Intimate Seduction - Brenda Jackson [57]
The ring of his cell phone had them pulling apart, but he didn’t intend to let her go too far. He held on to her elbow while fishing the cell phone out of his jeans pocket.
“Hello.” His tone was one of irritation at being interrupted.
She watched as his eyes widened and heard the concern in his voice when he asked, “When?”
And then he responded to whatever he was told by saying. “I’m on my way.”
He quickly put his phone back in the pocket of his jeans and then said to her. “Come on, let’s go.” He had a firm grip on her hand.
She blinked. “Go where?” she asked, while letting him guide her out of the door with him.
He glanced over his shoulder. “To the hospital. One of my sisters-in-law, Jocelyn, has been rushed there.”
Natalie stopped in her tracks, which caused him to do the same. Her eyes widened in alarm. “Oh, my goodness. What happened? What’s wrong?”
A smile touched the corner of his lips when he said, “She’s having a baby.”
The rush was on, and within minutes Natalie found herself strapped into Donovan’s two-seat Mercedes convertible sports car. He was racing down the interstate, most of the time not adhering to the speed limit, but she couldn’t help love the feel of her hair blowing in the wind. Adrenaline was flowing through her veins. At the moment she didn’t want to think about how much emission from his car was probably polluting the air. Nor did she want to consider just how the emissions were being absorbed in the upper troposphere at mid-to-high latitudes.
She glanced over at Donovan. What had he been thinking to ask her to come with him to the hospital where his family would probably be gathered? How was he going to explain her presence?
One thing she knew about being placed in unexpected situations was to be prepared whenever possible. That propelled her to say, “Tell me about your family, Donovan.”
He glanced briefly at her and smiled before turning his attention back to the road. “That’s a tall order since the Steele family is a big one. My grandparents had six sons and two daughters. Two sons moved from Arizona and settled here back in the sixties and started the Steele Corporation; a manufacturing company. My father was one of the brothers, and my uncle was the other. Uncle Harold died of lung cancer around twelve years ago, leaving his share of the company to his wife and three daughters, Vanessa, Taylor and Cheyenne. My father retired eight years ago and left his share to his four sons. My brother Chance is the oldest and CEO. Sebastian, whom we call Bas, is the second oldest and is a troubleshooter in the company. Morgan is brother number three and heads the research and development department, and I’m the youngest. I manage the product administration department.”
She nodded. “Your cousins, the three females, do they work for the company, as well?”
“Only Vanessa. She’s over our PR department. Taylor and Cheyenne have seats on the board of directors. Taylor is a wealth asset manager and she and her husband live in DC, and Cheyenne is a retired model. She and her husband live here in Charlotte and had triplets less than a year ago, so she’s pretty busy these days.”
Natalie chuckled. “I can imagine. Triplets. Wow. So who’s having a baby now?”
“Bas’s wife, Jocelyn. But in another month we’ll be doing this scene again since Morgan’s wife, Lena, is expecting, as well and is due to deliver in September.”
He continued talking about his family, and Natalie heard the warm affection in his voice. He also told her about his other cousins that were spread all over the country and how close all Steeles were. She drew in a deep breath when he pulled into the hospital’s parking lot, still not sure why he had asked her to come. But at the moment she couldn’t think of any other place she’d rather be than with him.
Chapter 14