Forged of Steele Bundle (Books 1-4) - Brenda Jackson [150]
The September evening was rather chilly and he pulled his leather jacket tighter around his body. He hadn’t seen Jocelyn that day and had avoided dropping by the job site. It would be hard seeing her and not wanting a repeat performance of the kiss they’d shared last night. The art of kissing had always interested him, and depending on his partner, he usually varied his technique. Cassandra had gotten put off by the use of too much tongue. She liked her kisses the same way she wanted everything else they did that was connected to sex—in moderation. According to her, a true lady didn’t get carried away with passion, especially with a kiss. It was just unthinkable.
He chuckled, glad not all true ladies thought that way. And Jocelyn was a true lady, hard hat, jeans, work boots and all. There was that gracefulness about her even when she was wielding a hammer. She was soft but not mushy. Regal but not overly so and she definitely wasn’t a snob. But what he enjoyed most was how much she liked kissing—just as much as he did. And because she did, he’d never enjoyed kissing any woman as much as he enjoyed kissing her. One aspect of that realization disturbed him, while another kept constant heat drumming through his body.
Smiling, he couldn’t help but look forward to the coming weekend.
Chapter 11
“If I didn’t know better I’d think you were trying to avoid me this week.”
A slow smile curved Jocelyn’s lips as she snapped her seat belt in place. She glanced over at Bas and squinted her eyes against the glare of the sun peeking over the mountains. “Now why would you think that?”
Bas stared out of the windshield of his car for a second before tilting his head to meet her gaze. “Because this is the first time I’ve seen you since Sunday night.”
“But we talked on the phone Wednesday,” she reminded him.
“Yes, all of five minutes,” he murmured, backing the car out of her driveway. “And that was to tell me this would be an overnight trip and you had made reservations for us at a hotel. With separate sleeping arrangements.”
Jocelyn grinned and leaned over and tweaked his cheek. “Didn’t want you to get any ideas, Steele.”
An innocent look flashed across Bas’s face before he gave her a warm smile. “You think I’d do something like that?”
“I’m not sure and I decided not to take any chances. This is supposed to be a fun weekend. Our definitions of fun might be vastly different.”
His smile widened as he recalled the kisses that had flooded his mind all week. He just couldn’t shake the memory of how her lips had felt beneath his, the taste of her, how their tongues had mingled, chased each other back and forth. “Oh, I think our definitions might be the same.”
“You think so? Then how about telling me what you have planned for us next?”
Bas glanced over at her when he came to a stop sign. “I want to take you home with me.”
She lifted a brow. “Excuse me?”
He smiled. “My family is giving my youngest brother Donovan a party for his thirty-first birthday next month and I’d like you to go with me.”
“To your family’s function?”
“Yes, as my guest.”
A tiny flush warmed her cheeks. In the good old days when a man took a woman home to meet his family it meant something, but she knew that in this day and age of modern dating, the rules had changed and so had the expectations. You no longer needed a formal date to become romantically involved. The two of you could just meet somewhere and get it on. She’d even heard of the concept of video mobile dating. It seemed “try before you buy” was the way to go now.
“How will your family handle something like that?” she couldn’t help but ask.
He grinned over at her before easing the car onto the interstate. “Seeing you will raise a few brows, I’m sure. I haven’t seriously dated since I ended my engagement eight months ago.”
She was about to tell him that he wasn’t seriously dating now when the last part of his sentence stopped her. “You were engaged?” she asked, trying to stop her head from