REDEMPTION

ELEVEN

Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken?
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Too focused on her own misery to give even the slightest attention to anything or anyone else, Lauren had been brooding about what she was considering a terrible night, when the screen of the phone sitting in her lap illuminated.

Tip: Damn, you look nice..

The message read causing Lauren's lips to melt into a smile.

Looking up, she scanned the room for only a few seconds until her eyes narrowed on the object of her search. Standing in the shadows, looking tasty enough to appeal to both of her sets of lips, was Tip. Tonight, he'd traded the all-white ensemble for something a little more casual, although he still stood out like a sore thumb in comparison to the group of men around him. They just couldn't match him.

Lauren took a deep breath and tried to keep her expression under control under his stare. With her phone in hand, she ran her fingers over the screen to send him a quick reply.

Lauren: You're not looking too bad yourself.

As soon as she sent the text, she raised her head to watch him, curious about his reaction. He read the message, and a slow smirk tugged at the edge of his lips. The sight of it sent tingles down her spine.

Tip: Let me talk to you for a minute, alone.

Lauren took a deep breath as she read the message, feeling her panties grow moist just over the thought of what could possibly go down if Tip caught her alone. She barely even knew him, but his sex appeal had her caught up in ways she'd never experienced before. Not even with Beyoncé. Although she fought hard to get her position in Beyoncé's life, she always felt that she was holding back when it came to their relationship. As if she wasn't fully invested.

This was not at all the impression she got from Tip, and as a woman who craved one's attention more than most, she couldn't resist the opportunity to be wooed by him.

She watched as he slipped way from his crew and begin walking down the hall. Biting at the corners of her lips, she glanced in Beyoncé's direction just as she stood up and started walking out to the dancefloor, her full attention on some man standing near Baby who she had never seen.

Now is my chance! she thought and stood up quickly. As soon as Beyoncé passed in front of her, she took off behind her but made a sharp turn to head in the same direction as Tip.

Running her fingers along the wall as she walked slowly down the hall, Lauren felt herself nearly tremble with excitement from whatever was about to happen. There was something about living dangerously that gave her the type of enjoyment that she craved on a daily basis. Life in the fast lane was what she was addicted to, and it was the main reason why she just couldn't deal with Beyoncé's goals of slowing it all down.

Nothing turned her on more than someone who was feared, respected, and honored because of the actions they'd made, and if Beyoncé was deciding that wasn't who she wanted to be any longer, she was leaving a spot open for someone to take her place-in the streets as well as in her heart.

Pausing, Lauren took a second to think about where Tip was waiting for her. The supply closet was locked to anyone who didn't have the code, which left the bathrooms and Beyoncé's office, a place he definitely did not have access to enter. She was just about to check the men's restroom for him when she felt her phone vibrate in her hand.