Feel The Fire (Unforgettable Series)

by Adrianne Byrd

  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 him?”

  Ophelia took hold of her husband’s hands. “I will always care for Jonas, but I’m not in love with him. I’m in love with you and no one else. Surely you can look into my eyes and see that I’m telling you the truth?”

  Solomon did look into her eyes; seconds later a crooked smile jagged across his lips and he gathered her into his arms. “Oh, baby. I’m so sorry.” He squeezed her tight. “I just feel that old jealousy curl in my gut whenever he’s around.”

  “Shh. It’s all right.” She peppered kisses across his face. “Just know this-no man can ever take your place in my heart. I am your woman. Forever and always.”

  Solomon crushed her lips against his with an animal-like groan. He had loved this woman since June of ’82 when they were thrown together in Ophelia’s cousin’s closet during the game Ten Minutes in Heaven. In that darkened closet, he had kissed a scrawny girl with a mouth full of wire and who smelled wonderfully of strawberry Bubble Yum. It was a kiss that had changed his life and enslaved his heart forever.

  “C’mon, baby. Let’s go to bed,” Ophelia said.

  “You got it.” Solomon climbed to his feet and swept his wife into his arms and carried her off to the bedroom.

  Jonas lost count on how any drinks he’d tossed back. All his thoughts and emotions were a complete jumble so he gave up trying to decipher them. It’d been quite a day, after all. He’d gotten his butt kick—twice, nearly kissed his ex-fiancée and discovered his own brother dating his...what?

  Technically Toni Wright was little more than an acquaintance. They shared drinks in a bar over six months ago. He had no claim on her.

  Then why did it feel like Sterling had crept into his private safe and stolen his most prized possession?

  “Women,” he mumbled, pouring the last of the Jack Daniels.

  Before Ophelia, Jonas had a slew of bad luck when it came to women. For the longest time, he seemed to only attract gold diggers or pampered trust-fund princesses. Both sets of women were void of any real emotion.

  Ophelia was the first woman who didn’t give a damn about his money and he was getting the same impression about Toni Wright. Yet, how could she flirt openly with him one moment and then curl in some dark corner with his brother the next?

  Jonas drained the rest of his drink and then strolled across his penthouse to his opened window to stare out at the vast glowing lights along Atlanta’s beautiful skyline. How sad it was to have everything that money could buy and still be the loneliest man on earth.

  “I’ve become a walking, talking cliché,” he grumbled, disgusted.

  Exasperated, Jonas turned away from the window in a huff and nearly stumbled in the process.

  “Whoa there.” Q said, walking through the door with a girl hooked on one arm. “Are you having a private party in here?”

  “Something like that,” Jonas mumbled and found himself envious of how his youngest brother moved from woman to woman with his heart still intact.

  “Let me show you to my room,” Q whispered to his playmate and disappeared for a moment. When he returned, he approached Jonas with concerned. “You all right, bro?”

  “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 beaut
iful 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 cont
inued 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?”