Forged of Steele Bundle (Books 1-4) - Brenda Jackson [103]
Bas nodded. It sounded as if at one point he and Reese had been tortured by similar inner demons and in both situations it had been Jim who had helped to take them out of the dark and lead them into the light.
“How about if I introduce you to everyone?” Reese said, breaking into Bas’s thoughts. “The sooner you know what’s going on, the better. Right now everything’s running smoothly but we can’t expect things to stay that way since this is Marcella Jones’s house we’re presently working on and she’s known to change her mind a lot. This is the third house we’ve built for her and her husband, and with this place she decided almost at the last minute that she wanted to add a huge lanai off her living room and bedroom. If nothing else changes, we’ll be wrapping up things here in about three weeks.”
“Thanks and yes, I’d like to meet everyone.”
Bas glanced around as they made their way over to a group of men who were working on the cooking island that was part of the summer kitchen. Marcella Jones wasn’t just getting a glass-enclosed lanai; she was getting a huge area that would be well suited for any and all her entertainment needs. He had to admit he liked the layout of the house and had admired each and every detail while passing through earlier.
The open-beam cathedral ceilings and the floor-to-ceiling windows would make the home light and airy, and provide a full mountain view no matter where you looked. In his mind he could see the finished product decorated with the finest of furnishings and beautiful art work.
Bas glanced over at Jocelyn and caught her staring at him. In that quick instance, something passed between them, and he felt it all the way to his gut. He frowned and told himself silently that the last thing he needed was to get interested in any woman, especially Jim’s oldest daughter, no matter how tempting she was.
He had a job to do and he needed to get his mind on doing it and not on doing Jocelyn Mason.
Jocelyn swallowed back the knot that threatened to block her throat. Why did Sebastian Steele have to look so damn good? And those jeans he had on weren’t helping matters one bit.
She gritted her teeth, wondering why she found him so attractive, then quickly decided his good looks and well-built body definitely had something to do with it. She jumped when she felt the mobile phone in her back pocket vibrate. Putting aside the paintbrush, she pulled the phone out. A quick check of the caller ID indicated it was Leah.
For the past five days, ever since the funeral, her sister had mostly spent her time going through their father’s belongings and packing things up to give away. At first they had started doing the task together and then the memories had gotten too much for Jocelyn and she’d asked Leah to finish without her. Her sister had agreed. That was the one thing Jocelyn noticed about Leah since she’d been back. She was a lot more agreeable and less argumentative these days. There was a time when the two of them would disagree about almost anything, including the weather.
“Yes, Leah?”
“Just wanted you to know I cooked dinner and I thought it would be nice if we invited a guest.”
Jocelyn moved her shoulders in a nonchalant shrug. She definitely didn’t have a problem with Leah preparing dinner since her sister was a pretty good cook, but she did have a problem with the suggestion of a guest. She couldn’t help wondering if Leah was finally going to come out of hiding and face Reese by inviting him to dinner. She had done a pretty good job of avoiding him the few times she’d returned home over the past five years.
“And just who will this dinner guest be?” she asked, curious as to how many languages Reese would say the words hell no in when he got the invitation from Leah.
“Jason called for you a short while ago and happened to mention that Mr. Steele arrived in town today.”
“And what of it?” Jocelyn asked, leaning back against a wall she hadn’t started painting yet.
“I think it would be a good idea to invite him to dinner. After all, he was Dad’s friend.”