And that’s why he knew he had to take whatever steps necessary to make sure it stopped now. He drew in a calming breath, trying to force any and all thoughts of Stacey Carlson from his mind. Not even Liz had affected him like this. He couldn’t recall any one woman who ever had.
He was about to turn the corner toward the interstate to head home when his cell phone rang. He turned up his car’s speaker knowing it was probably one of his brothers. He just wasn’t sure which one. Besides his parents, they were the only ones who had his private number. “Yes?”
“Come join us. We’re celebrating.”
It was Tyson, the doctor in the family. “Celebrating what?”
“Cohen’s promotion to Chief Surgeon in a hospital in Florida.”
Eli pressed the brakes to keep from ramming into the back of the car in front of him. “What? Cohen’s leaving town?”
“Yes, in two weeks.”
Eli’s stomach dropped. Two weeks? With Cohen leaving town, that meant his sister would do the same. The only reason Stacey was even in Phoenix was because she had joined Cohen after her wedding had been called off. He should be elated if she left. Her leaving town definitely solved his problem. He wouldn’t have to ignore her since she wouldn’t be around.
So why wasn’t he smiling? Why wasn’t he eager to pull over and park just to do a happy dance? Mainly because he couldn’t get her or that kiss out of his mind, and the thought of not seeing her whenever he wanted, especially on his terms, was unacceptable. In his mind, Florida could just as well be on the other side of the world.
“Since he’s taking his sister with him, I guess I should be concerned about a broken lease,” he said, just in case Tyson started wondering why he hadn’t made a comment.
“Will you think of something other than the possibility of losing money, Eli? And for your information, Stacey is staying here. She’s not moving to Florida with Cohen.”
Eli hit his car’s brakes again. “What do you mean she’s not leaving?”
“Just what I said, she’s not leaving. She likes it here. So don’t worry about any loss of revenue. Are you joining us or not?”
Eli’s head felt like it was spinning. Stacey wasn’t moving away after all? She liked it here? Why was he releasing a deep sigh of relief? Why did he feel the need to wipe sweat from his brow?
He gathered himself enough to answer his brother. “Yes, I’m coming. Where’s the celebration being held?”
After getting the name of the sports bar from Tyson, he made a quick u-turn at the next corner. He wanted to know why the hell Cohen was leaving town and wasn’t taking his sister with him.
“Hey, Stace, where are you?”
Stacey heard the excitement in her brother’s voice through her cell phone. She could also hear a lot of noise in the background. “I’m on my way home.”
“You’re late, aren’t you?”
She smiled. “Yes. I got several late deliveries and I wanted to go through the boxes. They were new items for the holidays.”
“Well, how about coming here? I’m at Ireland Bar and Grill. My promotion has been announced and a couple of friends from the hospital are buying drinks. I want you here, but if you’re too tired then…”
“I’m on my way.”
She clicked off the phone and smiled. As far as family went, she and Cohen were all that was left after Aunt Maggie had died. And if he wanted her there then she would be there. Besides, what else did she have to do once she got home?
Other than continue to think about the kiss she had shared with Eli.
It was Friday evening and while most women were planning their weekend curled in a man’s arms, she was planning to spend hers curled up with a good book. Between the covers of a book was safer than between the bed covers with a man, she rationalized.
At least she had a Halloween party to go to this weekend. It was for charity and she was going solo. She had purchased the tickets from one of her customers and since it was for a good cause, she figured she would get out of the house and have some fun.
Stacey made a right at the next corner, grateful she wasn’t too far away from where Cohen and his hospital friends were celebrating. She could just imagine what Eli Steele was thinking about now. Was he assuming that kiss would be the first of many? Was he setting her up as his next conquest? There was no doubt in her mind he probably had big plans for the weekend. Womanizers always did.
The thought of Eli and his arrogance only made her get mad at herself for succumbing to his charms. So why had she done it? She knew the answer without much thought. Eli got next to her on a sensual level. He had the ability to make every single nerve ending in her body chime to the sound of his low and husky voice. The chemistry she’d always imagined she felt between them was very real. They had proven it that afternoon in her shop. And it hadn’t ended there. When he’d walked her to her car and she had glanced at him one last time before getting inside, she had seen the heated desire still simmering in the depths of his green eyes.
And her body had responded in kind.
She drew in a deep breath trying to remember the last time she had made love with a man. She and Wallace had decided a year before the wedding to stop sleeping together to make their special day that much more memorable. At least that’s what he’d suggested to her. At the time, she hadn’t known about him and Gail. He had stopped sleeping with her to start sharing a bed with a woman she’d considered a friend. Some friend.
She had heard from her friends in Memphis that the couple was talking about getting married in the spring. How ironic was that? The woman who had helped to ruin Stacey’s own spring wedding was now planning one of her own. In a way, Gail had done her a big favor. She now saw that marrying Wallace would have been a huge mistake.
Just like kissing Eli had been another mistake. She could handle the passion; in fact, she would even go so far and admit that she had enjoyed it tremendously. But sexual pleasure wasn’t worth the pain she’d one day experience from a man like Eli Steele. Unless… Unless she could play the game like him. Could she? Could she enjoy passion with a man like Eli and not let her emotions get involved? Men did it all the time so why couldn’t she? She’d tried the love-forever-after way of thinking and it hadn’t worked. So what was next for her?
She didn’t want to sound cynical, but Wallace had definitely opened her eyes. Men were not to be trusted when it came to a woman’s heart so why put it in their hands?
Then she thought about Eli Steele’s hands. She’d seen them numerous times when he would give her his credit card. They were big hands, strong hands. She could just imagine how those same hands would feel touching her body all over. The thought made heat thrum slowly through her, made her nipples strain tight against her blouse.
She forced all thoughts of Eli from her mind when she reached Ireland, a local hangout near the hospital. She was determined that no matter how sad she was about Cohen leaving, she would put a smile on. She had no choice.
Eli knew the moment Stacey entered the restaurant. It wasn’t just the scent of her perfume that gave her away. It was as if he had a built-in radar where she was concerned. He had been talking to his brother, Jonas, when he’d lifted his glass to take a sip of his drink and glanced across the room. Their gazes connected when they saw each other at the same time. He could tell she was surprised to see him there. He hadn’t expected to see her, either. He could tell by her expression that his presence was affecting her, just as hers was affecting him.
“I see Stacey has arrived,” Jonas said, recapturing his attention.
He glanced back over at his brother. “You knew she was coming?”
If Jonas thought the question odd, he didn’t let on. “Yes, I was with Cohen when he called her. She was on her way home.”
Jonas then looked at him and lifted a brow. “Is she behind in her lease payments or something?”
Eli frowned. “No.”
“They why do you have a problem with her being here?”
&nb
sp; Eli thought Jonas was too perceptive for his own good. “What makes you think I have a problem with her being here?”
Jonas, the Steele brother who was barely a year younger than him and who had eyes that were shrewd and assessing, tossed him a sly grin. “Because I know you, Eli. I didn’t miss your reaction when you saw Stacey walk in. It was as if you’d preferred being somewhere else.”
In a way, Jonas was right. But what his brother didn’t know was that he really preferred being someplace else with Stacey. And that was the crux of his problem. “Well, you read me wrong. I don’t have a problem with her being here. Why would I?”
Jonas chuckled. “I don’t know how your mind works, Eli, and I truly don’t want to know. But all I have to say is that if Stacey is lodged anywhere in that brain of yours, get her out of it. I heard that Cohen asked Tyson to look out for her after he leaves town, and you know what that means. If Tyson even thinks you’re sniffing behind Cohen’s sister he will kick your you-know-what.”
There was no doubt in Eli’s mind what Jonas said was true. Tyson could get possessive when something was left in his protective custody. To change the subject, Eli got Jonas talking about the marketing firm he owned and the initiatives that Jonas’s firm was presently working on.
Eli and his brothers were successful and they had their parents to thank for that. His father had started a trucking company years ago—the same company his brother, Gannon, now ran. Tyson was the doctor in the family and Mercury was the former NFL quarterback turned sports agent. Galen had made his millions creating video games.
Although Eli was hearing what Jonas was saying, he really wasn’t listening. His attention was drawn to Stacey as she stood across the room talking to Roland Whiterspoon, another doctor at the hospital where Tyson and Cohen worked. He wondered what the hell that was about when everyone knew Whiterspoon’s reputation as a womanizer.
Eli refused to even consider that his opinion of the man’s exploits was like the pot calling the kettle black. It was the principle of the thing. He knew how far to take things with Stacey, whereas Roland wouldn’t care one iota. Then again, was kissing her like he’d done earlier today knowing how far to take things? Had he crossed the line? Was he any better than the likes of Whiterspoon?
Still…he’d never cared much for Whiterspoon and the thought of her spending any amount of time in the man’s presence annoyed the hell out of him.
“What’s this I hear about you wanting to run for president of Phoenix’s Business Council?”
Eli took a sip of his drink. He had been a member of Phoenix’s elite group of businessmen for years—right after opening his first law practice. He figured it was time to step up and do more than just sit on the sidelines. He had everything going for him. He was an astute businessman who owned a sky-rise in downtown Phoenix, he was on the board of several local companies and he was known to chair numerous charitable fundraisers each year. As far as he was concerned, that presidency position all but had his name stamped all over it. The other man who was interested, Samuel Nesbitt, didn’t have nearly as much going for him as Eli felt that he had.
“Yes, but running is just a formality since I feel certain I’ve got it in the bag. Over the years I’ve done everything I needed to do to stay in good standing with the other local businessmen. All you need to do is make plans to attend my inauguration party.”
“Pretty damn sure of yourself, aren’t you?” Jonas asked, rolling his eyes.
“And there’s no reason why I shouldn’t be,” Eli said smoothly. “Like I said, I’ve been eyeing that position for years. I’m the best person for the job and they all know it.”
Jonas laughed. “You don’t have a short supply of confidence, do you?”
Eli took a sip of his drink, deciding not to waste his time acknowledging what Jonas had said. Instead, he fixed his gaze on Stacey when she walked off from Whiterspoon to head toward the snacks table. The owner of Ireland had given them a private room. And because most in attendance were some of the man’s most loyal customers from the hospital, he had even prepared a tray of finger sandwiches for them.
“Excuse me a minute, will you?” he said, already moving away and not waiting for his brother’s reply. He needed to talk to Stacey. He wasn’t sure what he would say to her when he did talk to her. But as he crossed the room toward her, he knew he would think of something.
The closer he got, the more he realized that, except for what he’d been able to glean from his brothers without them getting suspicious, he knew very little about Stacey Carlson. And for some reason, which he didn’t fully understand, he intended to remedy that.
He was headed in her direction.
She felt her hand holding the small plate of food begin to tremble and forced her composure to strengthen. After all, Eli Steele was just a man. But what a man he was.
Not able to resist a moment longer, she released a deep sigh and then turned her head to look at him. The features returning her stare were so intense they almost took her breath away.
She met Eli’s steady gaze when he approached her, grabbing his own plate to fill it as if he hadn’t deliberately sought her out. “I’m surprised to see you here, Stacey.”
She heard something in his voice. Was it an arrogant gloat? After the kiss they’d shared, had he expected her to go home and daydream about it? Hide out behind locked doors and pant until the next time she saw him?
“I’m surprised to see you here as well, Eli,” she decided to say. She’d bit into a tasty sandwich earlier but nothing, she thought, was tastier than her memory of his kiss.
“I get around,” was his quick comeback.
“So do I,” was hers.
He chuckled dryly. “Why do I feel that we’ve gotten off to a bad start?”
She wondered why he was trying to make it seem as if they hadn’t met months ago or hadn’t kissed earlier. The attraction had been there in the beginning. She would even admit feeling more than a tinge of something that night at Cohen’s birthday party when they’d been introduced. At least she could definitely claim that was when he’d begun invading her dreams.
She inclined her head. “And what makes you think we’ve gotten off to a bad start?”
He smiled, as if admiring the little bit of spunk she was trying to bolster. That was good, she thought. He didn’t have to know that although she might be trying to display a tough facade, she was all mushy inside and was somewhat annoyed by the vulnerability she felt around him. And it was the type of weakness and defenselessness she had no business feeling around any man. All it took was a memory of what Wallace had done to remind her that all men were a liability she could do without.
But Eli was different. Not only was he different, he was even more dangerous than any man she’d ever known. Never before had she been so attracted to a man, desired him so much. She was even entertaining thoughts of getting into his pants and ruffling his usually cool demeanor. Thinking about how fine he was could make her pant for days, but actually seeing him in the flesh would be enough to give a woman heart failure.
“Us getting off to a bad start was just my take on things,” he said quietly.
“Then let me assure you that your take is wrong.”
He looked at her and she wished he hadn’t done that. The last thing she needed was for those green eyes to be trained directly on her. “Possibly,” he said softly. “But you know very well why I think that way.”
Yes, she knew. But she needed to make him think, get him to assume what would go down as the best kiss of her life was nothing she intended to lose sleep over. “Then rest assured you shouldn’t think that way. It was only a kiss.”
He didn’t have to know it had been a kiss with the power to curl her toes and make her stomach quiver. The less Eli Steele knew of her innermost reactions to him, the better. He didn’t have to know that even now, despite his reputation, she wouldn’t mind going somewhere to jump his bones.
He moved closer, as if he wanted to try one of the
sandwiches on the tray in front of her. Instead, he leaned into her and his thick-lashed green eyes made her heat up all over. In a low, gruff voice, he said, “I’d love to prove it was more than that, Stacey. And let me give you fair warning that one day, I will.”
Chapter 5
It was Wednesday morning and Stacey had just finished waiting on the last of her early morning customers when her cell phone rang. She smiled when she recognized the name showing up on her caller ID. It was Deidre Lewis, the woman who’d been her closest girl-pal since high school.
She clicked on the line. “Hey, what’s going on, Dee?”
In return she got her friend’s warm, vibrant laugh, with the smile Stacey knew she could not see. “Not a thing, but if little Tommy Fielder pulls Melissa Simpkins’s hair one more time to cause her to cry, I’m going to give him a taste of his own medicine and pull his.”
Stacey couldn’t help but laugh. Dee was a kindergarten teacher who enjoyed sharing her students’ escapades with Stacey. “Hey, watch it. That might be true love budding. Twenty years from now Tommy just might be Melissa’s husband. Don’t you know that’s what little boys do when they want to get little girls’ attention?”
“Whatever. All I know is his hair pulling strategy is getting on my nerves.”
Stacey couldn’t help but grin, grateful for Dee’s call. Her best friend was one of the few people who could get her out of a funk and she hated to admit she was definitely in one. Especially since it was past ten and Eli hadn’t been to her shop. In fact, he hadn’t dropped by in three days. She’d seen him stroll past without glancing her way. With a newspaper in his hand.
The loss of sales didn’t bother her as much as the fact that after plying her lips off last Friday, he could so easily dismiss her.
“I called to make sure you’re still coming to my parents’ anniversary party,” Dee said, reclaiming her attention.
Stacey smiled thinking Dee’s parents were the greatest. Back in high school she had made their house her second home and whenever her aunt had to travel or work late, that was where Stacey would stay. “Of course I plan on being there,” she said, chuckling. It would be the couple’s fortieth year together and Dee and her two brothers were planning a celebration the first weekend in December. “Any reason I shouldn’t?”
A Steele for Christmas Page 4