"No."
Jason knew that in itself said it all. Jocelyn and Leah had always been as different as night and day. Jocelyn, at twenty-seven, was the oldest by four years and had always been considered a caregiver, someone who was quick to place everyone else"s needs before her own. She also believed in taking time out and having fun, which was why her name always came up to spearhead different committees around town.
Responsible Jocelyn eventually became the son Jim Mason never had, although he had tried to balance that fact by sending her each summer to visit an aunt in Florida whose job was to train her how to comport herself like a lady. Jason had seen her dressed to the nines in satin and sequins at several social functions in town, and then on occasion, he would run into her in Home Depot wearing jeans and a flannel shirt with a construction work belt around her waist. Jocelyn had managed to play both roles-lady and builder-while working alongside her father in the family business, Mason Construction Company.
Then there was Leah.
Jason readily remembered Leah as being one rebellious teenager. After her mother had died when she"d turned thirteen, Leah had become a handful and had given Jim plenty of sleepless nights. She had hated living in Newton Grove and as soon as she turned eighteen, she couldn"t wait to leave home and abandon what she perceived as a dominating father, an overprotective and bossy older sister, and a boyfriend who evidently had been too country to suit her taste. Her return visits over the years had been short and as infrequent as possible. But she had come for the funeral and it was a surprise to everyone that she hadn"t left town yet.
"Do you know of Leah"s plans? Do you think she"s going to stay?"
Jocelyn shrugged her shoulders. "Who knows? She"s welcome to stay as long as she wants. This is her home, too, although she"s never liked it here. You know that. But Leah is the least of my worries now since I believe I can buy her out. What I want to know is why Dad thought this Sebastian Steele deserved a fourth of the company."
It was Jason"s turn to shrug. "I told you what your father said to me, Jocelyn. One summer this guy Steele worked for him. They became close, and leaving him a part of the company was a way to let Steele know how much your father thought of him."
Jocelyn turned with fire in her eyes, placed her hands palm down on Jason"s desk and stared at him. "Why this Steele guy and not Reese? If anyone deserved a part of the company it"s Reese," she said, speaking up for her father"s foreman.
Jason blew out a breath. Jocelyn had finally gone into a rant, and was definitely in fighting mode now. "He did leave Reese Singleton a substantial amount in his will," Jason reminded her.
"Yes, but it wasn"t part of the company."
"Jim had his reasons. He thought a lot of Reese and hoped the money he left him would set him up in his own business."
Jocelyn knew her father"s reasoning. Although twenty-six-year-old Reese had worked as the foreman for Mason Construction for years, everyone in town knew of Reese"s gift with his hands. It was legendary what he could do with a block of wood, and her father always thought he was wasting his talent building houses instead of making furniture.
"Well, all your questions about Steele will be answered shortly," Jason said, breaking into Jocelyn"s thoughts. "He"s due to show up any minute."
Jocelyn sneered. "And I can"t wait for the ill.u.s.trious Sebastian Steele to arrive."
Jason loosened his tie a little. He didn"t envy the man one bit.
"Mr. Kilgore is expecting you, Mr. Steele. Just go right on in," Jason Kilgore"s secretary said in a friendly voice.
Bas returned the older woman"s smile. "Thanks."
He opened the door and glanced first at the older man sitting behind the desk who stood when he entered. Then out of the corner of his eye he saw that someone else was in the room and his gaze automatically shifted.
It was a woman and she didn"t look too happy. She was definitely a beauty, with a ma.s.s of shoulder-length dark-brown curls that framed an oval honey-brown face with chocolate-brown eyes. Then there was the tantalizing fragrance of her perfume that was drifting across the room to him.
"Mr. Steele, I"m glad you made it. Welcome to Newton Grove," Jason Kilgore was saying.
Bas switched his attention from the woman and back to the man. "Thank you."
"So you"re Sebastian Steele?"
Bas turned and met the woman"s frown. "Yes, I"m Sebastian Steele," he answered smoothly. "And who are you?" he asked, although he had an idea. He could see Jim"s likeness in her features, especially in the eyes. They were dark, sharp and a.s.sessing.
She crossed the room to stand directly in front of him, in full view, and he thought that she looked even better up close. She tipped her head, angled it back as if to get a real good look at his six-foot-three-inch form. And when she finally got around to answering his question, her voice was as cool as a day on top of the Smoky Mountains, and as unfriendly as a black bear encountering trespa.s.sers in his den.
"I"m Jocelyn Mason, and I want to know how you talked my father into leaving you a fourth of Mason Construction."
Jocelyn felt a tightness in her throat and couldn"t help but stare at the man standing in front of her. No man should look this good, especially when he was someone she didn"t want to like. And that darn s.e.xy cleft in his chin really wasn"t helping matters. Standing tall, he had thick brows that were slanted to perfection over dark-brown eyes that made you feel you were about to take a dive into a sea of scrumptious chocolate.
His cheeks were high with incredible dimples and his jaw was clearly defined in an angular shape. Then there was his hair-black, cut low and neatly trimmed around his head. And his lean masculine body had broad shoulders, the kind you would want to rest your head on.
Even with all those eye-catching qualities, there was just something captivating about him, something that showed signs of more than just a handsome face. His look-even the one studying her intently-had caught her off guard and she didn"t like the way her heart was pounding wildly against her ribs or the immediate attraction she felt toward him.
Jocelyn took a quick reality check to put that attraction out of her mind and brought her thoughts back to the business at hand-Mason Construction Company.
"Well, aren"t you going to answer, Mr. Steele?" she finally asked, her eyes narrowing fractionally. Inwardly she congratulated herself for getting the words past the tightness in her throat without choking on them.
He lifted a brow and said, "Yes, but first I must say that I"m very pleased to meet you, Jocelyn, and please call me Bas." He extended his hand. The moment she placed hers in his he liked the feel of it. How could a woman who worked in construction have such soft hands?
She pulled her hand away. "Now that we"ve dispensed with formalities, will you answer my question. Why did my father leave you part of Mason Construction?"
He held her gaze. "What if I told you that I had nothing to do with it? Jim"s decision was as much a surprise to me as it was to you and your sister."
Jocelyn considered his words. Leah hadn"t been surprised. Nor had she been concerned. To Leah"s way of thinking it had made perfect sense since she couldn"t imagine Jocelyn running the male-dominated company alone. And as for Leah"s share of the company, she had no problem with Jocelyn buying her out. She had other plans for her inheritance.
"Now that introductions have been made, can we all take a seat and get down to business?" Jason Kilgore said, halting any further conversation between Jocelyn and Bas. "I"m sure Mr. Steele would like to check into Sadie"s Bed and Breakfast in time to take advantage of whatever she"s fixed for lunch today. You know what a wonderful cook Sadie is, Jocelyn."
If Jocelyn did know she wasn"t saying, Bas noted as he took his seat next to her in front of Jason Kilgore"s desk. Her mouth was set in a tight line and he could tell she wasn"t happy with his presence. Furious Furious would probably be a better word. would probably be a better word.
He continued to study her, her cute perky nose and beautifully shaped mouth. He"d always been a sucker for a woman with sensuously curved lips. They were kissable lips, the kind that could easily mold to his.
"I was explaining to Jocelyn before you arrived just what your function will be for the next couple of months, Mr. Steele." Jason Kilgore yanked Bas out of his reverie.
"And I was telling Jason that I thought Dad got you involved prematurely," Jocelyn quickly interjected.
"Do you?" Bas asked, noting just how dark her irises were.
"Yes. Dad taught me everything I know growing up and then he sent me to college to get a degree as a structural engineer. It was always meant for me to run the company."
"And you think I"m standing in the way of you doing that?"
"For a short while, yes, and as I said, it"s all for nothing. When it comes to construction work, I can handle things."
A dimple appeared in the corner of Bas"s mouth. For some reason he couldn"t imagine her on a construction site, wearing a hard hat and jeans and wielding a hammer and saw while standing anywhere near a steel beam.
"And you find all this amusing, Bas?"
In a way he did, but he"d cut out his tongue before admitting it to her. There was no need to get her any more riled up than she already was. "No, Jocelyn, I don"t."
"Good, then I hope you"ll hear me out. I think it will save us a lot of time if you do."
Bas nodded. "All right. I"m interested in whatever you have to say."
"So, Bas, I hope you can see why you being here, keeping an eye on things, won"t work."
Bas"s lips curved into a smile. Although she had spent the last twenty minutes stating her case, trying to explain why his services weren"t needed, he didn"t see any such thing.
He glanced over at Jason Kilgore. The man had stopped fighting sleep-or boredom, whichever the case-and was leaning back in his chair and dozing quietly. Unlike Kilgore, Bas had given Jocelyn his full attention. It was hard to do otherwise.
First she had paced in front of him a few times, as if she"d needed to collect her thoughts. He, on the other hand, had needed to rein in his. The sunlight filtering through Kilgore"s window had hit her at an angle that made her dark skin look creamier, her hair shinier and her lips even more tempting.
The woman had legs that seemed endless and the skirt she was wearing was perfect to show them off. Each time she paced the room, her hem would swish around those legs, making him appreciate his twenty-twenty vision. He loved what that skirt was doing for her small waist and curvy hips. And he couldn"t help but notice the gracefulness of her walk. Her strides were a perfect display of good posture in motion and the fluid precision of a body that was faultlessly aligned.
"Bas, are you listening to what I"m saying?"
He heard the frustration in her voice and with a sigh he leaned back in his chair. "Yes, but it changes nothing. Your father asked me to return a favor. I owe Jim big-time and I believe in paying back any debts."
He knew his words weren"t what she wanted to hear and her expression didn"t hide that fact. "Mr. Steele, you are being difficult."
He lifted a brow. Since she hadn"t gotten her way, it seemed he was Mr. Steele instead of Bas. "I"m sorry you feel that way, Jocelyn, but your father evidently felt the need for me to be here, otherwise he would not have added that stipulation in his will."
"And what about your ownership in the company?"
"What about it?"
"I"d like to buy you out."
That didn"t surprise him. "I"ll let you know my decision at the end of three months."
"Three months? But you only have to be here for six weeks."
He flicked a smile. "Your father"s will indicated six weeks as the minimum period of time. If I recall, there was no maximum time given."
Anger shone in her features. "Surely you"re not going to hang around here for three months?"
"Hey, keep it up, Jocelyn and I"ll think you don"t want me hanging around at all."
"I don"t."
He shrugged. At least she was honest. "I"m sorry you feel that way."
"I see that our talk today didn"t accomplish anything," she said.
Oh, he wouldn"t go so far as to say that. Just watching her prance around Kilgore"s office had accomplished a lot.
"What about your own company?"
She almost snapped the words at him, reclaiming his attention. Not that she"d ever fully lost it. "What about the Steele Corporation?" he countered.
"Shouldn"t that be your main concern?"
He wished. "I left the company in good hands. My three brothers and my cousin know what they"re doing," he said, thinking about Chance, Morgan and Donovan, as well as his cousin Vanessa, who handled public relations for the company. His other two cousins, Taylor and Cheyenne, pursued careers outside of the family business, although they served on Steele Corporation"s board of directors.
"Besides," he decided to add, "it"s time for me to take a vacation anyway." There was no need to elaborate on the fact that it was a forced one.
"By the time this is over, Mr. Steele, you"re going to wish you had gone to Disney World instead."
"Possibly, but I"ll take my chances. And what about your sister?" he decided to ask her. From her expression he knew immediately he"d hit a nerve.
She frowned. "What about her?"
"Are you buying her out?"
"Yes. She"s never liked this town and I"m surprised she"s still here. I expected her to return to California right after Dad"s funeral."
He nodded. "After I get checked in at Sadie"s Bed and Breakfast, I want to go over to the office and look around."
"I wish you"d consider my offer," she said.
"I can"t do that."
Her eyes darkened. "In the end you"re going to wish you had."
He stood, and when he took a couple of slow steps toward her, she had the good sense to take a couple of steps back. "I intend to carry out your father"s request. That said, I think it will be in our best interest if we got along."
She glared at him. "I don"t see that happening."
A tight smile spread across his face. "Maybe I should have told you that I like challenges, Jocelyn."
Chapter 2.
Bas parked his car in front of Sadie"s Bed and Breakfast and glanced around. He certainly hadn"t expected this, all the changes that had taken place in Newton Grove since he"d last been here fourteen years ago.
It was still one of most beautiful, quaint towns he"d ever traveled to, but it no longer had that Mayberry look. He"d pa.s.sed a Wal-Mart and Home Depot, certainly two things that hadn"t been here before. And the library had been given a face lift. But the drive-in theater appeared to still be intact, as well as the Newton Rail Station that provided a memorable excursion up into the Smoky Mountains.
And from what he saw it was still a favorite place with tourists, which meant the souvenir shops that formed a tight circle in the town square were still thriving. The county fair, which was always held the third weekend in August, was a major event and always brought enough excitement to last the townspeople until the fall festival in the middle of November. He smiled, remembering all the stories Jim had told about both events. Boy, had he enjoyed hearing them.