Loving HART

by Theresa Hodge

“I’m into construction. I own and operate Hart’s Premier Construction Company. I’m at this mixer trying to win the bid to build the new Children’s wing the hospital is having built.”

  “That’s what Sierra and I are here for. We own W & S Interior Decorating & Design business and we put in a bid to do interior design for the Children’s wing once it’s built,” I say.

  “Good luck to the both of you. I hope you get it,” he replies.

  “I hope you get the bid for your company,” I say with a smile.

  “I hope you get it too,” Sierra offers.

  “Thank you both. It’s been great talking to you two. Maybe you and I can get together for coffee or something,” he says while extracting a black business card embossed in gold lettering from the inside of his jacket pocket and handing it over to me. “Both my business and personal cell numbers are on the card. Call me, when you have some free time and we can catch up.”

  “I’d like that,” I reply reaching for the card and slipping it into the small clutch I hold in my hand. “Wow, I can’t believe we ran into each other after all this time,” I add, while glancing at him again.

  “The pleasure has been all mine. Good to see you again, Whitney.” The warm look in Hart’s eyes as he gives my whole body a lingering glance sets my body to sizzling with heated desire. “Take care, the both of you,” he says including Sierra in his glance.

  “It’s good to see you again too, and take care,” I reply before he gives me a sexy grin and walks off to rejoin a group of men he was talking to earlier. I notice the walk, the confidence in his stride and out of nowhere hope flutters and comes alive somewhere deep inside my being.

  “Take care,” Sierra calls after him and then looks at me. “Well, damn Whit. How in the hell could you not remember a fine ass white guy like Hart Strong?” she asks once he’s out of earshot.

  “Trust me, if you would have known him in high school, you wouldn’t have remembered him either,” I reply shaking my head in amazement. The last time I’d seen him, he was a skinny, little guy with red pimples all over his face.

  “You may not have remembered him then, but there is no way you will forget his certified banging ass now,” says Sierra.

  “I know, but I’m going to need you to back down,” I warn.

  “I’ll try, Whit. That man is fione,” she mutters, gazing over to where he’s standing.

  “You are right about that my friend,” I agree with her and grab a glass of champagne from a passing waiter off the tray. I tilt the bubbly golden liquid to my lips and finish it in two gulps. God knows I need it to cool off after being in such a magnetic presence such as Hart Strong.

  Chapter 3

  HART

  “Mr. Strong, Mr. Cooper is on line one,” Kristy, my secretary alerts me as I stroll into Hart’s Premier Construction Company.

  “Take a message for me please. I will get back with him as soon as possible.”

  “Yes sir,” Kristy says in a friendly voice, as I enter my office and close the door behind me.

  Ever since the night of the mixer for the children’s hospital, I haven’t been able to get Whitney Martin off my mind. Before the mixer, I’d been over ten years since I saw her last. She looks more beautiful than she did even then. Her radiant brown skin glows with vitality. In fact, had to fight the urge to reach out and stroke the softness of her skin as I stood there talking to her. “Why the hell didn’t I ask for her telephone number when I had the chance?” I chastise myself, as I peer around my cozy office. Not getting Whit’s number could lead to me spending another ten years without the benefit of touching her, or maybe even infinitely. I’m sure I can track her down, but opportunities like that one is rare.

  “Hey, what’s up? I saw you come in and had a break. I decided to come in here and check on you. Glad I came in when I did, since you’re talking to yourself and all,” there is a teasing glint in his eyes when Leo says this. Leo Ferguson walks into my office without knocking like he always does. Leo is also the second boss in command and he’s a true commodity with the company.

  “If you were to ever knock on my office door instead of barging in, then maybe you wouldn’t catch me talking to myself,” I reply.

  “Whatever.” He takes a seat across from my desk without paying any attention to my words. “I just want you to know that I went over everything with the new young employee’s that you hired for the summer internship program about what type of equipment to wear for protection when around corrosive and flammable materials. They seem eager to learn and paid close attention to my warnings. I think they’re a great bunch this year.”

  “That’s great, Leo. I’m glad to have the kids on board. I think we’re in a position to make an impact on their lives. I’m glad we decided to sign up for the cause.”

  “Yeah, I agree. But whose telephone number should you have gotten?” he asks with curiosity.

  “Ah, no one in particular,” I say, floundering with my reply. I feel a flush of heat rush up my neckline.

  “It sure didn’t sound like nothing to me. How is Sabrina doing by the way?” He suddenly changes the subject while staring me hard in the face.

  “She’s fine the last time I talked to her,” I say looking away and picking up a stack of papers that look like they need shuffling to return some semblance of order to them, all of a sudden. There’s a slight pause in our conversation. I quickly note that the reports are very well detailed.

  “How long have you and Miss High Society been dating each other now?”

  “I don’t know.” I shrug my shoulders. It’s not that I don’t know how long, it’s that the time I’ve spent with Sabrina seems to have been all for nothing. “Maybe for about eight months or so now. Why?”

  “I just asked,” Leo says with a big grin plastered on his face. “I couldn’t believe when you said you were dating Sabrina Woods. I didn’t think you liked the kind of women who were born and bred with a silver spoon in their mouths.”

  “Sabrina is okay, most times. She can’t help if her family owns half of the Woods department stores across the country,” I say, feeling obligated to defend her.

  Leo chuckles aloud. “I’m glad I’m not dating someone like her. She’d spend me penniless in a year.”

  “Don’t you have a job to do?” I sit up, giving him a pointed look.

  “Yeah, I do boss man.” Leo stands up, his fingers resting on the top of the chair. “Catch you later,” he says walking out and closing the door behind him.

  I lay the papers aside that I’d been shuffling in my hands unnecessarily. I pick up the phone and spoke. “Kristy, you can put me through to Mr. Cooper now.”

  “Yes, sir,” Kristy replies promptly. “One moment please and I’ll put you right through.”

  “Thanks,” I say as I turn my mind towards the business at hand.

  Chapter 4

  HART

  “Darling, how does this swimsuit look on me?” Sabrina spins around in a circle for me to see the fit of the teal blue swimsuit that adorns her body.

  “It looks very nice, Sabrina. How much longer are you going to be trying on swimsuits?” I ask her.

  “I just want to look my best for your colleague’s yacht party, honey.”

  “The party isn’t until next weekend. I thought we were going to get lunch, before going back to my house.”

  “I know it’s not until next week. I might decide not to wear what I get today and then I will have plenty enough time to shop for another outfit next week.” She looks at me with her wide blue eyes and flutters her long, mascara-coated lashes at me. Women.

  “Well, I guess I can see the logic in that,” I reply dryly and glance down at my watch. “How much longer are you going to be?” My stomach rumbles loudly as it demands to get fed. I’ve only had a protein shake and that was before my morning jog as the sun barely rose this morning. But nothing since.

  “Okay, I’ll have pity on you.” She laughs lightly. Her laugh has more of a shrilling, tinkling sound
that tends to grate my nerves at times. “Let’s go to lunch.”

  She doesn’t have to ask me twice. I jump up from my seat to gather the mounds of clothes she wants to purchase and pull out my black card to decrease our waiting time.

  “Will this be all for you today?” The sales clerk sends me a flirtatious smile and I’m brushed to the side.

  “That will be all,” Sabrina says in a not so nice tone before I can answer. Then she turns to me, perking her lips gracefully. “Thank you darling for my shopping spree.”

  “You’re welcome,” I reply and gather her shopping bags to lead us out the overpriced store.

  “Welcome to Rathburn’s,” the hostess greets us once inside the restaurant. “Will there be just the two of you today?”

  “Yes,” I reply.

  “Follow me please,” she says before she grabs two menus and leads us to a table. I do a double take as I pass one of the tables. Something leaps inside me. Whitney Martin is sitting at a table having lunch with a woman who seems to be an older version of herself. It must be her mother, I surmise. Our eyes meet briefly and hers widens in surprise once she notices me.

  “Hart,” the hostess asks us, “is this table suitable?”

  Sabrina touches my shoulder to garner my attention.

  “Yes…yes, this is fine,” I stutter out, finding it hard to take my eyes off the refreshing sight of Whitney. “Thank you,” I turn to the hostess before pulling out a chair for Sabrina. I make sure I take the seat facing Whitney so I can keep her in my sights.

  “Are you ready to place your orders?”

  “Yes,” I reply, already knowing what I want before even looking at the menu. “I’ll have the parmesan chicken and your house salad.”

  “What to drink?”

  “Ice tea with sugar and one slice of lemon.”

  “What can I get for you, ma’am?” the hostess asks warmly, turning to Sabrina.

  “I’ll just have a small salad with a drizzle of fat free dressing, please. Oh, and a seltzer water to drink,” she adds.

  I frown at her. “Is that all you’re having?”

  “You know, I have to watch my weight if I’m going to stay looking great in my bikini,” she reasons but I continue to frown at her silliness.

  “A steak or more sometimes won’t harm you, Sabrina.”

  “I know what I’m doing, Hart,” she replies as the hostess takes our menus and promises to be back with our meals soon.

  I dig in with gusto, when the food arrives, while Sabrina picks at her small salad like a bird. With only a shred of romaine on her fork, she places it into her mouth and chews. I really don’t know how she does it.

  My eyes glance up just in time to see Whitney get up from her table. Gathering her handbag, she avoids all eye contact. She perks her lips and steps away from the table. She’s walking this way but as she passes our table she keeps looking straight ahead. I frown, because I know she saw me. Why didn’t she stop and speak? I sniff the air as a hint of her flowery perfume tickles my nostrils.

  “Excuse me.” I wipe my mouth and stand up from the table. “I’ll be right back. I need to use the men’s room,” I lie, only because, for some odd reason, I feel urgency inside of me to talk with Whitney.

  “Okay, darling,” Sabrina replies and immediately goes back to nibbling on her salad like a damn rabbit.

  Man, she’s leaving, I think as I follow Whitney to the door. By the time I reach it, she’s already stepping down from the curb. I stand at the front door with my fingers on the glass and watch as Whitney and her mom slide into their cars and leave the restaurant. A part of me leaves with her.

  I walk back to the table feeling bad as I half listened to Sabrina going on and on about some party she wants us to go to tonight. I wish it was Whitney sitting across from me instead of Sabrina. I wonder what she would be saying at this very moment. I imagine the depths of her mind and the metaphoric beauty that comes along with it. I just want to smell her again and look into her eyes.

  “Are you finished eating?” I finally ask Sabrina, ready to end the torture of listening to her socialite fantasies.

  “Yes, I couldn’t eat another bite,” she says. I signal the hostess over so I can take care of the bill and tip.

  “Let’s go,” I say to a smiling Sabrina, while thoughts of Whitney are at the forefront of my mind.

  Chapter 5

  WHITNEY

  I checked my appearance in the full-length mirror one last time before grabbing my purse and keys on my way out the door. Today is Saturday and I promised to meet my mother, Rosetta Martin, for lunch at one of her favorite places to eat, which is this upscale restaurant’s off Decatur Street called Rathburn’s. I felt the need to treat my mother every chance I got.

  Since losing my father over a year ago, nothing has been the same for my mother. She works long hours as a registered nurse at Atlanta University Hospital during the week, which leaves her with little or no time to enjoy the leisureliness of life. That’s why, most weekends, I try to visit her, no matter how busy I am trying to grow my business.

  Before merging into the traffic from my apartment building, I shoot mother a text to let her know I’m just leaving home since she lives closer to the restaurant than I do. I merge onto Interstate 285 into the busy eight-lane traffic.

  I cut up my Heart Country and Soul Sirius XM radio station, to listen to the sweet voice of Nashville Star’s newest country singer, Sunday Gallenger. Her voice croons out one of her number one hit songs, titled “Reflections.” I find myself singing the words with her. Reflections of what I did right or what I did wrong, tired to pieces of the same ol’ song. Yet I listen to it on replay…Over and over, then rewind consistently…

  “You better sing that girl,” I say bobbing my head to the only black country singer that sings with deep soul in every song she makes. I smile when I think about how she and the famous country singer Travis Lee got together. It was all over the news and, I have to admit, that’s when I fell head over heels with country music for the first time. I guess I can thank Sunday Soul Gallenger for that.

  I pull up to the restaurant just as the song ends. When I get out the car, I see my mother parked about four cars over, waving to get my attention. We enter the restaurant and the hostess doesn’t waste any time seating us, and taking our orders. It’s not long before our food arrives at the table, steaming hot and looking wonderful.

  “This lasagna is delicious,” my mother says as she forks the delicious food into her mouth.

  “I bet it is,” I say with a smile as I scan the restaurant. My eyes follow a couple that has just entered and track them to the table directly in front of me. I sigh inwardly as I sense a familiarity of the man in front of me.

  Oh, my God, it is Hart! I watch how he takes great care to seat the tall, gorgeous woman that he’s with. In that moment, I really wish it could be me. All hope of that happening deflates like a balloon when I realize he has a significant other in his life. Of course he does, I berate myself. What successful, good looking man like him wouldn’t have anyone in their life? Any woman would be crazy not to snatch him up.

  “Earth to Whitney,” my mother says, waving her hand in front of my face.

  “I’m sorry, mother. Did you say something?”

  “I asked you what has the sad look on your face, all of a sudden?”

  “Nothing,” I answer quickly and force myself to smile. I shake my head to clear the confusing thoughts about Hart. He’s someone I hadn’t thought about in years…not at all, if I’m being honest with myself. Not until the night of the mixer that is. “How is work going?” I quickly change the topic.

  “It’s busy…very busy,” my mother says. “But my job is fulfilling and I can’t ever see myself being anything else except a nurse.”

  “I’m glad you’re happy. You know how much I worry about you.”

  “I know you do baby and I don’t want you to worry about me. I’m truly fine. I’m not going to lie to you; some days get hard,
but that’s life. It’s full of ups and downs, but that only makes me stronger,” she says and reaches over to squeeze my hand.

  “I love you so much,” I squeeze her hand back to let her know just how much.

  “Not as much as I love you. Now tell me how is business going for you and Sierra.”

  “It’s going great. We just got our biggest contract to date. W & S Interior Design won the bid to design the additional children’s wing in the hospital, once it’s constructed.”

  “Oh my God, Whitney! I prayed your company would get it. Ain’t God good?” she asks with a candid smile that shows all of her teeth.

  “All the time,” I reply and we laugh. I pick up the napkin to wipe my mouth. “I’ll be right back. I need to use the restroom,” I say, standing and taking a deep breath. I have to walk right past Hart’s table in order to get to the restroom.

  Do I speak or do I just pretend he’s not there? I decide to keep on walking.

  “Excuse me,” I say as a woman almost walks into me as she walks out of the women restroom.

  “No, pardon me,” she replies with a smile. I return her smile and walk on into the restroom and quickly make use of one of the empty stalls. I walk out and over to one of the sinks to wash my hands, looking at myself in the mirror to make sure I don’t have any food around my mouth or between my teeth.

  Satisfied that I’m well put together, I walk out of the bathroom and smack into the wide expanse of a hard muscular chest. My hands automatically grasp his shirt front to steady myself and his hands immediately surround my waist to keep me from bouncing off his solid frame like a volleyball. I look up into the enchanting green-grayish eyes of Hart Martin.

  We just stand there for a few seconds, taking in the sight of one another before saying one word. The pure masculine scent of his cologne accosts my nostrils. It’s a delicious mixture of lavender, bergamot and a hint of citrus orange, which gives off a Mediterranean aura. It leaves a mesmerizing effect on my heart’s rhythm…

  “Ahem,” Hart clears his throat and brings me out of my dreamy haze. “Hi,” he says with a sexy grin.