talking.
A constant but pleasurable occurrence,” Jonas replied in his velvet baritone.
“You two know each other?” Sterling asked; his gaze ping-ponged between the two.
Toni curled toward Sterling, her smiled turned syrupy. “We’ve met.”
Suspicion crept into Sterling’s handsome features.
“And the plot thickens,” Quentin joked.
“Will you be joining this party?” the confused hostess asked.
“No/Yes,” Sterling and Jonas said in unison.
Q tried to suppress a grin while Toni’s smile slid as wide as Texas.
The hostess remained standing with the menus suspended halfway toward the table.
Jonas pulled out a chair and sat down, all the while avoiding making eye contact with Sterling. “So how do you two know each other,” he asked. “I’d think that would be something that you would have mentioned.”
Quentin hurried to take a seat so he could watch the drama unfold.
“We, uh, just met,” Sterling grudgingly admitted and then turned to Toni. “But, um, you didn’t tell me you knew Jonas, either.”
Toni shrugged their light interrogation off. “You didn’t ask and I don’t see why it’s relevant. We have a business relationship. That’s all.”
Sterling visibly relaxed while Jonas clenched his jaw in irritation at the truth.
“Oh.” Sterling perked. “For a minute there...”
“What?” Jonas challenged, finally finding his brother’s gaze. “You thought it was something personal? Would you’ve backed off if there was?”
Caught off guard, Sterling searched his brother’s face to judge whether he was being serious.
“There’s no need to ask hypothetical questions.” Toni said, rescuing Sterling. “The point is: there isn’t anything between us.” Her hand slid across the table and all three men’s gazes tracked it until it covered Sterling’s. “As far as Sterling and I, I’m open to the possibilities.”
Sterling straightened in his chair as he sandwiched Toni’s hand. “That makes two of us.”
Jonas’s gut clenched. Over my dead body.
Chapter 8
At the end of the day, Toni returned home exhausted and excited at the same time. One thing for sure, it was going to be a lot harder starting her own business than she initially thought. By harder, she meant more expensive. Licenses, office space, furniture and employees were draining her bank account so fast it made her head spin. Which was why when Nora Gibson walked through her office doors last week, she nearly wept with joy.
When she left home this morning, she never dreamed she would flirt with Jonas and then wrap his younger brother around her finger. Though it was a boost to her ego, there was no doubt she was in a tricky situation.
“It really is a small world,” Toni told Maria over the phone after relating her day.
“That or it could be fate,” Maria suggested.
“Fate?” Toni laughed. “Only hopeless romantics believe in such things. “I, on the other hand believe in luck and opportunity. And I’m going to take this opportunity to get to know Sterling Hinton better.”
“I can already tell you he’s not the one for you,” Maria said nonchalantly. “Pulling out your chair, ordering for you and showering you with compliments? He’s too much of a Boy Scout.”
“Does that mean I’ll get a merits badge if I get him in the sack?”
“Hardly,” Maria laughed. “It means you’ll find him dull. Give you a brooding bad boy, however, and your panties practically melt off your body. You’re weird like that. But if you want to send this Jonas Hinton out to California, then I’ll gladly show papí a thing or two.”
“It’s bad form to beg for people’s leftovers,” Toni joked, but reflected over Maria’s words. The problem with having lifelong friends is they had the tendency to know you better than you know yourself. What Maria had so eloquently pointed out was one hundred percent true. Nothing turned Toni on more than a bad boy.
A
A constant but pleasurable occurrence,” Jonas replied in his velvet baritone.
“You two know each other?” Sterling asked; his gaze ping-ponged between the two.
Toni curled toward Sterling, her smiled turned syrupy. “We’ve met.”
Suspicion crept into Sterling’s handsome features.
“And the plot thickens,” Quentin joked.
“Will you be joining this party?” the confused hostess asked.
“No/Yes,” Sterling and Jonas said in unison.
Q tried to suppress a grin while Toni’s smile slid as wide as Texas.
The hostess remained standing with the menus suspended halfway toward the table.
Jonas pulled out a chair and sat down, all the while avoiding making eye contact with Sterling. “So how do you two know each other,” he asked. “I’d think that would be something that you would have mentioned.”
Quentin hurried to take a seat so he could watch the drama unfold.
“We, uh, just met,” Sterling grudgingly admitted and then turned to Toni. “But, um, you didn’t tell me you knew Jonas, either.”
Toni shrugged their light interrogation off. “You didn’t ask and I don’t see why it’s relevant. We have a business relationship. That’s all.”
Sterling visibly relaxed while Jonas clenched his jaw in irritation at the truth.
“Oh.” Sterling perked. “For a minute there...”
“What?” Jonas challenged, finally finding his brother’s gaze. “You thought it was something personal? Would you’ve backed off if there was?”
Caught off guard, Sterling searched his brother’s face to judge whether he was being serious.
“There’s no need to ask hypothetical questions.” Toni said, rescuing Sterling. “The point is: there isn’t anything between us.” Her hand slid across the table and all three men’s gazes tracked it until it covered Sterling’s. “As far as Sterling and I, I’m open to the possibilities.”
Sterling straightened in his chair as he sandwiched Toni’s hand. “That makes two of us.”
Jonas’s gut clenched. Over my dead body.
Chapter 8
At the end of the day, Toni returned home exhausted and excited at the same time. One thing for sure, it was going to be a lot harder starting her own business than she initially thought. By harder, she meant more expensive. Licenses, office space, furniture and employees were draining her bank account so fast it made her head spin. Which was why when Nora Gibson walked through her office doors last week, she nearly wept with joy.
When she left home this morning, she never dreamed she would flirt with Jonas and then wrap his younger brother around her finger. Though it was a boost to her ego, there was no doubt she was in a tricky situation.
“It really is a small world,” Toni told Maria over the phone after relating her day.
“That or it could be fate,” Maria suggested.
“Fate?” Toni laughed. “Only hopeless romantics believe in such things. “I, on the other hand believe in luck and opportunity. And I’m going to take this opportunity to get to know Sterling Hinton better.”
“I can already tell you he’s not the one for you,” Maria said nonchalantly. “Pulling out your chair, ordering for you and showering you with compliments? He’s too much of a Boy Scout.”
“Does that mean I’ll get a merits badge if I get him in the sack?”
“Hardly,” Maria laughed. “It means you’ll find him dull. Give you a brooding bad boy, however, and your panties practically melt off your body. You’re weird like that. But if you want to send this Jonas Hinton out to California, then I’ll gladly show papí a thing or two.”
“It’s bad form to beg for people’s leftovers,” Toni joked, but reflected over Maria’s words. The problem with having lifelong friends is they had the tendency to know you better than you know yourself. What Maria had so eloquently pointed out was one hundred percent true. Nothing turned Toni on more than a bad boy.
A
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