Read Online Her Little Black Book by Brenda Jackson - Free Book Online Page B

and silky as what came out of her mouth whenever she performed. “Bennett and Blake are handfuls and keep us on our toes. But then Quinn is such a wonderful father. I wouldn’t be able to go on tour like I do without him. It’s good knowing how well he can hold things down on the home front, but I miss my guys, though.”
    Lake heard the profound love in her voice for her four-year-old twin sons and for his brother, as well. Considering what she did for a living, she and Quinn had a good marriage, a sturdy one. For years, long marriages never seemed to work in the Masters family. His paternal grandmother had been married three times, and his paternal grandfather was on his fifth wife. That’s why his generation of Masterses had vowed not to marry until they were sure they had found the right mate. He was proud to say that his brothers had married wisely.
    â€œSo when are you coming back out to L.A.? Your nephews are dying to see you again.”
    Alexia knew the best way to get to him was through the kids. He was considered the fun uncle to all his nieces and nephews because he knew how to do magic tricks, something he’d picked up from one of his roommates in college who had a knack for it. “Once I’ve come up with a few new routines. Don’t want to bore them with the old ones.” He laughed. “Last time I think Bennett was on to me.”
    â€œThat wouldn’t surprise me,” she said, her eyes twinkling. “Blake sleeps through anything, but Bennett misses nothing. Now, how about joining me in a late dinner? I’d love the company. Besides, I want to hear about all the things you’ve been doing since I last saw you.”

    â€œYou’ll be bored to tears.”
    She smiled and patted his arm affectionately. “I’ll take my chances.”
    He couldn’t hold back his grin. She intended to pump him for information she could pass on to his other two sisters-in-law, Faith and Brandy. The three of them thought his days as a single man were numbered—or should be, anyway. “Are you sure about that?”
    â€œI am.”
    â€œThen I’d love joining you.”
    â€œWhy me, Toni?”
    Peggy Morrison stopped pacing the office of her boss and friend, Antonia Siplin, not sure she could handle what she was being asked to do.
    â€œBecause you are the logical person to do it, Peg. We both know you’re here, working away in the media office, getting lost in the shuffle when your real level of expertise lies in public relations. And I need to utilize that expertise to make sure Willie Baker understands just what we’re all about.”
    Feeling a headache of defeat coming on, Peggy dropped into a chair across from her best friend’s desk. Her friendship with Antonia went back a long way, all the way to their high school days. Toni had been there for her through thick and thin, had given her a shoulder to cry on when Joe asked for a divorce to marry a younger woman, had been the one to convince her to join Dropped Wives Anonymous when her self-esteem had plummeted so low,
she’d nearly driven everyone around her crazy. Now almost three years later, she had finally gotten her act together. She no longer blamed herself or everyone else for the breakup of her marriage. The fact that her husband had left her for a younger woman didn’t rush her to tears and bouts of hysteria as it once had. Her support group of women who’d gone through the same thing was wonderful, and because of them she now thought of a brighter future and new beginnings.
    And Toni had been instrumental in hiring her when she’d been out of the workforce for more than twenty years, to take charge of the media department for Making Dreams Come True, a nonprofit organization that granted dreams to terminally ill kids.
    She turned her full attention back to Toni and said, “But everyone knows what we’re about, Toni. Why is this donor being