Brenda Jackson - Possessed By Passion

“I’m a nice person.”

The jury is still out on that, she thought. “I’m surprised you remember me, Tyson.”

He chuckled, and the sound was so stimulating it seemed to graze her skin. “Trust me. I remember you. And do you know what I remember most of all?”

“No, what?”

He leaned over the table as if to make sure his next words were for her ears only. “The fact that we never slept together.”

Chapter 2

Tyson thought the shocked look on Hunter’s face was priceless. He also thought it was a total turn-on. Up close she was even more beautiful. There had been something about her dark, almond-shaped eyes and long lashes that he’d always found alluring. But what was really getting to him was her lips, especially the bottom one. The curvy shape would entice any man to want to taste it. Nibble on it. Greedily devour it.

She interrupted his thoughts when she finally said, “And if you recall that, then I’m sure you remember why.”

“Yes, I remember,” he said, holding tight to her gaze. “You weren’t one of those high school girls who slept around. You wanted me to make you my steady girlfriend and I had no intention of doing that.”

“You just wanted me in the backseat of your car,” she said.

He smiled. “The front seat would have worked just fine, trust me. I wanted you and my goal was to get you. For me it was all about sex then.”

“Just like it’s all about sex for you now?” she asked smoothly.

“Yes.” He had no problem being up front with her or any woman, letting them know what he wanted, what he didn’t want and, in her particular case, what he’d missed out on getting. She was the lone person in the “tried but failed” column. He intended to remedy that.

“I heard a while back that you’d gotten married, Hunter.”

She took another sip of her drink and he remembered the one and only time he’d sampled the beautiful lips that kissed her glass. “Yes, I got married.”

He looked down at her ringless hand before glancing back up at her. “Still married?”

“No.”

Her response was quick and biting, which only led him to believe the divorce had been unpleasant. That might be bad news for her, but he saw it as good news for him since he was known to inject new life into divorcées. Over the years he’d taken plenty to bed, not necessarily to mend their broken hearts, but mainly to prove there was life after a shitty marriage.

“How long ago?”

Her eyebrows lifted. “Why do you want to know?”

“Just curious.”

For a second, she didn’t respond, and then she said, “Two years.”

He nodded as he leaned back in his chair. “Sorry to hear about your divorce,” he said, although he was anything but. Although his parents had a great marriage and it seemed his three brothers’ marriages were off to a good start, he was of the opinion that marriage wasn’t for everybody. It definitely wasn’t for him and evidently hadn’t been for her.

“No need to be sorry, Tyson. I regret the day I ever married the bastard.”

He’d heard that line before. And as far as he was concerned there was no need for her to expound. It really didn’t matter to him what she thought of her ex. What mattered was that divorcées were his specialty. He would gladly shift her from his “tried and failed” column to his “achieved” category. Every one of his senses was focused on getting her into his bed.

“So what brings you back to Phoenix, Hunter?” he asked with a smile.

* * *

Hunter was glad a waiter appeared at that moment to place a drink in front of Tyson. Evidently he was a regular, since the man had known just what to give him. It took only a minute but that had been enough time to get herself together and recover from Tyson’s charismatic personality. It was quite obvious that he was a man on the prowl tonight and had set his sights on her. Mo and Kat had said as much, but at the time she hadn’t believed them. The man had been a player in high school and eighteen years later he was still at it. She couldn’t help wondering why he hadn’t gotten past that mentality.

“Now, where were we? Oh, yes. I asked what brings you back to Phoenix.”

She took another sip of her drink. There was no way she would tell him how after their divorce and the dissolution of their partnership, her architect husband had underhandedly taken all their clients. Starting over in Boston would not have been so bad if he hadn’t deliberately tried to sabotage her reputation as an architect. Tyson didn’t have to know that because of her husband’s actions she’d decided to start over here. Instead of telling him all of that, she decided to tell him the other reason she’d come back home.

“My parents.”

He lifted a brow. “Are they ill?”

She shook her head. “No, they aren’t ill. My brother thinks they’re having too much fun.”

Hunter realized just how ridiculous that sounded and added, “A few months ago they purchased ‘his and hers’ Harleys, and before that they signed up to take skydiving lessons. Lately, they’ve been hinting at selling the house and buying a boat to sail around the world.”

Tyson appeared amused. “Sounds to me like they’re enjoying life. Maybe your brother needs to take a chill pill.”

“Possibly, but his hands are full right now with his teenage sons and he feels Mom and Dad are driving him as crazy as they claim he’s driving them. I decided it was best I came home to keep peace.” Hunter had no idea how she would manage to do that. Her parents were intent on having fun and her brother was intent on getting them to act their age.

“You’re an architect, right?” he asked her.

“Yes. How did you know?”

“Someone mentioned it at one of the class reunions that you never attended.”

He was right, she hadn’t attended any. At first it had been school keeping her away, and later trying to build her career and finally trying to save her marriage. Although Carter had made sure they attended all of his high school reunions, he had been dead set against attending any of hers, and as usual she’d given in to him.

“I understand you’re a doctor.”

He nodded. “Yes. A heart surgeon.”

She smiled. “And I bet you’re a good one.”

“I owe it to my patients to do my very best.”

And there was no doubt in Hunter’s mind that he did. She remembered he was devoted to whatever he did, even if he was chasing girls.

“I’m glad you’re back in Phoenix, Hunter.”

“Why?” She really couldn’t understand why he would be.

He leaned in closer. “Because we have history.”

She couldn’t keep the smile from tugging at her lips. “History?”

“Yes.”

“What kind of history?”

“I think of you as the one who got away.”

She had to keep from laughing out loud at that. “You mean the one who never made it to the backseat of your car?”

“Pretty much.”

“It’s been eighteen years. I would think you’d have gotten over it by now.”

He shook his head and chuckled. “I had. However, seeing you again brought it back home to me, so I’ve come up with a plan.”

She lifted a brow. “What kind of plan?”

“A plan to seduce you.”

Hunter’s breath caught in her lungs. His audacity was almost as great as his arrogance. What man told a woman he planned to seduce her? “Seriously? Do you think it will be that easy?”

The smile that appeared on his face almost made her heart miss a beat. Although all the Steele brothers had those killer green eyes, she recalled that Tyson and Mercury were the only ones with dimples. Why was it that whenever he flashed those dimples, her pulse rate went haywire?

“I didn’t say it would be easy,” he said smoothly. “What I said was that I had a plan. I see no reason that we can’t rekindle what we had years ago.”