Page 11 of Georgia On My Mind (Southern Promises)

Mr. Parker grimaced. “I want you to grow up! That’s what I want from you. You had it all, Hartford! And you let it all go because you just had to have that rich pussy…”

“Enough!” Hart looked around before leaning into the space between them. “I have more than apologized for my indiscretion. You need to forgive me. Mom has. Katie has. I don’t see why you can’t either.”

“Because you’ve embarrassed me. You embarrassed our entire family.” Mr. Parker’s eyes softened. “You had such potential, Hartford. You were a rising star…” He paused and sighed, squeezing the back of his neck. “I’m not sure I can ever get over this.”

His heart sank, hearing those words come out of his father’s mouth. “Well, then it’s your loss.” He abruptly turned and walked back toward the dining room, leaving his father standing alone.

His mother intercepted him in the long hallway adorned with stuffy oil paintings and expensive carpet. He hung his head low.

“Hartford.” Her smile was full of love. “I’m so glad to see you. And what a lovely date you have tonight. Gia is quite wonderful.”

Hart’s lips tugged at the corner of his mouth into a half smile. His mother had always been the one constant in his life, never judging or chastising his mistakes. She loved him unconditionally, her adoration something he counted on.

“Thanks, Mom. She is wonderful. I’m so glad you got to meet her.”

Mrs. Parker placed her palm on his cheek. “Promise me you’ll bring her over for dinner sometime soon.” The look on her face was expectant but melancholy, both of them knowing it probably wasn’t much of a possibility because of Mr. Parker’s unforgiving heart.

“We’ll do our best,” he said softly, leaning into her touch.

She patted his cheek and nodded sadly. “I love you, Son. You take care.”

“Love you too, Mom.” He watched her walk away. Taking a deep breath and holding his head high, he reentered the dining room with purpose and approached the table. Gia was gorgeous in the flickering candlelight, holding her refilled wine glass effortlessly with one elbow on the table. Her eyebrow arched as he sat down.

“Sorry about that. I wasn’t expecting to see my parents here on a Monday night. They usually come on the weekends.” He nervously positioned his napkin back in his lap and cut off a big chunk of steak, shoving it into his mouth. Grinning back at her, he continued to eat and proceeded to pour what was left in the wine bottle into his glass, drinking it greedily.

Gia didn’t say a word, and when the waitress came by to check on them, Hart ordered a double Jack Daniels, deciding he needed something stronger than wine to douse his haggard nerves.

“Your mother is nice,” Gia said, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

Hart thanked the waitress and took the cocktail from her tray, chugging half of it before replying, “Thanks.” The whiskey burned going down his throat, making him wince. He watched her cross her arms and stare at him pensively. “What?”

“Your whole attitude has changed. There’s obviously more to the story you haven’t finished telling me.”

Hart rolled his eyes and collapsed into the back of his chair. “Gia…” he started delicately.

“I saw the way your parents reacted when they saw you here. What did you do, Hart?”

Shaking his head, he avoided her stare and gave up trying to stall for time. He didn’t want to spoil the rest of their evening with his sordid tale, but he knew she was tenacious. He decided to forge ahead, ready to get it over with.

“The client’s daughter had been flirting with me all night,” he said in a low voice, staring at the candle. “We kept celebrating with tequila shots, both of us becoming incredibly tipsy. I was trying to keep things cool, but she took me by the hand and pulled me through the hallway to her father’s new office.” He glanced at Gia who was listening intently, her blue eyes wide and dark.

“What happened when you got to her father’s office?” she asked quietly.

Hart hated reliving the moment his career came to a screeching halt. It made him sick to his stomach. He quickly chugged the remnants of his drink and breathed in through his nose as the ice cubes clinked at the bottom of the empty crystal glass.

“I thought she had locked the door. Her skirt was hiked up, and my pants were down, and I was screwing her like a raging lunatic across her father’s twenty-five-thousand-dollar antique desk. We were out-of-our-minds drunk, and before I knew it, a group of people was gasping behind us; her father, my client at the forefront of the group.” He closed his eyes, remembering the painful moment. “Apparently, he was taking some of the big wigs on a tour of the place.”

His head was starting to pound as he stared at Gia from across the table and sighed. “It was the worst, most embarrassing moment of my entire life. I was escorted off the property and promptly let go the next day.”

Gia shook her head. “Wow.”

“I was arrogant, Gia. I thought I was the king of the world, prancing around like a complete jackass. It didn’t take but a split second for me to be brought down into a heaping pile of shit.”

He ran his hand through his hair, not caring if he messed it up. His shoulders sagged, and all he wanted to do was retreat to his sister’s condo and get drunk—a bad habit he had gotten into for several months that had worried his sister immensely. He should have known better than to come to the country club tonight. The chance encounter with his father made him feel worse. And poor Gia. She had to hear all about his sorry ass and what a fool he’d been. He wouldn’t blame her if she never wanted to see him again.

“Come on, let’s go.” She was standing right next to him with her hand out. He looked up and watched her nod. Tentatively placing his hand on hers, he slowly rose from the chair.

“Do you need to sign the bill or anything?” Her voice was calm and entirely in control.

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