by Tina Martin
“Are you serious?” Savannah asked, amused.
“Yes. He wiped out my inventory so he could buy himself some time to talk to me.”
“I cracked up when you first told me that story, Em,” Melanie said, giggling. “And of course there’s my Dimitrius who hardly ever smiles. He tries so hard to be serious all the time. And the man had a thing about tardiness. If you were one minute late for a meeting or anything, he’d literally turn red like he was about to explode. Since we had Grace, he’s done a complete three-sixty. He’s a different man, and I absolutely love the way his eyes light up when he sees his daughter.”
“Aw…that’s so sweet,” Savannah said. She wondered if Harding would be the same way with their child. Would he be a good father?
“And then there’s bad boy Desmond,” Sherita said.
“Yeah. He’s the only one in the bunch with a motorcycle,” Emily chimed in.
“And even though he’s a motorcycle-riding bad boy, he’s still serious about his work,” Sherita said. “I love his work ethic, and he’s also an excellent father to the twins. Sometimes, he’ll take them to the park or the museum so I can have a few free hours to myself.”
“That’s nice,” Savannah said. “Once upon a time, Harding would buy me flowers and surprise me with dates, but unfortunately for us, I didn’t give the marriage a chance to grow like it should have. That’s why he resents me.”
“It’s not too late, is it?” Melanie asked.
“I think it is. We’ve hurt each other, and I don’t see how we can get back to where we were.”
“Well, I messed up with Dante,” Emily said. “I thought the worst about him and I was wrong. He forgave me. I didn’t think he would, but he did.”
“And I screwed up with Dimitrius,” Melanie said. “I thought I couldn’t have children, and I wasn’t upfront with him about that because I knew he wanted children. I began withdrawing from him and he thought I didn’t want the marriage because of it. It all blew up in my face in the end, but thanks to his forgiveness and understanding, we made it work and were blessed with our little miracle daughter, Grace.”
Savannah smiled softly, looking at Grace.
“Just for the record, I didn’t mess up with Desmond,” Sherita said then laughed. “He messed up with me.”
Desmond strolled into the family room and with a sly smirk on his face, he said, “Savannah, don’t believe anything these women tell you about me, especially this one,” he said leaning over Sherita, taking an upside-down kiss – a deep one, pulling her tongue and lips all at the same time. “Mmm. Delicious,” he said as the kiss ended.
“Looks like another set of twins is going to be in the works real soon,” Melanie joked, glancing at Sherita and Desmond.
“Nah. If that was the case, she’d be pregnant right now,” Desmond said.
“Des…” Sherita slapped his thigh, embarrassed.
“What? It’s true,” he said. “You know I can’t keep my hands off of you, princess.”
Sherita blushed.
Desmond smiled, loving the fact that he made her cheeks turn a soft pink. “As a matter of fact, come here for a minute, baby. Daddy needs some banana pudding.”
“Whoa, wait a minute,” Emily said, giggling. “You gotta go to your own house for that, Desmond.”
Savannah and Melanie laughed.
Sherita grasped Desmond’s hand and he gently pulled her up from the couch. “Des is just being silly. I’ll be right back, y’all,” she said.
“No, she won’t,” Desmond said, clamping a perfect row of white teeth down on his bottom lip as he wrapped his arms around Sherita from behind. “Celeste, Nolan, behave yourselves until mommy and daddy returns,” he said. Then they exited the room.
“He’s a mess,” Emily said, about her brother-in-law.
“Hey, where’d Desmond run off to?” Dante asked as he walked into the family room. His niece, Celeste quickly crawled over to him and pulled herself up to a stand, using his pant leg for balance. Dante reached down to pick her up, gave her a kiss on the cheek and said, “Hey, sweet girl. Where’s your father?”
“He went into the kitchen to get some banana pudding,” Melanie said.
“Banana pudding?” Dante said. “Sherita made some banana pudding?” he asked, knowing that banana pudding was Sherita’s specialty and no one else could make it quite like her.
“No,” Emily said. “Sherita didn’t make banana pudding. She is the banana pudding.”
“Oh,” Dante said, then cracked a half smile. “I should’ve figured that.”
“I’ll take Celeste, honey,” Emily said.
“I got her,” Dante said. “I’m done whippin’ on the boys for tonight.”
“Oh, you got jokes,” Dimitrius said, stepping into the room. “As I recall, I won the last round.”
“If you say so,” Dante tossed back. He zeroed in on Savannah who looked relaxed on the couch and asked, “Savannah, are they treating you right in here?”
“Yes. I feel right at home,” Savannah replied.
“That’s good considering you’ll be working at TCC,” Melanie said. “Congrats.”
“Yeah. Congratulations,” Emily said.
“Thank you, ladies. I’m grateful to Dante, Desmond and Dimitrius for giving me a chance to start a new life here in Asheville.”
“You’re a good fit,” Dimitrius said. “Here and at TCC.”
“And we all have children,” Dante said. “These women can give you all the advice you need.”
“Wait? Advice for what?” Emily asked.
Dante looked puzzled when he realized the women didn’t know about Savannah’s pregnancy.
Emily’s eyes brightened. “Savannah, are you pregnant?”
“I am. I’m only a few months along.”
Emily stood up and walked over to Savannah. She sat next to her on the couch and pulled her into a hug. “Congratulations.”
“Thank you,” Savannah said.
Melanie scooted next to Savannah and gave her a hug.
“I’m going to need a doctor around here, so if you ladies can recommend somebody, that would be great,” Savannah said.
“Oh, you can go to my O.B.,” Emily said.
“Wait…what did I miss?” Sherita asked, stepping back inside of the family room with kiss-swollen lips.
Desmond walked up behind her, kissing on her neck and stroking his hands up and down her arms, then circling his arms around her, breathing in a long breath of her scent. He took a few more kisses from her neck then said, “Mmm…so good.”
“Okay,” Dante said, “Let’s get Celeste and Nolan strapped in their car seats, because it looks like Sherita and Des are going to call it an early night.”
“More like an early morning when I finally get her home,” Desmond corrected.
Sherita blushed even more. “What’s wrong with you, Des?”
“You know I can’t resist you, my love,” Desmond said.
“Sherita, we were just congratulating Savannah on her pregnancy,” Melanie said.
Sherita’s right hand went to cover her mouth. ‘‘Oh my—congratulations,” Sherita said ecstatic, then walked over to embrace Savannah. “Welcome to the mom club.”
“Thank you, Sherita.”
‘‘I know my boy is excited about becoming a father,” Desmond said as he secured Celeste in her car seat.
When he said, my boy, Savannah knew he was referring to Harding. “Um…I’m not so sure yet. We haven’t talked much about it. We haven’t talked about anything.”
“I’m sure everything will work out between you two,” Dante said, hoping the plan he’d put in place would produce some results and that Harding would be back in town on Monday. He strapped Nolan in his car seat and the wiggly, fussy eight-month-old started crying.
“Aw…” Savannah said. “Look at his cute, little lips all poked out.”
“Well, that’s my cue,” Desmond said after securing Celeste in her car seat. “We’re going to g
et these babies to bed. Ain’t that right, baby girl?” He brushed the knuckle of his index finger across Celeste’s little nose, prompting her to smile and kick her legs.
Sherita consoled Nolan while sliding his hat onto his head.
“I think I’m going to go, too,” Savannah said. “I’m exhausted.”
“Savannah, why don’t you stay here and take one of the guest bedrooms tonight?” Emily suggested.
“Yeah, it’s late,” Dante added, “And I don’t want you rolling up to a hotel alone at this time of night.”
“I’ll be okay, guys.”
Knowing that wouldn’t be enough to satisfy the Champion men’s protective instinct, Sherita said, “Des, how about we follow Savannah to the hotel to make sure she gets there safe and sound?”
“I’m cool with that,” he replied.
“Perfect. I feel better about it now,” Dante said.
Dimitrius looked at Melanie and asked, “Are you ready to go, baby?”
“Yes...doesn’t look like Grace is ready, though.”
Grace was busy playing with Ezra. The two were as close as brother and sister and at times they would cry when they had to leave each other – like now. As soon as Dimitrius picked her up, Grace turned on the tears, moving and twisting her body to get back down on the floor. “Ez,” she said tearfully.
“Shh...it’s okay, Grace. You’ll see Ezra tomorrow,” Dimitrius told her.
“Aw...she loves her cousin,” Savannah observed.
“She does,” Emily said. “They’ve grown really close.”
Ezra began crying when he heard Grace crying. Dante walked over and scooped him up. “Next time, we’re going to put you guys to sleep,” Dante said. “No more staying up late with the grown folks.”
“Yeah. That’s probably a good idea if we can actually pull it off,” Emily said.
Dante and Emily followed the family outside where they all said their goodbyes and exchanged hugs. Then they dispersed to their respective cars. Dante and Emily waved as the three cars drove away.
Chapter 36
Harding walked down the hallway with Phyllis, the woman he’d met in the lobby at The Champion Corporation when he first visited two months ago – when he met Dante for the first time. Little did he know he’d be a contractor for TCC and his wife would be hired on as a lawyer.
With his black laptop bag swinging from his left shoulder, he stepped into Dante’s office and took a seat per Dante’s prompting. Dante was on the phone when Harding walked in.
After a few minutes, his call ended. Dante stood up, walked around his desk and slapped hands with his brother. “Good to see you, man.”
“You, too.”
“Are you ready to work, or—?”
“Yeah. I’m ready,” Harding said.
“Since it’ll probably take the least amount of time, we’re going to have you start on the newest computers first.”
“Cool,” Harding said walking down the hallway in stride with Dante.
“Did you settle into the hotel okay this morning?”
“I did. I was surprised they let me check in early.”
“They normally don’t, but I called in a favor. Melanie used to work there, and TCC has a lot of conferences at that hotel. Since Melanie is cool with the manager, she called to let her know you were coming early.”
“Nice.”
They walked a few more steps then came to a closed door. Harding glanced at the silver nameplate next to the door:
Savannah Champion
Legal Department
Harding smirked. “Figures I’d be taking care of this office first,” he said.
“She is our newest employee,” Dante said. “But no worries—she’s not here. Well, she’s in the building, but she’s going through orientation at the moment.”
When they stepped into Savannah’s office, her scent, her perfume and the sweet smell of her overall instantly overtook Harding. She’d definitely been in here at some point this morning.
“All right, well, I’ll let you get to it,” Dante told him. “If you need me, you know where to find me.”
“Yep.”
Dante closed the door and Harding looked around the office again. It was a nice size space for Savannah with a huge oak desk, four-chair meeting table off to the right and an empty bookshelf to the left. He was sure she’d fill it up with her books and add her feminine, decorative touch to make her office more comfortable.
He sat at her desk. In her chair. Suddenly hit with a feeling of nostalgia, he leaned back. He couldn’t focus at the moment. The circumstances were too similar to how they’d met. Savannah was working for her father’s firm when he was hired to do work on their computer systems, just like he was, once again, doing work on her computer system here at The Champion Corporation.
His eyes roamed over her desk. She’d just started working here today. According to Dante, she was downstairs in orientation and such being the case, she didn’t have much time to set up her office, but she did put a framed picture of them on her desk – one they’d taken on the beach. He smiled remembering that day. It was six months after they’d met. She was excited about winning a case and had taken a week off of work. They spent the entire week together, the longest stretch of time they’d ever spent together prior to marriage and was also the same week he’d proposed.
He sighed and rubbed his eyes. He wouldn’t get any work done while sitting back reminiscing. He looked up when he heard two quick taps at the door and saw Desmond peep in.
“What’s up, man?” Desmond said. “I see you’re in here getting right down to business.”
Harding stood up and shook Desmond’s hand. Desmond was dressed in a well-tailored, blue-gray suit. The brothers dressed sharp when it came time for business, he noticed. “I’m trying, man. If only I could focus…”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, this is my first day on the job and I’m starting in Savannah’s new office.” Harding sat down again.
“That could be a good thing. Maybe you’ll get a chance to talk to her. I’m not sure how long she’ll be in orientation with Tennyson today, though.”
A frown automatically formed on Harding’s forehead. “Who’s Tennyson?”
“Tennyson Tillman. He’s our other lawyer. She’ll be working primarily with him. I believe you’re going to tackle his computer system next.”
Harding grimaced, feeling a twinge of jealousy.
“Even if you don’t get a chance to see Savannah today, you do know you both are staying at the same hotel, right?”
“No. I didn’t know that,” Harding said.
“Yep. Anyway, man, I have several items to knock off of my to-do list. I’ll catch you later.”
“All right, Des. Later, man.”
Harding stared blankly at the computer screen. He’d never felt so distant from Savannah. Since they’d met, they were tight. Now, he was finding out information about her from other sources – namely his half-brothers – men whom he hardly knew. It was a distraction, this disagreement with Savannah, because he couldn’t concentrate on bonding with his brothers. Yet, he still felt a sense of closeness – like whenever he was around them, they made him feel like family. His mother thought they would be snooty showoffs, but they were down-to-earth family men – wealthy but not in a showy type of way like Savannah’s parents. They were modest, and they made him feel welcome.
* * *
Tennyson glanced at his cell phone and saw the text from Desmond:
Harding’s here. Go ahead and dismiss Savannah to her office for the rest of the day.
In on Desmond’s plan, Tennyson forced a smile away from his face and looked up at Savannah. She was busy taking notes. “Hey, we’ve reached a good stopping point if you want to take a couple of hours to do some setup in your office or meet more of the staff.”
“Okay,” she said, closing her notebook. “That’ll work. I’m sure you need to check your emails and voicemails.”
“
Desperately. I hate getting behind on work,” Tennyson said, standing. He folded his laptop closed. “I like to stay on top of my daily tasks.”
“I completely understand.” Savannah stood up, too. “I’m the exact same way.”
Passing through the lobby, Tennyson pressed the elevator button, then gestured for her to proceed when the doors opened.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
When the elevator doors closed, she said, “We talked about a lot over lunch, but you never told me how long you’ve worked here.”
“A couple of years. It’s the best job and the best company to work for, hands down.”
“Really?”
“Yep. They don’t trip when you need to take time off work for personal matters. I don’t know if you’ve ever worked for any of these huge corporations, but you almost have to beg to take a day off.”
Savannah chuckled as the doors opened to the fourth floor. “I can believe that.”
“My office is this way,” Tennyson said, pointing to the right. “I’ll catch up with you…um…probably tomorrow.”
“Okay. Thanks for lunch, and for taking time out of your day for orientation.”
“You’re very welcome, Savannah.”
Savannah proceeded in the opposite direction down the hallway to her office. She heard that Harding had been hired on as a two-week contractor and she felt a level of satisfaction that he was able to impress his brothers with his high-level computer skills. Having a company like The Champion Corporation on his resume was a great achievement and would open more doors for him in the future.
Nearing her office, a feeling came over her – something to let her know Harding was nearby. It was probably the heat that flooded every part of her body. The intense smell of him – his skin, testosterone and his musky cologne – all smells that enticed her to no end. It was the way her heart pounded uncontrollably. Her husband, her man, her everything, her baby daddy was somewhere nearby. She twisted the door knob and proceeded into her office.
