Hidden Pleasures - Brenda Jackson [1]
Join me in getting to know the Phoenix Steeles and enjoy reading how I sprinkle my love dust on each of their resistant hearts. In Hidden Pleasures, Galen wants Brittany Thrasher as another notch on his bedpost and makes her an offer he knows she can’t refuse. At first it seems as if everything is going according to plan, but then fate steps in and Galen discovers the hard way that some things are just meant to be.
Thank you for making the Steeles a very special family. I look forward to bringing you more books of endless love and red-hot passion.
Happy reading!
Brenda Jackson
Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Epilogue
Chapter 1
“Holy crap!” Galen Steele muttered as he turned away from the bank of elevators and raced for the stairways of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Manhattan. A high school soccer team was checking out and filling all the elevators going down to the lobby. Galen could not be late for this wedding. His cousin Donovan would kill him if he were.
All the other groomsmen had left for the church a good thirty minutes ago, but he’d lagged behind when a woman he’d met at the bar last night had unexpectedly knocked on his hotel room door just when he was about to walk out. Not one to turn down a booty call, he’d thought he could make it quick. He had no idea Tina What’s-Her-Name didn’t believe in a quickie. A smile split his lips as he recalled how she’d made it worth his while.
And now he was late. He’d heard of weddings being held up for the bride or the groom, but never for a grooms man.
He vividly remembered Donovan’s warning last night at the bachelor party. His cousin, who’d been engaged two months shy of a year, had made it clear that he’d waited long enough for his wedding day and he intended for it to go off without a hitch. And that meant he wanted all twenty of his groomsmen to be at the church on time. As he spoke, he’d looked directly at Galen and his five brothers—not so affectionately known as the “Bad News Steeles from Phoenix.”
Hell, it wasn’t Galen’s fault that his father, Drew Steele, had actually gotten run out of Charlotte over thirty years ago by a bunch of women out for blood—namely his. Drew’s reputation as a skirt chaser was legendary, and although the old man had finally settled down with one woman, his six sons had been cursed with his testosterone-driven genes. Galen, Tyson, Eli, Jonas, Mercury and Gannon didn’t know how to say no to a willing woman. And if she wasn’t willing, they had the seductive powers to not only get her in a willing mood, but to push her right over the top. Or let her stay on the bottom, depending upon her favorite position.
Galen glanced at his watch again as he reached the main floor. Hurrying toward the revolving doors, he prayed a taxi would be available. This was New York City, the Big Apple, and yellow cabs were supposed to be all over the place, right?
He smiled. One was pulling up as soon as he exited the hotel and he ran toward it, thinking he might be on time to the wedding after all.
Not waiting to be assisted by a bellman, he opened the cab’s door, slid in the seat and was about to direct the driver to the church when he felt a tap on his shoulder. He looked up and his gaze collided with a face he could only define as gut-grippingly beautiful. Eyes the color of caramel, naturally arched brows, a cute little nose and a pair of too-luscious lips.
The beauty he’d finally gotten out of his room less than ten minutes ago had nothing on this woman. It was like comparing apples to oranges. Both were good fruit, but one was sweeter.
He found his voice to speak. “Yes?”
“This is my cab.”
He couldn’t help but grin when he asked, “You own it?”
Her frown gave him a warning. It also gave him one hell of a hard-on. “No, I don’t own it, but I called for it. It’s here to take me to the airport. I have a flight to catch.”
“And I have a wedding to