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  She looked back up at him and watched him stick a debit card in the chip reader.

  He stuck the card in his leather tri-fold and slipped it into his back pocket of his black dress pants. His white, button-down dress shirt was undone at the top few buttons, and she could make out the signs of an undershirt underneath. She shook her head as if to shake herself from the trance. God, she was ogling a stranger in the checkout line.

  “Excuse me.”

  Savvon whipped her head in Trish’s direction. “What are you doing?” she asked under her breath, glaring at her best friend.

  “Excuse me—yoo-hoo,” Trish said again, ignoring Savvon's question.

  “Yoo-hoo? Are you freaking kidding me? Patricia Ann, if you don't shut your face.” Savvy tried to grab for Trish's arm, but she side-stepped the attempt like the point guard she was on her high school girl's basketball team and made her way over to the sexiness in the other checkout lane.

  The man picked up his bags and turned to Trish. “Who me?” he asked looking around.

  Savvon wanted to bury her face in her hands.

  “Yes, you, handsome,” Trish said chuckling.

  God, she’s flirting with him.

  “Lord help us,” Savvon mumbled.

  She continued her checkout transaction, trying to ignore Trish. She knew she was going to find any way possible to embarrass her. She would just have to kill her later.

  “I hate to bother you, but could you help me lift this dog food?” Trish asked of the bag of Gourmet Dog chow she bought religiously for her cockapoo, Ripley.

  There were at least three grocery store workers nearby she could have asked to help, but she chose to ask this stranger, just to prove a point. Savvon put the rest of her bags in her cart and turned to walk out the door.

  “Where are you going, Savvon?” Trish asked, making sure to emphasize her name, so the man could hear it. His face reddened a little as he ran a hand down the back of his head and looked over at Savvy.

  “I’m going outside to get a drink out of the vending machine. I’ll meet you in the car.” Trish flashed her a disapproving look. Savvon returned it.

  The man passed by her to get to Trish. He looked at her, and she met his gaze again. Those tired eyes were definitely green, with a fleck of brown. He was the guy you’d see at the office and swoon over, but more than likely, she'd never stand a chance with. She liked what she saw, though. He was beyond easy on the eyes.

  “Hi,” he said, as he passed by, his voice was deep, gentle, warm…hot, sexy... Damn, she’d gotten all of that from just a simple greeting, but she couldn’t help wondering how that voice would sound saying other things...of the dirty variety. She resisted the urge to bite her lip again as she looked at his lips. Kissable was the word that came to mind.

  She turned to look at him as he passed her by. His ass filled out every inch of those dress pants.

  And, she bit her lip. It had to happen.

  She was lulled from her inspection when Trish thanked him for coming over to help. She caught her friend's glance as she winked at her. Savvon stuck her tongue out at the woman and made her way out of the store.

  Chapter 3

  The redhead was talking, something about her dog-a-poo Ripley, maybe? He wasn’t really paying attention. He’d turned to watch Savvon walk away. He liked the way the yoga pants fit her bottom. He hoisted the dog food with little effort onto the belt.

  “Are you married?”

  He heard the question, and it snapped him back to attention. “Excuse me?”

  “Are you married?” she said more slowly as if he’d lost his marbles. Who knows, maybe he had... “Or a girlfriend maybe?” the woman continued.

  He looked at her quizzically. “Um, no?”

  “Look, guy,” she said scanning the dog food and lifting it herself this time with little effort and laying it in her cart. “Thanks for the help.”

  “If you could lift that on your own, why did you call me over here?” he asked, not understanding what was happening.

  She dramatically rolled her eyes. “Men always need things spelled out.” She laid a hand on his shoulder and leveled him with a knowing glance. “I saw you checking out my friend.”

  “I...” Was he that transparent? He shook his head. “Damn.”

  No use in denying it, when he’d been caught.

  “Yea, don’t deny it, bud. It’s okay,” she said, letting him off the hook. “Now, that hot chocolate is Savvon Stephens. She’s twenty-seven. No husband, no boyfriend, no kids.” She ticked off the items on her fingers just like Savvon had been checking off her grocery list. “I know she is interested, even though she just walked out of here like a little chicken shit. You are her type. I saw that little spark between you two, so palpable you could cut it with a knife.”

  He watched the woman swipe her debit card and return it to her purse. “I called you over to get your number for her.”

  He opened his mouth to say something, but he didn’t know what. Frankly, this whole approach surprised the hell out of him. She must have read his mind. She waved a hand in the air. “Don’t give me that line you don’t like the aggressiveness. This intrigues you, doesn’t it? You checked her out. She checked you out. You both like what you saw. You are both consenting, attractive adults. Why the hell not?” He watched as she pushed the button on the register tape where the receipts are dispensed, and a small piece of blank white paper scrolled up. She tore it off and fished a pen out of her purse. She wrote ten numbers on it and a name. “Here. I’ll save you the trouble of writing yours. Here is her cell. I’m doing this as a kick in the dating ass for her. She needs it, all work and no play. It's just not healthy.” She shook her head. “Make sure to use it, green eyes. Get to know my girl.” With that, she gave him a short wave and pushed her cart passed him, before turning back. “Oh, what’s your name, handsome, so I can let Savvon know who’s calling?”

  He gulped before answering, “Nathan Phillips.”

  She nodded and offered him a grin. “You can close your mouth now, Nathan Phillips.”

  Chapter 4

  Savvon paced back and forth in front of her SUV, waiting for Trish.

  What is taking her so long?

  She finally saw her friend pushing her cart out of the store and impatiently tapped her foot, waiting for her to take her precious time walking toward the vehicle.

  She noted the smug expression on the other woman's face and knew immediately she was up to not a bit of good.

  "What did you do?" Savvy asked when her friend was in earshot.

  “What are you talking about?” Trish asked.

  “No, woman, I know you. You are crazy and impulsive, and you don’t think before you speak. So, I asked again; what did you do?”

  “Oh, nothing. I just gave him your number.” She shrugged, hefting the dog food from the cart and loading it in the back of the SUV.

  “You did what?” Savvon asked much louder than she intended.

  Trish looked around. The young couple walking by looked at them as if Savvon had sprouted another head. “Shh, quiet down, crazy. You’re scaring the locals,” she said with nonchalance while loading the rest of her groceries in next to Savvon’s.

  “You just wrote down my number and handed it to a stranger?” Savvon asked, this time with some control on the volume of her voice.

  “A hot stranger, Savvon, and it was your work cell. I didn’t give him your personal cell or house number. He could have traced it and stalked you. I might be crazy and impulsive or all the nice adjectives you use to describe me, but I’m not stupid.” She closed the back tailgate to the SUV.

  “Well, I don’t know, Patricia, giving my number to some random in the grocery store doesn’t sound too damn smart.”

  Trish laughed. “Okay, Mom. You are so dramatic! Come on; does he look like the stalking type? He damn near had a bird when I gave him your digits.”

  “He was probably wondering who the crazy woman was, just handing out phone numbers a
t checkout number eight on a Tuesday night.” Savvon threw her hands in the air.

  Trish rolled her eyes and took her cart back to the return, before turning back to Savvon. “Look, friend, he is interested. You should have seen the look on his face when I told him I saw him checking you out. He didn’t deny it by the way.”

  “Will you look at me. I have on yoga pants and a ratty-ass sweater and look at my hair, Trish!” Her natural hair was loaded atop her head in what could be described as a beehive of a bun. “And, I have my granny glasses on, not my contacts, just kill me now.”

  “Hush, you’re gorgeous,” Trish scolded.

  “You have to say that because you’re my person—the one who embarrassed the living shit out of me tonight. That doesn’t get you a pass by the way. I look like a bum.” Savvon stopped talking when she saw the man in question walking out of the store. He caught her eye again. He didn’t smile. He didn’t wave; he looked embarrassed. He turned away from them and walked to the far end of the lot.

  “Oh, that’s just great,” Savvon mumbled.

  The first guy that had shown her interest, that she could be interested in, in months, and Trish jumps the gun and ruins it. But, she hadn’t done anything to get his attention either. Maybe Trish’s impulsivity would be the only way she could see or even talk to him again.

  But, as they both watched him walk to his black truck, turn the lights on and head out of the lot, that possibility grew dim.

  “Gone,” Savvon said out loud.

  Hearing the defeat in her friend's tone, Trish turned. “He has your number, Savvy. He may call.”

  “Whatever.” Savvon turned to the driver's side of her SUV to drive them back to their apartment building.

  “Oh, and his name is name is Nathan Phillips,” Trish said climbing in the passenger side.

  Chapter 5

  Nathan Phillips, known to all his college buddies as ‘Big Dog Nate’, stood in the middle of his living room, dressed in only a pair of silk boxers, with a domestic beer in hand, his second of the evening. He stared at the white, square paper that held the phone number for Savvon Stevens, age twenty-seven, amazingly beautiful, regardless of her Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood sweater. The nosey and assertive red-head was right; color him greatly intrigued in her girl. Her eyes were brown like a teddy bear with doe-like lashes, and she’d looked at him twice and smiled with the most luscious lips he’d seen. Just the thought of her smile, and the way her eyes twinkled when she looked at him, made his jock ache.

  “Damn,” he muttered, adjusting himself through the soft material of his boxers.

  He thought he could check her out from afar, but her loud mouth friend caught him, and she’d called him out on it. It was a good thing she did though; at least he got the digits out of the embarrassing situation. That was something he may not have accomplished otherwise.

  Tristan always gave him a hard time about 'all work and no play.'

  Nathan hadn't had a real girlfriend in years. He'd always been so focused on the job; he didn't have the time to think about a relationship.

  He’d never been the one to approach the girls in college. His buddies, or their girls, were always trying to fix him up with someone, even to this day. They were all married and here he was ten years out of school, at the age of thirty-two, still single as a one-dollar bill. But, he had his company to show for it, right? All wasn’t lost.

  He glanced at the paper again. Maybe he would change things up a bit and see about this woman who had captivated his interest, standing amongst the citrus at the grocery store. His crew would get a kick out of that story.

  “Where’d you meet the woman of your dreams, Nate?"

  "Oh, you know, guys, between the oranges and grapefruit,” he murmured, smirking at the idea. But, there was nothing like putting the cart before the horse. He had to reach out to her first and see if that short connection at the check out was really sparks, like he felt, and her friend saw. But, he wouldn’t reach out tonight. He could tell she was embarrassed by what her friend had done. He didn’t want to make it any more awkward. But, he would reach out soon. He’d like to see her again and get to know if there could be something between them.

  For now, he turned up his sixty inch 4D TV because Sports Center was coming on ESPN. This is what he needed. A couple of hours of sports news would take his mind off the ‘hot chocolate’ as her friend referred to her. But first, he turned toward the kitchen because he needed another brew.

  Chapter 6

  “Will you sit the hell down,” Trish complained watching Savvon check her cell phone for the umpteenth time. The two lived in the same apartment building, but they weren’t roommates. Trish liked to have 'gentlemen callers' as Savvon called them, more often than not, so they needed their own space, now; they had been roommates in college. They were used to eating most of their meals together and gossiping about their day at work. Tonight, they ate grilled chicken, baked potatoes with broccoli and cheese and sipped Chardonnay.

  “I’m just making sure it’s charging,” Savvon lied.

  “You are checking for missed calls, sister; you aren’t fooling anyone. Eat your dinner and stop being so fidgety,” Trish said around a mouthful of potatoes before washing it down with some chilled vino.

  “Okay, Mother.” Savvon plopped down at her small dinette set in her kitchen, staring at the TV that was in full view from the living room. She stabbed at her chicken and shoved it in her mouth. “This healthy eating sucks. Whose ‘New Year, new me’ bullshit idea was this anyway?” she mumbled while chewing. The food wasn’t bad, she just wanted to mope and complain.

  “It was your idea, and you’re pouting,” Trish said, not even looking at her while watching whatever reality TV show was playing in the next room.

  “I know,” Savvon moaned, picking up her wine glass.

  “He’ll call.”

  “You know, he shouldn’t even have my number, Trish.” She stuck a sock-covered foot out at her friend under the table, connecting with her shin.

  “Ouch! You know you’re glad I gave it to him. Don’t lie,” she said still watching her show.

  “Will you look at me, rude!”

  Trish didn’t turn her head but shifted her eyes. “I’m missing my show; I have to know what girl he picks!”

  “Do you think he will call?”

  “Am I ever wrong?”

  “Well, actually—”

  “Boop!” Trish held up a hand in her direction. “Don’t answer that. Now, if he didn’t want the number, he wouldn’t have taken it. He would have told me to shove the piece of paper where the sun don’t shine and walked his fine ass out of the store. Did he do that?” She shook her head for emphasis. “No! He looked stunned, maybe a little embarrassed, I caught him checking you out, and it wasn’t once either. This guy was on your ass the whole time we were there. He was smitten, kitten.” Savvon grinned at Trish’s words as she continued, “Now, it may take him a while to get over the fact that I called him out about his little drool fest by the fruit, and by the registers and in the parking lot going into the store..." She ticked off the places she caught him on her fingers before continuing. "But, he’ll get over it and use the digits. And, Savvon, honey, if he doesn’t, he is a fool.”

  The next morning Savvon woke, took her shower and got ready for work. She was a Senior Talent Acquisition Specialist for the well-known DeKemper & Paulson consulting firm downtown, and she loved her job. She got to meet new people every day, most of them young adults just out of college ready to put that degree to good use. She worked with several clients daily getting to know their needs for qualified candidates to fill their internal positions.

  When she arrived at work, there was a new file on her desk. She picked it up and looked at the name on the file.

  Big Dog Technology

  She’d never heard of the company, but it sounded like a startup, techy-type of business. Who knows, they could be the next big thing. She liked the sound of that and looked forward to meeting
the owners to see how she could help staff their projects. She made sure to place her purse under her desk in her office and took the file down the hallway to her boss, Melanie Paulson's office.

  “Good morning,” she said, rapping on the opened door. “Is this a new client, Mel?”

  “Oh, yes, come in, Savvon; close the door behind you, please.”

  She took the invitation, shutting the door and taking a seat on the opposite side of her boss' desk.

  “We’ve worked with these type of clients before at DeKemper and Paulson, so I thought you’d have no problem taking this one. Plus, the client mentioned they would like to work with you, specifically. A friend referred them.”

  “Oh, really?” Savvon asked.

  That was news to her; she’d never even heard of the company, and she wondered what friend it could be? Maybe a client she’d work with in the past? Who knows.

  “No, it won’t be a problem at all. I have room on my client list for a new startup,” she assured.

  Mel nodded. “You’re right. It is a startup, an app development company, but they’ve been around for about five years, now. They’ve taken off a bit quicker than the owner thought, landing a few large clients that rocketed them to the next level. They now have several large hiring needs to meet their demand.” Melanie pointed at the file in her hands. “Listed in that file are several positions they need to fill as well as the job descriptions and number of requisitions. The owner and a member of his senior management team and their consultant will be in the office this morning around ten o’clock to speak with us about their needs more precisely. You will be lead on this account. Not only because they asked for you specifically, but because I know you have experience with recruiting this type of talent. I ensured them of that. If you need help ask Margo to assist. This is a big one for us, Savvon. I’m pretty sure we are as good as gold on moving forward with a contract, but I need you to really sell it for us on what high-end candidates we can provide.”