Forged of Steele Bundle (Books 1-4) - Brenda Jackson [43]
“Well, if everyone agrees with our plan then that’s great,” he said.
“So how soon can we go someplace?” Tiffany asked excitedly.
“Where would you like to go?” Chance asked.
“Umm, I’ve never been camping and Marcus said you take him all the time.”
Kylie rolled her eyes. “Tiffany, we’re not talking about a family outing. We’re talking about a date.”
“I don’t have a problem with Tiffany coming along the next time Marcus and I go camping,” Chance said. “Of course that means that you’ll have to come too, Kylie.”
“Yes, Mom. You’ve never been camping before, either.”
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean we can just invite ourselves on a camping trip, Tiffany.”
“But Mr. Steele invited us.”
“Yes, but only after you—”
“It’s okay, Kylie, honest,” Chance cut in to say. “Marcus and I would love for you and Tiffany to go camping with us. My family owns a cabin in the mountains so we’re really not talking about roughing it too much. The cabin has two bedrooms, so you and Tiffany can take one and Marcus and I can take the other.”
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea,” Kylie said as her gaze moved from one person to the next. “When Chance and I thought of supervised activities we didn’t mean anything that involved staying any place overnight.”
“Yes, but it would be fun and different, Mom, and you and I have never done anything fun and different.”
Kylie leaned back in her chair. She thought the two of them had done several things that were fun and different. How about that train ride from New York to California a few years ago? And then there was that vacation to Disney World for Tiffany’s twelfth birthday. Had it really been three years ago? Okay, so they hadn’t actually done a lot of time to do fun and different things together on a regular basis. But she really hadn’t had the time since she’d been busy going to school and trying to move up the corporate ladder to provide for her and Tiffany.
“Please, Mom, just this once. Mr. Steele did say it would be okay.”
Kylie glanced over at Chance. “Are you sure you don’t mind?”
He smiled. “No, I don’t mind. In fact I think it’s a wonderful idea.”
Chance’s statement should have had a calming effect on her but it didn’t. She was no longer concerned for Tiffany, but for herself. She didn’t want to think about a weekend spent in a mountain cabin with Chance in such close quarters. With all the heat they could generate, the kids might think something was going on between them when it really wasn’t.
“Well, Mom?”
The enthusiasm she heard in Tiffany’s voice almost made her say yes, but a part of her held back. This was something she needed to really think about.
Instead of answering Tiffany, she looked over at Chance. “Let me think about it some more and I’ll give you my answer within a week.”
Chapter 6
With a sigh of resignation, Chance walked into his office Monday morning and met his brothers’ inquisitive gazes. He knew why they were there. Marcus had mentioned to them that they’d been invited to Kylie’s for dinner and no doubt they wanted to know how things went. But he wouldn’t make it easy for them. He would pretend that he hadn’t a clue why they graced his office with their presence.
“Good morning. Is there any reason the three of you have taken over my office?” he asked, placing his briefcase down on his desk.
After a few moments, when no one replied, he exhaled a long sigh and said, “I don’t recall us having a meeting this morning. I know I have a meeting with Bas later today, but what’s up with you guys? Is anything wrong?”
Not surprisingly, it was Bas who stepped forward and said, “How about cutting the bull, Chance. You know why we’re here. We want to know how things went yesterday.”
Chance looked at him. “Was there a particular way they were supposed to go?”
“You tell us,” Morgan said, frowning. “You were the one who was all bent out of shape last week when you found that note. Can we assume you blew things out of proportion