She chuckled as she glanced over at him. “I’m positive.”
“But you aren’t sitting close to me.”
“I’m close enough, Chance.”
“I beg to differ.”
She shook her head grinning. “Tell me something. Are your brothers like you?”
“No, I’m one of a kind.”
“Thank God.”
“Hey,” he said with affront. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Let’s just say I’m glad after you were born that they broke the mold. I can’t imagine another one like you.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
“You would.” After a brief moment of silence she said, “Tell me some more about your brothers.”
“All right. Like I told you that day at the Racetrack Café, Bas is eighteen months younger than me and he’s the troubleshooter for the company.”
“He’s also the one engaged to be married, right?”
“So we hear.”
She stopped rocking and looked over at him, studied his features from the glow of the moon. “Why do I have a feeling that it’s one of those ‘I’ll believe it when I see it’ deals?”
“Because it is. Cassandra Tisdale and Bas are as different as day and night.”
Kylie raised a brow. “Tisdale? As in Tisdale who owns a number of car dealerships around town? As well as those two restaurants?”
“Yes, the dealerships belong to her father and the restaurants to her uncle. Same family.”
“Why do you think Ms. Tisdale and your brother aren’t compatible?”
“Because they aren’t.”
“He evidently thinks they are.”
“Remember you’re the one who thinks too much. In this case, I don’t believe Bas is thinking at all. But I have all the faith in the world that he’ll come to his senses before doing something stupid.”
Kylie frowned. “You’re serious, aren’t you?”
“Quite.” After a brief moment he said, “But only because I know my brothers, and Bas in particular. All through his life he’s been known as the ‘not so stainless Steele.’”
“Meaning?”
Chance frowned at the memories. “He was considered the black sheep of the family because he used to get into so much trouble. I guess you can say he went through quite a rebellious stage while growing up. You name it, he probably did it. It was a good thing my father was good friends with Sheriff Bland-ford since Bas had a penchant for straying to the wrong side of the law. Most of the time it wasn’t him but the crowd he hung out with. But you know what they say about guilt by association.”
Yes, she knew. “So when did his future change for the better?”
“When he was about twenty. He dropped out of college after deciding he wanted to see the world. He was gone for a year without us knowing where he was most of the time. All we know is that when he returned he had a new outlook on life. He went back to college, graduated with honors and then came to work at the Steele Corporation, starting from the bottom. He was determined to learn everything he could. Now he’s a vital asset to the company. I depend on him to keep me in the know and to put out small fires.”
“What about the other two?”
“Morgan is Morgan. He has this thing about finding the perfect woman and until he does he won’t settle for less. Then there’s Donovan, who thinks he was born to have fun. He’s serious enough while at work but otherwise there’s really never a serious moment with him. My mother predicts he’ll probably be the one who lives the longest because he enjoys life too much to get stressed about anything.”
“Does that also mean he’s having too much fun to settle down and get married?”
“So he claims. He just hasn’t met the one woman to tame his game.”
“Quite an interesting bunch.”
“Yes, they didn’t refer to us as ‘Forged of Steele’ for nothing.”
Kylie lifted a brow. “‘Forged of Steele’?”
“Yes. We were known for our endurance. We thought we could outlast anything.”
She decided not to ask their endurance in what. “The possibility that Marcus might be a chip off the old block now has me worried. Should I be?”
Chance chuckled. “No, he’s a good kid.”
“Yes, I noticed and I’m appreciative of that. I was prepared not to like him, you know.”
“Yeah, I know, and it was likewise with me and Tiffany. But I like her. You did a good job raising her, Kylie.”
“So did you with Marcus.”
“Thanks.”