After three months of dating, Darren knew he’d found his soul mate. Rita had moved into his house and they’d begun planning their future. The next step had been to ask her to marry him.
Cleveland had warned Darren not to marry her. There was just something about Rita that he didn’t trust. But Darren was in love and he even ignored his own internal warnings, telling him that he was moving too fast in this relationship.
They had been married less than three months when Rita told him that she was pregnant and Darren was overjoyed. Being a father was one of Darren’s biggest dreams. He wanted a son who he could teach to be a firefighter like his father had done with him and Cleveland.
But it wasn’t going to happen. Rita told him that she didn’t want a child because she wanted to further her career at the police department. She was due to take the sergeant’s exam and she had a good chance of moving up in rank. When she told Darren that she wanted to have an abortion, his heart had dropped to his stomach. How could she not want to start a family? Wasn’t that what married people did?
Darren told her there was no way he would consent to her having an abortion. He wanted the child whether she did or not. After weeks of arguing, Rita took off for a few days. Darren had assumed she went to her mother’s house in Savannah, but that wasn’t the case.
When she returned home, Rita announced that she’d had a miscarriage. Darren was devastated but tried to be strong for his wife. It wasn’t long before he found out that his wife had lied to him. Rita had not had a miscarriage. She’d gone to Savannah for an abortion. Even though she had told the people at the clinic that she was single, she had given them her Atlanta address. When the notice from the clinic came, Darren opened it and fury ran through his system like the rushing waters of a river in flood. She’d lied to him!
“Rita!” he yelled, slamming into the kitchen where she was cooking dinner.
“Darren, why are you yelling?”
He shoved the letter under her nose. “Care to explain your miscarriage? Looks like you had an abortion while you were in Savannah!”
Rita turned the stove off. “Darren, please let me…”
“Being a father meant the world to me and you knew that. I told you I wanted this baby.”
“It wasn’t your body! I was going to have to carry this baby for nine months.”
Darren ran upstairs and began packing her things to throw her out of his house.
Rita was hot on his heels. “We can work this out. That baby wasn’t right for us. We have time to have children, we’re young.”
He whirled around. “How can you say our child wasn’t right for us? We’re not teenagers; we made that child in our marital bed.”
Tears streamed down Rita’s cheeks. “It wasn’t yours,” she said in a voice barely above a whisper.
Darren gripped her shoulders. “What did you say?”
“The baby wasn’t yours. I-I made a stupid mistake a few months ago while you were away training and…”
Darren threw his hands up. He didn’t need to hear any more. Once her bags were packed, he tossed them and Rita out of his house.
After his divorce was finalized, Darren vowed never to let another woman into his heart. Sure, he’d had a few flings, but nothing serious, nothing that lasted more than a week. However, there was something about Jill that told him things would be different. The only kind of person that Darren couldn’t deal with was a liar.
She’s different, he thought as he headed to his closet to find something to wear for his date. At least I hope she is.
Chapter Three
Jill and Shari walked out of Thelma’s looking and feeling like supermodels. Jill’s hair was deep chestnut brown, her eyebrows were waxed and her nails buffed and shaped. She felt as if the residue from the fire had been peeled away in the spa and she was more than ready for her date with Darren.
“Thanks for coming with me,” Jill said as they walked to their cars.
“No problem and you have a good time tonight.”
The two women embraced and said their goodbyes. As Jill drove home, chills ran up and down her spine as she thought about her date with Darren.
Still, she didn’t know what she would say to Darren when the questions about what she did, where she lived and all of those get-to-know-you things came up. The last thing she wanted was to have yet another man either run away because she made too much money or a man who would look at her with dollar signs in his eyes. Which one was Darren, she wondered?
Hopefully neither, she thought to herself as she pulled into the parking deck of her building.
Rushing into her penthouse, Jill tried to figure out what to wear on her date. She decided to be elegantly simple, choosing a slinky black dress and matching duster. The dress highlighted the healthy glow of her skin. She would take her leather coat in case it grew colder during the evening.
Instead of wearing her favorite three-carat diamond earrings, Jill picked a pair of silver hoops and a teardrop necklace. It was modest jewelry for someone known for wearing big baubles.
Taking a deep breath, she took a seat on the edge of the bed and rubbed her hands together.
“It’s just a date, not a corporate takeover,” she told herself before standing and walking into the bathroom.
* * *
At the MARTA station Jill saw Darren walking toward her just as the clock struck five-thirty. Breathing became an afterthought.
Wow, that man’s gorgeous, she thought as she drank in his appearance. Darren was dressed in a pair of black wool slacks, a cream turtleneck and a black blazer. His skin seemed to glow in the cool winter air, giving his creamy caramel complexion a rosy tint. Watching him walk over to her was like viewing poetry in motion. He moved with the sensuality of Coltrane’s sax, the coolness of Miles’ horn and style of Duke Ellington’s ivory tickling.
Jill held her leather trench together as a cold wind blew over her or maybe that chill came from the anticipation of being with Darren.
“Hey there,” he said, giving her a friendly but tight hug. “What time is the train getting here?”
Jill glanced at the schedule. “In about five minutes.”
Darren released her from his embrace, but draped his arm around her shoulders as he led her to a bench. “You look great,” he said once they were seated and she loosened her grip on the coat.
“So do you.”
Jill felt more nervous than when applying for credit at a bank. Say something, she thought. “How long have you been a firefighter?”
“About 15 years. It’s a tradition in the Alexander family to be firemen. My father was a firefighter and so is my younger brother. You do marketing research, right?”
“Yeah, but it’s nothing too fabulous. I get to work with those Shark Bar types you were talking about.”
“I feel sorry for you. Not only do you have to deal with traffic every morning, but you’ve got to deal with those posers. What company do you work for?”
“DVA,” she said.
“Do you enjoy what you do?”
Nervously she ran her hand through her hair. “I can’t complain.”
“That’s not a ringing endorsement. If you don’t love what you do, why do it?”
Jill patted his arm. “You know, I don’t want to talk about business. My New Year’s resolution was to stop focusing on work so much.”
Before Darren could reply, the train arrived. He stood and held his hand out to Jill. Closing her fingers around his, she toyed with telling him the truth about what she really did, but decided against it because she wanted to have a good time tonight and not worry if he was with her for all the wrong reasons.
“Is this a sympathy date?” he asked before Jill could say anything. “I mean, I save lives for a living so that’s not why I asked you out.”
“No, not at all,” Jill replied as they stepped on the train. “I wouldn’t have accepted a date from you if I didn’t want to. It doesn’t hurt that you’re cute.”
Darr
en smiled and gently squeezed her hand. “You think I’m cute?”
“Actually, gorgeous, but I wouldn’t want to inflate your ego,” she said.
The train was nearly empty as they took their seats, giving Jill a chance to commit Darren’s image to memory. Catching her gaze, Darren flashed her a brilliant smile.
“Tell me about yourself, Jill,” he said.
She shrugged her shoulders. “There’s not really much to tell.”
“I don’t believe that. What are you, a former model or something? Are you from Atlanta? And why aren’t you married?”
“I’m not a model, never have been and Atlanta might as well be my home. I went to school here and just couldn’t leave. As for the marriage part, I just haven’t met the right man yet. So many people get married for all the wrong reasons and end up in divorce court. If it’s not about love then there is no reason for me to waste my time. I don’t feel that I have to get married just to keep up appearances. I want to be loved and I refuse to settle.”
Nodding, he exhaled loudly. “I know the feeling.”
Jill was glad he didn’t ask her to explain what she was saying. So far, so good, she thought as the train came to a stop.
“We’re here,” Darren said as he stood and held his arm out for Jill.
A warm feeling rushed over her as she took his arm. This was the start of something good, or at least the potential was there.
* * *
Sitting across from Jill, Darren was lost in her eyes. She was what people would call a brick house. He felt, though, that she was holding something back from him. There was something behind those brown eyes that tried to hide hurt. He hoped Jill wasn’t one of those women who had been treated poorly by other men and put up this façade of bravado. He didn’t want to have to break down walls, but Jill seemed worth it if that’s what it took to get close to her. He could show her that real men still walked the streets of Atlanta.
Reaching across the table, he stroked her hand and looked into her eyes.
“What?” she asked, slipping her hand from underneath his.
“Nothing. Why don’t we talk about something safe, since you don’t want to let me in yet? Are you into sports?”
“Yes. I love football. I have season tickets to the Falcons. Michael Vick is amazing. We’re going to the Super Bowl this year, watch. We’re this season’s Carolina Panthers.”
“Season tickets? I’ve been trying to get over to the dome and catch a game.”
“There’s nothing like seeing Vick live. You should really get over there.”
Darren leaned back in his seat. “Now I’m really curious. Why is a football-loving woman like yourself single? Do you know how many men want a woman that will watch football with him on a Sunday without asking 50 questions?”
She smiled and drummed her fingers on the table. “I also know men who can’t stand to be around a woman who knows more about football than they do.”
Chuckling softly, Darren said, “That wouldn’t be a problem for me because I know everything about the sport. They call me ESPN at the station house.”
Jill folded her arms across her chest and moved forward in her seat as if she were ready to battle for the ESPN title. “Who led the league in sacks last year?”
“That’s easy, Patrick Kerney from the Atlanta Falcons,” he said confidently.
“Wrong,” Jill replied. “It was Dwight Freeney from the Indianapolis Colts.”
“Who won the Super Bowl in 1971?” he asked, hoping to trip her up with a historic fact.
“The Dallas Cowboys beat Miami 24 to 3 in New Orleans.”
“I’m impressed,” he said, doing a mock bow to her.
Jill nodded like the queen of England. “Just call me the NFL Network.”
“Maybe we can catch the game on Sunday, that is, if you don’t mind hot wings and beer.”
“Sure.”
“But you have your season tickets. Are you sure you want to give that up to hang out with me?”
“Why not? I’m sure I can sell them to one of my co-workers. Malik Greene has been pressing me to go to a game all season.”
Darren clasped his hands together, happy to have another chance to see Jill. “Then tell Malik Greene I said thank you.”
Jill smiled and Darren’s heart fluttered. She had a smile that reminded him of sunshine and warmth. Her face was angelic, ethereal. He was content just to look at her. Darren knew he was going to have to get to know Jill, learn everything about her—what she liked, loved, and disliked. His interest was piqued.
“Why are you staring at me?” she asked.
“Because I think we’re going to have a lot of fun together.”
They raised their water glasses and clinked them as if they were toasting with champagne.
“Here’s to a beautiful friendship,” she said, then took a long sip of water.
Though Darren toasted to friendship, he hoped for more and prayed Jill was the real thing—a lover he could claim as his own.
After dinner, Darren and Jill walked hand and hand over to the Fox Theatre. The venue had an ambiance that was meant to breed romance. The lights were soft and low, and candles burned on a few tables that were set up close to the stage. Their seats were in the balcony, where the lights were even lower. In the dimness, Darren thought Jill looked exotic.
It took every ounce of self control in him not to kiss her full lips as she watched the first act on the stage, moving her body in rhythm with the sensual saxophonist.
“They sound great,” she said, turning to him.
“Yeah, the Southern Jazz Band has always been one of my favorites. I love going to Piedmont Park in the summer and listening to them.”
Wayman Tinsdale took the stage and the crowd went wild, but Darren was cheering for a different reason. He cheered because he was sitting next to the most beautiful woman in the crowd.
As Tinsdale played his smooth grooves, Darren and Jill danced along with the other people in the crowd. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close to him as the music slowed. Their faces were inches apart and more than anything else, he wanted to kiss her. Jill turned away as if she felt a kiss was on its way to her lips.
By the time the concert was over, Darren’s hormones were in overdrive. Holding Jill against him, dancing with her and feeling her rhythm made him long for her, ache for her and not want the night to end.
Jill had a smile on her face that spread from ear to ear. “This was a wonderful concert,” she said. “Thank you for inviting me.”
“I’m glad you came with me. I don’t think I would have had as much fun dancing with my brother Cleveland.”
“Nightcap? We can go to one of these bars and have a martini.”
Darren looked at his watch. “Are you sure it’s not too late?”
“Okay just admit it, I bored you to death and you want to get away from me as fast as you can.”
“No, not at all, but I don’t want you on the train too late all by yourself. Honestly, I really don’t want this night to end.”
The smile on Jill’s face told him that she felt the same way.
“And you’re going to take a cab home,” Darren said. “That way, I’ll feel better about letting you leave so late.”
“Thanks,” she said. “It’s nice to know that gentlemen still exist.”
Darren brought her hand to his lips and kissed it gently. “If you want me to, I’ll ride back with you and make sure you make it in safely.”
“No, no, that’s okay. Thanks for the offer.”
Darren and Jill headed for one of Atlanta’s newest bars, Red. As the name suggested, everything was decorated in red from the floor to the ceiling. The bar was a deep red; the stools were covered in a blood red suede material. Tea candles burned in red holders, bathing the place in red glow.
“This is different,” Darren said as they took a seat at the bar.
While Jill looked around the place, Darren studied the nuances of her face. Her eyes
were shaped like almonds and in the candle light, they sparkled like stars. When her full lips curved into a smile, her mouth looked good enough to eat. She had smooth skin that he wanted to touch, to find out if she was as soft as she appeared.
“What can I get for you two?” the bartender asked. Of course she was dressed in all red.
Jill picked up a drink menu and gave it the once-over. “I’ll have a strawberry martini,” she said.
The bartender turned to Darren, “And you, sir?”
“I’ll have the same.”
Before too long, a DJ began playing R&B and hip hop. The bass reverberated throughout the bar and only someone without a pulse wouldn’t want to dance. As the bartender set the drinks in front of them, Darren asked Jill if she wanted to dance.
She took a nervous sip of her drink. “All right.”
Darren and Jill moved to the floor, easily pushing past the other couples. John Legend’s “She Don’t Have to Know” blared from the speakers. Darren moved rhythmically against Jill’s body and she mirrored his moves. Darren felt himself getting aroused. Jill smelled like roses and womanhood. Her skin was silky soft and when her hair brushed against his cheek, he had to take a step back so that she wouldn’t feel what she had done to him. It had been six months since he touched a woman, held a soft body against his hard one. He’d entered into a state of self imposed celibacy. But smelling and touching Jill made him want to break that vow. He wanted her long brown legs wrapped around him while he buried himself inside her. What kind of lover would she be? He wondered. Darren pulled her against his body again. From the way she moved, twisting her hips and wrapping her arms around his neck, he knew she would be a masterful lover. Darren was actually jealous of any man who’d had the pleasure of being with Jill, kissing her, tasting her and making love to her.
As the song ended and a loud southern hip hop song began to play, Jill and Darren returned to the bar to cool themselves with their drinks.
“You have some smooth moves,” Jill said after downing her drink. “I haven’t danced like that in a long time.”
“I find that hard to believe. I would think that you would be out every weekend with a different paramour,” he said. He was fishing to find out if there was someone in her life that he would have to push out of the way.
Business of Love Page 3