Read Feel The Fire (Unforgettable Series) Online
Authors: Adrianne Byrd
Feel The Fire (Unforgettable Series) (8 page)
“Never better.”
Q nodded and slid his hands into his pockets. “You know, I was thinking. Maybe you should lay off the alcohol. Looks like you’ve been hitting it pretty hard.”
Jonas bubbled with laughter. “What? You’re trying to say I have a problem?”
“Do you?”
“Of course not,” Jonas snapped, indignant. “I can quit any time I feel like it.” At the bar, he reached for another bottle.”
“So why don’t you try to quit now?”
“For the same reason you won’t get a job-I don’t want to.”
Q cocked his head and continued to study him. “Then answer me this. What brought all this on tonight?”
Jonas didn’t answer.
His brother crossed his arms. “This wouldn’t have anything to do with Ophelia...or Sterling’s new love interest, would it?”
Caught in the act
Chapter 9
“Alyssa,” Beatrice, the wait-staff supervisor, called out at her and consequently gave away her position behind the Hinton’s.
Jonas peeked around the tree and grin broadly down at her. “How long have you been down there?”
Alyssa’s face heated with embarrassment. “Not long,” she lied.
Beatrice marched up to her like a wild twister in the middle of an Oklahoma tornado season. “I have the staff setting up the buffet tables, do you mind helping me take the tea trays up to the bride’s suite?”
Alyssa perked up. “Sure!” It was her first chance to get a good look at Jonas’s future wife.
The family, as well as the staff, was surprised and curious about the woman who’d mended Jonas’s heart and made him forget all about his ex-fiancée.
Alyssa and Beatrice loaded two serving carts and trekked to the east wing of the sprawling estate. As they approached the bride’s suite, music and laughter spilled out into the hallway.
That magical buzz of excitement once again surrounded Alyssa and she couldn’t wait to enter the room. The moment she did, it was like walking into Barbie’s dream house. Beautiful women clustered together in different parts of the room. Some were getting their hair done, some their make-up, and in the center stood the bride in a gorgeous, shoulder-less, white dress.
The woman was practically glowing—and everyone knew why.
Alyssa sucked in a breath, convinced she’d never seen anything so beautiful in all her life. A real-life fairy-tale princess.
“Oh. The tea is here,” one pretty woman exclaimed, and rushed over to the carts.
“Tea?” A Spanish beauty quipped. “Please tell me there’s something a little stronger than that on the cart.”
“You’re in luck,” Beatrice said; reaching underneath the cart to the hidden second tray, she pulled out a bottle of champagne, chilling in a bucket of ice.
“Whoo. That’s what I’m talking about!” The Spanish beauty took hold of the champagne. “Now, let’s get this party started.”
“Maria, you just make sure that you save some for the others,” the bride warned.
“Don’t be mad just because you can’t have any. What? Are those butterflies finally kicking in, Toni? It’s not too late to plan an escape route.”
Alyssa’s heart clutched. The idea of another bride ditching Jonas at the altar scared her.
“I’m not going anywhere,” Toni said, holding still for last minute alterations. “It took me forty-three years to find a man I wouldn’t mind waking up to for the rest of my life.”
“Who knew he was younger than you?”
“He’s not that much younger...just seven years.”
“Humph! Seven years means that he was in the eight grade when you were graduating from high school,” Maria said.
“And in elementary when you lost your virginity in the back of Jaron Miller’s Hoopty,” another woman added.
Alyssa quickly thought about the twenty-year difference between her and Quentin.
“Ashley, there’s a young lady in the room,” Toni reprimanded, and then smiled politely at Alyssa.
“Sorry,” Ashley quipped.
“Aren’t you a pretty little thing?” Toni inquired.
Alyssa looked around to see if she was talking to someone else.
“I’m talking to you,” the bride reassured. “How old are you?”
“T-thirteen.”
“Ah, I remember thirteen,” she said dreamily. “I received my first kiss at thirteen. Have you had your first kiss yet?”
Alyssa shook her head, but couldn’t stop imagining a fantasy kiss with Quentin. He would pull her into her arms and...
“Aaah...so there
is
a boy you
want
to kiss,” Toni said, reading her like an open book.
Alyssa dropped her gaze as her face heated.
All the women in the room noticed her reaction and chorused a long, “Aww.”
“Well, we should be getting back to the kitchens, Alyssa,” Beatrice said.
“Alyssa. What a pretty name,” the bride cooed. “Oh, can’t she stay and help us around here?” Toni asked.
Beatrice hesitated.
“I’m sure my dad won’t mind,” Alyssa said before Beatrice could make up an excuse.
“Then that settles it. You can stay and hang out with us.”
Beatrice’s lips pressed into a hard, firm line and her eyes flashed a warning to Alyssa to be on her best behavior before she backed out of the room.
“Alyssa, do you mind pouring my friends some tea?”
She shook her head and quickly went to work.
“So finish telling us how you snagged a ring from this young pup,” another friend of the bride’s asked. “I want details.”
Alyssa’s ears perked up. She was eager to hear more about Jonas and Toni love story. Who knows maybe she would learn a few pointers.
“All right. Well, like I said I first started dating his brother...
Chapter 10
Dating Sterling was hazardous to Toni’s health.
On top of being the last Boy Scout, the man was a complete health nut. Biking, hiking and climbing rocks-Sterling was a gladiator out of time. One thing for sure: this was not how Toni liked to workout.
An aerobics class-sure.
A walk on the treadmill-fine.
Hot sex-count her in.
But working out like she’s training for triathlon-oh, hell no.
“Oh, that doesn’t look too good,” Sterling said, inspecting the bleeding scraped skin on her inner thigh. “Maybe mountain biking isn’t your thing.”
“What gave it away-my inability to stop or my being pitched head forward over the rails?”
Sterling chuckled but then apologized when she winced and then sucked in a pained gasp. “Hold still while I go get something to help clean and patch you up.”
Toni nodded and admired his firm butt as he strolled out of the den. Was Jonas’s butt that firm? She would definitely have to check it out the next time she saw him. Sighing, Toni’s gaze floated around the Hinton brothers’ luxurious penthouse. According to Sterling, the brothers shared a few properties in different cities for various businesses. Well,
except
Quentin who was apparently allergic to working-and crashed wherever he wanted.
Toni found the whole brotherly bond sort of cute—and problematic. She couldn’t stop herself from constantly comparing one brother against the other and kept favoring the one she wasn’t dating.
“Okay, here we go.” Sterling returned with a bottle of alcohol, peroxide and a first-aid kit.
Toni tensed in anticipation of the alcohol burning her flesh wound. “You know, on second thought, I think it’s fine.”
“Come on. Don’t wimp out on me,” he coaxed with a wink. Had a woman ever been able to tell this man “no”?
Jonas breezed into the penthouse in a rush to pick up his golf clubs. There was no better way to spend his Saturday than on the green at his favorite country club. Truth be told, there was no better place to hear of business opportunities or stock tips.
“Oh, I don’t know, Sterling,” Toni’s voice floated from the den just as Jonas marched by.
“C’mon. Open your legs for me.”
Jonas stopped in his tracks and, against his better judgment, stole a peek into the room. From his angle he could only see the back of Toni’s head.
“But right here?” She looked around.
Jonas jumped away from the den’s entryway and pressed his body against the sidewall to avoid detection.
“But can you even see what you’re doing?” She laughed.
“Yes, yes. Now stop stalling and spread your legs.”
Jonas’s eyes bulged and his hands clenched into tight fists.
“C’mon just a little wider. That’s my girl.”
Toni sucked in a gulf of air through her teeth. “Sterling...”
“Relax. It’s just going to hurt for a second and then you’re going to adjust just fine.”
Jonas felt nauseous. Were they actually about to get it on in the den-in the middle of the day? That sounded so unlike his conventional brother. But hell, a woman like Toni could talk a man into just about anything.
The front door opened and Jonas looked up to see Q strolling through the door.
“Hey, man. What’s up? We going or not?” Jonas bolted toward the door, pressing a finger against his lip.
“What? What’s going on?”
“Um, nothing. Let’s go.” He ushered Quentin back out the door.
“Wait. What about your clubs?”
“I’ll borrow yours.”
Quentin jerked back with an incredulous stare. “I don’t have clubs. I use yours.” He tried to push his way back into the penthouse. “What’s going on? What are you trying to hide from me?”
“Nothing,” Jonas lied. “Let’s go. I’ll buy a new set at the clubhouse.” With one final shove, Q sailed out of the door while Jonas marched behind him, pissed.
Toni was sore all over.
The morning after her biking accident, she woke up a little stiff; but by Monday, muscles she had long forgot about ached to the point that she could barely move.
She had to end this relationship before it killed her.
“Toni Wright to see Jonas Hinton,” she informed Michelle, who once again seemed like a one woman show as she typed, talked and strolled through her day planner.
“I don’t have you on the calendar,” she said dully, and then continued ordering what sounded like office supplies.
“I know, but I’m sure Mr. Hinton would like to see me.”
Michelle ignored her.
“Ma’am?”
“Hold, please.” She punched a button on the console and lifted up her narrowing gaze to Toni. “Ms. Wright, let’s clear up some confusion. I know the name of this company is Hinton Enterprises, but make no mistake that this is
my
office. I run things here and I run a tight ship. And as part of that tight ship, I’ve implemented certain rules and procedures.”
Toni retreated as the woman’s voice rose sharply.
“I like rules and procedures, Ms. Wright. It has a way of making my life easier and therefore makes me happy. And if I’m happy, then you can rest assure my boss is happy, as well.” She drew a deep breath. “Now. What have we learned?”
Toni was actually afraid to speak, but when it was clear that Ms. Gunn was growing impatient for her answer, she spoke timidly. “That you like rules and procedures.”
“And?”
“And...If I want to see Mr. Hinton, I need to call and make an appointment.”
Unbelievably a smile curled onto the assistant’s face, transforming her into a very attractive woman. “Now. Would you like to make an appointment?”
“Sure.”
Michelle faced her computer again and tapped a few keys. “You’re in luck. He has an eleven-thirty available. Shall I add you in?”
“If it’s not too much trouble.”
“Don’t be silly. That’s why I’m here-to help.”
As Jonas marched through the doors of T&B Entertainment with his no-nonsense lawyer, Patsy Nelson, at his side, he promised himself that he would be on his best behavior. In business, lawsuits were commonplaced, but that didn’t mean that Jonas was in the habit of losing.
On the contrary.
He prided himself for having the best legal team money could buy-which is where Ms. Nelson came in. Though he and the buxom attorney had a brief personal history, one dating back to before his meeting Ophelia, they had since kept everything strictly professional.