Possessed By Passion. Brenda Jackson
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to her husband. And as Nadine had often claimed, the best daughter-in-law anyone could ask for.
Yet, regardless of all those things, she’d gotten royally screwed. And because of all those things Carter had figured she would never leave him. That she would stay married to him regardless. What he’d failed to take into consideration was that everyone had a breaking point. When she had taken as much as she could, she had walked away without looking back. She only wished she’d been strong enough to do it sooner.
As she locked up her office she figured she might as well dream about Tyson Steele again tonight. Dreams were safe. Besides, she had no reason to think their paths would cross again. For one, she didn’t intend to return to that nightclub where he apparently hung out.
His parents attended the same church as hers, the one where her grandfather had been pastor before he’d passed away years ago. During breakfast this morning she’d deliberately asked her mother to bring her up-to-date on church members, former and present. It seemed the Steeles were still members of their church, and her mother said that although she would see Eden and Drew Steele on most Sundays, she rarely saw their sons and couldn’t recall the last time one of them attended church.
Deciding she didn’t want to think about Tyson Steele, she stepped inside the elevator to leave the office.
* * *
Tyson had stepped out of the shower and was toweling off when his cell phone rang. He recognized the ring tone. It was Eli. With three surgeries today back to back, he hadn’t time to think about much of anything but his patients. The surgeries had gone well and he’d delivered good news to the families. Before leaving the hospital, he had made his rounds, completed his reports and given final instructions to the nurses caring for his patients. Now he was at home, on full alert and eager for any information his brother had for him.
He grabbed the phone off the vanity. “Eli, did you find out anything?”
“This is going to cost you.”
Tyson rolled his eyes. “Who do you think I am? Galen?”
It was a running joke in the family that Galen worked the least but made the most. While attending college Galen and his two roommates had decided to do something to make money and since all three were computer-savvy, they created video games. After their games became a hit on campus, they formed a business and by the time they graduated from college they were millionaires. The three were still partners today and usually released one game a year around the holiday season. Galen enjoyed flaunting the fact that he was able to work less than twenty hours a week and still make millions.
Eli chuckled. “With twins Galen won’t have as much free time on his hands.”
Tyson smiled at the thought. “You think?”
“We can hope.”
Tyson tossed the towel aside to slide into a pair of briefs. “So what did you find out about Hunter McKay? Did she establish a company here?”
“Yes. She opened an architect office in the Double-Row building a week ago.” Eli paused a minute and then said, “And you were right. Her divorce from her husband was pretty nasty.”
“How do you know?”
“The one good thing about being president of the business council of a major city is getting to meet other such individuals. The one from Boston, John Wrigley, and I have become pretty good friends. I gave John a call today. According to him, Hunter divorced her husband on grounds of adultery and had the goods from a PI to prove it. Her ex hired this high-priced attorney to fight to keep Hunter from getting a fifty-fifty split of the architectural firm they owned together, but the judge sided with Hunter. In the end Hunter’s ex retaliated by making sure she didn’t get any of their clients.”
The man was a bastard just like Hunter McKay said, Tyson thought, easing a T-shirt over his head. “I think I’ll pay her a visit tomorrow.”
“That doesn’t surprise me.”
“As a client,” Tyson added.
“A client? That does surprise me. I didn’t know you were interested in getting a house designed.”
Tyson smiled. “I wasn’t before now.”
“Hell, Tyson, you don’t even own any land.”
Tyson’s smile widened. “Shouldn’t be that hard to buy some.” Even through the phone line Tyson could imagine Eli rolling his eyes.
“And you would go to all that trouble just for a woman?”
Tyson thought about his brother’s question. “But she’s not just any woman. She’s the one who got away. And now she’s back.”
* * *
The next morning Hunter walked into her office and stopped dead in her tracks. Her eyes did a double take. Was Tyson Steele actually sitting in her reception area, chatting so amiably with Pauline that neither noticed her entry?
“Good morning,” she said, breaking into their conversation.
Pauline and Tyson both glanced up, and Pauline smiled brightly. Tyson stood as he gave her a slow perusal, his gaze moving over her from head to toe. His eyes returned to meet hers and she tried ignoring the acceleration of her heart, a result of the intensity of his stare.
What were the odds that the same man she had been dreaming about for the past two nights would be in her office this morning? And they were the kind of dreams that heated her just by remembering them.
An excited Pauline interrupted her thoughts. “Good morning, Hunter. I think we might have our first client.”
“Do we?” Hunter asked, her gaze switching from Tyson to Pauline.
“Yes. Dr. Tyson Steele is here to see you about designing his home.”
Hunter found that hard to believe, especially after what he’d told her two nights ago. He was more interested in seducing her than anything else. “Is he?”
“Yes, I am,” Tyson said.
She tried ignoring the slow, languorous heat that flowed through her body at the sound of Tyson’s deep, husky voice. She looked back over at him and wished she hadn’t. She’d thought he was sinfully handsome when she’d seen him at the nightclub, but as he stood in the sunlight streaming through her office window he looked triply so. The man was totally gorgeous, one hundred percent male perfection. He looked like scrumptious eye candy in his jeans and dark gray hooded sweatshirt. For her, there was just something about a nice male body in a pair of jeans and it was almost too much for her this early in the morning.
“In that case, Dr. Steele, you and I definitely need to talk,” she said, moving toward her office.
She heard Tyson close her office door behind him the moment she set her briefcase on her desk. She turned around and fought back the urge to moan. The way he was leaning back against the closed door, he was sexiness personified. And his razor-sharp green eyes were on her. Why, today of all days, had she worn a dress, one shorter than she would normally wear? Shorter but still appropriate for conducting business. Yet from the way Tyson was staring at her, one would think otherwise. In fact, one would think she didn’t have on any clothes at all. Sexual vibes were pouring off him in droves and she could feel desire flowing through her veins.
Clearing her throat as she tried getting control of the situation, she said, “Please have a seat, Tyson, and tell me just what it is that you want.”
Realizing that wasn’t a good question to ask him, she rephrased it. “Tell me what design of home you’re interested in.”
* * *
Tyson thought she had asked the right question the first time. He certainly had no problem telling her exactly what he wanted. But first he had to get his libido back in check. It had begun smoldering big-time when he’d glanced up from his conversation with her administrative assistant to see her standing there. She was what sexual fantasies were made