Beyond Temptation - Brenda Jackson [12]
Bas rolled his eyes. “Will you give it to me straight, Morgan?”
Morgan smiled as he momentarily traced his finger around the rim of his glass. Bas was a troubleshooter; he looked for problems where there weren’t any. Morgan glanced back up and met his brother’s gaze. “Okay, Bas, you want me to give it to you straight? Then here goes. Lena Spears.”
Morgan watched his brother’s expression. For a moment he looked genuinely bewildered. Then slowly, Morgan saw the exact moment he figured things out. For a while there Morgan had gotten worried since Bas wasn’t normally a slow man.
“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Bas said sharply, narrowing his eyes at him.
“Trust me, I do. I want her, Bas.”
“Tell me something I don’t know, Morgan. That’s been evident now for over a year. It’s also been evident to everyone but you, it seems, that she doesn’t want to be wanted…at least not by you.”
“Then it’s up to me to convince her otherwise.”
“And you’ll go so far as to sell your house to do it?”
“Whatever it takes. Wish me luck.”
Bas shook his head, smiling. “You need more than luck, brother. You need prayer. I get the distinct impression that Lena likes her life just the way it is.”
“I got that impression too, and I wanted to know why such a beautiful woman would not want a man in it.”
“Did you ask Kylie?”
“Yes.”
“And what did she say?”
“At first she was tight-lipped, like she didn’t want to betray Lena’s confidences or something. Then she mumbled something about the men in Lena’s past not being able to get past the fact that she and her mother are a package deal.”
Bas frowned. “If that’s true, then those weren’t men, they were assholes who must have been hatched. Who in their right mind would even think about making a person choose between a lover and a parent?”
“How about someone like Dr. Derek Peterson?”
Bas’s frown deepened. “He’s a good example that what I said is true since everyone knows he’s an asshole.”
Morgan chuckled. Derek, who’d always taken ego trips even while in high school, was not a favorite of the Steele Brothers since that night a few years ago when he’d tried pulling his aggressive macho ways on Vanessa. Ignoring their advice she had gone out with him. The date had ended rather quickly when she had to resort to kneeing him in the groin when he proved he didn’t know the meaning of the word no. He never forgave Vanessa for using that technique on him, and to this day was still pissed at the Steele brothers for having taught her how to use it.
“Well, he must not have been the only one for Lena to have developed a complex about it to the point where she thinks the majority of men think that way. I intend to prove otherwise, and certain things can’t be rushed. Using her as my Realtor will buy me some time.”
He took a sip of his wine, determined to make Bas understand as he’d done Donovan a few days ago. “I’m serious when I said I want her, Bas. But more importantly,” he said, meeting his brother’s gaze, “I intend to have her.”
“So, Mom, how was the trip to the zoo?”
“It was nice. Mr. Bannister got sick again and Ms. Lilly wanted Mr. Arnold to share his wheelchair but he wouldn’t.”
Lena nodded. She knew Ms. Lilly was an older woman in her early eighties who had begun showing signs of Alzheimer’s last year. On several occasions she had assumed Odessa Spears was her daughter and would try to make her follow her commands. “What about Ms. Emily? How did she do today?” she asked, and glanced over and watched her mother smile.
“Why, Emily did just fine with this being her first trip and all. But she had company. Her granddaughter and great-granddaughter went with us as chaperones. Did I ever tell you that she had six grands and two great-grands?”
Lena’s stomach tightened since she knew where this conversation was headed. “Yes, Mama, you