Night Heat. Brenda Jackson

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      “So, Bas, I hope you can see why you being here, keeping an eye on things, won’t work.”

      Bas’s lips curved into a smile. Although she had spent the last twenty minutes stating her case, trying to explain why his services weren’t needed, he didn’t see any such thing.

      He glanced over at Jason Kilgore. The man had stopped fighting sleep—or boredom, whichever the case—and was leaning back in his chair and dozing quietly. Unlike Kilgore, Bas had given Jocelyn his full attention. It was hard to do otherwise.

      First she had paced in front of him a few times, as if she’d needed to collect her thoughts. He, on the other hand, had needed to rein in his. The sunlight filtering through Kilgore’s window had hit her at an angle that made her dark skin look creamier, her hair shinier and her lips even more tempting.

      The woman had legs that seemed endless and the skirt she was wearing was perfect to show them off. Each time she paced the room, her hem would swish around those legs, making him appreciate his twenty-twenty vision. He loved what that skirt was doing for her small waist and curvy hips. And he couldn’t help but notice the gracefulness of her walk. Her strides were a perfect display of good posture in motion and the fluid precision of a body that was faultlessly aligned.

      “Bas, are you listening to what I’m saying?”

      He heard the frustration in her voice and with a sigh he leaned back in his chair. “Yes, but it changes nothing. Your father asked me to return a favor. I owe Jim big-time and I believe in paying back any debts.”

      He knew his words weren’t what she wanted to hear and her expression didn’t hide that fact. “Mr. Steele, you are being difficult.”

      He lifted a brow. Since she hadn’t gotten her way, it seemed he was Mr. Steele instead of Bas. “I’m sorry you feel that way, Jocelyn, but your father evidently felt the need for me to be here, otherwise he would not have added that stipulation in his will.”

      “And what about your ownership in the company?”

      “What about it?”

      “I’d like to buy you out.”

      That didn’t surprise him. “I’ll let you know my decision at the end of three months.”

      “Three months? But you only have to be here for six weeks.”

      He flicked a smile. “Your father’s will indicated six weeks as the minimum period of time. If I recall, there was no maximum time given.”

      Anger shone in her features. “Surely you’re not going to hang around here for three months?”

      “Hey, keep it up, Jocelyn and I’ll think you don’t want me hanging around at all.”

      “I don’t.”

      He shrugged. At least she was honest. “I’m sorry you feel that way.”

      “I see that our talk today didn’t accomplish anything,” she said.

      Oh, he wouldn’t go so far as to say that. Just watching her prance around Kilgore’s office had accomplished a lot.

      “What about your own company?”

      She almost snapped the words at him, reclaiming his attention. Not that she’d ever fully lost it. “What about the Steele Corporation?” he countered.

      “Shouldn’t that be your main concern?”

      He wished. “I left the company in good hands. My three brothers and my cousin know what they’re doing,” he said, thinking about Chance, Morgan and Donovan, as well as his cousin Vanessa, who handled public relations for the company. His other two cousins, Taylor and Cheyenne, pursued careers outside of the family business, although they served on Steele Corporation’s board of directors.

      “Besides,” he decided to add, “it’s time for me to take a vacation anyway.” There was no need to elaborate on the fact that it was a forced one.

      “By the time this is over, Mr. Steele, you’re going to wish you had gone to Disney World instead.”

      “Possibly, but I’ll take my chances. And what about your sister?” he decided to ask her. From her expression he knew immediately he’d hit a nerve.

      She frowned. “What about her?”

      “Are you buying her out?”

      “Yes. She’s never liked this town and I’m surprised she’s СКАЧАТЬ