Still the Best Woman for the Job

by Sharon C. Cooper

  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.”

  Chapter Two

  “Well, well, well, if it isn’t Cincinnati’s finest and I mean that in every sense of the word.” Jada stood and ran a manicured hand down the front of her black slip dress, smoothing out the wrinkles. She glanced at the wide mirror over the sink and turned her head back and forth before shaking her hair wildly. Craig almost laughed when she rubbed her lips together, smiled at her reflection, and struck a pose before turning to him. “Glad to see you, Officer Logan. I trust you can take it from here,” she said on her way out of the oversized bathroom.

  With an amused grin, Craig shook his head and watched her stroll down the hall as if she didn’t have a care in the world. He got along well with all of Toni’s family, but Jada, known for her oversized ego and theatrics, always cracked him up. He turned back to Toni and the smile slipped from his lips as she scurried to her feet, dusted off her knees and adjusted her drool-worthy red dress. A ripple of desire surged through his body and catapulted straight to his groin the moment their gazes collided. He’d worked a twelve-hour shift and was dog-tired when he first pulled up to the Jenkins’ estate, but exhaustion no longer plagued him. Instead, his need to pull Toni into his arms and hold her close took root. Despite what he told himself when deciding on whether to attend her grandfather’s birthday celebration, there was no way he’d be able to walk away from her tonight - at least not without tasting her tempting lips.

  His heart pounded loudly in his ears as his gaze traveled from her perfectly made up face down her curvaceous body and shapely legs until his perusal stopped at her red strappy shoes. The eight months of them being apart suddenly felt like eight years as he slowly took her all in, realizing just how much he had missed her. God she’s beautiful. So many days had come and gone when he wanted to call her, or just see her for a minute, but he’d kept his word. When she walked away from their relationship, she made him promise not to seek her out, telling him that she needed space. After seeing her tonight, all bets were off. No way could he be in her presence and not want what they once had.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked, her sexy voice but a whisper.

  When he didn’t speak right away, she nervously pushed a lock of her long, thick hair behind her ear and peeked at the big brute lying at her feet. Glancing down at him, Craig wondered what she was thinking. Was she seriously dating this guy?

  “Peyton invited me,” Craig finally answered.

  He leaned against the doorjamb and tucked his hands into his pants pockets. Eyes as warm as fresh-baked chocolate chip cookies on a cold winter’s day stared back at him, and he shifted his stance to hide the evidence of his sudden arousal. He wasn’t surprised by the ardent effect she still had on him, but right now wasn’t the best time to indulge in what his body craved from her.

  She glanced away. Her gaze bounced from him to the jerk on the floor and then back to him again. Why was she nervous? Toni was one of the most confident women he’d ever met, and right now her behavior didn’t fit her usual self-assured personality. If anything, watching her actions now reminded him of a time, early in their relationship, when she was slow to let down her guard and unwilling to share her desires, needs, and even her fears.

  “So what’s going on?” He nodded at the man on the floor. “I assume he’s alive.”

  Her mouth dropped open and her hands flew to her hips as she narrowed her eyes at Craig.

  “Of course he’s alive. He just had a little too much to drink.”

  “A little? Hell, the guy is passed out on your grandparent’s bathroom floor. I’d say he’s way past drunk.” At that moment, her inebriated friend groaned and rolled to his side.

  “Oh, thank goodness.” Toni fell to her knees, pushed him onto his back and patted his cheek. “Ronald, wake up. Come on, we have to get you out of here. I need you to wake up.”

  Craig straightened and his body tensed. With a good view of her shapely butt as she leaned over her date, he couldn’t stop himself from zoning in on her smooth toned legs and dainty feet. He had always been a leg-man, but when it came to Toni, he loved everything about her, from her curvy, petite body to her smart mouth. And right now, her mouth was a little too close to this guy’s face.

  “Come on, Ronald, wake up.” She shook his shoulders, but when that didn’t work, she went back to patting his cheek.

  It wasn’t so much that she was touching this Ronald guy in an intimate way that bothered Craig. The fact that she had her hands on another man period sent his jealous meter into overdrive.

  “Maybe you need to slap him a little harder,” Craig said, still standing near the doorway. “Or better yet, I’d be happy to do the honors.” He moved forward and burst out laughing when she glared at him over her shoulder.

  “Better yet, maybe I should slap you for just standing there and not offering to help me get him up and out of here!”

  Craig chuckled, glad to see the fire within her hadn’t burned out. Now this was the Toni he loved and missed.

  “And why would I do that? He’s your date.” He snapped his fingers. “As a matter of fact, I should really get to the party, maybe grab something to eat, dance a little and get my drink on.”

  He turned and walked back to the door.

  “Yikes!” Toni yelped. “Ronald, let me go.”

  Craig glanced back to see that Ronald had palmed Toni’s butt and had pulled her on top of him.

  “Ju … just lay heeere with me, baby,” he mumbled, his eyes still closed. “Ne … need sleep ri … right now. Big da … daddy will gi … give you some lovin—”

  “Ah, hell no!” With one long step, Craig reached for Toni’s elbow and pulled her to her feet. His first thought was to plant his size twelve on top of her date’s chest, but thinking that probably wouldn’t be the best idea, he lifted Ronald by the front of his shirt. “Get your ass up,” he growled.

  “Be careful, Craig! You’re going to hurt him.”

  Craig slammed him against the wall. “Oh, please, it’s not as if he can feel anything.
” Craig wanted to knock him around for even being with Toni. The guy wasn’t so drunk that he didn’t know what he was doing when he planted his large hands on her butt.

  Ronald slurred something unintelligible, and Craig held him tighter against the wall, turning his head when he got a whiff of his offensive breath. Why in the heck was he even holding his punk-ass up?

  “Okay, since you have him standing, help me get him into the car.” Toni straightened the rug that was in front of the tub and headed for the door.

  “And then what?” Craig said through gritted teeth, not moving. “It’s not as if you’ll be able to get him out of the car and into his house. He’s twice your size and sloppy drunk.” The thought of Toni going anywhere with this man didn’t sit right with him. Whether he was wasted or not there was no way Craig was allowing her to leave with him.

  Craig stole a glance at Toni, her bottom lip clasped between her teeth as if trying to decide what to do.

  “Maybe you can help me get him home.” Her voice was as timid as a puppy walking into a new home.

  Craig studied the woman before him. Her gorgeous brown eyes could make him do almost anything, but he refused to let her off that easy. “And why would I do that?”

  She stepped to him and jabbed her finger into his bicep. “Doesn’t this fall under your job duties as a police officer? Didn’t you vow to serve and protect?”

  “I’m off duty,” he cracked. “So any serving and protecting is at my will and right now I don’t feel like helping you sneak this jerk away from your grandfather’s party. Besides, what would Mr. Jenkins think about your leaving his celebration so early? It’s not every day a man turns seventy-five.”

  “Aw, come on Craig.” She stomped her foot like a two-year-old and grabbed hold of his arm but quickly pulled her hands away, a glint of surprise in her eyes. She stepped back, and he suspected she felt the same spark of desire he felt, but she quickly recovered. “I need you. I mean I need your help. Please do this for me.”

  Craig could never deny her anything, even when her request involved helping her handle some low-life who clearly wasn’t worth her efforts, but there was no way he wasn’t going to get something out of this.

  “I’ll help you on one condition. Have dinner with me.”

  ***

  Toni leaned back and narrowed her eyes. “What?”

  “You heard me.” Craig readjusted Ronald against the wall, ignoring her date’s mumbling. “If you want me to help you get this bum home - to his house,” he emphasized, “then you have to agree to have dinner with me Friday night.”

  Toni hesitated. Intense hazel eyes sprinkled with specks of green and laced with a light brown stared at her, awaiting her response. She would love to have dinner with him, heck, she’d love to spend the rest of her life with him, but there lay the problem. Craig already had the big house and the white picket fence, but he wanted the wife and the three-point-five kids to complete the fairytale. The problem in a nutshell was that he wanted her to be a part of that dream, and she couldn’t give him what he wanted.

  “I can’t believe you.” She glanced back at the bathroom door and then closed it. Returning her attention to Craig she said, “After all we’ve been through, has it really come to this? You’re going to blackmail me into having dinner with you?”

  “Hey, if it means spending time with you, I’m not ashamed to do whatever I have to do. Besides, I don’t see it as blackmail. I see my request as being nothing more than a man, who is still in love with you, asking you out to dinner.” He shrugged. “But you can call my invitation whatever you want. I do know one thing though. If you don’t make up your mind in the next five seconds, your drunk boyfriend here is going to find his ass back on the cold marble tile. So what’s it going to be, Sweetheart?”

  Toni scrunched up her face and twisted her lips into a frown. Could she have dinner with Craig and then just walk away? Walk away from the only man she’s ever loved? Walk away from a man who had the ability to make her heart rate triple and her body sizzle with just a look. Heck, occupying the same space with him now, his hot sexy body only inches from her and his unfaltering gaze appearing to look right through her was almost more than she could handle. How in the world would she be able to break bread with him and not want to jump his bones?

  She glanced at Ronald. She knew Craig well enough to know that if she said no, Ronald would hit the floor quicker than a hooker’s panties and Toni would be right back where she started. She wouldn’t be able to hide out in the bathroom for much longer, and the last thing she wanted was for her grandfather to get a hold of Ronald, or her for that matter. God! Why me?

  She finally threw up her hands. “Oh, all right. I’ll go out to dinner with you Friday, but I’m not going to enjoy myself!”

  Chapter Three

  Toni snuggled deeper into the passenger seat of Craig’s BMW 428i, the soft leather wrapped around her like a silk cocoon on a cold winter’s night. She needed a new vehicle. The smooth ride of Craig’s car made her realize just how bad her own truck drove.

  They headed back to her grandparent’s estate, neither of them saying much since dropping Ronald off at his house. It took everything she had not to steal another glance at Craig’s profile. She still couldn’t believe she was sitting next to him. Eight months was a long time to go without being able to stare into those sexy eyes that had unlocked her heart and soul a year and a half ago. Everything about him screamed hot dreamy hunk and the sheer essence of the man he was on the inside made him that much hotter.

  Realization dawned on her. If she could barely sit next to him in a car without wanting to leap onto his lap and have buck-wild sex with him, how the heck was she going to be able to have dinner with him and not fall back into his arms?

  “What in the hell were you doing with that jerk?” Craig glanced at her and then back at the road, gripping the steering wheel tight enough for Toni to notice the rippling muscles on his forearm. “Anyone who would get drunk while at an event with his woman’s family is clearly not someone you want to be hanging out with.”

  Toni’s pulse sped up and she gritted her teeth. All thoughts of having sex with him flew out the window and were replaced with thoughts of ringing his neck.

  “It’s bad enough I have to put up with dating speeches from my cousins,” she said, her voice getting louder with each word. “There is no way I’m going to sit here and take dating advice from you.”

  “I’m not trying to tell you what to do. I just think you can do better. As a matter of fact, you have done better.” He jutted out his chin. The smug look on his face was like that of a hawk feasting on its latest conquest.

  “What are you trying to say? That I’m not capable of choosing a decent date? That no one can compare to you? So what, you think you’re the only man worthy of spending time with me and my family?”

  He glanced at her again and frowned. “Well…yeah. Compared to that chump, Ronald, I’m frickin Prince Charming.”

  “Whatever.” Toni waved his comment off and huffed. She folded her arms across her chest and ran her hands up and down her bare arms. In her haste to leave the party, she’d left without her shawl. The temperature had plummeted into the forties, and it was hard to believe it was springtime.

  Craig shot her a look, his eyes zoned in on her hands moving up and down her arms. He reached over and turned up the heat, grabbed his suit jacket from the back seat and handed it to her.

  “Listen, I don’t want to argue with you. My only concern is your safety, and I don’t think going out with a guy like Ronald is a good idea.”

  Character is built by the choices we make. The words that had been playing around in Toni’s head all evening traveled to the forefront of her mind as she stared out the passenger side window. She blew out a breath and dropped her head against the headrest. What was wrong with her? She wasn’t some little hoochie who had to settle for any man that came along. Successful, handsome men approached her all the time. So why was she dating lose
rs?

  She knew why. It started with trying to fix the hole in her heart and then it was more about choosing guys who were just out to have a good time, not those who wanted to get serious and settle down, like Craig.

  “So,” Craig cleared his throat, “have you been dating this Ronald guy long?”

  Toni could tell he tried to sound casual, but his voice was tense, almost strangled. His expression was anything but casual.

  “No,” she said absently. “We weren’t dating. I’ve gone out with him a couple of times, but nothing serious.” Closing her eyes, she fell back into what they once had—seamless conversation.

  Seconds later, her eyes popped opened. Hold up, why was she answering his questions? He no longer had a right to question what she did, or whom she dated even if a small part of her wanted him to know.

  “So I guess that means you’re not seeing anyone seriously.” Craig’s voice held a hint of uncertainty, so unlike his take charge personality.

  “I guess it does.” She turned her back to him and fully faced the passenger window as he arrived on her grandparents’ street. It was time to put an end to the direction that the conversation was going. The last thing she wanted was for Craig to think there was a chance for them to get back together.

  Toni shrugged off his jacket and returned it to the back seat with every intention of thanking him and then jumping out of the car, but then he touched her. A jolt of adrenaline whipped through her body and her heart rate kicked into double time. Damn this man. The hold he had on her arm was gentle, yet firm. She stared down at his hand and then turned to face him.