Bas rolled his eyes. “Might be from that time he caught you almost making out with his youngest daughter in a parked car right in front of his house.”
“Hey, she asked for it,” Donovan said in defense. “What was I supposed to do?”
Chance shook his head. “Turning her down might have been the decent thing to do,” he said sarcastically. “But let’s get back to the issue of Morgan and Lena.”
Morgan stopped his pacing and met Chance’s gaze. “There’s no issue. Who the hell do they think they are, deciding what woman is appropriate for me?” he asked angrily. “It’s nobody’s business who I marry.”
“Damn right it’s not, now let’s go kick some asses,” was Bas’s quick reply.
Now it was Chance who rolled his eyes. Everyone in Charlotte knew that of all the Steeles, Bas had always been the hothead, the one ready to not only start trouble but put an end to it as well. He’d always been known as the not-so-sterling Steele, a reputation he’d garnered proudly until he turned twenty-one, dropped out of college and had to face the real world…and a man by the name of Jim Mason—Jocelyn’s father.
“Just think how that sounds, Bas. Fighting never solves anything. What we need to do is to put our heads together. Whether you want to admit it or not, Morgan, you’re going to need Edward and his group’s support.”
“Then I don’t want it, and in that case I won’t run.”
Chance shook his head. “Think hard on that before making a decision. Have you discussed any of this with Lena?”
“No.”
“Don’t you think you should? Especially if the two of you are getting married, which is a mystery within itself. Two weeks ago she wasn’t giving you the time of day,” Chance said, eying his brother curiously. “What happened?”
Morgan stared at his brothers, and since he wanted to make sure they understood the depth of his feelings for Lena he said, “Love happened. I fell for her that night of the charity ball. I just thought I wanted her. But it’s more. I love her.”
Chance and Bas slowly nodded, indicating they understood. They had been there, done that and were still doing it. However, it was Donovan who was looking at him with what amounted to pity in his eyes.
“Okay, then,” Chance said, smiling, as if satisfied with what he’d been told. “I suggest you talk things over with Lena. I probably won’t go so far as to tell her about Edward’s visit, but I think she at least deserves to know you’re thinking about running for a political office.”
Morgan nodded, knowing Chance was right. He and Lena had a dinner date later that day. He would tell her of his decision then.
Lena glanced around. She was lucky that although she’d arrived at the restaurant early, there had been a table reserved for her.
McIntosh Steak House and Seafood was a popular restaurant in town. Simple and elegant it catered to businesspeople with money, the power brokers of Charlotte. The interior spoke of old money with its plush carpeting, the rich-looking furnishing and the expensive art collections of oil paintings on the walls. Service was always magnificent, the food always tasty. Sometimes people traveled for miles just to dine here.
The waiter had already brought her one glass of wine and had come to see if she wanted another when she glanced up and saw Cassandra Tisdale and a couple of women she recognized as being in the woman’s inner circle, including her cousin Jamie. She immediately got cold chills.
She hoped they would pass by the table and not see her as they were leaving the restaurant, but it seemed that was one layer of hope that wouldn’t be granted.
“Well, if it isn’t the woman who thinks she’s going to be the future Mrs. Morgan Steele.”
Lena glanced up, smiling. She refused to let Cassandra’s snide comment rattle her. “Hi, Cassandra, Debra, Karen and Jamie. I see the four of you are leaving.”
“Yes, we are,” Debra Kendall said, almost apologetically. And not for the umpteenth time Lena had to inwardly question why someone as nice as Debra would hang around with someone like Cassandra. Maybe she believed that sooner or later her kindness would rub off on Cassandra.
“So, what do you think of Morgan running for office?” Karen Smith asked, after looking at Cassandra and getting her cue.
“Excuse me?” Lena asked.
Cassandra smiled. “Oh, didn’t you know? Now that Chadwick has announced he’s running for office, speculation is high that Morgan will, too. He’s very well thought of in this town.”
Lena didn’t say anything. She was still recovering from Karen’s comment about the possibility of Morgan being a political candidate.
“Of course it’s not definite whether Morgan is even interested,” Debra said, as if to smooth things over.
“But if he does,” Cassandra said, grinning, “he’s going to need a woman who will complement him. Someone well groomed with a good name, a sense of fashion, style and grace, and a pedigree. Wouldn’t you agree, Lena?”
Before Lena could say anything, it was Jamie who spoke, smiling sweetly. “And I’m sure if you care anything for Morgan as well as recognize what an asset he would be in this community in politics, then you’d agree that all of us need to give him all the support he needs and the chance to win. I understand entering politics has been his lifelong dream. If you really care for him, you wouldn’t take that dream away. In fact you would work hard to make it become a reality.”
Then three of the women walked off. Debra, however, remained behind long enough to at least say goodbye.
The cold chills Lena had gotten earlier were there in full force. Why hadn’t Morgan mentioned he was thinking about entering politics? Did he just assume she would want to be a politician’s wife? Well, she didn’t. She was a person who liked her life the way it was. She and her mother lived a quiet and peaceful existence, and she had no intention of being thrust out into the limelight.
Besides, how much did Morgan know about her? Oh, he’d learned a lot about her this afternoon and probably from the two chats they’d had, but that had all been sexual. What did Morgan really know about her? Nothing. If he did, he would know that she and politics didn’t mix because she was too opinionated when it came to certain issues and she didn’t know how to remain quiet when it involved a subject she was passionate about.
She thought about what Cassandra and her group said as well as what they didn’t say. The people she hung out with, as well as those her parents hung out with, had a lot of influence and power. They would back Morgan fully if he had what they perceived as the right kind of wife by his side. But she knew they wouldn’t use any of that to help get him elected if he was intent on marrying her.
Her father had once told her there was more to be an elected official than working on balancing the budget, attending meetings and making speeches. There was a matter of respect and Morgan had it, from a lot of people; but it seemed he ran the risk of losing it because of her, mainly because she was not a fit.
She paused and sat quietly for a moment, and when she felt a tear slide from her eye to wet her cheek, she knew why. At some point during their business relationship, those sexy chats and their romp between the sheets yesterday, she had fallen in love with Morgan. And she had fallen hard. So hard that she knew what she had to do. She could only think of one other time she’d actually felt noble in her life. The first had been at thirteen when she’d actually saved Paula Brewster’s baby sister from drowning in the community pool, and the other time was now.
To help Morgan retain his regal public image and give him all the support he needed to pursue what evidently was his lifelong dream, she knew what she had to do. Summoning the waiter over to the table she said, “Please bring me my check, and when Mr. Steele arrives let him know something came up and I had to leave.”
Chapter 14
Not ready to go home yet, Lena returned to her office. She had placed a quick call to her mother to make sure she was okay and had eaten dinner. After Odessa had assured her that she was fine and not to worry about her, Le
na decided to stay and work late at the office.
Wendy had already left for the day and the office was quiet. Although Lena tried concentrating on the listing of new homes she had in front of her, she found her focus wasn’t what it should be. One part of her was absorbed with anger for a certain group of people—those who thought they were influential enough to dictate how people should live their lives and with whom. Then another part of her knew that bowing out was the best thing. It had nothing to do with pride, confidence or self-esteem but everything to do with making a sacrifice for the man she loved. Under any other circumstances, she and Morgan might have had a chance to make their “marriage of purpose” work, but now entering into such an agreement with him would serve no purpose. He needed a different type of woman to be by his side and have his baby, and that woman wasn’t her.
She glanced up when the phone on her desk began to ring. She picked it up. “Yes?”
“It’s Morgan.”
Lena’s throat suddenly felt tight. She swallowed past the lump before saying, “Yes, Morgan?”
“I’m outside at your office door. Let me in.”
When she heard the click she pulled the phone away from her ear and stared at it a few moments before hanging it up. The last person she wanted to see right now was Morgan. She rubbed the bridge of her nose and slumped back in her chair. If he had given her time, she would have told him to go away because she couldn’t see him now.
Not bothering to slip back into her shoes she stood and headed down the hallway toward the door. She could clearly see Morgan through the glass front. As usual, he was dressed immaculately like the businessman he was. He was wearing a navy blue suit, a light blue shirt and a printed tie that coordinated perfectly.
She turned off the alarm and unlocked the door and then stepped back as he entered and watched as he raised a brow and searched her face. “Are you okay?”
She wondered if he’d found out about her conversation with Cassandra and her nasty-girl squad but then figured that he couldn’t have. “Yes, I’m fine. Why wouldn’t I be?”
He crossed his arms over his chest and stared at her. “You tell me. We had a dinner date and when I arrived one of the waiters said you had been there but left, and that you’d left a message that something had come up and you had to leave. Of course the first thought that crossed my mind was that something had happened to Odessa. I tried calling you at home and she picked up. When I asked for you she said you were at the office working late. So what was the big emergency, Lena?”
If only he knew. But at the moment she didn’t plan on telling him anything. “There was no big emergency, Morgan. I figured there were some things I could be doing here and figured our talk could wait. No biggie.”
He continued to stare at her and then gestured to the hallway leading to her office. “Do what you were doing before I got here while I bring everything in.”
She arched a brow. “Everything like what?”
“Dinner.”
“Dinner?”
“Yes, dinner,” he replied. “Have you eaten?”
“No, but I didn’t expect you to bring me anything.”
“No, what I expected was to have dinner with you at McIntosh’s. So I got takeouts.”
Her brows arched a little higher. “McIntosh doesn’t do takeouts.”
“They do if you know the right people.”
At the moment that wasn’t what she needed to hear. She threw up her hands. “Yes, you’re right,” she all but snapped. “It’s all about connections, isn’t it?”
He frowned. “What do you mean by that?”
“Nothing,” she said and quickly turned away from him. After taking a deep breath she turned back toward him. “I’m just not in a good mood at the moment.”
He nodded as if he understood when he honestly didn’t have a clue, she thought. “Look, I have a tray table around here somewhere. I’ll go dig it out.” And then she walked off, leaving him standing there.
By the time Lena had located the tray table, Morgan had brought in all the bags of food, and a delicious scent filled her office. If she wasn’t hungry before, she was certainly hungry now. She also noticed that Morgan had brought in his briefcase.
“Need help with anything?” he asked.
She glanced over in his direction. He had removed his jacket and looked rather comfortable in her office. “No, I don’t need help. Thanks for asking.”
“No problem.”
She continued what she was doing as she drew in a deep breath. She and Morgan were virtually acting like strangers and not like the two people who had mated like rabbits yesterday. A part of her wished she could remove what happened yesterday from her mind. And then there was the chat they’d had online last night. How can you move from a high level of intimacy to a lower one that was basically nonintimate?
“Now that does it. I set you up over here,” she said, after placing a tray table near the sofa. “And I’ll just use my desk.”
She met his gaze, and the smile that touched his lips let her know he’d caught on to what she’d done. She had deliberately placed him away to the other side of the room. “Any reason I can’t share your desk with you?” he asked, with eyes that glinted with mischief.
She shrugged as she moved toward her desk. “I thought you’d want more room.”
“What I really want, Lena, is more of you.”
She quickly turned back toward him and paused to take a deep, calming breath. His words hadn’t been what she’d expected. And the impact they had on her was unnerving. The sexual excitement, desire and longing that she’d tried not to think about were now hitting her in the face. She felt her heart as it began to race and her stomach began fluttering.
Before she could say anything he said, “But I’ll behave and stay on this side of the room…for now.”
She glared at him and started to say something, but then changed her mind and crossed the room to her desk.
Once Lena had settled in at her desk and begun eating, the mischief that had been in Morgan’s eyes a few moments ago was replaced with concern. Something was going on with Lena and he couldn’t help wondering what. Had she heard anything about the possibility of him going into politics? Even if she had, why would that have driven her to cancel their dinner date and leave the restaurant before he had arrived?
And from the moment he had walked into her office, he had sensed her withdrawal. She was definitely not acting like the woman who had shared his bed for almost four hours yesterday. He didn’t know what was bothering her, but he was determined to find out, and whatever it was, he intended to remove it from between them.
He settled on the sofa and placed the tray table in front of him and unloaded the bag with his food. He glanced over at her. She was eating, not saying anything, so he decided to break the silence. “I dropped by your house and left your mom something to eat as well.”
He watched as she quickly lifted her head and a surprised look was on her face. “You did?”
“Yes. She said she’d already eaten but would save it as leftovers for tomorrow.”
Lena nodded. “Thanks. That was thoughtful of you, Morgan.”
“You’re welcome.” He watched as she took another sip of the iced tea that had been included with her dinner. When her lips touched the edge of the cup his stomach clenched, as he remembered how his lips had devoured hers yesterday, which then reminded him of something else.
“Did your mom ask why your lips were bruised when she saw you last night?”
Lena lifted her head and their gazes connected. “No, she didn’t ask,” she responded softly. “Why?”
“Just curious.” And what he didn’t add was that asking her about it would make her remember, just in case she had forgotten.
“Everything tastes good, Morgan. Thanks again for thinking of me.”
“I always think of you, Lena.”
Heat. Awesome heat, vibrant heat flowed all through Lena. It wasn’t what he’d said but rather how he
’d said it. And she wondered if this was a game he was playing with her. And had yesterday been a game as well? She inhaled deeply. No matter what, she refused to let Morgan get next to her until he was totally up front with her. Then she would be up front with him and let him know their deal was off. She was not the woman he needed to move his career forward.
For the next few moments they continued to eat in silence, sharing little or no conversation. But each time she would glance over at him, he would be watching her with an intensity that made it almost impossible to chew her food. He could generate so much heat within her from just a look, and she could feel even more heat radiating from the depths of his eyes each time he looked at her.
So she tried not to look over at him, but she still felt it. The chemistry, the attraction and the desire that wouldn’t go away no matter how hard she was fighting it.
“Would you like some dessert?”
She raised her head and met his gaze. “What?”
He smiled. “Dessert. I think they put everything in my bag. I bought slices of chocolate cake.”
“No, thanks. I’m full. I’ll just save it for tomorrow.”
He nodded and then stood. “Okay. I’ll start discarding the trash. Do you have a Dumpster nearby?”
“Yes. It’s out back.”
She watched as he began putting everything back in the bags. He had rolled his sleeves up and she couldn’t help but notice all the hair on his arms. But then, she’d noticed yesterday just what a hairy man he was. He had hair all over—his chest, his thighs and even that thick thatch where his manhood rested.
“You’re through?”
She looked at him. He was standing in front of her desk. “Excuse me?”
He chuckled. “I asked if you were through. All the food is gone off your plate, but you’re still sitting there, holding your fork like you’re going to take another bite where there’s nothing left.”
“Oh,” she said and immediately dropped the fork down on her plate. “Sorry, I was just thinking about something.”
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