“Well, enjoy,” Cassandra said, clearly not happy that she hadn’t gotten Chance to bend her way.
Chance gave Jamie a smile. “It was nice meeting you. Give your father my regards.” Tightening his hold on Kylie’s arm, they walked off.
When they reached the buffet table, Chance let out a long sigh. “That woman had a lot of nerve to suggest that I date her cousin while you were standing there. She was willing to use Jamie’s father’s political connection to set her up on a date. I’ve never seen anything so tacky. I’m sorry about that.”
Kylie chuckled as she picked up a plate. “Don’t be. I learned a long time ago that usually it’s people with money who lack real manners.”
“I hope you’re not grouping everyone with money in that category.”
She smiled up at him. “No, only some of them. The Cassandras and the Dereks of this world.”
Chance grinned. “I agree.”
They remained at the ball for an additional hour or so, long enough to mingle and for Kylie to meet Chance’s three female cousins, and his other two brothers, whom she thought were as handsome and as well-mannered as Chance and Morgan. After meeting Sebastian Steele, she couldn’t picture him married to someone like Cassandra Tisdale.
“We’ve hung around long enough,” Chance whispered in her ear. “Ready to leave?”
She looked up at him, her smoldering eyes telling him she’d been anxiously counting the minutes. “Yes, I’m ready.”
THEY LEFT THE BALL, THEN waited as a valet brought Chance’s car to them. It was then that he asked, “Did you need to find Lena and let her know you’ve left with me?”
She shook her head. “I think she’ll have an idea what happened when she doesn’t see me anymore tonight.”
He opened the passenger door on his car when it came. “Will her knowing bother you?”
“No. Will her knowing bother you?”
“No.”
“What about your brothers and cousins?” she asked.
“It wouldn’t bother me for anyone to know we’re together, Kylie,” he said, closing the door when she slid onto the smooth leather seat.
When he got inside the vehicle and slid beneath the steering wheel she said, “Nice car.”
He grinned. “Thanks. I decided to leave the truck home and bring my toy.”
She chuckled. A Mercedes sports car was some toy. “Where are we going?”
He glanced over at her. “Where do you want to go?”
They could go to either her place or his since there weren’t any kids at home. That thought made a girlish giggle escape her lips. He glanced over at her when he pulled out of the parking lot and headed toward the interstate. “Are you okay?”
She grinned. “Yes. I was just thinking that with the kids away the parents will play. I feel like being naughty tonight, Chance.”
He surprised her when he braked and veered off to the shoulder of the road.
“Why are we stopping, Chance?”
“I feel like being naughty tonight, too, starting now,” he replied simply, before leaning over and connecting her mouth with his again. Her lips parted without any hesitation and his aggressive tongue mingled diligently with hers. He tasted of the wine he had consumed earlier and it only raised her body’s temperature. She returned his intensity with her own, and as their tongues mingled, her insides turned to molten liquid.
When he pulled back, they were both breathless. He captured her gaze, held it. “So, will it be my place or yours?”
She reached out and placed her palm against his cheek. “Mine. I want you in my bed, Chance Steele.”
CHAPTER ELEVEN
LESS THAN A HALF HOUR later, they entered Kylie’s home. As she closed the door, a warm, tingly, tantalizing sensation began building up inside of her in anticipation of what was to come.
There in the middle of the room stood Chance. The dark eyes looking at her were smoldering and, as always, he looked the embodiment of extreme male sexuality. And there was no doubt that he was the most tempting sight she’d ever seen.