Hidden Pleasures by Brenda Jackson

finalizing his plans to get there.
    Galen couldn’t help chuckling as he walked out the door. He wasn’t mad at Eli. That was the Steeles’ way. And why did another part of him wish things had worked out differently between him and Brittany Thrasher? It would have been nice had she agreed to his proposal. Just as well that she hadn’t, though, because he had plenty of work to do back at his garage. He needed to get his mind back on track and finish working on his latest video game project.
    But when it came to a woman who looked like Brittany Thrasher, he would trade in a bunch of electronic parts for her real body parts any day.
     
    Brittany sat staring at her cell phone and the business card she had placed beside it. She had a decision to make and doing so wasn’t easy. She had enjoyed dinner with Nikki; it’d been like old times as they’d reminisced and caught up on each other’s lives. They had agreed to do lunch before Brittany returned home…if she didn’t take Galen Steele up on his offer.
    Drawing in a deep breath, she reached for her phone and then quickly snatched her hand back. She was not ready to do anything just yet. She glanced over at the clock. Only sixteen hours had passed since Galen Steele had made his offer and he’d given her forty-eight.That meant she had thirty-two hours to go. Because she hadn’t been sure what to expect with this trip to Phoenix, especially how long she would have to stay, she had purchased a one-way ticket. One of her employees was covering her etiquette training classes for the next couple of weeks, so she didn’t have to worry about work, either.
    She stood and decided that no matter how much she wanted her mother’s home and the belongings inside it, she would not make any hasty decisions where Galen Steele was concerned. It was quite obvious the man wanted only one thing from her and it had nothing to do with teaching him manners like he claimed. Mind you, his manners could use some improving, but she wasn’t that gullible to believe he wanted her to stay under his roof for seven days to perfect his pleases and thank-yous.
    She lay across the bed and grabbed the remote to flick on the television. She was not a television person, but for lack of anything else to do for now, she would see if there was anything on the tube worth watching. She had thought of driving back out to her mother’s house, but there would be no purpose served in doing that.
    As she lay there looking at the television without actually seeing it, she couldn’t help wondering about the pros and cons of staying with Galen for a week. He didn’t come across as the type of man who would try and force a woman to do anything she didn’t want to do. But still…
    Would she have a guest bedroom, or did he assumeshe would be sharing his? And just what type of manners did he want to be taught? Most people knew the basic manners; they just didn’t use them. And then there was the issue of her little problem… If she spent an entire week with him, would Galen cure her of her sexual hang-ups? Her low libido had never bothered her. Now she was beginning to wonder if it should have.
    She pulled the pillow from under her head and then smothered her face with it. It swallowed up her groan. This was all Galen’s fault. The man not only had her thinking, but he also had her feeling things she’d never felt before. Nikki would think that was a good sign.
    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