Chapter 6
Chapter Six
Tristan regretted those last five words the moment they left his mouth. He wanted to punch himself when Cree froze, then jerked away from his touch as if she’d been burned.
“Ex-wife, and you’ll never have me again!” she snapped and rolled her chair back from the desk before bolting out of her seat.
Tristan stood also and moved from around the desk, keeping a little distance between them as they stood in the middle of the office floor.
“If I were to take you on as a client, and that’s a huge if, there’d be nothing between us except a professional relationship.
” Anger dripped from each word as Cree glared at him.
“Right now, though, I’m still unsure of whether adding you to my client roster is worth it.
Yes, financially it would be, but doing so would be a bad idea.
Because this… us"—she waved a hand back and forth between them—“will never happen again. So if that’s why you’re here under the disguise of needing representation, you can forget it. ”
“Okay.” Tristan lifted his hands out in front of him in hopes of getting her to settle down. He had to talk fast. Cree would probably only give him a few more minutes of her time, and he had to make them count.
He played his hand too quickly by mentioning he wanted his wife back.
He also shouldn’t have said anything about missing her, even if it was true.
The only excuse he could come up with for why he’d run off at the mouth was that being in her presence again was screwing with his mind…
and his heart. Whether she wanted to or not, she would always hold a special spot in his heart, and in all the years they’d been apart, that hadn’t changed.
He’d been twenty-one when they’d secretly eloped.
Not even their parents knew, thanks to Cree.
Only his brother, Quincy and her sister, Essence, were aware of their nuptials.
Cree had wanted to keep it quiet, especially from anyone in the business, until she had acquired a few more clients for her sports agency.
In hindsight, they’d been way too young to get married even though he’d been crazy in love with her. They had tied the knot three days before their relationship imploded with the news about him landing a new agent.
God, he would never forget that night. He’d known Cree would be upset, but he had underestimated just how furious she’d be.
He soon found out when she kicked him out of her apartment and served him with divorce papers shortly after he had signed with Philadelphia.
He’d been shocked she hadn’t tried to get half of what he stood to make from the NFL team.
Instead, all she wanted was out of the marriage.
He had refused to sign the divorce papers.
For months, he begged her for forgiveness and another chance—offering her anything she wanted.
He loved her too much to let her go without a fight, but then she’d showed up at his condo in Philly.
He thought she was coming back to him, but instead, she told him, if he really loved her, he’d let her go.
He did, and to this day, that had been the biggest mistake of his life.
“I’m here in a professional capacity because I need to make some decisions about those offers, and I need to make them soon,” he said, pointing at the documents spread out on her desk.
“I need your help with that, and I want you to represent me. Please, Cree. Don’t let your anger toward me make you and your agency miss out on millions of dollars. ”
Appealing to her business sense was the way to go now. She might want to maintain a hard no where he was concerned, but she knew how much money he could generate for their firm. He was counting on that side of her to make the right decision.
And then there was Warren. If this could help with whatever was going on with…
“If my firm represents you…”
Excitement raced through him as she laid out her demands, including taking a higher percentage than most agents took. He didn’t care. This was just the beginning of a plan to have her back in his life again, and when that happened, he was never letting her go.
“I’ll read through the offers this evening. In the meantime, set up an appointment with Shantel on your way out. There’ll be a contract here tomorrow afternoon for you to sign with us. I’ll represent you, but Tristan, don’t make me regret this.”
“I won’t, and for the record, I’m only interested in the offers that’ll keep me in Chicago.
I’m here to stay, Cree.” He looked at her pointedly.
Soon, she’d find out just how serious he was regarding them picking up where they left off years ago.
“I’d also consider offers which might require some travel, but nothing that will keep me away for more than three days at a time. ”
She maintained eye contact as she slowly nodded. “Understood.”
But did she really understand? Did she have any idea that he planned to fight for her, and he wasn’t above fighting dirty? If she didn’t, she’d find out soon enough.
A knock sounded on her office door.
“Come in,” Cree said.
A tall, dark skin brother strolled into the room. He was a big guy, looking as if he’d probably played football or basketball at some point in his life.
Recognition had shown on the man’s face when they made eye contact, but he didn’t acknowledge Tristan. Instead, he gave Cree his full attention. His gaze skimmed her body and the way he’d done it didn’t look professional.
Tension coiled inside of Tristan. The one thing he didn’t know was whether Cree had a man. He hoped not. If she wasn’t married, there’d be nothing to stop him from pursuing her.
“Sorry to interrupt, Cree, but Shantel wasn’t at her desk. Should I come back later?” the man asked, barely sparing Tristan another glance.
“No, I’m glad you’re here, Milton. Come on in. Mr. Whitmore was just leaving.”
Well, damn. Tristan might’ve been planning on leaving soon, but she didn’t have to dismiss him so carelessly.
Cree returned her attention to him. “Mr. Whitmore, I’ll be in touch tomorrow. Have a good evening.”
Tristan approached her. “Oh, so we’re back to Mr. Whitmore?” he said, briefly placing a hand on her waist as he started to pass her, and he didn’t miss the way she shivered. “See you soon.” He walked out without a backwards glance.
Soon. Soon he’d have her again.
“Wow, Tristan Whitmore, huh?” Milton Banks, the firm’s private investigator said as he took a seat in front of Cree’s desk. “Seems you’re moving up in the world, and my guess is your client list just got more interesting.”
Cree chuckled and sat across from him, realizing Tristan’s documents were still on her desk. She made quick work of putting everything back into the large envelope. Milton knew a lot about their clients, but for some reason, she didn’t want him to know any more than necessary about Tristan.
And interesting? That was a good word for Tristan, but she didn’t want to talk about him.
Especially since her heart was still beating faster than it should be.
Now that he was gone, maybe she could settle down and forget he’d ever been there.
But that was going to be impossible since she could still smell his cologne.
“Just another day at the office,” she said noncommittally.
“I hope you have some good news for me. What did you find out about Andrea? Is she staying out of trouble like she agreed to?” Cree asked of one of their clients.
She was on the verge of cutting the B-list actress from her roster because of all the negative attention she’d been garnering over the years.
Lately, she stayed in the tabloids with one scandal after another.
“I’ll have a formal report to you by the end of the day. In the meantime, I’ll let you decide if she’s keeping her agreement,” Milton said and handed Cree his high-end camera.
Cree sighed at the first photo, then started skimming through the others. Andrea definitely liked getting naked. Too bad she didn’t care where she did it. She and the man she was having sex with appeared to be in an alley.
It always amazed Cree of the photos and videos Milton could get without anyone knowing they were being watched.
Then again, even if Andrea had known he was filming her, she probably wouldn’t have cared.
The woman had been a problem to work with from day one.
But Cree thought the movie and a commercial deal Andrea had gotten recently would make her think twice before doing anything that could cause her to lose the deals. Apparently not.
“This girl has no decorum.”
“Yeah, she is a lot. My guess is, with some of her antics but not this particular one, she’s trying to stay relevant. Maybe thinking any press is good press. Not sure what she was thinking in this situation. They could’ve gone back to her place for their rendezvous,” Milton said.
The former Chicago P.D. detective had been working for their law firm for over five years and had become invaluable to Cree and the partners.
She handed him back the camera. “It would be good if she could stay relevant by doing something that shows her in a good light. Maybe volunteer work like I suggested last week. At least she didn’t get arrested this time for indecent exposure.
I think our PR department is frustrated.
They had a hard time spinning a tale regarding her buying weed and some pills from a known drug dealer last month. Who’s the man in those photos?”
“A local DJ. I haven’t seen the two of them together before. So, I’m assuming he’s the new guy since Grant dumped her.”
Grant, an A-list actor, had been a mentor of sorts to Andrea. That was until she’d gotten arrested recently. Not wanting his reputation to take a hit, he had dumped her and had done it very publicly. Cree was fairly sure the scene had been planned by Grant’s people.
At any rate, she needed to decide what to do about the woman. She’d bring it up at the next staff meeting.
Milton shoved the camera back into his bag. “So, are congratulations on signing Tristan Whitmore in order? Rumor has it that he’s going to be a hot commodity even though he’s no longer playing football. I heard a couple of NFL teams are looking at him for coaching positions.”
Cree was always impressed at how in-the-know Milton always seemed to be.
“Yeah, the league loves him,” Cree said, still not wanting to discuss her ex.
The only time she talked about clients with Milton was if she needed information on them.
Tristan’s life, for the most part, had played out in the media, especially for the past few months.
From what she knew so far, she didn’t need Milton’s assistance.
No, any research into Tristan would be done by her.
Which probably wasn’t the best idea, but for now, she’d keep details about him as a client in-house.
“What about you?” Milton asked, and Cree glanced at him.
“What about me?”
Milton was a handsome guy with tawny brown skin, friendly eyes, and a roguish smile. Though he had shown interest in more than a professional way, she never encouraged him.
“I mean what do you think of Whitmore as a potential client?” Milton watched her carefully, and she wondered if he knew something about Tristan that she should know.
“This is not public information, but he’s looking for representation.”
Milton nodded, still watching her as if he knew something but was debating on saying it. “I see. Well, based on the interaction earlier, he seems to have taken a liking to you.”
Cree chuckled and waved him off. “I think it’s safe to say he’s a flirt, which doesn’t faze me. I don’t mix business with pleasure.” She’d done that once with Tristan, and she wouldn’t do it again.
A slow smile kicked up the corners of Milton’s mouth. “So you’ve told me, more than once. With that said, though, if you’re almost done here, how about dinner at Alla Vita?” he asked casually, but Cree didn’t miss the hope in his eyes.
They’d gone out together a few times over the years, but lately, it hadn’t felt like they were going out as friends or coworkers.
Something had changed on Milton’s part. Cree recognized the signs of a man who’s interested in more than just friendship, and she’d made it clear they could only ever be friends.
She just wasn’t sure he got the message.
“I’m going to have to pass.” She glanced at her watch. “I have a meeting this evening. As a matter of fact, I have a few things I need to take care of before then. Is there anything else we need to discuss regarding Andrea?”
Milton snorted and glanced down at his camera bag before looking at her again, then stood. “Right. Business,” he said and chuckled. “Got it.”
Good, she thought, because she didn’t want things to get weird between them. He was a great investigator who they’d come to rely on.
“Maybe some other time. As friends of course,” Milton said. “I have a question for you, though. If Tristan Whitmore would’ve asked you out for dinner tonight, would you have said yes?”
“Hell no,” she said emphatically. “I told you that I don’t mix business with pleasure. And if we sign Whitmore, it will be all business.”
She proclaimed the words with such force Cree wasn’t sure if she was trying to convince Milton or herself. Either way, she couldn’t mess this up by letting her attraction to Tristan screw with her mind, heart, or her job.
Not this time. Not ever again.