Forged of Steele Bundle (Books 1-4) - Brenda Jackson [56]
“You’re tired,” she decided to say when she came to a traffic light. “Are you sure you want me to take you to the dealership to pick up your truck instead of taking you home? It might be a good idea for you to go to bed.”
He opened his eyes, titled his head and let his gaze fasten on hers. “If you were to take me home and I got into bed, would you get in there with me and keep me company?” he asked, his voice low and sexy.
She inhaled deeply. Although he had phrased the question in a roundabout way, technically he had just hinted at the possibility of her sleeping with him. “No. I’d take you home and put you to bed, but I wouldn’t get in that bed with you.”
He smiled. “Spoilsport.”
She chuckled and turned her attention back to the road when the traffic light changed. “I might be at that, but it seems I’m the one destined to keep us out of trouble.”
“Some trouble I might like,” he murmured in a low voice leaden with exhaustion, before closing his eyes again.
“And what if Marcus had that same attitude?”
“When he gets to my age he’s welcome to it, but while he’s underage, I decide what he likes and doesn’t like. And stop comparing us to our kids, Kylie. Like I told you before, we’re adults. They aren’t.”
“Sorry, I keep forgetting,” she said sarcastically.
“It will behoove you to remember. The next time you forget it will cost you.”
She lifted an eyebrow. “Cost me what?”
“A kiss. Right then and there. Even if it’s in front of those two kids of ours.”
She frowned and took a quick glance at him and saw that his eyes were opened and he was staring at her. His expression was serious. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“I wouldn’t count on that if I were you.”
And Kylie was smart enough to know not to. She pulled her car into the dealership, parked it and turned to him. “And just what would doing something like that prove?”
“It would prove that our kids wouldn’t have a problem with anything developing between us.”
“But I’d still have a problem with it. I won’t let any man use me to slake his sexual cravings.”
In a flash Chance snapped the seatbelt off his body and before she could get out her next breath he loomed over her. Blatant anger was carved in his features. “This isn’t about me slaking any sexual cravings, Kylie. But you’re so out of practice with men that you wouldn’t know that, would you? Well, let me tell you something, not about men in general but about this man in particular,” he said pointing to himself. “I won’t ever use you just to slake any sexual cravings, so don’t try making my wanting you as anything sullied or dirty.
“It’s the most natural thing in the world for a man to desire a woman and vice versa. I won’t apologize for it. When we do make love, Kylie, it will be a mutual thing. You’ll want it as much as I do, so don’t kid yourself into believing otherwise. And when it comes to me there’s something else you need to keep in mind.”
“And what’s that?” she asked softly.
“When there’s something I want, I won’t give up until I get it.”
“When we do make love, Kylie, it will be a mutual thing. You’ll want it as much as I do, so don’t kid yourself into believing otherwise…”
The words Chance had spoken earlier that day woke Kylie up more than once that night. This time she knew she had to deal with them before trying to go back to sleep.
Taking the pillow from the other side of the bed, she wrapped her arms around it and hugged it to her chest, wondering how in the world one man could be so utterly self-confident, so damn arrogant. The nerve of him making such a statement as if it was a foregone conclusion they’d go to bed together. Well, she had news for him, she thought bitterly.
After this camping trip was over she would put rules into place where their relationship was concerned. The only thing between them would be Marcus and Tiffany. As parents they would have some connection in order to keep their offspring on the right path, but that would be as far as things went. It wouldn’t bother her in the least if she never saw the infuriating man again.
Turning