screen, the good-looking man promoting his new cooking show on the Homes and Food Network. He had been cute. Too cute, and Bridget had only been reminded that yet another man she’d been interested in hadn’t been interested in her.
Jeneva came back on the line. “Roshawn’s not home. I’ll have to call her later. So, what’s up with you?” she’d asked cheerily.
Bridget took a seat at the kitchen counter. “I lost my job.”
“What?” Jeneva’s voice was brimming with surprise. “What happened?”
“The partners are merging with another firm. It seems the new partners already have one intelligent, skilled, black female attorney on the roster and they don’t feel they have a need for a second.”
“Oh, sweetie! I’m so sorry,” her best friend hummed into the receiver.
Bridget nodded. “They’ll be transitioning our case-loads over and closing the doors in the next two to six weeks. I will actually be closing out my cases in the next few days so there’s really little left for me to do. Then I’ll officially be unemployed.”
“That stinks. So, what do you plan to do?”
“I don’t have a clue.”
The two had talked for another hour and when she’d finally hung up the telephone, Bridget had been sufficiently depressed. As she’d sat there staring blankly at the television set, the station ran the commercial for a second time. When Darwin Tolliver crooned his slogan “Let me show you how it’s done!” a chill had shimmered down her spine, straight into the pit of her stomach. What she wouldn’t give to have Darwin Tolliver show her anything his heart desired, she’d thought, the words floating into the empty room as she spoke them out loud.
That had only been a few hours ago, and if the dream was any sign, she still had the effects of seeing Darwin on her brain. Her bladder was now screaming loudly and Bridget shook the clouds of memory from her head. She eased her body up onto her feet and limped into the bathroom. Just thinking about Darwin Tolliver again had made her stomach flutter. She’d had a crush on the man since forever. The two had met years ago when his twin brother, Mecan, and her friend Jeneva had fallen head over heels in love. Her infatuation for him had even caused a brief rift between her and her other best friend, Roshawn Bradsher, when she’d accused the woman’s playful flirtations with him of being something much more. The two of them had worked through their differences and Bridget had been happy for her girl when Roshawn had gone on to meet and marry the love of her life, famed baseball star Angel Rios. Bridget was now godmother to their two children, three-year-old Dario and infant Belinda.
Between distance, bad timing and other relationships she and Darwin had never managed to hook up, though, and now here she was, still alone, unemployed, dreaming about men who would probably never cross her path. As she slid back beneath the warmth of her covers, Bridget shook her head for the umpteenth time. Things surely didn’t look like they were going to get any better anytime soon, so she hoped her dream lover would still be hard, wanting, and waiting for her when she finally fell back to sleep.
Chapter 2
Darwin Tolliver couldn’t help but think that there was something missing, and maybe whatever was missing was the reason he was so out of sorts. He looked around the enclosed office, observing the contemporary decor the television studio had paid far too much money to have installed. If the truth were to be told, the room really didn’t give him any warm and fuzzy feelings to get excited about.
Everything from the walls to the carpet and half of the furniture was done in a striking shade of ice-blue. The other half of the furniture was either upholstered in black leather or painted in a high-gloss black lacquer. Polished chrome accents completed the sparse ensemble. The room was supposed to be cutting-edge stylish but as Darwin sat in the midst of it, studying every minute detail, he wished he could have told the interior designer they’d hired that it actually felt very cold and impersonal. He sighed, blowing a warm gust of breath past his full lips.
Reaching for the telephone, he dialed quickly then leaned back in the black leather executive’s chair to wait for the line to be answered.
His twin brother’s voice bellowed from the other end. “Hello?”
“Hey, Mecan. It’s me.”
“Yo, Darwin. What’s up? How’s the new gig?” Mecan Tolliver asked.
Darwin shrugged, his broad shoulders reaching up toward his earlobes. “Starting out well. The show premieres next week and the initial reactions to the promos have been great.”
“I saw the commercial for the first time last night. You looked good, boy! You should have heard Jeneva on the phone calling her girls to check out the channel.”
“Your wife is too sweet. Tell her I said hello and kiss my niece for me.”
“Will do. Alexa’s been mimicking you since she saw you on TV. ‘Let me show you how it’s done!’” the man said, imitating his child’s singsong voice. “It’s too cute!” Mecan laughed, the wealth of it brimming over with pride for his five-year-old daughter. “So, for real, how are you doing? You sound a little down.”
There was a brief pause and Darwin sat listening to the television set playing in the background on his brother’s end. They’d been like two peas in a pod since day one. Mecan was the older by only five minutes and he was Darwin’s best friend and closest confidant. Darwin wanted to tell his brother that something was making him feel as blue as the room he sat in, but he hadn’t a clue how to express to his sibling what it was or why. Instead he shook the emotion away and changed the subject.
“Nah. All’s well here. Just felt like checking in with you.”
Mecan Tolliver nodded, his sixth sense kicking in. He shook his head slowly, oblivious to the fact that his brother could not see him through the phone line. “Sounds like there’s more going on than you’re saying. Why don’t we make plans to have lunch tomorrow and you can tell me all about it. We haven’t spent any time together in a good while.”
“That sounds good,” Darwin responded, a hint of gratitude seeping into his tone. “I could use some advice. Why don’t you meet me at the Andaluca Restaurant.”
“Where’s that?”
“In the Mayflower Park Hotel down on Olive Way. A friend of mine is the chef there. I’d like to show him some love.”
Mecan smiled into the receiver. “Why does that sound like you’re checking up on your competition?”
Darwin chuckled. “Hey, my boy Wayne’s one of the best chefs out here. There’s no harm in checking out what he’s up to.”
His brother laughed with him. “If you say so. I’ll see you tomorrow at one o’clock. Love you, bro.”
“Right back at ’cha.”
As the line went dead in his ear, Darwin suddenly felt even more out of sorts than he’d felt before he’d called. After hearing his brother’s voice and his excitement as he talked about his family, Darwin realized he was lonely. Labeling the emotion only served to further frustrate him. Perhaps some female companionship could change his mood, he thought, and hopefully help him move out of this stupor he seemed to have fallen into. Taking a quick
