Forged of Steele Bundle (Books 1-4) - Brenda Jackson [140]
She could tell from the tone of her sister’s voice that there was more. “And?”
“And we had words.”
Jocelyn felt her throat tighten. “Not so nice ones, I gather.”
“You gathered right.”
Jocelyn nodded. No wonder Reese was in a bad mood. Now she understood why the men thought he was angry about something. “Are you okay?” she asked, concerned.
“Yes, but barely. And you were right. He hates me.”
“I never said he hated you. I said he was still hurting.”
“Same difference, since I’m the one who hurt him.”
There was a pause because Jocelyn didn’t know what to say. No, that wasn’t true. She did know what to say, but she also knew Leah wouldn’t want to hear it. She trailed a finger along the fine craftsmanship of the wooden banister Reese had completed last week. “I still think you should tell him the truth.”
“I can’t.”
She decided not to press when she heard the trembling in Leah’s voice. She didn’t have to see her sister’s face to know she’d been crying and probably still was. “Hey, how about the two of us doing something tonight?”
“Like what?”
“Going to a movie.”
“A movie?”
“Yes, a movie. When was the last time we went to a movie together?” She could just imagine Leah bunching up her forehead trying to remember.
“Um, I think it was when Aunt Susan took us to see Titanic.”
“Hey, you’re right,” Jocelyn said smiling as she remembered. “She really liked that picture, didn’t she?”
“Yes, she did. We sat through it twice. After that I didn’t care if I ever saw the ocean again.”
“I felt the same way.” Jocelyn laughed.
“You know,” Leah then said in a quiet voice, “I wish she had been around five years ago. I would have gone to Florida instead of California. For all her proper ways, Aunt Susan was pretty special, wasn’t she?”
Jocelyn nodded. “Yes, she was.” After a brief pause she said, “So how about it? Do you want to do a movie?”
She heard Leah chuckle and liked the sound. “Will going to a movie help you sleep better tonight?” Leah asked with a hint of teasing in her voice.
Jocelyn glanced across the room to Bas. He was still talking to Harry. And as if he felt her eyes on him, he tilted his head and looked at her. The deep intensity of his dark gaze was pinning her to the spot, heating her even more.
It was hard for Jocelyn to keep her voice steady when she replied, “No guarantees there, but it’s worth a try.”
Bas threw the file aside and glanced at his watch. It was almost four in the afternoon. He had a ton of files he still needed to review so there was no reason for Jocelyn Mason to be on his mind.
But she was.
Muttering a curse he leaned back in the chair and picked up a file he had placed to the side. He had done the accounting three times and still the figures weren’t right, but before he jumped to any conclusions, he would do as Jim had instructed him in another letter that Kilgore had dropped off a few days ago. All the note had said was: Talk to Reese first about any discrepancies you may find in the bookkeeping records.
Then, just that quickly, he dismissed the note from his mind as his thoughts wandered to Jocelyn again. He had known she was troubled by something the moment he’d seen her. It was there in her face. She’d had that worried look. And ridiculous as it seemed, something deep within him had wanted to get rid of whatever was causing her stress.
Luckily all it had taken was a phone call and the use of his connections to make things right and to remove her troubled frown. But as usual, they had almost gotten into another argument, something he hadn’t been up to. After talking with Harry he had quickly left, eager to be gone from Jocelyn’s presence before she found another bone to pick. After a sleepless night and dealing with Sadie that morning, he hadn’t been in the best of moods, either. The last thing they needed was to be at each other’s throats…or lips.
Damn, but he couldn’t get their kiss out of his mind! He shook his head remembering. Whoever said ‘out of sight, out of mind’ didn’t know what the hell they were talking about, he thought, reaching for an apple