Business of Love

by Hodges, Cheris

  “Shut the hell up!”

  “Didn’t you spend the night with her in the ice storm?”

  “And?”

  “Just asking, damn.”

  “Why don’t you mind your business? Where’s Ma?”

  “On her way home. The doctors said I don’t need supervision anymore. I might be back to work in a few weeks.”

  “Good. We need you around here.”

  “Yeah, and you need to call Jill. Stop being so hard-nosed about everything. That woman probably needs to hear from you. Make up with her.”

  Darren waved his brother away. “Just go and stay out of my love life.”

  Cleveland stood up. “Keep that attitude and you won’t have a love life for me to meddle in.”

  Before Darren could snarl back, Cleveland was out the door.

  * * *

  Jill buried herself in work, overseeing deals that she normally trusted her executives to finalize. She scrutinized every detail of plans that came across her desk, even those from some of her top executives. If a comma was in the wrong place or a word misspelled, Jill made the person rewrite the document.

  Malik burst into her office and sat down. Jill was busily typing at her computer and didn’t notice him sitting there for a few moments.

  “What are you doing in here?” she asked.

  “I could ask you the same question. You’ve been on a tear since the ice melted. I haven’t seen you act like this since the early days.”

  “And your point is what? I told you all at the beginning of the year that I was going to make this a banner year for DVA. Do you think that’s going happen without hard work?”

  “Hard work is one thing, but you’re being an unyielding taskmaster.”

  Jill turned around in her chair and peered at him over her reading glasses. “Unyielding?”

  “Yes.”

  “You’re overstating things. I just want to make sure that we do the best that we can to increase revenues and our presence.”

  “Uh-huh,” he said.

  “What?”

  “Jill, I know you. What’s going on?”

  “Nothing,” she lied.

  Malik raised his eyebrow and nodded. “How’s the firefighter doing?”

  “If you are referring to Darren, I’m sure he’s fine.”

  “When was the last time you talked to him?”

  “Why are you worried about it? This is a place of business, not a speakeasy where the topic of discussion is my love life.”

  Malik hissed like a cat. “Let me leave you to your work.” He stood and walked out of her office, tiptoeing across the floor as if it were eggshells.

  When he left, Jill stood up and looked out of the window. What have I done? Maybe I pushed Darren away. He hasn’t called and I don’t think I can call him. I don’t know why I made such a scene in that restaurant. He didn’t deserve that.

  Jill had been waiting for the phone to ring and to hear Darren’s voice on the other end. She absentmindedly stroked her headset, hoping that the next call that came through would be from Darren. Then the familiar buzz sounded in her ear and Madison said, “Jill, you have a call on line one.”

  “Who is it?” she asked hopefully.

  “Mr. Covington.”

  “Voice mail,” she replied detachedly. Sitting down, she returned to her tasks and tried to force herself not to think about Darren. It didn’t work, because five minutes later, she was looking longingly at the phone.

  She buzzed Madison. “Can you get Carl Covington on the line, please,” she said.

  Jill didn’t have time to act like a love sick teenager; she had a business to run.

  When the work day came to an end, Malik and Shari walked into Jill’s office. She was hunched over her computer, rapidly typing up a draft of a contract to acquire Covington’s new technology. The legal department was going to have make sure there were no loopholes that would leave DVA open to a lawsuit or anything.

  Shari cleared her throat, causing Jill to look up at them. “What? Is it intervention time or something?” Jill continued typing.

  Malik pointed to the door, and then walked out, leaving Shari alone with Jill. “What’s really going on?” Shari asked as she sat down across from Jill.

  “I’m working, that’s all. I always work.”

  “Jill, did something happen with Darren?”

  Jill stopped typing and turned to her friend. “He’s just the same and I don’t regret not telling him that I’m the CEO of DVA.”

  “What happened?”

  “We had a fight about my career,” Jill said. “In a roundabout way, he accused me of basically caring more about my career than our relationship.”

  “What did he say exactly?”

  “It doesn’t matter, he hasn’t called and I don’t have time to worry about him.”

  Shari sighed heavily. “Couples argue. You can’t expect everything to be roses and sunshine.”

  “I’m not that naïve,” Jill answered. “But Darren can’t expect me to change my work schedule to please him. He can go to hell.”

  “You don’t mean that.”

  Jill folded her arms across her chest. “Are you walking around in my head, reading my thoughts?”

  “Testy, testy,” Shari said. “Jill, why don’t you call him and talk to him and this time let him know the true reason why you spend so much time here.”

  Jill waved her hands as if to say no. “If he wants to talk to me, he has my number. Do you think I’m going to chase some man down?”

  “It’s not about you chasing him. You said you cared about him. He makes you happy, so why let a misunderstanding come between the two of you?”

  “Who said it was a misunderstanding? Darren obviously wants a woman who needs him and needs to be taken care of.”

  Shari folded her arms and shook her head. “It’s not that. Sometimes people just say things in the heat of the moment and regret it later.”

  “That’s not what happened here and I don’t care to talk about it. Darren and I aren’t meant to be, that’s all.” Her voice was low and not convincing at all. Both she and Shari knew that the last thing Jill wanted was for things to be over between her and Darren.

  “You’re not telling the truth to me or yourself. You don’t give up that kind of glow for no reason and I’m sorry, but you’re going to have to try harder to convince me and yourself that you want that man out of your life.”

  Jill stood up and gazed out of the window. “I guess you’re right,” she replied. “But what am I supposed to do?”

  Shari picked up the phone from Jill’s desk. “Call him. That’s all you have to do.”

  “What if he doesn’t want to talk to me?”

  “I doubt that’s that case. But hey, I’m a hopeless romantic and I want to see everybody happy.”

  Jill turned around and gave Shari a weak smile. “Have you heard from the doctor?”

  “Yes, Malik and I will be parents in about eight and a half months.”

  Jill walked from around the desk and hugged Shari tightly. “I’m so happy for you and Malik. This is such a blessing for the two of you.”

  “I know. I just haven’t been able to tell Malik yet. I’m sure he’ll be happy, at least I hope so.”

  “Haven’t you all talked about starting a family?”

  “Yes, but not this soon. I wanted to make sure that I had my writing career in order and of course, Malik wants to see how far he can make it here in his career. There never is a right time to start a family, though. And love doesn’t come into our lives every day. You’d better not let that man go.”

  Jill waved Shari away. “You’d better go tell your husband that baby makes three.”

  Shari winked at Jill, and then headed for the door. Stopping, she turned to her friend. “I bet Darren is waiting on your call.”

  When Jill was sitting in the office alone, she turned her computer off and took Shari’s advice, dialed Darren’s number and held her breath until he answered
the phone.

  “Hello?” he said.

  “D-darren, it’s Jill.”

  “How are you? I’m glad you called because I was sitting here looking at the phone trying to figure out what I was going to say when I called you.”

  “Have you figured it out yet?”

  “I just want to know why we’re fighting.”

  “Because I’m pigheaded, and I took you completely out of context?”

  He laughed nervously. “Jill, I really don’t have a problem with you being career-oriented. That’s who you were before you met me and I don’t expect you to change.”

  “Really?”

  “Yeah. I have an idea; let’s start over. Meet me tonight for a drink. You pick the place and I’ll be there.”

  “Okay, my place and I’ll make the drinks.”

  “Sounds good to me. Have you had dinner?”

  “No, I haven’t even left the office yet.” Jill could imagine Darren frowning, furrowing his brows at her statement.

  “I’ll pick up some Chinese. How about that?”

  Jill smiled. “That works for me.”

  When they hung up the phone, Jill couldn’t get out of her office fast enough. She headed to the liquor store and picked up the ingredients for margaritas—tequila, sweet lime mix and salt. Cooking might not be her forte, but Jill could mix a hell of a drink. When she was a student at Spelman, her nickname had been “the bartender.” She was the one who poured the drinks for her sorority sisters when they crossed into the sisterhood of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

  She was the one who poured the drinks when she and her friends had their Waiting to Exhale viewing party whenever one of her girls was going through something with her man or ex-man.

  Tonight she was going to lay a blockbuster of a margarita on Darren. And if she found the right outfit, the alcohol wouldn’t be the only thing that went to his head.

  “If it isn’t Jill Atkinson,” David said as he approached her.

  The smile on her face disappeared like the Atlanta snow. “What do you want?”

  “Just looking for that interview,” he said. “By the way, you look awesome.”

  “And you look like lying pond scum. Excuse me.”

  “Drinking to combat the loneliness?”

  “I’m far from lonely. Did you think I was going to roll up in a ball and die because you betrayed me?” Jill snarled at him. “You have some nerve to think I’d agree to an interview with your rag. If I didn’t tell you before, let me tell you now, go to hell!”

  “Do you really want to make an enemy of me?” David asked, his tone threatening.

  Jill fought the urge to hit him with a liquor bottle. “We’re not friends and if you print anything about me or my company in your paper and there is a misspelled word, dangling participle or a misused adverb, I will have my entire legal department swoop down on you like a pack of vultures and we will pick your sorry carcass until there is nothing left.”

  David shook his head, and then leaned into Jill. “You don’t scare me, Ms. Atkinson. And I don’t appreciate your threats.”

  “I don’t make threats, I make promises,” she said before turning on her heels and heading for the register.

  * * *

  Darren loaded the last of the Chinese food in the back seat of the car. He’d probably bought way too much food. Maybe Jill would get the hint and they would hide away in her place until the food was gone.

  He wanted this relationship to work. Maybe it was time for him to put aside some of his hang-ups about working women. Why shouldn’t Jill put her all into her career? It was harder for women to get ahead and judging from her office, she’d worked hard. I can support her, he thought as he started the car. It’s not like I have the easiest job in the world for someone to deal with.

  As Darren pulled into the parking deck of Jill’s building, he saw her getting out of a silver Jaguar XLJ. She looked extremely sexy dressed in a dark red pantsuit that clung to each tantalizing curve of her body. Her hair was pulled back in a sloppy pony tail and a few strands of hair framed her face. Darren hopped out of the car and closed the space between them.

  “Hello, beautiful,” he said before pulling her into his arms and kissing her the way he’d been wanting to do for the last two days.

  When their lips parted, Darren smiled and stroked her cheek. “I’ve got dinner in the car.”

  She held up the plastic bag in her hand. “I have the drinks.”

  “Then,” he said as he backed to his car, “Let’s get this party started.”

  They walked inside, nodding to the doorman as he held the door open for them. Darren possessively draped his arm across Jill’s shoulder as if he wanted to tell the world that she was his woman.

  Darren looked at her as the elevator rose to the top floor. Jill stirred his soul, made him swell with desire. There was more than sex that turned him on when it came to her. It was the way she was shy and powerful all at once. It was the way she was in total control one minute and unsure about herself the next. Jill might have a lot of control at work but he knew in the realm of love and romance she didn’t give it her all because she couldn’t control the matters of the heart. Darren knew it was his job to show her that she was safe with him. That all he wanted to do was love her.

  “You’re kind of quiet over there,” Jill said as they stepped off the elevator.

  “I was just thinking.”

  She unlocked the front door. “About?”

  Darren grasped the knob and held the door open. “I’m going to be honest with you, I’m old-fashioned, I like to pamper my woman and I can be a little overbearing. That’s what the root of our disagreement was. It wasn’t about the fact that you’re a working woman. Every accident scene I went to during the storm, all I could think about was finding you. I was mad that you went to work and then when we went to the restaurant and you started talking business, it just made me think again how you risked your well being to go to your office. I can’t have my woman doing that.”

  “Let’s get one thing straight,” Jill said as she walked into the kitchen. “I’m my own woman and I’m going to do what I have to do to when it comes to my career. Granted, it was a little foolish of me to go to work the other day, but how many times have there been calls for ice storms and nothing has happened?”

  “I know, but I have an overwhelming urge to protect you,” he said.

  “Protect me?”

  He nodded and walked over to her, drawing her into his arms. “I can’t help it. The day I met you, I just knew you weren’t the kind of woman who hadn’t been taken care of, cherished like the queen you are.”

  She faced him, her eyes glossy with unshed tears. “How did you figure that out before you even talked to me?”

  “I could tell, just from the way you acted. You wanted to hop off that gurney and get that computer.”

  Jill laughed. “I was working on my business plan for the new year.”

  “On New Year’s Eve. That was a huge clue that you needed to be taken care of.” He lifted her on the counter. “You’re not going to do any work this New Year’s Eve. You and I have a date.”

  “The year just got started good,” she replied, wrapping her arms around his neck. “Our dinner is getting cold.”

  “Do you think I care?” he asked, then brushed his lips against her cheek. “I’ve missed you.”

  “Me too,” she breathed. Jill turned her head to receive Darren’s kiss.

  Her tongue never tasted sweeter, her kisses had never been so urgent. When he heard her stomach growl, he pulled back from the kiss.

  “I guess you really do need to eat,” he said with a laugh.

  She dropped her head and giggled. “I didn’t have much time to eat today,” she said.

  Darren walked over to her dining room table and pulled a chair out for her. Jill sat down as if she were about to be treated to a meal in a four star restaurant. Playing along, Darren made exaggerated moves like a stuffy waiter as he opened the
cartons of lo mien, sweet and sour shrimp and chicken fried rice.

  “Would the lady like me to feed her?”

  “That’s quite all right, but would you care to join me, that is, if you can.”

  Darren looked around as if he were in the middle of a restaurant. “I’m sure the boss can spare me. Besides, I don’t even know where the plates are.”

  Jill rose from her seat, grabbed two plates and filled two glasses with sparkling fruit juice and walked over to the table. “Here you go,” she said as she placed the plates and a glass in front of him.

  Darren spooned food into their plates with the plastic utensils. He slid a plate over to her. “Dinner is served.”

  Jill cast her glance upwards at him. “I really appreciate you and the time we spend together. Everything is so simple with us.”

  “I’m a simple man. Love doesn’t have to be complicated. We make it that way when we want to run from it. I’m not going to let you run, though.”

  She took a small bite of her food. “I’m not going to run unless it’s into your arms. For too long I let my broken heart keep me away from love and the chance of being with someone special because I thought…It doesn’t matter. It’s nice to know that I have you in my corner, being my protector.”

  Darren reached across the table and placed his hand on top of hers. “I’m glad you can see that.”

  “I don’t like to fight,” Jill said, placing her fork on the side of her plate.

  Darren followed her lead, setting his fork down. “Neither do I. Are we going to keep eating or go straight to the making up?”

  He’d been longing for her from the moment he saw her step out of her car. His erection was the reason why he’d stopped serving Jill. He didn’t want her to see what she’d done to him just by walking past him and sitting down. Somehow, she made that simple act elegant and sexy.

  “I vote for making up, but I want to change into something a little more comfortable first,” she said, pushing away from the table. “Wait here.”

  Darren smiled as she walked down the hallway. Jill had put an extra twist in her hips because she had to know he was watching.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Jill pulled her sexiest black teddy from the deep recesses of her lingerie drawer. The last time she’d planned to wear this outfit was the same day that she found out what a weasel David was. But she didn’t have to worry about that with Darren. He was everything she’d ever dreamed of, the kind of man who loved unconditionally and someone she could trust.