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Placing the keys to the rental on the island, I snorted. “Yeah. That one.”
“Well,” He pulled the cork from the bottle. “—that’s because I got a call from Dale an hour ago when I started cooking. He asked me in to an ‘emergency’ meeting tonight.”
I resumed my seat at the table. “Tonight?” My eyes roved around the kitchen.
“Yup. Said it’s important. He’s in Jersey, staying at theRitz Luxuriate Hotel. I told him the timing was perfect. I’d meet him there by eight, the latest.”
“You forgot about me?” Splaying my palm over my chest, I feigned offended.
“Not at all.” He plucked a wine glass from a hanging rack and poured a small amount of the red liquid. “Actually, you were my motivation.”
“I just got here, and you’re leaving me in a rented home inSamsara. How did I motivate anything?”
“Because I know your fuckin’ anxiety is through the roof about this week. I figured I’d give you time to get settled in from a long day of traveling and kicking it with your girls. Like I said, when you’re done eating, go soak in the tub and unwind. I’ll be back before you know it, and we can kick it then.”
Once again, I glanced around. “You’re leaving me in a place I’ve only known for all of five minutes, Tobias? That doesn’t sound like you.”
He scoffed, looking too good doing it as he backed away from the table, grabbing the keys to my rental. “Charles is in New York tonight. That’s why Danny G’s here. Somebody you know. He’ll be posted up outside ‘til I get back.”
“Hmmm…” I braved a long gaze into his auburn eyes. Tobias held me there while slipping the keys into his pocket. I could feel a force emanating from him, one I couldn’t articulate. It made me want to comfort my friend as much as I wanted to antagonize him. This week was a big deal for him, too. “You’re paying one of the senior, armed security guards of music superstar, Ragee, to guard little ol’ me in this suburban neighborhood while you skip off to a meeting with another luminary icon, Dale? This can’t be real life.”
Tobias chuckled silently. “It could be, but you’re down in North Carolina, stuck in a hospital.”
My attention rolled over my plate, mouth secreting, telling of my appetite returning. “A hospital paying my bills, sir. And others’.”
His big, hot hand clasped my shoulder lightly. My lids turned heavy at the new juxtaposition of his scent. “I know it does. Let’s not go there. Anyway. This place has five bedrooms. As promised, you have your privacy on that side,” He pointed past the wine cellar.
“That’s it? It’s just down there?” I asked. “I don’t get a tour? Just a homecooked meal?”
“I’ve got every faith your resourceful ass will find your room. Mine is on this side, near the garage.”
“Who’s got the master?”
Tobias smacked his teeth, eyes shrinking with a smile. “C’mon, Lennox. We both do. Yours is just a little bigger because I know you overpacked.” When I gaped his way, expressing my unease, he reminded me, “I’ll be back.”
“So, all this food is for me?” I gestured to the stove.
He turned, following my line of vision. “Nah. I packed a plate for Danny G, and I’m eating when I get back. Don’t crash on me.” Tobias grabbed my coat and headed down the hall I entered through. “I’ll hang this in the coat room!” he shouted behind.
Taking a deep breath, I turned back to the table.Seafood pasta. Scallops, shrimp, and lumped crab meat were easily identifiable against the spinach and cherry tomatoes. If he were a different man, I’d assume he ordered in from fancyDiFillippo’s. But nope. The man could throw down in the kitchen. It just hadn’t been a practice of mine to sample his skills. Any of them.
My eyes scanned the table. The stemware was tall, large, and clearly high-end. I rolled my eyes closed while shaking my head. Jersey,Samsara,Château Blevin, and Tobias.
This definitely couldn’t have been my wisest decision.
Couldn’t…
I carried her suitcase to the door of the house, inside the garage. Lennox packed light, and that shocked the hell out of me. She’d turned into a diva over the years. Slipping her car keys inside my pocket, I didn’t know how to read that. The one thing I did know was she wouldn’t dip out on me while I took this meeting.
“Yo.” I stopped at the driver’s side of theSuburban.
“Yo.” Danny G lowered the sports talk radio.
“Your plate’s in the warmer. Take her suitcase in when you go.” I rubbed the back of my head. “I got her keys on me.”
Danny G laughed. “Yo, dawg, you wildin’! You got Chino’s daughter up here? You’s a wild one.” He shook his head. “That puppy love on some shit.”
There wasn’t shit puppy about O.G. Chino’s daughter, Lennox. The tiny glitter in her soft pink lip-gloss had my head spinning. Lennox had put on a few good pounds. I saw it in her thighs and curved ass through her tight jeans. Her commitment to lifting weights had been paying off. And those damn dirty blonde waves that were dark brown at the roots looked so fucking good on her. They framed her dimples so well. The girl wasn’t just beautiful. She was cute…something precious.
