"I said, isn't it wonderful that Morgan is coming to dinner on Sunday?"

"What!" Lena said, switching her gaze to Morgan and meeting his in the rearview mirror in wild confusion. What was her mother talking about? Morgan was not coming to dinner on Sunday.

"Did I miss something?" she asked, trying to ignore the intensity in the dark eyes staring back at her in the mirror.

"Your mother asked when the last time was that I had homemade chicken and dumplings, and I told her it's been a while. She was kind enough to invite me over on Sunday since she'll be cooking some then."

Lena s.n.a.t.c.hed her gaze from Morgan to stare at the back of her mother's head. "When did you decide to cook?" She couldn't recall the last time her mother had been motivated to go into the kitchen to prepare dinner. Usually Lena did the cooking.

"When Morgan said it's been a while since he'd had chicken and dumplings. I think he should get a taste of mine at least once."

"That's kind of you, Mom, and I'm certain Morgan appreciates the invitation, but I'm sure he has other things to do on Sunday."

"No, I don't."

A surprised brow lifted as Lena met Morgan's gaze in the rearview mirror again. She'd been trying to help him out of what she thought was a situation he hadn't really wanted to be in. "You don't?"

He chuckled. "No, I don't."

"Then it's all settled," Odessa Spears was saying with a smile in her voice. "And I think I'm going to bake a peach cobbler as well. Do you like peach cobbler, Morgan?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good."

Kylie Steele smiled, seeing the look of grief on the face of the woman who'd been her best friend since high school. They were having their weekly lunch session at their favorite restaurant. "Come on, Lena. Morgan having dinner at your place can't be that bad."

Lena frowned. "That's what you think. You know that he asked me out a few times and I turned him down, and I had worked so hard making sure he understood there could never be anything between us but friendship. And with him being a client, I've been trying to keep things strictly business between us, and now thanks to Mom he might get the wrong idea and I don't want that."

Kylie took a sip of her apple juice, her eyes meeting Lena's over the rim of her gla.s.s. Once she set the gla.s.s down on the table she asked, "Okay, Lena. Tell me. What's going on here? What is it that you really want?"

Lena shrugged. "I don't know what you mean."

"No, I think that you do. This is Kylie, remember, the one person who knows you like a book. Pregnancy didn't destroy any of my brain cells. I know the reason you turned Morgan down all those times. You're convinced he's no different than the Derek Petersons of the world."

Lena shook her head. "I never said he was anything like Derek. But then, I have to be fair and objective in dealing with men, Kylie. Taking care of an elderly parent is a huge undertaking, but I do it with pleasure and love because it's my my mom. I don't see it just as a responsibility, I see it as a way to gladly give back all those things she's given to me over the years." mom. I don't see it just as a responsibility, I see it as a way to gladly give back all those things she's given to me over the years."

She took a sip of her wine before continuing. "But I can't expect others to see it that way. Mom is seventy-one and not in the best of health. Morgan's parents are in their late fifties, still alive, and are able to do things together. I'm all Mom has and that's okay. I don't have time to devote to a serious relationship. Being with her takes up most of my time."

"But it doesn't have to be that way, Lena. Your mom is in good health so it's not like she needs a sitter around the clock and-"

"Where would a relationship lead, Kylie? I've never been one to get into casual affairs and maybe that's my downfall. If I could indulge in one, then things would be just great and I wouldn't hurt when the affair ended because I could just brush myself off and start on another. But I can't do that. I get involved with all my emotions."

"You really liked Derek, didn't you?" Kylie asked softly, remembering the man who'd once had the nerve to try and hit on her right in front of Lena. What a jerk!

Emotions, thick and painful, lodged in Lena's throat. "He was a real charmer, I have to admit. I'm just glad I never slept with him. Then him walking away like he did would really have been humiliating. But to answer your question, yes, I really liked him but I didn't love him. I would have begun falling in love with him if I hadn't started seeing his true side. He was just like a spoiled child. He wanted to make me choose between him and my mother and he was too stupid to see there wasn't a choice. But to give me an ultimatum like that showed just what kind of person he was."

"Yes, it did. But let's get back to Morgan for a moment. You can't tell me you don't like him just a little."

Lena couldn't help but smile. "What's there not to like? He's good-looking, has good manners, he's a successful businessman. When I quoted him the price of that house I showed him a couple of days ago, he didn't bat an eye."

"But?"

"But even if I didn't have Mom I still wouldn't get involved with him. I'm way out of my league with him. I can see him with a totally different woman by his side, and I can't risk losing my heart to him. It's as simple as that."

She studied the contents of her gla.s.s for a moment, then said, "I didn't tell you that Morgan and I ran into Ca.s.sandra Tisdale the day we had our business meeting at that restaurant in town."

Kylie raised a brow. "Ca.s.sandra Tisdale? She's back?"

"Yes, and her fangs are sharper than ever. She made a very rude comment about Morgan and me being together."

Kylie frowned. "What kind of comment?"

"Something about how he could do better."

Kylie leaned back in her chair with a look of incredulity on her face. "I can't believe the nerve of that woman," she said, remembering the first time she had come into contact with Ca.s.sandra. "For someone who's supposed to be so refined, she can be downright tacky at times."

"Yes, but Morgan put her in her place, but then he should not have. When people see us together they shouldn't see us as a mismatched couple. When a couple walks into the room and heads turn it should be for all the right reasons and not the wrong ones."

"And you see that happening?"

"Possibly. I have no problem with who I am, but I can't honestly think that I'm someone he'd probably consider as his ideal woman."

"Then why do you think he asked you out all those times?"

"Who knows? Maybe out of boredom."

"I don't think you're being fair to Morgan or to yourself." Kylie then leaned forward in her seat and sighed. "Do something for me, Lena."

"What?"

"Stop selling yourself short. When you get home take a look in the mirror. You're a beautiful full-figured African American woman who could walk into any room and put the Ca.s.sandra Tisdales of this world to shame, mainly because not only do you have outside beauty, you have inside beauty as well. Don't think a man like Morgan wouldn't know that. And I think you need to think about something."

"What?"

"What if you are Morgan's ideal woman? And what if he's that one man who doesn't care that you're your mother's primary caretaker? Then what?"

A small smile touched the corners of Lena's lips. "Then I'll get the h.e.l.l out of Dodge quick like and in a hurry."

Kylie lifted a brow. "What does that mean?"

"It means that I would run like h.e.l.l because I wouldn't know the first thing about handling a man like Morgan...s.e.xually, I mean. I bet his testosterone level is probably close to hitting the Richter scale. I get hot all over at the thought of sleeping with him."

Kylie grinned as her eyes glittered teasingly. "So the thought has crossed your mind?"

A frisson of desire inched its way through Lena's bloodstream at the same moment she knew a heated flush was probably showing in her cheeks. "Yes, more than a few times a week. How about every day?" she said honestly.

Kylie laughed. "Now you know what I was going through after meeting Chance."

Yes, Lena thought. She knew. But she also knew that she and Kylie were different people. Kylie had started out being defiant and determined, but in the end she had given in to Chance's charm. Lena didn't intend to give in to any man's charm again. What Derek and others before him had done had more than p.r.i.c.ked her pride. It had made her see things quite clear. And the more she kept her dealings with Morgan on a business level, the better things would be.

Chapter 5.

Lena tried to recall her immunity to any man's charm as she gazed at the two beautiful bouquets of fresh flowers Morgan had just handed her. One for her and the other for her mother.

Finding herself unnerved, she glanced up at him. "Thanks for the flowers, Morgan. Please come in."

She moved aside when he stepped inside. While she closed the door she noticed him glancing around, and when their gazes connected again he said, "You have a nice place."

"Thanks. Please let me take your jacket." The weather had changed and there was a brisk coolness in the air. The warm weather from earlier in the week was gone. In fact the forecasters had predicted the possibility of snow sometime next week.

"Mom's in the kitchen," she said, placing his leather jacket on the rack. "I told her you had arrived, so she should be coming out in a little bit. Can I get you something to drink?"

"No, I'm fine."

Because his brother was married to her best friend, she and Morgan were invited to some of the same functions on occasion, so she had seen him in casual wear before. But there was something about seeing him now, standing tall and handsome in her living room wearing a pair of jeans, a blue pullover sweater and a pair of comfortable-looking sneakers that made her wonder, and not for the first time, why he didn't have a steady girlfriend.

He was definitely one fine specimen of a man, a healthy-looking one at that, which meant he probably had a normal s.e.x drive like most men. And not that she thought he went for the celibacy thing, but since being officially introduced to him at that charity ball over a year ago, she couldn't recall his name linked to any female. Now, with his brother Donovan it was a different story. The fun-loving Donovan Steele had a reputation around town as being a ladies' man.

"If you will excuse me I'm going to find a couple of vases for the flowers. Please make yourself at home."

"All right."

Although she was conscious of the tingly sensations that lit every cell in her body, Lena tried to ignore them as she quickly left the room. When she stepped into the kitchen she saw her mother, bending over the oven with an ap.r.o.n on. Lena had awakened that morning to the smell of fresh peaches cooking and had lain in bed for a while to make sure she was at the right house. Her mother hadn't set foot in the kitchen since they moved in almost five years ago, other than to eat. But her invitation to Morgan had nearly done the impossible.

"Did you get Morgan settled comfortably, dear?" her mother asked as if she had a pair of eyes in the back of her head.

"Yes, and he brought these for us."

Odessa straightened and turned around. Upon seeing the flowers she smiled. "Now, wasn't that real sweet of him?"

Lena shrugged, knowing that it was but not wanting to give her mother any ideas where Morgan was concerned. "All the Steeles are nice, Mom."

"Yes, and Kylie's blessed to have met Chance. And just to think that Tiffany and Chance's son Marcus got them together."

Lena couldn't help but smile at how the two teenagers had successfully played matchmakers. She glanced over at the stove. "It seems you're serving more than just chicken and dumplings and peach cobbler," she said upon seeing all the pots.

"I decided since that young man hasn't had a good home-cooked meal in a while I would throw in a few more items. I really like him."

To Lena that fact was obvious and she couldn't help wondering why. Her mother had met Derek, Jon and Paul. They'd held conversations with her when they came to pick Lena up for dates, but neither of the three had won her mother over like Morgan to the point to bring her back into the kitchen.

"I'll be back in a second."

Lena watched as her mother left the kitchen to go to the living room and speak to Morgan. A few moments later she could actually hear Morgan's deep voice and her mother laughing about something. She wondered what that was all about, knowing before she left the sanctuary of the kitchen to find out she needed to pull herself together. It seemed Morgan Steele had a way with women, both young and old.

Her mother laughed out again, and then the laughter was followed by the sound of Morgan's voice. Lena paused as she put the flowers in the vase, as her mind, her thoughts and every sensation in her body focused on that voice. It was strong, husky, yet in some ways gentle. But then on the other hand, there was a sensuous quality about it that touched something deep inside her, in the most provocative places. There wasn't a nook, corner or crevice of her body that hadn't at one time or another been affected.

"Lena?"

She snapped out of her thoughts when she heard her mother call out her name. "Yes?" she called back.

"Morgan needs help setting the table."

Lena lifted her brow. Morgan was setting the table? She picked up the vases and walked out of the kitchen. She placed one vase in the middle of the dining room table and the other on a table in the living room. She glanced up and saw the white linen tablecloth in Morgan's hands.

"I guess Ms. Odessa is going to make me work for my supper," he said, smiling.

"At least I'm letting Lena help you," her mother replied, amused as she left them alone to go back into the kitchen.

"I like your mom, Lena. She's fun to be around."

Lena nodded, thinking it strange that none of the guys she'd brought home to meet her mother had ever made such an observation. "I don't know why Mom felt I needed to help you with this," she said, leading him into the dining room and removing the flowers off the table that she had put there mere minutes ago. "And you should feel honored you get dining room s.p.a.ce. Usually our guests just cram with us in the kitchen."

"I wouldn't mind."

Lena glanced up at him, saw the sincerity in his eyes and knew that he would not have minded. That was one thing she had discovered about Morgan. He was so unlike Derek in that he didn't have a conceited bone in his body.

It didn't take them long to spread the linen covering over the table and smooth the center and sides. They worked quietly, not saying anything, and then suddenly they came up short upon realizing they had moved into the same area when they accidentally b.u.mped into each other. His hands reached out, gripped her around the waist to steady her, and her body automatically went into an immobile mode; she felt suspended in s.p.a.ce. The hands at her waist felt warm, strong yet gentle.

Breathing deeply, she tilted her head up and looked into his face, met his gaze and nearly got scorched from the deep, hot intensity from his eyes. That look alone overwhelmed her, made her pulse race and her breathing come out forced.

"Sorry," she muttered, quickly taking a step back. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

"No harm done. Neither was I," was Morgan's easy response...which was a lie, he thought. He'd been drawn to her scent like a bee drawn to honey.

"Dinner's ready. I need more hands to bring everything out," Odessa called out from the kitchen.

Thinking it would be best not to b.u.mp into her twice since he wouldn't be able to handle it, Morgan used his hand and gestured for her to go ahead of him and he followed her into the kitchen.

Morgan pushed away from the table with a huge smile on his face after finishing off a plate of Odessa's peach cobbler. He licked his lips. "That was the best peach cobbler I've ever eaten," he said. "My mom makes a banana pudding that's to die for, and I can see someone killing for your cobber as well, not to mention everything else you served today. Dinner was wonderful."

Over the rim of her iced tea gla.s.s, Lena watched the smile of pleasure that appeared on her mother's face, and shook her head. Morgan was a real charmer all right.

"I've eaten so much I'm going to have to trek around my neighborhood and walk it off," he added.