Solid Soul. Brenda Jackson
to meeting Tiffany as well.” As he held the car door for her he shook his head and laughed. “Matching lovebird tattoos. Have you ever heard of anything so ridiculous?”
Chance drew Kylie into his amusement. “No, and what’s really crazy is that Tiffany is petrified of needles.”
“Well, it’s been said that love makes you do foolish things.”
Later that night Chance swore as he got out of bed. For the first time in eight years, a woman other than his wife had invaded his dreams. Every time he’d closed his eyes, he’d seen Kylie Hagan’s face.
It seemed as if he couldn’t keep his mind from dredging up memories of her. First there was her appearance yesterday when a T-shirt and a pair of shorts covered her shapely body. And today, at the café, the slacks and sweater she’d been wearing had made him appreciate the fact that he was a male.
And then there were the times she would do something as simple as drink water from her glass. He couldn’t help but watch the long, smooth column of her throat as water passed down it. He had wanted to kiss every inch of her neck and had wondered how it would feel for her to grip him the way she was gripping her glass.
Chance dragged a hand down his face thinking it had been a long time for him. Way too long. Sexual cravings were something he’d barely had to deal with, but now he was having several sharp attacks. In addition to the lust he was feeling for her, he also felt a deep sense of admiration.
She had given birth to a child at sixteen, hadn’t given in to her parents’ demand that she give the child up for adoption, and had struggled the past fifteen years as a single parent who’d gotten a college education and had provided for herself and her daughter. He considered what she’d done a success story. What he really appreciated was the fact that her past experiences enabled her to foresee what could be a potentially dangerous situation for Tiffany and Marcus. It was clear as glass that she didn’t want them to make the same mistake she’d made.
As he left the bedroom and headed for the kitchen, he thought about his own situation with Cyndi. They had been blessed in that both sets of parents had been supportive of their decision to keep their child and marry. And when Marcus was born, there was no doubt in Chance’s mind that Cyndi’s parents, as well as his own, loved their first grandchild unconditionally. His heart went out to both Kylie and Tiffany when he thought about what they had been denied.
His pulse began racing when he thought about dinner at Kylie’s place on Sunday when he would be seeing her again. That was one dinner engagement that he was looking forward to.
Kylie awoke with a start, finding that she was drenched in sweat…or heat, since what had awakened her was an erotic dream.
Chance Steele had kissed her, touched her, made love to her. At first she had moaned in protest but then they’d become moans of pleasure. But at the exact moment he was about to do away with all the mind-blowing foreplay and enter her body to take total possession, she had awakened.
She pulled herself into a sitting position and struggled to calm her ragged breath. Perspiration cloaked her body, a sign of just how long she had been in denial. For a brief moment, everything had seemed real, including the way his skin felt beneath her palms, how thick and solid his muscles were against her body and just how good those same muscles felt melding into hers.
With a deep sigh of disgust, she threw the covers back and got out of bed. Why, after fifteen years, did she finally become attracted to a man who just happened to the be the father of the boy who could become her worst nightmare? On the way to the bathroom, she inwardly cursed for finding Chance so damn handsome.
As she turned on the shower and began stripping out of her damp nightclothes, she thought about how her life had been over the past fifteen years. Sam was the first and only man she had slept with. Once Tiffany had been born, her precious little girl had become the most important thing to her, her very reason for existing, and the years that followed had been busy ones as a single parent. Although a number of men had shown interest, a relationship with any of them had taken a backseat. It was either bad timing or a lack of desire on her part to share herself with anyone other than Tiffany. In essence, she had placed her needs aside to take care of the needs of her child.
But now it seemed that those needs were catching up with her. Something sharp, unexpected and mind-blowingly stimulating was taking its toll. For years she had been able to keep those urges under control, but now it seemed a losing battle. It was as if her body was saying, I won’t let you deny me any longer.
As she stepped into the shower and stood beneath the spray of water, she knew that she was in deep trouble. Not only did she have to deal with the situation going on with Tiffany and Marcus, but she had to deal with her own attraction to Chance. It was sheer foolishness to become this enamored with a man she had only met a couple of days ago, and the very thought that she had gone so far as to dream about him making love to her was totally unacceptable.
No matter how intense the sexual longings invading her body, she had to get a grip. And more than anything, she had to remember that men couldn’t be depended on to always do the right thing. Sam had proven that to her in a big way, and so had her father. He had let her down when he’d meekly gone along with her mother’s treatment of her when she’d gotten pregnant.
Moments later when she stepped out of the shower, dried off and donned a fresh nightgown, she had to concede that the water hadn’t washed any thoughts of Chance from her mind. She had a feeling that even when she went back to bed she wouldn’t experience anything close to a peaceful sleep.
Chapter 3
“You actually invited Marcus and his father for dinner on Sunday!”
Kylie lifted a brow as she washed her hands in the kitchen sink. Surprised at the excitement she heard in her daughter’s voice, she turned to meet her gaze. “I take it that you don’t have a problem with it.”
The enthusiasm in Tiffany’s voice dropped a degree when she shrugged her shoulders and said, “No, why should I? Just as long as you and Mr. Steele aren’t going to try and break us up, because it won’t happen. Marcus and I are—”
“Madly in love,” Kylie rushed in to finish, stifling her anger as she dried her hands. “I know.” If she heard her daughter exclaim the depth of her love for Marcus Steele one more time she would scream.
“I thought it would be a good idea for me to finally meet Marcus, considering how you feel about him,” Kylie said.
“Why is Mr. Steele coming?”
“Because he’s Marcus’s father and, like me, he wants what’s best for his child.”
“Oh, then, he won’t have to worry about a thing because I am the best.”
Kylie rolled her eyes thinking her daughter was getting conceited lately—another of Sam’s traits rearing its ugly head.
“So the two of you have been talking a lot?”
Kylie frowned as she began making the pancakes for breakfast. “The two of who?”
“You and Mr. Steele.”
“More than we’ve wanted to, I’m sure,” Kylie said with forced calmness. The last thing her daughter needed to know was just what an impact Chance Steele was having on her. Just as she’d figured last night, she hadn’t been able to go back to sleep without visions of him dancing around in her head.
“How does he look?”
Many of the descriptive words that came to mind she couldn’t possibly share with her daughter. “He’s handsome, so I take it that Marcus is handsome, too.”
Tiffany beamed. “Yes, of course.” Then seconds later she said, “I heard Mr. Steele is nice.”
Kylie expelled a deep breath. “I don’t know him well enough to form an opinion but I have no reason to think that he’s not.” Although she pretended nonchalance, she