challenge.
Looking back on that day in the airport, it had been Jonas’s sullen and brooding mood that had caught her eye. Even today, though he struggled with restraint, Toni was certain there was a bad boy dying to get out.
The question was how to help him do that.
“Are you there—or did you just call me to hold the phone?” Maria said, annoyed.
Toni blinked and retreated from her wandering thoughts. “Yeah, I’m still here. I have a lot on my mind.”
“Uh-huh. I was telling you I was thinking about getting my implants removed.”
Toni rolled her eyes. “Didn’t you just increase their size last year?”
“Yeah, but I’m starting to have some pain and swelling-not to mention half the time my back feels like it’s going to snap in half.”
Toni suppressed the urge to say “I told you so” and instead said, “You should definitely get it checked out. Are you just thinking about going down a size or...?”
“I’m going to get rid of them all together. See how I like being au naturel for a little while.”
“Good for you,” Toni praised, but in Maria’s next breath, she was talking about the latest and great liposuction technique available, and Toni’s mind wandered again. She continued to lend Maria half an ear while she ran the bathwater and removed her makeup.
When the call ended, Toni soaked in a tub with lavender-scented bubbles while her mind replayed the scene in Jonas’s office. However, her imagination altered things a bit and Jonas, instead of suppressing his attraction, had knocked everything from his desk, ripped off her clothes and screwed her brain out.
She had no doubts he knew his way around a woman’s body. Probably even knew a few tricks she’d never tried before, but ones she would be more than anxious to try.
Then her thoughts shifted to the restaurant. For as long as she lived there was no way she would ever forget the jealousy teeming in Jonas’s eyes. Had Sterling been any other man, it was safe bet that Jonas would have thrown a punch.
Hadn’t the youngest brother said that Jonas had gotten his fat lip from kissing a married woman?
Her fantasy bubble popped. She was willing to stake her life that the married woman was Ophelia Bassett.
Aware of her bath’s cooling water and vanishing bubbles, Toni quickly washed up and climbed out of the tub. When she finally curled into bed, she’d convinced herself she’d imagined Jonas’s jealousy.
The phone rang and Toni rolled over to answer it.
“Hello.”
“I hope it’s not too late to call.”
Toni’s heart raced. “Jonas?”
There was a pause and then, “No. It’s Sterling.”
Solomon took the couch. It had been hours but he could still clearly see his wife standing before Jonas with her chin lifted to receive a kiss. He would have never believed her capable of such a betrayal; but there she was, tearing out his heart.
“Sol, please come to bed,” Ophelia said from the living room’s doorway. She stood, arms crossed, in a sheer thigh-length nightgown and matching high-heeled slippers. “This is childish.”
“Don’t,” he warned. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Neither did I,” she insisted. “I had no intentions of kissing him.”
He jerked up to glare at her. “ He had every intention of kissing you and I saw no resistance on your part.”
“Sol-”
“You were going to kiss him in front of my child.”
“She’s our child,” she snapped, and then quickly cooled off her temper. “Baby, I’m sorry. But nothing happened.”
“Because I walked in.” He shrugged. “Is that supposed to make me feel better? Nothing happened because I walked in?”
Her gaze fell from his to find a random spot on the floor.
Solomon whispered, “Do you still love him?”
Her gaze shot back up and her heart melted at the sight of his pain. “No, baby.” She crossed the room to kneel before the couch. “Not in the way that you think.”
He stiffened. “But you still have feelings for
Looking back on that day in the airport, it had been Jonas’s sullen and brooding mood that had caught her eye. Even today, though he struggled with restraint, Toni was certain there was a bad boy dying to get out.
The question was how to help him do that.
“Are you there—or did you just call me to hold the phone?” Maria said, annoyed.
Toni blinked and retreated from her wandering thoughts. “Yeah, I’m still here. I have a lot on my mind.”
“Uh-huh. I was telling you I was thinking about getting my implants removed.”
Toni rolled her eyes. “Didn’t you just increase their size last year?”
“Yeah, but I’m starting to have some pain and swelling-not to mention half the time my back feels like it’s going to snap in half.”
Toni suppressed the urge to say “I told you so” and instead said, “You should definitely get it checked out. Are you just thinking about going down a size or...?”
“I’m going to get rid of them all together. See how I like being au naturel for a little while.”
“Good for you,” Toni praised, but in Maria’s next breath, she was talking about the latest and great liposuction technique available, and Toni’s mind wandered again. She continued to lend Maria half an ear while she ran the bathwater and removed her makeup.
When the call ended, Toni soaked in a tub with lavender-scented bubbles while her mind replayed the scene in Jonas’s office. However, her imagination altered things a bit and Jonas, instead of suppressing his attraction, had knocked everything from his desk, ripped off her clothes and screwed her brain out.
She had no doubts he knew his way around a woman’s body. Probably even knew a few tricks she’d never tried before, but ones she would be more than anxious to try.
Then her thoughts shifted to the restaurant. For as long as she lived there was no way she would ever forget the jealousy teeming in Jonas’s eyes. Had Sterling been any other man, it was safe bet that Jonas would have thrown a punch.
Hadn’t the youngest brother said that Jonas had gotten his fat lip from kissing a married woman?
Her fantasy bubble popped. She was willing to stake her life that the married woman was Ophelia Bassett.
Aware of her bath’s cooling water and vanishing bubbles, Toni quickly washed up and climbed out of the tub. When she finally curled into bed, she’d convinced herself she’d imagined Jonas’s jealousy.
The phone rang and Toni rolled over to answer it.
“Hello.”
“I hope it’s not too late to call.”
Toni’s heart raced. “Jonas?”
There was a pause and then, “No. It’s Sterling.”
Solomon took the couch. It had been hours but he could still clearly see his wife standing before Jonas with her chin lifted to receive a kiss. He would have never believed her capable of such a betrayal; but there she was, tearing out his heart.
“Sol, please come to bed,” Ophelia said from the living room’s doorway. She stood, arms crossed, in a sheer thigh-length nightgown and matching high-heeled slippers. “This is childish.”
“Don’t,” he warned. “I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Neither did I,” she insisted. “I had no intentions of kissing him.”
He jerked up to glare at her. “ He had every intention of kissing you and I saw no resistance on your part.”
“Sol-”
“You were going to kiss him in front of my child.”
“She’s our child,” she snapped, and then quickly cooled off her temper. “Baby, I’m sorry. But nothing happened.”
“Because I walked in.” He shrugged. “Is that supposed to make me feel better? Nothing happened because I walked in?”
Her gaze fell from his to find a random spot on the floor.
Solomon whispered, “Do you still love him?”
Her gaze shot back up and her heart melted at the sight of his pain. “No, baby.” She crossed the room to kneel before the couch. “Not in the way that you think.”
He stiffened. “But you still have feelings for
Similar Books
