Lena nodded. "Yes, it was. They had a rather close relationship, and although he"s been gone for six years now, she still has some rough times. The holidays are extremely hard, especially Christmas since it was the day they married. And of course his birthday, which happens to be on the Fourth of July. She goes into a state of depression every year around those days."
Morgan nodded as he thought of his own parents. They would be celebrating their fortieth wedding anniversary in a few years. They, too, had a close relationship and he knew if anything were to happen to either parent, the remaining one would have a difficult time adjusting as well.
At that moment he felt an astounding respect and admiration for Lena. She had technically placed her social life on hold to take care of her mother. He and his bothers had unanimously decided when and if the time came not to place their parents in a nursing home if it was reasonably possible not to do so. Like Lena, they would become their parents" primary caretakers.
When he saw her glance down at her watch again, he said, "Come on. I want to make sure you"re there to pick up your mother on time."
It was on the tip of Lena"s tongue to tell him that she preferred that he not go. She could just imagine what her mother would think if a man accompanied her to pick her up as it had been over three years since she was actually out on a date. The last guy she"d dated had been Dr. Derek Peterson, who"d had the nerve to tell her that they could pick up their relationship once she put her mother in her own place and stop spending so much time with her. She was glad she hadn"t gotten any further with him than the first kiss. After saying what he"d said the man had really turned her stomach.
Once they were back in Morgan"s SUV her lips quivered slightly with nerves. Maybe she needed to prepare Morgan in case her mother did something crazy like bring up the subject of grandbabies, her favorite subject lately. "Morgan?"
He glanced over at her as he backed the vehicle out of the driveway. "Yes?"
"My mother. I think I need to prepare you about something so you won"t be surprised, in case she brings it up."
"Okay, what is it?"
"She wants grandkids."
"Oh, I see."
Even as he said the words, Lena doubted if he really saw at all and decided to explain. "She"s getting older and-"
"Lena, you don"t have to explain. I have parents, too, remember. And when it comes to wanting grandkids they"re just as bad."
"They are?"
"Yes. For years Marcus was enough for them, but then they started throwing out hints to the four of us again. They felt Chance needed to remarry and Bas, Donovan and I needed to find wives. Now with Bas married and Chance with a new baby on the way, they"re satisfied for now, but I"m not counting on it lasting too long. They"ll be looking at me and Donovan again in a few years."
A few moments later he asked, "What about you, Lena?"
She lifted a brow. "What about me?"
"I asked you before and you said you wanted kids...but. You never explained what that but but meant." meant."
Lena recalled that day a couple of weeks ago. She met his gaze when he halted at a stop sign. "But means that I would love to have children of my own one day and I would love for my children to know my mother while she"s still here with me in good health and a good frame of mind. But since I"m not married and don"t see myself getting married in my near or distant future, then it doesn"t matter how much I love kids or want them, does it?" means that I would love to have children of my own one day and I would love for my children to know my mother while she"s still here with me in good health and a good frame of mind. But since I"m not married and don"t see myself getting married in my near or distant future, then it doesn"t matter how much I love kids or want them, does it?"
Yes it did. Morgan"s jaw tightened and he wished to earth that he could tell her right then and there that it did matter because he was willing to give her as many babies as she wanted. He could provide their child a loving, stable environment that included two parents and grandparents. And he didn"t have a problem with Lena being her mother"s primary caretaker. They would do it together, share the responsibility. And he would be able to provide all the financial security she"d ever want.
But at the moment he was too deep into his plan of pursuit to tell her that. He would have to show her better than to tell her. In the past men had disappointed her in such a way that it would be hard for Lena to put her complete trust in one again. So he would take his time and continue with his plan to build her trust and belief that he was different. He had to prove that all the other men in her life had been Mr. Wrong but he was her Mr. Right.
When he brought the car to the gate to exit out of the subdivision he smiled and said, "Don"t worry. Your mother and I will get along great."
Lena inwardly sighed. That was exactly what she was afraid of. And then when Morgan stopped coming around the way the others had once they realized that her mother was a permanent fixture in her life, she wondered just what her mother was going to think.
"Who are you, young man?"
Before Morgan could respond Lena quickly answered as she snapped her mother"s seat belt in place. "Mom, this is a client of mine, Morgan Steele. I was out showing him a house and time slipped away. He was kind enough to offer to bring me here to pick you up."
"Oh." Odessa, who was sitting in the front pa.s.senger seat, smiled over at Morgan, in the driver"s seat. "That was nice of you, Mr. Steele." She then bunched her brows. "I know another Steele. Kylie"s husband."
Morgan smiled. "That"s Chance, my brother."
The woman"s face crinkled into an even wider smile. "So, you"re one of those Steele boys."
Morgan chuckled. He hadn"t heard him and his brothers referred to that way in a long time. "Yes, ma"am, I am."
"I heard there were four of you."
"Yes, there are."
"Another one got married recently, right?"
"Yes, that was my brother Sebastian."
"You and your other brother are still single?"
"Mom! Please don"t make Morgan feel like he"s part of an inquisition," Lena said from the backseat as Morgan drove away from the adult day care center.
Odessa glanced over at Morgan. "Sorry about that, son."
He chuckled again. "No harm"s been done, Ms. Spears. And to answer your question, yes, my brother Donovan and I are still single."
To avoid her mother asking Morgan any questions about his personal life, Lena quickly asked her how things had gone at the center today. Odessa then went into a lengthy explanation, filling everyone in on the happenings of that day. Lena sat in the backseat thinking most of it was an everyday occurrence, especially the information about Mr. Talbot trying to eat Ms. Meriwether"s lunch. But what was different today was that her mother had another set of ears, attentive ears. Lena knew Morgan was just being nice but he was hanging on to her mother"s every word; and the more he hung on, the more her mother had to say. She couldn"t recall the last time her mother was so chatty with a stranger.
From her position in the backseat Lena watched Morgan. Although he kept his eyes focused on the road, he was still attuned to what her mother was saying and would make occasional comments. Lena finally decided to tune out the conversation and focus on him.
The man had a very s.e.xy mouth. That was one of the first things she had noticed about him the first night they met, which was probably the reason she kept having those fantasies of kissing it. Then there were his hands, the ones that were now gripping the steering wheel. She could just imagine him gripping her thighs in just the same way, while his fingers inched upward toward that heated place and- "Isn"t that wonderful, Lena?"
She blinked, realizing her mother had spoken to her, had asked her a question. "Excuse me, Mom, what did you say? My thoughts were elsewhere."
"I said, isn"t it wonderful that Morgan is coming to dinner on Sunday?"
"What!" Lena said, switching her gaze to Morgan and meeting his in the rearview mirror in wild confusion. What was her mother talking about? Morgan was not coming to dinner on Sunday.
"Did I miss something?" she asked, trying to ignore the intensity in the dark eyes staring back at her in the mirror.
"Your mother asked when the last time was that I had homemade chicken and dumplings, and I told her it"s been a while. She was kind enough to invite me over on Sunday since she"ll be cooking some then."
Lena s.n.a.t.c.hed her gaze from Morgan to stare at the back of her mother"s head. "When did you decide to cook?" She couldn"t recall the last time her mother had been motivated to go into the kitchen to prepare dinner. Usually Lena did the cooking.
"When Morgan said it"s been a while since he"d had chicken and dumplings. I think he should get a taste of mine at least once."
"That"s kind of you, Mom, and I"m certain Morgan appreciates the invitation, but I"m sure he has other things to do on Sunday."
"No, I don"t."
A surprised brow lifted as Lena met Morgan"s gaze in the rearview mirror again. She"d been trying to help him out of what she thought was a situation he hadn"t really wanted to be in. "You don"t?"
He chuckled. "No, I don"t."
"Then it"s all settled," Odessa Spears was saying with a smile in her voice. "And I think I"m going to bake a peach cobbler as well. Do you like peach cobbler, Morgan?"
"Yes, ma"am."
"Good."
Kylie Steele smiled, seeing the look of grief on the face of the woman who"d been her best friend since high school. They were having their weekly lunch session at their favorite restaurant. "Come on, Lena. Morgan having dinner at your place can"t be that bad."
Lena frowned. "That"s what you think. You know that he asked me out a few times and I turned him down, and I had worked so hard making sure he understood there could never be anything between us but friendship. And with him being a client, I"ve been trying to keep things strictly business between us, and now thanks to Mom he might get the wrong idea and I don"t want that."
Kylie took a sip of her apple juice, her eyes meeting Lena"s over the rim of her gla.s.s. Once she set the gla.s.s down on the table she asked, "Okay, Lena. Tell me. What"s going on here? What is it that you really want?"
Lena shrugged. "I don"t know what you mean."
"No, I think that you do. This is Kylie, remember, the one person who knows you like a book. Pregnancy didn"t destroy any of my brain cells. I know the reason you turned Morgan down all those times. You"re convinced he"s no different than the Derek Petersons of the world."
Lena shook her head. "I never said he was anything like Derek. But then, I have to be fair and objective in dealing with men, Kylie. Taking care of an elderly parent is a huge undertaking, but I do it with pleasure and love because it"s my my mom. I don"t see it just as a responsibility, I see it as a way to gladly give back all those things she"s given to me over the years." mom. I don"t see it just as a responsibility, I see it as a way to gladly give back all those things she"s given to me over the years."
She took a sip of her wine before continuing. "But I can"t expect others to see it that way. Mom is seventy-one and not in the best of health. Morgan"s parents are in their late fifties, still alive, and are able to do things together. I"m all Mom has and that"s okay. I don"t have time to devote to a serious relationship. Being with her takes up most of my time."
"But it doesn"t have to be that way, Lena. Your mom is in good health so it"s not like she needs a sitter around the clock and-"
"Where would a relationship lead, Kylie? I"ve never been one to get into casual affairs and maybe that"s my downfall. If I could indulge in one, then things would be just great and I wouldn"t hurt when the affair ended because I could just brush myself off and start on another. But I can"t do that. I get involved with all my emotions."
"You really liked Derek, didn"t you?" Kylie asked softly, remembering the man who"d once had the nerve to try and hit on her right in front of Lena. What a jerk!
Emotions, thick and painful, lodged in Lena"s throat. "He was a real charmer, I have to admit. I"m just glad I never slept with him. Then him walking away like he did would really have been humiliating. But to answer your question, yes, I really liked him but I didn"t love him. I would have begun falling in love with him if I hadn"t started seeing his true side. He was just like a spoiled child. He wanted to make me choose between him and my mother and he was too stupid to see there wasn"t a choice. But to give me an ultimatum like that showed just what kind of person he was."
"Yes, it did. But let"s get back to Morgan for a moment. You can"t tell me you don"t like him just a little."
Lena couldn"t help but smile. "What"s there not to like? He"s good-looking, has good manners, he"s a successful businessman. When I quoted him the price of that house I showed him a couple of days ago, he didn"t bat an eye."
"But?"
"But even if I didn"t have Mom I still wouldn"t get involved with him. I"m way out of my league with him. I can see him with a totally different woman by his side, and I can"t risk losing my heart to him. It"s as simple as that."
She studied the contents of her gla.s.s for a moment, then said, "I didn"t tell you that Morgan and I ran into Ca.s.sandra Tisdale the day we had our business meeting at that restaurant in town."
Kylie raised a brow. "Ca.s.sandra Tisdale? She"s back?"
"Yes, and her fangs are sharper than ever. She made a very rude comment about Morgan and me being together."
Kylie frowned. "What kind of comment?"
"Something about how he could do better."
Kylie leaned back in her chair with a look of incredulity on her face. "I can"t believe the nerve of that woman," she said, remembering the first time she had come into contact with Ca.s.sandra. "For someone who"s supposed to be so refined, she can be downright tacky at times."
"Yes, but Morgan put her in her place, but then he should not have. When people see us together they shouldn"t see us as a mismatched couple. When a couple walks into the room and heads turn it should be for all the right reasons and not the wrong ones."
"And you see that happening?"
"Possibly. I have no problem with who I am, but I can"t honestly think that I"m someone he"d probably consider as his ideal woman."
"Then why do you think he asked you out all those times?"
"Who knows? Maybe out of boredom."
"I don"t think you"re being fair to Morgan or to yourself." Kylie then leaned forward in her seat and sighed. "Do something for me, Lena."
"What?"
"Stop selling yourself short. When you get home take a look in the mirror. You"re a beautiful full-figured African American woman who could walk into any room and put the Ca.s.sandra Tisdales of this world to shame, mainly because not only do you have outside beauty, you have inside beauty as well. Don"t think a man like Morgan wouldn"t know that. And I think you need to think about something."
"What?"
"What if you are Morgan"s ideal woman? And what if he"s that one man who doesn"t care that you"re your mother"s primary caretaker? Then what?"
A small smile touched the corners of Lena"s lips. "Then I"ll get the h.e.l.l out of Dodge quick like and in a hurry."
Kylie lifted a brow. "What does that mean?"
"It means that I would run like h.e.l.l because I wouldn"t know the first thing about handling a man like Morgan...s.e.xually, I mean. I bet his testosterone level is probably close to hitting the Richter scale. I get hot all over at the thought of sleeping with him."
Kylie grinned as her eyes glittered teasingly. "So the thought has crossed your mind?"
A frisson of desire inched its way through Lena"s bloodstream at the same moment she knew a heated flush was probably showing in her cheeks. "Yes, more than a few times a week. How about every day?" she said honestly.
Kylie laughed. "Now you know what I was going through after meeting Chance."
Yes, Lena thought. She knew. But she also knew that she and Kylie were different people. Kylie had started out being defiant and determined, but in the end she had given in to Chance"s charm. Lena didn"t intend to give in to any man"s charm again. What Derek and others before him had done had more than p.r.i.c.ked her pride. It had made her see things quite clear. And the more she kept her dealings with Morgan on a business level, the better things would be.
Chapter 5.