The Best Thing He Never Knew He Needed (9 page)

The women laughed
together.

“
Okay, Sherita,” Emily
said. “We’ll keep that in mind.”

CHAPTER 8

After finding his luggage,
Desmond waved down a taxi then went straight to his hotel. He’d be
meeting with Bell-Butler Group, the parent company of over
five-thousand temporary staffing agencies in North America. His
plan was to pitch the new eRoll service The Champion Corporation
had to offer since Bell-Butler had been among other companies on
his watch list that couldn’t make the product rollout in Las Vegas.
Landing this contract meant big business for TCC. If Bell-Butler
Group signed a contract, surely more staffing agencies would follow
suit. That was his plan – catch the big fish and the little fish
would follow.

Once he arrived at his
hotel, he left his suitcase by the door, took out his cell phone
and dialed Dante. He walked over to the windows of his sixth floor
room and stared down into the busy street, watching crowds of
people flood the sidewalks. A sea of yellow taxi cabs blanketed the
streets.

“
Hey, Des. Are you there
yet?” Dante asked.

“
Just arrived at the
hotel. I have about a thirty minutes to burn before they’re
expecting me,” he said then bit into a jelly donut he’d grabbed
from the lobby.

“
I was a little surprised
to hear you changed your mind about traveling. You knew Kurt could
handle the pitch, right?”

“
Of course. I don’t doubt
his abilities. I just needed to go. You know me…I don’t like
staying in the same place for too long.”

“
Speaking of staying at
the same place, how was it hanging out with Sherita Friday
night?”

Desmond frowned. He came
here to forget her and now Dante was bringing her up. “It was
fine.”

“
It was?”

Desmond could sense Dante’s
frown even though he couldn’t see him. “Yes. Have you heard
otherwise?” Desmond inquired.

“
No. I haven’t heard a
thing. The only reason I’m asking is because you had already left
by the time we’d gotten back.”

“
Oh, yeah…had to leave
early to meet someone.”

“
Oh.”
But why would he be meeting someone when it was obvious he
had it bad for Sherita?
Well, it was
obvious to him. He hadn’t known if anyone else had picked up on it,
but he certainly had. “So did you and Sherita get a chance to
talk?”

More Sherita
questions…
“A little.”

“
And?”

His face twisted. “And
what, Dante?”

“
How was the conversation?
Did you hit it off? What happened?”

“
Nothing happened. What
did you think was going to happen?”

Dante chuckled. “Man,
Desmond, I don’t know who you think you’re fooling, but I know
you’re feeling her.”

“
I thought I was, too.
Turns out, I don’t like her as much as I thought I did. Why do you
think I came here, Dante? I told you last week I didn’t want to
take this trip, but I had to get away from there, from her, and I
would appreciate it if you and Dimitrius would stop pawning the
girl off on me like she’s destined to be mine.”

“
Des—”

“
No, I’m serious. You
married Emily. Dimitris married Melanie. Just because Sherita is
the single friend of your wives does not make her next in line to
marry me because that life isn’t for me.”

Dante released a heavy
sigh. “Fine. I won’t mention her name again, but do me a favor,
Des.”

“
What’s that?”

“
Don’t call me and don’t
call Dimitrius when you want to find out if Sherita is going to be
at a particular event. If you don’t like her, then you have no
reason to avoid her. It’s not like she’s stalking you or
anything.”

“
Not a problem. Later.”
Desmond hung up the phone and scrubbed his hand over his
head.
Sherita strikes again…

Now she was causing
problems between him and his brothers. He had good relationships
with his brothers – personal and work. They were close and the only
time they got into heated discussions was when something came up
that concerned the business. Sherita wasn’t included in that, yet
she seemed to be driving a wedge between them. He had to get her
out of his system, and he knew what kind of distraction he needed
to do just that.

* * *

After eating a small salad
for dinner, Sherita showered and was about to recline on the sofa
when she heard her cell phone ringing. She picked it up from the
coffee table and saw the caller – her mother.

“
Hey, Ma,” she
answered.

“
Hey, Rita. How are you,
sweetie?”

“
I’m fine…been busy with
work. Are you okay?”

“
I’m doing good. Your
father is okay, too. I was just calling to tell you that Thane
stopped by. He was asking about you.”

No, no, no, no, no!
“Mom, you do realize Thane and I broke up like
three years ago, and I haven’t seen him since.”

“
Yes, but I told you Thane
would come around. He loves you, Rita. And you should see him now,
honey. That boy done filled out into a
good-looking
young man. He told your
father he started his own law firm right here in Asheville. Now you
know he didn’t come back here just to start a business, sweetie. He
came back for you, Rita.”

“
Well, that’s too bad,
because I don’t want anything to do with Thane. Why don’t you tell
him that the next time he decides to
drop
in?”

“
Come on now, baby. You
both were young back then. People change, you know.”

“
People don’t change, Ma.
They just get old.”

Her mother laughed. “Well,
with age comes wisdom, right?”

“
In some cases…definitely
not all.”

“
Look-a here, Rita. Your
father and I want you to be happy. Don’t you want to get
married?”

“
Of course I do, but not
to Thane Pennington.”

“
Right now, he seems to be
your only prospect.”

“
Wow. Umm…Ma, I’m not
having this conversation with you, okay.”

“
Look, now you gettin’
upset and I’m just trying to talk to you, Rita. I want you to be
happy.”

“
I
am
happy. I don’t need a man to be
happy. I’m fine. Now listen…I have to go, but tell dad I’ll have
some money for him soon, okay.”

Her mother sighed. “All
right. Well, have a good night. I love you.”

“
I love you too, Ma.
Goodnight.”

Sherita sighed sharply then
dropped her phone to table. Now she had the man on her
mind.

Thane
Pennington.

He had some nerve, still
keeping in contact with her parents to stay in their favor, just so
he could get to her. And to think when he had her, he didn’t want
her. She remembered when her college buddies used to tell her he
wasn’t any good. Said they’d seen him with several women. Not one.
Not two.
Several
.
Still, Sherita defended him. She said Thane came from a good
family. She knew his parents. His mother was a teacher, and Thane
had followed in the footsteps of his father and had become a
lawyer. Then she learned the hard way that just because a person
comes from a good family doesn’t mean they themselves are
good.

Sherita shook her head,
grabbed the remote and powered on the TV. Her phone beeped when she
sat back on the couch.

“
Who is it now?” she
griped.

Sitting up again, she took
her phone and fingered over to the text messages where she saw one
from a strange number. All it said was:

Hey you. I’ve been
thinking about us.

-T.P.

Thane Pennington. Her
forehead creased. “No they did not give this fool my cell phone
number.” Her mother, or it could’ve been her father, had given
Thane her number. Sherita dropped the phone on the table and began
massaging her temples. Between dealing with Desmond, Thane and some
desperate parents who wanted their only child to marry, it was
shaping up to be a long summer.

CHAPTER 9

Desmond was feeling more
like himself this evening. He’d been sitting at the bar, on the
ground floor of his hotel, still in the fly suit he’d worn earlier
when he pitched eRoll to Bell-Butler Group. The meeting had been
successful as all of his meetings were. He excelled in his field,
so much so that lately, he’d been requested by other companies to
help spearhead their marketing campaigns. While he would accept a
few projects here and there, his loyalty was to The Champion
Corporation.

“
So what line of work are
you in, Desmond?” Audrey asked.

Desmond took a tight-lipped
sip of the Cognac he’d been slowly drinking for the last ten
minutes, about as long as he had been talking to Audrey. He noticed
her the moment she walked in, wearing a black dress that hugged her
hips with a pair of royal blue stilettos. And he was sure she
noticed him. Every woman in the joint noticed him whether they were
with a man or not.

Still, he didn’t made eye
contact with anyone. He was sitting alone, thumbing through his
phone, checking emails from work. He would be in New York for the
rest of the week, hoping he’d get the green light from Bell-Butler.
It would be ideal if he could meet with them once more before
leaving for Asheville.

While he had been immersed
in his phone, the good-looking woman introduced herself after
taking the barstool next to him. And he’d introduced himself to
her. The old Desmond was back.

“
I’m in marketing,” he
told her. “You?”

“
Publishing. I’m an
editor.”

“
That’s tedious work,” he
said, taking a sip.

She chuckled. “That’s why
I’m at the bar.”

“
Can I get you a
drink?”

“
A gin and tonic would be
nice.”

Desmond threw up two
fingers, motioning for the bartender, ordering her
drink.

“
Thank you,
Desmond.”

“
No problem.”

“
Where are you from?” she
inquired.

“
Originally from San
Francisco but now I live in Asheville, North Carolina.”

“
I’ve never been to North
Carolina.”

“
Really?”

“
Not at all, but I heard
it was nice. As a matter of fact, I heard the Obamas wanted to live
there after they leave the White House.”

Desmond nodded. “Yeah, it’s
pretty nice. I have no complaints.”

“
How long are you in New
York?”

“
Not sure. Maybe another
day or two.”

“
Aw, that’s too bad,” she
said with pouty, burgundy lips, turning to face him while crossing
her legs. “We don’t have any time to get to know each
other.”

Get to know each
other...

He knew what that meant. He
also knew by her body language she was down for whatever he would
throw at her. A simple gin and tonic wouldn’t be enough to quench
her thirst. A lot of women wanted him for his looks. Many wanted
him for his money. He was aware of that, and so he’d oblige as long
as he could get what he wanted in return.

And then that lifestyle
didn’t seem too thrilling any longer. Woman-free, he’d spent a year
figuring out what he wanted. He wanted something deeper. He longed
to meet a woman who could not care less about his tax bracket. His
muscles. His eyes. His strength. Stamina. He knew that woman was
Sherita, but the kiss he stole from her the other night had sent
him running.

If he could revert back to
his old ways, he could forget about Sherita. So, turning to Audrey,
he said smoothly, “We could go up to my room if you’re cool with
that.”

She smiled. “Let’s
go.”

Distraction. He needed one
and he got it from a woman he barely knew named Audrey.
Side-by-side they’d walked to the elevator, and when they stepped
inside, she reached for his necktie. She’d been flirtatious from
jump, but even though she was a distraction, he still had images of
only one woman in his head.

He could see the joy in her
eyes when she took pictures of Ezra and Grace. The light wind
tackling her hair. And speaking of hair, he still remembered the
way it smelled – like sweet fruit when he’d stood behind her in
line at the coffee shop. And when his hands brushed against her
arm, he remembered how smooth her arm felt. When he leaned in close
to her while they took pictures, her face was warm. Soft. He felt
her tremble just by the sensation of them being skin-to-skin. Then
there was the kiss they shared. His heart had never pounded so
fiercely before. He’d never kissed a woman the way he kissed her,
practically devouring her right there in his brother’s front yard.
The more he heard her moan, the more he wanted her to produce those
sweet sounds.