Forged of Steele Bundle by Brenda Jackson Read Free Book Online Page B

an automatic drool.
    She continued watering her plants, thinking thatthe woman he was about to buy flowers for was indeed very lucky. The good news was that he had selected her florist shop—she was the newbie in town, and Kylie needed all the business she could get, since she’d only been open for a couple of months. Business was good but she needed to come up with ways to make it even better.
    Her heart jumped nervously when, instead of looking around at her vast selection of green plants and floral arrangements, he headed straight for the counter. Evidently he was a man who knew what he wanted and what he needed to woo his woman.
    “May I help you?” she asked, thinking that with a face and physique like his, he probably didn’t need much help at all. He stood tall, six-three at least, with a muscular build, a clean-shaven head, chocolate-brown eyes and skin tone of the richest cocoa, altogether a striking combination. The drool she usually reserved only for Denzel was beginning to make her mouth feel wet. As she continued to look at him, waiting for his response, she suddenly noticed that he wasn’t smiling. In fact, he appeared downright annoyed.
    “I’m here to see Kylie Hagan.”
    Kylie lifted her eyebrows and the smile on her face began fading at his rough and irritated tone ofvoice. What business did this man have with her? All her bills were current, which meant he couldn’t be there to collect anything. And if he was a salesman, with his less than desirable attitude, she wouldn’t be buying what-ever it was he was selling.
    “I’m Kylie Hagan.”
    Surprise flickered in his drop-dead gorgeous eyes. “You’re Kylie Hagan?”
    “That’s right and who are you?”
    “Chance Steele.”
    The name didn’t ring a bell, but then she had only recently moved to the area. “And what can I do for you, Mr. Steele?”
    He stared at her for a moment, and then he said, “The only thing you can do for me, Ms. Hagan, is keep your daughter away from my son.”
    Kylie froze. The man’s words were not what she had expected. For a long moment she stared back at him, wondering if she had misunderstood. But all it took was the deep scowl on his face to let her know she had not.
    “Keep my daughter away from your son?” she repeated when she finally found her voice.
    “Yes. I found this note yesterday that evidently dropped out of Marcus’s backpack. They were planning on cutting school together on Friday,” hesaid as he pulled a piece of paper out of the pocket of his jacket.
    “What!” Kylie shrieked, grabbing the paper out of his hand.
    “You heard me and you can read it for yourself,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest.
    Kylie read, then after the first few lines she wished she hadn’t. Three emotions enveloped her: hurt, betrayal and anger. Tiffany had always promised that if she ever got serious about a boy that she would tell her. Granted, she and Tiffany hadn’t been that close lately, but a promise was a promise.
    “Now can you see why I want your daughter kept away from my son?”
    Chance Steele’s question sliced through Kylie’s tormented mind and grated on her last nerve, deepening her anger. She came from behind the counter to stand directly in front of him. “Don’t you dare place all the blame on Tiffany, Mr. Steele. If I read this note correctly, she was merely responding to a note your son had sent asking her to cut school. The nerve of him doing such a thing!”
    “Look, Ms. Hagan, we can stand here all day and we won’t agree who’s to blame. But I think we will agree on the fact that your daughter and my son shouldn’t even be thinking about cutting school. Ihave big plans for my son’s future that include him attending college.”
    Kylie glared at him. “And you don’t think I have those same plans for my daughter?” she snapped. “Tiffany is a good kid.”
    “So is Marcus,” he snapped back.
    Kylie breathed in deeply and closed her eyes in a concerted effort to