Possessed By Passion

Hunter vaguely remembered Eli but she did remember Jonas since they’d graduated in the same class. And she couldn’t help but recall Galen Steele. He had gotten expelled from school after the principal found him under the gymnasium bleachers making out with the man’s daughter. His reputation around school was legendary. “So, Galen got married?”

“Yes, a few years ago, and his wife just gave birth to twins,” Mo explained. “Last night, in fact. The announcement was in the papers this morning. It was a huge write-up in the society section.”

Hunter nodded as she tried ignoring the fact Tyson still had his eyes on her. “What does Tyson do for a living?”

“He’s a heart surgeon at Phoenix Baptist Hospital,” Mo responded.

“Good for him. He always wanted to be a doctor.” She recalled their long talks, not knowing at the time their conversations were just part of his plan to reel her in. Unfortunately for him, she hadn’t been biting.

“Don’t look now, ladies, but Tyson has gotten up off the bar stool and is headed this way.”

Although Kat had told them not to look, Hunter couldn’t help doing so. She wished she hadn’t when Tyson’s gaze captured hers. He’d been eye candy in his teens and now eighteen years later he was doubly so. She couldn’t miss that air of arrogance that seemed to surround him as he walked toward them. He appeared so powerfully male that every step he took conveyed primitive animal sexuality. There was no doubt in her mind that over the years Tyson had sharpened his game and was now an ace at getting whatever he wanted.

He was wearing a pair of dark slacks and a caramel-colored pullover sweater. She was convinced that on any other man the attire would look just so-so. But on Tyson, the sweater emphasized his wide shoulders, and the pants definitely did something to his masculine build.

“I understand whenever a Steele sees a woman he wants, he goes after her. It appears Tyson’s targeted you, Hunter,” Mo said as she leaned over. “Maybe he thinks there’s unfinished business between the two of you. Eighteen years’ worth.”

Hunter waved off her friend’s words. “Don’t be silly. He probably doesn’t even remember me, it’s been so long.”

It took less than a minute for Tyson to reach their table. He glanced around and smiled at everyone. “Evening, ladies.” And then his gaze returned to hers and he said, “Hello, Hunter. It’s been a while.”

Hunter inhaled deeply, surprised that he had remembered her after all. But what really captured her attention were his features. He was still sinfully handsome, with skin the color of creamy butternut and a mouth that was shaped too darn beautifully to belong to any man. And his voice was richer and a lot deeper than she’d remembered.

Before she could respond to what he’d said, Mo and Kat thanked him for the drinks as they stood. Hunter looked at them. “Where are you two going?” she asked, not missing the smirk on Mo’s face.

“Kat and I thought we’d move closer to that big-screen television to catch the last part of the basketball game. I think my team is winning.”

Hunter came close to calling Mo out by saying she didn’t have a team. She knew for a fact that neither Mo nor Kat was into sports. Why were they deliberately leaving her alone with Tyson?

As soon as they grabbed their drinks off the table and walked away, Tyson didn’t waste time claiming one of the vacated seats. Hunter glanced over and met his gaze while thinking that the only thing worse than being deserted was being deserted and left with a Steele.

She took a sip of her drink and then said, “I want to thank you for my drink, as well. That was nice of you.”

“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 (#ulink_810b412c-d513-5386-b334-a1768e8a3fdb)

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.”