Free The Best Thing He Never Knew He Needed by Tina Martin Page A

I’m just trying to talk to you, Rita. I want you to be
happy.”
    “ I am happy. I don’t need a man to be
happy. I’m fine. Now listen…I have to go, but tell dad I’ll have
some money for him soon, okay.”
    Her mother sighed. “All
right. Well, have a good night. I love you.”
    “ I love you too, Ma.
Goodnight.”
    Sherita sighed sharply then
dropped her phone to table. Now she had the man on her
mind.
    Thane
Pennington.
    He had some nerve, still
keeping in contact with her parents to stay in their favor, just so
he could get to her. And to think when he had her, he didn’t want
her. She remembered when her college buddies used to tell her he
wasn’t any good. Said they’d seen him with several women. Not one.
Not two. Several .
Still, Sherita defended him. She said Thane came from a good
family. She knew his parents. His mother was a teacher, and Thane
had followed in the footsteps of his father and had become a
lawyer. Then she learned the hard way that just because a person
comes from a good family doesn’t mean they themselves are
good.
    Sherita shook her head,
grabbed the remote and powered on the TV. Her phone beeped when she
sat back on the couch.
    “ Who is it now?” she
griped.
    Sitting up again, she took
her phone and fingered over to the text messages where she saw one
from a strange number. All it said was:
     
    Hey you. I’ve been
thinking about us.
     
    -T.P.
     
    Thane Pennington. Her
forehead creased. “No they did not give this fool my cell phone
number.” Her mother, or it could’ve been her father, had given
Thane her number. Sherita dropped the phone on the table and began
massaging her temples. Between dealing with Desmond, Thane and some
desperate parents who wanted their only child to marry, it was
shaping up to be a long summer.
     

CHAPTER 9
     
     
    Desmond was feeling more
like himself this evening. He’d been sitting at the bar, on the
ground floor of his hotel, still in the fly suit he’d worn earlier
when he pitched eRoll to Bell-Butler Group. The meeting had been
successful as all of his meetings were. He excelled in his field,
so much so that lately, he’d been requested by other companies to
help spearhead their marketing campaigns. While he would accept a
few projects here and there, his loyalty was to The Champion
Corporation.
    “ So what line of work are
you in, Desmond?” Audrey asked.
    Desmond took a tight-lipped
sip of the Cognac he’d been slowly drinking for the last ten
minutes, about as long as he had been talking to Audrey. He noticed
her the moment she walked in, wearing a black dress that hugged her
hips with a pair of royal blue stilettos. And he was sure she
noticed him. Every woman in the joint noticed him whether they were
with a man or not.
    Still, he didn’t made eye
contact with anyone. He was sitting alone, thumbing through his
phone, checking emails from work. He would be in New York for the
rest of the week, hoping he’d get the green light from Bell-Butler.
It would be ideal if he could meet with them once more before
leaving for Asheville.
    While he had been immersed
in his phone, the good-looking woman introduced herself after
taking the barstool next to him. And he’d introduced himself to
her. The old Desmond was back.
    “ I’m in marketing,” he
told her. “You?”
    “ Publishing. I’m an
editor.”
    “ That’s tedious work,” he
said, taking a sip.
    She chuckled. “That’s why
I’m at the bar.”
    “ Can I get you a
drink?”
    “ A gin and tonic would be
nice.”
    Desmond threw up two
fingers, motioning for the bartender, ordering her
drink.
    “ Thank you,
Desmond.”
    “ No problem.”
    “ Where are you from?” she
inquired.
    “ Originally from San
Francisco but now I live in Asheville, North Carolina.”
    “ I’ve never been to North
Carolina.”
    “ Really?”
    “ Not at all, but I heard
it was nice. As a matter of fact, I heard the Obamas wanted to live
there after they leave the White House.”
    Desmond