Hate At First Sight, page 2
“Call Josh.” I dragged the blade along the last swatch before rinsing my now smooth jaw. I dropped the towel and took the phone with me to the bedroom.
“That’s exactly why I’m calling you. He was in charge of the Blake hotel project. He walked off the job this morning. It’s chaos down there. And Blake is due for a walk-through this afternoon.”
“Walked off? What do you mean walked off?” I frowned as I pulled on a pair of boxers and dark-wash jeans before hunting for one of my favorite t-shirts.
“He quit. And from what I’m hearing, he’s been way behind on the project deliverables. The site looks practically the same as when we broke ground a month ago. Deliveries are behind, the drawings are a mess, and we basically have a skeleton crew.”
“What the fuck happened!?” I demanded.
“I don’t know. Every time I checked with him, he said everything was on track. Two days ago, I was due for a site visit but that’s when I got the call to tend to Higgins. Before I left, I reminded him that Blake was walking through today. I just got off the phone with Rhonda re the hell down there now.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose and expelled a frustrated breath then replied. “Alright. I’m on it. A boss got to do what a boss got to do. When you get back, we can figure it out.”
I hung up and headed down to the garage with socks and boots in hand. A few minutes later I was in my truck on the highway heading into the city. My bike ride would have to wait until tomorrow from the looks of things. The early afternoon traffic was light and a journey that could have taken up to ninety minutes was cut in half. It did not take long for me to find a parking spot outside the temporary fence bearing the company logo and project name. A diminutive figure with blue hair launched at me before I barely got out of the truck.
“Sheldon! I’m so glad you’re here. Ronald called you, right? I don’t know what got into Josh this morning. But I can’t find anything anywhere. I got here just as he was leaving too. He just jumped into his truck with his backpack and left.” I patted Rhonda on her shoulder as she rambled on a mile a minute. “We’re going to get to the bottom of things. Let’s go to the office.”
The project administrative assistant walked with me into the site and I came to halt. I turned to her. “When did we break ground here again?”
“Last month,” Rhonda replied.
I looked around at the equipment and piles of material lying around. There was no sign of a foundation being dug or laid. I walked around looking at the few men as they sat around loafing.
I turned to Rhonda and ordered. “Have everyone gather at the trailer in five minutes please.”
“I-I-I think that’s going to have to wait. Oh shit! Oh, fuck! She’s here! That’s her assistant! Oh no! She’s early! She wasn’t due until this afternoon! This is madness!” Rhonda was spinning in nervous circles as she spoke, fear evident in her widened eyes. To the casual onlooker, the young woman who changed her hairstyle and color every week, wore clothes twice her size, and rambled on at the speed of lightning, was nothing more than a ball of fluff. But she was a whiz at organizing documentation and a shark when it came to the administrative side of managing any work site.
I placed my hands on her shoulders, effectively bringing her to a halt. “Who’s here?”
“The client. Rasheeda Blake. She’s the CEO of the Blake hotel chain. Word is she’s ruthless. We’re screwed for sure. Oh damn! Here they come!” She spun away and went to stand somewhere behind me.
I turned to watch as a group of people walked through the main gate. They were all wearing hard hats, jeans, and boots. It was not hard to identify Blake. She was only one of two women in the group. And though she was the younger of the two, I just knew it was her. There was an aura about her. The protective hat shielded her forehead while the sunglasses she wore covered the rest of her face except her mouth. Even from this distance, I could tell that her skin was flawless. The blouse she wore hugged her ample bosom while her tight jeans showed off thick thighs. I watched as she looked around, disdain evident in the downturned corners of her full mouth. She pointed at various things with a pertinent finger while the other woman scribbled on a notepad. I saw her look around frantically until her eyes landed on me.
“Oh shit! She’s coming over here. I can’t take another tongue lashing from her!” Rhonda was practically jumping out of her skin as the group strode across the yard.
“Another tongue lashing?” I asked.
“Two weeks ago, when she came for her first walkthrough. She lit into Josh like a hot knife through a block of butter. And when he couldn’t produce the project plan on the spot because he had left it at the head office for some adjustments and laid the blame on me, let’s just say, she made my ears ring.”
“She hit you!?” I turned to look at her.
“No. But I would have felt better if she had. I’m gone!”
I watched as Rhonda all but ran in the opposite direction as the group stopped a few feet from me.
“Are you the one in charge here?” A crisp, cool voice had me turn to face the visitors.
“Yes. As a matter of fact, I am,” I replied with a smile.
“Were. I need to speak with your supervisor, and I need to speak with them now.”
“Well, that’s not possible, Miss-” I pretended not to know her.
“Blake. Rasheeda D. Blake, head of the chain of hotels by the same name-”
“I’ve never heard of Rasheeda D. Blake hotel.”
“Payer of your salary for this sorry excuse of a work site! Your supervisor. Now!” She demanded.
“You don’t hear very well, do you? I said that’s not possible.”
“Well, you had better make it possible before you’re fired. In all my years I have never come across such sloppy work.”
“In all your years? Please. You look like you just swapped your trapper keeper for a computer.”
“Trapper keeper!?”
“Oops! Not old enough to know what that is? My bad.”
“Now listen to me you rude, uncouth, unprofessional, unemployed bum. You are fired from this project. And Collins Construction will be hearing from my lawyers regarding this breach of contract.” She glared at me.
“Breach of contract?”
“You do understand what that means, don’t you? Or do I have to spell it out for you? Collins Construction will be sued for their failure to deliver my project.”
I looked at her as she continued to explode. Out of nowhere, laughter bubbled within me. And I let it out with a roar.
“You have some nerve! I want your name! I’m going to see to it that you never work in this industry again!”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep. And as for a lawsuit, be careful you don’t find yourself being in breach of contract. I have been duly informed that this is your second visit to this site and barely a month has passed. To my recollection, a standard construction contract allows for one site visit per quarter for the first fifty percent of the project, especially in the initial stages of laying the groundwork and foundation. You are therefore in violation of that stipulation, Miss Blake.” I warned.
“And you are rude and insufferable!” She shot back.
“Yeah yeah. We’ve made that clear already. But I think that you,” I stepped into her space as she spoke, feeling oddly satisfied when she held her ground. I bent until my face was mere inches from hers. I dropped my voice to a whisper.
“You need a good romp in bed with some good dick making you scream your lungs out as you cream and cream until you come in gushes and rivers. That’s sure to fix that temper of yours.”
The sound of her hand meeting my face echoed in the silent space. I felt the burn a few seconds after, but I could care less. Instead, I chuckled which infuriated her even more. With a toss of her head, she whirled on her heels, and I was treated to a view of her round and firm derriere as she stalked toward the trailer which was used as the site office. Her team stood stunned as they watched her depart. Beyond them, I could see the crew looking at the spectacle. Rhonda’s blue head was bobbing nervously as she looked from me to the trailer. I looked across at Rasheeda as she stomped up the few steps and flung open the door. A few individuals jumped as the door hit the metal side with a resounding clang.
I saw her assistant start to move and I stopped her. “I’ll take care of it. You’re all welcome to find a comfortable spot and chill while I go finish my conversation with Miss Blake.”
I made a beeline for the trailer and entered, closing the door behind me as softly as possible. There was no need to assault everyone’s ears twice.
She spun around to face me when I entered the messy office. “Now listen to me you insufferable pig-”
“For such a pretty woman you’ve got such filthy language,” I interrupted.
“I demand to speak to your boss and I demand to speak to him this instant! This worksite is no different from when I stuck a fucking pickaxe in the ground. I have a right to know what’s happening to my hotel and I have a right to know right n- umm!”
My lips clashed with hers as I pulled her into my arms. I wrapped her in a vice-like grip even as she fought like a tiger to escape me. But I was not having it. I flung off the helmet and her sunglasses then tilted her head back, holding her firmly against me as my tongue pushed against the seal of her lips. I nibbled her lower lip and was pleased to hear a stifled whimper. Her hand grabbed a fistful of my hair and yanked hard, but the pain only made me kiss her harder.
I pushed her up against the wall and lifted her into the air so she would have no choice but to hold on to me. I pressed my groin into hers. But the joke was now on me as I felt her legs wrap around me. Without warning, I was half hard. Then her lips opened beneath mine and I was standing at full attention. Her soft moan told me that she was well aware of what was going on below the belt. When her tongue touched mine, it was as though a bolt of electricity went through me. I felt as though the tables had turned on me as her legs tightened around me. Now she had me by the balls.
Without warning, I stepped back. I ripped my mouth away from hers and pulled her legs away. When she stood on her own two feet, I took another step back. I watched as her chest heaved as she fought to catch her breath. I tried to adjust myself discreetly as I leaned against the opposite wall. My grey eyes roved over her figure. Big mistake. I forced my eyes to meet hers. She stared at me with her big green eyes, and I swallowed hard. I cleared my throat.
“Now do you feel open to listening to reason?” I cocked an eyebrow.
She remained silent as she stared at me.
“I’ll take that as a yes. You keep asking for my supervisor. I am the supervisor. And before you go there, I am the supervisor’s supervisor. As high as you want to go, I supervise them all. I’m the CEO of Collins construction. Sheldon Collins at your service. Now, as it pertains to your project, the project manager walked off the job this morning. My Vice-president informed me just an hour or so ago and I literally dropped what I was doing to get here. I’ve been out of the country and just got back yesterday. I was about to call a meeting with the crew to get to the bottom of things when you showed up. Now, I know you expect to see progress after a month. I did as well. But as it appears, I will need to get to the bottom of things and sort this mess out and get the project up and running, even if I have to manage it myself.”
“I’m going to hold you to that,” She finally spoke.
“I beg your pardon?”
“I want to hear from you and you alone regarding the status of this project. I’ll give you three days to figure out what’s been going on in your absence and I expect to have some word regarding the way forward and when I will be able to do a site inspection again.”
I felt my temper rise and I gritted my teeth. “You’re not my boss, Miss Blake. I don’t take instructions from you.”
Chapter 3:
Rasheeda
I stared at the man as though he was speaking a foreign language. The residue of his assault on my equilibrium was fading fast and I fell back on my best defense – my tongue. I folded my arms and eyeballed him. His flinty grey eyes bored into me. My temper flared once more at the humor which I saw in their depths. No one laughed at Rasheeda Blake.
I narrowed my eyes and squared my shoulders. “But that’s where you’re wrong, Mr. Collins. I am your boss. I am the paying client. I call the shots. You answer to me. That sounds like being the boss to me.”
“Oh, really now. Looks like I’ll have to take the sass out of you again. Pucker up, baby.” He pursed his lips and threw me a silent kiss. I was furious.
“I am not your baby. You insufferable-”
“Pig. Yes, I know. Expand your vocabulary of insults.”
“That kiss was a mistake. And it will never happen again. Hell will have to freeze over first. You’re lucky I don’t slap assault charges against you.” I felt stupid to have surrendered to his kiss. Ever since I met him, he has been rude and insufferable.
“Slap them. And then I’ll slap you right back. I’m sure your fingerprints are still on my cheek,” he retorted.
“You verbally assaulted me.”
“No one heard me say a thing. I have at least ten witnesses who will say you slapping me was unprovoked.”
“You rotten-” I bristled.
“And if you do insist on pushing for a verbal assault charge, you’d have to tell everyone what I said. You do remember what I said, right?”
My cheeks burned as I remembered what he had whispered outside. I forced myself to stand still as he came to within a hair’s breadth of me.
“But just to be clear, let me remind you. It’s just my humble opinion that you need some good dicking to get that stick out of your ass. Unless you like it in the ass too. A good man who knows how to navigate that body of yours and release all that pent-up tension will have you melting like butter in no time. Your pussy needs to be licked until you explode and then have a long, hot, hard dick shoved deep. You need a man you can dig your nails into as he fucks you long and hard until you just about have an out-of-body experience and pass out from how hard you climax. All that anger you’re carrying around is just too much for one person, don’t you think?”
Our eyes clashed. A plethora of emotions rolled through me as I was torn between slapping him again and hauling his mouth to mine. His explicit words were a strange turn on and it was as though I could imagine every action as it unfolded. Was he right? Did I need to get fucked? This latter thought sent my brain into a tailspin and I turned tail. I should report him and get his ass sued for not only verbally harassing me but physically as well though the latter part I became a willing participant…
Huffing in frustration, I pushed past him and grabbed up the helmet and glasses from where they had been thrown.
“You might want to fix your hair or everyone will know what was going on in here.”
I gasped as he reached out to run a finger along my jawline before leaving the trailer. I stood looking at the closed door, my heart racing. As the past few minutes from the moment he had entered the trailer to just now when he left replayed in my mind, I felt embarrassment sweep over me. I smoothed a hand over my hair as I struggled to catch my breath. It was not the fact that he had kissed me that bothered me. It was the fact that I liked it. Just thinking about his body pressed against me made me wonder if he was actually right about my needing sex. Heaven knew it had been a long time since I had been laid.
“Shit! He’s right!”
I stamped my foot a few times as I composed myself. I had to leave this trailer and only heaven knew what he must be telling everyone outside. Then a thought occurred to me and I felt color flood my face again. Maybe he had not needed to say anything. Maybe his pants had been a dead giveaway. The size of his manhood that I had felt pressed against me-
I gulped as I slammed the helmet on my head and pushed my sunglasses up my nose. I stepped out of the trailer and looked around. That Collins man was over against a fence with the workers while my staff was standing around awkwardly waiting. I pursed my lips and walked over to them.
“We’re done here for the day,” I announced.
“Is there anything that I need to record Miss Blake?” My assistant had her pen poised over her notepad.
“Collins will be in touch with me when he gets his act together, Daphne. He will be the new foreman so please add those details to the file.”
“Will do, ma’am.”
I turned on my heel and walked out of the yard without a backward glance. I all but ran back to the car where my driver was waiting. I forced all thoughts of what I had just experienced out of my head and turned my thoughts to the rest of the day. With the walkthrough not taking as long as I had planned, my schedule for the rest of the afternoon was open. On a whim, I called the salon and got a slot for a massage and facial. My chauffeur drove me to the salon and I spent some time relaxing and getting the kinks out of my sore muscles. I threw in a manicure, and pedicure and had them style my, hair as well, as I had a black-tie dinner and auction later.
An hour before my driver arrived to pick me up, the make-up artist was using my face as a palette for her masterpiece. When she left, I examined my reflection carefully. This was an exclusive guest list, and I could not afford to look anything less than my best. Some of the richest people would be there and the Blake brand needed to be represented well.
My seamstress had thrown together another showstopper. It was a black figure-hugging strapless affair with a built-in bra to take care of my girls. The design was simple at a glance with delicate shirring crisscrossing the bodice. But upon closer examination, the handsewn silver beads in strategic places drew the eyes to pockets of sheer fabric. It was like an optical illusion where the dress appeared solid but melted like a cobweb from different angles. No panty lines were allowed so a black thong sufficed. The fabric hugged my hips and upper thighs before swirling in waves to the floor. Silver high-heeled shoes and a silver clutch picked up the silver detail in the gown. My hair had been piled atop my head in a series of jumbo rolls and curls. Two silver combs above my ears glittered in the light. I checked to ensure that my diamond jewelry was intact. I slid a huge ring on my middle finger just as the buzzer rang. I did a final spritz with my perfume and I was ready to head out.
