When A Woman Hustles, Danielle Martin [books to read in your 20s .TXT] 📗

that. She thought inside her head. But it was too late now.
She pushed open the door being courteous enough to hold the door open for Reese. She wanted to slam it shut in her face and call everything off. But she couldn’t let her insecurities take over. For years, she had done so, keeping the women away in fear they would attempt to seduce the only man she ever loved. But now this was bigger than her feelings.

King sat in the same spot behind his desk. He had his cigar pressed to his, his eyes still glued to the flat screen TV watching the game. He didn’t speak or turn to acknowledge the young ladies as they walked inside the room. Pumpkin halted in place. This was her chance to coax Reese into not saying anything stupid to get her in trouble. "Listen," She tightly grabbed her by the wrist. "Don’t say anything out of line. Be respectful. And if he asks you about your work history, remember you've done this before."
Reese frowned, her bottom lip poking out like a child. "But I haven’t done this before Pumpkin. I'm not good at lying."
Pumpkin rolled her eyes again. "If you want to get paid, you’re going to lie tonight." Using her shoulder, she nudged for Reese to step forward ahead of her. She cleared her throat to get his attention. He turned around in his chair finally to face the women. Reese looked shaken as she stood in front of his desk. Kings eyes immediately fell upon Reese. The room grew silent for a moment as he looked her up and down examining her outfit. He didn’t speak as he continued to stare at her. After a few moments went past, he finally the broke the silence. "You going to the prom when you leave here baby girl?" He asked while smirking. He took a puff of his cigar watching Reese as she nervously blushed. "Ummm…" she stammered. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to overdress. I feel like an idiot."
He laughed at her, his eyes falling onto Pumpkin who stood back allowing Reese to remain on front street. "What’s your name baby girl?" he asked. 
"Reese." She answered nervously. He nodded his head.

"Hmmm." He pointed towards the chair in front of him. "Come have a seat. Pumpkin, you have a seat too." 
Both women obeyed, walking across the room to sit in to the matching leather chairs that sat in the front of his desk. Reese sat down first slowly as if her dress was too tight. Pumpkin sat down next. She kept a watchful eye on King. He hadn’t taken his eyes off of Reese yet. "So." He leaned forward, still not breaking eye contact. Reese was visibly intimidated. She glanced at Pumpkin then back at King. "So." she repeated him.
He smirked at her. "So tell me... How did you get mixed up with Pumpkin?" He asked, prepared to start his interrogation. He leaned forward propping his elbows up on the desk. Reese looked over again at Pumpkin as if she were looking for approval. She looked back at King. "Ummm... I met her through a friend. We kind of just hit it off I guess." 
He nodded his head, while glancing over at Pumpkin again who smirked in return. "Hmmm." Again, he shifted his attention back to Reese. "Why are you so nervous Reese?" He asked, picking up on her avoidance to make eye contact. 
"I don’t know." She shrugged her shoulders. "I was nervous about meeting you tonight."
He smirked, his eyes still glued on her. "Why nervous? I'm a good guy." He threw his hands up in a joking stance, causing Reese to crack a light smile. 
"I'm sure you are." She answered.
King puffed on his cigar as the smoke flowed over the table. Pumpkin sat on the sideline, watching as King continued to lock gazes with Reese. Pumpkin clenched her jaw. King knew very well that he was intimidating her, which is why he had yet to back down or break eye contact. As usual, Reese was busy looking away, fidgeting with her fingernails in the center of her lap. Her cleavage was visible. She had natural perky breast which were pushed up in the tight corset top she was wearing. For a moment, she began thinking the worst. Then again, she had to remember who she was dealing with. King had will power. He wasn’t fazed by a beautiful woman or big breasts. Reese was a soon to be hustler. He steered clear from those types, so she had nothing to worry about.
"Are you ready??" He bluntly asked. "This is a crazy lifestyle and you have to have a strong backbone if you want to survive in this game. You ready for that??"
Reese visibly swallowed the large lump in her throat. She hesitated to answer. Pumpkin rolled her eyes, wishing for once this girl would at least pretend to have confidence. Her shy persona was growing increasingly annoying. King noticed she hadn’t answered right away, so he leaned in even closer. "Reese, something is telling me that you’re new at this. Am I correct?" He eyed her. Reese bit her lip then looked at Pumpkin, who rolled her eyes and didn’t try to hide it. King was not a foolish man, so their cover was blown. He picked up on vibes, and he could tell right away that Reese was no thief. "You must be a good girl. Pumpkin trying to cross you over to the dark side, I see." He laughed, while looking over at Pumpkin who kept a straight face. Already, Reese was getting off on a bad start by not following her lead. Now, there was no turning back. They were here now, so she had to work with what she had regardless if it may or may have not been a mistake.
"Look, I’m not about to play the radio with either one of you." He made sure to make eye contact with the both of them. "It’s a lot of money in this business, and I don’t need anybody coming through here fucking shit up." He pointed towards Reese to let her know he was serious. "You're gonna have to submit a background check Reese. I'm gonna give you the benefit of the doubt only because you are being represented by my best girl, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to let you slip through the cracks. I do background checks on all my employees. Got to make sure you're not a thief on record, because if you are, you can’t work for me."
Reese quickly shook her head, intimidated. "I have never been arrested a day in my life." She threw her hands up to signify that they were clean.
"Hmmmm..." Again, he leaned back in his chair, still puffing on his cigar which was beginning to burn out. "Alright, well you’re free to go."
Reese looked at Pumpkin then back at King, confused on why the meeting was ending so abruptly "That’s it? Did I say something wrong? You didn’t want to ask me any more questions?"
"Nope." He shook his head. "I got everything I need on you. You in the game now, so it ain’t no turning back. Just know that you messing with a killer." He nudged his head towards Pumpkin. Pumpkin nodded her head in return, knowing King was just hyping her up but she didn’t mind going along with it. She wasn’t a killer. Unless you pushed her.
Reese nervously cracked her knuckles while standing to her feet. "Okay I get it." She extended her hand to shake his. “It was nice to meet you Mr. King.” Pumpkin stood still. Rule # 1 Never shake King by the hand.  Pumpkin didn’t get a chance to fill her in on the basics. As crazy as it may sound, this was not a rule she made up on her own. King was very serious about his health and personal sanitization. She had never seen him shake hands. Ever. In his words, he did not shake hands because no one was his equal. He was not going to accept Reese’s advance and Pumpkin felt bad for not filling her in. To her surprise, King reached over. He placed his palm into the center of hers. He lightly shook her hand in return. “Nice to meet you as well, Reese.” Pumpkin stood back in shock, her mouth wide open as she stood unnoticed in the background.  What the fuckkkk? She cussed inside her head. Her eyes narrowed as the pair continued to shake hands. 5 seconds went by which felt more like 5 minutes. It’s just a handshake Pumpkin. Calm down. Calm down. Calm down.

Reese, let’s go." She shouted demands as she quickly bum rushed for the door.
She was ready to get the hell out of here and satisfied this meeting was finally over. Pumpkin glanced over her shoulder. Reese was not behind her. She turned around to see Reese standing in the same position. Her hand still gripped the inside of his. "Reese!" Pumpkin shouted her name again, snapping Reese out of a trance. "Oh!" she jumped. "Sorry about that." Reese scurried away from the desk and headed towards the door. Pumpkin held the door open,. She didn’t budge until Reese walked out first. As soon as her back was turned, Pumpkin shot her a look that could kill. How dare this bitch look at my man like that?? Is she fucking crazy?? Although King was attractive and could put any many in a trance, she was not okay with any woman looking at him the same way she did. Her blood boiled as she realized she may have to keep a closer eye on Reese than she thought. Before walking out of his office, she glanced back at King. He smirked at her before waving goodbye. She stared at him for a moment. He knows exactly what he’s doing to me….

 Reese knew one day King was going to open up his eyes and realize that she was the one. It just was going to take time. Shutting the door, she trailed down the hallway, following behind Reese who was two steps ahead of her. Pumpkin made up her mind she was determined to have everything she wanted in life. Nothing and no one was going to stand in her way. Reese needed to play it safe and stay on her good side if she wanted to make succeed. Because Pumpkin wasn’t playing any games, and she was ready to go to war if she had to…

 

 

Chapter 9

 Chapter 9.

BAM BAM BAM BAM. 
Her eyes jolted open as Reese sat in an upright position, her silk satin sheets falling into the center of her lap as she sat straight up. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes, glancing at the clock on the side of her bed. 8:53 a.m. BAM BAM BAM BAM. She heard another loud knock on the outside of her bedroom. She threw the covers back, wondering what the hell Jayla wanted and why she was bamming on her door so early in the morning. She reached the door, swinging it