Choosing the Hart: A Love Triangle

by René, Dani

  “So, what brings you back today?” He turned to look at me and caught me looking at his hands.

  “I, uh . . .” Holding up the camera, my voice had so obviously abandoned me. “Photos.” I wanted the ground to open and swallow me as I sounded like a bumbling idiot. I was sure he would think I was crazy. Smiling, I hoped he didn’t notice my fumble, but I knew he could see the blush that heated my face.

  “Beautiful and talented. Is there anything you can’t do?” He looked at me and smiled.

  I thought about it for a second. “Well, I definitely can’t ride a horse. Fell off once and never tried again.”

  He laughed, a deep sexy growl, and my heart raced. “Emily, can I ask you something?” I nodded, not sure of what was coming. “I want to take you out, to dinner, or something. Say yes?”

  He looked so adorable.

  “Mmm, do you normally pick up random girls at coffee conventions?” I asked and giggled at his pained expression. Watching him was like looking at a little boy begging for his favorite sweets. “Okay, okay. I will go to dinner with you as long as you supply me with coffee for the rest of my life?” His smile was contagious.

  “Done deal! So that means you would trust me enough to give me your number?” he said excitedly.

  I nodded. “I guess so since you will be picking me up. Ready?” He nodded and pulled out his phone. I watched him add the number to his contacts. He sent a text message, and my phone beeped.

  “I had to make sure you weren't giving me a random number!” He winked, turned on his heel, and walked off. I stood there dumbfounded. Two dates in one week, that must be a record.

  I pulled my phone out of my pocket and unlocked the screen, opening my messages.

  Sebastian: Checking to see if you are real. Bash x

  I smiled. I liked him. He was sweet and clearly interested. Unlike someone else who couldn't make up his mind what he wanted.

  I spent the next two hours taking photos of the event. Every time I passed the Tribal Fuel stall, I felt Bash’s gaze on me, watching me move through the crowds. Our eyes met a few times, and every time my heart raced.

  * * *

  I sat in the car as Charlie drove me back to the office, and the nerves had set in. I didn’t know what to expect from Triston. I wondered why Triston insisted on calling him Charles. He was so sweet, and I think Charlie fitted him better. I took my phone out of my bag and saw a message from Triston.

  Triston: Miss Reid, when you get in please meet me in my office.

  I had felt guilty agreeing to a date with Bash, but Triston made it clear he wasn’t interested. Since reading his message, I knew we were back to business. He obviously wanted a professional relationship which I could handle that. I just couldn’t handle his tongue on my lips. A shiver ran down my spine at the memory. If he wanted to keep it professional, then we needed to stop the game that was so obvious between us.

  “Here we are, Miss Reid. Have a lovely afternoon.” Charlie pulled up outside the office. “Thank you, Charlie. Please call me Em?” He nodded, but I knew he wouldn’t. I got out of the car and made my way to the elevator. I pressed the call button and waited.

  When the elevator doors opened, I waited for it to empty before stepping inside. I pressed 20, and just before the doors closed, a briefcase wedged between them. As they slid open again, Triston stepped in, and my breath hitched. “Miss Reid, nice to see you clothed in more than a towel.” His smirk was naughty, and I blushed bright red.

  “Mr. Hart, nice to see you not banging down my door.” He smirked, and the elevator lurched up. We stood in comfortable silence. My body reacting to the closeness of his body, my skin prickled with anticipation. I felt the heat radiating from him. Dressed in a black Armani suit and silver dress shirt with a black tie, he looked breathtaking. I felt the need to pull his tie toward me and kiss him. My mouth suddenly went dry. Without thinking, I licked my lips.

  “For god’s sake.” Dropping his briefcase, he grabbed me by the shoulders. He pinned my back firmly against the wall, and his body pressed against mine. “You need. To stop. Doing. That!” His face was inches from mine. I felt his hot breath on my face. An ache tugged at my lower abdomen. The electricity between us was inescapable. We were clearly fighting something unavoidable.

  I looked into his hot, blue gaze. “Doing what, Triston?” I breathed his name, deliberately licking my lower lip. His eyes darkened. “Fuck it!” he growled, and his mouth crashed onto mine, his lips devouring me hungrily. Our tongues tangled and danced. I sucked on his tongue, feeling him lick into my mouth. He growled, and I pressed my body against him. I needed him, aching to feel his touch.

  The elevator came to a stop and dinged to alert us we had reached our destination. Triston stepped back and released his grip on my shoulders. Picking up his briefcase, he stepped out of the elevator as nothing had happened.

  I followed him out of the elevator, still reeling from the kiss. He held the office door open for me, and I walked past him. Jessie turned and saw us walking in together. She raised her eyebrows, and I shrugged. He walked into his office. “Miss Reid, meeting, please. Bring your iPad.”

  * * *

  I walked into his office. “Close the door, would you?” I turned to shut the door. Walking across the office toward his desk felt like walking the plank. His eyes were on me, and my knees still felt shaky from the elevator incident. Sinking into the black leather chair opposite his desk, I opened my Notes app and looked up at him. Lifting the lid of his laptop, he started typing. Without looking at me, he explained, “We need to plan an important event. Working as a team, we will be in control of everything, from beginning to end. It’s in two months. We have complete control over the look and feel, and I want it to be the talk of the city.”

  That sounded easy enough, and I nodded. “Okay, what is the event?” He motioned for me to come to his desk. “Come around here. Let me show you. The company that was handling it fucked it up last Year. I won the account, and now we have the chance to make megabucks, and it all goes to the charity of my choosing. We need this, Miss Reid, and you are the only one I trust to make it happen for me.” I leaned over his shoulder, reading the information on the screen, trying my best to ignore his scent intoxicating all my senses. He turned to look at me, his face once again inches from mine. My gaze dropped to his soft lips that were on mine not that long ago. “Sure, I can . . .” I stood up quickly and smiled, walking around the desk and sitting in the chair again. I typed a few notes and hoped he couldn’t see my hand shaking.

  He stared at me for a while. Getting up, he walked around his desk, sitting on the edge, his hands gripping the dark wood. “Miss Reid, can I take you out this weekend?” I looked up and stared at him. His face filled with an unreadable expression. He sounded as indecisive as I felt at his question. I was going to need a neck brace with his back and forth. I remembered I had a date tonight with Sebastian. I couldn’t date two men; this was going to get ridiculous. I decided to get to the bottom of it.

  “Is this a date? Or will it be a professional meeting?” I cocked my head to the side, curious to hear his answer.

  He looked thoughtful while he stared at me and smiled. His eyes were beautiful, sparkling blue pools. “A bit of both, Miss Reid. I hope that suits you?”

  I nodded. “Fine, a professional date. Do you take all your new staff on professional dates?” I enquired. Acting braver than I felt. His eyes narrowed and darkened at my challenge as my heart raced. I shouldn’t have pushed him. Finally, he smirked. It was dark and dangerous. “Do you like to challenge me, Miss Reid?”

  I shrugged innocently, praying he couldn’t see my heart hammering in my chest. “I was just wondering. No need to answer me if you don’t want to,” I answered cheekily. He gave a slight nod, acknowledging my statement.

  “Stand up.” I obeyed his instruction, expecting him to dismiss me. My breath caught in my throat as he straightened and took a step toward me. My pulse quickened with the sexual tension radiating fro
m him. He leaned down, and I could see the beautiful, hypnotic cerulean irises gazing at me. He brought his fingertips to my jawline, slowly tracing the line from my ear to my chin. His eyes followed the path of his fingers. Lifting my head, making sure our eyes met. His gaze flickered, and he dropped his hand. My mouth went dry again. I licked my lips, and his eyes darkened. He leaned down and licked my top lip, followed by my bottom. A moan escaped my mouth as I felt his tongue hot and wet on me. He flicked his tongue on the underside of my top lip, sending a sensation all the way down my body which ignited the heat between my legs.

  He stepped back. “You may go now. Prepare a draft of the marketing plan for the event we spoke of. I want it emailed to me by five p.m. today.” He looked at his wristwatch. “That gives you three hours. Plenty of time, don’t you think?” His eyes met mine, challenging me to respond.

  I nodded. “Definitely, Mr. Hart. You will have it by five p.m.” I turned and walked to the door, opening it without another word. As I walked to my desk and glanced at Jessie, she mouthed “What the fuck” to me. I smiled and winked. As I sat at my desk, I gazed into his office window, which overlooked my desk. He was on a call now. His eyes met mine, and we stared at each other for a few seconds before he broke eye contact and looked at his laptop. I put my earphones in and started up my iTunes. My messenger pinged, and I opened it.

  JessieW: “You need to tell me what’s happening?”

  EmilyR: “We had dinner, nothing happened. He is not interested. It’s just professional.”

  JessieW: “I don’t believe that. I am sure something is going on, he is acting really strange.”

  EmilyR: “Believe it! It is just professional.”

  JessieW: “Weird… So, no kissing?”

  I turned my head and looked at her with a knowing glance. I felt my face heat up at her question. She laughed out loud.

  JessieW: “I KNEW IT!!”

  I giggled and closed my messenger; I needed to work. I opened up my Pages app and created a new document. I loved setting up marketing plans, and this was an amazing project. My messenger pinged again, and I opened it.

  TristonH: “You do realize I can see you?”

  I frowned. What was he talking about? I looked up and saw him looking directly at me.

  EmilyR: “I do realize that. Why?”

  TristonH: “Jessie and you giggling. I can only imagine what that was about…”

  My face heated up again. Shit!

  EmilyR: “An overactive imagination is not good for you, Mr. Hart. It might drive you insane.”

  I looked up and saw his devilish smirk at my response.

  TristonH: “Mmmhmm, yes, that is indeed what you do to me, Miss Reid.”

  EmilyR: “I have work to do, Mr. Hart; my boss is expecting a marketing plan in a few hours.”

  TristonH: “He is? What a slave driver!”

  EmilyR: “Yes he is… extremely demanding!”

  TristonH: “You would do good to remember that, and remember that he ALWAYS gets what he wants.”

  My stomach flip-flopped at his words as I looked up at him through the window. His eyes met mine, giving me a brief nod. I smiled and looked back to my screen, trying to concentrate on my work.

  * * *

  I hit send on my email and turned to Jessie as she was packing up. “I’ll see you tomorrow darling. Let’s go for coffee after work?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, sure, that sounds good!” The office suddenly felt abandoned. Triston and I were the only ones left. I shut down my laptop. Picking up my phone, I saw a message from Sebastian, sent thirty minutes before.

  Sebastian: Dress casual, no fancy restaurants tonight, we’re going to have some fun. Bash

  I smiled. Sounded good. I was a tomboy at heart and was much more comfortable in jeans. I hit reply.

  Em: Sounds like my kind of night, see you later

  I locked the screen and got up. Grabbing my bag, I slid my laptop in and grabbed the charger. I had my back to Triston’s office door as I didn’t hear him approach me. “Date tonight?” I jumped at Triston’s voice at my neck. I turned to look at him, his body inches from mine, and I could feel the heat radiating from him. I felt a familiar tug in my lower abdomen with him being so close to me.

  “It’s just a dinner, why?” He shook his head and stepped back. I felt myself release the breath I was holding. His soft, sweet cologne washed over me and had my senses in overdrive. It reminded me of a warm, fresh spring morning. One I wanted to be a part of so much, but he made it clear that wasn’t what he wanted.

  “Be careful. Let me know when you get home?” He didn’t wait for an answer, but turned on his heel, walked back to his office, and closed the door.

  * * *

  I wore my blue Levis, black boots, and a blue tank top. I tied my shoulder-length hair in a low ponytail and kept my makeup natural, adding some lip gloss. I was ready when Bash buzzed the apartment. I walked downstairs and opened the entrance door. He looked so handsome I almost forgot to breathe. His short brown hair spiked and his hazel eyes sparkled. He was dressed in tight, ripped blue jeans, a black T-shirt with the company logo, and a leather jacket. He had black biker boots on, and I noticed him holding a helmet.

  “You look amazing! Ready, babe?” I felt a shiver race down my spine because of his voice which was deep and sexy. I nodded.

  He handed me a white helmet as he grabbed his black one and put it on. I noticed an S on the side of his helmet, which resembled a lightning strike. He climbed on the black-and-red Ducati 550 and held out his hand to me. I climbed on and instinctively put my arms around his toned torso. “Ready to ride?” He looked back toward me.

  “Definitely!” I hadn’t been on a motorcycle in years, but I remembered the feeling of the wind rushing past me. He started the engine and revved it a couple of times. I felt the vibration between my thighs, and the goosebumps rose on every inch of my skin.

  When he pulled onto the sidewalk ten minutes later, we were outside a bar called Southpaw. I felt the adrenalin pumping through me from the ride. He helped me off the bike and kicked out the stand. Putting the keys in his pocket, he held out his hand to me, and I grabbed it. His fingers laced between mine, and we made our way into the diner. We were in Brooklyn, but that was as much as I knew. There was a queue to get into the bar. Bash walked up to the doorman, who greeted him and opened the barrier. He apparently came here often if the doorman knew him.

  “Would you like a drink? We can order dinner as well.” He pulled me against him and wrapped his arm around my neck. It felt so natural to be with him. He was so different from Triston.

  “I don’t mind; do you think we can get a table?” He smiled and nodded.

  We walked up to the bar. “Hey dude, how are you doing? Table please?” The barman shook Bash’s hand and motioned for us to follow him. We got a booth near the back of the large bar area. It was dimly lit with deep gold lighting, making the red furniture glow. “Beer?” Bash looked at me.

  I nodded. “Yes, please.”

  He showed the barman two fingers and then he turned to me. “Well, here we are. I apologize, I’m not into fancy places I am sure you’re used to. Those places I don’t really step foot inside, unless my mother forces me to, and I never enjoy it anyway.” I looked at his perfect smile as he laughed. There was a rugged handsomeness to him.

  “Don’t worry, neither do I! So where is your mom?” I giggled.

  “She lives in LA. She hates New York, and she only visits a few times a year, when she comes to check up on me.” His eyes filled with mischief.

  The barman walked over carrying our beers. “Here you go, man. Let me know if you want food. The chef is finishing in an hour, so I need to get the food orders in.”

  Bash nodded. “Give us a couple of minutes. I definitely want the burger and fries.” The barman nodded and walked off to serve another couple who had just walked in.

  “So darling, you ready to eat some junk food with me? They make the best burgers and fries here.�
� His was face animated, the excitement evident in his smile.

  I laughed at his enthusiasm. He reminded me of a child excited to open his Christmas presents. I remembered how different dinner with Triston had been, fancy vegan food and red wine. “Then naturally I better try it. You seem to have good taste in coffee, so you better impress me with your taste in food.” I picked up my beer, taking a sip. It wasn’t bad, I usually drank wine, but I wanted Bash to feel comfortable.

  He sat back and stared at me. “Challenge accepted, darling . . . Just you wait and see.” As he got up and walked to the bar, my eyes followed his retreating back. He did fill out a pair of jeans really well. My phone beeped. I pulled it out of my jeans and unlocked the screen. My heart started racing. How could a message from him do this to me?

  Triston: Look after yourself please. I will pick you up for work tomorrow morning. Make sure you’re dressed this time. T

  I stared at the screen, unsure what to say. How do I even reply to him? Bash slid into the booth. “Everything okay?” He gestured to my phone.

  I looked up and locked the screen quickly. “Yes, just my boss.”

  He frowned. “Your boss always text you at night?” I shrugged. I didn’t think about it, but I guess he was right. Although Bash didn’t know I had gone to dinner with my boss.

  “Yeah, um, it’s just with all the events this week, we have been swamped.” I smiled. “So, tell me about you?” I asked, hopeful to change the subject.