“One of the ladies in the lobby let me in the front door. Can I come in?” He sounded so unsure.
She nodded. “Yes, of course.” She stood back and he stepped in and looked around. “How did you find me?”
“My brother-in-law did something semi-legal and found your mother’s address.”
She just stared at him. He’d come all this way. For her.
Her mother bustled from the bedroom.
“Lovely place you have here, Mrs. Hartman.”
Lovely? Tracy had never imagined hearing that word from Steele’s mouth.
He winked at her with that half-smile that made her insides melt.
“Oh please, call me Mona.” Her mother held the camera Tracy had sent her for Christmas. She pressed nearly every button before she handed it to her. “Dear, would you make this work, please?”
As she took the camera, Steele moved in and put his arm around her mother’s shoulders. “May I get my picture taken with you?”
A giggle burst from her mom as she looked up at him. “You’re really friends with Tracy?”
“I sure am, Ms. Mona, and I’m here to steal your daughter away for an hour or so. Would that be okay?”
Tracy nearly dropped the camera.
“Why, of course.” Mona’s smile was so expectant as she looked at her, Tracy had to get a shot of it.
She took a dozen pictures, her mom took a few of Steele at different spots in her apartment, just so people believe you were actually here, then she asked Tracy to stand next to him.
Wandering over, she felt his presence in every nerve of her body, breathed deeply of his sandalwood scent, and let hope wash through her like a mountain stream in the spring.
He pulled her against him, his body touching her from thigh to chest. “God, I missed you,” he said quietly as he smiled easily for the camera.
Tracy looked up at him just as the camera flashed. She was almost too afraid to believe he meant it.
“Uh, dear?” Her mother’s voice cut into her fantasy. “Smile at me just a few more times. Then you can smile at him for the rest of the day.”
Tracy laughed and looked at the camera.
“Perfect.” Mona snapped a few more. “Okay, I think I’m done.”
Steele let her go and walked to her mother. “Your turn.” He gestured for her mom to get next to Tracy.
She skittered over, happy and giggling, and pulled Tracy in for a hug before she faced the camera.
Steele caught all of it in a dozen pictures.
“Now you two kids go and do some fun things.” Her mother took back her camera. “I’ve got all this paperwork to finish, then I’ll bring it to that nice man’s office.”
Tracy glanced at the table. Most of the work was done, and her mother had been to the PO’s office more times than Tracy wanted to know. When she looked at Steele, his eyebrows were up, his lips tight. Did he think she’d turn him down?
“I’ll go, but you call me if you need anything, okay?” Tracy picked up her purse.
“Wouldn’t dream of it, dear.” She opened the door for them. “I’m not going to interrupt this reunion.”
Steele held out his hand. “It’s great to meet you, Mona.”
She fluttered her hand before shaking his. “I hope to see much, much more of you. Steele.” Her meaning came across loud and clear.
Tracy rolled her eyes, Steele took her arm, and they stepped out the front door. He slid dark glasses over his eyes and pulled a baseball cap out of his back pocket and settled it on his head. “I get the feeling word of my presence here will be spread around like the flu.”
“I can ask her to—”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” He set his hand on her back and led her to a plain blue sedan.
“The only car you could rent in Great Falls?”
“Uh huh.” He opened her door and she slid in. When he crammed himself into the driver’s seat, she turned to him.
“Why are you here, exactly?”
“Can it wait five minutes until we get to the place I rented? I’d like to give you my full attention.” He gestured toward the apartment building. Three ladies stood on the front stoop pointing their cameras at the car.
“Your adoring public.”
He turned the ignition and drove off. “Your mother seems nice.”
Seems was the operative word. “She is. She’s had a hard life. She’s still working the evening shift at the grocery store.”
“She probably enjoys the social interaction.”
Sometimes he was so intuitive, and other times, thick as...steel. He turned the car toward the newer part of town, where subdivisions had sprung up.
“Is there a hotel out here?”
“No. I got a house. Figured it would be more private.” He turned into a long driveway leading upward to a semi-mansion on a big piece of property.
“Don’t tell me you bought this?”
He pressed the button on a remote and the garage door lifted. “No, my people arranged a rental. But it is for sale. Special deal for rich bad boys.”
She glanced at him, but he was busy sliding the car into the garage stall. She got out and walked with him to the door leading into the house.
The place was gorgeous. Hardwood floors and thick, white carpets, cherry wood cabinets and shiny appliances.
He gestured to the living room where hunter-green leather couches faced each other in front of a big, river rock fireplace. “Water?”
“No, thank you.” She sat and tucked her hands under her legs. Her jeans were old and comfortable, her plain, white T-shirt felt underdressed for the house.
He, of course, looked fabulous in his boots and jeans, big belt buckle, and a nice blue plaid snap-front dress shirt. He removed his hat and glasses and sat a space away from her on the couch.
“Can I start by apologizing?” He slung his arm across the back of the couch, not touching her.
“You can, if you’ll allow me the same privilege.” She’d been an overdramatic bitch, a game-player, and just downright foolish.
“You have nothing to be sorry for, Tracy. I was the one who listened in on your phone call. I called you a liar, and I didn’t trust you enough to tell you about Ryder.”
“You figured out I knew about him?”
“Yeah. Then Val fessed up to letting it slip.”
“I know it was none of my business, and it—”
“Wait. I get to go first, remember?” The smile that curved his lips for a second, disappeared. “I need to tell you the whole story. I learned that Ryder was my brother at a concert this spring. Chase, Ryder and I were on tour together, sharing top billing. Ryder’s mother had died some months before, but her will had a strange stipulation that took effect a half year after her death.”
She sat back, placing her palms flat on the butter-soft leather, wanting them to be on him, instead.
“A legal guy of some kind served papers on Ryder, and he read them out loud with Chase and me in the room.”
Tracy sucked in a breath.
“It was epic freaky. I called my dad and he’d received the same papers earlier in the day and had his attorney checking into it, but he denied all knowledge of having another son.”
“How did Ryder take it?”
“The guy was in shock. Luckily, he’d opened that night, so Chase went out to do the next set while Ryder and I tried to figure it out.”
“If you figured it out, why were you so angry about playing the Tulsa show with him? And...” She fidgeted. “I heard the two of you arguing backstage.”
Steele closed his eyes for a moment and let out a breath. “You’ve got to imagine my mindset right then. Ryder had become a good friend, part of my inner circle. I couldn’t believe it was a coincidence. I told him we would never let the information become public.”
“I can understand that.” She’d die of shame if the general public knew about her brother.
“Can you? Because looking back, I can’t.” He stood and paced behi
nd the couch. “I treated Ryder like shit, and my dad like the shovel used to clean it up. I wouldn’t believe Angus had no knowledge of his illegitim...” He stopped. “His other son.”
“What made you change your mind?”
“Angus, Ryder, and I had a talk in his hospital room. I’d run for months on pure anger when all I needed to do was go to the ranch and talk to my family to get things right in my head.”
“I’m glad you worked it out.” He seemed a different person now, too. More introspective, and less driven. “Will you go public with your relationship?”
He sat on the couch across from her. “Not right away. We need to think everything through and consult some experts before we do anything.” He stared at her but she could tell his mind was miles away.
Things became clear in her head. He wasn’t here for her, he was here for his family. “So you’re here today to ask me to keep it a secret?”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Tracy’s heart sunk like an anchor. Steele wanted to ensure she’d never reveal what she knew.
On the couch across the coffee table from her, he leaned forward, his brows dropping.
“Please trust me, Steele, don’t worry about my keeping your secret. I would never betray you by going to the tabloids.”
“No. That’s not why I’m here.” His eyes darkened and his jaw clenched. “I have no doubt that I can trust you, and it never occurred to me you’d sell our story.” He stood and stepped in front of her then sat on the coffee table, their knees touching. “I’m here to apologize for being a total ass, and to ask you to give me another chance.”
Her breath caught in her lungs. Joy bubbled out of her in a soft laugh. “Really?”
“Yeah, really.” He took her hands in his. “I don’t want to go another day without you.” He shook his head. “I realize you’ve got your career to think about, but let me have another try at working it out. We’ll keep it quiet. Sneaking around will be an adventure.” He rubbed his thumbs over her knuckles. “We’ll go slow this time. As slow as you want.” He blinked a few times, looking into her eyes for an answer.
Her chest expanded and ached with love for this man. “I don’t want to go slow. I want it all right now.”
A smile slowly curved his lips, “Yeah?”
Tugging his hands, she got him to sit next to her on the couch and wrap his arm around her. “I want to meet your dad and your brother, I want to spend long weekends at your ranch and your cabin.”
“And the resort?” He cocked a brow.
“Yes, that luscious resort, too.” She slowed her roll and bit her lip. “But I need to tell you something first.” Something that might make him change his mind. Just the thought of revealing her past made her stomach churn.
“Okay. Shoot.” His thumb traced circles on her shoulder.
The motion calmed her, gave her the courage to do this. He had to know all her secrets.
“I told you that Mom worked nearly her whole adult life at the grocery store, the evening shift. My dad worked days at the garage. When he’d come home, he drank until he passed out. Every night.”
“Tracy.” He leaned in and kissed her temple.
She’d love to melt into him, but this was where she needed to find her own strength.
“I’m five years younger than Donny. I don’t know how little I was, maybe three? But I remember very clearly walking over to play with his toys. He shoved me until I fell. After a while, the shoves turned into slaps, then as I got older, he’d hit me with his fist, somewhere that the bruises wouldn’t show.”
His hand tightened on her shoulder. “God, Tracy. If anyone ever...” He breathed deeply to regain his composure.
Was he thinking of his little niece and nephew? She said a quick prayer for their safety, but she knew their family life was nothing like hers.
Tracy shook as the memories came back. “When I could talk, I would try to tell my mother what was happening, and Mom would talk to Donny. Then, that night when Dad passed out, the beating would be twice as bad. By the time I was nine, I’d been in the hospital with cracked ribs, a dislocated shoulder, and a spine injury caused by a punch to my back.”
Steele’s eyes flooded and he pulled her against him. “Sugar, I’m so sorry.” His voice shook. “I can’t imagine how scary that was.”
She rested her head on his chest and let the tears escape. Let his touch, his concern for her start to heal her soul.
“I took to locking my door and bracing it shut with my dresser. I wouldn’t drink anything in the evening so I didn’t have to come out of my room to use the bathroom.” It was so much easier telling him this from the comfort of his arms.
His breathing was uneven and he rubbed his cheek against the top of her head. “I just want to...”
She knew. He wanted to kill someone. Maybe more of her family than just Donny.
“When he was fifteen, Donny found a gang of boys, and roamed the streets all night, and left me alone. By sixteen, he’d been arrested four times. Finally, he was arrested, convicted of a robbery and assault so brutal, they termed it ‘attempted second-degree murder’ and sent him to a juvenile detention center until he was twenty-one.” The best five years of her childhood.
“He got out and moved back home when I was in my first year of college, and I began to lock my bedroom door again, but he never came after me.”
“That had to be hell for you.”
“It was, but I qualified for free therapy sessions at school, and that helped during the day. At night, it was like living with strangers. Dad drank himself into a coma every night, I never saw Mom because she worked so late and I went to school during the day. Donny just sat in his room watching television.”
“The next few years, he was in and out of jail, prison, halfway houses, and drug rehab. He’s been in prison for three years now on a drug-related robbery with, of course, aggravated assault. He was just approved for parole, and Mom told him he could live with her.” She sat back. “I’m frightened for her, Steele. I don’t want him anywhere near her. He steals from her, and he is not kind to her.”
He smoothed her hair and looked into her eyes. His glowed with compassion. “That’s what all the paperwork is? Finding a place for him to live? Let me help.”
She shook her head.
“I didn’t mean that as controlling and taking over your life. I just thought if you needed me...”
She did need him, but not for that project. “I think Mom has it figured out, now. She’s made some good friends in her apartment building, and she admits she’d rather not have Donny living there.”
“It’s good that she realized it. If there’s anything I can do, you’ll let me know?”
“I will.” She melted back into his arms, her head on his chest. “Right now, just being close to you is all I need.”
“Sugar.”
“Thank you for listening. It wasn’t easy to tell you, but now that it’s all out, I just feel relief.”
“It was the same for me, telling you about Ryder. Thanks for giving me the chance to talk to you.”
“I didn’t think I’d ever see you again.”
“Once I stepped back and saw what I’d lost, I couldn’t get here fast enough.”
She needed to erase the tension still hanging between them. “Make love to me, Steele.”
His breathing stopped for long moments. He stood and picked her up in his arms. “I almost convinced myself you’d be better off without me.” He carried her up the curved staircase to the second floor and into a modern white and blue bedroom. He set her on her feet.
She cupped his cheeks. “Never. I don’t want to be without you again, even for a day.”
He stared for a moment. “Don’t ever hide anything from me again. There’s nothing you can do or say that I won’t want to share with you. Good or bad.”
She laced her fingers behind his neck. “Promise.”
“And I promise you’ll know all my secrets.”
“Any more
that you’ve forgotten to reveal?”
He touched his lips to hers. “Just one.” He placed her hand over his heart. “But I think it’s too soon. Let me keep this one to myself for a while longer.”
Her heart double-pumped. She had to swallow before she could suck in a breath. How could they be in love so quickly?
“What about you, Tracy? Any last revelations before we seal this with a kiss?”
“You’re here inside me, Steele.” She turned her hand and pressed his knuckles to her chest. “I carry you with me every moment.”
He kissed her, slowly, pressing his lips to hers as he swayed them back and forth to a song they both felt rather than heard. He traced her lips with his tongue, then parted them to follow the edge of her teeth.
Heat melted from her stomach down to her core. She touched her tongue to his as they parried and tangled them together, melding their breaths into one.
Against her tummy, his erection swelled and the place between her legs that needed him with a ferocious hunger began to swell and quiver.
“I want this to be slow, sugar. I want to taste you and watch you come for me. I want to be inside you forever and make you fly a dozen times.”
Nibbling on his lips, she rubbed her tight nipples against his chest, letting the flow of desire hit her low, wetting her pussy lips. “I can’t think of anything I’d like better.”
He hummed his approval and tugged her shirt up and off.
She grabbed his belt buckle and in seconds they were both perfectly naked.
He pulled back the comforter, picked her up and set her on the bed, the blue sheets soft beneath her back.
Sliding her to the edge, he knelt between her thighs.
His dark head there at her apex sent a shudder of pure lust racing through her, contracting her core and jerking her hips in tiny little thrusts.
His gaze met hers, his eyes dark and slitted. “This is what I need, sugar. All of you, bare and horny, just for me.”
A fresh wave of heat hit her down low and she cried out with the sweet ache.
He set her legs on his shoulders and bit her thigh, sucking, leaving his mark on her. “Mine, Tracy.”
Heart of Steele Page 19