Hidden Pleasures - Brenda Jackson [18]
“And you’re my attorney,” he reminded him, which his brother seemed to forget sometimes. In addition to being the corporate attorney for SID, Eli was legal counsel for several other private companies and was doing quite well for himself. Which was probably why a couple of years ago, right before his thirtieth birthday, he’d bought the perfect building for his law practice in downtown Phoenix: the hub of business activities, and right in the heart of the valley. Prime real estate property if ever there was any.
Galen would be the first to admit the high-rise building was a beautiful piece of architecture and had been a wise investment for his brother to make. It was huge, spacious and upscale. Eli’s firm took up the entire twentieth floor. The other floors were leased, which brought him in a nice profit each month. Another plus was the view from Eli’s office window. He saw straight into a penthouse fitness center across the street, and Galen could just imagine his brother sitting behind his desk checking out the women.
“I’ll have the papers ready for you to pick up later this evening,” Eli told him.
“Go ahead and overnight the deeds to her because I won’t be seeing her again.”
He decided not to tell Eli about the outlandish proposition he’d made to the woman, probably because knowing Eli, he wouldn’t consider it outlandish at all. And under normal circumstances, neither would he. But again, he knew how much that house meant to Brittany Thrasher so for once he’d given in to his soft spot and not his hard-on.
He smiled thinking there were women who wouldn’t believe he had a soft spot, and very few could touch it like Brittany Thrasher had.
Chances were she was on her way back home to Florida. He’d have loved to be there to see her face when she received the papers giving her the house, property and land, free and clear.
“Do you have her address?”
Galen rolled his eyes. “Why would I have her address? I met her only twice.”
“Yet you’re giving her a property worth a lot of money?”
Leave it to Eli to try and make things difficult. His brother had a habit of rationalizing things too much. “No, the house was already hers. I’ve already explained that it was willed to her by her biological mother.”
“Gotcha. You’re such a nice guy, a real champion of good causes,” Eli said sarcastically. And then he added, “It’s hard to believe there won’t be anything in this for you.”
It was hard for Galen to believe that, too. He’d made her that outlandish proposal, but hadn’t really expected her to go for it. Not with her being Miss Manners and all. She probably figured his offer was just another display of his ill-mannered and brutish side. But he couldn’t help but wonder how things might have been if she had accepted his offer.
He could just imagine spending a week behind closed doors with her. She would teach him manners and he would teach her how to let her hair down, live for the moment. He would love to see those caramel-colored eyes turn chocolate-brown from something other than anger. A full-blown orgasm would do the trick.
“Is there anything else? You’re just sitting here not saying anything.”
Eli’s words whipped Galen’s mind back on track and he quickly stood. “No, that’s about it. If possible I’d like the papers sent today, so she’ll get them tomorrow. She might want to return to Phoenix and go through her mother’s belongings.”
A part of him was counting on her doing so and he intended to make it his business to be around when she did. Maybe all wasn’t lost after all.
“Excuse me, Galen, but I have work to do. Now you’re just standing there, staring into space and smiling.”
Galen shook his head. To know Eli was to love him. He could be such a pain in the ass. “You’re going to the folks’ for dinner tomorrow night?” he decided to ask before he left.
“Of course. Who could be brave enough to miss it? If we don’t show up for Mom’s Thursday-night family dinner hour, there’s no telling what will happen the next day. She might decide to come around snooping.”
Galen knew that to be