A Steele for Christmas

by Brenda Jackson

  Eli smiled. “Yes, sir. Me. Engaged. Why is that so hard to believe?”

  “You’re a Steele and from what I hear, you’re the worst one in the pack when it comes to commitment.”

  Eli chuckled, refusing to acknowledge what Farmer had said was probably true. “People said the same thing about Galen. And as you recall it was hard for everyone to believe he got married, but you saw it with your own eyes since you attended the wedding.”

  Farmer nodded.

  Thinking he was on a roll and might as well be convincing as possible, Eli leaned back in his chair and added, “All it takes is the right woman to come along to change a man’s mind.”

  A huge smile then touched the man’s features. “You’re right about that. Me and my Claudia have been married for almost fifty years. And she’s still the apple of my eye.”

  The man then relaxed back in his chair, definitely a little more jovial. “Your announcement changes everything, Eli. I’m glad you’ve come to your senses and given up the endless parade of women. With a focused mind you’d make a great president of the council.”

  Eli smiled. Had he known it would have been this easy, he would have told the little white lie long ago. “Does that mean you’ll consider supporting me in my bid for president?”

  “Yes, once I see your engagement is legit and that you’re not pulling my leg. Has a date been set? And just who is this woman you’re marrying?”

  Eli swallowed. He hadn’t expected Farmer not to believe him or go further and question him about a name. “No, a date hasn’t been set and I doubt that you know her.”

  The man waved off his words. “That very well might be the case but I expect to meet her sometime. My Claudia will probably want to have her over for tea or something and introduce her to the other wives. I don’t know why the two of you are keeping your engagement a secret, however, to get my support you’d have to come out in the open about it. I want to meet her and I think the council’s Thanksgiving party will be the perfect time and place to introduce her to everyone. And I don’t like rushing things but since the elections are in January, I think a Christmas wedding would be nice. You can start off the year right with a wife.”

  Eli felt a tightening in his throat. He hadn’t counted on the man suggesting something like that. “A Christmas wedding?”

  “Yes. It’s a wonderful time to marry. So tell me, what’s her name? Who is the woman who has captured the heart of the elusive Eli Steele?”

  It was on the tip of his tongue to say such a woman didn’t exist, but Eli knew saying such a thing would catch him as a bald-face liar. So he said the name of the only woman who’d been in his thoughts lately. Not only was she in them but she was dominating them.

  “Stacey. Stacey Carlson.”

  And after saying the name, Eli knew he was now in one hot mess.

  Stacey stood at her stove stirring the pot of stew she’d made. She’d cooked more than enough and would drop a container over at Cohen’s tomorrow. The movers would be arriving soon to begin packing him up. He had made plans to move in with Tyson a few days after the party since her place was so small and Tyson lived close to the hospital.

  And since Tyson had such a huge condo with a breathtaking view of the mountains, he had suggested that she have Cohen’s going away party at his place. She had everything ordered for the party and now all the invitees had to do was show up on Saturday night, and there was no doubt in her mind that they would. Even Dee would be flying in Saturday morning to help her with any last-minute planning.

  She couldn’t help but smile when she thought about the number of customers who’d complimented her shop’s holiday decorations. And sales had been extremely good today. In fact, she’d had to order more of the dancing Santa, which seemed to be a favorite, as well as the dancing Rudolph who wagged his short tail and blinked his red nose.

  Turning the knob for the stew to continue to simmer, she grabbed the book she had begun reading off the table. It was an adventure thriller written by Rock Mason, one of her favorite authors, and just the type of book she needed to get her mind off Eli.

  He hadn’t dropped back in her shop that day and when she’d left for home she had noted his car was still in the parking lot. She shrugged, figuring he’d show back up when the time suited him, and the thought of him doing so didn’t bother her in the least. She didn’t have to remind herself that she and Eli were not in a committed relationship. She knew what side the bread was buttered on and didn’t want things any other way. In fact, she looked forward to seeing him again in the morning. After the hot quickie they’d shared in her office, there was no doubt in her mind that he would be back.

  An hour or so later she was stretched on the sofa reading her book when she heard the doorbell. A glance out the window indicated night had descended while she’d been engulfed in her novel. She shifted her gaze to the door when the doorbell sounded again and a rush of excitement moved up her spine.

  She knew who had come visiting. She placed her book on the table, eased off the sofa and crossed the room to the door. A quick look out the peephole confirmed the sensations flowing through her body. It was Eli. Her heart began hammering in her chest and fire seemed to flare through her blood. What was there about him that could make her react this way? Make her a passionate being, one she didn’t know existed but wanted to explore?

  Suddenly feeling naughty, she ran her hand through the curls on her head, tossed her head back as a rueful grin touched her lips. Eli was here for one reason only, and she didn’t have a problem with that reason. In fact, since she’d dropped the element of love from the mix of things for her, she felt better. She no longer had to worry about the possibility of her heart getting broken. There would be no more pain for her, and no sense of betrayal. She was determined to never have to worry about deception from another single male. From now on she would savor life, but not get bogged down in it.

  Heaving a sensual sigh, she turned the knob to open the door.

  When Stacey opened the door, Eli could only stand there a second and get his bearings. There was something about seeing her that was having some sort of effect on him. Yes, it was an arousing effect, but there was something else as well. Something he couldn’t put a name to. Something that seemed to be going over his head—the one attached to his neck—and landing straight into another.

  He shifted his stance and studied the smile on her lips. It was a warm smile. Inviting. Seductive. Instead of thinking he’d probably caught her at a bad time, for some reason he had a feeling he’d caught her at a good one.

  He held her gaze. Felt the heat. Inhaled her scent. And the depth of his desire and need for her was sending blood rushing into every part of his body.

  “Would you like to come in, Eli?”

  He blinked, realizing he hadn’t even said anything. Not even a greeting. The last time they’d seen each other had been that morning when he had made love to her in her office. “Yes, I’d like to come in.”

  She moved aside and he walked past her, fighting the urge to pull her into his arms, taste her lips and devour her mouth. He turned when he heard her close the door behind him. She was leaning against it wearing one of those short things again. A caftan was what they called it but it looked like pure seduction on her since it showed off her legs. Legs he loved to look at. Legs he loved having wrapped around him while they made love.

  “Umm, I guess you just happened to be in the neighborhood, right?” she asked.

  He eased his hands into the pockets of his jeans. That used to be the line he would give the women when he would show up unexpectedly for one of his famous booty calls. Did she assume that was what this was? When you think of it, she had no reason not to. And why did it suddenly bother him that she was so receptive to it, like the thought that he only wanted her for sex didn’t irk her one iota.

  “No, I didn’t just happen to be in the neighborhood. When I left home I knew this was my destination,” he said, being honest and wanting a reason to set
the record straight.

  She shrugged her shoulders. “The main thing is that you’re here.”

  His gaze had shifted from her eyes to her lips and had watched them move. Her lips in action sent a sensuous shiver through his body and he felt himself get hard when he thought about several things he liked about her lips.

  “Can I get you something?”

  It wasn’t what she asked but rather how she’d asked it that sent his heart pounding and his erection throbbing. He knew she had to see it since it was quite obvious he was hard for her. There was no way he could hide it now. “I’ll take a beer if you have it. A cold one,” he heard himself say. He needed a cold liquid to quell the heat flowing through his body.

  “Sure, one beer coming up.”

  She walked by him. Deliberately brushed against him. Intentionally ignited his already hot and aroused body. Instantly it burst into flames. Without thinking, purely acting on instinct and need, he reached out for her and the moment her body was plastered to his, testosterone he couldn’t control took over. Drove him over the edge.

  On a masculine growl he pushed her down on the sofa and came down on top of her as a yearning and hunger so intense it had his teeth rattling, took over. He captured her mouth in his while his hands stripped her of her clothes in a need to touch her body, every single inch of her skin. And he wanted to taste it as well. She had the flavor of peaches and crème, he decided as his lips moved over her, savoring her with a hunger he felt in every muscle of his body.

  When she was a hot, writhing mass of fire beneath him, he stood just long enough to strip off his own clothes and returned to her, easing between her legs and then entering her while her flames spread to engulf him. The moment he felt those familiar inner muscles clamp down on him, he exploded and screamed an orgasm. It was a full body climax and they were consumed by it. It was simply amazing. Hearing her scream his name made his heart clamor with pride.

  Moments later, he tried breathing again as he eased off her and slumped down off the sofa to the floor and stared up at the ceiling. If this kept up, Stacey was going to be the death of him. Making such a claim about a woman was simply unheard of for Eli.

  “Was it worth you stopping by, Eli?”

  He snapped his head up to where she lay on the sofa naked, and in a position that invited a repeat performance of what they’d just done. He fought the urge. “This is not why I’m here, Stacey. I didn’t come for this.”

  He’d said the words with more force than he’d intended and he watched her brow furrow, obviously confused by what he’d said. Easing to the edge of the sofa she propped herself up on her elbow to stare down at him.

  “If you didn’t come for this, then what did you come for, Eli?” she questioned in a surprised voice.

  It was a voice that apprised him of what she assumed his expectations were of her, her role in his life, which was basically the same function as with any other woman he associated with. She was about to find out just how wrong that assumption was.

  He pulled up his body while holding her gaze. When he got to within a breath of her lips, he spoke in a clear, distinct and serious voice.

  “I came here tonight to ask you to marry me.”

  Chapter 14

  Stacey was convinced if Eli hadn’t been so close to break her fall that she would have tumbled right off the sofa. Instead, every breath was sucked from her lungs and every ounce of blood in her body suddenly rushed to her head.

  Her reaction to what he’d said evidently was amusing, which would account for the smile that touched the corners of his lips. Now, she was equally convinced he had gone over the deep end.

  “Marry you?” she somehow found her voice to ask.

  “Yes, on Christmas Day.”

  Stacey frowned. “What have you been drinking, Eli? You don’t love me and I don’t love you. Why on earth would you suggest we marry? And besides that, you are not the marrying kind and we both know it.” Deep in her heart, Stacey wished Eli did have intense feelings for her. It would have been wonderful if Eli sincerely wanted her as his future wife, but that was just a farfetched fantasy.

  She watched him eyeing her as he leaned back on his haunches. That too-serious look reclaimed his features. “Yes, we both know it.” He didn’t say anything for a minute and then asked, “Do you recall me mentioning that a friend of mine suggested that I consider doing the wife for hire thing to win the presidency of the business council?”

  She nodded. “Yes, I remember.”

  “I decided to take his advice and do it.”

  His words had her looking at him like he was stone mad, but there was no help for it. He wasn’t thinking rationally. People didn’t pretend they were married to win elections.

  She eased off the sofa and stood. Being naked and having this sort of conversation with him didn’t jibe with her, so she dressed herself in the clothes he’d taken off. She knew he was watching her every move.

  “I know what you’re thinking,” he said.

  She glanced over at him while slipping on her caftan. “Do you?”

  “Yes. You think what I’m doing is manipulating the process.”

  “And you don’t?”

  “No. I see it as a way to get what I want.”

  And Eli Steele always got what he wanted, she thought.

  “Okay, you’ve decided to take your friend up on his idea and hire someone to be your wife to win the presidency of this business council. What does that have to do with me?”

  He pulled himself to his feet to put on his own clothes. “Your name was the first to come to mind.”

  “As a possible wife?”

  “Yes.”

  Stacey frowned as she went back to sit on the sofa, trying not to notice how sexy he looked slipping back into his briefs. “Let me explain something to you, Eli. What happened between me and my ex-fiancé left more than a bitter taste in my mouth regarding marriage. The old me used to walk around and see things through rose-colored glasses. Well, those glasses are now broken and I see things more clearly now. What I see is that marriage—pretend or otherwise—isn’t for me.”

  “You haven’t heard the deal I’m offering. I suggest you do so before turning down my proposal.”

  Stacey sighed and looked away, knowing what he was offering really didn’t matter. She wasn’t getting married for all the wrong reasons. She pushed to the back of her mind the thought that she’d once planned to get married for all the right reasons, yet she’d gotten screwed over anyway.

  She leaned back against the sofa and crossed her legs. “Okay, Eli, what are you offering?”

  He zipped up his pants and to Stacey, the sound seemed to echo all through the room. “For starters,” he said, holding her gaze. “I will pay you one hundred thousand dollars.”

  Stacey’s eyes widened. “One hundred thousand dollars?”

  “Yes. And you’ll retain ownership of anything—gifts or otherwise—that you get from me while we’re engaged or married. I consider myself a very generous man.”

  Stacey nervously licked her lips. That she could believe. She doubted he had a selfish bone in his body, just several arrogant ones. She shook her head. “All that sounds good but I’m still not interested.”

  He inhaled what sounded like a frustrated breath as he belted his jeans. “Then what will it take for you to be interested? There has to be something you want that will convince you to change your mind.”

  There really wasn’t, Stacey thought. There was nothing to make her want to share anything with a man other than what she was already doing with Eli. Now that she was getting the hang of this casual affair thing, she thought it wasn’t so bad. No emotional entanglement was the only way to go. Her heart wasn’t on the line and she didn’t have to worry whether he was being faithful to her.

  And now he was proposing marriage of all things. Not a real marriage, just a fake one if it got that far. But there would be an engagement and she knew far too well how those worked. At least she thought she did.
Wallace had come with his own set of rules.

  Out of curiosity, she asked, “What happens if I agree to do it?”

  He slid into the wing chair opposite her. “We announce to family and friends we’ve decided to marry, which of course will garner a lot of surprise and questions. But I’ll have a script prepared in advance so we’ll know what to say.”

  Stacey nodded. She knew for sure that he would.

  “And then,” he continued, “nothing between us changes other than we will be operating in the open pretending to be an engaged couple very much in love. In other words, we will have an exclusive relationship like we have now.”

  A look of surprise showed in her expression. “We’ve been having an exclusive relationship?”

  He seemed surprised she would ask. “Yes. You thought I’ve been seeing other women while sleeping with you?”

  She shrugged. “I really wasn’t sure what you were doing, Eli. I didn’t concern myself with such things. You assured me you were healthy and would stay that way. That was good enough for me.” She could have sworn she’d seen something flash in the depths of his green eyes at her statement. But it was so quick she couldn’t be certain.

  “And then we will have a very private wedding on Christmas to make it seem that we want to ring in the New Year right,” he added. “The election is the last week in January and you’ll remain married to me for a full year after that. And just in case you’re worried, the contractual terms of our marriage and subsequent divorce will not be drawn up by me to avoid any type of conflict of interest. I plan on using Jared Westmoreland. I’m sure you’ve heard of him.”

  Yes, she’d heard of the nationally known attorney who handled the divorce cases of a number of the rich and famous. “Yes, I’ve heard of him.”

  “Well, Jared happens to be the brother of my cousin-in-law. Quade Westmoreland is married to my cousin, Cheyenne, and they live in Charlotte. I called Jared to discuss my proposal before coming over here.”