Nitara jumped. In all the years that she'd known Keenan, she had never seen him this angry. “What did Tenetria say?”

“Who?”

Nitara arched her brow at him. “Tenetria. My sister. The woman who was in here—”

“Oh, her.” Keenan waved off her concern. “You know Tenetria. She just needs some money and thought that little strip show was going to get her what she wanted.”

Nitara was confused by Keenan's casual attitude about what she thought was at the heart of his anger, but apparently she was on the wrong track. Her mind raced. If Keenan wasn't upset about Tenetria…then what
was
upsetting him? “How did the conference call with NBC go?” she probed.

“Fine. Fine.” He turned toward his computer and pretended to be busy.

She wasn't buying it. Turning, Nitara walked over to her desk. All the while, she tried to fit the pieces of this puzzle together. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get the picture to come together. But one thing she knew for sure, something was definitely going on and she was going to get to the bottom of it.