“Wha … what are yo … you doin’ to me,” Ronald slurred before his head dipped to the side and a low snore rumbled against Toni’s ear.
“Oh, shut up,” she mumbled under her breath.
What did her recent dating choices say about her character? Ronald might have been tall, good-looking and possessed a body women fantasized about, but he wasn’t the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree. If she were honest with herself, she’d have to admit that she’d dated her share of losers since breaking up with Craig.
Argh! Why can’t I stop thinking about him?
As soon as the question leaped into her mind, so did the answer. She was still in love with Craig Logan … and she hated it. Okay, stop thinking about him. Don’t think about him, don’t think about— “Oh crap.” Toni grabbed hold of the nearby wall when her foot slipped and she lost her grip on Ronald.
Her cousin glared at her. “If you don’t…” she started but didn’t finish when Toni regained her footing and grasped the back of Ronald’s shirt, bringing him upright again. Thankfully, the bathroom was in sight and none of the party guest had found their way to the back of the house. The area was empty and quiet, perfect for hiding a body.
When they finally wrangled Ronald into the bathroom, both she and Jada collapsed against the cool, marbled tiled wall, Ronald’s limp body propped up between them.
“Just think, only a Jenkins’ girl could pull a two hundred pound man from a crowded ballroom and drag him through Gramma and Grampa’s house wearing cocktail dresses and stilettos without anyone being the wiser,” Jada wheezed.
“You’re right.” Toni closed her eyes, breathing heavily.
Thanks to their grandfather for encouraging her and her female cousins to pursue a career in the construction trades, Toni was now a master plumber. A career in plumbing seemed like the perfect solution after dropping out of college. Not only had she finished her apprenticeship five years ago, but she had also attended night school to complete her degree in mechanical engineering.
“I know this is a fine time to ask, but why did we bring him into the bathroom instead of dumping his butt in the backyard until he sobers up?”
Toni glanced at the bathroom door thinking she should probably close it, but was too tired to move. “We can’t just chuck him outside and leave him. Hopefully he’ll come to, but in the meantime, I need to clean him up so we can put him in the car and take him home.”
“We?” Jada’s voice raised an octave. She moved away from the wall but stopped when Ronald’s body started sliding. “You are crazy in your head if you think I’m dragging him anywhere else! Look at me.” With a flourish of her free hand, she brought attention to her short, Michael Kors dress. “Do you have any idea how much I paid for this outfit? I’m not about to let some boneheaded drunk throw up on me. I say we dump his butt on the floor and go get Johnny and the guys to throw him in the back of one of their trucks.”
Toni liked the idea, but didn’t know where her male cousins were hiding out. She hadn’t seen them since they’d showed up at the party, late. It was safe to assume they were somewhere watching a basketball game since the NBA finals had just started.
“Okay, let’s slowly slide his body down the wall and onto the floor.” Toni bent her knees and they eased him along the tile, which wasn’t easy to do in stilettos and a tight dress. “Almost there just … oh no! Jada grab him!” Too late. Ronald’s body jerked, Toni’s arms flailed and the three of them crashed to the floor in a heap.
“Aaarrrgh!” Jada shrieked. Caramel toned arms and legs flapped around in distress under the weight of Ronald’s body sprawled on top of Jada, his boozed breath in her face. “Oh my God! Oh my God! Get him off me! I think he just drooled on my dress,” she screamed. “Toni, I’m going to kill you!”
****
Craig Logan pulled up to the Jenkins’ family estate, a colossal brick home that expanded half the block located in the Village of Indian Hill, a suburb of Cincinnati. A mere representation of the Jenkins’s wealth, the house stood out with every light shining through the cathedral style windows and illuminated the sky like fireworks on the fourth of July. Craig’s fingers gripped the steering wheel tighter, and he willed the mounting anxiousness in his gut to loosen up. Knowing he’d see Toni soon brought mixed feelings. On one hand, he couldn’t wait to see her, but on the other he wasn’t sure he wanted to put himself through the torture of seeing her without being able to hold her in his arms.
He pulled onto the property. Luxury cars lined either side of the circular driveway that easily accommodated fifty cars. It wasn’t until he noticed vehicles lining the paved driveway along the side of the house that he knew this was no small gathering, but what had he expected? The Jenkins family, well known across the state of Ohio, had probably invited everybody who’s anybody to the celebration.
He parked his car at the very end of the driveway, but didn’t make a move to exit the vehicle still unsure of whether or not showing up was a good idea. When Toni’s cousin, Peyton, insisted on him stopping by, saying how much the family had missed seeing him, he thought attending the party was a good idea. But now, he wasn’t so sure.
His cell phone rang and he slowly dug the iPhone out of his pocket, debating on whether or not to answer. He was already late, and it wouldn’t take much for him to change his mind about the party despite the fact that he’d driven forty-five minutes to get there.
He glanced at the cell phone screen and smiled. “Hello.”
“What’s up bro?”
“Hey man, what’s going on?”
The sound of his brother’s voice was a welcomed distraction. Two years older, Derek was more than his big brother he was also his best friend.
“Not too much, did I catch you at a bad time?” Derek asked.
“Actually I was just sitting here trying to force myself to go into Toni’s grandfather’s birthday celebration.”
“Oh yeah, I forgot that was tonight. Why were you debating whether or not to go in? You already told Peyton you would be there and besides, I know you want to see Toni.”
Craig traced the ridged lines on the steering wheel with his index finger, going in and out of the grooves thinking about the night he and Toni parted ways. I can’t handle dating a cop, she had told him through her tears. That could have been you.
Craig and his partner of three years were both shot during a domestic violence call. He survived, but his partner hadn’t. Craig would never forget that hot summer night, neighbors screaming and blood everywhere. It wasn’t until he was lying in a hospital bed, with Toni by his side that his sergeant told him Julien hadn’t survived. Craig remembered holding Toni in his arms providing as much comfort to her as he could offer, considering he had just lost one of his best friends.
“You’re right,” he finally said to his brother, “I do want to see her, but I don’t know if I can handle being that close to her and then just walk away afterwards.” He used his familiar I’m-in-control voice, but at this moment nothing was further from the truth.
“So you’re still in love with her?” his brother asked.
“You know I am.” Craig toyed with the car keys that dangled from the ignition. He thought dating other women would take his mind off Toni. If anything, dating others made him want her that much more.
“Well, I guess you know what you have to do.” His brother’s voice permeated his thoughts.
Craig kneaded the tight knot that formed between his eyes. “And what’s that?”
“Give up the badge.”
He dropped his hand and pounded the steering wheel. “Damn, Derek, you act as if sacrificing my career is easy.” The knot in his stomach tightened. There wasn’t much he wouldn’t do for Toni, but what he did for a living meant so much more than just carrying a badge.
“Being willing to sacrifice your career is easy if Toni means as much to you as you say she does. Craig, it’s not like you’re hurting for money. When Uncle Sammy left you that house and enough money to do
whatever the hell you wanted, I thought you would quit the force then.”
Craig tensed in his seat. “Being a cop is not about the money and you know it! I shouldn’t have to give up a job I love and one that I’m damn good at because Toni’s afraid I might die in the line of duty.”
Derek hesitated. “Are you sure that’s why you’re still on the force? Or are you still fighting those demons? Trying to rid the streets of every single thug, whose goal in life is to attack and rape defenseless women.”
Craig gripped his cell phone tighter and clenched his jaw as he willed himself not to react to his brother’s words. Since the night he’d received the phone call that his fiancée had been raped and killed, he vowed to do everything in his power to make sure it didn’t happen to any other woman. And then when he met Toni and found out she had gone through a similar experience in college, his being a cop took on a whole different meaning. He had to do whatever he could do to protect the female population from bastards who thought they had a right to abuse women.
“Listen, I’m not trying to piss you off, but I think it’s time you realize that you are just one man. As sick as this reality may be, there will always be some butthole running the streets with evil intent. You can’t stop or catch them all.”
Craig rolled his shoulders and took a cleansing breath. He knew he couldn’t stop them all, but he sure as hell could try.
“Hey, I didn’t call to preach to you, but I did call to see if Jason and I could stay with you for a few days.”
Craig’s mood lightened at the mention of his three-year-old nephew, of whom his brother had sole custody. “You know you don’t have to ask. You guys are always welcome.”
“Good. We need a break from the renovations. The contractors have finished the upstairs bathroom, and now started on the kitchen. I can’t take the chaos anymore.”
Craig chuckled. “I warned you that remodeling was going to be a pain. I’m surprised you lasted this long. You and my nephew can stay as long as you need to.”
Growing up in Columbus, Craig knew he didn’t want to live there all his life, so when Derek relocated to Cincinnati, he did too. They now lived about twenty-five minutes from each other and hung out as often as possible.
“Great. I’m thinking we’ll get there Wednesday and stay a few days or a week at the longest.”
“Sounds good to me. Stay as long as you want.”
“And Craig …”
“Yeah.”
“Go to the party. Toni’s missing you probably as much as you’re missing her. Besides, if she’s there, I’m sure she’ll do something or has done something that will require you to bail her out of a situation.” His brother laughed and then ended the call.
Craig grinned. Derek was right. Toni did have a way of getting herself into tight jams.
****
Toni chuckled as she tugged on one of Ronald’s arms, at first unable to budge him off her cousin, but eventually rolling him away, just enough for Jada to scurry from under him. Toni crawled to the side and clamped her hand on the edge of the claw-foot tub for support as she laughed outright, barely able to catch her breath. If there were any witnesses to the last ten minutes of her eventful evening, they’d be rolling on the floor laughing.
She turned her head slightly to see Jada sitting against the vanity, wiping her eyes and laughing too. Her expensive dress hiked up and barely covering her most precious gift, looked as if it had been trampled. Toni knew that if her cousin had a clue of how disheveled her hair was, she would be out for blood.
“How is it that I always get roped into messes like this whenever I’m anywhere near you?” Jada rested her head against the wall. “Please. Tell me why this always happens.”
Still on her knees, Toni rested her forehead against the coolness of the tub not caring how crazy she probably looked. All she needed was a couple of minutes to regroup. “It doesn’t always happen. Besides, you should be thanking me that I bring excitement and variety to your life.”
“Girl, please. I have enough excitement and variety in my life. It’s you who needs to get her act together and stop dating these jerks. I think MJ was right the other night. At some point you need to ask yourself, ‘When am I going to stop dating these losers?’”
Toni lifted her head and glared at her cousin. “Not all of my dates are losers, and I don’t appreciate you two talking about me behind my back. I’m sure there are more interesting subjects to discuss than my social life.” Granted some of her choices in men as of late were questionable, but that was nobody’s business but hers. “And another thing, how is MJ going to talk about who anyone dates when all she does is stomp on the pride of every man she comes in contact with and treat them like crap?”
Toni loved all of her cousins, but Martina (MJ) Jenkins lack of tact and straight-talk-no-chaser attitude was enough to make you want to slug her sometime. Five years older than Toni, Martina made it a point to try to school them all on why men were the lowest form of human life and how they were only good for sex and at times, according to Martina, weren’t that good at that.
“Hey don’t get mad at us because you keep picking boneheads.” She waved a hand in Ronald’s direction. “It’s not like you can’t do better. You’re smart, have a good job, and you’re cute – but not as cute as me,” she flipped her dark hair over her shoulder, then glanced down at her dress and adjusted the thin shoulder straps. “Girl, you’re a Jenkins. A proud, educated black woman who can do anything you set your mind to do. You might as well face it. Ever since you broke up with cutie-pie Craig Logan, you have been scraping the bottom of the barrel for male companionship. Your drunk boyfriend is proof. You can continue to be in denial if you want, but until you get yourself together, we’re going to keep talking about you.”
“What?” Toni turned slightly, still gripping the edge of the tub. “What are you talking about? I’m not in denial about anything. I have not—”
“Ahem.”
All talk ceased. Toni was almost afraid to look back to see who had cleared their throat. There were two people she didn’t want to see when she turned around - her grandfather or her pain-in-the butt cousin, MJ. Either one of them would make her feel worse than she already did about bringing Ronald to the party. I knew I should have closed that damn door.
Blowing out a frustrated breath she slowly turned her head toward the door and the steady thump of her heart went haywire. Heat soared to every cell in her body when her gaze met clear, hazel eyes that twinkled with mirth and belonged to the tall, gorgeous specimen whose broad shoulders were almost as wide as the bathroom doorway. Craig.
“Please tell me that guy isn’t dead and that I don’t have to arrest you two for murder.”
****
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Best Woman for the Job (Jenkins Family Series Book 0) Page 5
