Hidden Pleasures - Brenda Jackson [20]
She removed the pillow off her face, tossed it aside and stared up at the ceiling. She thought about the last serious relationship she’d been involved in with Gilford Turner. For an entire year he would arrive after church on Sunday like clockwork and stay until Tuesday. They never discussed marriage and that had been fine with her as much as it had been with him. His mother had been the only one bothered by their lack of motivation to get to the altar. For them, there had been no big rush.
She hadn’t fooled herself into thinking that she was in love with him or vice versa. They liked each other and that was as far as it went. That’s why when he’d dropped by one day during the week to announce he wouldn’t be coming back, with a smile on her face she’d gathered up all of his belongings, placed them in a box and walked him to the door and wished him well. In the days, weeks and months that followed, she hadn’t pined after him, nor had she missed his presence. She had carried on with her life and her Sundays through Tuesdays had once again become her own.
And as for the sex…
She could honestly say she hadn’t missed any of it because there hadn’t been anything inspiring about it.
A year after Gilford, she’d tried getting back into the dating thing again and it took less than a month to decide she hadn’t wanted the hassles, the aggravation or the drama of getting to know another man. Most tried to be slick and only had one thing on their mind. Sex. At some point she realized she’d rather have a root canal than to contemplate having sex with a man.
Would Galen be different? She was attracted to him, that much was a given. And around him she’d felt a sexual interest that she hadn’t felt toward a man before, which could be considered a plus. And for the first time in her life she could admit to dreaming about hot, sweaty sex. Galen himself had crept into her dreams during those times.
Indulging her nervous habit, she bit her bottom lip. She had decisions to make and for now she needed her full concentration. She turned off the TV. She had to think. Boy, did she have to think.
Chapter 6
His cell phone rang and Galen absently pressed the Bluetooth in his ear without taking his gaze off the sixty pieces of software components in front of him. It was the middle of the day and he was in his air-conditioned six-car garage working on what would be the brain of his next video game. He had worked on what he considered the senses last night.
“This is Galen.”
“Mr. Steele, this is Brittany Thrasher.”
He shifted his gaze to a copy of the FedEx receipt Eli had dropped off earlier. Because he’d been busy at the time, he had placed it on his desk. He wasn’t surprised she was calling. Evidently she’d gotten the overnight package and was calling to thank him.
“Yes, Ms. Thrasher?”
“I was wondering if we could meet somewhere and talk.”
He lifted a brow, surprised. “You’re still in Phoenix?”
“Yes.”
He put down the pliers he’d been holding. If she was still in Phoenix that meant she was unaware he’d signed the house over to her. “And what do you want to talk about?”
“Your proposal. I have some questions about it.”
He drew in a deep, steadying breath as he tried to get his heart rate under control, while at the same time ignore the throbbing in his groin. Was she seriously contemplating taking him up on his offer? He definitely hadn’t expected her to do so. The decent thing to do would be to come clean and tell her that he’d signed the house over to her, so there was no need for them to discuss the proposal. But he couldn’t help being curious about her questions.
“What kind of questions?” he heard himself asking.
“First of all, I want to know where I’ll be sleeping while I’m under your roof.”
Several visual images flashed through his mind. Maybe now was not a good time to tell her that if he had his