Hidden Pleasures by Brenda Jackson Page B

wouldn’t excuse her, not even a little bit. “I asked when am I supposed to keep my hands to myself?”
    “At all times.”
    His smile widened. He hadn’t done that since grade school when Cindy Miller had squealed to the teacher on him for kissing her neck. “Sorry, I can’t make you that promise because I do intend to touch you,” he said, deciding he might as well tell her the truth.
    “Mr. Steele, this is only a coincidence but believe it or not, I teach manners for a living.”
    He chuckled. “You don’t say.”
    “I do say. I own Etiquette Matters and I take my work seriously. If I decided to accept your proposal—and that’s a big ‘if’—my sole purpose would be to teach you manners.”
    “In that case, Ms. Thrasher, maybe the first thing on your list should be to teach me how to keep my hands off you.” He leaned back in his chair, clearly enjoying this. He could imagine she was pretty damn annoyed with him about now.
    “Is there any way we can renegotiate your offer?”
    She had to be kidding. “No. I have something you want and you have something I want. You either come to live with me for a week or the house and its contents go to charity.”
    “You are being difficult, Mr. Steele.”
    He smiled. Now that she had surprised the hell out of him by showing an interest, she hadn’t seen anything yet.
    “There’s no reason for me to make it easy for you, Ms. Thrasher. I gave you my terms. You can either accept them or reject them. You have less than ten hours to decide.”
    He wished they were talking face-to-face. He figured her bottom lip was quivering in anger about now, and he would love to see, even better, he’d love to taste that anger.
    “I’d like to make a counteroffer.”
    He shook his head. She didn’t know when to give up. She was definitely persistent and he liked that about her because he was the same way. He didn’t say anything for a while, deciding to let her statement hover between them for a minute. And then, “Because I consider myself a fair man, I’ll let you do that. But we need to meet in person,” he said. He rubbed his chin. “I can come to your hotel.”
    “I prefer we meet someplace else.”
    “If you insist. Let’s meet at Regis. It’s a coffee shop in downtown Phoenix, walking distance from your hotel.”
    “I never told you the name of my hotel.”
    He thought quick on his feet. “I didn’t say that you did. I assume you’re staying at one of the hotels downtown.”
    Not wanting to give her time to think about his slipup, he asked, “Are you not staying at a hotel downtown?”
    She hesitated a quick minute before saying, “Yes, I am.”
    “Fine. I’ll meet you at Regis in an hour. Goodbye.” He then quickly ended the call before she could rethink it.
     
    Brittany thought it was a beautiful day for walking. Besides, it gave her some extra time to think before actually meeting with Galen. Even though it was lunch time and the sidewalk was crowded with people, she couldn’t help being fascinated with downtown Phoenix.
    Earlier that day she had gone on a tour of the state capitol and had checked out the Phoenix Art Museum. She had arrived in time to see a small play on the history of the state; however, she’d been so preoccupied with her thoughts that she hadn’t really paid attention.
    When she saw the sign for Regis up ahead, she began nibbling on her lips. Meeting with Galen Steele wouldn’t be so bad if he wasn’t so darn handsome. Her attraction to him had taken her by surprise, because no man ever captured her interest the way he had.
    Annoyance seethed through her when she remembered that he was a man with only one thing on his agenda. It would be up to her to try and sway his mind about a fewthings. If he didn’t go along with what she was going to suggest, what did she have to lose?
    Her house, for starters.
    That realization made her heart sink as she opened the door to the café. She only had to scan the place a few seconds