"I hope in another week or so. I had planned to be back by now, but there"s still a lot of Dad"s stuff that Leah and I need to go through and I hadn"t counted on Leah staying this long past the funeral, although I"m glad she has. And with the cost of gas, living in town has been convenient for me, although I miss the seclusion."
"You don"t mind living this far from town alone?"
"Nope. I"m surrounded by so many people during the day that a secluded lifestyle pretty much suits me in the evenings and at night. Besides, Reese"s brother and his wife live on the other side of the lake."
Bas didn"t relish the thought of her living up here alone. His cousin Vanessa had bought a house in a rural section of Charlotte and it was awhile before he or his brothers got used to the idea. They still took turns checking on her every so often.
"Come on inside. I"ll fix a pot of coffee and we can talk. I need to get clothes for the rest of the week anyway," she said as she started up the walkway.
Watching her stride toward the door was giving him a generous view of some very serious curves in her jeans, just like he"d gotten last night. But this time those curves were in motion and he could only stand and appreciate the sway of her hips. The sight was definitely holding him captive and he couldn"t help but take the time to admire her. Not for the first time he thought that Jocelyn Mason was a very beautiful woman. Beautiful and tempting. And he quickly reminded himself that she was feisty. Too feisty for her own good...as well as for his.
Evidently noticing that he wasn"t following meekly behind her, she stopped and turned around. "You got a problem?"
He recalled that was the same question he had tossed out at her last night. "No, I don"t have a problem."
She nodded and began walking again. It was only then that he decided to follow. At least she had left that d.a.m.n screwdriver in the car. For some reason he believed that if she got mad enough, she was a woman who made good on her threats.
Inside, Bas noted that the house was s.p.a.cious, allowing a view of most of the rooms from the foyer, including a ma.s.sive eat-in kitchen.
All the ceilings were vaulted and in the living room a brick fireplace was flanked by built-in bookcases. The furnishings were elegant, traditional, with the leather sofa, love seat, wingback chair and table lamps strategically placed facing the window to get a good view of the mountains. Every item in the room seemed to have a place and the beautiful splashes of earth-tone colors blended well with everything else, including the two oil paintings on the wall.
The dignified furnishings in this house, he noted, reflected a side of Jocelyn he hadn"t seen a lot of yet-her prim and proper side. It showed a woman who had good taste and who liked beautiful things. Even the polished wood floors had character.
He reached out and traced a finger along a mahogany curio, noting the intricate detail and the fine craftsmanship. "Nice place and super-nice furniture," Bas said, glancing beyond the foyer and living room to the dining room where the furnishings there was just as elegant, traditional, st.u.r.dy.
"Thanks. Reese built all the furniture," Jocelyn said as she shoved her hands into the pockets of her jeans and leaned back against the wet bar that separated the dining room from the kitchen.
Bas"s gaze shifted back to her, surprised. "He did?"
"Yes. He has a gift when it comes to using his hands on wood."
That, Bas thought, was an understatement. The man was definitely gifted. No wonder Jim had left him a tidy sum to start up his own business. He was wasting his talent at Mason Construction.
"This place was really too big for what I had in mind but like I said, I didn"t want Reese to get rid of it," Jocelyn said, reclaiming Bas"s attention.
The late-afternoon sunlight was shining through the huge kitchen window and the view of the lake from where they were standing was wonderful. But he thought the picture of Jocelyn standing in front of that window was even more so. She was a picture of refined elegance, just like her home.
"I can make us some coffee if-"
"No, I don"t want anything," he said, interrupting what she was about to say. He thought it was safe to remember why they were there and not let other thoughts filter through his mind.
"I just want my question answered, Jocelyn. Why didn"t you tell me about your meeting with Cody?" he asked, deciding to get down to business.
Jocelyn sighed as she stared at him. "The reason I didn"t tell you was not because of some sinister plot on my part to keep you out of the loop about anything. I had honestly a.s.sumed you would accept my offer of a buy-out like Leah"s doing. Why wouldn"t I a.s.sume that? You and your brothers own a major corporation, the largest minority-owned one in North Carolina. You employ over a thousand people so I"m sure you"re busy most of the time. To be quite frank with you, I"m surprised you"re even here now. Not too many people would just up and drop everything and leave the running of a corporation even on a temporary basis to spend six to eight weeks supervising a construction company."
Bas nodded and shoved his own hands into the pockets of his jeans. "They would if the man who"d made the request was Jim Mason. Fourteen years ago I had left home with a chip on my shoulder and mad at the entire world. Your father helped me to turn my life around that summer and see things as they really were. If it hadn"t been for him, no telling where I"d be today. I owe him a lot."
He decided it wasn"t any of her business to know his other reason for coming-his health.
"Well, because I a.s.sumed what I did, I didn"t think twice about not including you in the meeting since I had every intention of telling Cody that the company wasn"t for sale. He made me a good offer but I wasn"t interested."
A question came into her head. "How did you know about my meeting with Cameron Cody?" She hadn"t mentioned it to anyone, not even to Reese.
"Cameron told me, and yes, I know him. He was interested in one of my cousins a few years back. I was surprised when I ran into him in town. Because he"s always on top of things, he was well aware I was one of the owners, but figured you were speaking in my and your sister"s behalf when you turned down his offer."
Deliberately, Bas moved in front of her. "Okay, I"ll accept the way you were thinking, but in the future don"t a.s.sume anything, especially when it comes to me. I want to know about anything that involves this construction company, no matter how minor the detail. It"s a matter of respecting me as one of the owners. Understood?"
Jocelyn frowned. She didn"t like anyone talking to her as though she was a child, although he was right. She should have included him in her meeting with Cody. "Yes, I understand. Now it"s time for you to understand something, as well."
"And just what might that be?"
"I"m not used to taking orders from any man except my father. In the future if you have a request, it will pay you to make it nicely."
He lifted a brow. "Or else?"
"Or else it won"t happen. I tried to explain to you that with this outfit everyone can"t be a leader. Reese is the foreman and I respect his position, but when all is said and done, I"m still the boss."
"Um, sounds like you have an ego issue."
Annoyance rattled her at his words. "Sometimes in a man-dominated world women have to have one. But I don"t think I have an ego issue. I just refuse to let anyone push me around." She stepped past him to walk over to the window. To Jocelyn"s way of thinking Bas was standing too close. She could feel his heat. She could breathe in his scent. And both were doing crazy things to her mind as well as to her body. She was experiencing that tingling sensation in the pit of her stomach again.
"If you were one of my brothers I would challenge you to a game of basketball. Working off your frustrations can help."
She tipped her head to the side and looked at him. "I take it that whatever game you"re involved in, you play to win."
"Yes, just about."
She couldn"t help wondering how often he played any games. From what she"d seen in the past two days the man spent most of his time working. She was dying to know how he relieved stress.
"Okay, since you think I need to work off my frustrations, I have the perfect game."
He lifted his brow. "What?"
"Follow me."
She led him through the kitchen to the bas.e.m.e.nt, and when he reached the bottom stair he stopped, grinned and let out a long whistle. The place resembled a sports bar with a huge plasma television screen on the wall, a wraparound bar with wooden stools as well as several pinball machines, a huge dartboard and a card table. And you couldn"t miss the bold neon sign that read Jim"s Place.
She must have read the question in his eyes because she said, "You know what a sports fanatic dad was, especially when it came to football. When I bought this house I decided to turn this room into a place where he and his cronies could hang out and enjoy whatever game they were into."
She chuckled. "On the weekends it became a regular hangout for him because there was always some game or another to watch on that huge television over there. It was nice seeing him and his friends have so much fun, and it felt good having him underfoot."
She swiped at the tears that suddenly appeared in her eyes and swore. "d.a.m.n, but I"m going to miss him."
Bas was across the room in a flash and gently pulled Jocelyn into his arms. "Hey, it"s going to be okay. And it"s all right to miss him. He was a good man and from what I can tell you were a good daughter. He had to have been proud of this place that you provided here for him, his own entertainment spot. That was pretty nice of you considering I bet Jim and his buddies could get rather loud at times," he said flicking her a teasing smile.
She chuckled. "If only you knew. I would be upstairs in bed reading with my ear plugs in. Still, it felt good knowing he was having a good time. They will be memories I will cherish forever, Bas."
"And you should. My parents retired a few years ago to move to Florida and left me and my brothers in charge. My first thought was good riddance, we wouldn"t have to put up with Dad constantly checking our decisions or Mom forcing us to Sunday dinner. But they hadn"t been gone two weeks and we were all missing them like crazy. We even thought about calling and telling them to move back. But then we decided it would have been selfish on our part. It was their time to enjoy life."
He squeezed her hand in a.s.surance. "And from what I can see, you did that, Jocelyn. You gave Jim a chance to enjoy life."
"Everyone should," she said, moving around him to cross the room when she began feeling hot and tingly again. She stopped when she came to one of the pinball machines and turned around.
Her breath caught in her throat. He was looking at her the same way he"d been looking at her right before he had kissed her last night...and that wasn"t good. She tried getting her bearings and said, "So, are you ready to play a game?"
He leaned against the bar and she watched his eyes darken. "And just what sort of game do you have in mind?"
Evidently not the one you"re thinking about, she wanted to say. She might not have a lot of experience with men but she definitely could recognize one with heat in his eyes. "How about a game of pinball?" she wanted to say. She might not have a lot of experience with men but she definitely could recognize one with heat in his eyes. "How about a game of pinball?"
He chuckled. "Pinball?"
"Yes. Don"t you know how to play?"
"Sure, I do."
"Okay then, but I understand if you think you"re not up to holding your own against me and-"
"Not up to holding my own?"
"Yes."
Still smiling, Bas crossed the room to where she stood. He"d planned to spend most of the evening at Mason Construction, going through some more files and working way past midnight again. But he refused to let Jocelyn think she could best him at a pinball machine. And this particular baby just happened to be a Stern Nascar. "Ms. Mason, you"re about to meet the king of pinball."
She looked at him and grinned. "You think so?"
"I know so."
Jocelyn figured now was not the time to let him know that last year she had won the local pinball compet.i.tion. She began rolling up her sleeve and grinned at him. "Okay, Steele, you"re on."
Chapter 6.
"Are you always into keeping secrets, Jocelyn?" Bas asked frowning, after they had finished their last game and were walking back up the steps from the bas.e.m.e.nt. "You should have told me upfront that you were a pinball champion."
Jocelyn chuckled. "Why? And take all the fun out of winning?"
When they reached the landing he said, "Hey, champion or no champion, you only won because I wasn"t playing my best since I didn"t think I had to. I a.s.sumed this was an easy win."
She crossed her arms beneath her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and stared at him. "What were you saying earlier about a.s.suming a.s.suming anything?" anything?"
Bas hooked a thumb into his jeans. "That was different."
She smiled. "Of course you would say that." She then checked her watch. "Give me a second to grab some clothes and I"ll be ready to go back to town," she said turning toward her bedroom.
"Take your time. I need privacy to lick my wounds anyway."
She paused in the archway between the hall and her bedroom. "Too bad you"re a sore loser."
"I"m not."
"You are, too. Admit it."
"Okay, I like to win."
"So do I."
"You know I"m going to want a rematch."
"We"ll see." And with that said, she disappeared inside her bedroom.
Bas couldn"t stop the chuckle that escaped his lips. d.a.m.n, he had spent the last two hours racking up over a billion points and still had lost to a female hotshot. The number of bonus points she"d gotten was downright sickening.
He shook his head, not believing he had actually taken time away from work to play a d.a.m.n game of pinball. It had been the weirdest thing how his adrenaline had gotten pumped up, practically the same way it did whenever he played basketball against his brothers. He hadn"t even thought about the files he had planned to go over at the office. The only thing he had thought about was whipping Jocelyn"s b.u.t.t big-time.
And what a b.u.t.t it was. It didn"t take much to remember her in front of the pinball machine, her stance s.e.xy and stimulating as h.e.l.l, and her display of excitement each and every time she deployed a ball. Just being able to ogle her undetected had been worth the loss. Once again he couldn"t help but think about the too-serious curves on her body and what they did to a pair of jeans and a top. Each time her b.u.t.t had moved, he"d found it almost impossible to sit still, stand still or to stop a certain part of him from getting hard.
He had played enough pinball to know it was a mental game and if you weren"t focused there was no chance in h.e.l.l you could win. Of course he hadn"t been focused. He hadn"t even used a lot of the skilled flipper work he often used when he played against his brothers.
It was difficult to concentrate when you were playing against a woman whose perfume smelled of seduction and whose body made you think of a different kind of scoring. He"d known that whenever her tongue licked her lips she was setting up her shots to score big. And he had wanted to capture that same tongue with his.
"I"m all set."
He turned at the sound of her voice and crossed the room to relieve her of the load of clothes she carried.
Their hands touched and an electric current quickly flowed through their bodies. Silence hung between them for a long moment until she finally said, "Thanks."
"Don"t mention it."
"We"d better go."
He sighed deeply. "Yes, I think we"d better."
By the time Jocelyn had locked up and they had walked back out to her truck, Bas wanted to punch something. The desire to kiss her had been so strong he"d felt his self-control slipping, and for the first time in a long time he hadn"t wanted to do anything to regain it.
He didn"t have to be a rocket scientist to know that if he didn"t pull himself together he was headed for big trouble.