once more. âMy family moved to the area when I was nineteen. I worked for Jim in the day and took college classes at the university at night. He replaced the father I lost at sixteen. He was my voice of reason when I didnât have one, my mentor and a good friend. At one point he stopped me frommaking a grave mistake, one that could have cost me my life.â
Bas nodded. It sounded as if at one point he and Reese had been tortured by similar inner demons and in both situations it had been Jim who had helped to take them out of the dark and lead them into the light.
âHow about if I introduce you to everyone?â Reese said, breaking into Basâs thoughts. âThe sooner you know whatâs going on, the better. Right now everythingâs running smoothly but we canât expect things to stay that way since this is Marcella Jonesâs house weâre presently working on and sheâs known to change her mind a lot. This is the third house weâve built for her and her husband, and with this place she decided almost at the last minute that she wanted to add a huge lanai off her living room and bedroom. If nothing else changes, weâll be wrapping up things here in about three weeks.â
âThanks and yes, Iâd like to meet everyone.â
Bas glanced around as they made their way over to a group of men who were working on the cooking island that was part of the summer kitchen. Marcella Jones wasnât just getting a glass-enclosed lanai; she was getting a huge area that would be well suited for any and all her entertainment needs. He had to admit he liked the layout of the house and had admired each and every detail while passing through earlier.
The open-beam cathedral ceilings and the floor-to-ceiling windows would make the home light and airy, and provide a full mountain view no matter where you looked. In his mind he could see the finished product decorated with the finest of furnishings and beautiful art work.
Bas glanced over at Jocelyn and caught her staring at him. In that quick instance, something passed between them, and he felt it all the way to his gut. He frowned and told himself silently that the last thing he needed was to get interested in any woman, especially Jimâs oldest daughter, no matter how tempting she was.
He had a job to do and he needed to get his mind on doing it and not on doing Jocelyn Mason.
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Jocelyn swallowed back the knot that threatened to block her throat. Why did Sebastian Steele have to look so damn good? And those jeans he had on werenât helping matters one bit.
She gritted her teeth, wondering why she found him so attractive, then quickly decided his good looks and well-built body definitely had something to do with it. She jumped when she felt the mobile phone in her back pocket vibrate. Putting aside the paintbrush, she pulled the phone out. A quick check of the caller ID indicated it was Leah.
For the past five days, ever since the funeral, her sister had mostly spent her time going through their fatherâs belongings and packing things up to giveaway. At first they had started doing the task together and then the memories had gotten too much for Jocelyn and sheâd asked Leah to finish without her. Her sister had agreed. That was the one thing Jocelyn noticed about Leah since sheâd been back. She was a lot more agreeable and less argumentative these days. There was a time when the two of them would disagree about almost anything, including the weather.
âYes, Leah?â
âJust wanted you to know I cooked dinner and I thought it would be nice if we invited a guest.â
Jocelyn moved her shoulders in a nonchalant shrug. She definitely didnât have a problem with Leah preparing dinner since her sister was a pretty good cook, but she did have a problem with the suggestion of a guest. She couldnât help wondering if Leah was finally going to come out of hiding and face Reese by inviting