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could make a woman drool, and as she continued to study him she remembered how his eyes had captured her from the first. Although she hadn’t wanted them to. Those gorgeous Smokey Robinson eyes. She’d thought that then and was thinking the same thing now.
    “Small world, isn’t it?”
    His statement made her realize she was still sitting down. The shock of losing her house hadn’t worn off. She slowly stood up and didn’t miss the way the green-eyed gaze traveled over her when she did so. She rolled her eyes. She was a big girl and could handle lust for what it was. He was a man and, she presumed, a single man. At least he wasn’t wearing a ring, not that it meantanything these days. Besides, no matter how good he looked she couldn’t forget that he was the epitome of rude.
    And she was quick to size him up. He was a man on the prowl. She’d met more than one in her day and had always managed to convince them to prowl someplace else, in some other woman’s neck of the woods. She’d discovered long ago that the whole idea of sex was overrated. She certainly hadn’t gotten anything out of it so far.
    “So, what about you? Where did you come from?” he prompted.
    She thought that perhaps they were standing too close. Had he taken a step closer and she hadn’t noticed it? She glanced around. The room was completely empty except for them.
    “Doesn’t matter where I’m from because I’m on my way back there.” She glanced at her watch. “If you will excuse me, I need to find someone.”
    “Who?”
    She tightened her lips to keep from saying it wasn’t any of his business but decided not to. Besides, if he had been in the room during the bidding, there was a chance he might know the identity of the person who’d won her house.
    “The man who placed the winning bid on the house I wanted. I really need to see him,” she said.
    “Okay.”
    When he didn’t step back she moved around him.“Have a nice day,” she said, throwing the words over her shoulder as she headed for the exit door.
    “Where are you going? We haven’t been introduced.”
    She stopped and turned to him. She refused to be rude even if he had a history of doing so. “I’m rather in a hurry. Like I said, I’ve got to find—”
    “Me.”
    Brittany tilted her head slightly. “Excuse me?”
    A slow, sinfully sensual smile touched his lips. “I said in that case you’re looking for me. I’m Galen Steele and I’m the person who placed the winning bid on house number eight.”
    Brittany took a step back thinking that couldn’t be possible. This man, this rude man, could not be the new owner of her house. Not a man on the prowl. The man whose high testosterone level spoke volumes, to the point where even she—a person who’d never enjoyed sex—could read it. She guessed you didn’t have to enjoy the act to feel the effect. Case in point, the way her heart was thumping in her chest.
    “You have my house?” she asked, taking a deep, steadying breath. She still didn’t want to believe such a thing was possible.
    He nodded. “Signed, sealed and delivered. But it could be yours. I’m definitely willing to negotiate, Ms….?”
    “Thrasher. Brittany Thrasher.” She brushed her fingers against her throat trying to keep up with him.“Are you saying that you might want to part with the house?”
    He shrugged. “Why not? It serves me no purpose. I already have a house that I happen to like.”
    She threw up her hands in frustration, anger and total confusion. “Then why did you bid on it?”
    He chuckled. “Because I saw how much you wanted it and I figured it would be a good bargaining tool.”
    Her brows furrowed in confusion. “A bargaining tool for what?”
    “For when we make a deal. I’m going to make an offer that I hope you can’t refuse.”
    She pulled in a deep breath. Did he think she wanted the house that bad that he could make a quick profit right here and now? Evidently that’s just what he thought. And