Possessed By Passion

“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.”

“There’s nothing to rekindle. Need I remind you that we didn’t have anything mainly because you were only interested in one thing?”

His smile widened as he lifted his drink to his lips. Without saying a word, he was letting her know that nothing about him had changed and that he was still only interested in one thing.

“I suggest you go find someone else to seduce.”

He shook his head. “I can’t do that. I want you.”

“You can’t always have what you want. That’s life.”

Whatever he was about to say was lost when Mo and Kat appeared. “My team lost,” Mo said, grinning. She glanced at her watch. “Tomorrow is a workday so we figured it’s time to go.”

Great timing, Hunter thought, and she stood.

Tyson stood as well and shoved his hands into his pockets. “I’ll take you home, Hunter, if you aren’t ready to leave just yet.”

If he thought for one minute she would go with him, especially after admitting his plan to seduce her, he wasn’t thinking straight. “Thanks, but I am ready. It was good seeing you again, Tyson.”

“Same here, Hunter,” he said, and she thought she saw something akin to amusement in his eyes. “I have a feeling we’ll be running into each other again.”

Hunter hoped not. She had enough to worry about with her parents, without being concerned about Tyson Steele trying to get her into bed. “Good night.” She walked toward the door with Mo and Kat, feeling the heat of Tyson’s gaze on her backside.

As soon as they were out the door she turned to her friends. “Why on earth did the two of you leave me alone with Tyson?”

Kat grinned. “Because we knew you could handle him.”

“Besides, it was quite obvious you were the one on his radar and not us,” Mo added. “So how did it go?”

Hunter shook her head. “You guys were right. Nothing has changed with Tyson. He’s still looking for a pair of legs to get between.”

“And you didn’t make yours available to him again?” Kat asked, grinning. “What a shame.”

“For him I’m sure it was, especially since he told me of his plan to seduce me.”

Mo’s eyes widened. “He actually told you that?”

“Without cracking a smile or blinking an eye.”

Both Mo and Kat stopped walking to stare at her. “You don’t sound worried.”

Hunter stopped and glanced at her friends, lifting a brow. “Why would I be?”

“We’re talking about Tyson Steele, Hunter. The man who’s known to get what he wants. I heard from women that he’s so smooth you won’t miss your panties until they’re gone. And for him to already have a plan of seduction for you sounds serious.”

“Only in his book, not mine.”

Kat tilted her head. “And this from a woman who’s gone without sex for two years now.”

“Actually four. If you recall, Carter and I slept in separate bedrooms for two years before our divorce. You can’t miss what you never got on a regular basis anyway. I haven’t had an orgasm in so long I’ve honestly forgotten how it feels.”

“Then you’re in luck,” Mo said with a huge smile on her face. “There are quite a few women around town who claim the orgasms those Bad News Steeles give a girl can blow her mind to smithereens and have her begging for more. Rumor has it that you haven’t truly been made love to unless it’s been by a Steele. They’re supposed to be just that good in the bedroom.”

Hunter rolled her eyes. “I’m sure it’s nothing more than a lot of hype.”

“But what if it’s not?” Kat asked seriously. “And just think. One of those Bad News Steeles has plans to seduce you. If Tyson succeeds then you’ll never forget how an orgasm feels again.”

“Whatever,” Hunter said as they resumed walking. By the time they reached the car, Hunter decided whatever plan Tyson thought he had for her was no big deal, since she doubted their paths would cross again anyway. And even if they did, she was certain it was just like she’d told Mo and Kat. All those rumors about the Steeles were probably nothing more than a lot of hype.

* * *

“Is there a reason you’re visiting me this time of night, Tyson?” Eli Steele asked gruffly, moving aside for his brother to enter his home. “And why aren’t you at the basketball game with Mercury and Gannon?”

“I had better things to do.”

Eli rolled his eyes. “In other words, your team didn’t make it to the finals. Everyone knows what a sore loser you are.”

Tyson frowned. “I’m not a sore loser.” He then glanced around. “Where’s Stacey?”

His once die-hard bachelor brother had defected and married, just like his brothers Galen and Jonas. The only thing redeeming about that was he’d married Stacey Carlson. She was the sister of a good friend and former colleague of Tyson’s by the name of Cohen.

“Stacey’s in bed, where most people with good sense are by now,” Eli said, dropping down on the sofa. “I hear Brittany and the babies might be going home tomorrow.”

Tyson nodded. “So I heard.”

“Word also has it that Mom has volunteered to help out for a few days. I hope she doesn’t get on Galen’s nerves.”

Tyson chuckled. “I doubt that she will. He’s been in her good graces ever since he was the first to get married. Besides, helping out with the babies will keep her busy.”

“And the busier she is the less chance she has to get into your business—and Mercury’s and Gannon’s—right?”

“Right,” Tyson said, knowing Eli understood. Before he married, he’d gotten the Eden Tyson Steele’s “sticking her nose where it doesn’t belong” treatment, just like the rest of them. Now, with three sons married, she was relentless on the other three, prodding them along to get them to the altar. Tyson vowed it wouldn’t work on him. “So who do you think the babies look like?”

Eli chuckled. “With those green eyes, forehead and lips, they favor Galen all the way. I haven’t heard their decisions on names, have you?”

“Nope, but rumor has it they’re allowing Mom to do the honors.”

Eli shook his head. “No wonder she’s blowing up the newspapers. She’s up there on cloud nine.”

“Fine. She can stay there for a while,” Tyson said. “Just as long as she’s not into my business while she’s up there.”

“You and Mercury and Gannon will get a slight reprieve, but don’t think she’ll let you guys off the hook for good.” Eli didn’t say anything for a minute as he stared across the room at his brother and then he said, “Okay, get it out. There’s a reason you dropped by so late.”

Tyson sat down in the wingback chair across from the sofa. “There is. Hunter McKay’s back in town.”

Eli’s forehead bunched. “Who’s Hunter McKay?”

Tyson rolled his eyes. “I can’t believe you don’t remember Hunter. But I shouldn’t be surprised. Back in the day, the old Eli remembered bodies and not names.”

A smile curved Eli’s lips. “True. So was she one of those bodies?”

“Hell, no! She was my girl.”

“You never had a girl, Tyson.”

His brother was right and for the life of him Tyson wasn’t sure why he’d said what he had just now. “Sorry, saying that was a huge mistake.”

“I hope there’s not a reason why you made it. And lower your voice or you’ll wake up my wife and she needs her rest.”

Tyson didn’t need to ask why. It seemed that all his married brothers had wedded women they enjoyed spending time with in and out of the bedroom. “There’s not a reason.”

Eli stared at him for a long moment and then asked, “So what’s the big deal about this Hunter McKay being back in town?”

“It just is.”

“Hey, wait a minute,” Eli said, sitting straight up on the sofa. “That name is coming back to me. Isn’t Hunter McKay the girl who dumped you in your senior year of high school?”

“She didn’t dump me.”

“That’s not the way I remember it. And why are you interested in Hunter McKay? Didn’t I hear something about her getting married some years back?”

“She’s a divorcée now. I saw her tonight at Notorious and got that much out of her. And it was a nasty divorce.”

“How do you know?”

Tyson stretched his long legs out in front of him. “She called her ex a bastard.”

“Okay, her ex was a bastard. That doesn’t explain why you’re here at midnight.”

Without hesitation Tyson said, “I want you to find out information on her.”

Eli rolled his eyes. “Do I look like a friggin’ detective?”

“No, but she’s an architect and as president of Phoenix’s business council, you would know if she’s set up her own business in town or was hired by an established firm.”

“And you want to know that for what reason?”

Tyson’s lips curved into a smile. “Because I plan to seduce her. And before you conveniently forget your own reputation before marrying Stacey and start acting holier-than-thou, just for your information, I gave Hunter McKay fair warning of my intentions tonight.”

“You actually told her that you plan to seduce her?”

“Yes. You know how I operate, Eli. I don’t play games and divorcées are my specialty. I’ll be doing her a favor, especially if her ex was the bastard she claims he was.”

Eli frowned. “You claim you gave her fair warning, so now I’m going to give you the same, Tyson. I had a plan for Stacey, although my plan was different from yours. My plan backfired. In my case it was for the best. My advice to you is to tread lightly and with caution, or you’re liable to get possessed by passion. Once that happens, it will be all over for you.”

Tyson frowned. “Possessed by passion? What the hell are you talking about?”

“You’re cocky enough to think that once you get Hunter McKay in your bed, you’re going to blow her mind.”

Tyson smiled confidently. “Of course.”

“Have you given any thought to the possibility that she’ll end up blowing yours?”

Tyson stared hard at his brother. “No, I haven’t given it any thought because that won’t be happening.”

Chapter 3

Hunter studied the older woman sitting across her desk. Pauline Martin had come to her highly recommended by Hunter’s brother, Bernie, who was a good friend of the woman’s son. Ms. Martin’s husband had died last year and she wanted to do something other than stay in the house and stare at the walls. The administrative assistant position seemed perfect for her. From the interview, Hunter had known she was just what McKay Architecture Firm needed. Now if she could only get some clients.

She was scheduled to meet with an advertising firm later that day to discuss ideas on how she could promote her business. There were a number of architectural companies in Phoenix and the key to succeeding was to make sure hers stood out.

Hunter stood. “I’m looking forward to us working together, Pauline, and I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Thanks, Hunter.”

An hour or so later Hunter had snapped her briefcase closed to leave for the day. Starting over in a business wasn’t easy but, as her parents had reminded her that morning when she’d stopped by their house for breakfast, she was a fighter. What Carter had done was wrong, but instead of getting bitter, she had to do better. She had to look ahead and not look back. No matter what, she couldn’t let him break her.

And more than anything, she couldn’t believe all men were like Carter Robinson. Had he really expected her to remain his wife while he engaged in all those affairs? And when she had confronted him about it, he’d only laughed and told her to get over it. He’d said she wouldn’t leave him because she had too much to lose, and that no matter what she accused him of, his family would stick by his side.

And they had.

Even his mother, who’d said she sympathized with Hunter over her son’s wretched behavior, had stuck by him in the end. For Hunter, that had hurt more than anything because she’d assumed she and Nadine Robinson had had a good and close relationship. At least they had until the day Hunter had decided to bring her eight-year marriage to Carter to an end. Then Nadine had proven Carter right. Blood had been thicker than water.

Even with Carter’s high-priced divorce lawyer, at least the judge who’d handled the divorce had sided with her and ordered Carter to give her fifty percent equity out of the company. He hadn’t even wanted to do that. And the judge had been more than fair in making sure he did the same with their home, as well as all the other assets Carter had acquired over the years. Some she hadn’t known about until the day the private investigator she’d hired had uncovered them.

So now she was back in Phoenix. In a way she felt like a stranger in her own hometown, since she’d made Boston her home ever since enrolling in MIT for her graduate degree. She’d been working a few years when she’d met Carter at a fund-raiser her architecture firm had given. He was a member of the Boston Robinsons, a family that took pride in their old-money status and the rich history that came with it.

They’d been married three years when she’d first found about Carter’s affairs. He swore they meant nothing and begged her to forgive him, and she had. He became attentive for a year or two, and they’d even tried having a family, but with no success. Hunter wasn’t exactly sure when his affairs had picked back up again, but she’d begun noticing the usual—lipstick on the collar, the scent of another woman’s perfume and suspicious text messages. That’s when she hired a private investigator. The PI’s report had been the last straw. There was no way she could remain married to Carter after that, regardless of what her in-laws thought. In the end, they had sided with Carter in his campaign to destroy her.

She drew in a deep breath, refusing to give in to her sorrows. Somewhere out there were women in far worse situations than she. Her grandmother used to repeat that adage about making lemons into lemonade and Hunter intended to do just that.

At that moment the image of Tyson Steele came into her mind. Not that it had actually ever left since they’d run into each other last night. In fact she had dreamed about him. Of all things, in her dream she had let him do what she had refused to let him do eighteen years ago, and that was to take her in the backseat of a car.

Hunter shook her head. She couldn’t believe how scandalous that dream had been and it was even worse that she had totally and thoroughly enjoyed it. Luckily it had been just a dream and not the real thing. But the dream had been enough. She had awakened panting, with heated lust rushing through every part of her. It had taken a long cold shower to calm down her body.

During the four years of her sexless life, the last thing she had thought about was having an affair. So why now? And why Tyson Steele? He was arrogant, confident and too cocky to suit her. They hadn’t held a conversation for more than a few minutes before he was telling her of his plans to seduce her.

She shook her head as she headed for the door. Some men’s attitudes simply amazed her. But then again, he was a Steele. Hearing three of his brothers had married meant there could be hope for him, but she wouldn’t be crazy enough to put any money on that assumption.

But what really should be hilarious was that Tyson Steele thought he could seduce her. She figured he’d been all talk and that his words had been meant to get her sexually riled up, and they had...to a point. After her shower this morning her common sense was firmly back in place. All it had taken was a look around her apartment to remember all she’d lost because of a man. The last thing she needed was to get involved with another man for any reason.

But what about just for sex?

She almost missed her step when the idea popped in her head. Where had such a thought come from? She was a good girl. The granddaughter of a retired minister. A woman who’d always worked hard, played fair and been a good wife to her husband. And as Nadine had often claimed, the best daughter-in-law anyone could ask for.

Yet, regardless of all those things, she’d gotten royally screwed. And because of all those things Carter had figured she would never leave him. That she would stay married to him regardless. What he’d failed to take into consideration was that everyone had a breaking point. When she had taken as much as she could, she had walked away without looking back. She only wished she’d been strong enough to do it sooner.

As she locked up her office she figured she might as well dream about Tyson Steele again tonight. Dreams were safe. Besides, she had no reason to think their paths would cross again. For one, she didn’t intend to return to that nightclub where he apparently hung out.

His parents attended the same church as hers, the one where her grandfather had been pastor before he’d passed away years ago. During breakfast this morning she’d deliberately asked her mother to bring her up-to-date on church members, former and present. It seemed the Steeles were still members of their church, and her mother said that although she would see Eden and Drew Steele on most Sundays, she rarely saw their sons and couldn’t recall the last time one of them attended church.

Deciding she didn’t want to think about Tyson Steele, she stepped inside the elevator to leave the office.

* * *

Tyson had stepped out of the shower and was toweling off when his cell phone rang. He recognized the ring tone. It was Eli. With three surgeries today back to back, he hadn’t time to think about much of anything but his patients. The surgeries had gone well and he’d delivered good news to the families. Before leaving the hospital, he had made his rounds, completed his reports and given final instructions to the nurses caring for his patients. Now he was at home, on full alert and eager for any information his brother had for him.

He grabbed the phone off the vanity. “Eli, did you find out anything?”

“This is going to cost you.”

Tyson rolled his eyes. “Who do you think I am? Galen?”

It was a running joke in the family that Galen worked the least but made the most. While attending college Galen and his two roommates had decided to do something to make money and since all three were computer-savvy, they created video games. After their games became a hit on campus, they formed a business and by the time they graduated from college they were millionaires. The three were still partners today and usually released one game a year around the holiday season. Galen enjoyed flaunting the fact that he was able to work less than twenty hours a week and still make millions.

Eli chuckled. “With twins Galen won’t have as much free time on his hands.”

Tyson smiled at the thought. “You think?”

“We can hope.”

Tyson tossed the towel aside to slide into a pair of briefs. “So what did you find out about Hunter McKay? Did she establish a company here?”

“Yes. She opened an architect office in the Double-Row building a week ago.” Eli paused a minute and then said, “And you were right. Her divorce from her husband was pretty nasty.”

“How do you know?”

“The one good thing about being president of the business council of a major city is getting to meet other such individuals. The one from Boston, John Wrigley, and I have become pretty good friends. I gave John a call today. According to him, Hunter divorced her husband on grounds of adultery and had the goods from a PI to prove it. Her ex hired this high-priced attorney to fight to keep Hunter from getting a fifty-fifty split of the architectural firm they owned together, but the judge sided with Hunter. In the end Hunter’s ex retaliated by making sure she didn’t get any of their clients.”

The man was a bastard just like Hunter McKay said, Tyson thought, easing a T-shirt over his head. “I think I’ll pay her a visit tomorrow.”

“That doesn’t surprise me.”

“As a client,” Tyson added.

“A client? That does surprise me. I didn’t know you were interested in getting a house designed.”

Tyson smiled. “I wasn’t before now.”

“Hell, Tyson, you don’t even own any land.”

Tyson’s smile widened. “Shouldn’t be that hard to buy some.” Even through the phone line Tyson could imagine Eli rolling his eyes.

“And you would go to all that trouble just for a woman?”

Tyson thought about his brother’s question. “But she’s not just any woman. She’s the one who got away. And now she’s back.”

* * *

The next morning Hunter walked into her office and stopped dead in her tracks. Her eyes did a double take. Was Tyson Steele actually sitting in her reception area, chatting so amiably with Pauline that neither noticed her entry?

“Good morning,” she said, breaking into their conversation.

Pauline and Tyson both glanced up, and Pauline smiled brightly. Tyson stood as he gave her a slow perusal, his gaze moving over her from head to toe. His eyes returned to meet hers and she tried ignoring the acceleration of her heart, a result of the intensity of his stare.

What were the odds that the same man she had been dreaming about for the past two nights would be in her office this morning? And they were the kind of dreams that heated her just by remembering them.