“No, what do you think?” she asked.
“Of course it needs to be your decision, but in a way you can practically kill two birds with one stone. If you accept Galen Steele’s offer, not only will you get your mother’s house free and clear, but you’ll also find out if your dislike of sex is something you need to explore professionally. But I have a feeling Galen Steele will unlock all the hidden pleasures locked away inside you. It takes a man with an experienced touch to do that, and I hear that’s what Galen Steele has.”
Brittany shook her head, not convinced the suggested approach was the right one. “I don’t know, Nikki. The couple of guys I slept with before…I could only do it because I liked them, although I never fancied myself in love with them. I’m not sure I can have casual sex with anyone just for the sake of sex. Besides, I’m not all that certain I even like Galen Steele. Both times when our paths crossed he didn’t impress me as someone with good manners.”
Nikki threw her head back and laughed. “Manners are the last thing you’ll think about when the big ‘O’ strikes. And trust me, Brit, you won’t be doing it just for the sake of doing it. You’ll be doing it for pleasure, and there’s plenty of pleasure out there waiting for you. I think you just need the right man and I’m totally convinced Galen Steele is that man. Think about it.”
Brittany nodded. She certainly had strong motivation for doing so—her house was at stake. However, like she’d told Nikki, she wasn’t sure if she could engage in casual sex and enjoy it. Then again, she’d done it a couple of times with guys she was involved with at the time and hadn’t enjoyed it, either.
She picked up her menu and eyed her friend over the top. “All right. I’ll think about it.”
Eli Steele glared at the man sitting on the opposite side of his desk. He’d often wondered about his oldest brother’s mental state and this was one of those times. “Let me get this straight, Galen. You rushed me to fax that damn loan approval letter to you yesterday so that you could bid on some house you really don’t want? A house you are now signing over to some woman you really don’t know?”
Galen nodded slowly. “Yes, that sounds about right to me. You have a problem with any of it?” Eli was son number three and there was barely a two-year difference in their ages. It amused Galen how their father had kept their mother barefoot and pregnant for six years straight. She’d given birth to a son each year. They’d grown up close, and they still were, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t rattle each other’s cages at times. He often wondered how his mother had handled living in a house filled with so much testosterone.
“No, I don’t have a problem with it because it’s your money,” Eli said.
“And you’re my attorney,” he reminded him, which his brother seemed to forget sometimes. In addition to being the corporate attorney for SID, Eli was legal counsel for several other private companies and was doing quite well for himself. Which was probably why a couple of years ago, right before his thirtieth birthday, he’d bought the perfect building for his law practice in downtown Phoenix: the hub of business activities, and right in the heart of the valley. Prime real estate property if ever there was any.
Galen would be the first to admit the high-rise building was a beautiful piece of architecture and had been a wise investment for his brother to make. It was huge, spacious and upscale. Eli’s firm took up the entire twentieth floor. The other floors were leased, which brought him in a nice profit each month. Another plus was the view from Eli’s office window. He saw straight into a penthouse fitness center across the street, and Galen could just imagine his brother sitting behind his desk checking out the women.
“I’ll have the papers ready for you to pick up later this evening,” Eli told him.
“Go ahead and overnight the deeds to her because I won’t be seeing her again.”
He decided not to tell Eli about the outlandish proposition he’d made to the woman, probably because knowing Eli, he wouldn’t consider it outlandish at all. And under normal circumstances, neither would he. But again, he knew how much that house meant to Brittany Thrasher so for once he’d given in to his soft spot and not his hard-on.
He smiled thinking there were women who wouldn’t believe he had a soft spot, and very few could touch it like Brittany Thrasher had.
Chances were she was on her way back home to Florida. He’d have loved to be there to see her face when she received the papers giving her the house, property and land, free and clear.
“Do you have her address?”
Galen rolled his eyes. “Why would I have her address? I met her only twice.”
“Yet you’re giving her a property worth a lot of money?”
Leave it to Eli to try and make things difficult. His brother had a habit of rationalizing things too much. “No, the house was already hers. I’ve already explained that it was willed to her by her biological mother.”
“Gotcha. You’re such a nice guy, a real champion of good causes,” Eli said sarcastically. And then he added, “It’s hard to believe there won’t be anything in this for you.”
It was hard for Galen to believe that, too. He’d made her that outlandish proposal, but hadn’t really expected her to go for it. Not with her being Miss Manners and all. She probably figured his offer was just another display of his ill-mannered and brutish side. But he couldn’t help but wonder how things might have been if she had accepted his offer.
He could just imagine spending a week behind closed doors with her. She would teach him manners and he would teach her how to let her hair down, live for the moment. He would love to see those caramel-colored eyes turn chocolate-brown from something other than anger. A full-blown orgasm would do the trick.
“Is there anything else? You’re just sitting here not saying anything.”
Eli’s words whipped Galen’s mind back on track and he quickly stood. “No, that’s about it. If possible I’d like the papers sent today, so she’ll get them tomorrow. She might want to return to Phoenix and go through her mother’s belongings.”
A part of him was counting on her doing so and he intended to make it his business to be around when she did. Maybe all wasn’t lost after all.
“Excuse me, Galen, but I have work to do. Now you’re just standing there, staring into space and smiling.”
Galen shook his head. To know Eli was to love him. He could be such a pain in the ass. “You’re going to the folks’ for dinner tomorrow night?” he decided to ask before he left.
“Of course. Who could be brave enough to miss it? If we don’t show up for Mom’s Thursday-night family dinner hour, there’s no telling what will happen the next day. She might decide to come around snooping.”
Galen knew that to be true. Mercury hadn’t shown up one night last month and before he could wake up Friday morning, Eden Steele was on his doorstep. She’d told him that because son number five had missed such an important family activity, she was duty-bound to spend the whole day with him. Unfortunately, Mercury hadn’t been alone when their mother had shown up. By the end of the day, after driving their mother around town—to do some mother-and-son bonding as she’d called it—Mercury hadn’t been too happy.
“Then I will see you tomorrow night.” He turned to leave and then stopped and said, “And by the way, I like your new administrative assistant. She has nice legs.”
Eli grunted. “I wouldn’t know. I haven’t noticed.”
Liar, Galen thought. He happened to know Eli was a leg man. Chances were he’d not only noticed, but he’d already been between those same legs. If he hadn’t gotten that far already, there was no doubt in Galen’s mind that Eli was finalizing his plans to get there.
Galen couldn’t help chuckling as he walked out the door. He wasn’t mad at Eli. That was the Steeles’ way. And why did another part of him wish things had worked out differently between him and Brittany Thrasher? It would have been nice had she agreed to his proposal. Just as well that she hadn’t, though, because he had plenty of work to
do back at his garage. He needed to get his mind back on track and finish working on his latest video game project.
But when it came to a woman who looked like Brittany Thrasher, he would trade in a bunch of electronic parts for her real body parts any day.
Brittany sat staring at her cell phone and the business card she had placed beside it. She had a decision to make and doing so wasn’t easy. She had enjoyed dinner with Nikki; it’d been like old times as they’d reminisced and caught up on each other’s lives. They had agreed to do lunch before Brittany returned home…if she didn’t take Galen Steele up on his offer.
Drawing in a deep breath, she reached for her phone and then quickly snatched her hand back. She was not ready to do anything just yet. She glanced over at the clock. Only sixteen hours had passed since Galen Steele had made his offer and he’d given her forty-eight. That meant she had thirty-two hours to go. Because she hadn’t been sure what to expect with this trip to Phoenix, especially how long she would have to stay, she had purchased a one-way ticket. One of her employees was covering her etiquette training classes for the next couple of weeks, so she didn’t have to worry about work, either.
She stood and decided that no matter how much she wanted her mother’s home and the belongings inside it, she would not make any hasty decisions where Galen Steele was concerned. It was quite obvious the man wanted only one thing from her and it had nothing to do with teaching him manners like he claimed. Mind you, his manners could use some improving, but she wasn’t that gullible to believe he wanted her to stay under his roof for seven days to perfect his pleases and thank-yous.
She lay across the bed and grabbed the remote to flick on the television. She was not a television person, but for lack of anything else to do for now, she would see if there was anything on the tube worth watching. She had thought of driving back out to her mother’s house, but there would be no purpose served in doing that.
As she lay there looking at the television without actually seeing it, she couldn’t help wondering about the pros and cons of staying with Galen for a week. He didn’t come across as the type of man who would try and force a woman to do anything she didn’t want to do. But still…
Would she have a guest bedroom, or did he assume she would be sharing his? And just what type of manners did he want to be taught? Most people knew the basic manners; they just didn’t use them. And then there was the issue of her little problem… If she spent an entire week with him, would Galen cure her of her sexual hang-ups? Her low libido had never bothered her. Now she was beginning to wonder if it should have.
She pulled the pillow from under her head and then smothered her face with it. It swallowed up her groan. This was all Galen’s fault. The man not only had her thinking, but he also had her feeling things she’d never felt before. Nikki would think that was a good sign.
She removed the pillow off her face, tossed it aside and stared up at the ceiling. She thought about the last serious relationship she’d been involved in with Gilford Turner. For an entire year he would arrive after church on Sunday like clockwork and stay until Tuesday. They never discussed marriage and that had been fine with her as much as it had been with him. His mother had been the only one bothered by their lack of motivation to get to the altar. For them, there had been no big rush.
She hadn’t fooled herself into thinking that she was in love with him or vice versa. They liked each other and that was as far as it went. That’s why when he’d dropped by one day during the week to announce he wouldn’t be coming back, with a smile on her face she’d gathered up all of his belongings, placed them in a box and walked him to the door and wished him well. In the days, weeks and months that followed, she hadn’t pined after him, nor had she missed his presence. She had carried on with her life and her Sundays through Tuesdays had once again become her own.
And as for the sex…
She could honestly say she hadn’t missed any of it because there hadn’t been anything inspiring about it.
A year after Gilford, she’d tried getting back into the dating thing again and it took less than a month to decide she hadn’t wanted the hassles, the aggravation or the drama of getting to know another man. Most tried to be slick and only had one thing on their mind. Sex. At some point she realized she’d rather have a root canal than to contemplate having sex with a man.
Would Galen be different? She was attracted to him, that much was a given. And around him she’d felt a sexual interest that she hadn’t felt toward a man before, which could be considered a plus. And for the first time in her life she could admit to dreaming about hot, sweaty sex. Galen himself had crept into her dreams during those times.
Indulging her nervous habit, she bit her bottom lip. She had decisions to make and for now she needed her full concentration. She turned off the TV. She had to think. Boy, did she have to think.
Chapter 6
His cell phone rang and Galen absently pressed the Bluetooth in his ear without taking his gaze off the sixty pieces of software components in front of him. It was the middle of the day and he was in his air-conditioned six-car garage working on what would be the brain of his next video game. He had worked on what he considered the senses last night.
“This is Galen.”
“Mr. Steele, this is Brittany Thrasher.”
He shifted his gaze to a copy of the FedEx receipt Eli had dropped off earlier. Because he’d been busy at the time, he had placed it on his desk. He wasn’t surprised she was calling. Evidently she’d gotten the overnight package and was calling to thank him.
“Yes, Ms. Thrasher?”
“I was wondering if we could meet somewhere and talk.”
He lifted a brow, surprised. “You’re still in Phoenix?”
“Yes.”
He put down the pliers he’d been holding. If she was still in Phoenix that meant she was unaware he’d signed the house over to her. “And what do you want to talk about?”
“Your proposal. I have some questions about it.”
He drew in a deep, steadying breath as he tried to get his heart rate under control, while at the same time ignore the throbbing in his groin. Was she seriously contemplating taking him up on his offer? He definitely hadn’t expected her to do so. The decent thing to do would be to come clean and tell her that he’d signed the house over to her, so there was no need for them to discuss the proposal. But he couldn’t help being curious about her questions.
“What kind of questions?” he heard himself asking.
“First of all, I want to know where I’ll be sleeping while I’m under your roof.”
Several visual images flashed through his mind. Maybe now was not a good time to tell her that if he had his way, she wouldn’t be doing much sleeping. “Where would you want to sleep?” he decided to ask her.
“In a guest bedroom.”
He smiled, not surprised. “That could be arranged for the first couple of days.” There was no reason to tell her that if that’s where she slept, then that’s where he would also be sleeping.
“And I know granting this request might be a little difficult, especially for a man I’m teaching manners to, but I’d like you to promise to keep your hands to yourself.”
He couldn’t help but throw his head back and laugh. “When?”
“Excuse me?”
Oh, he wouldn’t excuse her, not even a little bit. “I asked when am I supposed to keep my hands to myself?”
“At all times.”
His smile widened. He hadn’t done that since grade school when Cindy Miller had squealed to the teacher on him for kissing her neck. “Sorry, I can’t make you that promise because I do intend to touch you,” he said, deciding he might as well tell her the truth.
“Mr. Steele, this is only a coincidence but believe it or not, I teach manners for a living.”
He chuckled. “You don’t say.”
“I do say. I own Etiquette Matters and I take my work seriously. If I decided to accept your proposal—and that’
s a big ‘if’—my sole purpose would be to teach you manners.”
“In that case, Ms. Thrasher, maybe the first thing on your list should be to teach me how to keep my hands off you.” He leaned back in his chair, clearly enjoying this. He could imagine she was pretty damn annoyed with him about now.
“Is there any way we can renegotiate your offer?”
She had to be kidding. “No. I have something you want and you have something I want. You either come to live with me for a week or the house and its contents go to charity.”
“You are being difficult, Mr. Steele.”
He smiled. Now that she had surprised the hell out of him by showing an interest, she hadn’t seen anything yet.
“There’s no reason for me to make it easy for you, Ms. Thrasher. I gave you my terms. You can either accept them or reject them. You have less than ten hours to decide.”
He wished they were talking face-to-face. He figured her bottom lip was quivering in anger about now, and he would love to see, even better, he’d love to taste that anger.
“I’d like to make a counteroffer.”
He shook his head. She didn’t know when to give up. She was definitely persistent and he liked that about her because he was the same way. He didn’t say anything for a while, deciding to let her statement hover between them for a minute. And then, “Because I consider myself a fair man, I’ll let you do that. But we need to meet in person,” he said. He rubbed his chin. “I can come to your hotel.”
“I prefer we meet someplace else.”
“If you insist. Let’s meet at Regis. It’s a coffee shop in downtown Phoenix, walking distance from your hotel.”
“I never told you the name of my hotel.”
He thought quick on his feet. “I didn’t say that you did. I assume you’re staying at one of the hotels downtown.”
Hidden Pleasures Page 5