Just My Type Read online

  Loretta stood and placed her hand on Roger’s shoulder. “Let’s settle down. We didn’t bring you all over here to start a fight.”

  “No, you called us over here to insult my intelligence,” Janiyah said. Her heart pumped high octane indignation through her system. The spark of one more insult was likely to make her explode.

  Aaron groaned. “No one’s insulting your intelligence, Janiyah. Dad’s just making a point.”

  She swung around to face her brother, the one she’d thought understood her better than anyone. The pain of his words hurt worse than her dad’s. “I don’t see you sitting at a desk every day, Aaron, but I’d bet he’d trust you to run Henderson Automotive,” she shot back.

  David stepped forward. “I run Henderson Automotive.”

  “Enough!” Roger said loud enough to cut off the potential sibling argument. “The point of this meeting is to settle things. I won’t be here always. I want to make sure you’re all taken care of.”

  “You can’t sell the business, Pops,” David said.

  Roger put his hands on his hips and spread his legs in a defensive stance. “The last time I checked, I don’t need to get my kids’ permission. My job is to protect and provide for my family. This is the best way to do that. I want to make sure your future plans are secure so that you can look out for your mother and sister.”

  Janiyah clenched her fists. “So, not only am I incapable of,” she made finger quotations, “working for real, but I’ll need my brothers to look out for me.”

  Loretta sighed and rubbed her temple. “Janiyah, don’t be so dramatic.”

  Her phone chimed again. Where are you? Liz texted.

  She looked at her parents. The indignation in her system grew hotter with each passing second. Out of all of their kids she was the one they said couldn’t handle running the business? Forget that Kareem went to jail, David lived in a world of regret, and Aaron couldn’t stay in one place for more than a week. She was the one who couldn’t handle it. As if sitting at a desk would really prove that she was more responsible?

  If she stayed there a minute longer she would end up saying something she would regret. “Screw this,” she said, turning her back on her family.

  “Where are you going?” her mom asked.

  She spun around. “I don’t need to stay, seeing as how Daddy and my brothers are going to plan out the rest of my life.”

  Her sarcasm wasn’t met with any arguments. What the hell was up with that? Then it hit her. She’d indulged in being the baby girl of the family for far too long. Okay, she was often late. And, yes, she did accept the money her dad gave her, but he always insisted on helping her out. She’d taken it because of that, not because she couldn’t survive without it. She wouldn’t have taken it if she’d realized he gave it to her because he thought she wasn’t able to support herself. Did they all really think she was so useless?

  She looked at her dad and brothers, and got her answer. She was the little girl they needed to coddle, not a grown woman they could trust to run the family business.

  You’re a joke, Janiyah, the asshole’s voice taunted.

  Did her family view her as a joke as well?

  She shook the thoughts from her head. No. She would not go there.

  But the words swirled around her brain. Tears burned the back of her eyes. Yeah, breaking down and crying would really make them respect her.

  Her cell rang. It had to be Liz.

  “I’m out of here,” she said.

  On her way to the car her ex-boyfriend’s condescending words replayed in her brain. You’re a joke. Three words that left her doubting herself. Something she hadn’t done since she was a teenager and she damn sure wasn’t ready to start doing again. That ended tonight. She was not a joke.

  She went back to singing about sex and paradise in an effort to block them out. Her life was perfect. No life-sucking nine to five job, no demanding husband, no kids to chauffeur to soccer and ballet practice. She took care of herself just fine and would continue to do so. The pitiful Janiyah looks her family threw her way flashed through her mind. To hell with that. She wasn’t wallowing in self-doubt anymore. She pushed her discomfort aside and sang louder.

  CHAPTER 2

  Panty hose, blazers, and ties in varying shades of navy, beige, and black as far as the eye could see, along with a band playing ’90s pop music, was the normal welcome to the young professionals mixer. The only thing that changed was the monthly location. This time it was in a trendy bar she’d frequented on late nights and weekends when the young and carefree crowd took over. All of the trendy artwork and eclectic signs on the walls seemed out of place with so many suits in the building. Someone really should shake this party up a bit. That someone would probably be her.

  Liz waited for her at the door. Her friend, who worked at a brokerage firm, blended in perfectly in a grey pantsuit. Her red hair was twisted in a sleek knot at the back of her head and she wore stylish, but sensible, black heels. Janiyah and Liz were complete opposites. Thrown together in a dorm room in college, somehow they’d hit it off instead of killing each other. She’d dragged Liz out to parties and forced her to have a life, while Liz ensured Janiyah studied for her exams and made it to class on time. The only thing that hinted at Liz’s willingness to cut loose with Janiyah were the purple and pink framed glasses she wore.

  “I’m here!” Janiyah said, slipping her arm through Liz’s.

  “Finally,” Liz said with a smile. “I thought you bailed on me.”

  “No, this stuffy party can be kind of fun.” Several people shuffled past them to sign their names onto sticky nametags and join the rest of the crowd in the bar.

  “Only when you’re here. You always find a way to liven things up.”

  Janiyah tilted her head to the side and patted her hair. “Well, that’s me, life of the party, dahling,” she said in an exaggerated haughty voice.

  Liz laughed. “That you are, but you still owe me,” Liz said, tugging Janiyah where their arms were connected to the registration table. “Leaving me waiting for twenty minutes is adding to your debt.”

  “Not my fault. Daddy called a family meeting.”

  “Oh yeah, and what’s the emergency?”

  Janiyah fought hard not to roll her eyes. “I don’t have a real job. My brothers will have to take care of me until I find a husband.” She didn’t mention his threat to sell the business. Regardless of what her dad said, she couldn’t imagine him actually going through with it.

  Liz laughed and tightened her hold on Janiyah’s arm in a modified version of a hug. “I love your dad, but he’s as old fashioned as they come. What did you say?”

  “I stormed out.”

  “Brilliant. That’s exactly how to prove to your family you’re a functioning adult.”

  “Shut up, Liz.”

  Liz only smiled and filled out a nametag. With a sigh, Janiyah scribbled her name on a tag and pasted it onto her chest. Maybe storming out wasn’t the best way to convince her family she was more than the baby of the family. She just got so frustrated when they did that. From the moment she’d graduated from college her parents expected her to either become some focused career woman or marry a guy that would pamper her the way they had. Of course there was no outright pressure for her to do either; it was just insinuated in conversations and offhand comments. In their minds, women found husbands or jobs in college, and Janiyah had found neither.

  Someone tapped her on the shoulder. She turned and came face to face with a broad chest. She leaned her head back and met a pair of dark eyes. The guy had to be at least six feet tall, dark skinned, with a Colgate Total smile. She’d never seen him here before.

  “Excuse me,” he said in a very sexy voice.

  It was automatic. She gave him her best flirtatious grin. “No problem at all.” She stepped out of the way so Mr. Tall, Dark, and Handsome could get to the registration table. He gave her body a quick once over, taking his time admiring her legs before raising an appr
eciative brow.

  Yeah, her dress would make her a bull’s-eye in the middle of the after work crowd. Exactly what she needed to get her proverbial groove back after the ego bruising she’d suffered.

  After giving Mr. T.D.H. just as thorough a look, she turned to Liz and followed her further into the bar. If he were interested, it wasn’t as if wouldn’t be able to spot her.

  “So let’s see what we can get into.” Janiyah glanced around. The bar served a variety of beers and had a small kitchen that made appetizers. Several wooden tables with stools filled the space. A back door opened up to a deck with more seating and a second bar. Pictures of locals who’d sampled every beer they served aligned the walls.

  Several people greeted her and Liz as they walked through the crowd. Liz tugged on her arm. “There’s Diane and Marlena. Let’s go say hi.”

  “Do I know Diane and Marlena?”

  “I think you met them once. Diane works in the mayor’s office and puts these things together. Marlena works for the municipal association. They know everything happening in the city.”

  Janiyah vaguely remembered the two women. They were dressed in tailored business suits and nursed glasses of white wine. Both had impeccably stylish and über-conservative hair, nails, and makeup. They were the kind of women who found jobs and husbands in college. Probably weren’t troubled by fathers believing they pretended to work.

  Or ex-boyfriends who said they were a joke. She shook her head. Enough of that.

  They went through introductions, before the women dived into conversations about city politics—a subject Janiyah had no interest in, so she tuned out and looked around the room for a distraction. She caught the eye of Mr. T.D.H., who smiled and raised his glass. Distraction found. Mr. T.D.H. with his suit and tie wasn’t her normal type—she usually didn’t fit well with the conservative kind—but he did get bonus points for looks, and she hadn’t fared too well with the artsy music type before.

  “What do you think, Janiyah?”

  Janiyah turned away from her distraction to look back at her companions. Crap, she had no clue what they were talking about.

  “This party could use a makeover. Have you ever considered doing themes? You know, Mardi Gras, casino night, something like that?”

  Silence. And confused stares.

  Liz recovered first with a laugh. “We were talking about the money the city spent on that new building.”

  With a shrug she said, “I really don’t follow that type of stuff.”

  Diane shook her head. “You really should pay attention. It is your tax money at work.” She said each word slowly as if it would somehow mean more.

  “Got it. Pay attention to what politicians are doing with my tax money.”

  Liz chuckled. Diane and Marlena exchanged a glance. Janiyah wished she’d ordered a drink before this conversation. You’re a joke, Janiyah.

  “So what do you do, Janiyah?” There were all kinds of judgment in Marlena’s question.

  She squared her shoulders and lifted her chin. “I’m a virtual assistant.”

  They actually winced. She would laugh if it weren’t so infuriating.

  “So, how does that work exactly?”

  Liz placed a hand on Janiyah’s shoulder. “She’s great at getting people organized. And you should see the presentations she puts together. I think she even helps a few authors out with blog posts and giveaways.”

  Another judgmental glance between Diane and Marlena. Liz’s support sounded more like a weak justification.

  Crap, what was wrong with her? At this rate she might start questioning her abilities, too.

  “It keeps me busy. I have a range of clients from corporate CEOs to artists who need extra help with planning events, putting together proposals, or researching items. I brought up the idea of the theme for this mixer because I recently helped one my clients increase the attendance to his organization’s quarterly conference by incorporating a fun, interactive theme.” She gave Diane a smile. “Think about it.”

  “Maybe I will.” But her tone of voice said, Not in this lifetime.

  Janiyah didn’t really want to help with this mixer, but it was nice to put Misses Tight and Tighter in their place.

  “So, have you seen the latest top forty under forty? Number one is no surprise,” Diane said, changing the subject.

  Marlena waved her hand. “Yes! It’s amazing what he’s accomplished in such a short time. Once he snagged Nebulas Pharmaceuticals, I had to vote for him.” She leaned in. “You know he recently broke up with Desiree.”

  Janiyah’s ears perked up. Desiree? That name sounded familiar.

  “He’s here tonight,” Diana said. “I just might buy him a congratulatory drink.”

  “Hold off and let us single gals buy him a drink,” Marlena said.

  Liz grinned at Janiyah. “I think he’d like it if Janiyah did.”

  Janiyah perked up. Could Mr. T.D.H. be the man they were discussing? Liz had probably noticed their not-so-subtle eye flirtation. He was new here, to Janiyah at least, and had the young and successful top forty under forty look going on.

  Marlena bounced on her toes. “Oh, there he is. And he’s coming this way.”

  Janiyah turned in the direction Marlena indicated, but her guy was nowhere to be seen. Instead, she made eye contact with a pair of light brown eyes that sent a familiar jolt through her system. It was the jittery feeling she got—and tried to ignore—whenever it came to Fredrick Percival Jenkins, aka Freddy. He was her brother Aaron’s best friend, and he’d spent so much time in her house as a kid he was like a brother.

  He’d always been there. Hanging around playing video games with Aaron. Helping her with her math homework whenever she got stumped. Helping her go through college applications before graduation. Handing back her heart, crushed and broken in his hands, when at seventeen, she’d tried to give it—and her virginity—to him.

  She would forever be embarrassed for throwing herself at Freddy back then. But thankfully, they’d made an unspoken agreement to never bring it up. Now they shared a close, but strictly platonic, friendship. They lived across the hall from each other. He teased her about the men she dated or her choice of colorful outfits, and she gave him grief about his exciting life of PBS documentaries and button up shirts.

  She turned back to Liz. “You all were talking about Freddy?”

  Liz sighed. “Don’t you know about his recent success?” Liz must have read the WTF look on her face. “You live right across the hall from him, but know nothing about what he does all day.”

  Janiyah shrugged; it didn’t push away the discomfort that she’d somehow done wrong for not taking more of an interest in Freddy’s job. He was an accountant, for goodness’ sake. How interesting can it be looking at numbers all day?

  Marlena grinned. “He’s smart, successful, and fine as hell. In other words, Columbia’s most sought after bachelor.”

  Janiyah looked at Freddy then back at the woman. “Freddy?”

  Then it hit her: Desiree was that woman Freddy broke up with a few months ago.

  Freddy strolled over. “Hello, Janiyah, bright as usual.” His toffee colored gaze slowly roamed over her.

  There went that damn feeling she tried to ignore when he looked at her like that, a stomach flutter followed by a slight clench. No matter how much her brain understood, her body sometimes forgot that she and Freddy were incompatible with a capital I. Freddy was as straight laced as they come, and even she would snort if someone used those words to describe herself. A complete turn off for a guy like him.

  She tried not to care; he wasn’t really her type. Granted, he was good looking. If she were into conservatively dressed, light skinned guys, with sophisticated square framed glasses. He was five foot ten, taller than her, but not exactly towering. He made up for his lack of height with muscles. And, boy, did Freddy have nice muscles. He lifted weights routinely, the most exciting thing she thought he did. He also had a dimple in one cheek going for him. It on
ly made rare appearances if she could coax a full blown smile out of him, and the canine tooth on his left side was crooked in a cute kinda way.

  She gave him her brightest smile and bumped his shoulder with hers. “You love my dress, admit it.”

  “You look like a stop sign,” he said in his usual voice that was part lecture and part teasing. In other words, the same tone her brothers used.

  “And like that sign, I stop traffic.”

  The corner of his mouth twitched. Dimple appearance a negative. “That you do.” He looked to Liz. “How are you, Liz?”

  “I’m great, Fredrick, and yourself?”

  “Never better.”

  Diana quickly picked her jaw up, which had nearly hit the floor when Freddy came over to tease Janiyah, and jumped in. “Never better I’m sure. We were just discussing your deal with Nebulas Pharmaceuticals. Congratulations.”

  “Thanks, Diana. I’m very excited about the opportunity.”

  Janiyah frowned. He already knew Diana. Though that shouldn’t be surprising. Freddy frequently attended these types of stuffed shirt events.

  “So what are your plans now?” Marlena asked.

  Freddy shifted beside her and put a hand in his pocket. “I’m expanding my staff. I’m wrapping up the last few interviews for a new accountant, then I’ll be ready to look for a new administrative assistant. My current assistant is doing the job of two.”

  The way the two women pushed their shoulders back so that their breasts were thrust forward was laughable. It couldn’t be more obvious that they were trying to catch his attention. Freddy could do better than both of them.

  “I’ll keep my ear to the ground,” Liz said. “If I know of someone good I’ll send them your way.”

  “Thanks. I’m hoping to start interviewing in a week or so.”

  Janiyah bumped shoulders with him again. “You can always hire me.”

  Diana and Marlena both laughed. Janiyah cut her eyes at them. The comment was said in jest, but that didn’t mean they had to laugh. She looked back at Freddy to find enough of a smile to elicit a slight dimple appearance.