Sienna checked her watch and looked up and down Canal Street, searching for a sign of Toby’s car. Standing her up was not a good start to this new “thing” between them. She’d been questioning the wisdom of agreeing to pursue an actual relationship with Toby and his tardiness only gave her more time to doubt her decision.
Sienna spotted his Acura coming down Canal Street toward the river. The car made a U-turn, waiting for a streetcar to pass. A car parked alongside the street drove away just as Toby was pulling up to the curb, and he was able to slip right into the spot.
Sienna purposely kept her hand on her hip.
“You’re late,” she said by way of greeting.
“Good evening to you, too.” Toby laughed. “I got caught up at Mama’s.”
She smiled with relief. “Well, since it’s your mother, you’re forgiven.”
Okay, so things weren’t all that different. She would have ribbed Toby for being late even if they were not an “item.” Gosh, that sounded so high school.
They headed down Bourbon Street toward the world-famous restaurant at the corner of Bourbon and Bienville.
“I think something’s going on with Mama,” Toby said. “I haven’t been able to catch up with her in a couple of days. Then, the other night when I met you at your mom’s store, she said my mom wasn’t at Bible study, even though I picked her up from the church.”
Sienna’s eyebrows rose. “Is she sick?”
“No. In fact, she’s out on the town. Monica’s at the house babysitting Jasmine because Mama had plans.”
“So, what’s strange about that?”
“My mother is not the type of person who has plans, Sienna.”
“Well, maybe it’s time she becomes that type of person. Now, stop worrying about your mother.” She wrapped her hand around his upper arm and said, “So, are you ready to go broke buying me dinner?”
He covered her hand and laughed. “So that’s your plan—to suck me dry?”
They both stopped short.
“Damn, that sounded really bad, didn’t it?” Toby said, shaking his head.
Sienna nodded, unsure if she could speak.
“Come on, Cee Cee. Any other time you would have laughed at that.”
“Any other time, your double entendre would have been directed toward another woman.”
“So I have to analyze every little thing I say before I speak to you? Be real, Sienna.” He stepped to the side as a couple exited the front door of the restaurant. “If we are really going to give this a fighting chance, we’ve got to be comfortable with each other. Things shouldn’t change just because we’ve gone from being friends to being lov—”
“More than friends,” Sienna cut him off before the word lovers left his mouth. She had not agreed to taking things anywhere close to the bedroom.
“Fine. More than friends,” Toby conceded. “Now can we go into this restaurant and enjoy our very expensive meal?” He glanced at his watch. “We only have a couple of hours before we have to be at Caesar’s Ghost, and if I’m going to break the bank here, I at least want to have enough time to savor every bite.”
“Okay.” Sienna nodded. “I think they’re serving Lobster Napoleon.”
She giggled as Toby rolled his eyes. “It’s a good thing I remembered to bring the Platinum Visa.”
Sienna decided to be merciful and order a grilled chicken Caesar salad, in reverence to the venue where Aria would be performing tonight. Halfway through their meal, Toby reminded her that they needed to get to Caesar’s Ghost early to go over a few last minute issues with Aria, so they ate quickly so they could get out to the club. When they arrived, the parking lot was full and cars lined the streets.
“Can you believe this?” Toby asked as he pulled up to the massive building that commanded nearly half the block. The line to enter the club was out the door and around the side of the building.
“There must be a few hundred people still waiting to get in,” Sienna said.
Toby crept along the street, searching for a parking spot. “I’m not sure Aria’s ready for a crowd this size.”
“What are you talking about?” Sienna asked. “This is exactly what she needs. You don’t give Aria enough credit, Toby. She’s more prepared for this than you think. Look how well she did last night at the Hard Court. You, on the other hand, will need to borrow one of my mom’s valium before the night is over if you don’t chill out.”
“I’ll be okay after tonight.” He parked illegally about a fourth of a mile from the club. “The way I see it, the Hard Court was a test run. Aria’s had that crowd eating out the palm of her hand for the past couple of weeks. Tonight’s crowd, however, is an entirely new ballgame.”
Sienna took his hand as Toby helped her out of the car. She squeezed it, trying to reassure him. “I know you have a lot riding on this, Toby. It means a lot to your career.”
“Yours, too.”
Sienna nodded. “Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten.”
The sheer magnitude of this week sent a shudder of nervous energy through her blood whenever she thought about it—which was at least a dozen times a day. Her career hung in the balance. If they didn’t pull this off, she could kiss everything she’d worked so hard for goodbye. Every major marketing firm in the region was looking at MDF, Inc.’s execution of this sought-after account. If she screwed this up, she wouldn’t be able to find a job anywhere in the city.
The thought sent a familiar rush of panic skittering down Sienna’s spine. She did her best to shake it off, but how could she? Allen Mulholland was checking up on her like a parent whose teenager had just received their driver’s license. He’d called after learning Aria would be performing at Caesar’s Ghost, a club that catered to an alternative pop music crowd. He said he was concerned Sienna was spreading Aria too thin, and suggested she stick to the demographic that had served Aria so well already.
For a moment Sienna had thought the same thing. She’d questioned Aria’s appeal outside the R&B market, but after Allen had suggested she back out of the Caesar’s Ghost performance, Sienna completely threw out the idea. This was her account. It was her neck on the chopping block. Allen needed to trust her. She needed to trust herself.
Sienna guided Toby to the back entrance the club owner had showed her when she initially set up Aria’s performance. It wasn’t a secret entrance, as evident by the group of people crowding the back door, but at least they didn’t have to deal with the mob at the front of the club. Sienna called the owner on her cell phone and a minute later he appeared, escorting them into the building.
They walked through a short hallway and entered the club. It was fashioned to resemble an ancient Roman temple. A replica of a classic triumphal arch greeted club-goers who entered through the main entrance. Soaring, ornate pillars hugged the four corners of the club’s main floor, reaching to the top of the two-story ceiling. A life-size chariot stood as the centerpiece, proudly displayed atop a towering pedestal in the center of the club, a fully circular bar at its base.
“Dang, this is tight,” Toby said, his gaze roaming the massive club.
“I told you,” Sienna said. To the club owner she asked, “Can you bring us to the dressing room?”
They went through another door just to the right of the stage. The club owner walked up to the door straight ahead of them, knocked, opened, and made a gesture for Sienna and Toby to enter.
“Hey there,” Aria greeted, the ever-present cameramen in tow. She was seated at a well-lit vanity, bottle of water in her hand.
“How did things go this afternoon?” Toby asked.
“It was fine. I stopped in at the studio and cleaned up the track Savion has been working on. It sounds really good, if I do say so myself.”
One of the cameramen stepped in. “We’ve got twenty minutes before the show. We’re going to take a quick break.”
As soon as they left the room, Aria’s features softened with relief.
“Are you doing okay with the 24/7 attention?” Sienna asked, moving to her side.
“It’s still kinda strange. People are constantly staring, but I guess you can’t blame them when you have a couple of camera guys following you around.”
“Are you sure you’re ready for tonight?” Toby asked. “This isn’t your usual crowd, but you know we had to do this, right?”
Aria nodded.
Sienna knew this had been on his mind. Thus far, Aria had performed mostly for young, urban professionals, a la the Hard Court’s clientele. Winning over this crowd could present a challenge, but if they were able to pull it off, it would be a huge mark in the plus column for convincing the producers of Aria’s worldwide appeal.
“Don’t worry, Toby,” Sienna assured him. “The songs we selected should go over well with this demographic. I told you, all we have to worry about is having enough headshots for her to autograph at the end of the night.”
Toby smiled. “I didn’t realize cheerleader was a part of your job description.”
“You didn’t see that in the contract?” Sienna quipped.
“It’s going to be okay, Toby,” Aria said. She stood and wrapped her arms around Toby’s waist, giving him a hug. “Thank you for everything. This is more than I could have ever hoped for.”
Toby looked over at Sienna, a helpless look on his face. Sienna fixed him with an I-told-you-so stare as Aria continued to hug him.
“Um, okay,” Toby said, extricating himself from Aria’s hold. “Well, we need to go and find a good spot.”
“Okay, I’ll see you both after the show,” Aria said, then she stood on her tiptoes, and placed a kiss right on Toby’s lips. “Thanks again,” she said, a hint of sultriness in her voice.
“Uh…okay,” Toby said. He took Sienna by the hand and led her out of the dressing room.
“I told you,” Sienna remarked as soon as they entered the hallway. “That girl has a mega-size crush on you.”
“Why do I have to be so damn irresistible?” he said. Sienna pinched him on the arm.
She stopped him before he could open the door they’d come through from the club’s main floor. “Seriously, Toby, you need to make sure she has no illusions regarding the two of you.”
“I know,” he said. “I will.”
As soon as they re-entered the club, Sienna spotted Marshall Kellerman standing close to the stage, not ten feet away. “There’s Kellerman,” she said.
“Where?”
“And there’s David Reynolds,” Sienna tried to be as discreet as possible as she pointed. “I didn’t realize the producers would be attending tonight’s performance.”
“Oh, great. Let’s hope Aria doesn’t notice they’re here. Act as if you don’t see them,” he said, charging straight past the stage. “If they’re with us when Aria seeks us out while she’s on stage, she’ll get nervous.”
But it was too late. Kellerman had spotted them and waved them over. He offered to buy them drinks, which both Toby and Sienna declined. A minute later, Aria took to the stage. The crowd welcomed her with a roaring ovation, probably because they knew she was the reason for all the cameras and their possible shot to get their faces on national television.
Aria opened with Kelly Clarkson’s hit Walk Away, which started the crowd to dancing. After engaging the crowd with a couple more songs currently topping the Billboards Charts, she moved on to cover several rock classics. Sienna was amazed at the way the normally demure Aria commanded the stage, bobbing her head up and down, dragging the microphone stand behind her as she moved from one edge of the stage to the other like a seasoned rocker. When she belted out Janis Joplin’s Take Another Little Piece of My Heart, she managed to hold onto the legendary singer’s raspy sultriness while making the song her own.
She went through the musical arrangement with aplomb, as if she’d spent her entire life singing rock and pop music instead of R&B. Sienna was bowled over by Aria’s ability to lose herself in the music.
Or, maybe she didn’t lose herself. Maybe the music was where she found herself. This is what Aria was meant to do; the girl was a natural on any stage.
She surprised everybody in the club, including Sienna and Toby, when she belted out Crazy in Love by Beyoncé Knowles, and did the booty-bouncing dance the singer had made famous.
The crowd went wild.
The number was not included in the line up, but apparently, Aria had made plans with the band beforehand. The smile on Kellerman’s face was a mile wide.
“This is what the show is all about,” the producer said.
“She’s amazing,” David Reynolds put in. “How many performers have you seen win over a crowd this quickly?”
Aria ended her performance with a Celine Dion number that left the audience mesmerized. When she exited the stage and started elbowing her way through the crowd, Aria could hardly make it through the adoring horde that all wanted to get close to the night’s new star. Toby went to help her out, adding bodyguard to his list of duties to his client.
Kellerman and Reynolds lavished their praise upon her, and Sienna’s spirits buoyed with every minute that passed. Aria wouldn’t be the only one to reach star status with the success of this show. She couldn’t wait to get Allen’s reaction when the producers told him how fabulous Aria did with a crowd that was “outside her normal demographic”. Maybe this would erase her boss’s doubts and, instead, he’d give her the respect she deserved.
Toby motioned for Sienna to follow them to the dressing room. Sienna headed toward the back of the club, trying to decide which of the spacious executive offices she would demand at Mulholland, Davis and French.
***
Toby stood sentry next to Aria as she autographed at least two hundred photographs outside the back door at Caesar’s Ghost. The crowd couldn’t get enough of her. When the last picture was signed, Toby, along with the cameramen and the club owner, escorted Aria back into the club’s dressing room.
“We’ve got to take fifteen,” one of the cameramen said. He dropped his camera and pack, the other cameraman following suit.
The club owner held up a finger. “Give me a minute, you’ve both earn a drink on the house.”
“Nothing alcoholic while we’re on the clock,” the other cameraman said, earning a glare from the one who’d suggested the break.
The club owner walked up to Toby. “Whenever Ms. Jordan is in need of a venue, you call me.” He pointed his stubby thumb to his chest. He looked down at Aria, who’d resumed her seat at the lighted vanity table. Her smile stretched from one side of her face to the other. “You, young lady, have a long career ahead of you. This club has never been as electrified as it was when you took to the stage.”
“Thank you,” Aria said, still beaming.
Toby clasped the man’s hand. “Thanks again for having us.”
He nodded and left the dressing room, pulling the door closed behind him. As soon as he was gone, Aria bolted from the chair and crashed into Toby’s chest, wrapping her arms around his waist.
“Toby, can you believe it!” she gasped. “Tonight was unbelievable.”
“Yeah, it was,” he said, trying to extract her arms from around him.
Aria stared up at him from where she’d laid her head on his chest. The look in her eyes caused trepidation to race down Toby’s back.
Oh, damn.
“Uh…Aria.”
She kissed him.
For a moment, Toby was rendered speechless. When he didn’t do anything, she must have taken it as his acquiescence and reached up to kiss him again.
Toby reared back. “Whoa…Aria, wait a minute.”
“What?” she asked, those doe-like brown eyes staring straight at him. “What’s the matter?
Don’t you want to—”
“No.” Toby pulled her arms from around his waist and took three huge steps back. Damn, this was awkward. “Look, Aria, I’m not sure where you got the impression that I wanted anything more than a professional relationship.”
She took a step toward him. “But—”
“But nothing,” Toby said with another step back. “I’m your manager and producer. You’re my client. That’s it.”
The pain-filled look she shot him attacked Toby’s conscience. He ran a hand down his face and swallowed a groan. He should have addressed this the minute Sienna had told him to. Now, here he was, in the middle of the most important week of his career, breaking the heart of his most important client.
“Aria, I’m sorry,” Toby said, taking a tentative step forward. He was about to reach for her hand but decided against it. He needed to set a firm boundary, starting now.
Aria looked up at him then quickly lowered her eyes to the floor. “I just thought…you know. We’ve been together for nearly a year.”
“Working together,” Toby said softly. “It’s always been about the work. I thought you understood that.”
“I did...I just. Well, you don’t have a girlfriend,” she returned accusingly.
Toby hesitated, then said, “Actually, Sienna and I are seeing each other.” The minute he said it, Toby wished he could take the words back. Aria blinked. She looked as if she were going to speak, but instead, she nodded, wrapping her arms around herself, her expression going from bewildered to resigned, with a bit of hurt still mixed in.
“Well, okay,” she said, with the fakest smile Toby had ever seen. “I guess that’s that.”
“Aria.” Toby reached for her, despite his vow to maintain his distance. But Aria stepped out of the way.
“No, I’m okay,” she said.
The door to the dressing room pushed open and one of the cameramen came through, clutching a can of soda. If he noticed a change in the room’s atmosphere, he didn’t acknowledge it.
“I’m gonna turn in early,” Aria said, turning to the vanity. “I’ve got a full day tomorrow.”
Toby briefly closed his eyes in relief. She was sticking to the plan. Before they started the taping, Toby had given her an hour-by-hour itinerary to follow so there would be no surprises. Other than the visit by her mother, they’d been able to stick to the plan.
“Yeah, you should probably head home,” Toby said. He walked over to the chair that held her duffle bag, but when he picked up the bag, she stopped him.
“I’ve got it,” she said, the false brightness still in her voice. “You can go.”
Toby debated saying more, then figured it was best to quit while he was ahead. For a minute, he thought he saw tears forming in Aria’s eyes, and he damn sure didn’t want the cameras to catch her crying.
“Okay, then,” Toby said, dropping the bag back on the chair. “I’ll see you tomorrow.” He made his way to the door, but before leaving, turned back. “Congratulations again, Aria. You wrote your own ticket to stardom with tonight’s performance.”
“Thanks,” she answered, her voice sullen.
Toby shut the door before those tears he’d glimpsed could fall.
***
I could have asked for things to go better, but I don’t think it’s possible,” Toby said as he handed Sienna a glass of wine. He took a seat beside her on the sofa that faced an amazing view of the city.
“Tonight was unbelievable,” Sienna replied, sipping her wine. “Almost as unbelievable as this apartment. Just how much is this setting you back?”
“You don’t want to know,” Toby answered.
Sienna’s eyes roamed over her surroundings, overwhelmed by the sheer opulence.
Honey-colored hardwood floors dotted with plush rugs spanned the entire penthouse. The kitchen was done with stainless steel appliances and beautiful teal-tinged granite countertops above the sand colored cabinetry. A narrow bar, with high, backless stools separated the kitchen from the living room.
A rust colored leather sofa faced a vista of windows that ran from the floor to the top of the eleven-foot ceilings. Sienna walked over to the windows and took in the glorious view they afforded. Lights shimmered across the Mississippi River like fireflies as the few commuters still up at this hour made the trek across the Crescent City Connection that linked the city’s East and West banks.
“Pretty nice, huh?” Toby came up behind her, wrapping his arm around her waist.
Sienna tipped her head back. “Tell me again why you felt the need to rent this apartment in the first place?”
“I wanted to impress the producers, but I doubt they’ll even have the opportunity to see it. That’s okay, though. It’s practice for when I really do own a place like this.”
“Thinking big, huh?”
“Why shouldn’t I? After the way my girl put it down tonight, it’s only a matter of time.”
“Speaking of your girl,” Sienna said, disengaging from his hold and marching him back toward the sofa. She waited until they were both seated and she had Toby’s undivided attention. “Aria wasn’t all that shy about making her feelings known tonight.”
“No, she was not,” Toby answered with a sigh.
“What are you going to do about her not-so-subtle infatuation?”
“I took care of it.”
Her brows rose.
“I talked to her after the show,” Toby clarified.
She studied him with guarded uncertainty. “Are you sure that was a good idea?”
“What else would you have had me do?”
Sienna lifted her shoulder. “I’m not sure. It’s just that I don’t think this was some insignificant thing on Aria’s part. She’s really into you, Toby. What if your crushing her hopes messes with her mind? That’s something you definitely don’t want this week.”
“She assured me she was okay with it. I let her down easy, Cee Cee. I told her that I was sorry if I’d led her on in any way, but that I’ve always wanted only a professional relationship with her.”
“So, how did she take it?”
“She’ll be okay,” Toby reassured her. “She’s still flying high after her performance. Honestly, I doubt it matters all that much to her.”
“Well, I hope so,” Sienna said, settling on the sofa with her back against Toby’s chest. “After pining away for someone for so long, having your dreams crushed can be a severe blow.”
Toby caressed her arm. “Do you know much about that?”
Sienna thought about the nights she’d lain in bed, fantasizing about making her best friend more than just a friend. Nights when she knew he had been out with other girls. Heck, she’d even helped him pick out clothes for some of those dates.
“A little,” she finally answered his question.
“Who was foolish enough to break your heart?” he asked.
Sienna remained silent. She wasn’t about to admit to Toby that she had been just as infatuated with him as Aria had been. Probably even more.
He grasped her chin between his fingers and tipped her head up. “Whoever it was, that fool’s loss was my gain,” Toby said, angling his head and dipping low. His lips touched hers, tentatively at first, brushing slowly back and forth over her mouth. Sienna felt the moist tip of his tongue as he licked at her closed lips with gentle pressure, becoming more insistent with each pass. She reached her hand over and placed it behind his neck, pulling Toby down.
He groaned, twisting her around and gently pushing her onto the sofa, his demanding lips never leaving hers. He guided her down, cradling her head as they both sank into the butter smooth leather.
Sienna’s head spun in the sweet, seductive swirl of emotion that had captured her. The sensation of Toby’s mouth molding to hers was straight out of long ago dreams. And when she finally opened her lips and accepted his tongue, Sienna was certain she had never encountered anything more powerful. He consumed her, his tongue bathing the recesses of her mouth with fierce tenderness. Tasting. Exploring. Possessing.
Toby’s hand trailed from her hair to run along her cheek with a caress so tender it wrenched a moan from her. His knee rode along her hip before settling between her thighs. Sienna fought the urge to open fully for him, but her body did so involuntarily. It felt all too natural, too right, to relax her legs and create a cradle for his body.
Toby settled his strong thigh between her legs, teasing her with gentle pressure as his mouth’s insistent plundering continued to wreak havoc with her senses. Sienna wrapped her arms over his shoulders, drawing him closer, reveling in the sensation of his sculpted muscles against her breasts.
She let herself drift on the wave of desire. So long she had dreamed of joining her mouth to his. Patiently, she had waited for him to see her as a woman instead of the awkward teenager he’d left behind. Now that the time was finally here, Sienna nearly laughed at how unbelievably altered her expectation was to reality. Toby’s kiss was ten times sweeter, hotter, and more passionate than anything she had ever dreamed.
He released her mouth, dipping his head low and drawing his tongue along her collarbone. He laved her skin with slow, luxurious swipes of a tongue wicked enough to elicit raw, potent desire from a woman who’d been deprived of such pleasure for far too long. Toby captured her hand and drew her fingers into his mouth, tasting and suckling like he couldn’t get enough of her.
Sienna moaned. The warmth of his mouth shot sparks of heated need through her bloodstream. He moved his thigh up and down between her legs, testing it against her core, wringing groans of desire from deep in her throat. Sienna could feel the part of his body she both craved and, in ways, still feared, pulsing against her stomach.
Toby ran his hands under her silk shell, roaming over the crest of cleavage thrusting forward from her lacy bra.
“Damn, you taste good,” he whispered, nipping at her lips.
Sienna wasn’t sure she could take anymore. She wasn’t sure if she should. It was all moving too fast. If they continued at this pace, Toby would be inside of her in a matter of minutes. The thought made her dizzy with anticipation and fear. She had never allowed a man to get this close to her. After what happened the night of her debutante ball, she had been too afraid to offer herself as a part of this intimate dance so many women her age took for granted. She wanted it to be with Toby when it finally happened, but Sienna wasn’t sure she was ready just yet.
If she didn’t put a stop to his kisses soon, she wouldn’t have a choice.
“Toby, stop,” Sienna whispered.
Either he didn’t hear her, or he ignored her, too wrapped up in his pursuit to get the rest of her clothes from barricading his final destination. Toby trailed his tongue across the rise of her shoulder, pushing her shirt up and feathering light kisses along her neck.
“Toby!” Sienna shouted in a near panic. Capturing his wrist before he could undress her any further, she started to squirm on the sofa, trying to wrangle free from him.
“Cee Cee, what’s wrong?”
Sienna managed to get one hand between them and pushed against his chest. “This is going a little too fast for me, Toby.”
He looked at her, saw she was serious. He instantly sat back, and Sienna nearly cried in relief. The last boy who’d attempted to go this far had not stopped so willingly.
Sienna straightened to a sitting position on the sofa, wrapping her arms around her stomach. Toby grabbed the chenille throw that lay across the arm of the sofa and draped it around her. Sienna shivered despite the warmth the throw provided, her mind reeling from the intense emotions dancing through her body.
Why was she so afraid? She knew Toby better than to think he’d ever do anything to hurt her. She could not allow what Curtis Henderson did all those years ago to rule her life.
“Sienna?” Toby’s soft query drew her head up. “Sienna, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she lied. “I just…I’m not ready to go there yet, okay.”
“Hey,” He put his hands up. “You only have to say the word. Always. It felt as if you were afraid I wouldn’t stop.” He captured her chin between his fingers and raised her head. “You know I will never do anything you don’t want me to do, right Cee Cee?”
She nodded, the emotion welling up in her throat preventing her from uttering a single sound.
“Okay,” Toby said. “When you’re ready we’ll only go as far as you say.”
Sienna leaned over and placed a soft kiss on his lips. “Thank you.”
A slight smile curved one corner of his mouth. “You’re welcome. Now…” He settled another peck on her mouth. “If you don’t mind, there is a cold shower with my name on it.”
Gathering the wrap more closely around her, Sienna watched as he moved across the living room on his way to the penthouse’s master suite. “Toby,” she called out before he reached the glass French doors that led to the hallway.
He turned.
Sienna stared at him for a moment, before making him a quiet, solemn promise.
“Soon.”