Forged of Steele Bundle (30 page)

Instead of using the napkin to wipe at her mouth, Jocelyn began dabbing at her eyes while laughing. She’d found the teens’ escapades totally hilarious. “Well, evidently their plan worked.”

Bas chuckled. “Yes, it did. Quite successfully.” He took advantage of the break in conversation to question why he was here, sharing dinner with Jocelyn, instead of back at the office going through files. Although he wanted to think that this entire afternoon had been a total waste of good time, he couldn’t. He had to admit that he enjoyed the time he had spent with Jocelyn, although it had started out pretty damn rocky.

He’d gotten a kick out of playing pinball with her even when she was slaughtering him in points, and dinner had been rather nice, as well. He felt comfortable talking to her, sharing tidbits about his family. The last woman he’d taken out had been Cassandra
and they’d gone to an exclusive restaurant. She had spent the entire evening criticizing the outfits other women were wearing. To hear her talk, she was the only fashion plate in the place.

“You mentioned that Cameron Cody was interested in one of your cousins.”

Bas studied the dark liquid in his glass and grinned. After dinner they had ordered scrumptious cheesecake and a glass of delicious dessert wine to go along with it. “Yes, and I have a feeling he still is. I met Cameron a few years ago when he tried to take over the Steele Corporation.”

Jocelyn lifted a brow, not sure she had heard him correctly. “Cody tried forcing a takeover of your company?”

“Yes, and he would have been successful if my brothers and three cousins and I hadn’t stuck together, which proved what a unified force we were. The Steele Corporation was formed over twenty-five years ago by my father and my Uncle Harold. It was always understood that I and my three brothers, as well as Uncle Harold’s three daughters—Vanessa, Taylor and Cheyenne—would one day inherit the company. All of us are working there except for Taylor and Cheyenne. They decided to pursue careers outside of the corporation, although they sit on the board. Uncle Harold passed away ten years ago and my father retired five years after that, leaving Chance as CEO.”

He took another sip of his wine before continuing. “As soon as word got out about my father’s retirement, several corporate marauders tried to force a takeover. Cameron’s company was just one of them.”

Jocelyn took a sip of her own wine. “But when you mentioned him earlier I got the impression the two of you are friends.”

Bas smiled and Jocelyn noticed each time he did so his dimples appeared and the cleft in his chin seemed even more profound. “We are. My brothers and I couldn’t help but admire Cameron’s accomplishments and give him the respect he’s due. He earned everything he has, and he’s built his empire by working hard. Anything he got he deserved. He is a hard man but fair. Once he saw that his attempt to take us over was futile, he pulled out and set his sights on another Steele—my cousin Vanessa. She heads our PR department. My brothers and I got over what Cameron tried to do and eventually became friends with him. However, Vanessa never could and as much as Cameron tried, he couldn’t break through the barriers she had erected.”

A half hour later, Jocelyn was returning Bas to the job site so he could get his car. It was almost ten o’clock. “You aren’t thinking about going over to the office, are you?” she asked when she brought her truck to a stop next to his parked car.

He shook his head and chuckled. “No, not tonight.
I think I’ll go home and come up with a game plan to beat you at pinball the next go-round.”

She returned his chuckle. “Come up with any game plan you want. The outcome will still be the same.”

“We’ll see.”

She looked at him and said smartly, “Yes, we
will
see.”

More than anything Bas wanted to kiss her. He still had memories of their last kiss, but he wanted to replace them with new memories. “Maybe,” he said, leaning a little closer to her across the truck’s bench seats, “we should consider a wager.”

“A wager?” she asked, her voice soft, low.

“Yes.”

“Sorry, but I don’t make bets.”

“But what if it’s for something you might like?” he asked, lifting his hand to cup her cheek and feeling glad that she didn’t pull back.

“Like what?”

“You tell me. What is it you want?” he asked, leaning even closer and hearing her suck in a deep breath.

“How about letting me buy you out so you can leave here by the weekend?”

He shook his head and released an easy chuckle. “Sorry, can’t do that. Think of something else.”

“What if I don’t want anything else?”

“Then you need to think harder.” His hand left her cheek and moved to the back of her neck.

“Can’t think harder.”

“Why not?”

“Because when you’re this close to me, you make it impossible to think at all.”

“Aw hell, Jocelyn.” The words slipped from between Bas’s lips just seconds before he captured her mouth with his. The moment their lips touched he remembered how good she had tasted the last time and was getting his fill of how good she was tasting now. That intangible chemistry they had been dealing with from the first day was back full force. If truth be known, it had never left. It was even more potent, compelling and intoxicating. That passionate moan she was making wasn’t helping matters one bit. But what really made him lose it was when she laid a hand on his thigh to keep her balance. Whether she realized it or not—and he believed she didn’t—her hand was too damn close to a part of him that was aching for her.

He deepened the kiss, their tongues mating, and he thought she was better than the dessert he’d had at dinner. They continued to kiss and for a while he thought he could spend the rest of the night doing just this. But he knew the last thing they should be doing was sitting in a parked truck at a vacant job site
kissing, so he fought to regain control and slowly, with all the reluctance in the world, pulled back.

In the semi-darkened cab he saw her moist lips tremble, and he was tempted to lean forward and take them with his again. But he couldn’t do that. He needed to go somewhere to clear his head and figure out what there was about Jocelyn Mason that made him want to take her somewhere and make love to her. All night and all day.

And that wasn’t a good thought.

He sighed deeply. “I’d better go.”

“All right,” she said brushing her hair from her face and resnapping her seat belt. “I had fun with you today, Bas. You’re not such a bad guy.”

He smiled over at her. “Friends, then?”

She chuckled. “I wouldn’t go that far. I’m not Cameron Cody. I don’t make friends easily with the enemy.”

He lifted a brow. “And you see me as the enemy?”

His question hung over them for a few minutes before she said, “I don’t know how I see you,” she said honestly. “I don’t want you here and now you’re beginning to complicate things.”

“Why? Because of a few kisses?”

“Yes, because of a few kisses.”
Not to mention all that heat that is surging between my thighs right now.

“How about a truce?” he interrupted her thoughts by asking.

“Another one?”

He chuckled. “They can only get better.”

That was exactly what she was afraid of.

“So what do you say? Truce?” he asked again, sticking his hand out.

She took it and immediately felt the heat between her legs get hotter. “Okay, another truce.”

At that moment Jocelyn hoped she hadn’t agreed to something she would later regret.

J
ocelyn felt the tap on her shoulder and slowly turned around to find Leah smiling at her. “Here. You look like you need this.”

“I do and thanks.” Jocelyn smiled and accepted the cup of steaming coffee and took a sip. Yes, she really did need it and nobody could make coffee like Leah. That was another thing she had missed when her sister had left. Sighing deeply, she turned back to look out the kitchen window.

“I heard you pacing the floor last night.”

Jocelyn turned again and met Leah’s gaze. “You did?”

“Yes.” Leah walked across the kitchen to lean against the counter. “I know I agreed to sell you my part of Mason Construction, but is something going on that I should know about?”

Jocelyn frowned. “Something like what?”

Leah shrugged. “Um, I don’t know. Anything. You paced the floor for a good thirty minutes or more.”

Jocelyn knew it was more, although she hadn’t been keeping time. “No, nothing is going on,” she said, and then shifted from Leah’s curious gaze to glance back out the window again.

She hadn’t been able to sleep because thoughts of Sebastian Steele kept invading her mind. For the second time she had allowed him to kiss her, and there were things about him that she didn’t know.

Last night at dinner he had talked freely about his brothers and cousins, but he hadn’t mentioned anything about himself. In fact, he seemed very careful not to do so. She was pretty convinced he wasn’t married and never had been, since he’d mentioned his brother Chance had been the only sibling who’d ever tied the knot. But what about a girlfriend or even worse, a fiancée? Men who looked like Bas usually weren’t unattached, at least not for long.

“Well, I’m going to take your word that everything is fine,” Leah said, glancing down at her watch. “I need to leave or I’m going to be late.”

Jocelyn quickly turned around. “You’re going somewhere?” she asked, noticing for the first time her sister was wearing slacks and a blouse and had her purse strapped to her shoulder.

Leah smiled. “Yes, don’t you remember? I told you last night when you came in that I made an appointment at Kate’s Beauty Salon.”

Jocelyn nodded. Oh, yes, she remembered now. Leah
had
mentioned it but at the time Jocelyn’s mind had been overtaken with memories of Bas’s kiss. “That’s right you did. How are you getting it styled?”

Leah chuckled. “I told you that, too. I even showed you the model in the picture I tore out of a magazine. You must have really been out of it last night.” She tipped her head to the side to study Jocelyn. “Is Marcella Jones still driving all of you nuts?”

“No, it’s not Marcella.”

“Then it must be Sebastian Steele.”

Hearing her sister say Bas’s name had Jocelyn’s heart pounding. “Why would you think that?”

“Because I got the impression a few days ago that he was getting on your nerves and you hadn’t accepted him being here, not to mention his role with Mason Construction. I know how much you detest anyone looking over your shoulder. Just remember he’s here for a good reason and when he leaves you probably won’t ever hear from him again.”

Jocelyn noted that Leah was smiling brightly, as if what she’d said should cheer Jocelyn up, yet it didn’t. For some reason the thought of Bas leaving anytime soon was something Jocelyn didn’t want to think about, although she had asked him to do that very thing last night.

“Maybe you’re right.”

“More than likely I am,” Leah said as if to assure her. “I checked out the Steele Corporation on the Internet yesterday. Sebastian Steele is a pretty wealthy guy who is used to a big city like Charlotte. There’s nothing to keep him here. He’s probably itching to get back to the lifestyle he left behind.”

A half hour later, after Leah had left, Jocelyn was in her room getting dressed. Instead of reporting to the job site, she had a meeting scheduled with her Founder’s Day Celebration committee, especially those members working closely with her on the ball. The governor had accepted an invitation and Jocelyn wanted to make sure all their plans were on target.

She shifted her thoughts to the conversation she’d had earlier with Leah. Jocelyn herself had checked out that same Web site and Leah was right. A man of Bas’s status would have no reason to hang around Newton Grove any longer than necessary, not that she wanted him to hang around, mind you. But there had been something about them sharing dinner that wouldn’t leave her alone.

Maybe it was the way he tipped his head whenever she was talking to let her know she had his absolute attention. Or it might have been the slow and methodical way he sipped his wine that had heat thrumming through her body each time she watched the liquid pass down his throat. Or maybe, just maybe, it had been the toe-curling kiss she couldn’t seem to forget. Each time his tongue got hold of hers it was as if he was branding it while she went soaring into mind-blowing passion.

Jocelyn groaned. She’d never let any man get to her the way Bas was doing. But then she had to reconcile herself to the fact that there was a first time for everything.

Across town someone was having a similar rough morning. Bas frowned when he looked down at the bowl Ms. Sadie had placed in front of him. Oatmeal?

He had been deprived of a good night’s sleep and he’d be damned if he’d be deprived of a good breakfast, as well. Where were the bacon, sausage, grits, eggs and toast whose aroma had awakened him that morning?

He glanced up and found Sadie Robinson looking at him with a smug smile. She had the nerve to say, “And if you drop by for lunch I’ll prepare you a luscious fruit salad.”

His frown deepened. When he thought of fruit he didn’t think of luscious. When he thought of Jocelyn he thought of luscious, which was one of the reasons he hadn’t slept well.

But that didn’t explain why he was only getting oatmeal for breakfast and fruit for lunch. He was more than certain Ms. Sadie hadn’t run out of food, since yesterday he’d noticed on his way out that she tended to cook a rather large quantity of everything. So what was going on?

Not taking his gaze off her, he asked in as calm a voice as he could, “Is there something going on that I should know about?”

Sadie never took her eyes off Bas either when she responded in a not-so-innocent voice, “Why would you think that?”

Ordinarily, Bas might let the matter go, eat the damn oatmeal and be merry about it. But not this morning after having had dream after dream of a woman he’d best leave alone. He might never make love to her in reality but in his fantasies he could still see the heated look in the depths of her dark-brown eyes each and every time he—

“Besides, oatmeal is good for you.”

Sadie’s words interrupted his thoughts. A frustrated gush of air shot from his lungs and he leaned back in his chair and stared at the older woman with a look that usually told his brothers and cousins to
back off. Evidently she didn’t get the message because she continued talking.

“It’s a good thing I noticed your medication while cleaning your room yesterday or I would never have known you were on a restricted diet. And now that I know I—”

“You were in my room yesterday?” he interrupted her, leaning forward in the chair and piercing her with an even deeper look.

“How else do you think it got clean?”

Bas’s scowl deepened but it didn’t seem to affect Sadie Robinson any. “So you snooped into my things?” he asked incredulously.

She waved her hand in the air. “Of course not. The pill bottle was right there on the counter in the bathroom. I had to pick it up and move it to clean off the area. Of course, when I did I couldn’t help but notice you’re taking the same medication my Albert used to take.”

Her Albert?
Bas hadn’t realized she was married. “And where is
your Albert
?”

“Dead.”

Out of respect, he bit back the word
damn
as he rubbed a hand down his face. That was all he needed to know. Her Albert who used to take the same medication he took was dead. Although Bas wished he could move on without asking the next question, something inside him made him inquire anyway.

“And how did he die?”

“He had high blood pressure and although the medication helped, he refused to give up some of his favorite foods that were killing him. And knowing what happened to Albert, I can’t in good conscience allow the same thing to happen to you.”

Bas lifted a brow, sure he’d heard her wrong. “Excuse me?”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “I said I won’t allow the same thing to happen to you. My Albert only thought of himself. He should have cared enough to want to live longer so he could be here with me while we spent our retirement years together. But he didn’t take care of himself and now he’s gone. We were married almost fifty years and had four beautiful children and he didn’t live long enough to be around for the first great-grand. I tried to tell him to eat healthy. I even offered to prepare him all the foods that were better for him. But he refused to give up that steak twice a week, as well as the potatoes, the bread and let’s not talk about the desserts.”

No, Bas didn’t want to talk about the desserts. He didn’t want to talk about food period. “But I’m not your husband, Ms. Sadie,” he decided it was time to point out.

“No, but some day you’ll be somebody’s husband if you live long enough. You’re young, too young to
be worried about some nasty ailment like high blood pressure, which can lead to other problems like heart disease. It’s best that you get a handle on things now before it’s too late. And while you’re living here I intend to help you. I owe it to my Albert and your mother to do so.”

Bas shook his head in frustration. “But you don’t know my mother.”

“Doesn’t matter. We’re all members of the ‘Mothers Club’ and I know wherever she is, she’ll thank me for trying to save her son from an early grave.”

Bas sighed deeply, recognizing the stubborn glint in the woman’s eyes. It was the same glint he’d seen in his own mother’s eyes several times, and the one he had seen in Kylie’s the day she had confronted him after finding out about his medical issues. Ms. Sadie was right. Once a mother, always a mother. All mothers shared a bond to make their kids’ lives miserable.

Bas decided to use another approach. “Ms. Sadie, don’t you think getting involved in my medical business is carrying things a little too far? I’m just a resident here for a while. I’m a grown man—thirty-five. Shouldn’t my eating habits be my decision to make?”

“Yes.”

Bas nodded, glad they were finally getting somewhere. “And don’t you think you’ve crossed the line
by serving me oatmeal instead of the breakfast you gave to everyone else this morning?”

He watched as the older woman pushed a curly lock of gray hair away from her face and in that instant he saw it—the look of stark worry in her eyes. She actually thought his fate could be sealed like her Albert’s if he didn’t eat differently. Aw hell. All he needed was the old woman worrying to death about him. And although she had agreed that what he ate was his business, he knew as far as she was concerned, to feed him the high-calorie foods he liked would be like signing his death warrant.

Bas knew there was only one thing he could do and that would be to find another place to stay as soon as he could. He refused to hang around Newton Grove for the next three months and live under the same roof with an older version of Kylie Hagan Steele.

It just so happened he had run across a place for sale the day he’d been out riding around with Reese. It was a quaint little cabin just outside of town on a small lake in the mountains. If nothing else it would be a nice piece of investment property. He would see a realtor about it first thing tomorrow.

He met Ms. Sadie’s gaze. “Fine,” he said. “I’ll eat the oatmeal every morning if it makes you happy.”
Just until I get that cabin,
he decided not to add.

Her worried look brightened into a smile. “Thank
you and it will. And when you live to your late seventies with kids, grands and great-grands like me, you’ll be grateful that someone cared enough about you to make sure you stuck to a proper diet.”

“Not a chance,” Bas muttered under his breath as he scooted back to the table to eat his oatmeal.

Leah smiled as she looked at herself in the oval mirror she held in her hand. “I think even after all these years no one can take care of a woman’s head like you can, Kate.”

The older woman chuckled and waved her hand as if refusing to accept the flattering comment. “Doing your hair has always been easy. I’m glad you didn’t put all that crazy dye in it while living out in Los Angeles. That would have damaged it for sure. Your hair is just as thick and healthy as it’s always been.”

Leah smiled at the compliment. “Thanks.” Kate had been doing her hair ever since Leah was a teenager and her dad had agreed to let her get a perm. Kate was right, Leah’s hair had always been thick and healthy, but what Kate had been too nice to add was that it had also been unmanageable. While Jocelyn could get by with going to the hair salon every two weeks, Kate was sentenced to see Leah on a weekly basis.

Leah couldn’t help but remember those times. Jocelyn had been close to their father and she had
been close to their mother. She’d died when Leah had been only twelve, and all Leah could remember was how empty she’d felt. Jocelyn had always been Daddy’s girl and hadn’t experienced the same sense of loss as Leah had. From the day they’d placed her mother in the ground, Leah couldn’t wait to move away from a town filled with loneliness for her without the mother she had adored.

“I was sorry to hear about your dad, Leah. Everyone around here was. He was a good man.”

Leah nodded. She hadn’t realized just what a good man he was until she’d found herself alone, hurt and out in California on her own. More than once she’d come close to picking up the phone and telling him what had happened to her and why she’d left the way she had. But shame had kept her from doing so.

Her only saving grace was actually someone with the name of Grace. How she had ended up on the woman’s doorstep one night, she still wasn’t sure. All she knew was that she was convinced she’d heard footsteps behind her while walking home alone from the restaurant where she’d worked. Remembering what had happened to her before, she had gone almost stone-crazy and had run to the first house she’d come to and begged for help.