“Excuse me,” Sienna said. Her eyes met and held his for a brief moment and what he saw there was enough to make Toby question everything he had ever known. Too quickly, she looked away.
“Bathroom,” Sienna said, her voice hoarse. “Where is it?”
“Over there,” Toby answered, nodding toward the door just to the right of his bedroom.
She shot to the door, and Toby heard the distinct click of the lock. He stood in the open doorway for several interminable moments, trying to get a handle on what had just transpired. He may not be the brightest bulb in the light bulb factory, but he knew something had happened.
There was a look in her eyes. It was that look he could never really place a name on, but that every guy who’d ever been lucky enough to actually receive it knew all too well. Awareness? Interest? Something.
One thing it definitely was not was the look of someone who wanted to be considered ‘just a friend’.
This was some heavy stuff. Way too much for him to try to make sense of tonight. Maybe he should wait to see how she reacted. If Sienna didn’t mention it, neither would he. At least not tonight.
He was probably reading way more into this than necessary. No doubt this was just the lingering effect of seeing her all dolled up last night. She had taken him by surprise in that sexy little dress and subtly made-up face. Add to it the fact that it had been so long since he’d had a woman, and what did he expect? Of course he would have an unprecedented, and certainly unexpected, reaction to being pushed up against Sienna. He could have bumped into any woman—save for his own mother—and his body would have reacted the same way.
Toby expelled an audible sigh of relief. He was not losing his mind. His body was just hyper-aware of everything female. And just like he had told himself last night, the only thing that would bring him back to a semblance of his normal, anxiety-free existence would be to find himself a woman. Fast.
Sienna opened the bathroom door and stopped short. She stared at him.
Why wouldn’t she stare with him still standing in the doorway holding onto that tray like a freaking idiot?
“Waiting for me?” she asked.
“No. I was just…”
What could he say? That he was contemplating getting a woman—any woman—to help relieve his mind and body so that he could stop picturing her naked? Yeah, that would go over about as well as a Hummer over quicksand.
“Did you find some clubs?” Toby asked, moving into the bedroom and avoiding the unanswerable question.
Sienna followed. She didn’t seem all that disturbed by their moment. Probably because he was the only one who thought of it as a moment.
He needed to snap the hell out of this and get back to work. He did not have time for these bouts of ridiculousness that were suddenly taking far too much of his brainpower.
“I have a few,” Sienna said when she sat at the computer desk. She picked up a glass of lemonade from the tray he’d sat on the dresser and took a long drink. She tossed the Steno pad next to him on the bed, then reached for a pizza snack. “Have you heard of any of these?”
Toby scanned the list. “A few. Doesn’t The Amazon cater to a…umm…different crowd?” As far as he knew, the club played strictly rock and roll, and for a much older crowd than what they were targeting.
“Oops,” Sienna chuckled. “I guess that’s why it’s better to have first hand knowledge than to trust what you get from the Internet.”
“I may be wrong,” Toby quickly retracted. “All it would take is a call.”
“I was thinking we could put together the most feasible schedule with what we have here, then modify it as we go along.”
He nodded in agreement. “Sounds like a plan.”
Sienna reached over for another pizza snack and the V-collared blouse she wore gaped a little, providing way more of a view than Toby’s overheated body could handle at the moment.
“All right, then,” Sienna smiled. “I hope you’re ready for a long night.”
Toby stifled another groan, thinking the night could not end soon enough.
Chapter Nine
Ivana plucked three boxes of bandages from the shelf and scanned the collage of colorful packages before her in search of antibiotic ointment. There were only a few more items she needed to restock the first aid kits at the battered women’s shelter, then she could head to the book section to pick out the titles some of the women had requested, and a few for herself.
A worker with a bright blue smock passed and Ivana stopped her. “Excuse me, is there any Bactine?”
“There’s none out here?” the woman asked, scanning the shelf. “Let me look in the back,” the worker offered, smiling. It must be in the contract workers signed before being hired. Everybody who worked here smiled constantly. Ivana liked it. The world needed more smilers.
“Isn’t this an unexpected surprise?” came a voice just to the left of her.
Oh, please, no.
She turned her eyes from the antacids.
Oh, damn, yes.
Jonathan Campbell. Looking like a delicious caramel delicacy one could find in only the most elite confectionary shops.
So it was too much to ask never to see him again, right, God?
And wasn’t it just her luck that she would run into him in the middle of a drug store, with a shopping cart filled to the brim with every embarrassing product one could purchase? No, wait. There was no need for hemorrhoid cream this month. Scratch one thing off the embarrassing items list. Still, she would pay a hundred bucks for the industrial size box of tampons to magically disappear from her cart.
“Hello,” Ivana said coolly. Maybe if she was polite she could make a quick escape. Forget the antibiotic ointment.
She tried to move past him. He stopped her.
Positioning his own shopping cart, which at first glance did not have anything equally as embarrassing as hers, horizontally across the aisle, Jonathan turned his dazzlingly white, stop-her-heart-from-beating-for-a-full-three-seconds smile on her.
“It’s kind of late to be out shopping,” he said, his eyes roaming over her impending purchases. Ivana wished she could shrink to the size of an insect and crawl under the squeaky wheel of the shopping cart.
“I’m shopping for a friend,” she said, and his smile immediately widen.
And just why was she making fake excuses? If she wanted to buy enough tampons to supply a dormitory at an all girls’ school, it was her business.
“That doesn’t explain why you’re out so late,” he said.
“Excuse me, but my father died years ago. There is not another man I have to be accountable to.”
He continued smiling. Lord, but he had an amazing smile.
“What do you have against me, Ivana? Besides the whole thing with the building, which, by the way, is not listed as a historical landmark. I looked into it.”
“Just because the ‘powers that be’ do not appreciate the historical significance of that structure doesn’t mean there is none.”
“What if I told you I would move my practice somewhere else?”
For a minute, Ivana was rendered speechless. “I would be very grateful,” she answered. “Are you considering doing that?”
He hitched a shoulder. Nonchalantly, he said, “No. I just wanted to know if it would change your opinion of me.”
Ivana narrowed her eyes, shooting him a look that was meant to elicit alarm. It didn’t seem to work. The stock clerk returned, bearing a cardboard box filled with at least a dozen antiseptic spray bottles.
“Is this what you’re looking for?” the girl asked.
Ivana took the entire box from her hands and placed it on top of the tampons. “Yes, thank you,” she answered. She turned to Jonathan. “Could you please get out of my way? I would like to finish my shopping so I can get home.”
“What would change your opinion of me?” He continued the conversation as if she had not spoken.
“Why does my opinion of you even matter?” Ivana a
sked.
“Why do you think?” he retorted, as if the answer were obvious. Of course, it was obvious to her. She wasn’t totally clueless where men were concerned. It had just been so very long since she’d had more than a ten-minute conversation with one. As soon as most men learned of her affiliation with the Voodoo, they ran off. She had expected the same from Jonathan. The fact that he had not lived up to those expectations baffled her.
Ivana lifted her hands and let them slap down on her hips, making an exaggerated show of her mounting frustration. Although she was honest enough to admit a bulk of the frustration was self-directed. She should not be so attracted to this man.
Then again, she was a woman. Any woman in her right mind would be drawn in by his chocolate brown eyes. And, contrary to popular opinion, she was very much in her right mind. For now, at least. Every minute she spent around him chipped away at her sanity.
“Hello?” Jonathan was waving his hands. “Do you always space out like that?”
Good God, Ivana. And you wonder why people think you’re crazy?
She tried to summon a good comeback so he wouldn’t realize her spacing out had been the result of fantasizing about his deliciously good looks.
“You know what they say about an idle mind?” He winked and her heart jumped into her throat.
Good Lord!
Forget a good comeback. She needed out of here.
“I have shopping to do,” she said. Ivana wrestled to turn her shopping cart around in the narrow aisle. She hastily made her way out of the first aid area, and was severely tempted to abort the entire shopping excursion altogether. Right now, all she could think of was putting as much distance between herself and Jonathan Campbell as soon as possible.
The man was dangerous. That smile! That wink! They had her contemplating things she had not thought about in far too long. Like what it would feel like to have a man smile at her across a candlelit table, or grace her with a sexy wink right before closing in on a slow, sensual kiss.
Ivana chanced a look back to find Jonathan standing at the head of the aisle she had so hurriedly vacated, staring at her.
She had never run from anything in her life, but today, she was running. And all she could think was, thank goodness she got out with her sanity intact.
***
Toby opened the car door and reached in to help his mother out of the front passenger seat.
“Looks like they have a full house,” he said.
Gazing around the parking lot, Toby doubted a playoff match-up between the Hornets and Lakers could draw more of a crowd. He supposed it was only fitting the Lord would rate higher than a basketball game. At one time in his life, Toby believed the opposite.
He’d once thought his accident was somehow correlated to his twisted beliefs that basketball was above everything, even God. The thought had occurred to him often over the years since he’d nearly died. But Mama had taught him that God was a forgiving God, who did not hand down revengeful punishment. It was more comforting to believe in Mama’s version.
Toby guided his mother up the landscaped walk that led from the parking lot to the church.
“Good morning,” Sienna greeted them at the first set of massive doors. She was dressed in another of those airy sundresses, her face framed by bouncy curls. It was a new look. Toby liked it on her.
“Good morning, honey,” Margo said, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
“Morning, Cee Cee,” Toby said. He’d been a little on edge after last night. He continued to wonder if Sienna had felt the zing that had passed between them. It didn’t appear as though she had, but how could she not? It had been too powerful to be felt just on his end.
Toby looked up, finally bringing his attention to the monstrous structure before him. “Damn, this is a big church!”
He received a slap on each arm, one from his mother, the other from Sienna. “Don’t say damn,” they said in unison.
“The service is about to start,” his mother said. “I’ve wanted to hear this minister preach. I hear he’s really good.”
“Is he long-winded?” Toby asked, knowing the inquiry would warrant another slap from Mama. She didn’t disappoint.
“You had better pay attention,” she warned, as if he were still six-years-old. “And no falling asleep either. You did that last week.”
So maybe he sometimes behaved like a six-year-old. He opened the door and stood back as both women entered. Glancing over the stadium style seating, Toby searched for somewhere with a good view of the choir section.
“Toby will not be falling asleep this morning,” Sienna interjected with a whisper, “not with Aria singing.”
“I’m just hoping she doesn’t mess up. When she rehearsed earlier this morning, she had a hard time hitting one of the notes in the solo she’s performing.” He motioned to a couple of seats with his head. “I think I may be pushing her a little too hard. Her voice needs to rest for a couple of days.”
“That’s not a bad idea,” Sienna said. “You want to make sure she’s at her peak performance level when they start taping.”
“Well, don’t worry about her this morning,” his mother whispered as they made their way to the empty seats halfway down the aisle. “God is controlling this. He’s going to be with her.”
Apparently, God was all over the place.
Toby would be the first to admit that over the last few years, he’d been more of a warm body to fill the pew than an active participant in church services, but it didn’t take long to get back in the spirit. The entire congregation was on their feet, and when Aria began singing Amazing Grace, hands flew in the air in praise.
Sienna tapped him on the shoulder. Toby leaned over, and she had to practically put her mouth on his ear to be heard above the shouts and hand clapping.
“I think we’ve got this section of the population covered,” she said.
The moist warmth of her breath caused a reaction that was a bit inappropriate for him to have in church. Fingers of sensual awareness cascaded down his spine. He thought back to last night and how hard it had been to concentrate on anything but the way her silk blouse played across the ride of her breasts.
Do not think about her breasts in church.
He could think about her legs, and how he had been dying to run his hands over them. Last night, after they’d finished their drinks, she had kicked off her shoes and sat with her back against the headboard, stretching her legs out on his bed. They’d looked so inviting under those sheer stockings. It had taken everything he had not to reach out and test her legs out for himself. Toby chanced a glance down and noticed she wore another pair of those stockings. Did she even realize what that shimmering fabric did to her legs?
Instead of soaking in the preacher’s message, Toby spent the remainder of the service trying unsuccessfully to keep his eyes averted from Sienna’s body.
After the service, Aria met them as they were walking out of the church. Sienna greeted her before Toby had the chance.
“You were unbelievable,” she said. “You were born to sing gospel.”
Aria blushed. “I grew up in the church. It’s something I’ll never lose.”
“Amen, honey,” his mother added. “You two are coming over to the house, aren’t you? I’ve had a roast baking at 200-degrees for about five hours now. It’s probably tender enough to cut with a spoon.”
“That sounds delicious, Margo, but I’ve got so much work to do,” Sienna said.
“Not on a Sunday,” his mother said.
Sienna nodded apologetically. “I’m afraid so.”
“Not when I baked a coconut cake for dessert,” Margo tried.
Sienna hesitated, looked over at Toby and said, “We can go over potential sponsors at your mom’s, right?”
“I don’t see why not,” he answered with a grin. “You coming to dinner?” he asked Aria.
She shook her head. “I’m meeting my best friend, Shelby, in a few minutes. She’s driving from Houston to Jacksonvill
e, Florida, and since New Orleans is on the route, we decided to get together for a few hours this afternoon.”
“That sounds like fun,” Sienna commented. She pointed to Toby and Margo. “I’ll meet y’all at the house.”
By the time they arrived at his mother’s, Alex’s truck was already parked at the curb. Toby pulled into the driveway with Sienna coming in behind him. Alex was taking a casserole dish out of the oven when they walked into the kitchen.
“Uh oh, don’t tell me you cooked,” Toby said.
“And what would be so bad about that?”
Toby laughed at Alex’s offended tone.
“Don’t let him get to you, baby,” Mama said, patting Alex on the back.
“Thank you,” Alex bent to give her a kiss. “And thanks for leaving the casserole in the freezer,” he finished with a grin. “How did everything go this morning?”
“Wonderfully,” Sienna answered, receiving a kiss on the cheek from Alex. “You should have joined us.”
“I was ordered to attend services at Morning Star Baptist. Mama needed a spy. And before you ask,” Alex turned his attention to Margo. “No, Ella King’s daughter did not show up with her new boyfriend.”
“I sent you to church to be touched by the Holy Spirit, not spy,” Mama defended. “And she was supposed to show up with her new girlfriend,” she said in a hushed voice.
“Well, she didn’t have a girlfriend, either,” Alex said.
“Too bad you missed Aria,” Sienna interjected. “She was phenomenal.”
“I have no doubt about that. But from what I hear, Aria isn’t the only one who’s been doing some phenomenal work these days. According to Toby, it sounds as if you’re approaching Superwoman status,” Alex said.
Sienna’s eyes shot to Toby. “You said that?”
Actually, he hadn’t told Alex much of anything about the work Sienna was doing for the show. No doubt his brother was up to his meddling again, but instead of intervening, Toby remained quiet. He wanted to gauge Sienna’s reaction. Instead of answering her question, Toby just sat back at the kitchen table as Alex continued dropping not-so-subtle hints that Toby and Sienna should think about expanding their relationship outside of the show.
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