Read Online Scandalous by Donna Hill - Free Book Online

Visions of the voluptuous Vaughn Hamilton flashed before him. He twisted uncomfortably in his seat. Now for a plan, he thought.

Chapter 5
    I t was almost business as usual when Vaughn floated into her office on Monday morning. Almost, because there was a definite feeling of electric energy in the air that hadn’t been present when she’d left on Friday. She’d spent yet another glorious weekend with Justin, and until this very moment, work was the farthest thing from her mind.
    The phones were ringing off the hook, staff members were racing around, and when she reached her office, she saw through her open doorway that there were enough phone messages and faxes to start a small avalanche.
    â€œUgh,” she said out loud, and stepped into the artsy office.
    â€œYou ain’t seen nothing yet,” Crystal said from her favorite overstuffed chair behind the door.
    Vaughn jumped in surprise. “Darn it, Crystal, if you don’t stop doing that, you’re going to give me a heart attack!”
    â€œPuh-leese,” Crystal tossed off, rising from her throne. “I’ve been sitting in this same damn spot every morning for the past four years. You need to stop.” Crystal sucked her teeth in dismissal of Vaughn’s complaint.
    â€œYeah,” Vaughn huffed, hanging up her teal Burberry trenchcoat on the cherrywood coat rack. “And every morning for the past four years you’ve been scaring me out of my pantyhose!” She rolled her eyes hard at Crystal and tried not to laugh.
    Crystal boldly ignored her. “Girl, get over it. We have work to do.” She strutted over to the desk and deposited a stack of letters and folders. “Every newspaper in the tri-state area wants an interview. We gotta get busy.”
    Vaughn smiled as she watched Crystal flip through her notepad. Under neath that down-home-girl facade lay the mind of a brilliant strategic planner and a heart of gold. Vaughn wouldn’t trade Crystal in for a whole staff full of Yale grads. The girl was awesome. But between friends, Crystal was just plain ole’ Chris from the projects. Vaughn and Crystal were physically opposite in every respect. Where Vaughn was dark, slender, and tall, Crystal was fair, with skin the color of sautéed butter and eyes that shimmered like the blue-green Caribbean. She had wide hips and the kind of high, firm behind women paid money to possess. Her hair, when she decided to wear it out, nearly reached her waist and was blacker than pitch, a result of her distant Trinidad heritage.
    When Vaughn and Crystal had first met on their college campus, Vaughn had silently envied Crystal’s light tones and Barbie doll hair. It wasn’t until years later that Vaughn had discovered that Crystal had her own insecurities about her looks. Crystal, too, had never felt accepted by her peers. She was taunted for “thinking” she was white—boys wanted her only for her looks, and most girls hated her onsight. In retaliation, Crystal had adopted that wise-talking street-girl persona—to be one of the crowd. It was only with Vaughn that she allowed her depth to shine through. The friendship of Vaughn and Crystal was like a catharsis for both of them, and it had blossomed into more than just friendship over the years.
    â€œSo,” Crystal began, once Vaughn was seated. “I’ve scheduled three news conferences for you. One today, and two on Wednesday, and an interview with Channel 6…” she checked her watch, “in about two hours.” She paced the room as she spoke, only briefly checking the notes she’d committed to memory. “I contacted Lucus Stone’s office this morning to see if I could arrange an informal debate. They weren’t having me today,” she stated cynically. “But I’ll be back at them in a couple of weeks, after we get some heavy press coverage. They’ll be ready to talk then.”
    Vaughn took it all