Stone Romance (Stone Passion #2) by A.C. Warneke Page B

and laughter from her eyes. The release had been cathartic; making her feel a hundred times better and returning her to a state of near normalcy.
    Scrapping the ten page, fully-diagramed scheme, she realized that the simpler the plan the more effective it would be. And she knew that for such a plan to work she needed Rhys’s cooperation. Grabbing her cell phone from the night stand, she took a breath and dialed his number, hoping Rhys answered and not either of his brothers. She was eagerly anticipating the moment the man with the smoky, rough velvet voice picked up the phone.
    “Hello?” a sinfully delicious masculine voice breathed into the phone. Only it wasn’t Rhys’s and Jenna felt like she was back in high school pranking the hot quarterback and having his disapproving father answer the phone.
    “Um, hi,” she squeaked, rolling her eyes at her immaturity. She was a grown woman and she actually had a brain, even if it was deciding to take a vacation at the moment. “May I speak with Rhys, please?”
    The man on the other end heaved a long-suffering sigh, “Must you? Hasn’t your sister done enough damage?”
    That was an odd question to ask, considering Melanie was the one with her heart splattered all over the ground. “You must be Armand.”
    “I am.”
    His voice, while sexy, sent chills down her spine and not in the good, pleasurable way. Gritting her teeth together, she curled her lips into a smile even though he couldn’t see her; maybe the smile would make her voice more pleasant or something and he would just give the damn phone to Rhys. “My daughter says you need a puppy.”
    The line went dead silent and she was afraid he might have hung up on her. “Hello?”
    “I’m sure your daughter wants a puppy for herself.” His voice was slightly less haughty than before; there may have even been a trace of amusement.
    “Nah,” she shook her head, encouraged by the almost-friendly tone of his voice. “She wants a gargoyle now, of all things; can you image?”
    “Quite.” The partially thawed tone was erased completely in favor of a completely frozen tone. There was a shuffling sound and some murmuring in the background but Jenna couldn’t make out what he was saying. Her heart was racing in her chest at having survived a verbal skirmish with the man she had never met and now she was pretty sure she never wanted to meet him. Having said only a few words over the phone he was intimidating as hell; it was all in the tone of his voice. How else was he able to freeze a person with barely a word being spoken?
    “Jenna.” Rhys’s warm voice melted through the frozen layer of ice left behind from her brief conversation with Armand. She could picture the slow, easy smile that curled his luscious lips and for a moment she forgot why she called. “What can I do for you this evening?”
    “Rhys.” Licking her lips, feeling her body respond even though it wasn’t the time or place, she got straight to the point, “What the hell happened today?”
    He let out a long, miserable sigh, “Their perfect world cracked.”
    “Can it be fixed?” She couldn’t hide the desperate hope that made her voice squeak. He didn’t say anything for a long time and from the dread filling her she realized that she wasn’t going to like his answer.
    “Vaughn is leaving in a few days,” he explained , leaving Jenna stunned and speechless. “He asked Melanie to go with him but it would mean giving up you and Ferris.”
    “Why?” Jenna frowned, not able to comprehend how. “Melanie is my sister, Rhys; no matter how far she goes, she’s always able to return home.”
    “Not this time,” he said softly, resolutely. “They would… leave and not come back.”
    Jenna inhaled sharply as a knife was thrust into her chest and her heart continued trying to beat around the wound, writhing in agony. “Like a suicide pact?”
    “What?” Rhys’s voice rose an octave in surprise before he bellowed with laughter, “No,