She swallowed. “Like I said. Talk is cheap.”
He smiled hungrily. “And like I said, I’m a man of action.”
Then he leaned in and captured her mouth, not giving her a chance to stifle the moan that immediately rose in her throat. He wrapped his arms around her, and his hands stroked her back at the same time his tongue stroked every inch of her mouth.
She had long ago decided his kisses were unique, full of passion and capable of inciting lust. But she was also discovering that each time they kissed she encountered something else. This kiss was tapping in to her emotions and she was fighting like hell to keep them under tight control as far as Galen was concerned. This was all a game to him. Not for her. For her, it was about finding herself in more ways than one. Discovering her past and making headway into her future.
He deepened the kiss and she felt his hands move downward to cup her backside and pull her more fully against him. She groaned again when she felt his hardness press into her at a place that was already tingling with longing. Unfamiliar sensations were floating around in her stomach and she was drenched even more in potent desire.
Then he suddenly broke off the kiss and took a step back. She watched him lick his lips with enjoyment before he thrust his hands into his jeans pockets, looked at her and asked, “Did I make my point?”
Oh, he’d made it, all right, but she’d never admit it to him.
Hidden Pleasures
Brenda Jackson
NEW YORK TIMES AND USA TODAY BESTSELLING AUTHOR
About the Author
BRENDA JACKSON is a die “heart” romantic who married her childhood sweetheart and still proudly wears the “going steady” ring he gave her when she was fifteen. Because Brenda has always believed in the power of love, her stories always have happy endings. In her real-life love story, Brenda and her husband of thirty-six years, Gerald, live in Jacksonville, Florida, and have two sons.
A New York Times bestselling author of more than fifty romance titles, Brenda is a recent retiree who worked thirty-seven years in management at a major insurance company. She divides her time between family, writing and traveling with Gerald. You may write Brenda at P.O. Box 28267, Jacksonville, Florida 32226, by e-mail at [email protected], or visit her Web site at www.brendajackson.net.
Books by Brenda Jackson
Kimani Romance
*Solid Soul
*Night Heat
*Beyond Temptation
*Risky Pleasures
In Bed with Her Boss
*Irresistible Forces
Just Deserts
The Object of His Protection
Temperatures Rising
*Intimate Seduction
Bachelor Untamed
*Hidden Pleasures
* Steele Family titles
Kimani Arabesque
**Tonight and Forever
**Whispered Promises
**Eternally Yours
**One Special Moment
**Fire and Desire
**Secret Love
**True Love
**Surrender Wrapped in Pleasure
Ravished by Desire
**Sensual Confessions
** Madaris Family
To the love of my life, Gerald Jackson, Sr.
This year marks my fifteenth anniversary as a published author and I want to thank all of you for your support.
To my readers who have been with me since my first book, this seventy-fifth book is especially for you.
To my good friend and classmate Valeria Stirrup Jenkins of the Chloe Agency Finishing and Modeling School in Memphis,
Tennessee, for her feedback on proper etiquette and manners.
Thanks for your help. It was truly appreciated.
Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.
—Proverbs 23:19
Dear Reader,
This is my seventy-fifth book and I am proud to present it to you!
When I introduced the Steeles with Chance’s story four years ago, little did I know that I would be writing beyond Donovan’s story. But the more I wrote about that family, the more I knew I had to tell you about their cousins—those other Steeles who live in Phoenix. They are the ones you will get to know as the “Bad News Steeles.”
There are six brothers and the oldest of the bunch is Galen Steele, a man after any woman’s heart with no intention of letting any woman after his. Galen and his five brothers are convinced they will use their playa cards forever. But little do they know I have a surprise for each of them.
Join me in getting to know the Phoenix Steeles and enjoy reading how I sprinkle my love dust on each of their resistant hearts. In Hidden Pleasures, Galen wants Brittany Thrasher as another notch on his bedpost and makes her an offer he knows she can’t refuse. At first it seems as if everything is going according to plan, but then fate steps in and Galen discovers the hard way that some things are just meant to be.
Thank you for making the Steeles a very special family. I look forward to bringing you more books of endless love and red-hot passion.
Happy reading!
Brenda Jackson
The Steele Family of Phoenix
Family Tree
Chapter One
“Holy crap!” Galen Steele muttered as he turned away from the bank of elevators and raced for the stairways of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Manhattan. A high school soccer team was checking out and filling all the elevators going down to the lobby. Galen could not be late for this wedding. His cousin Donovan would kill him if he were.
All the other groomsmen had left for the church a good thirty minutes ago, but he’d lagged behind when a woman he’d met at the bar last night had unexpectedly knocked on his hotel room door just when he was about to walk out. Not one to turn down a booty call, he’d thought he could make it quick. He had no idea Tina What’s-Her-Name didn’t believe in a quickie. A smile split his lips as he recalled how she’d made it worth his while.
And now he was late. He’d heard of weddings being held up for the bride or the groom, but never for a groomsman.
He