The Two Younger Men Complete Collection

by Chloe Lang

  “Toni, are they on their knees yet?” Zane asked in a deep tone that, God help her, she found so very sexy.

  “No, Zane. They’re not on their knees yet. As soon as they are I will let everyone know.” Her words came out harsher than she meant them to be.

  But her tone didn’t seem to faze Zane or Maddox, since they both smiled at her.

  She turned her attention back to what was happening in the dining room and saw Roberto and Miguel get down on their knees. It’s about time.

  “Get ready, everyone. It’s happening now. Quiet.” She strained to hear what was being said in the other room.

  She heard Cami say, “Oh my God. Is this really happening?”

  “Yes, my love, it’s really happening,” Miguel said. “I could never live without you, Camille.”

  Izzy tugged on her sleeve. “What are they saying, Toni?”

  “They just told her they couldn’t live without her.”

  Izzy smiled. “How romantic.”

  Turning her attention back to the dining room, Toni heard the brothers say in unison, “Will you be our wife?

  They held out a ring for her friend. Even from this distance she could see how happy Cami was.

  “Yes. Yes, I will marry you. I love you both so much. I want to be your wife more than anything. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

  “Now?” one of the brothers’ cousins asked.

  “Almost.” She watched as each man kissed Cami.

  Then Roberto gave her the signal and shouted, “Come on out.”

  “Now,” she yelled, bursting out of the door with all the others.

  Cami’s eyes were wide, showing how shocked she was by the surprise.

  “Oh my God, that ring is gorgeous.” Izzy hugged Cami.

  “You’re very lucky, sweetheart,” Toni said. “They are good guys.” I hope.

  Toni was happy for Cami. The Sanchez brothers did seem to want to take care of her, to make every day special.

  After several toasts and words of congratulations, Miguel said, “My brother and I and our lovely fiancée are so glad you could be here for this wonderful occasion. We’ve made a special dessert to commemorate tonight. We placed nameplates on the tables for each of you.”

  “You did?” Cami laughed. “I didn’t even notice.”

  Roberto kissed her on the forehead. “We wrote small and put them by the napkins so you wouldn’t see them, mi amor. If you had, that would have ruined the surprise.”

  No one seemed to be in a hurry to find his or her seat. But Toni had been crouched in the kitchen in her heels and was ready to sit down.

  After a few seconds, she found her name at a rectangle table for six by the window. She sat down and took off her shoes, leaving them under the table in case she needed to slip back into them.

  That feels so much better.

  She glanced at the other names beside hers.

  The three names on the other side of the table she didn’t recognize, but she did recognize the ones on this side.

  Zane was going to be on her left and Maddox on her right. Seeing whom she was seated between didn’t surprise her. Everyone had been trying to fix her up with the Kavanaghs for months, and the Sanchez brothers were in cahoots with Izzy and her two husbands.

  She grinned. “But I’m on to them.”

  She grabbed up Zane and Maddox’s place cards and her glass of champagne, jumped out of her seat, and marched to a table on the other side of the room. It would be easy peasy to switch their names with two others without anyone noticing, since most were still surrounding Cami and the Sanchez brothers.

  She was less than a foot from the other table when she heard someone call her name.

  “Toni.”

  When she turned to see who it was, she bumped into Maddox, spilling her champagne down his shirt and her blouse and dropping the two place cards.

  “I’m so sorry.”

  “It’s okay, Toni.” Maddox’s voice was just as sexy hot as his brother’s. He bent down and retrieved the cards. “What are you doing with my and Zane’s place cards?” He smiled.

  “Miguel and Roberto placed the three of us at the same table and I decided to play a trick on them and switch out your names with some others at another table.”

  He smiled, as always, undeterred. “That’s another thing about you I like, Toni. Honesty.”

  She thought about asking him what the other thing he liked about her was but knew better than to do that.

  Maddox walked up to them. “What happened?”

  “A little accident, but I think we can fix it, easy peasy.” Zane winked.

  Easy peasy?

  Toni realized where she’d picked up that silly phrase. From Zane and Maddox. They used it all the time. Before meeting them she’d never uttered “easy peasy.” Resisting these two had been harder than anyone realized.

  “Excuse me, guys, but I need to clean up.”

  “We both do.” Zane leaned in close. “Let’s duck back into the kitchen and see if we can find something to dry off with before anyone sees us.”

  She could feel her cheeks burning, something that a forty-two-year-old woman shouldn’t experience. Blushing. She wasn’t a teenager. “Good idea.”

  “I’ll make sure your getaway isn’t seen by the others. Hurry.” Maddox glanced down. “Toni, you’ve got the cutest feet I’ve ever seen but you better be careful in the kitchen since you’re barefooted.”

  She looked at her naked feet. “My shoes are at the table.”

  “Do you want me to go get them?” he asked.

  “No, thanks. We better get cleaned up before I go back to my table.”

  Maddox grinned and held up his and Zane’s place cards. “Don’t you mean our table?”

  She laughed. “Fine. You win. Our table. Let’s go before someone sees me like this.”

  Chapter Two

  Maddox held the door for Toni and they stepped into the restaurant’s kitchen. He was so impressed by how clean, neat, and organized it was. Dos Hermanos was one of the busiest restaurants in Dallas, but knowing how Miguel and Roberto ran things, he was not surprised that the kitchen was pristine, like brand-new.

  Toni walked in front of him, allowing his eyes to enjoy an unfettered view of her backside. And what a backside. The slight swing of her hips back and forth called to his primal instinct, as always. There wasn’t anything about her he didn’t like. She was perfect. She was gorgeous. And she was like no other woman he’d ever met before.

  He loved her long dark hair, blue eyes, perfect curves, and sassy personality. No one could ever get anything over on her. She had an answer for everything with her funny responses that made everyone laugh. Her sassiness wasn’t mean-spirited at all.

  Toni was also loyal. He’d seen how protective she was with Cami and Izzy. The three women had known each other since they were children. They were like sisters. He’d witnessed what that meant to Toni when she’d cornered Jay and Clay with threats of cutting off their manhood if they ever hurt Izzy. And Maddox knew, though he’d not witnessed it himself, that she’d done the same with Roberto and Miguel concerning Cami, because they told him and Zane so.

  “You should have seen Toni with her hands on her hips, blocking us from getting to Cami,” Roberto said. “She wasn’t going to let us pass until she said her piece. She reminded us that if we ever did Cami wrong, she would castrate us with a rusty knife.”

  They all laughed.

  “That girl can be scary,” Miguel said. “She only let us pass after Cami said it was okay.”

  Zane grinned. “And you two want me and Maddox to take Toni out on a date?”

  “Damn right we do. She’s perfect for you both, and we know you like her, too,” Roberto said. “Besides, she’s great. Miguel and I are glad Cami has such a wonderful friend.”

  And Tony was just as protective about her two boys, Joel and Restin, according to Cami and Izzy. The two boys were away at college. He and Zane met the two young men at Izz
y, Jay, and Clay’s wedding when they were home for one of their breaks. At the reception, Joel and Restin had seemed like very nice young men, obviously due to how well she raised them.

  He and Zane had been completely drawn to Toni the very first time they’d met her at Clay and Jay’s penthouse. For several months, he and Zane had been trying to get her to go on a date, but so far they’d had no luck. Why does she keep turning us down? I wonder what her story is.

  He was fairly certain that she was attracted to him and his brother. One clue was how often he’d caught her glancing at him and Zane. And when their eyes did lock, the cute, shy smile that appeared on her face was another clue.

  But was his belief that she was interested in him and Zane just wishful thinking? If she was attracted to them, as she seemed to be, what could be holding her back?

  Could it be their age differences? He didn’t give a damn about that. Toni was the sexiest woman he’d ever known.

  Was there another man in her life that she was keeping secret even from Cami and Izzy? He doubted that. Those three were tight. It didn’t seem likely they would keep anything from one another. If there had been another man, Cami and Izzy wouldn’t be so insistent on trying to fix him and Zane up with Toni.

  Or could it be Toni just didn’t want to date anyone until her boys were out of college and on their own? She loved Joel and Restin, so that seemed possible. But wouldn’t this be the time, while her boys were away at college, for her to start dating? Perhaps it was because Joel and Restin were only twelve years younger than him and Zane, and she might feel her boys wouldn’t approve.

  No matter what her reasons might be, Maddox believed he could convince her in time the excuses shouldn’t keep her from going on a date with him and Zane. One date. Once she agreed to that he felt like Toni would finally relax and start to enjoy herself with them. It would be smooth sailing from then on. He and Zane would pull out all the stops to make sure she had a good time. And there would be many more dates after that.

  But what if the real reason Toni kept refusing was because she was nervous about being with two men? That made sense. The lifestyle was unusual. Sure, she seemed happy for Izzy and Cami, but maybe she was hesitant about it for herself.

  Maybe Zane and I have been going about this the wrong way. Maybe we should ask her out individually first.

  “Here we go.” She pointed to a shelf with neatly folded cloths. “This is what we need.”

  “Yes, it is.” But he needed more than just something that could dry him off.

  I need to wrap you in my arms. I need to taste those sweet lips.

  One thing she might not understand about him and Zane was that they would never give up. Each time they asked her out, she seemed more interested in them, though so far she still had not accepted their invitation, which made them more determined than ever.

  He wanted to get to know her better. Could she be the one he and Zane had been looking for their whole lives? Maybe. Jay and Clay had found Izzy. Roberto and Miguel had found Cami. He could imagine spending the rest of his life with Toni and his brother, building a future and family together. But before they got to do that the three of them needed to spend time together. Perhaps a good first start to getting there would be one-on-one dates. Me and her. And then Zane and her. Get her comfortable with them before moving to the next phase—a date with all three of them together.

  “You know, Toni. This is the first time you and I have ever been alone.”

  She didn’t respond, but grabbed several towels, turned and faced him, tossing a couple his way. “What a mess I made. Just look at your shirt. If you need it dry-cleaned, I’ll be happy to pay for it.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous. It was just an accident, an accident we both caused. Not just you.”

  She looked at him with her big blue eyes and shook her head. “It was me. You just called out my name.”

  “Okay. If you insist. It was you.” He tried to put on his most devilish face. “And there is only one way you can pay me back. You have to go out on a date with me and Zane.”

  “You’re very nice, Maddox, but that’s just not possible.” She smiled weakly. “Not possible for me.”

  He grabbed her and pressed his lips to hers. Kissing her he could sense she was responding. “You can’t tell me you didn’t enjoy that.”

  “You kiss fantastic, Maddox, but that’s not the problem.” And without another word, she turned around and walked out of the kitchen and back to the party.

  Chapter Three

  “You are two very lucky guys.” Zane was so happy for his buddies, Roberto and Miguel. They’d found the love of their lives. “Cami is a wonderful woman.”

  “Yes, she is,” Roberto said with a big grin.

  “And we definitely know how lucky we are,” Miguel added.

  “I wish Maddox and I could have some of your luck when it comes to Toni.”

  Roberto grabbed his shoulder. “Zane, you and Maddox will figure it out. You’re going on a date with Toni. Just give it more time.”

  “We’ve been trying, but she won’t accept. I’m not sure what’s holding her back.”

  “And if Roberto and I know the Kavanagh brothers,” Miguel said, “you aren’t going to give up, right?”

  “Never. I will never give up and neither will Maddox. In fact, he’s in the kitchen with her now. Who knows? Maybe tonight she’ll say yes.”

  The kitchen door swung open and Toni walked through it but Maddox was not with her.

  “Excuse me, guys.” Zane rushed to Toni.

  She looked up at him and appeared flustered.

  “Toni, are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. Please excuse me,” she said somewhat curtly and walked away.

  Damn. What happened in the kitchen to upset her so much? Even if Maddox had asked her out again, that surely wasn’t the reason for her odd reaction. He and his brother had asked her out many times, and even when she turned them down she always did it with a smile. Just now her gorgeous lips had been curled into a frown.

  Zane wanted an answer, so he headed into the kitchen to talk to his brother.

  Maddox was placing some towels in the bin.

  “Bro, what the hell went on in here with Toni? She looked very rattled.”

  Maddox turned to him, eyes wide. “She did? Rattled? Don’t you mean ‘flushed’?”

  “What are you talking about? No, not flushed. Rattled. You didn’t notice?”

  Maddox shook his head. “She turned and walked away after I kissed her.”

  Zane was shocked. “You got to kiss her?”

  Maddox smiled. “I did and it was amazing. And I knew she enjoyed it and told her so.”

  “Damn it, bro. She didn’t seem like she was happy when she marched out of the kitchen.”

  “Are you serious?” Maddox looked perplexed. “I really thought things were going great between us after the wine got spilled. She offered to pay for my dry cleaning and I suggested that instead she should just go on a date with us.”

  “Okay. Then what happened?”

  “She said ‘no’ once again.”

  “That’s nothing new, but it’s still frustrating.”

  Maddox nodded. “After we kissed she even admitted to me she liked it.”

  “What else did she say to cause her to rush out of the kitchen? Verbatim, Maddox. Start when you kissed her.”

  “Well, she turned me down to go a date with us, saying I was very nice to keep asking but it wasn’t possible for her. I felt the moment was right. I pulled her in close and kissed her. I could feel her responding to me, so I said ‘You can’t tell me you didn’t enjoy that.’ She looked me in the eyes and said, ‘You kiss fantastic, Maddox, but that’s not the problem.’”

  “Why would she say that?” Zane was so confused. “God, she was really upset, Maddox. You should have seen her.”

  “I’m sorry. I hope I didn’t fuck everything up. If we don’t figure this out right now, we might not have any chance with Toni.”


  “But we are going to figure it out. Together. We always do.”

  “We have to, Zane. Even though we haven’t been on a single date with Toni I’m already crazy about her.”

  “Me, too, and I haven’t got to kiss her yet.”

  Maddox grinned and a little of the tension eased. “What now?”

  “I’m wondering if we have been approaching her the wrong way. What if Toni has issues with dating the two of us at the same time? What if that’s what has been holding her back? Or the ‘problem’ as she puts it? I haven’t given that much thought before because Izzy and Cami are okay being with two men. But I should have thought about it.”

  “You’re right, Zane. We both should have thought about it. I was just wondering the same thing before I kissed her. Maybe Toni isn’t on the same page as Izzy and Cami. Maybe Toni would agree to go out on one-on-one dates.”

  “She might. But you know how long it’s been since either of us have been on a date without the other.”

  “Years.” Maddox shrugged. “But what has two-on-one dates gotten us? We’ve got to meet some nice ladies but no one serious. Toni is special.”

  “Very special. I can imagine you and I spending the rest of our lives with her.”

  “If we’re lucky,” Maddox said, reminding him of his earlier conversation with Roberto and Miguel. “Where is she, anyway?”

  “She went to our table.”

  “Shouldn’t we go sit with her?”

  He shook his head. “Not until we work out how we’re going to proceed.”

  “Agreed. Which one of us is going to get to ask her out first? That’s what you’re wondering, isn’t it?”

  Zane nodded and leaned in close to his brother. “We could flip for it.”

  “Or we could decide with rock-paper-scissors.” Maddox frowned. “This really sucks. We both want to go out with her. Together.”

  Just then, Clay and Jay walked up, each holding a plate of the dessert that the Sanchez brothers had made for the occasion.