He liked talking about his home. Not in a boastful way, but because when he’d been growing up, he’d never thought such a thing was possible. Too bad his parents hadn’t lived to see it happen. He liked to think he could have helped his dad clean up his act. And he would have made sure his mother never worked another day in her life.
“My home has five bedrooms. I use one for an office. It has four full baths and a half one near the family room, as well as a living room, a dining room, and a huge eat-in kitchen. I wanted two floors with the split concept on the first floor. There’s also a mother-in-law suite. It came with the house plan, so I didn’t change it. It’s nice to have a separate section when one of the guys come to visit. That way they can have total privacy.”
“Wow! It sounds huge,” Toni said.
“It is and it’s mine. For me, that’s the most important thing.”
“Yes,” she agreed. “That’s the most important thing.”
He looked at his watch. “Time to get started. Where are the boxes?”
“The one with my computer and printer is in the second bedroom. I’m going to use that one as an office. The other two are in my bedroom.”
Her bedroom… That’s all he needed to see. The place where she slept every night. He wondered if she still slept naked. Forcing that memory from his mind, he stood. “Show me the way.”
DREW UNPACKED TONI’S OFFICE supplies while she’d tidied up the kitchen. Now she was moving around the office, trying to ignore the fact that he was moving around in her bedroom.
She had enjoyed sharing breakfast with him. The conversation was entertaining and informative. After telling her about the house he’d purchased, he then shared a story about his friend Striker and the way he’d reacted at the birth of his child; a son they’d named Wade Murdock Jennings, after Striker’s brother and Margo’s father. Toni had met Margo and Striker at Joy’s wedding. Striker had been one of Stonewall’s best men, and she and Margo had been two of several bridesmaids.
Drew had told her how, when Margo had gone into labor, Striker had raced around the house trying to find the car keys until Margo had reminded him that they had a keyless car. Then, when they finally got to the hospital, the nurses had made Striker do the same breathing exercises that he’d coached Margo through, for fear he was having a panic attack. Toni had found the story both amusing and endearing. Anyone who had been around the couple could see how madly in love they were, and she was happy for them.
In fact, Toni had felt more love flowing around that wedding than any other she’d ever attended. At least, that’s the way it felt being around Stonewall and Joy’s friends. It had taken her a long time to accept that life was all about choices, to understand that she could not hate her father for the decisions her mother had made to stay with him all those years, instead of moving on with her life and meeting someone who could love her. She had to admit it—her mother had settled.
Toni wouldn’t settle, and she refused to let her parents’ situation govern her own. Antonio Oliver had given his daughter his name, but her mother had been the one who’d desperately wanted it. But Toni refused to be like her mother. She was her own woman. And she went after what she wanted. And speaking of what she wanted...
“I’m about to hang the television. You want to come and show me exactly where you want it?”
She turned to see Drew leaning in the doorway. She hadn’t heard him approach. How long had he been there? For the past hour, she had moved around in her office feeling relaxed, filled with a sense of peace that she hadn’t felt in a long time. Just knowing that she and Drew were once again sharing the same space did something to her. It made shivers of happiness race through her.
“You’re cold?”
She lifted a brow at his question. “What makes you think I’m cold?” she asked. He was still lounging in the doorway in that way-too-sexy pose. Why did those jeans have to fit him so well? And why did he have to look so good…period?
“You trembled just now.”
She had trembled? He’d actually seen her do that? He had to