Hidden Pleasures - Brenda Jackson [14]
“The man who placed the winning bid on the house I wanted. I really need to see him,” she said.
“Okay.”
When he didn’t step back she moved around him. “Have a nice day,” she said, throwing the words over her shoulder as she headed for the exit door.
“Where are you going? We haven’t been introduced.”
She stopped and turned to him. She refused to be rude even if he had a history of doing so. “I’m rather in a hurry. Like I said, I’ve got to find—”
“Me.”
Brittany tilted her head slightly. “Excuse me?”
A slow, sinfully sensual smile touched his lips. “I said in that case you’re looking for me. I’m Galen Steele and I’m the person who placed the winning bid on house number eight.”
Brittany took a step back thinking that couldn’t be possible. This man, this rude man, could not be the new owner of her house. Not a man on the prowl. The man whose high testosterone level spoke volumes, to the point where even she—a person who’d never enjoyed sex—could read it. She guessed you didn’t have to enjoy the act to feel the effect. Case in point, the way her heart was thumping in her chest.
“You have my house?” she asked, taking a deep, steadying breath. She still didn’t want to believe such a thing was possible.
He nodded. “Signed, sealed and delivered. But it could be yours. I’m definitely willing to negotiate, Ms….?”
“Thrasher. Brittany Thrasher.” She brushed her fingers against her throat trying to keep up with him. “Are you saying that you might want to part with the house?”
He shrugged. “Why not? It serves me no purpose. I already have a house that I happen to like.”
She threw up her hands in frustration, anger and total confusion. “Then why did you bid on it?”
He chuckled. “Because I saw how much you wanted it and I figured it would be a good bargaining tool.”
Her brows furrowed in confusion. “A bargaining tool for what?”
“For when we make a deal. I’m going to make an offer that I hope you can’t refuse.”
She pulled in a deep breath. Did he think she wanted the house that bad that he could make a quick profit right here and now? Evidently that’s just what he thought. And unfortunately, he was right. She wanted that house.
“How much?” she decided to cut to the chase and ask.
He lifted a brow. “How much?”
“Yes, how much do you want for it?”
“A week.”
“Excuse me? I must have misunderstood you.”
He smiled. “No, you didn’t. I won’t take money for the house, Ms. Thrasher, but I will take a week. Just one week of your time, on my terms, and the house is yours, free and clear.”
For a stretch of more than a minute, the only sound in the room was their breathing, and then Brittany spoke and she tilted her head back and her gaze locked with his as she stared up at him. “Let me get this straight. You will turn over that house to me if I spend a week with you?”
He nodded slowly and the gaze holding hers didn’t flinch or waver. It was steadfast and unmovable. “Yes, but on my terms, which includes living under my roof.”
Galen watched as she crossed her arms over her chest, just like she’d done that day in New York, reminding him what a nice pair of breasts they were. Standing this close to her again was calling his attention to a number of things about her that he’d missed that day. Like how her bottom lip would start quivering when she was angry or how her eyes would darken from a caramel to a deep, rich chocolate when things weren’t going her way. He wondered if that same transformation took place while she was in the bedroom making love.
Her eyes narrowed on him. “Mr. Steele, you’ve lost your mind. What you’re proposing is preposterous.”
“No, it’s not. It’s what I want and personally, I think it’s a rather good deal considering what you’ll be getting,” he pointed out. “In the end you’ll get what you want and I’ll get what I want.”
Fire leaped into her face and he actually got aroused watching it. He wondered if anyone ever told her how hot she looked when she was angry. “How can you even suggest such a thing? A decent man would never talk that way to a lady. How dare you.”
He chuckled again. “Yes,