Acquiring Hearts by S. Donahue Page A

background”
     
    “Yes I am.”
     
    It’s none of your fucking business.
     
    He hated to have these horrible thoughts about her but this is what he had to endure for the past month.
    “ Which bar are you at? I probably know it since I’m from Miami.”
     
    “I’m sure you do then. It’s called Captain’s Café.”
     
    Big Mistake telling her where I am.
     
    “I know exactly where that is. Maybe I’ll come and join you.”
     
    This chick is so persistent. Why do I attract all the crazy ones and the want that I do want, barely wants to talk to me?
     
    “I’m getting ready to leave anyway. I’ll just see you tomorrow morning.” She sounded disappointed but he had to be firm with her.
     
    “Ok, I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”
     
    He hung around the bar a little while longer. Little did he know that Holly had plans of her own.
     
     
    * * * * *
    He was down at the site by nine in the morning. Holly was there already. They were reviewing the final prints for the building. The construction crew was set to begin building on Thursday. Being the project manager, Holly was supposed to take care of everything. When he left Saturday to go home, he should be leaving with a peace of mind.
     
    Holly kept trying to touch his hand while they were reviewing the prints. He was starting to feel uncomfortable around her. “Holly, why are you trying to do this?”
     
    She just looked at him and moved closer to him. “Bradley, I want you in the worst kind of way. I have wanted you since I first walked into your office.” She walked up to him and kissed him.
     
    “Holly, No. Don’t. That was inappropriate. I have to go! You have everything you need to move forward.” He walked away from her leaving her standing there.
     
    “Bradley, wait,” She called out but he was already pulling out of the lot.
     
    He returned back to the condo when he left the site. He couldn’t believe the nerve that Holly had. He called Rachel from his office. She had now moved into one of the empty offices on his floor.
     
    “Rachel Rossini speaking”
     
    “Hey Rachel, it’s Brad. How are you?”
     
    “I’m doing ok. How’s it going down in Miami?”
     
    “It’s going well. Holly is a piece of work. I’ll just leave it at that. She has the finalized prints. Construction is set to begin on Thursday. I’m coming home on Saturday morning. I wanted to see if you could be available this weekend in case Holly needs something. I don’t want to deal with her. She aggravated me today.”
     
    “Sure, that’s not a problem. I’ll email her and give her my cell number as the emergency contact person.” She was such a lifesaver. He was so grateful to have her working for him.
     
    “While I have you on the phone, I wanted to talk to you about Gia.” He didn’t know if this was appropriate but he needed to try to find out what was bothering her.
     
    “What’s wrong,” Rachel asked
     
    “She’s been acting weird lately. She’s been very short with me. She won’t confide in me. Do you know what’s going on?”
     
    “Listen, Brad, she doesn’t want me to tell you anything. All I can say is that a lot of things have happened with her at work and it’s a mess right now. She probably doesn’t want you to worry.”
     
    Now, he was even more worried .
     
    “When I get home I need to have a long talk with Gia. Hopefully she’ll tell me what’s going on. I’ll probably stop by the office Monday, but we’ll need to keep in touch. I’ll email you the Miami project details.”
     
    “Ok, talk to you soon.”
     
    “Bye”
     
    What could she possibly be going through?
     
    He was distraught to know Gia was hurting. He called and made the flight reservations and sent Gia a text letting her know he was coming home Saturday. He asked her if she wanted to come over Saturday so they could see each other. She said she would.
     
    At least she agreed to see me. That’s a good